Waste Naught, Want Naught

Well, firstly, sorry it's been a couple of weeks since we last met to discuss the wonderful world of baking. I haven't been able to do much of it recently. The downside of baking is you run the risk of turning into Michelle McManus in an alarmingly short period  of time. Baking feels so comforting and tastes so wonderful precisely because it's so bad for you! But only in large quantities right? Everything in moderation. So let's get on with it.

Due to my thoughts on food waste, I am very interested in the role baking can take in helping to cut down on food waste. A past-its-best piece of fruit or veg is incredibly difficult to sell as a tasty treat, but just try keeping cake or cookies or tart around the house for more than a couple of days. Baking is the original and best (not to mention the most delicious) way to use up things in the fridge.

So what have I been using up? Well, Ed and I get a fruit box delivered each week. Sometimes we get a large quantity of oranges and we never get through them fast as we're both too lazy to peel anything! So I had a few big oranges going soft and taking on a life of their own in the fruit bowl. They're perfect to make an orange cake. I adapted this recipe from one for a lemon cake, so if it's lemons you've got lying around then feel free to substitute. This cake is extremely light and moist, juicy and creamy. It's a perfect sunny afternoon cake, or perhaps at a party with a glass of champagne.

Ingredients (cake):

225g butter, diced
225g granulated sugar
225g self-raising flour
2 tsp baking powder
4 eggs
50ml double cream
Grated zest and juice of 1-2 oranges (your choice)

Ingredients (filling):

Grated zest and juice of an orange
2 eggs
60g butter
90g sugar
200g mascarpone

Ingredients (topping):

Juice of one orange
50g sugar

Method:

First off we need to make an orange curd for the filling. Put all the filling ingredients in a heatproof bowl and set it over a saucepan of simmering water on the hob (just fill a saucepan half full, let the water gently make bubbles but not boil and place the bowl with ingredients in the pan). Whisk it up until the butter is melted then just keep ooooooooooon whisking for a few minutes until it looks a bit like thick custard. Gloop it through a seive into a bowl, cover in clingfilm and shove it in the fridge for a couple of hours.

Now we do the usual, preheat the oven to 170deg, 190 if you don't have a fan oven and gas mark 5 if you're retro. Butter up a cake tin, somewhere around 20cm if you have it. Removable based tins are really useful, but I used silicon and it worked just fine. Butter it generously if you have neither. Pop all the ingredients into a big bowl and cream together. Way easier with a processor but I don't have one so you'll be fine. Once it's all smooth and yummy looking, spoon it into the tin and bake it for between 45-55 mins. Keep testing it, make sure it's cooked (skewer will come out clean) but not tough or burned at all. When it's out, and still hot, combine the topping ingredients and spoon it over the cake. Leave it now, if you can! The juice will sink in to the sponge.

Blend up 100g of the orange curd with the mascarpone. You probs won't need it all, more like half, but apparently it's awesome on toast :) Cut the cake in two with a bread knife, gently cutting round. Spread the filling generously and reassemble the cake. If you're not going to eat it right away, cover and chill it but bring back to room temp before serving.

And that's it! It really is amazingly tasty and light. Give it a go.

A x

Appley Ever After

Last week our fruit basket was looking a bit sorry for itself, overflowing with oranges (with neither me nor Ed nor Sal can ever be bothered to peel and actually eat) and several apples that had had that slightly spongy feel to them since the day they arrived. Baking is one of if not the best solution for using up over-ripe fruit because it really doesn't matter what state you've let the poor apple or pear get to, it'll still be fantastic once it's stowed safely in cake batter.

So the sad looking apples made their way into a Dorset apple cake. I resent this name being used to widely as, being from Dorset, I can see nothing particularly Dorset-like in the making of it, especially as all the recipes for it seem to be different. This one is fairly dense but not heavy and will suit those who are not into sickly cakes. It has a delicious spicy kick to it, courtesy of cinammon, and even non-fruit lovers should enjoy it. There are no special ingredients and it takes only a few minutes to create so get to it.

Ingredients:

225g of apples of your choice (or those that look the worst from your bowl!)
225g self-raising flour
1tsp baking powder
1tsp of cinammon or 1/2 tsp of mixed spice (depending on preference)
125g diced butter
125g caster sugar
2 eggs, beaten

Pre-heat that oven you know so well to 190 deg celcius and butter up a round tin. Doesn't matter too much what kind, just make sure you'll be able to leaver the cake out OK.

Core and dice the apples. Most recipes tell you to peel them but I see no need to remove this tasty and nutrional part of the fruit so I wouldn't bother. Sift the flour, baking powder and mixed spice into a bowl together and chuck the butter in. Rub the butter in with your fingers until you have a nice crumbly mixture. Bung the sugar and apple in there too, then slowly stir the eggs in.

Spoon the mixture into your tin. Next you wanna thinly slice a bit of extra apple and arrange the slices in a pretty pattern on top. Pop it into the oven for between 30-40 minutes. It'll be springy to poke when it's ready and if you stick a knife it it'll come out clean.

And that's it! So simples. When it's out the oven, sprinkly a tbsp of caster sugar onto the hot cake and leave it to cool. Then have a big slice with a cup of tea. Or, as I did, a massive glass of wine.

Winning.

A x

Ways To Feel Happy

Last week I baked cookies. I've become a bit of a regular on the cookie baking scene because I think they are a very special part of baking. For a start, they are one of those foods that you would be hard pushed to find someone in opposition to. Let's face it, everyone loves a cookie. They symbolise all that's good and comforting about life, it's hard to feel unhappy whilst eating one. They're great at any time of day and for any reason.

Top of everyone's list for cookie types seems to be two things: chocolate and chewy. Cookies are best when they're packed with oozing chocolate, still warm through slightly, and served with ice cold milk. So I went in search of a gooey recipe and found one courtesy of the BBC. It wasn't chocolately enough though, so this final draft has been tweaked slightly to better satisfy the chocoholic in all of us. Have a go at making them and, in turn, making someone's day.

There they are, perfect in their imperfection.

Ingredients:

225g margerine or butter (I always prefer butter, but it is harder to work with)
170g soft brown sugar (works fine with caster but is best with brown)
340g plain flour
200g chocolate (I like to do one dark and one milk but it's up to you)
4 tbsp golden syrup
4 tbsp milk

Method:

Preheat that oven of yours to 150 deg celcius or 170 for non-fans (that's non-fan ovens, not people who aren't fans of ovens).

Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. You can do this by hand or machine, whatever your preference. Add the golden syrup, milk and smashed up chocolate, then mix. This will look like really gross scrambled eggs but have no fear, it's as is should be. Add the flour slowly, mixing gently as you go until you have a smooth cookie batter. If it's looking a bit runny, add a drop more flour, if it's too dry then add a little milk. It should be medium consistency.

Cover a baking tray with greaseproof paper, or if you have none then butter it generously, and spoon the batter on in blobs. The cookies will grow to be about twice the size of your blobs so be careful. If you make them too large, the bottom will burn before the middle cooks and this is not a pleasurable eating experience. Pop in the oven for about 10 minutes, until the cookies are turning golden brown. Do not over cook or you'll lose that gooey experience.

Eat these slightly warm, or pop in microwave if they are completely cooled. This is such a base pleasure, it's wonderful. Set 5 minutes aside to have a glass of milk or dunk them in a cup of tea and try to forget your troubles.

It turns out cookies are as good as prozac ;)

Savour it.

A x

PS - If you enjoy this blog, please do subscribe by using the sign-up on the right. It's easy and will notify you when I post.

Worship Me, For I Am Mighty

Right. So I made the best chocolate cake in the world. Ever. Probably. Sal said it was the best she'd ever had and she is a doctor so we must respect her rulings. I'll include some pics of it as I was cooking it, so you can see what it should look like. It's from a Good Food recipe. In order for this cake to work, follow the recipe and the ingredient measures exactly. Fo' serious.

I mean, come on, look at that! That's a thing of beauty, if I do say so myself.

Ingredients (cake):

200g quality dark choc (70% cocoa solids)
200g butter (not marge) diced
1 tbsp instant coffee granules
85g self-raising flour
85g plain flour
1/4 tsp of bicarbonate of soda
200g dark muscavado sugar (light will do, but dark makes a richer cake)
200g caster sugar
25g cocoa powder
3 eggs
75ml butter milk

Ingredients (topping):

Bar of white chocolate
200g quality dark choc
284ml double cream
2 tblsp caster sugar

Firstly: If you don't have any butter milk then a cup full of milk with the juice of a whole lemon mixed in, then left for 5 minutes, will do the same job.

As usual, pre-heat the oven to 140 deg or 160 if no fan. Line a cake tin, around 20cm if you have it, or if possible use one with a removable base. If you don't have lining then butter it extremely thoroughly.

Smash up the chocolate and melt it in a pan with the butter. Dissolve the coffee granules in 125ml cold water and pour that in with the melting choc and butter. Melt, warm and mix. Yeehah. Do not over heat this, you don't want anything sticking to the pan at all. While that's doing its thing, mix the flours, sugars, bicarb and cocoa in a bowl (sift if you can). Get your hands in the bowl to do this as you'll need to rub the lumps that muscavado makes out. No lumps at all if you can manage it. Next beat the eggs and put them in the flour mix bowl with the buttermilk. Stir stir stir.

Pour the chocolate buttery yummyness into the floury sugaryness and mix until you have a smoothe cake batter. Oh Lord. I can almost taste it typing this. Pour evenly into your cake tin and stick it in the oven. Mine took exactly 1 hour 23 minutes to be ready. After about 1 hr 10 a skewer came out clean but the top felt a bit jelly like so make sure that it is fairly firm to the touch on top. Do NOT leave in any longer than strictly necessary, it shouldn't need more than 1 hour 30 minutes, or you won't get the fudgy effect.

Whilst the cake is doing its thang, make the ganache topping (if you've read my other posts you'll be able to do this with your eyes closed by now!). Smash the dark chocolate up and put it in a bowl. Warm the cream over a low heat, stirring in the caster sugar too. Heat until almost boiled then pour into the bowl and stir until completely melted. It will look weird and milky at first but will soon thicken up. Put in the fridge to thicken but be sure to keep a soft spreadable texture (if you over cool it, just microwave for a few seconds).

Get the cake out, turn it onto a cooling rack and be sure to wait until it's completely cool, however hard this task is! It should look a bit like this:

If it doesn't, don't worry! I'm sure it'll be delcious. When it's cool, get a bread knife and cut the cake into three, horizontally, so you have three thin layers. Don't try and carve straight through the middle, stick the knife in the gently cut round, turning the cake as you go. When it's in three, get your ganache out and spread a fairly thin layer onto the bottom and middle layers of the cake so that you have two layers of filling. If you catch my drift...

Once you've assembled it back into one cake with your dual-filling, smother the entire thing, including the outside edges, in ganache. Get it all over so no cake is visible. This is super fun! You can do patterns if you want or use a pallette knife to make little waves. Next get your white choc and melt it for a very few seconds in the oven or microwave so that it is just starting to become soft at the edges. Get a peeler and, applying pressure downwards, peel along it like you would a carrot. If you have a cheese slicer, use that instead. This is actually pretty tricky so try to stick with it. It will make the white choc curls you can see on the first pic. I arranged these in a flour type thing but you can do what you like with it really! Finish by grating the rest of the white chocolate over the whole cake.

If this isn't the best chocolate cake you've ever tasted, I want to know why. It's relatively simple but makes a truly impressive cake, perfect for a present or party. Let me know if you try this one.

Enjoy, children.

A x

Gooey Gooey

Did quite a lot of baking last week but not much writing about it...

IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR BANANA BREAD MAKERS: I made one for Sal's mum on Friday and added a large teaspoon of lovely cinnamon. This was clearly the missing ingredient as it was delicious. Also I added an extra banana and found it more moist than before. Go figure.

ALSO: I made some lemon versions of the blood orange slices I made before. Although these were a lot tidier looking, they did not taste as good because it turns out that my slightly burned shortcake was the key to the slices' success. Still they were proper yummy. Here's photographic evidence:

But the real story of this blog is the brownies I made. I'd read a couple of recipes using marshmallow in brownies and, because I had a bag of mini ones in my hot choc corner of the cupboard, I thought I might as well go for it. Seemed wrong to do just two layers though so I ended up popping a ganache on top. They're pretty much to die for. The brownies are so moist that everyone will want to be your friend. Here's the recipe, scroll down for a pic:

Ingredients (brownies):

200g of 70% coco dark chocolate (don't skimp, you'll regret it)
500g caster sugar
375g butter
225g plain flour
Pinch of salt
Dash of vanilla essence

Ingredients (toppings):

Bag of mini marshmallows
200g dark choc
274ml whipping cream

We'll starts, as is our custom, by pre-heating the oven to 180 deg celcius. You gas mark folks can figure the rest out on your own. Line a square tin with some greaseproof paper if you have it. Or maybe just butter it a lot like I did... up to you if you want to risk this. I did and wished I hadn't.

Melt the butter and chocolate together over a low heat, stirring it quite a bit as you go. While that's gooing away, mix the sugar, salt, vanilla and eggs together in a bowl. Add the melted choc and butter. This will look WELL NICE but try not to lick the bowl yet. Next add the flour. Mixy mix. Spoon the mixture into the tray and put in oven for about 20mins. If you like it gooey, don't leave it in any longer.

Whilst that is in the oven, make the ganache topping by heating the cream until almost boiled then pouring it over smashed up chocolate in a bowl and giving it a mix. Shove it in the fridge if you want to thicken it up.

When the brownies are out of the oven, sprinkle the whole mag of mallows evenly over it and put the tray back in the oven until the mallows are all melted together and seriously gooey. Don't worry if they brown slightly, the ganache softens them back up. When ganache has reached your preferred consistency, spread it over. Cut into squares and forget your diet:

Look at those, wacky. Duzza tried to eat one in the car... I'd be careful with that. DO NOT BROWNIE AND DRIVE.

Word!

A x

Pancake Fever

Well,
Over a week has passed since pancake day and I'm sure some of you are still in mourning. But fear not my friends! I am dropping in with a fruit-included recipe that will revive your from your pancake-induced drepression. Delia gave me some hints and tips for the pancakes so you know they're going to be good. They're covered in chocolate, cream and served with cinnamon roasted pears. Simples.

Let's go!

Ingredients (pancakes):

110g/4oz plain flour
Pinch of salt
2 eggs
200ml milk mixed with 75ml of water
50g butter

Ingredients (choco sauce):

100g chocolate (I recommend dark, but I won't judge if you use milk)

150ml cream

Ingredients (pears):

As many pears as you want to eat, cored and quartered

Big teaspoon of ground cinnamon

Big spoon of salt

Spray oil

Ingredients (cream):

Whipping cream
Icing sugar

Method:

Gently boil the cream for the choco sauce then remove from the heat and pop the crushed chocolate in there. Mix it up until it's all gone then put in the fridge to thicken it up a bit. Unless you like it proper runny? Whatever.

Now for the pears. Once they're cut and quartered, stick them on a a baking tray and spinkle the cinnammon and sugar on, as much as you desire or you feel is appropriate for the amount of pears you're making (three chunks of pear per pancake seems fair, I did two orginally and felt short changed). Spray with a few spritzes od spray oil. If you don't have it then toss the pears in an VERY small amount of flavourless oil (not olive then people). Pop these in the oven at like 180degrees for about 15-20mins but keep a close eye on them.

While the pears are a-roastin', make the cream up. Use as much whipping cream as you want. I fed 6 people with about 200ml I think but more cream would have been better. Obviously. So this requires some elbow creased. Pour it in a bowl and start whipping it up with a whisk. Pour in some icing sugar as you go, tasting as you whip because you don't want it getting tooooo sweet. When it's whippy and yummy, set it aside.

Time for batter! Mix the flour and salt together in a bowl. Make a well in the middle and crack the eggs in, then whisk it all together until the flour is all gooey. This looks really unappetising and stodgy but don't worry. Whilst whisking, slowly add the milk and water until you have a smooth batter. Don't stress about lumps, just keep whisking until they are gone. Next heat the butter gently until melted and pour 3/4 in to the batter and mix in. Pour the rest into a frying pan. Heat the pan until realllllly hot then pour in a good dollop of batter. Don't forget to have a good flip!

Once the pancakes are ready (put a plate over a pan of boiling water and put the pancakes on this to keep them warm and moist while you are cooking the rest) put on a plate, stick a few pears on, drizzle with choco sauce and splodge (or, if anal like me, pipe) some cream on! HELLS YEAH!

Here's a pic, with no cream sadly as this one is mine and I'd run out giving it to everyone else. Because I am such a good Samaritan. Or something:

Happy pancake + 1 week and 2 days day.

A x

Pray For My Arteries

Hello!

OK loved ones. I have something super special for you today. Started baking these this afternoon and only now at 11pm am I actually eating one (it has been a busy working day). To break with convention, I am going to put the picture first as I think in this case a picture is worth a thousand words:

Oh yes! Look at that shit! Wowzers.


Also breaking with convention, there is no fruit or veg in this. It's hardcore chocolate. Ready for the recipe? Let's do it.

Ingredients (cakes):

150g plain flour
50g cocoa powder
1tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
170g butter or marg
335g caster sugar
3 eggs
2tsps vanilla extract

Ingredients (hot fudge sauce - lush):

110g caster sugar
35g cocoa
80ml whipping cream
2 tblspn butter or marg
1tsp vanilla extract

Ingredients (filling):

ICE CREAM! Vanilla is best.

Once you have assembled your tools, preheat oven to 170 deg celcius. Get a bowl and whisk up the flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt. Easy. Melt butter gently over a low-ish heat then take it off and stir in sugar, then eggs and vanilla. This will look really weird and gloopy but don't panic manic. Stir in the flour mix until blended so there are as few lumps as you can manage. Then spoon the mixture into large cupcake cases. You can fill them up about 3/4 of the way because they don't rise too much. Put in oven for about 30mins, but check regularly. When they're ready, as usual, a knife stuck in should come out clean.

While they are in the oven, do the fudge sauce. Pour the cream into a saucepan with the sugar, cocoa and butter and boil it up gently, stirring lots and lots. Take it off the burner and drop the vanilla in. Try not to stick you face in the pan, not long now 'til you can eat.

When the cakes are done, and cooled a bit, saw the lids off and scoop out the inside. Set these aside in a tub for a snacking moment or to pour on ice cream once you've recovered from your sugar coma. Fill the cake with vanilla ice cream, pour some fudge sauce over, and put the top back on. This does not have to be tidy. You will discover that the more sauce the better. It takes like Jesus' own sauce.

I recommend going for a run the day after eating.
Bon appetit!
A x