Cherry Almond Loaf Cake

From Nigella Lawson's, How to Be a Domestic Goddess, comes this featured recipe. Aromatic almond and plump cherries are mellow in this buttery loaf cake. To me, it is very reminiscent of a bakewell tart and I could see drizzling royal icing over the top when making this cake during the holidays; instead I scattered sliced almonds on top for a bit more flair. 

Nigella Lawson's Cherry Almond Loaf Cake

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Makes 8 to 10 slices

1 1/2 cups natural coloured candied cherries

1 2/3 cups self-raising flour

2 sticks (1 cup) butter, softened

3/4 cup superfine sugar 

3 large eggs, beaten

2 - 3 drops almond essence

1 cup almond meal

1/3 cup milk

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 170ºC/gas mark 3/325ºF. Halve the cherries, wash them in a colander under cold water, then pat them dry, toss them in some flour and shake well to get rid of excess.

2. Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Gradually add the beaten eggs and almond essence, then gently fold in the flour and almond meal. Fold in the cherries and then the milk and spoon the thick mixture into a lined and buttered loaf tin (23x13x7cm / 9x5x3 inches) and bake for 3/4 to 1 hour, or until a cake-tester comes out clean.

3. As with all of these sorts of cakes, leave in the tin on a wire rack until completely cooled.

Notes: I had to cook the cake a bit longer than stated in the recipe... ovens vary therefore cooking times may vary. 

For metric measurements and for other Nigella Lawson recipes click *here* 

Hope everyone had a great weekend. - JD 

The English Channel G & T

Sifting through the internet is always entertaining. In our search we came across Split Tree and the recipes for cocktails they offered. Although we did not have any Split Tree brand ingredients, the ones we did have were all the same, and we decided to go ahead and make the cocktails anyway. Very pleasant ingredients for a magnificent Gin and Tonic! 

English Channel Cocktail G & T

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1 oz of gin

0.25 oz of Absinthe

0.5 oz St. Germaine

0.5 oz Split Tree Tonic No.3 

2 - 3 oz of soda water

Add ice, gin, absinthe, St. Germaine and soda water to a cocktail glass Pour Split Tree tonic No.3 over the top and gently stir. Garnish with a lemon or lime wedge. 

To find out more about Split Tree click *here*

Stay warm and have a great weekend everyone! - JD 

Food Photo of the Day ~ Roasted Butternut Squash

Simple and sweet. The butternut squash was peeled and diced and oven roasted, with a light drizzle of olive oil and a dash of salt and pepper, until nicely tender. Placed in a serving dish and glazed with an orange balsamic vinegar just before serving. The ultimate winter warmer vegetable. 

Stay warm! - JD  

Slow Cooker Lentil Butternut Squash Curry

With this recipe there is not a lot of fussing about. Just simply add all the ingredients together and turn the slow cooker on and politely walk away. Delicious hearty ingredients are what this curry is about, with plenty of leftovers.  

Lentil Butternut Squash Curry

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1 onion, diced

2 cup red lentils

2 cup diced butternut squash

1 can of coconut milk

1 large can (796ml... 28 fl oz) of no or low salt diced tomatoes

1 tablespoon Curry powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon Garam Marsala

1 teaspoon cumin

Place all the ingredients into the slow cooker. Add 3 to 5 cups of water, depending on the size of your slow cooker. Give a gentle stir with a wooden spoon. Close the lid and cook for 6 to 8 hours on low or 5 to 6 hours on high. 

Just before serving you may add an additional teaspoon of both Curry powder and Garam Masala, if you wish, as it depends on your flavour preference. Serve with rice, quinoa, or naan bread or vegetables.  

Notes: I added only 3 cups of water and found that it was sufficient. With an hour left of cooking time I added some diced firm tofu. 

Hope everyone had a great weekend. The snowy weather is back. Stay warm! - JD  

Dainty Desserts for Dainty People

Bearing in mind that this pamphlet was published in 1896, some recipes may be circulating today however with different ingredients. Still, it is an oddity. A rare glimpse into the home cook and what was contrived or rather supplied to them from grocers, manufacturers, and products. Glancing through this book there are a few recipes I would consider making, to which I would switch with fruit pectin. I am sure most of these recipes ran supreme back in the 1800's like chicken aspic, sardines in jelly, tomato jelly, and cake in jelly. Today less so.

In this 32 page promotional cooking pamphlet comes an acclaimed page from Knox Gelatine themselves listing an approved and used by noted teachers of cookery at the time, and there are the testimonials that follow. Thought I would share the wine jelly recipe as it would be good when serving cheese.       

Knox Gelatine Wine Jelly

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1 box Knox's Sparkling Gelatine

1/2 pint cold water 

1 quart boiling water

1 1/2 cups sugar

1/2 pint wine

Juice of 2 lemons

Soak 1 box of Sparkling Gelatine in 1/2 pint cold water 5 minutes; add 1 quart boiling water, 1 1/2 cups sugar, and stir until dissolved; add 1/2 pint wine and juice of 2 lemons; strain and pour into mould.

I also wanted to include a more up to date version of this recipe...

Wine Jelly 

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3 cups of sugar

2 cups of wine

1 pouch Certo liquid pectin

Measure sugar and wine into a large saucepan. Cook and stir over medium heat until sugar is dissolved... about 4 to 7 minutes. Do not boil remove from heat.

Stir in the fruit pectin and mix well. Skim off foam, if necessary.

Pour quickly into warm sterilized glasses. Cover at once with new or sterilized lid (they usually come as a two piece lid set), filling up 1/4 inch (0.5ml) from rim.   

Note: you may also add 1/4 cup of lemon juice to this recipe. 

And what would be a PD Day without cupcakes... Have a great weekend everyone! - JD 

Crêpes Wraps and Rolls ~ Honey Pennies

In England, Shrove Tuesday has become synonymous with pancakes... folded with a scattering of caster sugar and a squeeze of fresh lemon juice. In France they serve crêpes to celebrate family and life, bringing hope for happiness and good fortune in the many years to come. In most Commonwealth countries it is known as Pancake Tuesday or Pancake Day. Portuguese, Spanish, and Italian speaking countries know it as Carnival. Denmark and Norway celebrate Fastelavn which they eat fastelavnsboller, also known as, Semla (a traditional sweet roll pastry). In Lithuania people eat pancakes and Lithuanian style doughnuts. In Sweden it is known as Fettisdagen, Fat Tuesday. Although in Iceland it is known as Sprengidagur, Bursting Day, and is marked by eating salted meat and peas.  

Crêpes and pancakes do make fabulous anytime food. Sweet and savoury, simple or sophisticated many delicious ingredients have been stacked, flambéd, folded, rolled, and wrapped in and on top of crêpes and pancakes. In almost every country pancakes... or crêpes do feature in one form or another, even including street food. There are blintzes, blinis, crespelles, Dutch poffertjes, flapjacks, galettes, hotcakes, pancakes, and spekpannekoek. 

Which ever you prefer this cookbook has 110 pages full of 60 inspiring recipes for crêpes, wraps and rolls. It is a handy book for brunch and party ideas and light meals. Thought I would share this lovely recipe from the cookbook... 

 

Honey Pennies with double oat heaven

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Serves 4 

for the pennies:

130g/4 1/2 oz/1cup plus, 2 tablespoons self-raising (self-rising) flour, sieved

pinch of salt

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 egg

2 tablespoons honey 

150ml/5 fl oz/ 2/3 cup milk

for the oats:

75g/3oz/1 cup rolled oats

74g/ 3 oz/ scant 1 cup caster (superfine) sugar

1 crisp dessert apple, grated

squeeze lemon juice

350ml/12 fl oz/1 1/2 cups Greek yoghurt

25g/1 oz/2 tablespoons butter for frying

2 tablespoons runny honey to drizzle

To make the pennies, mix the flour, salt and baking powder together in a large bowl. Whisk the egg, honey and milk together, add this to the flour and mix it all thoroughly.

For the oats, place the oats and sugar in a heavy-based pan and cook on a low heat until the sugar is dissolved and the oats are toasted. Continue to cook. stirring constantly, until the sugar caramelizes and the oats become crisp and golden. (Don't be tempted to rush this: if the heat is too high, it will burn and you will have a speckled mess!) Turn out into a bowl and leave to cool.

Mix the grated apple with the lemon juice and stir into the Greek yoghurt. Just before serving, fold in two-thirds of the crunchy oat mixture. 

Heat a griddle or heavy based pan and brush lightly with melted butter. Place teaspoonfuls of the mixture in the pan, leaving a little space in between each and cook for 1-2 minutes until bubbles appear on the surface of each penny. Carefully flip the pennies over and cook the other sides for about 1 minute more until firm, risen and golden brown.

Serve the Honey Pennies warm, topped with a dollop of the yoghurt mixture, drizzled over with a little honey and sprinkled with a little of the extra oat crunch. 

Food Photo of the Day ~ Asparagus Quiche

Leftover steamed asparagus plus eggs equal... one satisfying dinner. Add chopped red peppers and plenty of feta cheese, all with a dash of hot sauce. This is an easy weekday meal that has flavour and comfort waiting to be shared.   

Have a great weekend everyone! - JD