Chocolate and cinammon cake

I was at loss at what to make for my granddad's birthday, after all you only turn 78 once! Having seen a stack of chocolate, lonely in the cupboard, I decided to put it to use. Originally I intended to make a large chocolate cake by itself, but I didn't think it would be enough, and so the cinnamon cake was born... If you were to close your eyes whilst eating the cinnamon cake, it would taste like a light cinnamon bun, but with crumbs. The cinnamon cake provides a contrast to the chocolate cake in that it has a less rich flavour. The espresso in the cake adds another dimension of bitterness so the cake is not overly sweet, whilst the salt brings out the flavour of the chocolate. The pepper adds a little bite to the sugary goodness. Whilst the white chocolate buttercream is sweet, the ganache is slightly bitter, and so the sugariness is not too much...Whilst they make the cake look quite dramatic, the nuts add another dimension to the cake in that they give more texture, more of a bite.

Cinnamon cake:

150g self-raising flour

100 caster sugar

50g brown sugar

two teaspoons of ground cinnamon

one teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda

150g unsalted butter, softened

a dash of milk

3 eggs

Preheat the oven to 180C.

Cream the butter and sugars.

Add the flour, bicarbonate of soda and cinnamon to the mixture, and fold in.

Whisk the eggs, then add to the mixture along with the milk.

Mix together until you have a smooth batter, and pour into a buttered baking tin.

Bake in the oven for 30 minutes, or until a few crumbs comes out of the cake when it is skewered with a fork.

Take out of the oven and leave to cool in the tin for five minutes, before turning out onto a wired rack.

Chocolate cake:

200g self-rasing flour

180g caster sugar

one teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda

150g unsalted butter, softened

a drizzle of olive oil

two teaspoons of coffee granules dissolved in 30ml of boiling water

two heaped teaspoons of cocoa powder

120g dark chocolate, melted

2 eggs

a teaspoon of sea salt

lots of freshly ground pepper

Preheat the oven to 180C.

Cream the butter and sugar.

Add the flour, bicarbonate of soda, salt, pepper. and cocoa powder to the mixture, and fold in.

Whisk the eggs, then stir into the mixture.

Once the espresso mixture has cooled down, add to the cake batter. If you add it whilst it is too hot, it will start to cook the eggs.

When the melted chocolate has cooled, fold into the mixture, along with the olive oil.

Bake in the oven for 45 minutes, or until a few crumbs comes out of the cake when it is skewered with a fork.

Take out of the oven and leave to cool in the tin for five minutes, before turning out onto a wired rack.

Dark chocolate ganache:

50ml whipping cream

80g dark chocolate, broken in pieces

In a small saucepan, heat the cream.

As soon as the cream starts to bubble, take off the heat.

Stir the chocolate into the cream, so it is fully combined.

Set aside to cool before using.

White chocolate buttercream:

150g unsalted butter, softened

180g icing sugar, sieved

150g white chocolate, melted

dash of milk

Cream together the butter and the sugar.

When you have a smooth mixture, pour in the white chocolate. Make sure the chocolate is not too hot, or the butter will melt, giving a runny icing.

If the icing is too thick, add a few drops of melt to thin it.

Toppings:

Chopped pistachios

Chopped caramelised hazelnuts

Assembling:

If the cakes are too high or too sunken in the middle, trim with a serrated knife, so that you have a flat surface. Make sure that the cakes are cool when you cut them, otherwise they will crumble, and will the trimming will not be as neat.

Spread your base cake with the chocolate ganache near to the edges. Don't spread right to the edges, or when you put the other cake not top, the filling will spill over the sides. I put the chocolate cake on the bottom because it was bigger.

Put the smaller cake on top of the ganache and press down firmly.

Using a palette knife, (preferably a straight one,) spread the buttercream over the top and sides of the cake. I find that working from the top down is easiest. The buttercream should be thick enough that it can hold the nuts, but not so thick that it is too much to eat in a slice...however much that may be!

Firmly press the hazelnuts onto the side of the cake so that they stick. Using a palette knife to press them in may help.

Spread the pistachios on the top of the cake, but much more sparsely than the hazelnuts were put onto the cake. 

Chocolate and chestnut cake

This is quite a bitter cake, perfect for an after dinner treat. It has quite a moussey texture thanks to the folded egg whites

INGREDIENTS
400g whole cooked chestnuts
250g dark chocolate
150g unsalted butter
2 eggs, separated

100g dark chocolate
one orange - zest and juice
icing sugar, to taste
double cream, to taste




It's nearly Christmas already?!

CAKE
Pulse the chestnuts until you have a fine crumb.
Melt the chocolate over a ban marie, and add the butter.




Melted chocolate.

Once melted, leave the chocolate/butter mixture to cool.
Beat the egg yolks with the sugar and add to the chocolate/butter liquid.
Whisk the egg whites.
Combine the chestnuts with your chocolate mixture, and beat in two tablespoons of the egg whites.
Gently fold the mixture into the rest of the egg whites.




The mixture.

Pour into two lined cake tins and leave to bake for half an hour.
The finished product should have a crumb when a skewer is inserted.

ICING
Melt the chocolate and add orange zest as well as the juice of an orange. I used clementines as I didn't have any oranges, but their flavour was not intense enough to cut through the orange.
Add icing sugar to taste. The cake is bitter, as is dark chocolate, so you need some sweetness!
Add double cream to thin the mixture, and dilute the intensity of the bitterness.

Spread onto the cake.

Serve a slice of cake with crème fraîche.

Banana and salted caramel cake

Yes banana is healthy, but when combined with copious amounts of butter, sugar and cream, the benefits are most probably cancelled out...

100g soft brown sugar
50g soft brown sugar
150g unsalted butter
250g plain flour
one teaspoon of cinnamon
half a teaspoon of ground ginger (optional)
half a teaspoon of nutmeg (optional)
one and a half teaspoons of baking powder
two eggs, beaten
one vanilla pod
three bananas, mashed
50 ml milk
a dash of orange juice

equal weights of butter and soft brown sugar (I used 100g of each and still had enough to fill a jar size 190g)
coarse sea salt - to taste
double cream

Preheat the oven to 200C and line two 18-20cm cake tins.

Lined tins.

Cream together the butter and sugar.
Deseed the vanilla pod, and add to the butter and sugar.
Gradually beat in the eggs to the butter and sugar - if you do it too quickly, the mixture will curdle and separate.
Add half of the dry ingredients to the mixture and whisk.
Then add all of the milk and orange juice, and whisk.
Once thoroughly combined, add the rest of the dry ingredients.
Add the mashed bananas to the mix and stir together.
Pour into the tins and cook for 30 - 40 minutes.

Cake.



 

Salted caramel sauce.
 



Melt the sugar and butter in a sauce pan over a medium heat.
As soon as they have both fully melted, take off the heat.
Then add the salt and cream, and stir.
Leave aside to cool and thicken.
When lukewarm, drizzle onto the cake.

I topped the cake with extra pieces of cake.

For texture, you could add toasted walnuts to the mixture.

 

Caramel sauce

Some days you just need to indulge. Butter, sugar, butter, sugar, cream... probably not for the fainthearted! This ridiculously rich caramel sauce can be used for banoffee pie, to drizzle over ice cream, or to eat straight out of the jar. Don't tell anyone I said that.

To make 3 small jars:
150g unsalted butter
150g soft brown sugar
half a teaspoon sea salt
a dash of nutmeg
80ml double cream

DUNK!

Aside from the cream, chuck it all in a saucepan and leave on a medium heat to melt.
When the mixture it is about half melted, add the cream.
Stir the mixture every now and then, to make sure everything is melting.
Once you have a glossy mixture, take off the heat and leave to cool.
As it cools the mixture thickens, so place into sterilised jars once the mixture has cooled down a little.
Remember to seal jars, or a skin might form over the mixture.
This can be stored in the fridge for three days

Apple bread and butter pudding

Bread and butter pudding

 

Let be honest, bread and butter pudding is a pretty great thing. It's warming, has custard and is ridiculously versatile - what's not to like? From substituting bread for croissants or brioche, flavouring the custard with coffee or chocolate and adding juicy liquor-soaked raisins, there's something for everyone. So for autumn, why not use up the glut of apples you bought for £1.50? This buttery, fruity recipe is meltingly delicious and perfect for those chilly autumn afternoons.

Buttered bread

APPLE BREAD AND BUTTER PUDDING
bread* - I used rosemary and potato bread
butter, room temperature
2 egg yolks
150 ml double cream
100ml milk - you're using double cream and butter, so you might as well have full-fat**
100g sugar
2 apples, cored, peeled and evenly sliced
cinnamon
nutmeg
a big handful of raisins
cognac
dried apple, diced
more double cream, to taste
*it's best to use bread which is a couple of days old because it holds it shape hence not becoming soggy. As the Berry says, you don't want a soggy bottom...
**it's important to build up fat to insulate for the winter

The first layer

Soak the raisins overnight in the cognac. Before using, pat the raisins dry to get rid of excess moisture, and set the rest of the cognac aside for later.
Spread the sliced bread generously with butter. Unless you're dairy intolerant, there are no reasons why you should compromise and use margarine.


Jam-packed full of raisins

In a buttered and sugared tin**, layer the buttered bread with thickly sliced apples and raisins, similar to a dauphinoise. Repeat this until your baking tin is about three quarters full.
Beat the egg yolks with the sugar until your mixture has doubled in volume and become paler.

Heat the cream in a saucepan until it begins to bubble.
When the cream begins bubbling, take it off the heat and add the milk to it.
Once it has cooled down a bit, strain into the yolk/sugar mixture, whisking the whole time.◇◇

Sprinkling with sugar gives a brilliant toffee taste when cooked

When your baking tin is stuffed to the brim, liberally pour over with your custard.
Place in a preheated oven on 200C and bake for fifty-five minutes. When you take the pudding out, it should have puffed up and become golden and firm.
For the sauce, use the ratio of 1 part cognac to 2 parts cream.
In a medium-sized saucepan over a medium heat, reduce the cognac until you have a thick glaze.
Add dried the dried apple and double cream to your reduced alcohol and on a low heat, let it cook for half a minute, and take off the heat.

I would suggest that you don't put raisins on top, because they will catc,. And burn.

Sprinkle the pudding with caster sugar and scorch with a blowtorch or grill for a crème brûlée touch.

Serve with lashings of sauce and a generous scoop of vanilla ice cream.

**Butter the tin as you would normally, then sprinkle sugar over. Shake out excess sugar so you have a fine sprinkling on all sides. This helps to caramelise the pudding, and adds to the toffee-apple taste.
◇◇ If your custard becomes scrambled eggs die to the cream being too hot or not whisking enough, strain the mixture through a sieve.

YUM!

Gooey and indulgent chocolate cake

CHOCOLATE CAKE
250g dark chocolate (use milk chocolate for a fudgier taste)
250g unsalted butter
200g sugar - I used a mixture of soft brown sugar, caster sugar, and muscovado sugar
50g cocoa powder
4 eggs, separated

sea salt (optional)

Preheat the oven to 160C, and line a tray/tin with salted butter.
Melt the chocolate and butter in a bain marie, then set aside.
Beat the egg yolks, sugar and cocoa powder until thoroughly combined.
Add the mixture to the chocolate/butter mixture.
Whisk the egg whites until you get stiff peaks, then fold into the other mixture.
Pour into the tray/tin.
If you're adding the salt, sprinkle a little over the top.
Pop into the oven for 30 minutes - or until a fork comes out clean.
When cooked, leave in the tin for 5 minutes (to hold its shape), then turn out onto a wire rack to cool.
Serve with chantilly.

Hollandaise sauce

Egg and hollandaise sauce



Egg and hollandaise sauce

Normally, hollandaise sauce is made with raw egg yolk, lemon juice, vinegar and (salted) butter, but I didn't have half of those ingredients, so I decided to improvise...

Serves 1

2 egg yolks
pepper, salt, herbs
50g butter,
2/3 tbsp balsamic vinegar

Beat the yolks with their seasoning, until they start to increase in size.
In a small saucepan, heat teh vinegar on a medium heat until it starts to bubble. As it soon as it starts to reduce, pour it into the egg mixture, beating whilst adding.
In the same pan used for the vinegar, melt the butter until it starts to foam, and add into the egg/vinegar mixture, once again whisking at the same time. Never add the egg mixture to the pan as the direct heat will cause the mixture to curdle, resulting in scrambled eggs.

Serve with eggs (poached or dry fried), smoked salmon, and tomatoes softened for 5 minutes in the pan.



When using the traditional hollandaise sauce recipe, you can substitute with lime to add more sharpness.

Baked salmon

Salmon is an easy fish to cook well, and this recipe shows one of the easiest ways.

2 fillets of salmon
butter
herbs- dill, oregano, etc
pinenuts

Preheat an oven to 180C.
Place the salmon fillets on separate pieces on tin foil.
Sprinkle herbs on the salmon fillets, and top with thin slices of butter.
Wrap the tinfoil up loosely into a parcel and put into the oven for 20 minutes.

In the meantime put a pan on a medium heat and gently toast the pinenuts. When the pinenuts are golden brown, take out of the pan or they will continue cooking.

Unrap the cooked salmon and serve with the pinenuts, and some fresh egg noodles.



You could...
instead of using butter, top the salmon with basil pesto and toasted pieces of flour tortilla
replace the butter with a drizzle of white wine
add sprigs of rosemary


Many people think that salmon cooked this way should be eaten straight from the oven, but I think there is often more flavour in the salmon when it is cold.

Pancakes

What is the difference between a pancake and a crêpe?
Crêpes are made from a thin batter and are light, whereas pancakes are thicker and fluffier. The size of a pancake is usually around half that of a crêpe.

What is the difference between an American pancake and an English pancake?
American pancakes having a raising agent like baking powder, and often use buttermilk instead of milk. Buttermilk can be made easily by squeezing some lemon into milk 10 minutes before you need to use it, and leaving it to curdle.

American pancakes
150g self-raising flour
a teaspoon of baking powder
125ml milk
one egg - I like to separate and whisk the white to give more lift.
olive oil or a few tablespoons of melted butter
a few teaspoons of demerera sugar depending on whether you're making sweet or savoury pancakes

Sift the dry ingredients together, and then whisk in with the rest of the ingredients.
On a medium heat, melt a blob of salted butter in a pan.
Pour in the liquid and don't touch until the pancake has solidified and begins to bubble. As American pancakes are small, you can make several in the pan at the same time. I tend to make mine between 7 and 14 cm diameter.
Flip the pancake and leave until golden.
Stack high and serve.

Notes/variations
Add blueberries or raspberries into the pancake mixture.
Serve the traditional way with crispy streaky bacon and maple syrup or golden syrup.
Fill with cheese, ham and spinach  and pine nuts, and roll to make a roulade.
Top with an egg or melted gruyere.

Crêpes
200ml milk - I find that full-fat holds a better texture
125g plain flour, sifted
2 eggs - and a bit of eggshell if you're like me!

salted butter

Blend all the ingredients together; this is best done adding the flour a little at a time.
Heat a crêpe pan (basically a normal pan with a thick base and low sides) until it starts steaming.
Turn the pan down to medium heat, and melt butter in the pan, swirling it around.
Pour in some of the mixture and leave until the edges curl and you can see steam. As long as you tilt the pan whilst pouring the mixture in, you will have a thin and evenly spread crêpe.
Flip the crêpe and leave until it turns golden.
As soon as it is ready, take off the heat, put in the filling and roll.

Notes/variations
I used salted butter as brings out the flavour of the crêpe.
Putting sugar in the butter before putting the crêpe mixture in it will give the crêpe a caramelised taste.
When all the crêpes have been made, you could roll them up, put them in a lined baking tray, cover with custard and bake until the custard sets- a bit like a bread and butter pudding.
Alternatively, you could make Crêpes Suzette.

Tarte au citron Meyer

Tarte au citron is a classic French tart filled with a tangy lemon custard. I used Meyer lemons which are a cross between a lemon and a mandarin. They are quite sweet in comparison to other lemons, yet still quite tangy.

A nice even bake :-)

175g 00 flour (this flour is very fine, so makes the pastry more crumbly, it's fine to use normal plain flour though too)
140g unsalted butter, diced
30g soft brown sugar
25g icing sugar
zest of one lemon

5 eggs
160ml double cream
the zest and juice of 3 Meyer lemons
100g caster sugar

Sieve the sugar and flour, and mix with the zest of one lemon.
Add the cold butter and rub until you achieve a crumble mixture. As there is a lot of butter in this pastry, it shouldn't need any liquid. If you do add liquid, the consequence is that the pastry will not be as crumbly when cooked.
Wrap the pastry in clingfilm and leave in the fridge for 15 minutes to harden up.

Preheat the oven to 200C and butter a tart case.
Roll the pastry to less than a 1 centimetre thickness, and roll over the tart case.
prick the pastry case and blind bake it in the oven for 20 minutes. Instead of using baking beans, you can use baking paper with a similar sized cake tin on top.
Whilst the cake is cooking, whisk the eggs until they increase in size by about one and a half.
Add the sugar, lemon zest and lemon juice to the eggs, but continue whisking.
When thoroughly combined, pour in the double cream, and whisk again. You can add milk if you want a thinner mixture.
Pour into the tart case and bake for about half an hour, or until the filling is a little wobbly.

Serve cold with a spoonful of clotted cream.


You could

• decorate with candied lemons
• spread the base with lemon curd or melted dark chocolate, and cover with the filling mixture
• use tangerines instead of lemons

Almond Tart with a Spiced Sauce

Possibly one of the crumbliest pastries ever?

Buttery and flakey!

Tart and sauce



It looks a tiny bit like a Crema Catalana...

Ingredients

Pastry

150g plain flour

140g diced unsalted butter

35g caster sugar

Almond Mixture

110g ground almonds

100g caster sugar

3 eggs

70ml double cream

30ml milk

Sauce

3 teaspoons of camp ( a coffee and chicory essence)

1/4 teaspoon of cinammon

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

2 tablespoons of caster sugar

40ml double cream

20 ml milk

Method

Preheat a fan oven to 200°C, and butter some tins for the tarts- I used Yorkshire pudding tins which are quite flat, but give a very even bake.

Stir the flour and sugar together and rub in the butter until you have a crumble mixture. As this dough is very buttery, it probably won't need any liquid, but if it does, use an egg yolk or a few drops of milk.

Cover the ball of pastry dough in clingfilm, and leave to harden in the fridge.

Whisk together all the ingredients of the almond mixture until it is thoroughly combined and it has increased in volume slightly.

Roll the pastry on a floured surface to a thickness of about 0.75 cm.

Cut the pastry into shapes, place in their tins, and prick the pastry bases a couple of times.

Give the almond mixture another quick whisk in case the ingredients have separated, and pour into the lined tart cases. Pour the mixture to the same height as the pastry, or even a bit higher.

Bake in the oven until the almond mixtures have set and turned a golden colour.

Turn the tarts out onto a wire rack and leave to cool down.

Whilst the tarts are cooling down, mix together the cream, milk and camp.

Add the spices to the liquid and beat.

Pour the mixture into a presentable jug.

Serve the tart warm with the sauce as a dessert, or with a summer fruits compote for breakfast.

Or...

use chestnut flour in the pastry to make the tart even more nutty!

add poached cherries to the almond mixture

swap some of the ground almonds for polenta

add a drop (or two) of rum to the sauce