Jaffa Loaf

This is a easy cake recipe from the BBC Good Food.  It had good reviews and I made a few changes more because I ran short of a few ingredients.  The family loved it.  Do try it !

The original recipe is here.  The changes I made are in italics at the end of the recipe.

Ingredients:

Butter - softened - 140 g
Self raising flour - 200 g
Baking powder -  1 1/2 tsp
Golden caster sugar - 200 g
Eggs - 3
Milk - 6 tbsp
Finely grated zest of Orange - 1

Topping
Orange juice - 3 tbsp
Golden caster sugar - 50g
Dark chocolate - 50 g

Butter and line the base of a loaf tin.  Oven set at 180C

Place ingredients for the cake in a bowl - butter, self raising flour, baking powder, caster sugar, eggs, milk and zest.

Beat with hand whisk or a wooden spoon for 3-5 mins till light and fluffy. 

Spoon into the prepared tin and level the top.

Place in oven 40-50 mins till golden brown and done.

As the cake is baking heat the orange juice and sugar gently, till the sugar is dissolved.

Cake with the orange marmalade topping

Once the cake is done, remove from oven and spoon the orange mixture on it.  Leave it in the tin till it cools. Then remove and keep on wire rack.

Prepare the chocolate.  Place in bowl and melt over simmering water or in a microwave as per instructions on the pack.

Drizzle over cake and leave to set. 

My changes

I had salted butter.  I used 100 g ( ran short of butter) and 40 g of refined oil
Since I used salted butter, I used plain flour instead of self raising flour.  Take a cup of plain flour, add  1 1/2 tsp baking powder and omitted the salt)
Additional baking powder as per the recipe wasalso added
I used zest and a teaspoon of candied peel
Instead of orange juice, I used orange marmalade for the additional peel that it contained to which a little water was added and gently heated till it dissolved.  Poked a few holes in the cake and allowed it to seep inside and also coated the surface.
Plain chocolate was used instead of dark chocolate and I did not drizzle it but applied it to coat the top.

Orange Cake with Cream Cheese frosting

Another recipe from James Martin.  The chef uses a lot of local ingredients and the particular episode of Home Comfort that we were watching, he visits a neighbouring rapeseed farm and then proceeds to make the orange cake with the rapeseed oil.  A and I were watching the show and the minute he sliced through this dense,yummy moist cake, we felt we had to try it.  Sure enough the next day, all the ingredients were laid out on the kitchen table and I had no choice but to make it.  And I was glad I did.  The home made candied orange peel adds the finishing touch to the cake and it adds a great flavour.

I suppose one can substitute rapeseed oil with any other refined oil.

Ingredients:
Butter - for greasing
Oranges - 5 nos ( large) - try ensuring that they are sweet
Rapeseed oil - 100 ml
Eggs - 4 nos
Caster sugar - 450 g
Self raising flour - 125 g
Almond flour - 125 g
Baking powder - 2 tsp
Cream cheese - 150 g
Crème fraîche - 150 g ( I used a bit of sour cream)
Icing sugar - 25 g

Topping - ( optional - I did not use)
Walnut halves and basil cress

Oven temperature - 170C or 150C fan

Lightly grease a 9" cake tin with butter
Zest three oranges into a large mixing bowl.  Keep aside
Remove the pith from the zested oranges. Roughly chop the flesh, discarding any seeds.  Place in a bowl and blend well with rapeseed oil till smooth and well combined.  Keep aside.

Into the bowl with the orange zest add the eggs and 250 g sugar.  Using an electric whisk, whisk the mixture till pale, thick and creamy and leaves a trail when the whisk is lifted from the mixture.
Sift the flour, almond flour and baking powder in a separate bowl.
Carefully fold in half of the puréed orange mixture into the egg mixture
Followed by the flour mixture.  And then the remaining puréed orange mixture

Pour in the cake mixture into the prepared tin and bake for 1 hour or until golden brown and risen. Check with skewer in the centre of the cake. It should come out clean. If not, cook a further 5 minutes and check again.

As the cake is baking, prepare the frosting.
Whisk the cream cheese, crème fraîche and icing sugar together till smooth and thick. Chill in the fridge till needed.
Peel the remaining two oranges with a vegetable peeler, then julienne the zest finely.
Pour 150 ml cold water into a saucepan, stir in remaining sugar.  Add the julienned orange peel, bring mixture to boil. Reduce heat till mixture is simmering.  Simmer for 8-10 mins to make a light syrup
Strain the syrup. You will only need the peel.  The syrup can be used for a orange drizzle cake or any cake, it will add a delightful orangey flavour 
Dredge the peel with caster sugar on a plate till coated.

Remove cake from oven when done, set aside to cool slightly in the tin and then on a rack till cooled completely
Now, spread the cream cheese frosting over the top and decorate with the candied orange zest and if you wish the nuts and cress. 

Date Cake

I had made the cake earlier.  But in the microwave.  Even though it tasted good, it didn't have that glorious brown colour and was not appreciated as much as this one. You cannot beat the slow heat and the browning effect of the oven.  Even the old stove top one would do.

This one is from Tickling Palates and the best part is if you have the dates, most likely you would have the rest of the ingredients right there in the kitchen.  No eggs, no butter, no milk either.  And you have a great tasting cake.  A little like the plum cake.  Make it right away...

PS - it just requires a little preparation, so at least start about 3-4 hours before you actually want to eat it !

Ingredients:

All Purpose Flour (Maida) - 2 cups
Sugar - 1 cup
Dates - 1 cup - de-seeded, chopped fine
Vegetable oil - 1/2 ( half) cup
Baking soda - 2 tsp
Salt - 1/4 tsp
Water - 2 cups
Cinnamon powder - 1 1/2 tsp
Almonds ( or any nuts of your choice) 1/4 cup - optional

( the recipe does not even require a weighing scale :-)   )

In a deep pan take the sugar, add salt, cinnamon powder, chopped dates, Oil, and Water.
Mix. 
Heat and bring to a boil
Simmer for about 15 - 20 minutes

Take off heat.  Allow to cool completely  - this will take some time

Once the mixture is cooled
Preheat the oven to 180 C
Prepare the tin.  Line with greased - grease proof or parchment paper.

Sieve the flour and baking soda twice preferably
Add this little by little to the cooled date mixture
Whisk manually or with an electric mixer
Make sure it is free of lumps
Transfer to the prepared tin and put in the oven

Bake for about 30 mins.  Keep a close eye on the cake.
Check to see if the knife comes out clean when you insert in the centre

Remove.  Cool thoroughly before you attempt to remove it from the tin
( I am always impatient at this stage )

Slice and serve.  Warm.  Cold or whatever.
Have it plain or with custard, ice-cream, plain thick cream.  All combinations will taste as good

Fruit Cake for Christmas

S, my daughter insisted that a Christmas cake had to be planned well in advance.  Fruits steeped in alcohol at least a month in advance. We realised nothing can be planned when there is a baby at home.  Then Priya  posted this recipe for a last-minute cake.  We put the little one in a pram, headed for the nearest supermarket, picked up the ingredients, stayed up most part of the night and had the cake ready on Christmas eve.

Ingredients:  

There are three stages - preparing the caramel, preparing the fruits, and preparing the batter

Caramel -

Sugar - 1/2 cup and water 1/4 cup

Mixed fruits - 11/4  cup ( the packet contained raisins,sultanas,figs, mixed peel) - and I added dates, and orange zest.  Chop the fruits

Nuts - 1 cup - cashew, almond, walnut - chopped coarsely

Orange juice - 3 tbsp

Rum - 2 tbsp ( though Priya says you can omit the orange juice and add up to 1/4 cup of rum)

Unsalted butter - 230 gms

Granulated sugar - 1 cup

Eggs - 3 large

Vanilla - 1 tsp ( or rum extract)

All Purpose Flour - 1 1/4 cup

Mixed spices - 1/2 tsp each - nutmeg, ginger powder, cinnamon powder

Salt - 1/4 tsp

Baking powder - 1 tsp

Preparation 

Making the caramel - Take a pan, add the 1/2 cup sugar and allow it to melt on medium heat. Be very careful. It will turn golden brown.  Keep swirling/mixing and allow another 30 secs till it turns slightly darker. Remove from heat.  Add the 1/4 cup water.  The caramel will harden.  On slow heat allow the caramel to melt. It will be a dark solution like that of Coke.  Remove from heat.  Cool and keep.  Do not allow the sugar to burn as the cake may turn bitter.  Keep a close eye and regular mixing is essential )

Preparing the fruit - in a pan, add the orange juice/ rum.  Cook on medium heat for 2 minutes.  Add the chopped mixed fruit and orange zest.  Cook 3 minutes.  Add the chopped nuts. Keep a minute longer. Remove and cool.

Sift the flour, salt, spice, baking powder

Pre-heat oven 180 C

Line a 8" tin - bottom and sides 

In a bowl , beat the butter and gradually add the sugar, continue to beat till a soft mixture is obtained

Add eggs - one at a time - continuously beating the mixture

And the vanilla extract

Now fold in  flour and then the caramel alternately- till the whole amount is used up

Add dry fruits and nuts.  Mix well.

Pour into the prepared cake tin.

Place in oven.  Bake for about 50 minutes.  Check cake regularly after 40-45 minutes with a skewer through the centre. Make sure it comes out clean before removing it from the oven. 

Cool thoroughly.

Dust with icing sugar and serve

Carrot Cake

A recipe from BBC Good Food .  Slightly modified. It has been ages since I really baked anything.  For a while now, I have tried to adapt baked goodies to a microwave recipe so that I could satisfy a few my cravings! This is a favourite of A and I thought I would try it out.  It does not require any technique and could not be simpler. I made half the recipe and got a decent sized cake. The cake was not overly sweet which was nice.

Ingredients:
Muscavado Sugar - 175 gms  - I used caster sugar 
Sunflower oil - 150 ml
Large eggs - 3 - beat lightly
Grated carrots - 140 gms ( 3 medium)
Raisins/Sultanas - 70 gms
Grated orange zest of a large orange
Self raising flour - 175 gms
Baking soda - 1 tsp
Cinnamon - 1 tsp
Grated nutmeg - 1/2 tsp - sadly did not add this
Walnuts - 50 gms - crushed lightly

Frosting -
Icing sugar - 100 gms
Orange juice - 2 tbsp

Preheat the oven to 180 C

Grease and line a square cake tin

Mix the flour, soda and spices and keep aside

Take a large mixing bowl.
Put in the sugar, pour in the oil and lightly beaten eggs
Lightly mix with a wooden spoon.
Stir in the grated carrots and the orange zest and sultanas
Sift in the flour mixture into the bowl

Lightly mix in the ingredients till it is a homogeneous mass

Pour into the prepared tin.
Bake for 40-45 minutes till the centre feels firm and springy
Remove from oven

Cool in tin for about 5 minutes.
Remove and keep on wire rack till it cools

Beat the ingredients of the frosting.
Put into icing bag and drizzle in diagonal stripes across the cake. Let it drip down the sides
( I did not get the desired results with the frosting...maybe next time -the icing was a dull white - any tips here? )

Slice and enjoy.