Blackberry Pecan Streusel Cake

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I'm in the middle of some serious procrastination. I have sharpend my pencils, sorted my e-mail inbox and even my junk mail folder, made various cups of tea and wasted precious time just watching some tarpaulin blowing in the wind outside my office window. I still have no inclination to finish the reports I need to have done for this afternoon. Instead I find myself blogging about a cake that I made a few weeks ago for my friend Lucy's dad's birthday.

The blackberries make the cake really moist and all the spices make it very moreish. I got the recipe from another blog called The English Kitchen and maybe you should nip over there to have a look at Marie's pictures of the cake, as I guess mine could be described as quirky, but maybe it's not so successful at selling the cake.



Blackberry Pecan Crumble Cake
For the cake:
125ml of sour cream
1 large free range egg
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
4.25 ounces plain flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp freshly ground nutmeg
4 tbs unsalted butter, softened
3/5 ounces granlulated sugar

1 cup fresh or frozen blackberries

For the streusel:
6 TBS soft light brown sugar, packed
2 ounces plus 1 tsp flour (1/4 cup)
1/'2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 1/2 ounces chopped toasted pecans (1/4 cup)
2 tbsp unsalted butter, chilled and cut into small bits


Preheat the oven to 180C/350F.

Grease an 8 inch square pan and line with baking paper, leaving an overhang to help lift the cake out.

Make the streusel by the flour, brown sugar, and cinnamon with your fingertips in a large bowl. Add the butter and rub together until you get coarse crumbs. Stir in the chopped pecans. Set aside.

Whisk together the flour, baking powder, soda, salt, cloves and nutmeg for the cake batter in a medium bowl. Set aside.

Whisk the sour cream, egg and vanilla together in a beaker. Set aside.

Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Slowly drizzle in the egg mixture, beating all the while. Beat in the flour mixture, in three additions, beating well after each and scraping down the sides of the bowl each time.

Scrape the batter into the prepared pan, smoothing the top with a spatula. Sprinkle the blackterries over top and then sprinkle the streusel evenly over all.

Bake for 45-50 minutes until golden brown and the cake tests down when a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean.

Remove from the oven and allow to cool in the pan for 15 minutes before lifting out to a wire rack to finish cooling.

Cut into squares to serve.

Enjoy!

Almond Biscotti

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When I was asked a few weeks ago if I wanted to review a copy of Stacy Adimando's 'The Cookiepedia' I didn't really have to think twice before saying 'yes, please'. If you like cookies, or biscuits as they are called in the UK, you will like this book. Nothing but biscuit recipes, from the simple to the fancy (and one recipe for brownies, which in my opinion are not really a biscuit, but I guess they aren't really cake either, so I'll overlook that).

The book has a really nice layout and design, with good photographs and lovely illustrations, as well as easy to follow instructions, and plenty of space for your own annotations. Measurements are given in cups and Fahrenheit, so I guess it was initially aimed at the American market (hence the title!). There are easily accessible conversion tables in the front and back cover to help if you're not familiar with American measurements though. Saying that I think it'd still be easier to get yourself a measuring cup if you haven't already got one (1 cup = 250ml).



I'm invited to my friend Sarah's for dinner tonight and thought it'd be nice to bring a little something along, so chose to make the Almond Biscotti. I hope everyone else will enjoy them as much as I do.

Almond Biscotti (makes 3 dozen)

1 3/4 cups plain flour
1/4 cornmeal
1 cup sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1/2tsp salt
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla or almond extract
4tbsp unsalted butter, melted
1 cup almonds, coarsely chopped

Preaheat your oven to 350F/180C.

Beat together the flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking soda and salt. Add the eggs, working them in one at a time until fully incorporated.

Add the vanilla (or almond extract) and butter, mixing well until the dough begins to form. It will not come together completely. add the almonds and stir to evenly distribute.

Turn the dough out onto a cookie sheet with lightly floured hands. Divide in half and shape into two logs, each about 1 1/2inch thick and 2inches wide. (Leave plenty of room betwen the logs as they will spread whilst baking.)

Bake the biscotti for 20 minutes (this is the first of the two times you'll bake them), rotating the sheet half way through baking. Take it out and let the logs rest for 20 minutes. They'll still be slightly spngy to the touch, kind of like dense bread. Lower the oven temperature to 250F/135C.

After 20 minutes, transfer the logs to a chopping board. Cut them into 1/2-inch slices with a serrated knife. Finally move the slices (cut side up for any ends) back to one sheet and bake for 40 minutes more. the biscotti will still be slightly soft while warm but will harden once they've cooled.

Enjoy!

Rotweinkuchen (Red Wine Chocolate Cake)

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This is one of those cakes that my mum makes quite regularly. It's simple, easy to transport and keeps well, should you have any leftovers for some strange reason. The red wine gives it some depth in flavour and also makes sure it's moist.

So when I went home for a family visit and all went on a holiday at Easter this cake is one of the things we took along with us and enjoyed with a cup of coffee after a five-hour car journey to East Germany. Why I'm only just getting around to blogging about it now, I don't know!

It usually looks a little darker, but we didn't have quite enough cocoa powder left.



Rotweinkuchen (1 cake)

250g softened butter or magarine
250g sugar
250g plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
4 eggs
1 1/2 tbsp cocoa powder
1/2tbsp ground cinnamon
a pinch of salt
1tsp vanilla essence
125ml red wine
125g coarsly chopped or grated dark chocolate

Preheat your oven to 175C/Gas4.

Grease a Kugelhop or fluted cake tin.

In a large bowl cream the butter with the sugar until light in colour.

Add one egg at the time and continue to beat with an electric whisk.

Add the cocoa powder, cinnamon, salt and vanilla essence and red wine and continue to beat until combined.

Sift the baking powder and flour together and add little by little by little whilst continuing to whisk.

Add the chocolate and mix in with a wooden spoon.

Pour into your prepared cake tin and bake for around 60 minutes until a skewer inserted comes out clean.

Allow to stand for 10 minutes before carefully turning out onto a cooling rack.

Once cool, dust with icing sugar.

Enjoy!

Easy Cherry Tomato and Feta Tart

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Even if you can't cook you can make this tart and impress at a party.

I made four of them for the annual Cherry Berry party yesterday, two with thyme and two with basil. There are always so many sweets on offer I thought something savoury would be a good idea. It was great with the Greek Salad that L. had made.

A big thanks to L. for organising it this year.

I., if you're reading, this is one for you, much easier than cheesecake!



Easy Cherry Tomato and Feta Tart (serves 4)

1 large sheet of ready-made puff pastry (375g)
250g feta cheese
30-40 cherry or baby plum tomatoes, halved
fresh basil, thyme or oregano, to taste
freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Preheat your oven to 180C/Gas4.

Cut the large sheet of pastry in half (or you can leave it as one if you prefer/cut it into small individual portions) and score line around all four edges about 2cm in.

Crumble 3/4 of the feta cheese over the pastry, leaving the scored edge free.

Top with the tomatoes and crumble the rest of the feta over the top.

Season with freshly ground black pepper. You won't need salt as the feta is salty enough.

Bake for 15 minutes, sprinkle with herbs of your choice and return to the oven for another 5-10minutes until the pastry is golden brown and cooked through.

Serve hot or cold.

Enjoy!

Roasted Beet and Rocket Salad

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Remember I had dinner with friends after having been sent some cookbooks? I know it was a while ago and it has taken me a lot longer than planned to write about the final recipe, but better late than never.

The third and final dish I tried from The Free Range Cook was Roasted Beet and Rocket Salad and I'll definitely be making it again, especially once the beetroot in my veg patch is ready for eating. For years I thought I hated beetroot. There aren't many foods I won't eat and most I keep trying with again every now and then to see if my taste buds have changed, sometimes that works as in the case of beetroot (the supposed pleasures of celery still elude me to this day though).

Well to be honest, I guess it wasn't a case of my taste buds changing, more the fact that after having only ever eaten pickled beets, I went to Finland and was served a vegetable stew that had the most amazing tasting beetroot in it. I was converted. Now I have it often, still never pickled though!



Roasted Beet and Rocket Salad (serves 6)

5 medium beetroot, peeled and cut into 2cm wedges
2tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1tbsp brown sugar
1tbsp balsamic vinegar
salt, to taste
freshly ground black pepper, to taste
8 handfuls of rocket
1 handful of baby beet leaves (optional)
1 lemon, juice of
2tbsp extra virgin olive oil
135g roasted almonds
120g feta cheese, crumbled

Preheat your oven to 180C/Gas5. Place the beetroot wedges in a large roasting tin lined with baking paper and mix with the first measure of oil, the sugar, vinegar and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Roast for 45 minutes, until tender. Allow to cool in the roasting dish.

Toss the salad leaves with the sec ond measure of oil and lemon juice and place on a large serving platter or other shallow dish. Top with roasted beets and scatter the almonds and crumbled feta on top.

Enjoy!

Broad Bean Puree with Mint and Parmesan

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So, here's the next recipe from last week's dinner party as promised. Broad Bean Puree with Mint and Parmesan. Well, what can I say, it looks great and was delicious, but I'm not so sure I will be rushing to make it again soon.

The recipe calls for 1kg of frozen broad beans to be de-podded. Whilst I was busy removing the tough skins on every single one of them, Lucy called to see if I needed help and to ask how I was feeling. My answer: 'Like Cinde-fucking-rella!'. Saying that though, once you have overcome this tedious task, the recipe is superquick to finish off. I'll probably try it again using peas instead of beans.

You can serve it warm as a side or at room temperature as a topping for bruscetta. The recipe book also suggest serving it as a pasta sauce after thinning it with some of the pasta cooking water.



Broad Bean Puree with Mint and Parmesan (serves 4-6 as a side)

1kg frozen broad beans
3 cloves of garlic, chopped finely
2 lemons, grated zest of
24 mint leaves, finely chopped
4tbsp extra virgin olive oil
50gr freshly grated parmesan
salt, to taste
freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1-2tbsp water

Put your broad beans in a large bowl and cover with boiling water. Set aside until cool enough to handle.

De-pod the beans, by gently squeezing them out of their greyish outer skin from the grooved end. Discard the skins.

Place the beans and all other ingredients, except the water in a food processor (or you can use a stick blender like me) until you have a very thick puree. The mixture can be prepared ahead of time until this point and will keep in the fridge for up to four days.

When you are ready to eat, heat the beans in a pot, adding the water and stir until heated through.

Add more salt and pepper if needed.

Caramelised Onion and Feta Cheese Tart

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I'm finally back with some cooking.

Coming home the other week to find a missed delivery card from the postman had me a little confused as I was sure I had not been spending money, buying things I now couldn't even remember. So I was pleasantly surprised when I got to the collection office and found that I had been sent The Free Range Cook by Annabel Langbein to review. Nice. Not having a television, I have to admit to not hading heard of this chef, but opening the book quickly got me interested.

Also what better excuse to invite some friends round for dinner and try some of the recipes. Last night seven of us got together, I cooked, they brought drinks, we ate, drank and were merry. I made Caramelised Onion and Feta Cheese Tart, Roasted Beet and Rocket Salad and Broad Bean Mash with Mint and Parmesan from the book, as well as my own Tomato Salad, Roast Potatoes and Lucy kindly provided Fruity Tiramisu for pudding. Dinner parties on Monday nights might be the new thing. I chose some food for which I could do quite a lot of prep the day before and then just finish it all off after work.

There are some really nice recipes in the book. It seems to me that it's all about using good ingredients and keeping flavours fresh and clean. Nothing too fancy or heavy. I (and I think everyone else) really enjoyed the food. I kept the menu vegetarian so everyone could tuck in without me having to make extra options, but that's not to say that there aren't some really good looking meat and fish recipes in the book also. The only thing I'd say is that the timings are a little enthusiastic, or both me (I'll tell you about shelling the broad beans another time) and my oven are slow. It's also worth keeping in mind that some of the things listed as ingredients in the recipe (such as the caramelised onions) actually are a separate recipe and will also take time to make.

I'll be posting the other recipes soon.

Thanks to Gibbo, Hilary, Lucy, Dylan, Graham and Yuri for being guinea pigs!



Caramelised Onion and Feta Tart (serves 8)

PASTRY:
250g strong white flour
1tsp baking powder
1tsp salt
220g frozen butter, grated
4tbsp cold water

FILLING:
Caramelised Onions (see recipe below)
150g feta cheese, crumbled
2tsp fresh thyme

To make the pastry, mix the flour and baking powder in a large bowl.

Add the grated butter and work into the flower with your fingers until you have a mixture resembling rough crumbs.

Add the cold water and mix with your hands until you have a soft dough. Don't overwork the pastry, it'll make it tough.

Place a large sheet of baking paper on your work surface and tip the dough onto it. Place another sheet of baking paper over the top and roll the pastry out with a rolling pin into a circle of about 35cm.

Leave between the layers of baking paper and transfer to a baking tray. Chill in the fridge for at least 10 minutes or until ready to assemble.

Preheat your oven to 200C/Gas 6.

Take the pastry from the fridge and remove the top layer of baking paper.

Spread the onions over the top leaving an approx. 4cm border all around.

Crumple the feta over the top and sprinkle with thyme.

Fold the pastry edges toward the centre to partially enclose the filling, then pleat in little folds to make a pastry border.

Bake for 15 minutes the reduce heat to 180C/Gas 5 and bake for another 35-40 minutes until golden and crisp.

N.B. My tart took longer to bake, closer to 15 minutes + 50 minutes. I also covered the filling with aluminium foil after a while to stop the feta from burning, which is easy enough, or you could just add the feta half way through the baking.



Caramelised Onions

6 red onions, peeled and cut into thin wedges
375ml water
75g brown sugar
75ml balsamic vinegar
2tbsp oil
1tsp salt (or to taste)
freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Place all the ingredients into a large pot and bring to the boil.

Reduce heat and simmer gently, stirring now and then, for about 40-45 minutes until the liquid has all but evaporated and the onions are very soft. (I cooked mine slowly for over an hour and they was still quite a bit of moisture.)

During the final steps of cooking take care that the onions don’t catch and burn, so stirr a little more frequently.

Remove from the heat and cool before storing in the fridge in a covered container.

Onions will keep, covered, in the fridge for a week.

You could also use these as a base to make onion soup or onion gravy.

I'm excited

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Don't worry this is not going to turn into a gardening blog, but I just had to share my excitement. Last Monday I found myself in a garden centre. It was not a plannned trip, just one of those things that happened. My friend Lucy had to take Dolores to a welder to see about fixing a leak in the roof. When you are trying to turn a van into a living space and mobile artist's book library it is not such a great thing to be able to see the sky through the roof. Especially if you find yourself in Manchester where it rains often.

Anyways, I digress, back to the rainy afternoon in the garden centre. Well, we were a little early so it seemed the perfect place to stop. I have always liked garden centres, I can't tell you exactly why, but it feels good to be there and I have been meaning to turn some of our communal garden into a vegetable patch ever since I moved here four summers ago, but then usually lost my can-do-attitude. Well, not this time! The garden centre had its usual effect on me and got me all excited about getting my fingers dirty and growing my own food. So, I got a large trolley and filled it with soil and compost, but much more importantly peas, pumpkins, courgettes, seed potatoes, beetroot, lettuces and an assortment of herbs.

















Luckily I have some fabulous friends who are not shy to lend a helping hand, who have their own can-do-attitudes and who came round yesterday to help me build some beds and plant my veg, in exchange for the promise of dinner, pancake breakfast and a van valet. There is still some work to do as I ran out of top soil and will need to make another trip to the shops for it (not so easy when you only have a bicycle), but the beds are built and half planted.

So this summer, there will hopefully be plenty of fresh stuff, straight from the veg patch to the kitchen, worthy blogging about. We finished the day with a well deserved late lunch of Creamy Tomato Soup. I changed the recipe a bit, as I had run out of tomato puree, so used 2 1/2tbsp of red pesto instead and I think it was still better. The reason it seemed to taste extra good could simply be that we'd been working hard and were really hungry though.


















A huge thanks to H, G and B for your elbow grease, to J for trusting me with your tools and to J for dropping by with encouragement and flapjacks!