“Food imaginatively and lovingly prepared, and eaten in good company, warms the being.”
Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings
{Warning: This is a LONG post. The recipe can be found at the bottom…}
Third time lucky? Yes indeed! We landed up in Sydney yet again, taking in the early morning fresh air and happy to be Down Under. It’s a vacation we look forward to and enjoy it in the truest sense of the word. A vacation here means friends, fun, food … This time our friend Ulyana was waiting with the B52 – her newest indulgence and obsession {in her words, Google it mate!!}! She’s a lively one, a Ukrainian to boot, talented beyond belief, jovial, full of life … and races through each week waiting for Friday! We’ve known her for over 20 years and she exudes enthusiasm in every breath! She loves baking and this time charmed us with an almond cake with no butter/fat added. How does one describe the lightest and sweetest cake ever, a cake disappeared really quick? There was something about it … the texture, the sweetness, the natural flavours of almond meal, gentle yet so addictive that is was difficult to stay away.Catch the recipe at the end of this post! And if you are wondering what the sketch in the collage below is about, it’s the church in Ukraine that Ulyana was christened in. It’s an oil she had on her wall that the daughter decided to replicate in charcoal while we were there, done in the midst of all the baking and merriment. She did a beautiful job of it, and her charcoal was eventually framed and stayed in Sydney, as a gift for our gracious host!Back to the cake … we left it sitting on the counter and drove downtown. No visit to Sydney is complete without a visit downtown, so we got to the city asap. The spectacular views of the Opera House knock you off your feet. We were still pretty jet lagged but one step on the Rocks and it was magic! A flood of memories came tumbling in … we’d been here before! Just dug out the kids pictures when we were there in 2004 … {in 2009 as well} Hungry the minute we reached, we headed for Circular Quay – food first. Must have been the best batter fried fish and chips we’ve had in ages. I think the fish was barramundi, a local fish – FAB! The lad was quite adventurous and went for a baby octopus salad as a side. Hats off to him for even trying it, though he looked definitely queasy after downing half of it! The kids had a blast with the gulls and then we were tempted to stop by the very inviting Sydney Guylian Belgian Chocolate Café … DROOL! What’s not to love about SO MUCH CHOCOLATE! Too full to eat any more, we had flat whites and lattes, while the kids dipped strawberries into decadent dark chocolate fondue. As the sun set, we soaked in the the different hues the iconic Opera House offered, walked around immersed in the beautiful views of the Harbour Bridge, the aborigines playing the didgeridoos, native music, the trapeze artists, watching in amazement at the Vivid Sydney Festival of lights … beautiful city this!{We were back soon to take a boat ride down to Manly for the Food & Wine Festival there. That’s another post, but I was sorry to have missed Shaz as I later realized she lives 4 beaches down from Manly. LOVED talking to her on the phone though … it was like we’d known each other for AGES. Yay for food bloggers and the connect!}Stopped for a delicious Thai dinner on the way home, and came back to the cake, ready and waiting. As we sat there polishing of the last crumbs of this fantastic cake, I’m glad I grabbed the camera just in time to get a few pictures of a cake that was gone in a matter of hours … We’re back home now, the pictures bringing alive memories of indulgent days spent eating and drinking … vintage cheese, bruschetta, grilled portabello mushrooms, Uzbekistani pulao, Thai Laska {which was a killer}, chilli con carne, meatballs with gravy, Teriyaki chicken, home made sushi … Tell tale signs of an indulgent holiday announced themselves and it’s time for a diet! The daughter kicked into her dieting diva mode immediately, so I have made Ulyanas almond cake twice already. {Minor changes – ground whole almonds with some sugar instead of almond meal and a sprinkling of slivered almonds on top.}
[print_this]Recipe: Almond Cake
Summary: A delicious to the last crumb almond cake … moist and addictive, yet with no added fat.
Prep Time: 25 minutes Total Time: 75 minutes Ingredients:
5 eggs, separated
200gms sugar
1 tbsp cornflour
225gms almond meal
1 tbsp brandy
1 tsp almond extract
1 tsp baking powder
Method:
Preheat oven to 170C. Grease and line a 7″ round tin.
Beat yolks with half the sugar until light and fluffy. {In stand mixer for 10-15 minutes}. Mix brandy and almond extract in a small bowl, and drizzle in bit by bit while the yolks are mixing.
Add cornflour, continue beating, followed by baking powder and a pinch of salt.
Add the almond meal, and continue to mix. The batter will get firmer and firmer.
Beat the whites separately with the remaining sugar, and add by the spoonful to the dough like batter with the machine running.
Bake for about an hour. Take out of oven, remove the sides and leave on rack for 10 minutes. Carefully remove bottom, and allow to cool completely.
Sift over with icing sugar if desired, slice and serve.
“We must free ourselves of the hope that the sea will ever rest. We must learn to sail in high winds.” Aristotle Onassis
BAKLAVA, importantly homemade phyllo pastry has been on my list of things to do forever. I am SO GLAD I made this exquisite dessert. It’s the best ‘from scratch fine pastry dessert‘ I’ve made of late, one I meant to do for ages. A Daring Baker challenge I had no intention of missing, yet I very nearly did! The process seemed intimidating, but was eventually a beautiful experience; the end result bowled me over!
Erica of Erica’s Edibles was our host for the Daring Baker’s June challenge. Erica challenged us to be truly DARING by making homemade phyllo dough and then to use that homemade dough to make Baklava.
It was many years ago. Tweeting in 2009 with Peter @ Kalofagas got me inspired and I headed over to check out the first of his inspirational Baklava series. He’s also done one on making phyllo from scratch {his version uses yeast in the dough} ending in a delicious looking Spanakopita made under the watchful eye of his Mum. { This man is the Greek god of good food!} This was one thing I had to master but life got the better of me, and time whizzed by, somewhat out of control.
I haven’t been on the net for ages… no twitter, no face-book, no blogs and it’s all down to the kids summer vacations! Out of town for 2 weeks {a trip to HKG and Down Under} and many to-do’s have been lost – my ‘have to do macarons for Mactweets. I struggle to feed the blog, get a pup for the kids, reply to an infinite number of mails … I’m clearly beginning to feel the pressure!
But this I HAD to make and the process was absolutely joyful. I love the rolling pin, and the dough was silky beautiful. As we are a country that makes fresh thin flat bread for practically every meal, rolling was fun and the only thing that took a little while. The trusted Thermomix kneaded the dough in a flash …thank heavens for it! It also chopped the nuts as fine as could be in nano seconds … a blessing in disguise.
Baklava, a sweet rich pastry made with layers of phyllo dough and nuts sweetened with simple syrup. It is widely knows as a Greek dessert, but it’s origin has really never been pinpointed as many Middle Eastern countries also name it as their own. There are local versions from Iran, Turkey, Croatia, Azerbaijan, Afghanistan, Albania, Armenia and Cyprus.
The end product was as exquisite. The phyllo was easy to handle and layered to perfection. I made the whole portion of the dough {didn’t read the fine print} so fell slightly short of layers, but that wasn’t a problem. Layered deserts are always easy to fiddle around with! I halved the filling and the syrup. This has been one of the best Daring Baker challenges I’ve enjoyed so far.
The phyllo from scratch recipe was similar to the pastry we made for the earlier ‘Strudel‘ for Daring Bakers 2 years ago. The filling was an endearing blend of nuts, sugar and cinnamon all balanced beautifully… an Alton Brown recipe {I forgot the cloves… sigh}. The soaking honey syrup with orange and cinnamon completed the Middle Eastern charm …. left us longing for more!
It looked ever so pretty as well though I didn’t stray from the challenge recipe and typical appearance. I loved pouring the cool syrup over the hot, freshly baked baklava, the crackling sound music to the ears! I have to make this again one day, and try the many charming different versions at Kalofogas including Baklava cigars or Baklava Daisies.
Thank you Erica for an outstanding daring challenge; it was a beautiful one, very fulfilling. Thank you as always Lisa of La Mia Cucina and Ivonne of Cream Puffs in Venice for hosting this fab kitchen!! Do stop by here to see the beautiful baklava our other daring bakers have rolled from scratch!
[print_this]Recipe: Baklava
Summary: Baklava, a sweet rich pastry made with layers of phyllo dough and nuts sweetened with simple syrup. Exquisite and outstanding make ahead dessert.{Minimally adapted from following recipes}
Phyllo Dough Recipe – Kaffeehaus – Exquisite Desserts from the Classic Cafés of Vienna, Budapest and Prague” by Rick Rodgers Baklava – Adapted from Alton Brown, Food Network
Phyllo Dough: *Note 1: To have enough to fill a 9” x 9” baking dish with 18 layers of phyllo I doubled this recipe. *Note 2: Single recipe will fill a 8” x 5” baking dish. *Note 3: Dough can be made a head of time and froze. Just remove from freezer and allow to thaw and continue making your baklava
185gm all purpose {plain} flour
1/8tsp salt
1/2 cup less 1 tbsp water, plus more if needed
2 tbsp vegetable oil, plus additional for coating the dough
1/2 tsp cider vinegar, {could substitute white wine vinegar or red wine vinegar, but could affect the taste}
Method:
In the bowl of your stand mixer combine flour and salt. Mix with paddle attachment.
Combine water, oil and vinegar in a small bowl.
Add water & oil mixture with mixer on low speed, mix until you get a soft dough, if it appears dry add a little more water. Change to the dough hook and let knead approximately 10 minutes. You will end up with beautiful smooth dough. If you are kneading by hand, knead approx. 20 minutes.
Remove the dough from mixer and continue to knead for 2 more minutes. Pick up the dough and through it down hard on the counter a few times during the kneading process.
Thermomix: Place all ingredients in the bowl of the TM. Process on Speed 6 for 7 seconds. Then knead on bread setting for 3.5 minutes. Turn onto counter, roll into a neat ball.
Shape the dough into a ball and lightly cover with oil
Wrap tightly in plastic wrap and let rest 30-90 minutes, longer is best {Mine rested for 2 days and it was still perfect}
Rolling your Phyllo ** Remove all rings and jewelry so it does not snag the dough** Use whatever means you have to get the dough as thin as you can.
Unwrap your dough and cut off a chunk slightly smaller than a golf ball. While you are rolling be sure to keep the other dough covered so it doesn’t dry out. Be sure to flour your hands, rolling pin and counter. As you roll you will need to keep adding, don’t worry, you can’t over-flour.
Roll out the dough until it is as thin as you can it. Don’t worry if you get rips in the dough, as long as you have one perfect one for the top you will never notice.
When you get it as thin as you can with the rolling pin, carefully pick it up with well floured hands and stretch it on the backs of your hands as you would a pizza dough, just helps make it that much thinner. Roll out your dough until it is transparent. NOTE: you will not get it as thin as the frozen phyllo dough you purchase at the store, it is made by machine
Set aside on a well-floured surface. Repeat the process until your dough is used up. Between each sheet again flower well. You will not need to cover your dough with a wet cloth, as you do with boxed dough, it is moist enough that it will not try out.
Ingredients for Syrup:
150ml honey
150ml water
140gms sugar
1 cinnamon stick
2 pieces candied orange peel {or fresh}
A few cloves or a pinch or ground clove {I forgot this}
Method:
When you put your baklava in the oven start making your syrup. When you combine the two, one of them needs to be hot, I find it better when the baklava is hot and the syrup has cooled.
Combine all ingredients in a medium pot over medium high heat. Stir occasionally until sugar has dissolved.
Boil for 10 minutes, stir occasionally.
Once boiled for 10 minutes remove from heat and strain cinnamon stick and orange, allow to cool as baklava cooks.
Ingredients for Filling:
1 tsp ground cinnamon
85gm blanched almonds
80gm raw walnuts
75gm raw pistachios
75gm sugar
Phyllo dough {see recipe above}
100gm {1/2 cup} melted butter
Method:
Preheat oven to moderate 350°F/180°C/gas mark 4.
Combine nuts, sugar and spices in a food processor and pulse on high until finely chopped. If you do not have a food processor chop with a sharp knife as fine as you can. Set aside.
Thermomix: PLace all ingredients in TM bowl. Process on Speed 6 for 5 seconds. Repeat 3-4 times till you get the consistency you desire.
Trim your phyllo sheets to fit in your pan.
Brush bottom of pan with butter and place first phyllo sheet.Brush the first phyllo sheet with butter and repeat approximately 5 times ending with butter. {Most recipes say more, but homemade phyllo is thicker so it’s not needed}
Sprinkle 1/2 of the nut mixture on top.
Continue layering phyllo and buttering repeating 4 times.
Sprinkle 1/2 of the nut mixture on top.
Continue layering phyllo and buttering repeating 4 .
On the top layer, make sure you have a piece of phyllo with no holes if possible, just looks better.
Once you have applied the top layer tuck in all the edges to give a nice appearance.
With a sharp knife cut your baklava in desired shapes and number of pieces. If you can’t cut all the ways through don’t worry you will cut again later. A 9×9 pan cuts nicely into 30 pieces. Then brush with a generous layer of butter making sure to cover every area and edge.
Bake for approximately 30 minutes; remove from oven and cut again this time all the way through. Continue baking for another 30 minutes. {Oven temperatures will vary, you are looking for the top to be a golden brown, take close watch yours may need more or less time in the oven}.
When baklava is cooked remove from oven and pour the cooled {will still be warmish} syrup evenly over the top, taking care to cover all surfaces when pouring. It looks like it is a lot but over night the syrup will soak into the baklava creating a beautifully sweet and wonderfully textured baklava! Next morning all syrup is absorbed.
Allow to cool to room temperature. Once cooled cover and store at room temperature. Allow the baklava to sit overnight to absorb the syrup. Serve at room temperature.
” There’s nothing more exciting to cook than discovering a new ingredient or finding an interesting new way to use an old favourite.”
Fine Cooking In Season
My love affair with fruit in baking and fruit based desserts continues unabated, often bordering obsession. Got back rejuvenated from the vacation, exhausted too, to find an absolutely delicious looking book waiting for me in the mailbox. This finger licking good Peach, Plum & Apricot Streusel Crumble was just waiting to be baked!!Fine Cooking in Season: Your Guide to Choosing and Preparing the Season’s Best from the Fine Cooking Magazine. The cover had the most beautiful picture of juicy plums, blueberries etc. A quick peek within and outstanding photographs by Mathew Benson had me sold!The cover drew me to the book and at 2am I was leafing through it oblivious to the tired aching muscles etc. An almost 24hour flight from Sydney via Hong Kong forgotten, the tired kids suddenly unimportant as they fell into bed in a dazed stupor, suitcases all over the place … the book had me mesmerised!
“Fine Cooking in Season is like having an expert and friend guide you from the farmer’s market to your kitchen, helping you make the most of the delicious bounty available throughout the year. Focusing on produce at its peak is not only flavorful and inspiring, but also a natural way to get a variety of healthy food into your life.”–Ellie Krieger, host of Healthy Appetite on the Food Network and author of The Food You Crave.
Included in the package is a DVD with the Fine Cooking Magazine archive from 1994-2010; for me a virtual treasure. Thank you Taunton Press{I think they sent it as I have no clue who mailed the book to me; it’s been signed by 3 good folk too…gracias} for a book I will always treasure, one thats found pride of place on my shelf. I love it! This was going to be a nice distraction indeed from the monotony of post vacation chores. Unpacking suitcases, putting stuff away, not wanting to touch jackets in this hot weather, cooking to keep the troops happy, dusting the cobwebs off {2 weeks away in the summer and the spiders seem to have a party!}. A quick trip to the local bazaar and yay … all senses awakened, stone fruit were practically tumbling off shelves.I made this stone fruit crumble using 2 recipes. For the filling I used the Peach or Nectarine Cobbler recipe, and since the diva was on a diet and I couldn’t ‘pie’ the fruit, I decided to use the topping from a Ginger Streusel Pie recipe {with a few healthy changes like using 1/2 oats 1/2 flour instead of only flour, slightly reduced butter etc} … this was a celebration of stone fruit!I do love this season. The colours, the flavours, the charm of stone fruit … always like a dream. The crumble was addictive and difficult to keep away from, “sweetly tart and full of soul” … if you know what I mean. Add to it a nutty walnut streusel topping, crisp and delicious and you know this was meant to be. The trusted Thermomix delivered the streusel in one quick whiz.Mr PAB was served his portion with a handsome drizzle of low fat unsweetened cream … and it was nirvana I hear. The lad got a small drizzle too. The teen & me looked at the cream longingly but voluntarily stayed away … there is a post vacation diet which holds ominous significance. 2 thin slivers were demolished by the teen and pre teen last night, with the lad hurriedly polishing off the last crumbs and asking if I could make some again, soon maybe? This is a book I certainly enjoyed for its pictures, its fresh ideas, and for its recipes contributed by some fine culinary gurus which include some of my favourites – Alice Medrich, Abby Dodge, Suvir Saran, Raghavan Iyer, Amanda Hesser among a host of other celebrated contributors.The next book for review on my list is this one by award winning journalist Stephen Fried. The book is interestingly titled “Appetite For America“; Fred Harvey and the Business of Civilizing the Wild West – One Meal at a Time. It’s a first ever biography of this visionary entrepreneur considered to be the founding father of the American hospitality industry and gastronomic culture. {I’m halfway through this fascinating journey … which ends in some delicious recipes. More on that in a later post}
Summary:I do love this season. The colours, the flavours, the charm of stone fruit … always like a dream. The crumble was addictive and difficult to keep away from. Sweetly tart and full of soul, add to it a nutty walnut streusel topping, and its crisp and delicious!
Recipe adapted from 2 recipes from Fine Cooking In Season {pgs 134 & 200}
Prep Time: 15 minutes Total Time: 40 minutes Ingredients:
Toss all the ingredients in a large bowl immediately after chopping the fruit.
Adjust sugar if fruit is too tart.
Turn into a 9″ pie dish {or 6-8 individual baking dishes} and level out.
Top with streusel, pressing gently to ensure the entire fruit is covered.
Bake for 35-45 minutes until the juices are bubbling over and the topping is light golden brown.
Streusel Topping Ingredients:
1/2 cup plain flour
1/2 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup walnuts, chopped fine
3/4 cup light brown sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, chilled, diced {I used frozen}
Method:
Place the flour, oats, walnuts and salt in the bowl of food processor and whiz briefly on low speed to mix.
Add chilled butter and whiz in short pulses until you get a breadcrumb like mix. Reserve {This freezes well too}
Thermomix instructions – Place all ingredients, including walnut halves in TM bowl, and process for 7 seconds, speed 5 until walnuts chopped fine. Add frozen, diced butter and process for 7-10 seconds, speed 6 until you get a breadcrumb like mix.
“No self-respecting mother would run out of intimidations on the eve of a major holiday.”
Erma Brombeck
A Stone Fruit Tea Cake must be one of the best ways to use stone fruit in a cake this summer. Light enough to be a snack to satiate that grumbling in the tummy, yet indulgent enough to offer a light summer dessert if served with whipped cream or ice cream! As I write this post, I am desperately trying to get organised as we are due to leave for a vacation to Hong Kong and Sydney tomorrow … and nothing seems to be moving!Ever since summer and stone fruit arrived, I’ve been looking out for options to use them differently. The Google gods are ready to oblige, and enter the magic words and soon I was led to Rima’s beautiful blog. Her Stone Fruit Tea Cakecaught my eye instantly. It was P R E T T Y, and looked like such an elegant tea cake.Back home my stash of stone fruit nudged me to get going. I seriously needed inspiration to begin as the day was dark and dreary, rainy gray, so no fun taking pictures outdoors! I got onto Twitter after absolute ages and boy was I glad to be back! No lack of inspiration there … a great bunch of folk, and a racing time-line sucked me into another world. Then came the nudge to move it …
dazzler2980: @vindee the mood to photograph doesnt always run parallel to the the weather.. SO you should just go for it.
Before I knew it, I was out with the camera and clicking. Thanks for the dazzling nudgeAnita@ dazzler2980… The cake was baked soon after; was an absolute joy to make. The vibrant colours, the expectancy of a new bake, the uneventful release from the pan {very important happiness factor} all made it so worthwhile! I played around with the original recipe a little {which is now more the norm with me} to up the healthy factor some! It was healthy enough with all the fruit in there, but I put in some almond meal as I love the added texture and flavour it lends to bakes. It does make the cake crumb a little heavier as against using only plain flour, yet the end result is certainly delicious; well worth the healthy addition. As was the Gateau Aux Pommes {apple cake} I recently posted, this tea cake is another good example of a snack cake as well as dessert. Fruit bakes pair well with ice cream and low fat cream {my first preference}, and this cake is no exception. Go on, indulge!! We particularly liked the density and body the almond meal gave the cake, and the fruit were wonderful in here!This is a great cake for tea, served warm, but also nice to make ahead and chill. The dieting diva was back from Dubai and literally hacking LARGE slices off, devouring every crumb with pleasure! The cake kept well in the fridge for 3-4 days {covered}. I love this season … and have done a roasted plum and apricot quark panna cotta too, which hopefully will see the light of day {blog-day} sometime!The kids came back refreshed after a good holiday {away from the Mum}, and were spoilt silly by their cousin and her hub in Dubai. They are now back in the clutches of the ‘wicked mother‘ as we embark on phase 2 of the summer vacations headed Down Under {and HKG}. I am already TIRED, and the intimidations on the quote above are running fast & thick!
[print_this]Recipe: NAME
Summary: A Stone Fruit Tea Cake must be one of the best ways to use stone fruit in a cake this summer. Light enough to be a snack to satiate that grumbling in the tummy, yet indulgent enough to offer a light summer dessert if served with whipped cream or ice cream!
Prep Time: 15 minutes Total Time: 40 minutes Ingredients:
1 tbsp butter (for greasing pan)
1/2 cup almond meal {I ground whole almonds}
1 cup plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
Pinch of salt
110gms unsalted butter, room temperature
125gm sugar powdered with 1/2 vanilla bean, sifted
2 eggs
1 sachet vanilla sugar for sprinkling over
5 apricots, 5 plums, 3 peaches, 1 cup of cherries {or any combination of stone fruit you like}
Method:
Preheat the oven to 170C. Grease a round 9″ tart tin with the tbsp of butter.
Run the almond meal, flour, baking powder and salt briefly in a blender to mix
Cream the butter and sugar for 3-4 minutes until light. Add the eggs and beat again.
On low speed, add the flour mix in 3 goes and blend until just mixed. The dough will be soft. You can divide this into 2 and chill one half. Push the other half to line the base of your tart pan/ baking tin
Pit and chop the stone fruit, and scatter evenly over the base lined with dough. Sprinkle generously with sugar if your fruit are sour.
Dollop and roughly spread the remaining dough over the top, spreading roughly with an offset spatula. The dough will even out while baking, leaving pretty gaps for the fruit to peep out. Sprinkle over with vanilla sugar.
Bake at 170C for about 30 minutes. The top will feel firm and set. Allow to cool for at least 30 minutes before removing from pan.
“When the night has come, And the land is dark And the moon is the only light we see No I won’t be afraid, No I won’t be afraid Just as long as you stand, stand by me.”
Ben E. King
These are lyrics of one of my favourite songs, the words, the tone, the tenor … all pure comfort! I’m sorry it’s been a while and I have to admit life seems to have got the better of me. Summer has hit us splat on, the kids now on summer vacation and the headless chicken dance doesn’t seem to end. Is it something with me being disorganised, or is it just a sign of the times … so much to do and so little time!The last 2 weeks whizzed by getting visas organised etc {we need visas on our passports to go practically anywhere, except HKG maybe!!} Heat and dust, electricity power cuts, teens at their trying best, parents at their coping best or worst {still trying to figure that last one out} … and then the desire to blog!Nothing adds up to a balanced equation…
We put the kids on a flight to Dubai for 5 days where they are being spoilt silly by their sweet cousin. I figured I had 5 ‘whole‘ days to catch up, and had grand plans. 2 days are gone and I’ve hit panic mode. Nothing done as I am still trying to get back my lost energy … the heat saps you of most, and bringing up kids drains the rest.Getting to the foodie bit now. I haven’t baked for a few days with all this running around, so I’ve dug into my archives for an apple cake that I made last month, one I meant to post, but didn’t quite get there. It’s a minimally adapted recipe from Tartlette, one that spells COMFORT! It’s like an old fashioned cake, almost crossing into a steamed pudding, and holds wonderful old world charm.
Of the cake Helene says, “I am pretty sure that most French people reading are familiar with the “Gateau aux Pommes 5-4-3-2-1” that the brand Tupperware® introduced during home demonstrations of their products. A very simple, very unassuming and particularly delicious apple cake, soft and moist all the way through. It was especially known for its creamy butter and sugar topping forming a tempting thin crust while baking.“
I made it with apples. Possibly it should work well with peaches, maybe apricots too. I skipped the cardamom in it as I’m not a huge fan of cardamom in bakes, but you can add a tsp in with the flour. You could sprinkle the top with slivered almonds like I did here, and also for Marie Helen’s Apple Cake from Dorie Greenspan ‘Around My French Table’. That and a dusting of sugar prettied it up!!I made several small cakes in ramekins lined with cupcake liners {to aid easy removal} and a 4″ cake in a spring-form tin. This was indeed a simple, comforting, unassuming apple cake, delicious and moist, with the promise of old world charm. A couple of tablespoons of unsweetened low fat cream make it even more addictive!
[print_this]Recipe: Gateau Aux Pommes {Apple Cake}
Summary: A simple, comforting, unassuming apple cake, delicious and moist. A couple of tablespoons of unsweetened low fat cream make it even more addictive! Recipe adapted minimally from Tartlette.
Prep Time: 15 minutes Total Time: 45 minutes Ingredients for the cake:
1 cup plain flour
1/4 cup cornmeal
1/2 cup vanilla sugar
Pinch of salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup low fat milk
1/4 cup low fat cream
1/3 cup oil
1 egg
1/2 vanilla bean scraped
2 apples, peeled, cored and thinly sliced
Ingredients for the topping:
5 1/2 tbsp {80g} unsalted butter, at room temperature
It’s May with Megan, my secret partner for the month @ The Secret Recipe Club, the brainchild of the very talented & sweet Amanda of Amanda’s Cookin’. The idea behind the club – Each month you are “assigned” a participating food blogger to make a recipe from. It’s a secret, so don’t tell them you are making something from their blog!I was thrilled to find my April Secret Challenge recipe picked by The Pioneer Woman in her postWeb Deliciousness: Strawberries!
Ree was generous with her words. She said “Old Fashioned Eggless Chocolate Cake with Balsamic Strawberry Cream Filling by Passionate About Baking. This is the first time I’ve seen this food blog and the photos are just spectacular, not to mention the treats themselves. Wow.”, and then went on to add another of my posts in the round-up to say”Whipped Strawberry Curd Cream Tartlets with Walnut Shortbread Crust. My, oh my. I don’t know what to say.”
I love Megans blog Megans Cookin’ – Sweet, Savoury, Simple … goes the tagline. Her blog is delicious and we are addicted to her chocolate chip oatmeal snack bars; these are a weekly bake in our home. I have tried them in numerous avatars, with different flour substitutions like whole wheat and buckwheat {in addition to healthy oats in there}, and with different conserves, jams etc {homemade bitter orange marmalade, homemade strawberry vanilla bean conserve, blueberry conserve} …… with chocolate chips, with dark chocolate on top, without dark chocolate on top. They are THAT POPULAR at home and the kids love them! I had made a batch the morning I got a mail from Amanda telling me my secret partner was Megan.Could Amanda have guessed what I had just baked? I couldn’t post the same bars again as I have already done so on PAB. I hadn’t slathered them with dark chocolate this time because the weather is really hot, so I thought I’d use them some other way!Here’s what I did. I ran about 5-6 energy bars in my thermomix and got fine biscuit crumbs. My plan was to use them as a sweet tart base, with a cherry pie filling as cherries are in season here and very very tempting to use! Thought I’d do a bittersweet chocolate filling as in this Bittersweet Chocolate Marquise with Crème Chantilly & Balsamic Cherry Sauce I had recently made.That morning, an ardent local baker,the sweet Nidhi, messaged me literally begging me for a vegetarian something after she had drooled over the Bittersweet Chocolate Marquise. She’s allergic to eggs; I just had to oblige this lovely girl. {BTW, Nidhi, just finished reading the book you got me, and I loved it!}So the filling was rapidly reworked to accommodate Nidhi and her no egg request. You will not believe how delicious this turned out to be!! Finger-licking good, and well set too. Chocolate and cherries, like chocolate and strawberries, are a combination made to please the spirit!For folk with egg allergies or for a vegetarian version, I have an eggless tart recipe in this Whipped Strawberry Curd Cream Tartlets with Walnut Shortbread Crust. You could also use graham crackers or digestive biscuit crumbs.Take a look at the cross section. A filling that was smooth, luscious and sang the dark chocolate cherry song out loud! The diva on diet begged for more, and adamantly had two helpings despite being literally hit on the head and reminded of her diet! The son charmed his way to seconds! The base was full of chocolaty goodness too … a winner of a tart!This time I didn’t cook the cherries into a sauce. I barely simmered them in brown sugar and balsamic vinegar for 1-2 minutes, just to soften them and to help get them a glazed look, then fished them out of the sauce and cooked the syrup to a thick reduction. Oh, I added a dash of lime juice as well to give it a kick. Worked nicely!
[print_this]Recipe: Nutella & Cherry Chocolate Tart
Summary: A vegetarian filling /chocolate tart filled with deeply luscious dark couverture chocolate and nutella.
Prep Time: 15 minutes Total Time: 40 minutes Ingredients:
1 sweet chocolate tart base, 9″ {recipe follows, or premade etc}
500ml low fat cream, room temperature
200gms dark chocolate {I used 55% couverture}
2/3 cup Nutella
2 tbsp cornflour
100gms fresh cherries, pitted, halved
Method:
Mix cornflour in 1/2 cup low fat cream.
Place remaining cream, dark chocolate and Nutella in a heavy bottom pan, and simmer until the chocolate melts, stirring constantly.
Add the remaining cream & cornflour mix and continue to stir until mixture thickens to a batter like texture, thicker than flowing custard.
Cool for about 30 minutes. Sprinkle baked tart shell with the pitted and halved cherries. Pour the chocolate mixture over this, level out and chill for at least 3-4 hours, until set. Pour the balsamic cherry topping over, chill for another 30 minutes, remove from pan and serve.
Recipe: Chocolate Tart Prep Time: 15 minutes Total Time: 40 minutes Ingredients:
5-6 energy bars {recipe here}, powdered in processor
50gms unsalted butter, melted
Method:
Preheat the oven to 180C. Keep a 9″ round tart pan with a removable base ready.
Mix the cookies crumbs and butter.
Turn out into a 9″ tart pan and pat out evenly to cover the base and work into the sides. Mine was uneven on the sides, but the filling merged in later. {Also was not roll-able maybe because of the intense heat}
Bake for about 30 minutes. Cool completely on rack. It will firm up when cool. Loosen the shell, and leave it in the tart pan.
