Sometimes, despite the best of intentions, fruit can go a little south in the fruit bowl. Things in general feel like they have gone a little south lately. This time a year ago our current COVID circumstances would have been unimaginable to pretty much all …
I truly love posting about dessert. I am a huge fan of baking – we have a rich and rightly-celebrated baking culture in our little country and I am happy to leap in, butter, cream and all. It feels particularly necessary right now, as Winter …
Happy 2017 everyone! I think we can all agree that the year we have just ushered out was rather bruising, whether you’re talking politically, artistically, or for many of us, personally. So, what we really need to ring in the New Year is not cucumber sticks, lycra, mineral water or resolutions. No, what is called for is a big, comforting, chocolatey cake. Or at least that is how I felt today in amongst reading, watching Netflix and snoozing on the sofa with our cats.
I’m not going to pretend I was feeling sparky enough to whip up my own recipe. And why would I need to, when I’m lucky enough to have my very own copy of Alice Arndell‘s Alice in Bakingland? This recipe, sweetly titled ‘Nanny’s chocolate cake’ is a winner, delivering a pleasingly chocolatey cake every time. Because I really felt the need to up the nourishment factor on this one, I slathered jam and cream on cut halves before sandwiching the cake back together and topping it with a generous serving of chocolate icing.
Take care everyone and I’m hoping this cake sets the tone for a much sweeter, kinder year.
Nanny’s chocolate cake by Alice Arndell
Ingredients:
Method:
Pre-heat the oven to 170 degrees celsius. Grease and line a 23cm cake tin.
Place the butter and golden syrup in a microwave-proof bowl and heat on high until the butter is melted – this is 1 minute 10 seconds in my microwave. Stir to combine and set aside.
Place all other ingredients in a large bowl and beat for 5 minutes. The original recipe calls for a stand mixer, which I don’t have, so I find a handheld electric beater works well. You may need to beat for a little longer if you do this by hand.
Pour in the butter and syrup and mix through.
This mixture is runny so don’t worry! Pour it into the prepared tin and bake for 50-60 minutes until a skewer inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean with a few crumbs.
Cool in the tin for 10 minutes then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
If you fancy a sugar hangover, look no further. This fudge is mouth-suckingly sweet and all the better for it. A firm Kiwi favourite, it is dense and rich, comprised largely of sugar, sweetened condensed milk and golden syrup. I can’t get to the bottom …
I’m finding myself with a lot of tinned goods recently, not unlike many people in our little shaky isles in the wake of our 7.8 earthquake. It pays to be prepared. I’ve heard the comment more than once that tinned pears are the least exciting …
Toddlers and sugar, a match made in heaven? Probably not for their parents, but when it’s your niece’s third birthday party and you said you’d make biscuits, it’s hardly time to skimp on the sugar.
I was inspired to make these little numbers by one of New Zealand’s favourite cookie treats…the Hundreds and Thousands biscuit. The name is pretty self-evident, although perhaps not if you hail from elsewhere in the world outside of New Zealand. ‘Hundreds and Thousands’ is our antipodean name for the rainbow sprinkles on top of these cookies, but other terms include nonpareils and jimmies.
I can’t find must history about this biscuit itself, but there are a few stories behind the origins of Hundreds and Thousands. Some claim they were invented in a New York candy factory in the 1930s, whilst others say that they come from Parisian bakers.
Whatever the origin, it can’t be denied that a liberal sprinkling of on a pink-iced vanilla cookie is an appropriate party treat. I used Donna Hay’s vanilla snaps recipe for the base and the rest was pretty simple.
Vanilla biscuits:
Icing:
Beat the butter and sugar together until pale and creamy. And the vanilla extract and egg yolk and beat again.
Finally add the flour and beat until a dough forms. Wrap the dough in cling film and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Heat the oven to 180 degrees celsius. Roll the dough on a lightly floured surface until 3mm thick.
Cut rounds or shapes from the dough and place on baking-paper lined trays. Bake until just golden – this took ten minutes in my oven.
Cool on racks. Make the icing by adding the icing sugar to the butter, a drop of colouring and strawberry essence and beating well, using a little hot water to soften as needed. When cold, ice with pink icing and sprinkle liberally with hundreds and thousands.
Steamed pudding is like a sweet, jammy hug in a bowl. I love it. It’s a special favourite in our little country. I was recently introduced to a New Zealand specialty steamed pudding which is the queen of both steamed puddings and now of my heart…burnt …
I was the happy competitor in a baking competition recently. I say ‘happy’ because how could you ever not be happy when you have a genuine excuse to make sweet delicious treats several times over? And the competition was for a great cause too…Good Bitches …
I know, I know, vegetables and chocolate. My reflex reaction is ‘blurgh’ too. But bear with me, these brownies are good, contain lots of dark chocolate and are a handy way to use up beetroot if you find yourself needing to do so.
Not that I often have spare beetroot about the place. I love the stuff, in line with my enthusiasm for pretty much all vegetables. The humble beetroot is a member of the Amaranthaceae family and related, would you believe, to chard. Our modern-day beets descend from the sea beet of the Mediterranean. Our little beet has an ancient and distinguished history. Remains of beets have been discovered in illustrious and ancient places, including the third dynasty pyramid Saqqara and the Neolithic site Aartswoud in the Netherlands.
So naturally we people of the 21st century have found that mashing up beetroot and baking it with chocolate is a delicious, modern usage. The best tip I can give you about this recipe, as warned in the excellent original from BBC, is to wear gloves and ideally an apron when peeling the beets. Beetroot has a brilliant red juice, which is a stunning, attractive colour, but will make it look as though you killed someone and it takes some time to scrub off.
You will need:
Set the oven to 180 degrees celsius. Butter then line a 20 x 30cm tin.
Cover up with rubber gloves and an apron then peel the beetroot and cut it into chunks. I find it helps to do this bit in the sink, so that you are not left with a pink kitchen.
Place the beetroot in a large microwave-proof bowl and cover with water. Cover the top of the bowl with cling film, pierce the cling film with a few holes and microwave on high for 12 minutes.
Drain the beetroot then place back in the bowl with the butter, chocolate and vanilla extract. Use a hand-held, bladed blender to mulch into as liquid-y a mix as you can manage. You can also do this bit in an electric mixer, although I find my hand-held one works fine as the beetroot is soft and its warmth melts the chocolate.
Crack the eggs into another large bowl and add the caster sugar. Beat until foamy and pale, about two minutes with an electric beater. Gently fold in the beetroot mix, then sift in the flour and cocoa. Mix in the flour and cocoa gently with a metal spoon. It will be quite pink!
Pour into the prepared tin and bake for 25 minutes, until the top is all risen. Cool completely in the tin and once cooled, dust with icing sugar.
This is sweet and chocolatey and honestly, not a hint of beetroot. It has a very pretty pinkish tinge, not unlike a red velvet cake.
What to do with sage? Make buttery, cheesy sage and cheddar biscuits? Yes please. I’ve found myself with a reasonably plentiful supply of fresh sage, which is a new thing. I have always managed to grow parsley and been left perplexed at how to use the …