Spiced Apple Cake | Recipe {Baking}

This is my second attempt at baking this cake. I tried with pears, it did not work - at all. I was always try to think of different versions of the cakes I bake. For this cake, except for the addition of ginger and cloves, I did not change anything the second time, lesson learnt.But let me tell you, it is the perfect January cake, it uses the Christmas spices that I love (and I have left) but it is lighter than gingerbread cakes. 

The recipe is from the second book by the Hairy Bikers/Dieters. These are my favourite dieting books. From the first book I already baked the skinny carrot cake and the soft jammies. 

What you are going to need? (for 14 portions, if you are on WW - 5 points each)

• Oil, for spraying
• 750g Bramley cooking apples
• 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
• Fnely grated zest of ½ lemon
• 250g self-raising flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp ground mixed spice
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 1 tsp ground clover
• 2 large eggs
• 100g demerara sugar, plus 2 tbsp
• 200ml semi-skimmed milk
• 100ml sunflower oil
• ½ tsp sifted icing sugar, for dusting

How to make this cake? 

1. Preheat the oven to 190°C/Fan 170°C/Gas 5. Line a 23cm cake tin with baking parchment. 
2. Peel the apples and cut them into quarters. Remove the cores and cut the apples into thin slices – you’ll need about 500g prepared weight. Put the apple slices in a bowl and toss with the lemon juice and zest.
3. Mix the flour, baking powder, cinnamon and spice in a large mixing bowl. Whisk the eggs with the 100g of sugar, the milk and sunflower oil in a separate medium bowl using a large metal whisk. Then pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, stirring lightly until combined – use the whisk to break up any stubborn lumps. Toss the lemony apples through the cake batter until evenly mixed and pour the mixture into the prepared tin.
4. Sprinkle the 2 tablespoons of sugar evenly over the top and bake the cake in the centre of the oven for 1 hour until it is well risen and golden on top. Test the cake by inserting a skewer into the centre – it should slide easily through the apples in the middle and come out clean.
5. Leave the cake to cool for 10 minutes before removing it from the tin and carefully peeling off the baking parchment. Dust with sifted icing sugar and serve warm or cold with a little single cream or half-fat crème fraiche.
6. This cake is deliciously moist, so it’s best to keep it wrapped in foil and eat it within a couple of days. It is quite large, so if you want to keep yourself from being tempted to eat too much, you could cut the cake into quarters and freeze some for another time. Wrapped tightly, it will freeze well for 3 months. Defrost the cake fully before serving and warm it through in a low oven or a microwave if you like

I made it on Sunday, and it is still moist and lovely. Totally worth making - and it is very quick as well (except for the time in the oven)! 

I have entered the recipe for the Facebook competition 'The Great Bramley Bake In' if you feel like voting for it. Thanks!

Back on the diet cake {Recipe}

I have taken a break from my diet. I had been on it for 5 months, and I just got fed up with logging in everything that I eat and how may points it amounted to. Two weeks later, I put on 1 kg which is ok I suppose - considering I really did indulge in everything I like, but I am so close to reaching my target weight that I am back on it. I have not started to run as much yet, that is for next week. 

So cakes are still going to be yummy but more points-friendly, and still great to eat with your cup of tea -  I am planning another batch of gingerbread biscuits, without the chocolate (2 points and they taste goooooodd!). 

The recipe comes from a French diet magazine. And they totally lured me with a picture of a full fat cake - when will I learn? The cake tastes nice, not as nice as the full fat one, but is perfect with a cup of tea and quite light, so worthy of a post. Plus, it is super quick to whip up, and you probably have all the ingredients!

You will need (for 16 portions, 3 points per cake - I used mini silicone moulds):

4 eggs
200g sugar
165g plain flour
1tsp bicarbonate of soda
6 tbsp boiling water
a few drops of vanilla extract

To make them:

1. Mix the eggs with the sugar, then add the boiling water. 
2. Add the vanilla extract, the bicarbonate of soda and the flour
3. Pour the mixture in the moulds and bake for 40 minutes at 175 C

And here we are, my back on the diet cake - clearly I had to celebrate the fact that I am back on the diet! 

Zingy berry cake {Recipe}

I am about to go to France - and more scarily going to be in a swimsuit every day and all I can think about is cake - typical right! The only thing to do in these circumstances is just make one - there is no point resisting, better get it out of my system. 

Here is a fresh, full of berries cake. As you can see from the pictures (and these are the best) this is really looking homemade - no fancy styling, more an every day cake than 'I have people for tea' cake. 

You will need (for 12) - for those interested this a 5 points/slice cake. 

• 200 g self-raising flour
• 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 75 g caster sugar
• 100 g blueberries + 75 g of raspberries (you can adjust this according to your own taste)
• zest of 1 unwaxed lemon (or vanilla extract if you are not keen on the lemon taste)
• 2 large eggs
• 150 g low fat natural yoghurt
• 2tbsp skimmed milk
• 50 ml sunflower oil

Lemon icing

• 100g icing sugar
• 4 tsp fresh lemon juice

How to make it

1. Preheat the oven to 200 C/Fan. Line your tin with some greaseproof paper. 
2. Sift the flour and bicabornate of soda into a large bowl and stir in the sugar, blueberries and lemon zest. Make a well in the centre.
3. Beat the eggs with a large whisk until smooth, then beat in the toghurt, milk and oil until well combined. Stir into the flour mixture with a large spoon until very lightly mixed. 
4. pour into the tin. bake in the centre of the oven for 25/30 minutes - check with your knife that it is cooked in the middle. Transfer it to a wire rack and leave it to cool. 
5. To make the lemon icing, mix the icing sugar and lemon juice in a small bowl until smooth and runny. Using a spoon, drizzle over the cake and leave to set for 30 minutes before serving.  

If I am honest, it is not as good as a full fat lemon drizzle cake - BUT it is very satisfying  and moist, and with one slice you do feel happy. I suppose I am always happy when there is cake!

Rhubarbe Rose {recipe} feat. Fast Forward

Happy weekend everyone! As we are expecting have more snow and cold weather, I thought a new cake recipe needed to be tested. The master taster - Mr MiH - is very impressed and is eating his way through it rather quickly. This is a free recipe available at Sainsbury's store (or on their website - although it seems to be one without the pastry). I did the recipe as it was intended. And it is great - the sweetness of the almond mixture and the sharpness of the rhubarb is lovely. 

It reminded me of La Galette des Rois (apparently called King cake, has anyone seen one of those?) - a cake we get at the Epiphany in France (without the rhubarb, although they should consider adding it). 

What do you need? (for 8 people)

1/2 pack of ready roll puff pastry
100g salted butter, at room temperature
100g golden caster sugar
2 medium eggs
150g ground almonds
finely grated zest of 1 orange
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
225g rhubarb, trimmed and cut into 4-5 cm lengths
1 tbsp flaked almonds
1/2 tbsp icing sugar, for dusting

1. Preheat the oven 190°C, fan 170°C, gas 5. Cut the pastry into a 22cm circle. Press into a round 18cm loose-based cake tin, lining the base and part way up the side. 
2. Put the butter and sugar in a bowl and cream together with an electric whisk until pale and fluffy. Whisk in the eggs one at a time and 2 tbsp of the ground almonds until creamy. Fold in the remaining ground almonds with the orange zest and cinnamon. 
3. Spoon the almond mixture into the tin, then top with the rhubarb. (The cake would also be nice if you were to spoon only half of the mixture, add a layer a rhubarb and then cover with the rest of the mixture)
4. Bake for 40 minutes until golden. Dust with icing sugar and remove from the tin. Cut into slives and serve warm. 

You may notice a nice table runner underneath the plate. This is a very small peek at Fast Forward the table runner Annabelle did for me in exchange of the simple love quilt. It is beautiful. You can have more information about it on her blog. I need to clear my dining table (aka my current desk) to take pictures. 

So here you are a super easy cake that is actually quite unusual and seasonal! Really worth trying. 

Testing {Recipe} Ciambella allo Yogurt

For those watching the numerous cookery programs in the UK you are not going to be surprised to see this recipe featured. I tried the Nigelissima Ciambella or the yoghurt pot cake that she presented last Monday. I followed the video and the recipe to the letter - all with cornflour, vanilla extract etc. I thought I could be clever and use the mini kougloff baking mould I just bought. I had vision of a light cake that we could have for breakfast or enjoy with a nice cup of tea. 

The Nigelissima attempt

Well I am not going to even bother writing down the recipe here, as it was not edible - according to my taste buds. The consistency was sticky (it took forever to bake through) and it was way too sugary for my taste. I left it on the side for Mr MiH to try - and he likes it... So maybe it is just me, but as I am the one editing the blog, I choose which recipe I am writing about. 

I had to leave for France since the cooking of these things, and I was resolved to actually bake the cake I expected whilst out here. A lot of little research later I ended up in with an Italiano-English recipe of the Ciambella allo Yogurt. If you are going to make an Italian cake, better follow an Italian blogger. Had to get some ingredients. I am not sure how my Mum can live without baking powder at home.. Find a tin, a little help from my Grandma on this one, who lives in the next town. And we were ready to go. 

And this version is much more like what I expected the cake to be. It is really moist and airy, and quite plain, save for the underlying tanginess of the lemon zest. It was a hit at home (hence the fact I did not get time to a picture of the full cake, then again someone had to try it after the disaster that was the first one). This is a super easy recipe, and really inexpensive. The fact that the yoghurt pot is your measuring device makes it much more effortless as well. For effect, you could add a lemon glaze. 

I used the same ingredients as was suggested on the blog, so nothing new. The two changes I made were: starting by the yoghurt as I needed the pot to measure everything else; and to separate the eggs and beat the egg whites to make the cake even lighter (I did learn something from Nigella's recipe). 

To make this cake, you are going to need:

• 1 small pot of plain yoghurt (easier with a real pot -125g - or use a ramekin so you can use it to measure the other ingredients)
• 3 eggs (separated)
• 2 pots of caster sugar
• 3 pots of plain flour
• one lemon zest
• half a pot of vegetable oil
• 2 heaped teaspoons of baking powder 
• a little bit of milk

How to make it?

1. Grease the baking tin you managed to get your hands on (a Savarin mould is perfect), and dust it lightly with flour. Preheat the oven to 180°C. 

2. Empty the yoghurt pot in your bowl, sift the flour and baking powder into it; Add the egg yolks, oil, sugar, and lemon zest, and beat using an electric whisk, until pale and creamy. Stir half the egg whites to liquidify the batter, and fold the rest in (to get the lighter texture). Add a little bit of milk to the batter so it pours more easily into the mould.

3. Pour the mixture into the baking tin, and bake in the oven for about 50 minutes until well risen and firm to the touch. Turn off the oven, but leave the cake for another 5 minutes before taking it out.  Leave it to cool in the tin.

And here we are, I am leaving my parents tonight safe in the knowledge that they can have something to eat, when I probably have nothing left at home! As it is my last trip before the baby is born, and we get him his passport, I suppose it is worth it!