Vintage baking . . .

Yesterday I bought some really cute vintage ACME baking tins from the Car Boot sale . . .

. . and, I couldn't wait to christen them.

So, today I've made some baby Orange Poppyseed Cakes glazed with marmalade adapted from this brilliant recipe by Tom Dolby

Orange Poppyseed Cakes
Recipe

2 medium oranges

350g caster sugar
150g self-raising flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
150g ground almonds
2 tablespoons poppy seeds
3 eggs
175g caster sugar
good quality marmalade to glaze



to make cakes . . .

sllice the whole oranges thinly and poach with 400mls of water and the sugar until they are tender (about 20 mins) - leave to cool

measure the dry ingredients for the cake into a bowl and mix together

puree 100g of the oranges with 75mls of the poaching water

in a separate bowl, whisk the eggs and sugar together until they are very pale and fluffy - you'll know it's ready when the mixture looks a bit like the consistency of whipped cream

now, fold the orange puree very lightly into the whisked eggs and sugar

fold in the rest of the dry ingredients, but don't overmix or you will knock out all the air you've worked so hard to whisk in!

spoon mixture into bun cases and bake at Gas 4 / 180C for about 15 to 20 mins until they are golden and spring back to the touch

leave to cool for a few minutes while you melt a couple of tablespoons of marmalade gently in a saucepan. Then, glaze the baby cakes liberally with the marmalade

. . . they are lovely warm from the oven! . . . and the marmalade makes them a good choice for a sweet breakfast treat too

in search of the perfect Chocolate Brownie!

You know how it is when you have a tried and tested recipe that you come back to time and again.....well, for years I've used a Mary Berry recipe that never fails to produce a dense, fudgy, chocolatey brownie every time. But, being me, I'm always curious to try out new ideas in search of the definitive recipe.

So, when I saw this recipe for Fudgy Coconut Brownies on the Good Food website I was immediately intrigued; coconut in brownies? hmmm, that's an interesting twist! I have had the recipe bookmarked for ages, but the other day was grey and miserable with just enough of a hint of Autumn in the air to make me think of the warm comfort of baking and filling the house with the aroma of chocolate! The perfect excuse to try out - Coconut Brownies!

This time I didn't make any adjustments to the original recipe because I really liked the way they turned out. Unlike other brownie recipes there is no melted chocolate in the mixture, but they tasted so deeply chocolatey that you would never guess. Despite the name there is really just a hint of coconut in the taste, but it gives the brownies a lovely chewy texture.....and they are very addictive; I had eaten two before they'd even cooled down!

Coconut Brownies

(Recipe from BBC Good Food)

100g cocoa

250g butter

500g caster sugar

4 eggs

100g self-raising flour

100g dessicated coconut

Heat oven to 180C / Gas 4 and line a 21cm square tin with baking paper - I used a standard size swiss roll tin

Melt the butter gently in a large saucepan and then stir in the cocoa and caster sugar until melted and combined. Be careful because it will catch and burn if not stirred constantly

Take off the heat and cool for a few minutes then beat in the rest of the ingredients until well mixed

Pour into prepared tin and bake for about 40 mins until set. Leave to cool in tin and then turn out, dust with icing sugar and cut up into chunky pieces

Beware - they won't last very long!

fresh peach and blackberry muffins

Following on from my foray with the summer berries and loaf cake, I'm continuing with a bit of a Summer theme.....this time with peach and blackberry muffins. It's not quite blackberry season yet so I did 'cheat' a bit and used frozen blackberries, and they turned out just fine!

...slightly crunchy on top, very fluffy inside and not too sweet, with mouthfuls of fruit that burst through the soft sugary vanilla cakiness.....

I've been searching for some good muffin recipes lately, and this one Strawberry Muffins was one I came across on the Australian website Taste.com. I did tweak it a bit, just because I can't leave anything alone!!

So, here's my version of the recipe - with tweaks - although, as you can see from the comments on the original recipe, this is a very forgiving mixture so you can be inspired to add 'tweaks' of your own! Happy baking!

Fresh Peach and Blackberry Muffins

Recipe (by Alfie)

400g self-raising flour

175g unrefined caster sugar

250g mixed peaches (cut into small chunks) and blackberries

2 eggs

300mls buttermilk

80g melted butter

3 tsps good vanilla extract

set oven to 190 / Gas 5 and put your prettiest muffin cases in to a 12 hole muffin tin

mix together all of the dry ingredients, and then stir in the fruit

mix together all of the wet ingredients

quickly add the liquid to the dry ingredients and mix lightly until it just comes together - it's important not too over- mix if you want light fluffy muffins!

fill muffin cases almost to the top and then bake in the centre of the oven until they are golden and firm to the touch - about 30-35 minutes

leave to cool in tin for about 10 minutes just to allow them to firm up a little, and then cool on a cooling rack

perfect for a lazy Sunday breakfast, tea-time treat - or just because!.....

summer berry and vanilla loaf cake

You know, I think that (well, for me anyway!), the answer to everything is cake! ....Every challenge, every problem is always soothed by the therapeutic alchemy of mixing up lots of sweet, fragrant goodies to a glossy goo, putting it into the oven, and ending up with this wonderful transformation into something beautiful, with the added bonus of filling the house with the evocative and comforting smell of vanilla, chocolate, cinnamon, or, in this case, blackberries!.........

I have decided that I don't cook enough cake!

That may sound a little strange seeing as I am always making cupcakes, and, much as I love making those little cuties, whilst looking through all my cuttings and books for inspiration for new flavours I realised that I had so many cake recipes that I wanted to try out. So, that's just what I'm going to do; work my way through all of my cuttings, folders, and books, of all the cake recipes I have wanted to make, but just never quite got around to.......starting with this loaf cake. I feel I must say, in defence of loaf cake, that although it may not sound all that inspiring, it delivers good, down to earth scrumptiousness with no fuss or frills, just good honest comfort food!

This recipe is really just an amalgamation of several that I've had book-marked for ages, and it produced a wonderfully fragrant slab of fruity indulgence - thanks to the delicate perfume of the blackberries and raspberries and the warm vanilla, and the addition,(just because I couldn't resist it!) of drizzly pink icing and fresh fruits on the top. In fact, in the end it tasted more like a pudding than a cake, reminiscent of warm blackberry crumble!

Summer Berry and Vanilla Loaf Cake
Recipe (by Alfie)
125g caster sugar (vanilla sugar is good if you have some)
3 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla essence
80g butter, melted
60mls natural yoghurt
300g self-raising flour
250g of mixed summer berries (fresh, or frozen)

Set oven to 180 C or Gas 4 and grease a standard loaf tin - you can also line it if you want, although with a non-stick loaf tin you probably won't need to

Whisk together the eggs, sugar and vanilla until frothy, and then pour in the melted butter and yoghurt

Combine dry ingredients together and then toss in the fruit to coat with the flour. If you are using frozen fruit there is no need to thaw it first as it will go a bit too mushy

Add the wet ingredients to the flour and fruit and gently mix until it just comes together. Don't be tempted to over-mix, it will look a little lumpy, but that's fine

Then, just put the mixture into the loaf tin and bake for around 50 mins to 1 hour - until a skewer inserted in the cake comes out clean - and let the magic happen!

Leave to cool in the tin for 10 mins and then when the cake is completely cool, ice with a little icing sugar mixed with some fruit puree. Or just leave it plain for a more 'rustic' look

Served warm, this also makes a very yummy pud with ice-cream or thick double cream!

I was going to show you a photo - but it didn't last that long!!

lazy sunday afternoon

Serendipity:

A happy or lucky discovery that happens by accident

That's what I love most about life, when you stumble upon something wonderful, completely by accident, and just when you're not expecting it!

Last Sunday was grey, damp and blustery, exactly what you'd expect of a January day, no wonder so many animals hibernate........hmmm actually that doesn't sound like a bad idea!
So anyway, to escape the creeping malaise, my man B. and I ventured out to our local Farmer's Market in Winchester in search of inspiration.

I started to get excited at the sight of the green and white striped awnings. The fruity, musty smell of mulled wine and cider drifted around the stalls, mingling with the hog roast, ripe cheeses, smoked garlic and bread. We wandered through the market.......what to choose, what to choose?!
Eventually, we decided on a some rich and buttery Tunworth soft cheese, and some oak-smoked garlic, all warm smelling and woody in it's golden tissued sheath. Excitedly we carried home our hoard, constantly opening the bag to sniff the wonderfully pungent aroma of the mixture, already anticipating the feast ahead!

Deciding that the perfect partner for the cheese and garlic was with some other autumny/wintery tastes; walnut and pear, I baked a Walnut and Pear Tea bread to go with them. A kind of cross, really, between a scone and a soda bread with nutty nuggets and earthy dried pears. I made mine with wholemeal flour, but if you prefer the texture a little lighter you could use half white and half brown flour. It's quite a dense loaf, and really needs to be eaten on the day it's baked - not that that's any real hardship!
With the Walnut Pear loaf cooling on the rack, I baked the cheese in it's box (minus the wax paper of course!) with a few cloves of the oak-smoked garlic nestled in it, in a hot oven - 200 C / 400 F / Gas 6.

What a lovely cosy and indulgent way to end a dismal, dark Winter afternoon; sat by the crackling firelight with a glass of Port, scooping the oozing garlicky cheese straight out of the box with the bread. The nutty, pear-sweet taste being the perfect foil for the luscious creamy, tangy cheese.........mmmmmmmmm heaven!

If you fancy trying the Tea bread for yourself, here's how,...... my adaptation of a basic soda bread / scone recipe........

Walnut Pear Tea bread

175 g wholemeal self-raising flour

50g oats

50g butter

1 egg + 2Tablespoons of walnut oil - made up to 150ml with natural yoghurt

50g each of walnuts

25g-50g dried pears, depending on how sweet you want it

1 tsp salt

Measure out the flour, oats and salt into a bowl and stir to mix.

Rub the butter into the flour mixture - or, if you prefer you could bung it all in a food processor and whizz it up until it looks like the butter is well incorporated, a bit like breadcrumbs. Then stir in the nuts and pears.

Add the wet ingredients, and bring together lightly. If you overwork the mixture you'll end up with very solid, hard tea bread!

Tip out onto a floured surface and knead lightly to bring it all together. Then shape into a rough oval and put on a floured baking sheet. Score lines across the top of the loaf for decoration, and then bake at 190C / 375F / Gas 5 for about 30 minutes until the loaf is golden brown.

This is lovely eaten when slightly warm, either smothered with salty butter, or as we ate it, just dipped straight into oozy unctuous cheese.........enjoy!!