Apple and strawberry sponge

Lovely victims for lunch was also an excuse for a pudding, but continued the no shopping philosophy, so had strawberries and apples from veg box, and the usual staples in the cupboards.  I would normally have made the sponge a bit lemony with lemon rind, but didn't have any lemons, so added vanilla instead.

I also couldn't be bothered to measure things so just did it by eye.  I think the result was slightly less sweet than "recipe" sponge, which I preferred.  Victims scoffed happily, one with ice cream, and one with cream.  Tiny victim munched around the fruit in a very accomplished fashion.

2 apples
8 strawberries
Juice 1/2 orange
Sugar
Butter
2 eggs
Self raising flour
soya milk.

1.  Grease flan dish with butter, sprinkle some sugar on the bottom.
2.  Slice apples, spritz with orange juice to stop them going brown, slice strawberries.  Lay fruit on bottom of dish.
3.  Cream butter (about 75g) and sugar (about 75g) until light and fluffy.
4.  Add 1 egg, beat in, add self raising flour (about 75g) beat in.  Add the other egg, 1/2 tsp vanilla extract beat, add flour beat.
5.  If it looks a little stiff add a splash of milk (or soya milk in my case)
6.  Blob and smooth over fruit, and bake at 180C for about 30 minutes.

Delicious warm or cold.  People who have eaten with me know that I don't really "do" pudding when I am supposed to, so the victims had theirs yesterday, and I had mine for breakfast with natural yogurt.  Tsk, tsk... but it is Sunday.

Butternut squash, chocolate and orange cake

Butternut squash... really?  I have done beetroot chocolate cake before, but not butternut squash.  It's pretty good, but not too sweet.  The recipe has a ganache topping, but I didn't have any cream, so served it with cherry ice cream - will get some cream or something for tomorrow.  It would be good with orange cream cheese frosting, but I think that defeats the lower fat/ lower sugar - but still cake point of it all.  Recipe more or less from here http://www.bakingmad.com/recipes/cakes/butternut-squash-and-chocolate-cake but I added zest of an orange, which I think went well.

Lemon drizzle cake

When I left for work this morning this was a full, whole, freshly baked cake... when I got home!!! well, that is the point of cakes, ... to share... and there is a lot left.  I was told that our 6 month old neighbour ate most of it.  This is a FIB.  Anyway recipe mostly from here.... http://uktv.co.uk/food/recipe/aid/534232 obv round tin, but otherwise followed recipe.

Lemon drizzle cake

There are dozens of recipes for lemon drizzle cake out there - and so there should be - it's delicious.  I (more or less) followed the one in the "Great British Bake Off" cookbook - but it could have been another - basically it's a chuck it all in the mixer and then bake - recipe.  The fiddliest bit is the spooning over the sugar syrup, let it cool spoon over some more bit - but the top is so delicious and crunchy that it is worth this very minor bit of faff.  So - zest of 2 lemons (or so, depending on how lemony you want it) - importantly zest it into the mixing bowl so that you catch every tiny spritz of the lemon oil which squirts out - that's the concentrated flavour - and don't keep grating until you get the pith - that makes it bitter.  Add 175 gms granulated sugar, 175 gms softened butter, 200 gms self raising flour, 1/2 tsp baking powder - 2 medium/large eggs (or in our case 4 tiny bantam eggs).  Mix until smooth (I am lucky enough to have a KitchenAid Artizan mixer which is a marvel - but you can do this in any food processor on pulse).  Pour mixture into lined 2lb loaf tin - and bake at about 180C until light brown (about 35-40 mins), and skewer pushed into the middle comes out clean.  Leave to cool for 5 minutes in tin.  Mix juice of 1 lemon with about 100gm granulated sugar.  Remove cake from tine and paper and stab (quite deep, but don't go through the other side of the cake, to much -the idea being to trap as much syrup as poss within the moist cake) with skewer at least 50 times.  Spoon over sugary syrup and let drizzle into holes and over edges of cake.  Wait 5 mins and drizzle on the rest of the mixture.  Leave for at least an hour to set - then cut and scoff - or deliver to batch of victims - let them cut and scoff... and give you huge thumbs up.  Took this round to some friends tonight and they assured me that it was scrummy.

Herman Jr

Herman 2 - this time with dried cherries and dark chocolate.  I think I prefer this one :).  Victim is not keen on the texture, but she's funny like that with cakes & muffins.

3 baby Hermans in the freezer, one for us for the future, one booked and one spare.

Instructions (from Netmums)


HERMAN THE FRIENDSHIP CAKE

Herman is a friendship cake which you can�t buy, but you can give him away. He grows slowly but surely because of the yeast in him. It is usually 10 days before you can eat him.
Herman doesn�t have to be kept in the fridge and doesn�t require a lid � just covering him with a tea towel is sufficient. Herman grows at room temperature.

If you would like to spread a little friendship follow through instructions below and at end of 10 days you will have a cake to eat and four starter kits to pass on.

If you cannot wait to have your cake and eat it, go straight to day 10, but you will forego the opportunity to pass on some friendship.


Day 1: Today Herman is given to you. Put him in a big bowl (At least 4pt capacity). Cover Herman loosely so he can breathe. A tea towel or loose lid is ideal.

Days 2 & 3: Stir Herman 2-3 times a day with a wooden spoon (do not use metal, and which you can leave in the bowl)

Day 4: Herman is hungry. Give him the following:-
200mls milk
200g self-raising flour
250g sugar

Days 5, 6, 7 & 8: Stir Herman 2-3 times a day.

Day 9: Herman is hungry again. Give him the same ingredients you gave him on Day 4. Stir well then divide him into 5 equal parts. Give 4 baby Hermans away with a copy of this sheet. (or keep one back for yourself to grow and redistribute to other friends) Keep the 5th portion to bake.

Day 10: Herman is absolutely starving. He needs a holiday. He likes to go to a hot resort. The oven is his favourite. Pre-heat oven to 170�C (150�C fan-assisted oven) and grease a cake tin generously. Prepare him for his holiday using one of the following:-

1. Fruit cake Recipe:
150g self-raising flour,
100g finely chopped nuts/raisins,
200mls oil,
half teaspoon of baking powder,
2 teaspoons cinnamon,
3 eggs, 2 grated apples,
Bake in loaf tin or 9� x 9� cake tin

Other recipes: 
Chocolate Cranberry Cake Recipe: 150g self raising flour, 250g sugar,100ml oil, 1/2tsp salt, 1 tsp vanilla extract, 1tsp ground cinnamon, 1� tsp baking powder, 2 eggs, 3 oz melted semi-sweet chocolate, 100g semi-dried cranberries. Bake 30-35 mins in loaf tin or 20-25 mins in two 8-inch sandwich tins, and sandwich together with cream &/ thick cooked cranberries sauce .

Double chocolate Cake: � cup butter at room temp,1 cup white sugar, 1 cup brown sugar, 4 eggs, � cup unsweetened cocoa, 1� cup self raising flour, � tsp salt, 1 tbsp vanilla extract, � cup semi-sweet chocolate chips, � cup chopped nuts. Bake in 9 inch square pan.

Ginger Cake :150g self-raising flour,1� tsp ground ginger, � tsp cinnamon, � tsp bicarbonate soda, pinch of salt, 125g golden syrup, 60g finely chopped stem ginger, 1 tbsp ginger syrup from stem ginger jar, 2 heaped tbsp sultanas, 75g dark muscavado suger, 2 eggs, 150 ml milk, 75 ml butter at room temp/softened in microwave


Mix everything together and pour into a very well greased cake tin. Bake for 40 mins to one hour, depending on your tin. Cool in tin for 10 mins then turn out.

birthday cake

I didn't make it, but am very happy to receive it, except for the fact that it marks that I am now undeniably closer to 50 than 40... do I need a mid-life crisis?  Life has been hectic at work recently, so posting has been sporadic.  However, victim and I have decided that we need to be considerably smaller in a short time frame, and that I need a new challenge.  Therefore, I hereby declare December is "soup month"... it may be a local, rather than a national thing - and we might be starting 2 days late (well, 1 day, we had packet chcicken noodle soup, by coincidence yesterday) - but I will be making a unique soup every day for the rest of the month.  Lets see if we do lose some lbs..... Later, it's my birthday - souper December can wait, caurry for tea tonight.

Baked doughnuts

Was thinking of a lower fat treat, so tried these - and they work.  They are not exactly a doughnut, because they're not deep fried, so the crispy outside soft inside equation is not quite the same.  But baking them in a warm, not hot, oven means the drying out at the same time as rising gives them a dried out crisper crust, and that softer cakey bit inside.

So:-
Mix togther....
125g plain flour
75g sugar
1 sp baking powder, 1/4 tsp nutmeg, 1/2 tsp cinnamon, pinch salt.  In another bowl mix 90ml milk (I used soya milk), 1 egg, drop of vanilla extract, and tbsp peanut oil. Beat the two mixtures together.

Fill greased doughnut tins about half to two thirds of the way up and bake in a medium oven (about 165 C) for about 10 minutes.  They will go a golden brown, and when they are done will come out of the tin with the tiniest encouragement from a pallette knife.  Icing is just juice of half a lemon and icing sugar to a stiffish consistency drizzled over the top.  Actually I think a maple syrup glaze would go really well - might try that next time.

Egg news:  2 today - and Rosemary has gone broody.  She has lost all her breast feathers to try to better nurture her non-existent clutch, and in hunkering down on the nest.  Trying to chuck her off every hour or so, but I think she's a determined little mother hen... still fingers crossed she comes out of it soon, or we'll have to find a sources of fertilised eggs for her.

Banana and mandarin cake

Banana and mandarin cake - more or less from here -http://chichoskitchen.blogspot.com/2011/04/banana-and-raspberry-cake.html but, as raspberries are not in season added mandarin orange segments from a tin instead.  A good idea!

Banana cake & Omelette/ frittata

Banana cake with chocolate and hazelnut spread frosting - more or less from here http://toastybiscuit.com/2011/03/the-cake-seinfeld-ish-banana-cake-with-nutella-frosting/ .. added a bit of rum to mix, and used yogurt instead of buttermilk.

Braised beef and carrots (and leeks and beans) with rice (was OK, nothing more)

Gently fried up last night's left over pepper salad, added seasonned beaten eggs with chopped wild garlic leaves.  Cooked a bit - topped with basil leaves and grated cheese - finished in the oven.  Probably more of a frittata than an omelette.  delicious!  Victim wasn't interested and went for a tin of ravioli - cold - blah.