I was a little disappointed in this cake. It wasn't bad, it was just a little dry and lacking in flavour. On the bright side, it rose beautifully! And it used up the last little bit of lemon juice I had saved in the fridge. So that was helpful.

I'm too tired to figure out how to convert all the thoughts in my head into a nicely written blog post, so I'm just going to drop some note in here as a reminder to future me and not worry too much about making it super articulate.

• Batter seemed too stiff/dry, so added extra egg
• Added extra 1/2 Tbsp. lemon juice (just to use it up)
• Baked in 8x4" loaf tin; maybe needed larger tin due to extra egg?
• Baked in upper oven, but forgot to move rack down; rose into broiler element
• Still underbaked at 40 minutes; needed 60 to test done, but then dry (and crust too thick)

Next time try baking in 8.5x4.5" tin and make sure to move rack down before preheating oven. Try using even more lemon juice and zest to boost flavour a bit more?

Madeira Cake

Slightly adapted from Edmond's Cookery Book

Ingredients

• 200g unsalted butter, softened
• 200g sugar
• 1 tsp. lemon zest
• 1/4 tsp. coarse sea salt, ground
• 4 large eggs
• 2 c. soft (plain/stardard/cake) four
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 2 Tbsp. lemon juice
• 2 tsp. caster sugar

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F) and grease and flour a 22cm x 11cm (8.5x4.5") loaf tin.
2. Cream the butter with the sugar until light and fluffy (~3 minutes).
3. Add the lemon zest and salt.
4. Beat in the eggs, one at a time.
5. Sift in the flour and the baking powder and mix until combined.
6. Mix in the lemon juice.
7. Scoop the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top.
8. Sprinkle with caster sugar.
9. Bake at 180°C (350°F) for 40 minutes.
10. Cool in tin for 10 minutes, then turn out onto wire rack to finish cooling.

I've been itching to try making a queen of puddings for a couple years now. Ideally I'd been hoping to wait 'til I had some cake crumbs to use for it. I still didn't have cake crumbs for this baking, but I did have some frozen waffles and muffins! I still think cake crumbs would probably be better, but the muffins and waffles worked just fine.

Overall, this was a nice pudding, but quite bland. The custard itself didn't seem nearly sweet enough, especially next to the extremely sweet meringue. I suspect this is less of an issue when you use cake crumbs for the custard layer. Having a flavourful cake in the base would also likely give it a fuller flavour. If I were to do it with breadcrumbs again, I'd probably add more sugar and a bit of vanilla. I also think it could've used a lot more jam. The orginal recipe called for 3 Tbsp. of jam, I used 1/4 c. and that definitely seemed skimpy. I'd up it to 1/3 c. next time.

Queen of Puddings

Slightly adapted from Edmonds Cookery Book

Ingredients

• 2 c. milk
• 2 Tbsp. unsalted butter
• 1 c. soft/fresh breadcrumbs or cake crumbs
• 2 large eggs, separated
• 6-8 Tbsp. sugar, divided
• 1 tsp. lemon zest
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1/3 c. raspberry jam

Directions

1. Heat milk and butter until nearly boiling, then remove from heat.
2. Pour hot milk mixture over crumbs and set aside for 10 minutes.
3. Grease a 6-cup casserole dish and preheat oven to 180°C (350°F).
4. Add egg yolks to crumb mixture.
5. Add up to 1/4 c. of sugar depending on how sweet your crumbs are and how sweet you'd like your custard.
6. Pour custard mixture into prepared dish and bake at 180°C (350°F) for 25-30 minutes. (Custard should be just set.)
7. Heat the jam until runny and easy to spread.
8. Carefully spread the jam over the custard. Be careful not to break the skin.
9. Beat the egg whites until soft peaks form.
10. Beat in 1/4 c. of sugar 1 Tbsp. at a time. Beat until stiff peaks form.
11. Spread meringue on top of the jam. (Pipe it on if you want to be fancy.)
12. Bake at 180°C (350°F) for 10-15 minutes.
13. Serve hot.

This was so, so good! The sauce was rich and creamy (thanks to the almonds and cream) with a pleasant sweetness from the bell peppers and raisins. And the chicken is superbly flavourful and tender with a slight char thanks to its time spent under the broiler (or on the grill). I really, really liked this one. Everyone really liked this one!

Chicken (without the sauce)

Finished chicken tikka masala

Chicken Tikka Masala

Slightly adapted from 660 Curries by Raghavan Iyer

Ingredients

Chicken

• 1/2 c. plain yogurt
• 2 Tbsp. garlic paste
• 2 Tbsp. ginger paste
• 2 Tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro
• 2 tsp. coriander seeds, ground
• 1 tsp. cumin seeds, ground
• 1-2 tsp. ground Kashmiri chilies
• 1 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1/2 tsp. ground turmeric
• 1/2 tsp. Punjabi Garam Masala
• 680g skinless, boneless chicken breasts and/or thighs, cut into 1" strips

Sauce

• 2 Tbsp. ghee
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 red bell pepper, chopped
• 1/4 c. slivered almonds
• 1/4 c. golden raisins or sultanas
• 1 c. diced tomatoes (fresh or canned)
• 1/4 c. heavy (35%) cream
• 1/4 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1/8-1/4 tsp. ground cayenne
• 1/4 tsp. Punjabi Garam Masala
• 2 Tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro, to garnish¹

Directions

Chicken

1. Combine yogurt, garlic paste, ginger paste, cilantro, coriander, cumin, Kashmiri chilies, salt, turmeric, and garam masala and mix well.
2. Toss chicken with yogurt mixture to coat.
3. Cover and chill/marinate for 1-6 hours.
4. Meanwhile, make the sauce.
5. Once sauce is made, spread chicken (along with its marinade) on a baking sheet and broil on hi for 6-8 minutes. The chicken should be cooked through and get a little char on the top. If you have access to a grill/barbecue, thread the chicken pieces onto skewers and grill them for 6-8 minutes until cooked through and lightly charred.
6. Combine chicken with sauce, garnish with cilantro, and serve with rice and your choice of vegetables.

Sauce

1. While chicken marinates, melt ghee over medium-high heat in a smallish pan (~23cm or 9" works well).
2. Add onion, bell pepper, almonds, and raisins and cook for 10-12 minutes.
3. Add tomato and deglaze the pan.
4. Transfer the contents of the pan to a blender jar, add the cream, salt, cayenne, and garam masala, and blend until smooth.
5. Return sauce to pan and simmer over low heat while chicken cooks.

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¹ Just realized that I totally forgot to add the cilantro garnish before serving! Oh well... ^Back

I'm always on the look-out for quick, tasty breakfasts. This one looked like it packed in a decent amount of protein, some good flavour, and didn't dirty too many dishes. I'm pretty happy with how it came out!

British Breakfast Skillet

Slightly adapted from BBC Food

Ingredients

• 1 Tbsp. canola (or other neutral) oil
• 8-9 breakfast sausages, cut into bite-sized pieces
• 250g cremini mushrooms, sliced
• 3-6 scallions (green onions), sliced
• 2-3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tomato, diced
• 1 (400mL) can of baked beans (in tomato sauce)
• 4 large eggs
• pepper and paprika, to taste
• 50-60g feta, crumbled
• 2 Tbsp. chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

Directions

1. Heat oil over medium heat.
2. Add sausage and cook for 3-4 minutes.
3. Add mushrooms and green onions and cook for another 3-4 minutes.
4. Add garlic and cook for another minute or two.
5. Add tomato and beans and cook until heated through.
6. Make 4 wells in the mixture and break and egg into each well.
7. Sprinkle each egg with pepper and paprika to taste.
8. Cover and cook until whites are just set (6-8 minutes).
9. Sprinkle with feta and parsley and serve with buttered toast.

Sticky toffee pudding is one of my all-time favourite desserts, so when I stumbled across this twist on the classic, I was intrigued. I'm generally a fan of Deb's baking exploits, I like banana bread, I like sticky toffee pudding, and I had a bunch of bananas that needed to be used up ASAP... Perfect!

I tossed in an extra banana because I had three that all needed to be used and an extra egg because our eggs are a little on the small side and we have a tonne of them right now. Oh, and I halved the salt as usual. Other than that, I made the recipe as written. I didn't bother with the whipped cream to serve. It would've been lovely, but it was still plenty tasty without and I didn't feel like dirtying another bowl.

Banana Toffee Pudding

Slightly adapted from Smitten Kitchen

Ingredients

Cake

• 1/2 c. unsalted butter, melted
• 1/8 tsp. coarse sea salt, ground
• 1/2 c. brown sugar
• 6 Tbsp. granulated sugar
• 1 Tbsp. molasses
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs
• 2-3 mashed bananas
• 1/2 c. buttermilk
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 3/4 tsp. baking soda
• 230g all-purpose flour

Sauce

• 1/4 c. unsalted butter
• 1/2 c. heavy (35%) cream
• 1/2 c. brown sugar
• 1/8 tsp. coarse sea salt, ground
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

Directions

Cake

1. Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F) and grease and flour a 20cm (8") square cake pan.
2. Whisk together butter, salt, brown sugar, granulated sugar, molasses, and vanilla extract.
3. Whisk in eggs followed by mashed bananas and buttermilk.
4. Sift in baking powder and baking soda and mix well. After the powders are mixed in, give the batter another 10-20 stirs.
5. Add the flour and stir until just combined.
6. Pour batter into prepared tin and bake at 180°C (350°F) for 25-35 minutes.
7. While cake is baking, make sauce.
8. Cool in tin for 10 minutes, then invert onto wire rack.
9. Cut into 5cm (2") cubes.
10. Spoon a bit of sauce over each cake portion.
11. Serve with whipped cream and/or vanilla ice cream.

Sauce

1. Combine butter, cream, and sugar in a pot and bring to a simmer over medium-high heat.
2. Simmer, whisking constantly, for ~5 minutes. Sauce will thicken, but it may be hard to tell while it's simmering.
3. Remove from heat and stir in salt and vanilla.

Bread and Butter Pudding

I love bread pudding but, until today, I'd never actually made it myself. It turns out that your basic bread pudding is super easy to make! I'll definitely be making some tweaks and trying different flavour combinations but, as a first attempt, this made for a perfectly acceptable (if somewhat bland) pudding.

Basic Bread and Butter Pudding

Slightly adapted from Edmonds Cookery Book

Ingredients

• 2-4 Tbsp. salted butter, softened¹
• 6-8 thick slices stale bread²
• 2-4 Tbsp. jam (optional)
• 2-4 Tbsp. currants or raisins³
• 1/4-1/2 c. sugar⁴
• 1 Tbsp. lemon zest
• 4 large eggs
• 2 c. whole (3.25%) milk
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract (optional)

Directions

1. Butter the bread¹.
2. Spread (or toss) with jam, if using.
3. If the bread isn't already in small pieces, cut into triangles.
4. Combine currants (or raisins), sugar, and lemon zest.
5. Arrange buttered bread in an ovenproof dish sprinkling in the sugar mixture along the way.
6. Beat the eggs with the milk and vanilla (if using).
7. Pour the egg mixture over the bread and let stand for 30 minutes, periodically pressing the bread down into the liquid.
8. Sprinkle top with more sugar if desired.
9. Bake at 325°F (160°C) for 1 hour.

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¹ In theory you're supposed to butter the slices of bread. In practice, I didn't have slices, I had bits and pieces of crusts and heels. So, rather than trying to spread soft butter on them, I tossed them with some melted butter. It seemed to work pretty well. Although I did have to use more than the 2 Tbsp. called for in the original recipe. ^Back
2 As noted above, I didn't have slices, I had random scraps and chunks of bread. I measured out ~6 cups (with a lot of air space) for this recipe. ^Back
3 The currants were nice, but I would've preferred a) a lot more of them and b) if they'd actually been raisins. ^Back
4 With only a quarter cup of sugar, this pudding was treading the line between sweet and savoury. Possibly this was down to the fact that I was using whole wheat bread. Maybe with white bread 1/4 c. would be enough. I also didn't use jam. If I had, then obviously that would've brought some sweetness to the table, so I might've been able to get away with the smaller amount of sugar. If you're using whole wheat bread and/or you're skipping the jam, I recommend upping the sugar to 1/2 c. to make sure it comes out sweet enough. ^Back

Caramelized onions are amazing. I figured a tart full of them would definitely be a winner. I'm sad to say I was a little disappointed with this one. I mean, it was okay, but it didn't blow me away like the Potato, Spinach, and Raisin Tart I made a few weeks back. It was just... alright. I think, if I made it again, I might try adding a little cottage cheese to it. It might also be worth baking it in a 9" (23cm) springform pan rather that the 9" pie plate I used this time. The recipe specifies a "23cm (9 in) deep tart tin", but I think that means something different in the UK than it does here. After watching a few episodes of Great British Bake Off where they make deep dish pies/tarts, the tins they use are very deep indeed and have straight sides as opposed to the sloped sides of the conventional pie plates we use here. This meant that my tart didn't have the expected capacity and I couldn't fit all the custard in the shell, which probably threw off the balance of the recipe a bit. I guess I'll try using a springform pan next time and see if that makes a difference.

Onion Tart

Slightly adapted from The Book of Old Tarts by Elizabeth Hodder

Ingredients

• 225g savoury/plain shortcrust pastry
• 1 Tbsp. fresh thyme
• 1 egg white
• 25g unsalted butter
• 2 Tbsp. olive oil
• 8 onions, peeled and sliced
• salt and pepper, to taste
• 1 Tbsp. sugar
• 1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp. ground ginger
• 2 eggs
• 2 egg yolks
• 425mL heavy (35%) cream
• pinch of saffron

Directions

1. Lightly flour your work surface and sprinkle with thyme.
2. Roll out the pastry on the prepared surface.
3. Line a 9" (23cm) springform pan with the pastry.
4. Prick pastry all over with a fork and brush with egg white.
5. Bake at 350°F (180°C) for 25 minutes.
6. Melt butter and oil over medium heat.
7. Add onion and sprinkle with salt and sugar.
8. Cover, reduce heat to medium-low, and cook for 20-30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
9. Remove lid and cook for another 10 minutes.
10. Stir in nutmeg and ginger, then remove from heat.
11. Beat the eggs with the extra yolks and season with salt and pepper.
12. Add the saffron to the cream and gently warm over medium-low heat until just steaming.
13. Add warm cream to beaten eggs in a thin stream while whisking.
14. Spoon the onion mixture into the baked pie shell.
15. Pour the custard over the onions.
16. Bake at 375°F (190°C) for 25 minutes.
17. Serve warm.

I've never had a Chelsea bun before, but TF and catalyst both love them, so I decided to try a batch. I had to improvise a bit on the fruit since we were out of raisins. I ended up using a mix of dried cranberries and glacé cherries. That mix seems to have worked out well, although I think I'd like to try it with some raisins (and maybe a few chopped pecans) in next time. I also think it'd be fun to try the dried cranberries with an orange-flavoured dough and glaze.

Chelsea Buns

Slightly adapted from Edmonds Cookery Book

Ingredients

Dough

• 225g hard (bread/"high grade") flour
• 1 tsp. sugar¹
• 100mL warm milk
• 1/2 Tbsp. active dry yeast
• 1/4 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 75g salted butter
• 1 egg

Filling

• 50g salted butter, softened
• 100g mixed dried fruit
• 25g mixed peel
• 50g brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp. mixed spice
• 1/2 tsp. cinnamon

Toppings

• 1/4 c. sugar, divided
• 2 Tbsp. milk

Directions

Dough

• Mix 2 Tbsp. of the flour with the sugar and milk.
• Sprinkle the yeast over the warm milk mixture. Set aside for 10 minutes.
• Sift the remaining flour and salt together and cut in the butter.
• Pour in the egg and the yeast mixture.
• Mix well to form a soft dough.
• Knead (as best you can) for 5 minutes. The dough will be quite wet, so it probably work best to knead with one hand while wielding a bench scraper with the other hand. I found that the dough became even slacker after the first minute or two as the butter began to melt from the heat of my hands. I recommend working quickly.
• Shape into a ball and place in a lightly buttered bowl.
• Cover with plastic wrap and place in the fridge to chill and rise overnight.²
• On a lightly floured surface, turn out the dough and roll it into a 23x30cm rectangle.
• Spread evenly with the softened butter. (I found a long off-set spatula helpful for this.
• Combine the dried fruit, mixed peel, brown sugar, and spices.
• Sprinkle the filling mixture evenly over the buttered dough.
• Roll up from a long edge to form a cylinder.
• Cut into nine pieces and place cut side down in a greased 7" (18cm) square tin³.
• Cover with a damp cloth and set to rise for 30 minutes.
• Sprinkle with 2 Tbsp. of sugar.
• Bake at 400°F (200°C) for 20 minutes.
• Dissolve the sugar in the milk and heat to form a glaze.
• Brush the glaze over the buns while hot.
• Pull apart and serve warm.

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¹ Edmonds calls for caster sugar here, but I just used regular granulated sugar. ^Back
2 The original recipe has you setting the dough to rise for 90 minutes at room temperature, but with the butter melting and the dough being so soft, I decided that it might benefit from some time in the fridge. My understanding is that a long slow prove is often quite beneficial as well, so I figured why not! ^Back
3 I only have an 8" square tin, so I just used that. They didn't quite rise enough to fill the tin during the second prove, but they had closed the gaps by the time they came out of the oven. I think a 7" tin would've been better but, in a pinch, you can get away with an 8" tin. ^Back

This recipe shows up in Edmonds as "Sherry Trifle". I followed that recipe but omitted the sherry. It still came out plenty moist and delicious with the added benefit of being kid-friendly.

I also didn't really weigh or measure anything for this one. I made one batch of three minute sponge (in a 9" square pan), split it and filled it with raspberry jam, and cut it into cubes. I then just tossed jammy cake cubes into the bottom of a glass bowl 'til they'd formed a nice layer and then poured a good bit of custard over top with a layer of frozen raspberries on top of it. Covered that with the rest of the cake cubes and even more custard and raspberries.

I think I must've either had more cake than the recipe called for, or a different shaped bowl because the 2 c. of custard they get you to make didn't end up being nearly enough! I ended up running out and making a second (2-c.) batch of custard. The allotted 300mL of heavy cream also wasn't nearly enough. I think used closer to 600mL -- it was half a litre + whatever was left in the other carton -- to cover the whole top of the trifle. I did whip it in the blender rather than using beaters though. And I know that generally results in a lower volume whip. But I wanted it to be stable in the fridge for several days while we ate it, so it seemed like a worthwhile trade-off.

Based on how much cream and custard I went through I'm guessing that I probably had ~400g of sponge rather than the recommended 200g. And I have no idea how much jam I used. I just spread jam on the cake until it was nicely filled. The recipe calls for 1/4 c. And, looking at the jar, I don't think 1/2 c. would be an unreasonable estimate of how much I used.

For the sake of simplicity I'm just going to copy the amounts and proportions directly from Edmonds even though I used more of basically everything. If you want a large trifle though, definitely don't hesitate to double everything!

Raspberry Trifle

Slightly adapted from Edmonds Cookery Book

Ingredients

• 200g three minute sponge
• 1/4 c. raspberry jam
• 2 c. fresh (or frozen) raspberries
• 1/4 c. custard powder
• 3 Tbsp. (vanilla) sugar
• 2 c. whole milk
• 300mL heavy (35%) cream
• 2 Tbsp. icing sugar
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 Tbsp. slivered almonds, toasted (optional)

Directions

1. Split the sponge and fill it with the raspberry jam.
2. Cut the filled sponge into cubes.
3. Place the sponge cubes in the bottom of a glass bowl (or trifle dish).
4. Add the fruit to the bowl on top of the cake.
5. Combine the custard powder with the sugar.
6. Pour in a small amount of milk and whisk until smooth.
7. Add the remaining milk while whisking to form a uniform mixture.
8. Bring to a boil over medium heat, whisking often, until thickened.
9. Pour custard over cake cubes.
10. Chill until custard is cold or overnight.
11. Add icing sugar and vanilla to cream.
12. Whip cream using beaters for a more voluminous, but less stable topping. Whip cream using a blender or food processor for a stiffer, more stable topping.
13. Serve as is or garnish with slivered almonds and/or more raspberries.

I made crumpets today! I am feeling pretty proud of myself. They came out great! The batter was truly bizarre: gloopy, glutinous mass that wasn't sure whether it wanted to be a liquid or a solid and definitely didn't want to be subdivided. Edmonds talks about pouring the batter, but it doesn't so much pour as... glorp. You can sort of scoop the batter up in a measuring cup, but it's kind of like trying to serve spaghetti with a ladle. You can get the ladle under the noodles and start to lift them up, but most of them will sort of slide/fall out because the bulk of the noodle is still in the bowl below. Now imagine that but with noodles that are much longer, thinner, heavier and all connected to each other like a sort of mesh. I eventually got the hang of working with it, but it's definitely not like anything I've ever made before. Can't argue with the results though!

Crumpets

From Edmonds Cookery Book

Ingredients

• 250mL milk
• 300mL hot water
• 2 tsp. sugar
• 2 tsp. active dry yeast¹
• 450g soft (cake or "plain") flour
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. baking soda
• 100mL warm water

Directions

1. Combine the milk and hot water.
2. Stir in sugar until completely dissolved.
3. Sprinkle yeast over tepid mixture and set aside for 10 minutes. (Mixture should become frothy and produce bubbles.)
4. Meanwhile, sift² flour and salt together in a large bowl.
5. Once the yeast has had 10 minutes to soak and reconstitute, pour the yeast mixture over the flour mixture and stir to combine and form a smooth(ish) batter.
6. Beat hard for 5 minutes³. The batter will start to become strange and gloopy as the gluten develops. It'll still have enough water in it that it'll settle out into a placid-looking liquid when left alone. But, when beating, the gluten will mean that it will hold together, forming a ball almost like when making a more typical yeasted dough. It may climb the beaters. And when you finish beating it, there will likely be thick, glutinous sheets of batter stretched across the beaters. This is a good sign. Although it can be a bit of a task to coax it off the beaters and back into the bowl.
7. Cover the bowl with a damp cloth and leave in a warm place⁴ until batter has doubled in volume (~1 hour).
8. Dissolve baking soda in warm water and beat into risen batter.
9. Cover and rest for 10 minutes.
10. Heat a large cast iron pan (or other heavy-bottomed pan/griddle) over medium heat and lightly butter it.
11. Butter the inside of the egg rings (or whatever you're using to shape your crumpets) and set them in the pan.
12. Pour a few tablespoons of batter into a ring and let it cook. If it runs out under the edge of the ring, the batter is too thin and needs more flour. If no (or insufficient) holes form and the batter doesn't bubble enough (or the bubbles don't burst during cooking), the batter is too thick and needs more water. My batter was too thick on the first attempt and needed more water. I think I added nearly an extra 100mL to get the right consistency.
13. Once you've found a good consistency for the batter that produces good results with lots of holes, you can start filling up all the rings. 3-4 tablespoons each should be about right for most egg rings. The batter should come about halfway up the sides of the ring and will rise the rest of the way during cooking.
14. Cook crumpets until risen and bubbles form (and burst) on top. The top should look almost dry before you flip it.
15. Flip them over (still in their rings) and cook for another 2-3 minutes.
16. Remove to cooling rack, regrease rings, and repeat with remaining batter.
17. Serve warm with lots of butter! (And optionally jam, honey, and/or maple syrup.)

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¹ You could probably also use instant yeast, simply adding it directly to the flour (rather than soaking first). Seeing as I had active dry yeast on hand though, I opted to use that and follow the recipe as written. ^Back
2 I totally forgot to sift the flour. Probably would've been easier to get a smooth batter if I had. Doesn't seem to have had any adverse effects overall though. ^Back
3 I highly recommend using some sort of electric mixer for this. You can do it by hand with a wooden spoon, but your arm might fall off by the end of five minutes of hard beating. I just used a little handheld electric mixer on low and that seemed to do the trick nicely. ^Back
4 I usually just leave my dough to rise at room temperature. In this case though, I did make a "warm place" by filling a bowl with hot tap water, placing a wire rack over the bowl of water, and then setting to bowl of batter on top of the rack. You can then cover the whole assembly with a damp cloth, creating a warm humid environment for your yeasted dough/batter. ^Back

I've been making a lot of crust-less sandwiches for the kidlet lately. It seemed really wastefully to just throw the crusts out, so I've been collecting them in a bag in the freezer instead. My original thought had been that I might be able to use them to make some sort of bread pudding. And then we got plums in our produce basket two weeks in a row. And no one's been that keen on eating them. So that naturally suggested that maybe I should try making a plum betty.

You can use pretty much any fruit in this betty. Edmonds suggests things like apples, plums, or apricots. I'm sure that things like berries or rhubarb would probably work very well too. I imagine that, if you wanted a quick fix, a tin of fruit pie filling would probably work reasonably well. Although I'd worry about a pre-made pie filling being overly sweet.

Plum Betty

Slightly adapted from Edmonds Cookery Book

Ingredients

• 100g unsalted butter¹
• 2 c. soft breadcrumbs
• 1/2 c. vanilla sugar²
• 2 c. stewed plums
• 2 Tbsp. brown sugar

Directions

1. Fry the breadcrumbs in the butter until brown and crispy.
2. Remove from heat and toss with (vanilla) sugar.
3. Butter an ovenproof dish and fill with layers of stewed fruit scattered with brown sugar and breadcrumbs. Finish with breadcrumbs.
4. Bake at 375°F (190°C) for 30 minutes.
5. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream.

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¹ Edmonds just calls for "butter" and, as far as I know, the default butter in NZ is salted, so feel free to use that if it's what you have on hand. I decided to use unsalted as I felt like that might work better with the other sweet ingredients. ^Back
2 The original recipe just calls for (granulated) sugar here. I just used vanilla sugar because I went a bit scant on the vanilla in the stewed plums, so I figured the extra vanilla notes in the breadcrumbs wouldn't go amiss. ^Back

We keep getting plums in our produce baskets and not eating them. (A perfectly ripe black plum is a thing of beauty, but if it's even slightly under- or over-ripe it's nothing but sadness and disappointment. I find plums tend to disappoint me more often than not, so I don't eat them that often.) This has resulted in nearly half a kilo of prune plums languishing in our fruit bowl. Given that we weren't eating them, I decided that this would be a good time to make a plum betty. But this, of course, requires stewed fruit.

I figured stewing plums would just be a simple matter of cooking them with some sugar and maybe a bit of water or lemon juice, but I decided to consult a couple recipes anyway. I found a basic recipe on the BBC Good Food website and followed their general procedure, but scaled the sugar and water way back; 200g of sugar for 500g of fruit sounded like way too much to me. And I figured that if I was putting less sugar, I should probably reduce the amount of water as well since the recipe appears to start by making a simple syrup. I probably should've cut the water back a bit more, but the half cup I used seems to have worked out alright. If you want less saucy fruit though, it's probably not a bad idea to dial the water back to 90-100mL.

Stewed Plums

Adapted from BBC Good Food

Ingredients

• 1/2 c. (~100g) vanilla sugar + an empty pod from the sugar jar
• 1/2 c. water
• 1 (3") cinnamon stick
• 500g plums, pitted and quartered

Directions

1. Combine sugar, water, vanilla pod, and cinnamon stick in a small pot and heat, stirring, until sugar is completely dissolved.
2. Add plums and bring to a boil.
3. Reduce heat and simmer for 5-8 minutes until fruit has reached desired tenderness.
4. Allow to cool slightly and served topped with vanilla ice cream or use as the base for a fruit crumble or betty.

A simple icing of butter, icing sugar, and water. It can be flavoured and coloured as desired, is easy to make, and sets up fairly firm. I made this chocolate version to go with the banana cake I made earlier today.

A simple icing of butter, icing sugar, and water. It can be flavoured and coloured as desired, is easy to make, and sets up fairly firm. I made this chocolate version to go with the banana cake I made this morning.

Chocolate Glacé Icing

From Edmonds Cookery Book

Ingredients

• 2 c. icing sugar
• 2 Tbsp. cocoa powder
• 25g (scant 2 Tbsp.) butter, softened
• 2-4 Tbsp. hot water¹
• 1/4 tsp. vanilla extract

Directions

1. Sift together icing sugar and cocoa powder.
2. Stir in butter an hot water until icing becomes smooth and spreadable.
3. Mix in vanilla.

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¹ I found I needed ~1/4 c. of water to get a smooth spreadable consistency. However, there's also a slight possibility that I accidentally added an extra 1/4 c. of icing sugar when I lost count of my scoops. ^Back

The Mother of All Fruitcakes!

I've never been terribly partial to fruitcakes. That said, I haven't even tried a fruitcake in something like fifteen years, so I have no idea whether my fruitcake tastes and opinions have changed since then. And catalyst is a huge fan of fruitcake. On top of that I have a fondness for old traditional recipes and a fascination with baked good that need to age before eating.

Edmonds has an entire section dedicated solely to fruitcakes. Admittedly, it's a small section, but still! It has a fruitcake chapter! This includes a whole range of cakes. Everything from a light, blonde lemony cake with sultanas and candied lemon peel as the only fruit... all the way up to the "rich Christmas cake" which includes seven kinds of fruit + almonds, orange juice, rum (or brandy or sherry), and two types of citrus zest. This cake takes two days to make, four hours in the oven, and is meant to sit for a full two months before serving. It also weighs just shy of five kilos! This cake does NOT mess around.

Rich Christmas Cake

Very slightly adapted from Edmonds Cookery Book

Ingredients

• 1 3/4 c. orange juice
• 3/4 c. dark rum¹ or brandy + an extra 2 Tbsp. for soaking
• 2 Tbsp. grated orange zest
• 500g dried currants
• 500g raisins
• 2 c. sultanas
• 2 c. chopped dates
• 150g crystallized ginger, chopped
• 150g mixed peel
• 150g glacé cherries, halved
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1/4 tsp. almond extract
• 2 tsp. grated lemon zest
• 1 c. slivered almonds²
• 2 1/2 c. strong flour ("high grade", bread, or all-purpose)
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 1 tsp. mixed spice
• 1/2 tsp. nutmeg
• 250g (salted) butter, softened
• 1 1/2 c. brown sugar
• 2 Tbsp. treacle³
• 5 large eggs (or 6 medium eggs)

Directions

1. Combine orange juice, 3/4 c. rum, and orange zest in a pot and bring to a boil.
2. Combine dried fruit in a large bowl and pour juice mixture over it. Cover and leave to soak overnight.
3. The next day, add the vanilla, almond extract, lemon zest, and almonds to the fruit mix.
4. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, and spices.
5. Prepare your baking tin and tie a double layer of brown paper around the outside. Edmonds suggests lining a deep 23cm (9") square pan with baking paper. I greased and lined the bottom of a 10" springform pan.
6. In a third (very large) bowl, cream together the butter, brown sugar, and treacle/molasses.
7. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
8. Fold in the dry ingredients alternately with the fruit mixture.
9. Scoop the batter (which should be more like a bowl of dried fruit with a thin coat of cake batter on it) into the prepared tin.
10. Smooth the top with wet hands and bake at 300°F (150°C) for 4 hours.
11. Remove from oven and let cake cool overnight.
12. Poke a few holes in the top of the cake with a skewer or toothpick.
13. Pour 2 Tbsp. of rum (or brandy or sherry) over the top of the cake and let it soak in.
14. At this point, Edmonds says to wrap the cake in tinfoil and a cloth and store in a cool place. I didn't like the idea of the tinfoil being right up against the cake, so I wrapped it in baking paper first (I just reused the paper from the outside of the tin) and then wrapped it in tinfoil followed by a tea towel.
15. Cake should be baked by late October in order for flavours to have fully developed by Christmas.

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¹ I used spiced rum because that's what I had on hand. ^Back
2 Edmonds calls for blanched (presumably whole) almonds. I used slivered both because I felt like that might allow for a more even distribution and because, as with the rum, I already had some on hand. ^Back
3 Treacle isn't really a Thing in Canada, so I tend to just substitute molasses whenever I come across a recipe that calls for treacle. They're pretty close. And I've had good results doing this so far. ^Back

Turns out that "mixed spice" is fairly ubiquitous in New Zealand and the UK. It seems to be somewhat similar to North American "pumpkin pie spice" in that it contains cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, etc. The one notable difference is that most mixed spice blends seem to contain a bit of coriander, while I've never heard of this being included in pumpkin pie spice. I think that, in a pinch, you could substitute the one for the other without much issue. That said, I don't tend to keep pumpkin pie spice on hand as I just use the spices individually, rather than pre-mixed. And I didn't really want to go out and buy a spice blend that a) wasn't going to be quite right anyway and b) I already had all the individual components for on hand already.

There is, of course, some variance in the exact ingredients and proportions of spices used from one brand/household to the next. I just grabbed a plausible-looking recipe off of the "BBC Good Food" website and went with that. The BBC recipe only gave measurements for ground spices. I've included whole spice equivalents as that's what I generally have on hand.

Mixed Spice

From BBC Good Food

Ingredients

• 1 Tbsp. allspice, ground or whole berries
• 1 Tbsp. ground cinnamon or 2 (3") cinnamon sticks
• 1 Tbsp. ground nutmeg or 1 1/2 whole nutmegs
• 2 tsp. ground mace or 2 tsp. lightly crushed blades of mace
• 1 tsp. cloves, ground or whole
• 1 tsp. coriander, ground or whole
• 1 tsp. ground ginger

Directions

1. Grind any whole spices to a fine powder.
2. Combine all ingredients, mix well, and store in an airtight container until needed.

This is a great general-use curry powder. It works well in Anglo-Indian dishes as well as pretty much any soup that involves squash/pumpkin. And, while it may be similar to store-bought curry powders, the flavour really is much more vibrant when you make your own with freshly ground spices!

English-Style Madras Curry Powder

From 660 Curries

Ingredients

• 1 Tbsp. coriander seeds
• 2 tsp. cumin seeds
• 1 tsp. mustard seeds
• 1/2 tsp. whole cloves
• 1/2 tsp. fenugreek seeds
• 1/2 tsp. black peppercorns
• 5-7 dried red Thai or cayenne chiles, stems removed
• 1 tsp. ground turmeric

Directions

1. Place all ingredients except turmeric in a spice grinder and grind until texture resembles black pepper.
2. Stir in turmeric.
3. Store in a sealed container in a cool, dark, dry place.

(Anglo-Indian) Chicken Curry

This is a mild, coconut milk and tomato based, Anglo-Indian curry. Iyer notes that, as a "British East Indian adaptation", store-bought curry powder would be entirely appropriate here. That said, given that we have all the ingredients for a good curry powder ready to hand, I prefer to make my own. (Iyer even provides a recipe for "English-style madras curry powder" in the spice blends section of the book.) Aside from English curries like this one, I also find the English-style curry powder works very well in squash/pumpkin soups and things of that ilk. Very worth having around!

This is a great quick and easy curry. It's simple to make and produces delicious results. This recipe came to the rescue many a time when we were at a loss for what to have for dinner.

Chicken Curry

Slightly adapted from 660 Curries

Ingredients

• 2 Tbsp. canola oil
• 1 onion, halved and sliced
• 2-3 Tbsp. garlic paste
• 1-2 Tbsp. ginger paste
• 680g skinless boneless chicken breasts, cut into 1" pieces
• 2 tsp. English-style madras curry powder
• 3/4 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1/4 c. coconut milk (unsweetened)
• 1 large tomato, chopped
• 2 Tbsp. fresh cilantro

Directions

1. Preheat a wok or cast-iron pan over medium-high heat.
2. Drizzle oil down the sides then add the onion, garlic, and ginger and stir-fry until light brown.
3. Add the chicken pieces and curry powder and sear all over.
4. Add the salt and coconut milk, cover, and reduce heat to medium.
5. Simmer, stirring occasionally, until chicken is tender and cooked through.
6. Remove chicken and set aside.
7. Raise heat to medium-high and boil the sauce, uncovered, until it thickens.
8. Add tomato and cilantro to the sauce and pour over chicken pieces.
9. Serve with white rice and mango chutney.

High Tea

Not so much a recipe as a collection of things, but I figured I'd write it up anyway because it went over so well.

For the Tea
black tea (such as English Breakfast or Orange Pekoe)
milk
sugar

For the Scones
scones
clotted cream
strawberry jam

For the Cucumber Sandwiches
white bread
mayonaise
English cucumber, sliced
freshly ground black pepper

Optional Extras
cake(s)
cheese(s)
crusty bread or crackers
spreads, compotes, and/or chutneys to complement the cheese(s)
cookies/biscuits
additional sandwiches

1. Make you cucumber sandwiches (preferably crustless finger sandwiches).
2. Lay everything out on one or more plates.
3. Brew your tea.
4. Sit down and enjoy with friends! Spread the scones with clotted cream and jam, sip your tea, and enjoy some cakes and cookies. :)

Marmalade-Mustard Glazed Gammon

This was supposed to be served with mashed potatoes and a parsley sauce. I did roast vegetables instead and skipped on the parsley sauce because it really doesn't need any extra sauce with all that glaze.

Marmalade-Mustard Glazed Gammon
Slightly adapted from BBC Food
1.3kg smoked gammon joint
1 lemon, halved
1 orange, halved
1 apple, halved
1 onion, halved
1 cinnamon stick
2 bay leaves
2 good dashes cayenne
1/2 pint ale (optional)
5 star anise
340g marmalade
5 fl. oz. honey
~2 Tbsp. wholegrain mustard
1/4 tsp. ground cloves

Roast Veg
5 parsnips, peeled and chopped
5 carrots, peeled and chopped
1 onion, peeled and chopped
1 packed cubed sweet potato and butternut squash
6-8 cloves garlic, peeled and lightly smashed
2 Tbsp. olive oil
~1/2 tsp. Italian seasoning
salt and pepper
dash cayenne

1. Place gammon in a large pot with lemon, orange, apple, onion, cinnamon stick, bay leaves, cayenne, ale, and 2 of the star anise. Add water to just cover everything.
2. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer for ~1 hour.
3. Remove from heat and allow to cool.
4. In a small pot combine marmalade with remaining star anise, honey, mustard, and cloves. Heat until marmalade has melted and everything is well-blended.
5. Remove gammon from cooking water and place in a roasting pan.
6. Drizzle the chopped veg with olive oil and toss with salt, pepper, cayenne, and herbs.
7. Dump the chopped veg in around the meat.
8. Glaze the gammon with the marmalade mixture.
9. Bake at 210C (~400F) for ~45 minutes, basting with additional glaze every 10-15 minutes.
10. When glaze is slightly blackened around the edges and veggies are cooked, remove from oven and serve. (Serving some additional green veg along side probably wouldn't go amiss, I just didn't have anything appropriate on hand when I was making this.)

I'm pleased with how this came out, but I'd definitely tweak it a bit next time.

For the Boil
1.3kg smoked gammon joint
1 lemon, halved
1 orange, halved
1 apple, halved
1 onion, halved
3-4 scallions, rough chopped
3 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed
1 tsp. black peppercorns
2 bay leaves
1 cinnamon stick
1/2 tsp. whole cloves
2 dried chiles de arbol
2 star anise

For the Glaze
200g marmalade
4 fl. oz. honey
3 star anise
1 cinnamon stick
2 Tbsp. wholegrain mustard
1/2 tsp. whole cloves

Chocolate Guinness Cake

I may have a new favourite chocolate cake recipe. This is pretty much the perfect cake if you're looking for something dark and rich while not being too heavy or sweet. It is the Goldilocks of chocolate cakes.

My previous favourite chocolate cake recipe was tasty and definitely very chocolate-y. It was also incredibly easy, which earned several points in its favour. And it was great if you were looking for a nice dense, heavy sort of cake. I would say it was actually almost halfway between a brownie and a cake. I quite liked it. And it made a nice middle ground for me and TF. He liked it because it was almost a brownie and I liked it because it wasn't quite a brownie. And that recipe will still be my go-to for a nice, simple, heavy chocolate cake.

The Guinness cake though... it's a whole different animal. It's not as dense as my usual chocolate cake and is less sweet as well. There's actually a slightly bitter undertone to it, but it's incredibly moist and rich and dark. A beauty of a cake!

I made a train cake!

Chocolate Guinness Cake
Slightly adapted from Nigella Lawson
250mL Guinness
250g unsalted butter
75g Dutched cocoa powder
400g granulated sugar
142mL sour cream (full fat/14%)
2 large eggs
1 Tbsp. vanilla extract
275g all-purpose flour
2 1/2 baking soda

1. On the stove, melt the butter with the Guinness.
2. Whisk in the sugar and cocoa.
3. Beat the eggs into the sour cream with the vanilla and add to the Guinness mixture.
4. Combine the flour and baking soda and whisk it into the mix.
5. Pour into a greased 9" springform pan and bake at 350F for 45-60 minutes.
6. Allow to cool completely before removing from pan.

There was an icing recipe provided as well. I like the idea of a white cream cheese icing to mimic the white head on a pint of Guinness however, this cake is so good on its own, it's difficult to justify even making a frosting for it! I definitely don't think this is the type of chocolate cake that wants a chocolate frosting to go with it. I would be interested to see how it pairs with a slightly tangy cream cheese frosting though. I think it would be good, certainly. It's just hard to believe that it would be better than the naked cake on its own.