Let them eat cake at Lessingham fete - a mini 'bake-athon'

Around about this time every year I'm expected to do my village duty and bake a load of cakes for the annual fete. For the village hall committee, (and that means my husband as he's the chairman for his sins), this is the highlight of the village calender. The fete is probably like any other English village fete with a selection of stalls ranging from bric a brac, books, and those old fashioned games like the coconut shy and hoopla. The cakes are either sold individually or sliced up with a nice cuppa!
Obviously if I've got to bake cakes it would be a missed opportunity not to attempt some new recipes from three different books wouldn't it?

When it comes to typical fete cakes you have to be fairly practical - nothing too 'desserty' or messy. So I had a good squiz through the old books and came up with three new recipes.

The first one I chose was Sticky Peanut Butter Cake (page 72) from Divine: Heavenly Chocolate Recipes with  a heart by Linda Collister http://www.amazon.co.uk/Divine-Heavenly-Chocolate-Recipes-Heart/dp/1904573738/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1343229873&sr=1-1 This book has some wonderful recipes in but I must confess I've only ever tried one other recipe and that is the After Dinner Brownies (page42). Flicking through I keep coming back to the Raspberry Chocolate Gateau (Page94), so that's definitely one to try another time...

Just lately I've really been getting in to anything with peanuts and particularly love the Reese's Buttercups that you can now buy in our shops! Anyway, this is a fairly straightforward chocolate sponge cake but filled with a very sticky peanut butter and chocolate combination. For decoration the recipe recommended using peanut brittle but unfortunately I couldn't get hold of any so I used some Reese's  Pieces instead.

The second recipe was Sachertorte (page 26) from Simple Cakes  by Mary Berry - a very handy little book that does indeed live up to its name, but don't be fooled, the cakes are all delicious and recipes very reliable http://www.amazon.co.uk/Simple-Cakes-Mary-Berry/dp/0563521929/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1343230707&sr=1-1  This is a wonderfully rich and grown-up chocolate cake. I remember reading years ago that the true recipe for this cake is a closely guarded secret at the Hotel Sacher in Vienna. Unfortunately when I was a teenager staying with my Austrian penfriend we didn't make it to the aforementioned hotel but what really sticks in my mind were the wonderful patisseries and grand cafes that adorned the streets of Vienna displaying the most decadent pastries and cakes you could imagine!

Finally I chose to do another Delia recipe, this time from  The Delia Collection: Baking. If you read my first entry then you'll know I do have a special fondness for the lovely Delia...One of my favourite recipes from this book is her Chocolate Fudge Brownies (page109), they are so easy to make and very delicious!  http://www.amazon.co.uk/Delia-Collection-Baking-Smith/dp/0563487364/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1343231356&sr=1-1 . Perusing the pages, this recipe really stood out as something different: Polenta and Ricotta Cake with Dates and Pecans (page 22).

 As Delia says, "This is a very unusual cake, quite different in flavour and texture from anything else. It's Italian in origin and polenta gives it a sandy texture, while at the same time ricotta cheese and Amaretto liqueur give a wonderful moistness". 

This cake was very easy to make but I made the fatal mistake of not reading through the whole recipe beforehand to see that it takes about 2 hours in the oven and that was not good, as I started making this at 10.30pm Friday night!


Anyway here are the recipes:


Sticky Peanut Butter Cake (copyright Linda Collister, 2007)

Creaming the butter and sugar

For the sponge
175g unsalted butter
150g caster sugar
25g light muscovado sugar
3 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
150g self-raising flour
30g Cocoa powder
2 tbsp milk


For the filling

Greased and lined tins (you can buy ready made circles of baking paper!)

45g plain chocolate
45g milk chocolate
125g smooth peanut butter
25g unsalted butter
2 tsp icing sugar
2 tsp cocoa powder
peanut brittle to decorate


2 x 20.5cm sandwich tins, greased and lined

1. Heat oven to 180C
2. Make the sponge: Beat the butter until creamy. Add both the sugars and beat until very light and fluffy
3. Gradually beat in the eggs and then the vanilla.
4. Sift flour and cocoa powder in to bowl, add milk and mix gently until thoroughly combined.
5. Spoon mixture into the tins, spreading evenly. Bake for 15-20 minutes.
6. Turn on to a wire rack to cool.

Slowly beating in the eggs

Make the filling and topping:

1. Break up both bars of chocolate and melt on the hob in a bowl set over a pan of simmering water.
2. Cool for a couple of minutes and then beat in peanut butter and softened butter.
3. Test for sweetness and add the icing sugar and or cocoa powder for your taste.
4. Sandwich the two sponges together with a layer of filling and spread the rest of the mixture on top.
5. Eat within 5 days, storing in an airtight container.

Melting the chocolates

Beating in the peanut butter

Filled and iced on top

The finished article

Now for Sachertorte (copyright Mary Berry 2004)


For the sponge
265g plain chocolate
6 eggs, 5 of them separated
215g caster sugar
150g ground almonds

Separated egg yolks and whites

For the topping and icing
4tbsp apricot jam
150g plain chocolate
150ml double cream
25g white chocolate


Deep, round, loose-bottomed 23cm cake tin

1. Heat oven to 180C and grease and line the base of the cake tin.
2. Melt the chocolate gently in a bowl over a pan of simmering water. Allow to cool slightly.
3. Whisk the five egg whites in a large mixing bowl until stiff but not dry.
4. In a separate large mixing bowl, whisk together the five egg yolks, whole egg and sugar until thick and pale. The mixture should be thick enough to leave a trail on the surface when the whisk is lifted from the bowl.

Whisking the egg whites

Whisking the yolks and remaining egg

5. Whisk the ground almonds, melted chocolate and 1tbsp of whisked egg whites in to the egg yolk mixture.

Whisking the ground almonds and chocolate

6. Very gently fold in the remaining egg whites preferably using a large metal spoon and turn in to the cake tin. Carefully level the surface and bake for 40-45 minutes until a crust has formed and the cake shrinks away from the sides of the tin.

7. Allow the cake to cool in tin for 10 minutes and then turn out onto a rack to cool completely.

The apricot jam helps to hold the ganache in place

Spreading on the yummy chocolate ganache.

8. Heat the apricot jam very gently and brush it evenly over the tops and sides of the cake.

9. To make the icing (ganache): melt the chocolate and cream in a bowl over a pan of hot water. Stir a few times until smooth and glossy. Allow the icing to cool and thicken a bit (putting it in the fridge for a while helps to do this). Spread it over the top and sides. To finish, melt the white chocolate and spoon into a piping bag or similar and pipe 'Sacher' across the cake and leave to set.

Ready to be taken to the fete!

And finally Polenta and Ricotta Cake with Dates and Pecans (copyright Delia Smith, 2005)

200g polenta

250g ricotta

175g chopped dates

50g pecan nuts, roughly chopped

Polenta

3 tbsp Amaretto

200g self-raising flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 heaped tsp ground cinnamon

225g caster sugar

110g butter, melted

1 tbsp demerara sugar        

Toasting the pecans

Whisk for about a minute

1. Preheat the oven to 170C
2. Soak the dates in the Amaretto for 15 minutes or so.  
3. Toast the pecans in the oven,  spread on a baking tray, for 6-8 minutes.      
4. Sift the polenta, flour, baking powder and cinnamon in to a large mixing bowl.
5. Add the caster sugar, ricotta, melted butter and 200ml of tepid water and whisk until everything is thoroughly blended.



Mixing it all up!



6. Fold in the nuts, dates and soaking liqueur. Fold everything in thoroughly and spoon in to the tin, levelling the surface.

Scatter the demerara sugar over the top and bake for 1hour 45 minutes- 2 hours. It will feel springy in the centre when cooked, if not give another ten minutes.     

Combining all the ingredients

Allowing the cake to cool in the tin for 15 minutes before turning out!

Overall the fete was a resounding success. Takings were up from last year and everybody was happy. The Peanut Butter cake and Sachertorte were sold as individual slices and the Polenta cake sold as a whole so I never did get to sample it! Surprisingly my four year old and his three year old friend loved the Sachertorte and it wasn't too rich for them! I sampled the Peanut butter cake and was fairly satisfied with it, I probably would have added a bit more sugar to the icing as I did use a peanut butter with no added sugar.

Obviously making cakes for the fete is not the same as baking something for a really special occasion and I must highly recommend the most exquisite cakes created by my friend Sam at Scrumptious Buns http://www.scrumptiousbuns.co.uk/. Her cakes are real works of art that never cease to amaze me!

Not sure what's next on the agenda, possibly something from a book I've never cooked from before. However, got a date in London for the Greatest Show on Earth coming up (a spot of basketball and football), so it'll probably be after that!

  

                                

And now for something...Savoury

For anyone counting we're on recipe three now with only another 197 to go! So it's about time I did something savoury, but what? When it comes to savoury, my soft spot always edges towards the cuisine of Asia (Thai, Chinese, Indian, Japanese). I'd eat curry every day for dinner and sushi everyday for lunch if I could get away with it! I've always felt an affinity to India in particular and as a child my parents would regularly take my sisters and myself out for lunch to Ipswich, Southend, Maldon or wherever the latest Indian restaurant happened to be! In fact, I chose to take a few friends for an Indian meal for my eleventh birthday treat! But of course, Indian food aficionados will know that most Indian restaurants are usually run by Bangladeshis, so what you tend to get is a fusion of Indian subcontinent dishes.

This time the book I've chosen is The New Curry Secret by Kris Dhillon and very well used it is too! The curry sauce recipe, which forms the basis for many of the recipes, can be time-consuming but well worth the effort and the trick is to bulk cook and freeze in batches; this then enables me to grab a bag from the freezer after work. One of my favourite fail-safe curry's is the prawn Malabar; every time I grind up those individual spices the beautiful fragrance of coconut, cinnamon and cardomom never fails to tantalise my olfactory glands! (Whoops, I'll come back down to earth now!).









The recipe I've chosen is Chicken Chettinad page 65 - a punchy, spicy affair that's not too hot but fully flavoursome. This was one of the very few recipes I hadn't tried from this book and knew it would be a safe bet. With most of the chicken recipes in the book you are required to pre-cook the chicken with some of the sauce or if you haven't got any spare you can chop an onion and cook with some turmeric, this then allows you to add the chicken later on and just warm through.

Conveniently I had one last portion of curry sauce in the freezer so it was a case of adding the spice mix and other ingredients to create this dish. When you look at the list of spices it can be a little off-putting as there are quire a few to say the least, but I am converted to cooking my curries from scratch because they do taste fresher and more authentic and you get a real satisfaction from doing so. I halved the ingredients becuase I was only cooking this for my husband and myself.

The recipe: Chicken Chettinad  (Copyright Kris Dhillon, 2009) http://www.amazon.co.uk/New-Curry-Secret-Kris-Dhillon/dp/0716022044/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1342110219&sr=1-1

Serves 4
Spice mix                                                                2 tbsp olive oil
2 tsp olive oil                                                            4 curry leaves (I used dried)
1 tsp poppy seeds                                                     1 tomato chopped
1/2 tsp fennel seeds                                                   425ml curry sauce
1/2 tsp coriander seeds                                              1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black peppercorns                                         1/2 tsp chilli powder
3-4 dried chillies                                                        1 tsp paprika
small piece of cinnamon                                             1/2 tsp turmeric
5 green cardomom pods                                            450g chicken pre-cooked
2 cloves                                                                      handful cherry tomatoes
1 tbsp coconut                                                           juice of half a lime
                                                                                 chopped coriander

• Make the spice mix by heating oil and roasting spices and coconut for a minute. Cool. Grind to a fine powder

• Heat remaining oil and add curry leaves and chopped tomato. Cook until pulpy. Add spice mix and cook for 5 minutes.

• Add curry sauce, salt, chilli powder, paprika and turmeric and bring to boil. Simmer for 5 minutes.

• Add the chicken, bring back to simmer and cook for 3 minutes. Stir in the tomatoes, like juice and coriander, and serve.

Pre-cooking the chicken

From top clockwise: dried chilli pepper, poppy seeds, cardomom pods, clove, black peppercorns,  coriander seeds,  piece of cinnamon and fennel seeds. Centre - desiccated coconut

Roasting the spices

Curry sauce (right)

Warming through the chicken in the sauce and spice mix

Cooking tomatoes until slightly pulpy

On this occasion I served the curry with some pilau-style rice which I added roasted cashews, raisins, onions, cumin seeds and cardomom. Cooking the rice in a little turmeric gives it that lovely yellow colour. After cooking rice I always let it dry out by spreading on a baking sheet and keeping cool before reheating in a frying pan with the aforementioned ingredients. Obviously with rice you do have to be careful so always make sure you keep it cool if you are going to reheat.

When it comes to serving, I always say you can never have too much coriander (not to everyones's taste I know), but it gives your curry a fresh, zingy feel and with a generous dollop of natural yogurt (which I always keep in the fridge to make in to raita or just use as it is), you've got one tasty meal.

Our verdict for this curry is that it's a definite winner! Cooking in olive oil makes it better for the waistline than using ghee which is widely used in Indian cuisine.

Chiken Chettinad served with rice

So what's next? I've got a busy few days coming up what with the end of term but have my village fete obligations to fulfill next week so thought I'd have a go at some new cake recipes - watch this space...

Peach ice cream...But first let me tell you...

If you love the gorgeous combination of hazelnuts and chocolate then you'll love the sublime Gianduja gelato in David Lebovitz's The Perfect Scoop 2011. The beautiful smooth texture and rich hazelnut flavour really do it for me! That's why I'm really excited about this book. Lebovitz's attention to detail is meticulous. I love the way the book is written in his slightly self-deprecating style - "Maybe I'm not the sharpest knife in the drawer". Each recipe is provided with a short summary of background history or explanation (I can't wait to try the tiramisu  ice cream or the Lavender honey ice cream).

I've also made the Maple walnut ice cream with wet walnuts (page 48) and that's another delectable flavour. So, trying to be seasonal I've plumped to do the Peach ice cream (page 89), well Tesco's did have them on offer!

I should also add I do have a special fondness for ice cream and saved up last year to buy my super-duper freeze-on-the-job maker and can say I have no regrets! Just got to keep those thighs in check!

Now down to business with the recipe; I found it generally straightforward and it's particularly good for children if you worry about partially cooked or uncooked eggs as it doesn't have any in it! Not that my children are interested in a flavour like this..."Mummy where's the chocolate?"

Here is a brief  summary of the recipe (copyright 2011 David Lebovitz) http://www.amazon.co.uk/Perfect-Scoop-Sorbets-Granitas-Accompaniments/dp/1906417547/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1342109734&sr=1-1

• 600g peaches
• 125ml water
• 150g sugar (all his ice cream recipes use granulated sugar)
• 120g soured cream
• 250ml double cream
• few drops of vanilla extract
• few drops lemon juice

Peel peaches and cook in the water. Remove from heat, stir in sugar,  leave to room temperature, puree peaches and liquid with all the other ingredients until almost smooth. Chill in the fridge and then churn.

What I did find was that Lebovitz specified leaving the puree slightly chunky so it literally meant about one shortish pulse in the blender otherwise you'd get no peachy texture!

One of my favourite books of the moment

Gently simmering in water

Sliced and peeled peaches

Puree fruit

Slightly chunky fruit (or is that lumpy?!)

Some raspberry coulis would complete this

Churning 

So after a few hours chilling in the fridge I got it nicely churned and after about 50 minutes hey presto home made ice cream! Husband loved it - he would, anything with cream and sugar! I found it sweet and refreshing and an ideal summer desert; I then started thinking what I could serve it with and thought it would go really well with a fruit crumble such as raspberry or strawberry. Anyway if serving on its own I'd serve it with fresh peaches and make up some raspberry coulis

Strawberry fields forever or something like that

Got up Sunday morning and spied the jars of strawberry jam on the side so thought I'd treat myself to some of the jam with muffins. Now I must confess strawberry jam is not my favourite, I never buy it (that's only blackcurrant or raspberry), but I did enjoy those large sumptuous jewels that were languishing at the top of the jar (I know, a bit over done with the description!). Anyway, I think I do prefer the homemade variety, but if I was to make it again I'd probably tinker around with the recipe to try and make it less sweet. Last year I made many a jar of blackcurrant jam and have finally come up with a recipe that uses 3lb of fruit to 2.5lb of sugar which is infinitely better than Delia's 3lb fruit to 3.5lb sugar!

Yum, I couldn't resist a bite before I sat down at the table!

One last thing, for those of you that might doubt my book collection here are photos of them too!