Semolina and Almond Cake

We were in Edinburgh for the weekend, without any of the 3 little ones.  A whole 2 days and 2 nights without being referred to as Mammy and Daddy.  No baby wipes, nappies, bread sticks, teddies or scooters stuffed into my handbag.  No walking around with sick on my shoulder as I look for somewhere to change a dirty nappy.  I even had time this weekend to paint my nails green - oh, the sheer luxury of it.  The best part of the weekend?  Two unbroken nights sleep and being able to sit in a cafe reading the Sunday papers - totally minor things to most people but pure bliss to me.

Our reason for going to Edinburgh was tinged with sadness.  We were at a fundraising night for a very sick little 3 year old.  He has a rare and aggressive form of cancer with a shockingly low survival rate.  How his Mum and Dad can face each day so positively is beyond me but they are taking one day at a time and sometimes even one hour at a time.  Regardless of the level of care and love of the medical staff, no little 3 year old should have to spend their days in hospital, being pumped with drugs.  No little 3 year old should have to remain in isolation because of infection and not see his 2 year old brother for weeks and months on end.  We all hope and pray that a cure can be found for little Alex - fast. 

You never know what's around the corner.  As a great philosopher once said, "Life is a rollercoaster, just gotta ride it".  I came home on Sunday afternoon and hugged my little demons so hard that I may have hurt them.  We have a lot to be thankful for. 

You can have a look at this link for more info. on brave little Alex.

I had this recipe bookmarked for quite a while so I made it as a treat when I came home.  It's a Nigella cake that I've changed quite a bit, although I've kept to the core ingredients.  Semolina is used in place of flour which gives it a lovely crunchy texture that you'd expect from using polenta.  The original recipe calls for cardamom in the cake but instead I've used ground cinnamon and almond extract.  Also, a cold lemon syrup is poured over the hot cake and although Nigellas original recipe uses orange blossom water and rosewater, I left them out.  The result was an extremely most lemony and almond cake, with a subtle hint of cinnamon.  Delicious.

Semolina and Almond Cake, adapted from Nigella Lawsons "Sticky Semolina Cake" recipe.

Ingredients

For the syrup

250g granulated sugar

150ml water

Juice of 1 lemon

For the cake

300g semolina

150g granulated sugar

125g butter

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda

zest of 1 lemon

2 eggs

2 heaped tablespoons natural yogurt
1/2 tsp almond extract

1/4 tsp ground cinnamon

25 whole blanched almonds

Method
Make the syrup first.  Put the sugar and water into a saucepan and place on a low heat until the sugar dissolves.  Add the lemon juice and turn up the heat and boil for 5 minutes.  Take off the heat and allow to cool.  Then place in the fridge  to chill.

Preheat the oven to 180C (350F) and butter a 23cm square baking tin.
Place all the cake ingredients (except the whole almonds) into the food processor and blitz until it forms a batter.  Pour into the prepared tin and level the top.
Dot the cake evenly with the almonds in 5 rows of 5.  Bake in the oven for 30 minutes, until golden.
Pour the cold syrup over the hot  cake and allow to cool in the tin.
Cut into 25 squares, with a whole almond on each slice.
This cake will keep for at least 5 days wrapped in parchment paper and kept in an airtight container.

Spicy Apple Rye Cake

Things are a little bit hectic in our house just now and there's not a lot of time for baking.  Let's not stop at baking, there's not a lot of time for putting on make-up, waxing legs, adult conversations - I could go on but no-one likes a moaner.  They say things get easier when the kids get a bit older - I'm not sure if  my personal hygiene (or my tolerance of Peppa Pig) can wait that long!

I decided to lock myself into the kitchen on Sunday morning while everyone ran feral around the house.  They'd have to find the breakfast cereal by their sense of smell.   I've had a packet of rye flour in the cupboard for far too long with a best before date fast approaching. I knew I wouldn't have the time, patience or inclination to make a loaf of bread with it so when I saw this recipe I figured it would do nicely - it's the "one pot wonder" of the baking world which was perfect before the wolves started banging down the door demanding food and clothes.

A little bit of tweaking here and substitution there and you've got yourself a Spicy Apple Rye Cake. The syrup is brushed onto the cake as soon as it comes out of the oven and it gives it a lovely moistness and a nice shiny glaze.



Spicy Apple Rye Cake adapted from this Waitrose recipe

For the cake
200ml sunflower oil
zest of 1 lemon
100g dark brown sugar
100g soft light brown sugar
3 large eggs
125g rye flour
75g plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
3 apples (I used Pink Lady) peeled and cored. Chop 2 apples into chunks and the remaining apple into half moons

For the syrup
100ml apple juice
2 tbsp golden syrup
1 tbsp butter

Method

Preheat oven to 180C (350F). Grease and line a 23cm springform tin with parchment paper. Gently whisk the oil, zest and sugars together. Add the eggs, one by one and whisk until fully combined. Fold in the flours and spices until well combined then add the apple chunks until well distributed.

Pour batter into prepared tin and place the half mooned apples into the batter and press down slightly. Bake for 50-60 mins, or until golden brown and a skewer inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean.

20 minutes before the cake is cooked, start making the syrup. Place all ingredients into a small saucepan and bring to the boil. Boil gently for about 15 minutes until the mixture becomes syrupy. As soon as the cake comes out of the oven, brush the apples and the cake with the syrup.

Allow to cool in the tin.

Lemon Thyme and Almond Loaf

I'm always afraid that if I add herbs to sweet baking, I'll end up with a quiche instead of a cake.  Something about "face the fear and do it anyway" made me make this cake and I'm so glad I did.  It's a zesty lemon cake but with an extra zing, almost a lemony fizz, from the lemon thyme.  I wouldn't have known the flavour was from the thyme, I would have possibly said the zest of a lime was used or perhaps a different variety of lemons.  The ground almonds keep the cake moist and the glaze (which sits on top of the cake and only slightly penetrates through the cake) is sticky and gooey.  Overall?  If you like Lemon Cake, you'll love this.

The original recipe is from "The Hummingbird Bakery Cake Days".  I've made a few changes to it but the main difference is that I've added almonds which go so well with the lemon.

Lemon Thyme and Almond Loaf, adapted from "The Hummingbird Bakery Cake Days"
Ingredients
190g (7oz) butter, softened
Zest of 2 lemons
3 tsp finely chopped lemon thyme leaves
190g (7oz) granulated sugar
3 large eggs
130g (7oz) plain (AP) flour
60g ground almonds
1 tsp baking powder
2 tbsp natural yogurt

For the soaking syrup
40g (1.5 oz) granulated sugar
Juice of 2 lemons
2 tsp finely chopped lemon thyme leaves

Method
Preheat the oven to 170C (325F).  Grease a 2 lb (900g) loaf tin.
Beat the butter, zest, thyme leaves and sugar until light and fluffy.  This is easiest with a free standing mixer but a hand held one works fine too.
Add the eggs, one at a time, until well combined.
Sift the flour, ground almonds and baking powder into the creamed mixture in two batches and mix together on a low speed. 
Add the natural yogurt, then pour the batter into the tin and bake for 40-50 mins or until a skewer inserted in the centre of the cake comes out clean (it took my cake 60 mins before I was happy that it was ready).
While the cake is cooking, make the syrup.  Put all ingredients into a small saucepan and bring to the boil, allowing it to reduce by half and become slightly sticky.  Pour over the cake as soon as it comes out of the oven.  Allow the cake to cool in the tin.

Pear Pecan Cake

Americans cookbook writers certainly love their sugar and this recipe from the Magnolia Bakery cookbook is no different.  It's got 400g of sugar.  Maybe if you say it fast it won't sound so bad.  In it's defence, the cake has 3 pears in it so a slice could be classed as one of your 5 a day - again, say it fast.

There's something about the marriage of pears and pecans that work so well here so I wouldn't recommend substituting either.  The original recipe calls for 200g of icing sugar to fully coat the cake with a water icing but in an effort to be even semi healthy and to allow me to have a second slice with minimum guilt, I just mixed about 40g of icing sugar with a teaspoon or two of water and drizzled it on to the cake.  To be honest, this cake doesn't really need any icing.

Pear Pecan Cake, adapted from Magnolia Bakery cookbook.

Ingredients

Cake

400g plain flour

400g sugar

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

250ml vegetable oil

3 large eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 large pears or 3 medium pears, cut into 1 inch pieces

100g pecans

Glaze

200g icing sugar (I only used about 40g in the pictures)

4 tablespoons water

Method

Preheat the oven to 180C.  Grease and line a 24 cm (9inch) springform tin with parchment paper.

Sift together the flour, sugar baking soda and salt.  Make a well in the centre and stir in the oil, eggs and vanilla extract. 

Stir in the pears and the pecans.  Spoon the batter into the prepared tin.

Bake for 60-70 mins or until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean.

Let the cake cool for the few minutes in the tin before removing it and allowing it to cool completely on a wire rack.

To make the glaze, stir together the icing sugar and water until you have a smooth paste.  Drizzle over the cake to fully coat.

Virtually Fat Free Malted Chocolate Cake with "Forget The Diet" Icing

Dear Santa,

Thanks so much for the present you brought me last year – the baby that I asked for “magically” arrived in Oct.  So well done on sorting out that one for me.

This year I would love some time please.  Yep, that’s it, plain and simple, no wrapping paper required, just some more time added to each day.  Time to get back into running again.  Time to bake what I want to bake as opposed to something that can be quickly bunged in the oven with a sigh and a “sure, it’ll do”.  Time to spend with my wonderful husband doing things other than taking care of “business”, i.e. the rearing of 3 kids that sees a lot of our conversations interspersed with phrases such as “keeping the show on the road”, “heads above water”, “God, I need sleep” (me), “you can’t leave me with the 3 of them” (him).

So anyway big guy, do your best, I’m counting on you.  I’ve made this cake just for you cos I know you’ll come up trumps again this year (no pressure!).

Love

Claire

This cake is adapted from a Nigella recipe.  The malted chocolate powder gives it a lovely taste that's not as rich as your average chocolate cake, so perfect for a kids party. 

Virtually Fat Free Chocolate Cake with "Forget The Diet" Icing

Ingredients

For the cake

150g soft brown sugar

100g granulated sugar

3 large eggs

175ml milk

1 tbsp butter softened

2 tbsp malt chocolate powder (I used Milo, but Nigella uses Horlicks)

175g plain flour

25g cocoa

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda

For the icing

250g icing sugar

1 tsp cocoa

45g malt chocolate drink (again, Milo or Horlicks)

125g butter softened

2 tbsp boiling water

1 x Flake bar or 1 pack of Maltesers or whatever you want to use to decorate the cake

Method

Preheat the oven to 170C.  Butter and line two 20cm loose bottomed cake tins with baking parchment.

Whisk together the sugars and eggs until light and frothy.  Heat the milk, butter and chocolate powder in a saucepan until the butter melts and it is hot but not boiling.

Beat the hot chocolate mixture into the eggs and sugar mixture, then fold in the flour, cocoa, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda.

Divide the mixture between the two tins and bake in the oven for 25 mins or until they spring back when pressed gently.

Allow to cool in the tins slightly before cooling completely on a wire rack.

To make the icing, in a food processor blitz together the icing sugar, cocoa and Milo / Horlicks to remove all lumps.  Add the butter and process again.  With the motor running, add the boiling water down the funnel and process until you have a smooth buttercream.

Sandwich the cold sponges with half the buttercream, then ice the top with what is left.  Stud the edges with pieces of Flake / Maltesers.

Cranberry, Coconut and Lime Cake

It's the one time of the year when everyone has a spring in their step.  Thoughts of "recession", "breakdown of the EU" and "austerity measures" that have followed us around like a bad smell over the past 11 months of the year are brushed under the carpet for a few weeks - January 1st is time enough to have to deal with these mindnumbingly depressing subjects.  We're all happy to sing along to Christmas songs in the supermarket, smile at a stranger on the street (not in a creepy way!) and say "Happy Christmas" to staff in shops as they gift wrap that last minute present that you're still not 100% sure about - best to hang on to the receipt just in case his eyes don't light up quite as you'd expect.

As it's the third week in December, Christmas has definitely arrived.  It's time I baked something a little bit Christmasy.  To ease myself slowly into the Christmas baking season, I saw half price cranberries in the supermarket - bingo, that sealed the deal.  I started off with this recipe on Baking Bites website but adapted it quite a bit.  This is such a lovely teatime cake, the lime and coconut combination goes so well with the tartiness of the cranberries.  Just to make it a little bit special I mixed some white rum with a few tablespoons of lime juice and poured it over the warm cake to keep it moist and to add a very subtle kick to it.  I would safely say that this is one of the nicest "plain" cakes I have tasted in a long time.  It's moist, it's sweet n' sour and the lime, coconut, rum combo is delicious.  I'm well chuffed with this creation!



Cranberry, Coconut and Lime Cake, inspired by Baking Bites

Ingredients
220g plain flour
375g sugar
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
lime juice from 5 limes
1 tbsp lime zest
3 tbsp canola oil
2 large eggs
3 tbsp milk
130g fresh or frozen (unthawed) cranberries
50g desiccated coconut, plus an additional handful to sprinkle on top
2 tbsp white rum

Method
Preheat oven to 180C and lightly grease and flour a 2lb loaf tin.
Whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large mixing bowl. Whisk together the milk and eggs.  Add in lime juice, lime zest from 4 of the 5 limes, oil, eggs and milk and whisk until just combined.
Use a spatula to stir in in cranberries and desiccated coconut, then pour out the batter into prepared tin.  Sprinkle a handful of desiccated coconut on the top of the cake.
Bake for 45-55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean. Cool on a rack for 15 minutes.
Mix together the juice of the remaining lime and the rum.  While the cake is still warm, use a skewer to insert holes and pour the mixture over.

Tomato Soup Cake

I caught a glimpse of myself as I walked past a mirror in our house the other day. Wowsa - but not in a good way! It was a glimpse of the greasy haired, no make-up, thoroughly exhausted, dark circles under eyes person I've become. To be honest, it was a bit of a shock and it was the dark circles and bags under my eyes that really shocked me. It's amazing what lack of sleep will do to you. Other than ensure that you find it difficult to carry out even the most simple of daily tasks, it gives your face a look that screams I NEED A MAKE-OVER BUT BEFORE THAT, I NEED 8 HOURS SLEEP, PREFERABLY UNBROKEN. The baby is 5 weeks old now so I still have another few months of sleepless nights but in an effort to be "glass half full", every night of broken sleep brings us closer to being capable of staying awake to watch the end of X Factor - although by all accounts, I've not missed much this series!

My husband came home from work the other day to tell me that someone from the office had brought in Tomato Soup Cake which he said was delicious. I had never heard of this before so I turned to Google for confirmation that it even existed (you should never believe a man!). Apparently Tomato Soup Cake is extremely popular in the southern US states. It's similar to a carrot cake as it has quite a lot of spices and you would never know that the "secret" ingredient is tomato soup. But it's spicier than carrot cake and not at all as sweet.

To boost my energy levels (that was my excuse anyway!), I decided to give this recipe a go yesterday. I have to say this cake is absolutely delicious and it goes incredibly well with the cream cheese icing. If you like, you can add some walnuts or raisins to the mixture to make it even more like a carrot cake.

I've butchered quite a few recipes so I don't think I should reference any of them!

Ingredients

200g plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground nutmeg

1/4 tsp ground cloves

1/4 tsp ground ginger
60g butter
270g sugar
2 large eggs
1 can Condensed Cream of Tomato Soup (mine was 300g can)

Icing
200g cream cheese
60g soft butter
1 tsp vanilla extract
400g icing sugar

Method
Preheat the oven to 180C. Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and ginger. Set aside.

Cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy, 5 minutes on medium-high setting. Add eggs, one at a time, beating after each for 30 seconds. Add dry ingredients to creamed mixture alternately with soup, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Beat well after each addition for 1 minute.

Pour into two 8-inch round layer tins which have been greased and lined on the bottom with parchment paper. Bake for 30 minutes. Cool for 10 minutes in tins, then remove to wire rack to cool thoroughly, 20 to 30 minutes.

Beat the cream cheese, vanilla and butter together then gradually add the icing sugar until smooth.

Raspberry and Almond Cake

Maybe it’s just an Irish thing but I've recently become addicted to tea.  The very best mug (always mug, never cup) of tea of the day is lovely milky one you have when the day is over and the kids are safely in bed – preferably asleep!  You know what makes that mug of tea even better?  A piece of homemade cake.  Nothing too elaborate, the cake doesn't necessarily need any type of icing or ganache.  This is my perfect cake to accompany a “what a day, I’m totally shattered” mug of tea.  The cakey sponge, the tart raspberries and the almost crunchy crumbly almond flake topping were just made for a mug of tea. 

I made this cake last week when I had nothing to do but wait around for baby to make an appearance but held off on posting it until now as I knew I wouldn't have any time to bake anything this week.

Ingredients

250g softened butter

275g caster sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

3 eggs

150g self raising flour, sifted

100g plain flour, sifted

60g ground almonds

300g frozen raspberries

Almond Topping

50g plain flour

2 tbsp sugar

45g butter, cubed

15g flaked almonds

Method

Preheat oven to 180C.  Grease and line a deep 23cm square tin

Make the almond topping by combining the flour and sugar in a bowl.  Rub in the butter with your fingers and mix through the almonds.  Set aside.

Using an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar until pale and creamy.  Add the vanilla and beat again.  Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. 

Gently fold in both flours and ground almonds.  Spread the mixture onto the prepared tin and top with the raspberries. 

Sprinkle the almond topping over the raspberries and bake for about an hour, or until a skewer comes out clean.  Allow to cool in the tin for 5 minutes, then cool completely on a wire rack.

Variation:  I have a thing for almonds and lemon, I think they make a perfect match.  I’ve made this cake a number of times by omitting the vanilla and replacing it with the zest and juice of a lemon.  No idea why, but it goes so well with the raspberries.

Anyone for the last of the season's apples?

Apple and Cinnamon Cake

Ah cake, beautiful mood enhancing cake, the answer to all our woes!  Not sure about you, but for me cake doesn’t have to have a 3 inch layer of buttercream in the middle and another 3 inch layer of chocolate ganache on top to make it worthy.  In my world, a good cake should be left simple and unadorned – this is one of those cakes.

I was at my parents house in Galway last weekend and in true “Irish Mammy” fashion, my Mam packed me off to Dublin on Sunday evening with a jar of homemade marmalade, a packet of sausages for our tea (honestly!) and a bag of cooking apples.  They are the last of her apples for the year and they’ve been sitting in my fridge all week as I try to decide what to bake with them.  Finally decided on this recipe which is one my Mam has been baking for years.  It has a layer of cinnamon coated apples in the middle and another layer on top of the cake that sink slightly into the cake as it bakes.  It’s so simple and only uses store cupboard ingredients, which is always a plus for me (I hate seeing a recipe that I want to make NOW but need to go to the supermarket to get some Peruvian vanilla extract or Italian walnut oil!).  I’ve just googled “layer apple and cinnamon cake” and it seems that this is also called a “Jewish Apple Cake”.  Whatever you want to call it, it works and it tastes delicious.

Ingredients

6 large cooking apples, such as Bramleys
1 tablespoon cinnamon
5 tablespoons sugar

350g plain flour, sifted

175g wholemeal flour, sifted

3 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
200ml vegetable oil
175g granulated sugar

200g soft brown sugar
50ml orange juice
2 ½ tsps vanilla extract
4 eggs
50g walnuts, chopped (optional)

Method

Preheat oven to 180C. Grease and line a 20 inch springform tin.

Peel, core and chop apples into chunks. Toss with cinnamon and sugar and set aside.

Mix the flour, baking powder and salt in a large mixing bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together oil, orange juice, sugar and vanilla. Mix wet ingredients into the dry ones, then add eggs, one at a time, mixing after each one.

Pour half of batter into prepared tin. Spread half of the apple chunks over the batter. Pour the remaining batter over the apples and spread the remaining apples on top. Bake for about 1 1/2 hours, or until a skewer comes out clean.  You may have to cover the cake with a piece of parchment paper halfway during cooking to prevent it burning (I did!).  Check after 1 hour to see if the cake is ready.

Leave in the tin to cool for 10 mins. and allow to cool completely on a wire tray before dusting with icing sugar.

Apples tossed in cinnamon and sugar

Ready for the oven

Straight from the oven.  Hot, hot, hot

Ready to serve

Ooooh, yes please!

The Summer May Be Well and Truly Over But............

Lemon and Summer Fruit Cake

My first week of maternity leave from work has just started and I could easily get used to this lifestyle.  The kids are in the crèche, hubby is gone to work and I’ve made the decision that for all of this week I am doing the bare minimum for them and the absolute maximum for myself.  Sounds a little selfish?  It’s just that if I don’t take this time for myself, before I know it the new baby will be here, the two older kids will be at home with me too and free time will be a distant memory.  So household jobs can wait until next week (provided the new baby stays put for another while!) as I bake and read and watch TV – not very much else a heavily pregnant woman in severe discomfort can do.  Make hay while the sun shines!

I thought it time to start using some of my blueberries and raspberries from summer that I had frozen.  I found this amazing recipe in an Australian food magazine called “Australian Table” from April 2006 that my sister sent home from Australia.  I have quite a few of these magazines but I guess when time is constantly against me, I end up baking from the same books the whole time.  It’s so nice once in a while to flick through a book that’s been gathering dust for far too long.  Well, here’s my “gathering dust” recipe.  This is so unbelievably easy, it’s the baking equivalent of a “one pot wonder” in that you give all the ingredients one mix and bung the cake into the oven.  No funny ingredients either and next time I try it I’m going to try it with peaches instead of the summer fruits, I think they would go so well with the lemon.

The cake is so moist and the critics in my house are still raving about it (they can be pretty harsh critics!).

Lemon and Summer Fruit Cake (Adapted from “Australian Table” Magazine, April 2006)

Ingredients

300g self raising flour, sifted

295g caster sugar

2 eggs, lightly beaten

180 ml milk

Zest and juice of 1 lemon

130g butter, melted

200g blueberries or a combination of blueberries and raspberries.  The fruit can be frozen if that’s what you have.

Method

Preheat the oven to 180C.  Grease a 21cm loose-based tin.

Put everything (except the fruit) in a large mixing bowl.  Mix until well combined.

Spoon into the prepared tin.  Top with half of the fruit.  Bake for 20 minutes.

Sprinkle over the remaining fruit and bake for a further 30 mins.  Cool in the tin for 10 mins, then transfer to a wire rack.

This cake freezes really well, just wrap it well in parchment paper first.