Christmas Marzipan Cake

Ok, ok I know it's September and usually I wouldn't be thinking of Christmas let alone beginning to bake for it for a while but I have some excuses. 1) October, when I usually bake Christmas Cake is booking up fast, 2) I want to feed and feed the cake, 3) the generous Wm Morrisons contacted me and ask if I would like to submit a Christmas Cake recipe for their customers to try and as a thank you they would send me a big box of ingredients.

I played around with a few ideas including Guinness and fruit beer (for any regular readers of my blog this won't surprise them one bit!) and settled on the idea of a marzipan laden cake...minus icing. This is based on the fact I'm not a big icing fan as I find the majority far too sweet. At Christmas time will gladly pick off all the icing on a Christmas Cake to be just left with the delicious marzipan and fruit cake. Now I understand that marzipan is a bit of a marmite ingredient; People either love it or hate it. I love it. The reason for soaking the fruit in orange juice rather than the traditional alcohol is that this really does enhance the taste of the fruit of the cake. The alcohol will come later!



I decided to essentially combine the succulent fruits of my Simnel Cake with the marzipan filling of a stollen and together they made a delicious cake that looks a bit like a Dundee Cake, but smells of sweet, sweet marzipan. The aroma in the kitchen as I was baking this cake was amazing. Due to the amount of ingredients crammed into such a small cake along with the juicy fruit it did take longer than a usual fruit cake to bake. For a change we are planning to start eating this in early December and not leave it until Christmas Day when by then you begin to become thoroughly sick of anything too heavy & fruit laden.

Ideally a Christmas cake should be made no later than 1 week before it is needed. The longer the cake is left the more it matures and the flavours develop. If stored correctly Rich fruit cakes can last for up to a year.

Maybe I should start a trend - Christmas Cakes aren't just for Christmas...

Christmas Marzipan Cake
Makes a 18cm round / 15cm square cake

100ml orange juice
150g sultanas
100g raisins
100g currants
50g dried cranberries
50g dried apricots, quartered
50g dates, stoned & quartered
50g glace cherries, halved
50g mixed peel
110g butter, softened
90g muscovado sugar (or soft dark brown sugar)
2 eggs
250g plain flour
pinch of ground cinnamon
pinch of nutmeg
1/2 tsp mixed spice
50g flaked almonds
1 tsp almond extract
1 tbsp marmalade
1 tbsp black treacle (this gives the cake both taste & colour)
200g marzipan cubed & frozen (you can find my recipe for it here)
whole almonds for decoration
Rum, brandy or whisky for glazing

1) Before making a start on the cake soak all of the fruit in the orange juice overnight and make sure the cubed marzipan is in the freezer.

2) Line grease and line your tin with both baking parchment and greaseproof paper. For good instructions on how to do this pop over to dear Delia. Preheat oven to 150oc.

3) Cream together the butter and sugar. Add the eggs one at a time to stop the mixture curdling. If it does begin to curdle stir in a handful of the flour. Once eggs have been added stir in the almond extract, marmalade & treacle.

4) Next, stir in the remaining ingredients alternating between the marzipan, fruit and flour. Mix until well combined. If the mixture becomes too stiff to mix add a splash of milk to loosen the mixture.

5) Pour into the lined tin, level the top of the cake then decorate with the almonds. Bake for 3 - 3 1/2 hours or until a skewer comes out clean of cake mix.

6) Remove from the oven brush the cake with your chosen article then allow to cool completely in the tin. Remove from the tin and wrap in fresh greaseproof paper. Store in a preferably airtight tin or container until ready to eat.

7) Every 3-4 week make holes in the top of the cake using a skewer and feed with your chosen alcohol. I use around 50ml of alcohol per feed. Try not to over feed the cake as this can make the cake soggy, dense and a texture more akin to a Christmas Pudding.

Cherry Bakewell Biscuits

With a hectic and stressful week in work I wanted to do some stress relieving baking and a recipe I found on a forum I lurk on, ticked all the right boxes. The recipe is based on Smitten Kitchen's slice & bake cookie palette. I've never made a biscuit like this before, but I think I now may be hooked. It is such an easy technique and it was nice coming home from work with some fresh dough in the fridge knowing I was less than 15 min away from freshly baked biscuits. These are also the first biscuits (I think) that I've made in my KitchenAid. I did a half batch as quite frankly my hips are turning more Nigellaesque by the day.

While looking through my baking cupboard for biscuit fillings I found some glace cherries that really needed to be used. Along with my almond extract the idea hit me. Biscuits inspired by my favourite cake, a Bakewell tart and so it was born - Cherry Bakewell Biscuits.

They are incredibly moreish and Hubby & I are trying not to eat them all in one sitting, and yes they do taste like the hallowed Bakewell. The primary reason for making them is for a treat in our lunchboxes as if I know I've got a little homemade treat in my box I'm less inclined to raid the staffroom biscuit tin. I've already started to think about other variations of this biscuit - dark chocolate & sour cherry, lemon & poppyseed, apricot & almond...

Cherry Bakewell Biscuits
Based on Smitten Kitchen's slice & bake cookie palette
Makes 25

115g unsalted butter, room temperature
40g icing sugar
1 egg yolk
1 tsp almond extract
140 plain flour
100g glace cherries, chopped

1) Beat together butter and sugar until you have a buttercream, then beat in yolk and extract.

2) Add cherries and flour then beat again until ingredients are well combined. Flatted dough into a disk, cover in clingfilm and chill for 30 min.

3) Remove the dough from the fridge and roll out into a long log with a diameter of around 3cm. Wrap back up in the cling film and chill for a further 2 hours (minimum). If the dough isn't chilled sufficiently it will begin to misshape when it is sliced ready for baking.

4) Preheat oven to 180oc. Cut the dough log into rounds about 1cm thick and place on a lined baking tray. Bake for 12-14 min until they are cooked. Once cooked transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Celebrating British Food - Bakewell Tart

Summer made a brief appearance here in the UK over the weekend; basking the ground in glorious autumnal sunshine. Hey it was short lived, but at least it brought us some cheer.

We spent Sunday at Kedleston Hall on the outskirts of Derby, walking around the grounds and eating picnic on the lawn. It was packed out with people taking advantage of the beautiful weather, The Duchess exhibition and the fact they were giving free puddings away in the restaurant as part of their British Food Fortnight events.



This is why I love Britain, in particular Derbyshire not only do we have awe inspiring scenery but fantastic food. 20th September till 5th October is British Food Fortnight and the lovely Antonia @ Food, Glorious Food is hosting a British Food Fortnight Challenge. As soon as I heard about the challenge there was one thing I knew I had to make, Bakewell Tart. Possibly one of the most famous cakes in Derbyshire

Now there is lots of myths surrounding Bakewell Pudding/Tart. Don't let Mr Kipling make you believe a Cherry Bakewell is traditional. The Bakewell Pudding is believed to have begun in a pub in Bakewell when an inexperienced chef in the kitchen was meant to make a strawberry tart, but made something very different. The Bakewell Pudding is a tart made with puff pastry shell, layer of jam and eggy custard topping and an alleged "secret ingredient" (No I've never been able to work the ingredient out). The Bakewell Tart however has evolved from the Bakewell Pudding and is made with a sweet shortcrust base, layer of jam and a rich almond sponge topping. My original intentions were to make a Bakewell pudding, but decided a Bakewell Tart was more picnic friendly.



Bakewell Tart is one of my favourite cakes and I believe a perfect Bakewell tart should have a thin, but supporting layer of pastry, thick layer of raspberry jam and a deep, dense, moist frangipane sponge. A dry, tasteless Cherry Bakewell it ain't!

I admit I'm not too confident with pastry, but with the help of my trusty KitchenAid I'm getting there. I was really pleased with how the pastry and the overall tart worked out. For me it was the perfect Bakewell Tart, and trust me in my lifetime I've eaten my fair share!



Bakewell Tart
Serves 8-10

PASTRY

125g plain flour
75g unsalted butter, cold and diced
25g caster sugar
1 egg yolk
1 tsp cold water
1 egg white

FILLING

100g raspberry jam
100g butter, softened
100g caster sugar
2 large eggs
25g plain flour
100g ground almonds
1 tsp almond extract
30g flaked almonds

1)In a large bowl mix together flour, salt and sugar then rub in butter until you have the consistency of breadcrumbs. Stir in the egg yolk and water until you have a smooth dough. Flatten into a disk, cover in clingfilm and refrigerate for 45 min.

2)On a floured surface roll out the dough until it is about 3mm thick then line a 20cm tart tin with the pastry. Lightly prick the base with a fork and chill for 30 min.

3) Preheat the oven to 180oc (160oc fan). Line the pastry case with baking parchment and baking beans then bake for 20min until pastry is a light golden colour. Remove the beans and parchment, brush the inside of the pastry shell with egg white and bake for a further 2 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 5 min

4) While the pastry is cooling beat together the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Gradually beat in the eggs and almond extract. Stir in the flour and ground almonds until well combined.

5) Spread the jam generously over the pastry base then pour frangipane mix on top of the jam. Level out with a pallet knife. Sprinkle with sliced almonds then bake for 35-40 until risen and golden.

6) Allow to cool in tin before eating.

Simnel loaf and cupcakes

In England it is traditional to make a simnel cake to celebrate Easter. Similar to a Christmas cake in that it is a spiced fruit cake. It features 11 balls of marzipan which represent the 12 apostles excluding Judas. The cake is thought to have been around since Medieval times and the name comes from the Latin simila meaning fine wheat flour.

Tradition dictates that it should be baked on Mothering Sunday by a daughter. If it is still moist when cut open on Easter Sunday it is a sign of a good cook (and potential wife!) As I only found this information out yesterday, and had missed Mothering Sunday I still decided to go ahead with it.

The original recipe for this Simnel Loaf cake featured in this months GFM, I made some alterations due to ingredients I had available. I also made my own marzipan, which is far better than any shop bought version. It is meant to make 1 2lb loaf, but I was left with loads of extra cake batter so made some simnel cupcakes to go with the loaf. It turned out beautifully moist, I'm glad it did or I would have been proved to be a shocking wife and cook! Method wise it is very similar to a Boiled Fruit Cake. Rather than the important 11 marzipan balls being on the top of the cake they are distributed throughout the cake, a bit like a stollen. You can use this recipe to make just simnel cupcakes (I guess this recipe will make about 18), use the same amounts. The cooking times for the cupcakes are below. I've entered the cakes in to Julia's Easter Cake Bake.

It's snowing here at the moment and we've been predicted heavy snow for tomorrow so we could be in for a white Easter.

Simnel Loaf and Cupcakes
Makes 1 2lb loaf and around 6 cupcakes

Marzipan
Makes 250g

125g ground almonds
60g icing sugar
1 tsp lemon juice
1 egg, beaten well (you won't use all of it)

1) Sift sugar into bowl then mix in almonds.

2) Add the lemon juice then the egg a tiny bit at a time. Beat to a firm paste then knead. It will end up having the texture of grainy dough. If it is too sticky add a bit more sugar and almonds. Wrap in clingfilm and chill in fridge while you prepare the rest of the cake.

Cake

140g unsalted butter, cubed
175g golden caster sugar
250ml orange juice
75g dried apricots, quartered
275g mixed fruit
220g glace cherries
200g marzipan (see above)
300g plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp mixed spice
2 eggs, lightly beaten
50g flaked almonds

Icing
1 egg white
250g icing sugar
50g marzipan

1) Preheat oven to 150oc. Line 2lb with baking parchment. Ensure it goes high up the sides as the cake will rise.

2) In a large saucepan slowly heat butter, sugar, orange juice, dried fruits until boiling. Simmer for 10 minutes then allow to cool for 15 min. While this is cooling shape the cake marzipan into 11 balls around 2cm across.

3) Sift flour, spice and baking powder into the pan, then stir in eggs and almonds until everything is well combined.

4) Spoon cake mix into tin until it is about half full. Arrange the marzipan balls evenly over the cake mix then cover with the remaining cake mix (don't over fill the tin). Smooth over the top. Bake loaf for 1 1/4 - 1 1/2 until a skewer will come out clean. Leave to cool in tin for 15 min, then remove and finish cooling on wire rack. Allow cake to cool fully before icing.

If cooking cupcakes bake for 30 minutes at 150oc.

5) Lightly whisk egg white then beat in icing sugar until you have thick spreadable icing. Spread over the top of cake. Roll remaining marzipan into balls and brown with a blow torch (you could do this under the grill). When the icing is almost set press the marzipan balls along the top.

Energy Bars of Goodness

Since giving up biscuits for Lent I'm noticing a huge energy slump around 10.30am. While everyone in the staffroom is dunking biscuits into their tea I'm craving sugar. I eat quite a bit of fruit during the day and wanted to find something a bit different that would cure my energy slump, but also be good for me. Earlier today came across a recipe for energy bars, but has it was american it had ingredients I can't get in the UK. So I took the recipe, tweaked it, converted it to grams and here is my version.

They are delicious, the perfect sweetness and consistency and will certainly be making a regular appearances in our lunchboxes. They certainly don't taste like they are crammed with goodness!

Energy Bars of Goodness
Makes 12

35g sesame seeds
25g flaked almonds
40g currants
60g dried apricots
40g dates
30g dried cranberries
250g muesli base (from Holland & Barrat)
110g honey
250g crunchy peanut butter
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp water

1) Toast sesame seeds and almonds until golden. Set aside.

2) Pulse currants, apricots, dates and cranberries until the consistency of sweet mincemeat. Mix minced fruit with muesli base, almonds and sesame seeds until well mixed. It's easier to use your hands to rub the fruit into the dry ingredients.

3) In a small saucepan on a low heat, gently heat peanut butter, honey, vanilla and water for around 6 min. Regularly stir as it can catch on the bottom of the pan. Allow to cool for a few minutes.

4)Add peanut butter mix to the muesli mix and combine. Again it is easier to use your hands, just be careful as the peanut butter can be a bit hot!

5) Line a 8" by 8" tin with baking parchment. Press mix into tin. You can be quite firm as you want the mix to stick together. Allow to set at room temperature for 2 hours.

How NOT to cook a roast dinner & the redeeming clafoutis

Today I had possibly the worst cooking day I've had in a long time. I was so looking forward to cooking dinner today...and it went wrong in quite spectacular style.

First I cooked the pork. Rather than my usual lion of pork I brought a rolled piece of pork that had stuffing in the middle. I used my usual tricks to get the skin to crackle, but for some reason it didn't.

Then I made a smashed potato dish that has 1/2 a head of roasted garlic in it. I've made this potato dish before, but rather than traditionally roasting the garlic like I usually do, I decided to use a trick I had read about; nuking the garlic in the microwave. First I blasted some oak smoked garlic we picked up at the Good Food Show...well this turned to dust , thinking the odd reaction was due to the age of the garlic I tried the same trick with some fresh garlic. This time it went rubbery. Rapidly running out of garlic I had to use garlic paste which doesn't taste anywhere near the same. Lesson learnt - never try and cheat on recipes, it'll always go wrong!

Thinking everything was back on track I cooked the Yorkshire puddings and started to quickly boil the purple sprouting broccoli. Just as I was about to serve the food, Hubby carved the pork only to find it still pink in the middle. I shoved everything back into the now switched off oven to keep warm while we pan fried the pork. 5 min later we sat down to over-cooked broccoli, dry Yorkie puds, fried pork and fake garlic potato...nothing like I had originally planned

Thankfully, to help rid the glut of cherries Hubby brought earlier on the week, I had made some mini clafoutis. These saved the evening from disaster. I just prey my cooking bad luck is out of the way as I'm planning to cook Hunters Pie tomorrow, something I've never cooked before

Mini Clafoutis
Serves 2

14 cherries, stoned
2 tbsp ground almond
1 tbsp plain flour
1 small egg
40g vanilla caster sugar (or normal caster sugar and 1 tsp vanilla extract)
80ml milk
pinch of salt
icing sugar

1) Preheat oven to 190oc. Butter and flour two ramekin dishes. Place 7 cherries at the bottom of each ramekin

2) Whisk all of the remaining ingredients (apart from the icing sugar) together until smooth. Pour over cherries. Bake for 15-20 min until risen and golden. Allow to cool for 5 min before eating. Dust with icing sugar.

Suet-free mincemeat

It's official, I now feel Christmassy. First thing this morning we were in Derby for Hubby to do an exam so I took the opportunity to visit the huge new shopping center there and found a fab cook shop, so naturally had to buy a new sieve and silicon pastry brush. I could have spent a great deal more if Christmas wasn't just around the corner. The Salvation Army band were playing Christmas songs which gave a great festive air.

On the way home we picked up our Christmas tree...which strangely smells of Gin & Tonic (not that I'm complaining!) and decorated it while drinking mulled wine.

Then this evening, at our local National Trust park, they had an illuminated Christmas tree trail. During the day families had decorated various trees with decorations made from recycled products (e.g. CD's, plastic bottles) then as night fell candles were lit everywhere. It looked beautiful. I didn't take my camera as usually photography isn't allowed, but I noticed loads of people were taking pics so I might go back with my camera Sunday night.

Today I eventually got around to make my mincemeat ready for the marathon Christmas baking fest on Sunday. I don't know why, but I'm funny about suet in mincemeat so I was really happy when I came across this recipe in Nigella's How to be a Domestic Goddess a few years back. The only alteration I made was to add cranberries.

Hettie Potter’s suet-free mincemeat
Makes about 2kg

250g soft dark sugar
250ml medium dry cider
1 kg cooking apples, peeled, halved and quartered
1/2 tsp mixed spice
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
250g currants
250g raisins
250g cranberries
75g glace cherries, roughly chopped
75g blanched almonds,
finely chopped rind and juice of 1/2 lemon
6 tbsp brandy or rum

In large saucepan, dissolve the sugar in the cider over a gentle heat. Add the roughly chopped apples to the saucepan. Add all the ingredients, apart from brandy/rum and simmer for around 30 min until everything has a pulpy consistency. Take off the heat and when it has cooled slightly stir in brandy/rum.

Thumbprint cookies

Today is Children in Need and in school we had a Strictly Come Dancing day. All of us staff were dolled up with ball gowns and tiaras and I certainly got some odd looks while I was defrosting my car this morning! To raise money we had a cake stall. I made some cinder toffee, boiled fruit cake and some thumbprint cookies. I've never made thumbprint cookies before, but was inspired by some I saw on tastespotting a couple of weeks ago. The cookies tasted nice, but I made the huge mistake of using cheap cheap jam and it just wouldn't do anything but sit there in a horrible looking blob. Next time I'll use decent jam.

Thumbprint cookies
Makes about 28

140g plain flour
50g ground almonds
110g butter
50g granulated sugar
Jam

1) Preheat oven to 180oc. Cream sugar and butter until light and fluffy. Mix flour and almonds then add to the butter cream. Mix well until combined. Form into dough ball

2) Refrigerate dough for 30 minutes. Line 2 baking trays.

3) Take about a teaspoon worth of dough and shape into a ball. Place on baking sheet and press firmly in the middle with your thumb. Continue with the rest of the dough. Place 2 inches apart.

4) Bake for 8 minutes. Take out of the oven and put about 1/4 tsp of jam in the cookie thumbprint. Return to the oven for 7 minutes or until beginning to lightly brown on the edges. Cool on baking rack.

Coconut Chicken Curry with Onion Bhajis

While I was sorting out the kitchen yesterday I came across a cookbook I haven't used in ages; 30-minute Indian - Sunil Vijayakar and with this weeks ingredient challenge being chillis I knew it had to be something Indian. I was really pleased how both the bhaji & curry worked out. Even though the curry was meant to be coconut curry it certainly had a strong chilli & garlic kick!

Onion bhaji
Makes about 8

1 onion, halved and thinly sliced
5 tbsp gram (chickpea) flour ....you can use plain flour
1 tbsp sunflower oil
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp ground cumin
1 green chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
1 tbsp chopped coriander
3/4 tsp baking powder
2-3 tbsp water
sunflower oil for frying

1) Mix all ingredients together (apart from the frying oil). Rest for 10 min.

2) Heat oil to 180oc-190oc or until a cube of bread browns in 30 sec. Drop spoonfuls of mix into oil. Fry for 1-2 min until brown.

Coconut chicken curry
serves 2

1 tbsp ground almonds
1 tbsp desiccated coconut
250ml coconut cream/milk
2 tsp chopped coriander leaves
1/2 tsp chilli flakes
2 garlic cloves crushed
2 tsp grated fresh ginger
1 tsp sea salt
1 tbsp veg oil
2 chicken fillets, diced
4 cardamom pods
1 tsp crushed red chilli flakes
3 tbsp chopped fresh coriander

1) Dry fry almonds and coconut until light brown. Transfer to mixing bowl. Add coconut cream, coriander, chilli powder, garlic, ginger and salt. Mix well.

2) Fry chicken and cardamom.

3) Stir in coconut mix and chilli flakes. Cover & cook gently for 10-12 min. Add fresh coriander, stir and serve.

Lebkuchen

Hmmm .... I really should post more. I bake so many things, take so many picture but never get around to posting them. Easter Resolution: to blog more.

Possibly some of my most impressive baking since I last posted was my Lebkuchen and Christmas biscuits (these doubled up as Christmas tree decorations)

Lebkuchen Makes around 30
INGREDIENTS:
250g plain flour
85g ground almonds
2 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp baking powder
½tsp bicarbonate of soda pinch each ground cloves, grated nutmeg and black pepper (I like them quite peppery)
200ml clear honey
85g butter
1 lemon, finely grated zest
FOR THE ICING:
100g icing sugar
1 egg white, beaten

1 Tip the dry ingredients into a large bowl. Heat the honey and butter in a pan over a low heat until the butter melts, then pour into the flour mixture along with the lemon zest. Mix well until the dough is combined and fairly solid. Cover and leave to cool (this will make it a great deal easier to roll).
2 Heat oven to 180C/fan160C/gas 4. Using your hands, roll dough into about 30 balls, each 3cm wide, then flatten each one slightly into a disk. Divide the biscuits between two baking trays lined with baking parchment, leaving room for them to expand. Bake for 15 mins, then cool on a wire rack.
3 To ice the biscuits, mix together the icing sugar, egg white and 1-2 tbsp water to form a smooth, runny icing. Dip the top of each biscuit in the icing and spread with the back of a knife. Leave to dry.


Thursdays more seasonal challenge is to make Hot Cross Buns from Nigella's recipe in last months GFM. Wish me luck!

Cherry & Almond Tart

This is one of the first cakes I ever made and with cherries about to come back into season it is a fantastic summer pudding. So easy and so incredibly delicious served warm with a good dollop of decent vanilla ice cream *licks lips*

Cherry & Almond Tart - think Cherry Bakewell, but without the icing.

1 ready made sweet shortcrust pastry base (no matter hard I try I cannot make shortcrust pastry)
3 tbsp forest fruit jam
100g butter, softened
100g caster sugar
2 large eggs
25g plain flour
100g ground almonds
125g cherries, pitted
icing sugar for dusting

1) Preheat oven to 180oc
2) Beat together the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Gradually beat in the eggs. Stir in the flour and almonds until well combined.
3) Spread thick layer of jam on the pastry base.
4) Spread almond paste onto base and push cherries in slightly. Dust with icing sugar.
5) Bake for 35-40 min until risen & golden