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. 

Pumpkin bites

I'm going to be honest with you. Until recently, I wasn't sure what you could really do with pumpkins, aside from pumpkin soup, pumpkin pie, and the obligatory Halloween carved pumpkin. But I have been shown the light - no pun intended. There are over 15 different types of pumpkins, each with their own unique taste.
You have the sweeter varieties such as sugar pumpkins, small orange pumpkins best for puréeing and mashing, as well as the more salty/savoury ones, such as Japanese pumpkins which are dark green speckled with orange, and perfect for stir-frying.

When I made this recipe, I used the a small, orange "golden nugget" pumpkin, one of the most common types of pumpkin.

PUMPKIN BITES
one small pumpkin
coarse sea salt
nutmeg
cinnamon
olive oil
sugar (optional)

Preheat the oven to 240C.
Deseed the pumpkin and cut into slices with thickness of around 1 cm.
Line a baking tray with tinfoil and place the pupkin slices.
Sprinkle the pumpkins with the salt.
Sprinkle the pumpkins with freshly ground nutmeg and cinnamon.
Drizzle the oil over the pumpkin slices, and pop in the oven for around 25 minutes.
When the pumpkin is soft to the touch it is ready to come out.

These are perfect warm with a dollop of soured cream, or cold, when you get a chewy, toffee-like texture.
If you are using sugar, sprinkle demerara sugar on the pumpkins during the last 10 minutes of cooking.

Pumpkin soup and seeded honey bread

Roasted pumpkin #1

Pumpkin soup

PUMPKIN SOUP
one large pumpkin
olive oil
juice of half an orange
boiled potato (if you want the soup to go further)
light brown sugar
nutmeg
pepper - to season
orange juice
salt - to season
soured cream, to serve

Preheat the oven to 200C.
Cut a pumpkin in half and deseed. Set aside the seeds for the bread
Deeply score the pumpkin.
Sprinkle the cinnamon and sugar over the pumpkin, then generously season with pepper and salt.
Drizzle the pumpkin with olive oil.
Bake in the oven until the pumpkin flesh is soft - this should take about 30-40 minutes.

Roasted pumpkin #2

Scoop out the pumpkin flesh, and blend with the orange juice, and potato if using. To thin the soup, you can add water, or preferably stock for extra flavour.
Serve with a dollop of soured cream.

Probably best to keep an eye on the soup when heating...

With a dollop (or two) or soured cream

For me, bread has always been one of those foods where the only quantities used are "a handful of this", "a dash of that", and "whatever looks right". Alternatively, start off with 50g flour per serving.

BREAD
white or wholemeal flour, for a heartier loaf use rye flour
a teaspoon of yeast / 7g sachet
seeds, you can use the pumpkin seeds from earlier, along with sunflower seeds and sesame seeds
honey
olive oil
warm water

Mix together the flour and the seeds.
Stir the yeast into an espresso-sized cup of warm water. It's important to add this to the mixture as soon as possible, because the yeast immediately reacts with the water, and is at its peak to work with the flour.
Pour the yeast water into the flour until you have a dough begins to come together.
Add oil to the dough-ish mixture until you have an only slightly sticky dough.
Flatten the mixture, and add the honey. I used about three teaspoons worth.
Fold the dough into an envelope shape, so all the honey is in the middle. Like a card if we're going to continue with the envelope metaphor.
Work the dough, and add more flour if it becomes to sticky.
Put in a lightly floured bowl, and cover with cling film.
Leave to rest in a warm place until the dough has doubled. This is usually about one hour.
Once the mixture has risen, work it... Knock the air out of the dough.
Then leave to rise again for an hour.
Preheat the oven to 220C.
Place the dough into a lightly oiled tin, or freeform on a baking tray.
Brush the dough with milk or beaten egg (for gloss) and sprinkle with salt.
Put in the oven.
After 20 minutes on 220C, turn the heat down to 180C. Cooking the bread for a short time on a high heat allows a crust to form, but if it is too high for too long the top of the bread will be burnt whilst the inside will be underbaked.
The bread should take about a further 40 minutes to cook. The bread is cooked if you hear a hollow sound when knocking the base.

Catalan style anchovies

This recipe is perfect for those hot summer days where you need something light and fresh to indulge in.



 

Liberally sprinkle fresh anchovy fillets with salt.
Leave to process for 2-12 hours.
Rinse the anchovies to get rid of salt and pat them dry.
Generously cover with olive oil, white wine vinegar, chopped garlic, Mediterranean herbs, lemon juice and freshly ground black pepper.
Leave to marinate in the fridge for at least an hour.

Serve with freshly cooked bread to mop up juices, and a glass of chilled white wine or rosé.

Note
Make sure the anchovies are very fresh, to avoid food poisoning.
It is easier to fillet the anchovies if you put them in the freezer for half an hour before filleting.


Thank you to S for the delicious recipe.
 

Potato salad

1.5kg potatoes (I would use New Potatoes or Jersey Royals)
a handful of finely chopped dill and parsley
a teaspoon of chopped chives
3 teaspoons of mustard
a teaspoon of balsamic vinegar
pepper and salt (to season)

MAYONNAISE3 egg yolks
vegetable oil
olive oil (extra virgin is preferable)

Peel the potatoes and cut into small chunks.
Rinse the potatoes to get rid of excess starch. This is what makes the potatoes sticky and glutinous.
Boil the potatoes over a medium heat for 30 minutes (or until you can put a fork in easily).
When the potatoes are cooked, rinse them in cold water to stop them cooking.

Beat the egg yolks until you have a liquid.
Whilst whisking, add a little vegetable oil.  You must add it gradually so that the mixture does not separate.
Continue whisking and add some olive oil.
Repeat this until it looks like mayonnaise and you have the amount you need.

Add the mustard, herbs, vinegar, and pepper and salt to the mayonnaise, and whisk until thoroughly combined.
Toss among the potatoes and serve immediately.