Chocolate and honey cake with crème de marrons filling (eggless cake)

Ingredients

For the sponge:

90g margarine or unsalted butter

80g unrefined golden caster sugar

3 tblsp runny honey

1 tsp vanilla extract

200ml milk (not skimmed)

185g self-raising flour

20g cocoa powder

2 tsp baking powder

For the filling:

2 heaped tblsp crème de marrons

2 tblsp runny honey

2 tblsp sifted icing sugar

Method:

Preheat the oven to gas mark 5 / 190 celcius

Grease and flour two 23 cm cake tins (I always use butter and ground almonds, and silicone cake tins)

Cream the butter and sugar

Add the vanilla and honey and mix together

In a separate bowl, sift the flour, cocoa and baking powder

Add a third of the dry ingredients, and a third of the milk, and mix thoroughly

Continue until it is all mixed together

Divide between the two tins and smooth flat

Bake for 25-30 minutes, testing with a skewer at 25 minutes

Cool in the tins for 5 minutes

Then transfer to a cooling rack until completely cool

Mix the filling ingredients together until combined

Turn one of the cakes upside down

Spread with the filling

Put the other cake on top

You're done! Congratulate yourself then shove that cake in your mouth!

Onion and oregano white soda bread

This recipe is so quick and easy. It makes a delicious loaf that's great with soup or stew, and you can use it for sandwiches the day after. It doesn't keep very well, but that's not a problem as it gets eaten up straight away!

Ingredients:

350g plain flour

50g self raising flour

2 heaped tsp onion granules

1 tsp dried oregano

1 tsp salt

1 tsp bicaronate of soda

1 tsp sugar

330ml buttermilk

If you can't find buttermilk, you can make your own really easily. Just add two tablespoons of lemon juice to the 330ml of milk, and give it a stir. The lemon juice sours the milk and makes it a bit thicker.

Method:

Preheat the oven to gas mark 8 / 230 C - very hot.

Sift the flour and add the rest of the dry ingredients to a mixing bowl, give it all a quick stir with a spoon.

Make a well in the centre and pour in the buttermilk. 

Bring together quickly to form a sloppy, wet dough. Do not over mix or your loaf will be tough!

Turn the dough on to a baking sheet, and scrape it into a round. 

Sprinkle some flour on the top, and slash three times with a sharp knife.

Bake for 15 minutes, then turn the heat down to gas mark 6 / 200 C, and bake for a further 25-35 minutes.

When ready, the loaf will sound hollow when tapped underneath.

Leave to cool on a wire rack - and don't worry if it feels tough, it softens when cooled.

Alternatives:

Rosemary and raisin

Garlic and cheese

I'm looking forward to trying different flavours.

Currywurst - my recipe

As Christopher is part German, we've tried cooking lots of German recipes. Currywurst is a popular street food in Germany (you can even get delicious bratwurst street food in Cardiff!) so we tried it out ourselves. After experimenting with recipes I found online, I made my own.
You will need:
1 onion, chopped
2 large mushrooms, chopped
1 tsp of curry powder (I use medium, but you can choose mild or strong depending on your taste)

a shake of onion powder

a shake of garlic powder

a pinch of sea salt

a good pinch of black pepper

a chicken stock cube (I use the jelly type ones)
good squeeze of tomato ketchup

First chop the onions and mushrooms, and fry them in a saucepan or shallow frying pan with some oil, along with the curry powder, and onion and garlic powder. Fry them until they are starting to become translucent, about 5 to 10 minutes on a medium heat.

Next add a big splash of boiling water, the ketchup, salt and pepper, and chicken stock cube. Heat through for a further 5 minutes. Then blitz with a hand blender.

You can make this ahead of time and reheat when needed. The bratwurst we bought were from Aldi, and really delicious!

 

You need to make six or seven cuts in the brats before you put them in the oven. Slice into them at regular intervals so they open up in the oven. Lightly oil them, and put in a hot oven or about 20 minutes.

Serve them with fresh bread, and a sprinkling of curry powder.

Cinnamon drizzle cake

You will need: 

For the loaf
Loaf tin (and liner) 
150g caster sugar 
150g butter (or good margarine) 
3 large free range eggs 
2 vanilla pods, seeds scraped out (or table spoon of vanilla paste) 
150g self raising flour 
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon 
1 teaspoon ground ginger 

For the icing
30g icing sugar
good shake of cinnamon (about 1 level teaspoon)
table spoon or two of water (or lemon or orange juice)

Method:
Preheat oven to gas mark 4 (180 degrees)
Cream the sugar and butter
Beat in the eggs and vanilla
Sift in the flour, cinnamon and ginger, and fold gently in
Spoon into tin (greased and lined with baking parchment, if not using a liner)
Bake for 45-55 minutes - it's ready when a skewer inserted in the middle of the cake comes out clean
Leave in the tin, on a cooling rack to cool

While still warm, poke a skewer a good few times all over the cake
Make up the icing by sifting the icing sugar and mixing everything together
Spoon over the cooling cake and leave to set

Low fat banana bread

A really, really easy, and low fat banana bread. It can easily be made gluten free too.

You will need:
4 ripe bananas, mashed
225g self raising flour (can be substituted for gluten free flour)
100g low fat margarine
100-150g of unrefined caster sugar (the less sugar you use, the less calories the final loaf will be!)
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla paste/extract
handful of dried fruit (optional)

Method:
1. Preheat oven to gas mark 4 (180°C/350°F), grease and line a 2lbs loaf tin.
2. Put everything in a large bowl, and mix with an electric mixer for a few minutes. Leave for 2 minutes for the raising agent to start working, then fold int he dried fruit (if using).
3. Pour into loaf tin and bake for 1 and half hours until the top is golden.
4. Leave to cool on a cooling rack. Scoff!

Is also nice with a shake of ground cinnamon in the mix.

Healthy workout cookies

I saw this recipe online, but a few of the comments said they were a bit tasteless, so I decided to make my own version.

You will need:
2 large (or 3 small) ripe bananas
400g rolled oats
1 small handful of dried fruit (I used currants)
1 tablespoon of cocoa powder (must be cocoa, not drinking chocolate, that has sugar added) 
2 teaspoons of honey
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
1 teaspoon of chocolate extract
1 teaspoon of cinnamon (optional)

Method (makes about 12 - I ate one before I took the picture!)
Preheat the oven to gas mark 4 (180°C / 350°F)
Mash the bananas with a fork, then add everything else and bring together into a rough dough
Shape into 12 cookie shapes on a greased baking sheet, and pop in the oven for about 15-20 minutes
Leave to cool on a cooling rack

That's it! Easy peasy. They have a lovely chewy texture, somewhere between a cookie and a cake. They'll keep for a few days in an airtight container. 

This is the secret ingredient! Chocolate extract (I got mine from Lakeland). The cookies turned out really nice, much nicer than I thought they would. One or two before a workout gives you some good carbs for energy, or if, like me, you love cakes and biscuits, one of these is a nice healthy alternative. 

 

UPDATE: 21 May 2013
I made these again today, but totally forgot that they were in the oven! I left them in there for just over 40 minutes. I thought they'd be ruined, but they were actually really nice - a bit crunchier on top, but still moist and chewy in the middle. So I'll be intentionally overbaking them from now on!

Focaccia recipe

You will need: 
500g strong white flour 
7g sachet of dried yeast
80ml extra virgin olive oil
400ml lukewarm water
pinch of salt
good pinch of sea salt
few more drizzles of extra virgin olive oil

Mix the flour, yeast, salt, oil, and 300ml of the water in a large bowl and bring together to form a dough. Knead in the bowl for a few minutes, gradually incorporating the last 100ml of water (the more water you can get in the lighter the crumb will be).

Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for about 10 minutes, until smooth and elastic. It is ready when if you press a finger gently into tit, the indentation springs back - if it stays pressed in, knead for a few more minutes.

Lightly oil (normal olive oil will do for this, or even vegetable oil) and put in a tea-towel covered bowl. Leave in a warm place for about 1 and half hours until doubled in size.

Once it has doubled in size, gently knock it back by pressing it lightly with your fingers, then knead gently for a minute or two. Divide into two equal balls. You can either shape them into two rounds, sprinkle with oil and sea salt and bake, or you can make them into a sandwich with delicious things inside! I always do it this way.

Shape the first ball into a large round, then add the fillings. I use a torn up mozzarella, some sun-dried tomatoes chopped up, some olives, a few splashes of pesto, maybe some salami. It's quite nice with Gruyère cheese, or some ham and basil leaves, or halved cherry tomatoes - basically you can go wild with anything you like!

Then shape the second ball into a round and press it down onto the first round and fillings. Then press your finger all over it, drizzle with more oil and scatter with sea salt. Leave this somewhere really warm for about 40 minutes to prove. The longer you leave it the fluffier the crumb will be. I like to leave it near the oven with the oven on low. Now is a good time to preheat the oven to gas mark 7 (200 degrees).

Bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes until golden brown on top (I turn it halfway through, and also turn the oven down to gas mark 6 / 180 degrees). Turn onto a cooling rack and drizzle with (yet more) extra virgin olive oil. It's lovely still warm, but will keep until the day after. 

Quick and easy flatbreads

A super easy and very quick flatbread recipe.

Makes 2, all tablespoons are heaped
You will need:
6 and a half tablespoons SR flour
2 tablespoons hummous
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon of water (you may need to add a little bit more)
Small handful of freshly chopped herbs of your choice (I normally use parsley or chives, but a good few pinches of dried herbs works well too)
Pinch of sea salt, pinch of black pepper, good pinch of cumin seeds, ground together in a pestle and mortar (ready-ground cumin isn't as good)

* Add everything into a large bowl and bring together into a dough, adding a few more drops of water if needed.
* Turn out and knead for a minute or two.
* Half the dough and press both bits into two rounds with your fingers, to about half a centimetre thick (no need for precision here!)
* In a dry frying pan on a medium heat, cook the flatbreads for 2-3 mins on each side, or until golden and a bit brown.
* Leave to cool on a wire rack for a minute.

Great with curry, tagine or stew.

Variations:
You can replace the hummous with a good dollop of Greek yoghurt
Replace the olive oil with peanut oil
Add some turmeric to add a lovely golden yellow colour
Try caraway seeds instead of cumin
Use coriander seeds and fresh coriander
A dollop of tomato ketchup instead of hummous

...all delish!

Sophie

I've just watched The Delicious Miss Dahl. The credits are vaguely Quentin Blake-y, and are the same pastel colours as every Shopaholic book. At least I know the audience they're aiming for, and that I'm not it - but how offensive is this programme. Her voiceover during the credits: "I've been as round as Rubens, and a thin slip, and everything inbetween", "Cooking should be an adventure". Please. Cooking should be to make food. We don't all have days to spare like you, Sophie, to wander round antique shops, good fishmongers and cheese shops - and there's no way on Earth you eat like that every day. No fucking way.
She's like Nigella, but without the charm. Or charms! Nigella looks like she eats the food she makes, and good on her.
I love cooking, love nothing more than to spend a whole day making food for my family or friends, but it's not an adventure. An adventure is travelling the world, writing a book, having a baby - cooking is a necessity, Sophie. Stop spouting boring, girly, stereotypical platitudes.

Credits are now rolling at the end of the show. She has a 'food stylist'.