NordicWare Gingerbread House Cake

So as well as getting a nice new pair of hand knit socks, my Mum had to have a birthday cake as well.  Its the law!  It had to be able to withstand quite a few hours in the car and ideally stay tasty for a few days, so we could keep tucking into it over the weekend.

One of my Xmas presents from her was this brilliant Nordicware Gingerbread House tin.  So what better to use for her birthday cake, as it needed to be christened.

How do I look from this angle?

And this is my inside, that does all the hard work in creating a masterpiece!

On the inside of the sleeve that comes with the tin, you find a recipe for each different shaped bundt tin.  Not surprisingly for a Gingerbread House, you get a great recipe for Gingerbread Cake. There are many other free recipes on the Nordicware website, all able to hold the shape of the various different tins.

Here is the UK recipe for the Gingerbread Cake, which you could use is any cake tin.

• 345g cake flour - in the UK = Plain flour
• 225g Castor sugar
• 2 teaspoons ground ginger
• 135g light brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 230g butter, softened
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 4 eggs
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 300ml milk
• 2 teaspoons baking powder

Heat oven to 325 degrees F (160 degrees C - static oven, gas mark 3). Grease and lightly flour tin (I used Wilton's Cake Release again); set aside. In medium bowl, sift together flour, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, salt and baking powder; set aside. In large bowl, combine Castor sugar, brown sugar and butter. Beat 3 minutes, until light and fluffy, scraping bowl often. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Blend in vanilla. Reduce mixer speed to low. Blend flour mixture into sugar mixture, alternately with milk. Spoon batter into prepared tin, spreading batter slightly up onto the sides of the tin. 

Place tin on a baking sheet and bake for 55-66 minutes (I baked for 66 minutes as in a static oven), until toothpick (?) or skewer inserted in centre comes out clean. Cool upright in tin for at least 10 minutes. 

Remove from tin onto a cooling rack and cool completely.

My cake then got popped in a cake tin and travelled up the M1, before getting a dusting of icing sugar.  It really makes the details pop!

The end result being a dense, but moist cake with a syrupy taste, that was just delicious.  We reckon it would be perfect with stem ginger ice cream and also a great cake to decorate with kids. Oh and I reckon, one happy recipient!

I love these Nordicware tins!

Happy baking!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Jo Wheatley's Banana Loaf - Re-blogged!

I really, really didn't mean to bake tonight, but sometimes these things just happen.

So, I guess you know you are a keen baker when:-

A)  Your clients give you overripe bananas just as you are leaving saying 'Just in case you'd like to     bake a cake, dear'.
B)   You know exactly which recipe would do for the above said bananas and in which of your many baking books the recipe can be found.
C)   You get home and find you have all the ingredients you need (bar the bananas) in your store         cupboard.
D)   The cake is prepped and in the oven within 30 minutes of getting home!

One of my most viewed blog posts is for Jo Wheatley's Banana Loaf , from her 'A Passion for Baking' Book.  This has to be my go-to recipe for anything bananary!

I follow the recipe, using the suggested 2lb loaf tin, baking in a 170c static oven, but replace the pecans and cinnamon with 100g of dark chocolate chips in the cake batter.  You could also divide the mixture into two 1lb loaf tins and bake for 50 minutes.  Then you have one to eat and one to freeze.

Its a fab recipe to whip together in no time for instant taste gratification.

Perfect with a cup of tea and to enjoy in the garden if you are lucky enough to see some sunshine in February!

Happy baking!

Davina's Sugarfree Chocolate Brownies

Another weekend of running, so another perfect excuse to bake.  Now please, do not for a minute, by the title think these are good for you. However, they are delicious and free from refined sugar.  This sugar free lark seems to be all the rage at the moment, so for no other reason other than I am inquisitive about new bakes, I gave these Chocolate Brownies a try from a magazine article on Davina McCall.

Rather than the suggested 100% cocoa chocolate, I used 70% chocolate this time, as I was testing out the recipe principal, so my brownies do have a bit of refined sugar.  But hey, I can cope.

I was also interested to try this recipe as it uses wholemeal spelt flour.  Not something I have tried before, but high in fibre, so making a healthier post run snack.

Instead of refined sugar, you used a combination of honey and maple syrup.

Melt, whisk and mix the ingredients as required, then add to a greased and lined brownie tin, or deep baking tray.

Bake in a 190c static oven for 15 minutes, though I would check at 14 minutes if you prefer a chewier brownie.

Allow to cool completely (if you can resist!!), before cutting into squares.

I used large eggs and skimmed milk as that's what I had in the fridge, but the recipe doesn't stipulate.
The end result is delicious and nowhere near as sweet as a regular brownie. Plus the honey and maple syrup provide a slower energy release, keeping you going for a bit longer.  Now I just have to store them in my baking tin until tomorrow, without 'testing' too many.  Wish me luck!

Happy Baking!

'Scandilicious' Banana Spice Cake

I do like an excuse to get baking, as you may have gathered.  This weekend it was to feed hungry runners from my run club, after we had completed the Stubbington 10k race on Sunday.

Now being a relatively healthy bunch, I chose to make a banana cake, which would replenish some of the calories burned and use up some rather ripe bananas in the process.  I got given 'Scandilicious Baking' a couple of Christmas's ago, full of delicious Scandinavian bakes.

One of the cake bakes is a Banana Spice Cake, so I thought I'd give it a go.  Its unusual in that it combines 4 different spices in a Banana cake.  The result is quite tasty and improves the day after baking, giving a moist, yet healthy tasting cake.  Lets say it was well received.

Usually I try and blog about recipes which I can link to online.  Not everyone has a Scandinavian Baking book right?  Well handily enough, I found another blog, where the author had written the recipe out here.

Not the most handsome of cakes, but its really just a little different and really rather tasty.  Perfect with a cup of coffee!

I didn't have spelt flour, so just used plain, as per the suggested alternative, plus I used half fat creme fraiche and chopped hazelnuts instead of walnuts.  170c static oven for 45 minutes.

Here's another something spicy to brighten up a winters day.  Hamamelis, also known as Witchazel, also has a spicy scent and is in full bloom in a West Sussex garden at the moment.

Happy Baking!

Nordicware Baking Tins - Spoilt at Christmas

As a keen follower of Great British Bake Off winner, Jo Wheatley, I became aware of the amazing baking tins you can get from American company, Nordic Ware.  These tins are not cheap, but boy are they heavy, robust and built to last.  I must have been pretty unsubtle, as I received three of these beauties for Christmas.  I have yet to try the Ginger Bread House tin, but for last weekend, I put the Christmas Tree and Heritage Bundt tins to the test for a birthday celebration weekend for my friend Duncan.

In the Heritage tin, I made Jo Wheatley's new recipe for a Toffee, Banana & Pecan Bundt Cake. 

Drizzled with Waitrose Toffee Sauce and topped off with mini marshmallows.



Next up was Nigella's Spruced Up Vanilla Cake in the Christmas Tree tin.  It was a little reminder of the brilliant holiday we had in Austria to celebrate his 40th Birthday, hence the cream 'snow', fir trees and wintry village scene.  This cake looks great with a dusting of icing sugar to set the scene.

They both worked out perfectly and were just was needed after a day of activities.  Needless to say, I didn't bring any home.

For both the cakes, I greased them well with Wilton Cake Release before adding the cake batter.  I took the oven temperatures given as for a static oven, not fan.  Large eggs were used in both recipes.

Great tins that get lots of oohs and aahs and recipes that are simple to follow.  I think I am smitten with Nordic Ware tins.  Which recipe to try in them next?

Happy Baking!



Austrian Hazelnut Ring Cake - Nusskranzkuchen

So its not that I haven't been baking recently, I've just been baking the same cake A LOT!  Last year, whilst in Vienna, I picked up a copy of 'Culinary Austria' in one of the bookshops.  Its a great little cookbook, with many favourite Austrian recipes, translated into English.  The cake I've been working on is a Nusskranzkuchen or Hazelnut Ring Cake. 

Ingredients:
200g soft butter
200g granulated sugar
1tsp vanilla sugar
200g plain flour
4 egg yolks
4 egg whites
100g chopped or ground hazelnuts
100g chocolate chips
1/8tsp ground cinnamon
2tsp baking powder
2 apples.  Peeled and grated.  I used medium sized cooking apples.

It felt a bit like the technical challenge on the Great British Bake-Off.  Very basic information was offered in the book, so with a little baking knowledge I've picked up along the way, here is my interpretation.

Grease a 23-25cm ring tin or Bundt tin with butter.  Preheat your static oven to 170c.  Reduce accordingly for a fan oven.

Cream the softened butter with 100g of the granulated sugar and the vanilla sugar until blended and pale in colour.  Add the egg yolks one at a time until blended and creamy.

Add your hazelnuts (I use ground hazelnuts as it makes the cake more moist, but they are harder to find in the UK, so chopped are fine), chocolate chips (I use dark chocolate ones but the milk ones are fine also) and grated apple (leave grating your apples until you are ready to add them, otherwise they will go brown quickly) until mixed.

 

Add the flour, with the baking powder and ground cinnamon.  I don't bother to sift the flour, but you can if you prefer.  Just mix until blended as you don't want to overwork the batter.  It will be quite dense at this stage, but don't worry.

 

Now is the time to whisk your egg whites in a clean, dry bowl, until it forms soft peaks.  Add the remaining 100g of granulated sugar and whisk until blended and still retaining the soft peaks.  It should have a nice shiny gloss to it.  Don't be tempted to whisk your egg whites until you need to add them, or else they may separate.

 

Now gently fold the egg white mixture into the batter with a large metal spoon. Cut through the centre and fold onto itself.  The idea is to fully incorporate the egg whites (who wants white blobs of egg whites in your finished cake), but not to lose the eggs airiness and overwork the batter.

 

The batter will now be lighter.  Add evenly to your prepared Bundt tin.

Bake for 50-60 minutes until golden and a skewer comes out clean.  The skewer or knife will look moist, but that will be the apples in the batter.  If you still have batter on your skewer, bake for a bit longer until it comes out clean.  If the cake isn't baked but browning on top, pop a layer of baking paper over the top to prevent burning.

Allow the cake to cool in the tin, then turn out onto a cooling rack to cool completely.  Don't worry if it sticks a bit.  That will be the choc chips!

You can either dust with icing sugar or I like to melt about 50g of either dark or milk chocolate and drizzle over for a little decoration.  Then tuck in whilst dreaming of snow-capped mountains and lederhosen!  Its delicious. 

Happy baking!

Great British Bake Off - Cherry & Almond Cake - Mary Berry Recipe

So in a week I've managed to bake 4 cakes.  Luckily for the waistline, I've only tried a slice or 2 of each.  This weeks offering came from watching Week 1 of the Great British Bake Off .  As it was Cake Week, Mary Berry's Cherry Cake was the choice for the Technical Challenge. 

The technical side of it was knowing what to do with the cherries as Mary DID NOT want them all to sink to the bottom.  To prevent this you quartered each glace cherry (reserving 5 cherries for decoration), rinsed them under cool water, drain and dry well, then toss in 2tbls of the required flour.  Its a new tip for me and might also work when you put fresh fruit in a cake batter as it often sinks.  Removing the glaze and tossing in flour helps them stick to the batter, rather than 'slipping' through it whilst baking.

 

The remaining batter ingredients are placed in a bowl and blended together for 2 minutes until smooth.

Then gently fold in the prepared cherries and scrap into a buttered Bundt tin.  The recipe asks for a 23cm tin, but mine is 25cm, so will create a wider, but not so deep cake.

Pop it in a pre-heated 180c static oven.  Now time to pour a G&T and sit back and relax while it bakes.  Wouldn't do that on Bake Off would you!

35 minutes later it came out the oven nice and golden.

Allow to cool for 15 minutes in the tin before turning out to cool completely.

The icing was a simple mix of icing sugar and lemon juice, though as the recipe states the juice of 1 lemon, don't add it all at once.  Lemons vary in size and juiciness. My icing could have been slightly thicker, but I'm happy with it.  Also a good tip is put a plate or kitchen paper under your cooling rack to catch the icing that inevitably drips off the cake!  Adorn with the remaining cherries and flaked almonds and voila!

The destination for this cake was for after my Running Clubs Annual Charity Relay Race around Hayling Island.  A bit more crumbly than expected (probably due to the ground almonds in the batter), but pretty tasty, I didn't get to bring much home.  AND the cherries were well distributed throughout the cake I think.  Would I have passed the Technical Challenge Mary???

A variation of this recipe can also found in Mary Berry's Baking Bible using a round tin, instead of a Bundt tin.

Happy Baking!

Frosted Courgette & Lemon Cake

So it begins.  Another season of The Great British Bake Off!  What a mixture of contestants as usual. 
I was tempted to give Mary Berry's Cherry Cake from Week 1 a go, but as I was off to see my Godson at the weekend and his favourite cake is Victoria Sponge, it seemed right to bake Mary's version instead.  The recipe comes from the Mary Berry Baking Bible.

Such a simple cake, you put all the ingredients into a mixing bowl and whizz together until blended well.  The only difference in the book from the one I have linked to, is the recommended oven temperature.  In the book its 160c for a fan oven and bake for 25 minutes.  Mine were starting to darken on the top, so I just covered with baking parchment for the last 5 minutes.  I'm still cheating and using cake tin liners, hence the ridged edges.  Mary would not approve!

I did, however, fill it with homemade strawberry jam with a hint of rose syrup.  So I may have redeemed myself.  Lovely and light, it certainly didn't last long.

Always on the look out for more recipes to use up the 'Allotment Glut' of fruit and veg, I stumbled across a recipe for Frosted Courgette & Lemon Cake on the BBC food website.

Again, another simple sponge recipe with the addition of lots of grated courgettes.  This one used a 50/50 mix of white self-raising flour and wholemeal flour.  It meant I got to use some Emmer flour from Doves Farm Organic that my Sister had found me.  Wholemeal, but without the bits!

You use 300g of courgettes in the batter so it makes for a really moist cake.

I baked mine at 160c for 25 minutes, turning part way through so they cooked more evenly.  They look a bit pock-marked, but that's due to all the courgettes.

The first one I made for a friends husband as a thank you for buying us all lunch.  I followed the recipe by filling and topping with the frosting and lemon curd in the middle.

The second attempt just had filling and lemon curd, as I needed to use up the remaining full fat cheese tub.  Just as delicious and a bit more portable if you want to give away some!

I might give the Cherry Cake a go this weekend, but then there's all the biscuits to try from Week 2 of Bake Off.  Oh the dilemma!

Happy Baking!

Gooseberry & Almond Cake #2 and My Cup of Tea Socks

Over the years I've made and blogged a lot of cakes.  But one of my most popular viewed posts is for a Gooseberry and Almond Cake that I tore out of a Waitrose Food Magazine.  Looking through the recipe books, a cake recipe for gooseberries is a little thin on the ground.  So I've decided to re-blog this one with a few tweaks.

Gooseberry & Almond Cake Recipe

 125g Softened butter
200g Castor sugar
3 Large eggs, beaten
75g Sifted plain flour
75g Ground almonds
3/4 tsp Baking powder
350g De-stalked gooseberries
35g Flaked almonds

Preheat the oven to 190C / Gas mark 5 or adjust for a fan oven.  Beat the butter and 125g of the sugar together until pale and fluffy.  Add the eggs a little at a time and blend well after each addition.  If the mixture starts to curdle, add a tablespoon of the flour.  Fold in the rest of the flour, the ground almonds and the baking powder.  Scrape into a buttered 20cm spring-form tin.  Toss the gooseberries with the remaining 75g of sugar and spread over the top of the cake.  Bake for 20-25 minutes.  Sprinkle over the flaked almonds and return to the oven for another 10 minutes.  The cake is ready when a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.  Leave to cool in the tin.  Remove the ring and base and dust with icing sugar.  Then devour!

The allotment is producing masses of soft fruit this year.  Over 4kg of gooseberries so far and more left to harvest.
.

When I tried the recipe again this year, I followed as above using a static oven.  As you can see its a lot of gooseberries.

The end result being, the cake was really moist in the centre due to so many gooseberries and sunk in the middle as it was unbaked in the centre.

So I gave it another go, but this time cooking it at 190c in a fan oven for 25 minutes to start, then 10 minutes with the flaked almonds.  If it looks like it is browning too much, cover with baking parchment.
I also reduced the amount of gooseberries to 250g and tossed them in 50g of castor sugar, rather than 75g.

The result is a little darker in colour, but cooked in the centre and delicious!

Perfect with a cup of tea or for munching whilst knitting 'My Cup of Tea' socks, my new pair for the Flora KAL over on the UK Sock Knitters group on Ravelry.

 

If you have glut of gooseberries, give it a go. Just don't be afraid to keep cooking it if its got a soggy middle!

Happy baking!