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Showing posts with label British Food. Show all posts
Showing posts with label British Food. Show all posts

Frosted Carrot Cake

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Photo Courtesy: Farzana Rahman

It was my very own dearest Farzana’s birthday and we both strongly believe that ‘Vegetables are a must on a diet I suggest: carrot cake, zucchini bread and pumpkin pie’ . Wink Wink!  I couldn’t have thought of anything other than a luxury carrot cake recipe packed with nuts, spices and golden sultanas, the lightest of all and the most enticingly moist cake, oh yes the mighty carrot cake, oh this carrot cake bursting with the freshness of the carrots, speckled by chopped pecans, and stunned by almond flakes,   the crunch from the nuts and punch from the spices, with the perfect cream cheese frosting with the lemony twist, makes this incredibly moist and soft carrot cake so delightful. Don’t even contemplate on just a tiny slice of this cake because for sure you will be back for more, not mention only a few crumbs left to mark the carrot cake only after a few moments of the cake cutting ritual. The smiles, the expressions of being so gratified with this heavenly, divine and blissful cake, are to reminisce for the rest of our lives. The cherry on cake for this post is that the photos are taken by our very own pro food photography Farzana, which makes the whole process all the more special!
                                                                               
                                                                                                                                                                                          Photo Courtesy: Farzana Rahman

FROSTED CARROT CAKE
INGREDIENTS
175ml sunflower oil,
175 gms muscavodo sugar,
3 eggs beaten,
175 gms grated carrots,
85 gms sultnas,
55 gms walnut pieces,
Grated rind of 1 orange,
175 gms self-raising flour,
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda,
1 tsp ground cinnamon,
½ tsp grated nutmeg,
Nuts and candy carrots to decorate
FROSTING
200 gms full-fat soft cheese,
100 gms icing sugar,
2 tsp organge juice,
½ tsp vanilla essence

Preheat the oven to 180C/ 350F/Gas Mark 4. Grease and line the base of a 8 inch square cake tin.
In a large bowl bet together the oil, muscavado sugar and eggs. Stir in the grated carrots, sultanas, walnuts an orange rind.
Sift together the flour, bicarbonate of soda, cinnamon and nutmeg, then stir evenly into the carrot mixture. 
Spoon the mixture into the prepared cake tin and bake the preheated oven for 40-45 minutes, until well-risen and firm to the touch.
Remove the cake from the oven and set on wire rack for five minutes. Turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
For the frosting, combine the soft cheese, icing sugar, orange juice and vanilla essence in a bowl and beat until smooth. Spread over the top of the cake and swirl with a palette knife to give a frosted look. Decorate with nuts and candy carrots.

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Traditional Easter Biscuits

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With  signs of spring in the air, and the entertainment all sewed up for Easter Sunday, it was time to bake these Traditional  Easter Biscuits, the process of baking accompanied by photo shoot from Andra! These delicate spiced up biscuits infused with the flavour of fruits, to be shared with guests over tea time on Easter Sunday!  An effortless combination of flour, butter, egg yolk, and spices with fruits, turned them  into these delicious golden beauties, oh so good to taste, these Traditional Easter cookies are just not for Easter but all year around!  Happy Easter!




INGREDIENTS
225 gms of softened butter,
140 gms of caster sugar, plus extra for sprinkling,
1 egg yolk, lightly beaten,
280 gms plain flour,
1 tsp mixed spice,
Pinch of salt,
1 tbsp chopped mixed peel,
55 gms currants,
1 egg white, lightly beaten


Mix the butter and sugar in a bowl with a wooden spoon and mix in the egg yolk, sift in the flour, salt, and mixed spice and tip in the currants and mixed peel and combine till the time you get soft dough. Divide the dough into two, wrap it in a cling film and refrigerate for an hour.
Preheat the oven to Gas Mark 5. Prepare two baking trays with greaseproof baking paper.

Remove the Clingfilm from the dough and roll out between two sheets of baking papers. Use a  2 ½ fluted cookie cutter, to cut out into biscuits and put them on the baking trays, spaced well apart.
Bake in the preheated oven for seven minutes, then brush with the egg white and sprinkle with some caster sugar. Put them back in the oven and bake for another 10 minutes, until golden brown. Leave to cool first in the baking tray for about ten minutes, then transfer to wire racks to cool completely.





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A Pot of Tea and Lemon Drizzle Cake!

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And when the holidays have started and when friends have more than one reason to meet to celebrate this festive season, I knew none of my friends could  every say no to the the lemony charms of this  classic lemon drizzle cake for a great tea-time treat!! This wonderfully moist, fruity and tangy cake only gets better as days pass by!



INGREDIENTS

175gms self-raising flour,
175 gms caster sugar,
150 gms butter,
rind of 1 lemon,
125 ml luke warm milk,
2  eggs beaten

For the Lemon Drizzle,
140 gms icing sugar,
50 ml fresh lemon juice

Preheat the oven to gas mark 4. Prepare a 7 inch square inch tin with a baking paper.

Put together the eggs, caster sugar and magarine in a mixing bowl and beat with an electric beater until fluffy. Tip into lemon rind, add in the flour and mix gently and evenly. Stir in the milk, mixing evenly, the add this mixture evenly into the prepared tin.

Bake in the preheated oven for 45 minutes, or until golden brown and firm to touch.  Remove from the oven and let it cool in the tin on the wire rack.

To make the lemon drizzle, put the icing sugar and the lemon juice in a small saucepan and heat on low flame, untill the sugar dissolves.

Prick the warm cake on the top and tip in the lemon drizzle, allow the cake to absorb it entirely.

When completely cool, cut the cake into bars.

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MasterChef or Apprentice: Welsh Cakes

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A mishmash of Masterchef and Apprentice, a cooking challenge, where two squads, boys vs girls, where Lord Sugar is on the look for for the most excellent Welsh dish, what could I have done to prevail this? Welsh cakes of course!

http://www.studentcooking.tv/videos/low-fat-laughs/the-glamorgan-apprentice


Here’s the Welsh Cake recipe from The Glamorgan Apprentice video, so you know how to cook up these tasty traditional treats yourselves!

WELSH CAKES

Ingredients:
• 1 lb plain flour,
• 1 teaspoon baking powder,
• 1 pinch allspice,
• 1 pinch salt,
• 200g butter,
• 150g sugar,
• 100g seedless raisins,
• 2 eggs beaten,
• Few drops of milk to beat

Method:
1. Sift together the flour, baking powder, all spice and salt in a large bowl.

2. Rub in the butter till the time the dry ingredients with butter resemble breadcrumbs.

3. Add the beaten eggs to the mixture, with a few drops of milk to make a fairly stiff dough.

4. Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface to a thickness of about 1/4 of an inch and cut into 2-inch rounds with a pastry cutter.

5. Cook on a well-greased griddle or a heavy based frying pan for about 3 minutes each side on a low flame until each side is golden brown.

6. Sprinkle with castor sugar and serve warm.

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Living a Fairytale

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I grew up my early days living a fairytale called London ! little did I know I will truly live this fairytale. Yesterday my friend Janet called up to plan for a day visit to London, in view of the beautiful weather.  Could I have refused my chance to live this fairytale all over again!  
London is indeed a dream come true,  the home of the British royal family, with no words to define the magnificence of the Buckingham Palace, the cosmopolitan always busy and bustling with people and the hackney carriages.  What augments to the exquisiteness of the city is so many folks from out of the country just in one time, not to mention to the beautiful sights, smells and sounds.
Not expedition to London would be complete without the shopping  spree starting from the trendy shops in Oxford street right through to the very elite stores in Savile Row and Bond street. And there couldn’t be a better way to end the day without a cruise on the River Thames through the heart of London, giving a spectacular views across the city, whereas the Tower of London gives a view of what life in London was like in days gone by.

The recipe for these fairy cakes, are a dedication to my fairytale, the London city, city of dreams!!





 115 g unsalted butter, at room temperature,
115 g caster sugar,
2 eggs beaten,
115 g self-raising flour,
Icing and decoration
200 g icing sugar,
About 2 tbsp warm water,
A few drops of edible food colouring,
Hundreds and thousands, and chocolate strands to decorate

Preheat the oven to 190C/375F/Gas Mark 5. Place 16 paper bun cases into a shallow bun tin.
Place the butter and caster sugar in a large bowl and cream together with a wooden spoon or electric mixer until pale and fluffy.
Gradually add the eggs, beating well after each addition. Fold in the flour lightly and evenly using a metal spoon.
Divide the mixture evenly between the bun cases and bake in the preheated oven for 15-20 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.
For the icing, sift the icing sugar into a bowl and stir in just enough of the water to mix to a smooth paste. Stir in a few drops of food colouring. Spread the icing over the fairy cakes and decorate with the chocolate strands and hundreds and thousands



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Golden Christmas Cake

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It’s the orange time of year and we were ready with our wish list for Christmas, of course the list would be imperfect without a Christmas cake. Today marks the sacrament of my Christmas cake for the year.  The most heavenly thing I have ever cherished and it wouldn’t be Christmas without it.  So now is the time to put together my Christmas cake and let it sit all the way till Christmas , letting it get more and more aromatic, and just naturally gorgeous ever since.  It was during this time of the year that my gigantic pudding basin came out to make the Christmas cake batter. For the cake has to be shared with a lot numerous. It was so much enjoyable, being occupied in preparation of the cake, from chopping of the fruits and nuts, to measuring and then beating up the batter.
The cake looked rich, moist, and a zillion pieces of fruit in every bite, bursting with diverse taste of brandy, and orange, as much as I love Christmas cake I found myself lured to cut a portion and pad the space with marzipan while icing.  Next year I will make two cakes !!!
The cake now has been moved to a very festive looking tin, waiting for everyday to make the cake taste better!

175g/ 6oz dried apricots,
85g/3 oz dried mango,
85g/ 3oz pineapple,
175g/ 6oz sultanas,
55 g/ 2 oz chopped stem ginger,
55 g/ 2 oz mixed peel,
finely grated rind and juice of 1 orange,
4 tbsp brandy,
175g/ oz unsalted butter,
100 g/ 3 1/2 oz light muscovado sugar,
4 eggs beaten,
2 tbsp clear honey,
175 g/ 6oz self-raising flour,
2 tsp ground all spice,
85 g/ 3 oz pecan nuts,

Place the chopped apricots, mango and pineapple in a bowl with the sultanas, stem ginger, and mixed peel. Stir in the orange rind, orange juice and brandy. Cover the bowl and leave to soak overnight.

Preheat the oven to 170C/325F/Gas Mark 3. Grease a 23-cm/9-inch round springform cake tin and line with baking paper.

Cream together the butter and sugar until the mixture is pale and fluffy. Add the eggs to the mixture, beating well between each addition. Stir in the honey.

Sift the flour ith the allspice and fold into the mixture using a metal spoon. Add the soaked fruit and pecan nuts, stirring thoroughly to mix. Spoon the mixture into the preparted tin, spreading evenly, then make a slight dip in the center.

Place the tin in the centre of the preheated oven and bake for 1 1/2 to 2 hours, until golden brown, and firm to the touch and  a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean. Leave to cool in the tin.

Turn the cake out, remove the linining paper and re-wrap in clean baking paper and foil.
Store in a cool place for at least 1 month before use.

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Teisennau Tatws- Welsh Potato Cakes

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Yesterday, we ambled up the hills only to see heavens on this earth, but on foot on the rise left us famished especially when we knew there are these Welsh beauties waiting for us, nice and warm right from the oven. When I first came across this recipe, it was hard for me to consider that the humble potato can make these gorgeous golden brown beauties. These cakes were originally baked on a bake stone or a griddle and served hot spread with butter, traditionally they were eaten accompanied by a glass of buttermilk, if you want to indulge a bit, simply garnish with applesauce and sour cream. Besides being great tea time snacks, these cakes make great appetizers, these are fantastic for breakfast.


INGREDIENTS

4 oz flour,
1/2 teaspoon baking powder,
Pinch of salt,
Pinch of mixed spice,
1 lb. cooked potatoes, well mashed,
2 leave tablespoons sugar,
1 oz melted butter,
Milk

Sift the flour, baking powder, salt and spice into a bowl, then add the mashed potato and sugar, combing well. Stir in the melted butter and sufficient milk to form stiff dough. Turn out on a lightly floured surface, kneed gently then roll out to about 1 inch thick. Cut into rounds with a 3 inch plain cutter. Heat a buttered griddle or heavy based frying pan and cook for about 4 minutes on each side. Serve hot with butter.

If preferred, the Potato cakes can be placed on a greased baking sheet and baked in the oven, set at 425F or Mark 7 for about 10 minutes

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Rasberry Fool

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Yesterday felt like the heart of summer to me. My friend Jane called and invited me for berry picking in her farms,  with her little terrier York Benji, any raison d'être I could have snubbed !

It was sunny and hot, and it took a while for me to wheedle Lilies to go berry-picking in Jane’s farms.  We visited different farms, a few miles away from where we live. The walk through her beautiful flowers, plums, apple trees and finally it was raspberries all around




The three of us filled our boxes in very little time, on a quiet, late evening as the sun headed toward the western horizon.  There was something so marvellously rewarding in the experience of picking, the just right raspberry, and its soft plumpness pulling off the centre like a sleeve and dipping into our hands. Four quarts of raspberries are now in our kitchen -- well, somewhat less than that, given the moderate eating that went on through our drive back home.


With raspberries all around, I would be a RASBERRY FOOL not to make a dessert out of it, raspberry fool??? Yes that’s it! This very old fashioned English recipe makes a great dessert, but I love having it as a super wake up breakfast indulgence.



200 gms fresh blackberries,
250 ml whipping cream,
2 tbsp icing sugar,
1/2 tsp lemon juice.


Tip the blackberries into the saucepan with the icing sugar and 1 tablespoon of water. over low heat, bring to simmer, stirring a few times. when they start looking juicy take off the heat.


Mash it lighly with a fork, to squeeze out all the juices then pour it over sieve into a container. Squeeze out as much juice to end up with a thin puree. Add the lemon juice. Let it cool down completely.

Whip the cream lighly in a seperate bowl, when the cream holds light peaks fold through half of the puree, until combined. Rippe through the remaining puree and spoon into glasses. Top with some whole blacberries and serve.

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Cauliflower Cheese

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I was rummaging through refrigerator for vegetables and some stimulation to cook for lunch. I spotted a cauliflower, Cauliflower Cheese it was going to be! I love the strong flavours of cheese in this classic British dish but more than that I love to taste the flavours of the vegetable along with the cheese.



INGREDIENTS
1 head cauliflower, about 675 g/1 lb,
cut into medium size florets
3 tbsp butter,
1 onion, chopped finely,
1 tbsp olive oil,
3 tbsp plain flour,
300 ml of double cream,
115 g/ 4 oz Cheddar cheese, grated
75 g/ 2 oz Red Cheddar cheese,
1 tbsp parmesan
Freshly grated nutmeg
Salt and pepper to taste

You will need au gratin dish, a cook's knife, a chopping board, a frying pan, a saucepan, a wooden spatula and a measuring jug.

Cook the cauliflower in the sauce pan with boiling salted water for 5 minutes, the florets should still be firm. Drain and place it in the au gratin dish.

Heat the olive oil in the frying pan, over a medium heat and fry the onions, till the time the onion is carmelised.

Melt the butter in the saucepan over a medium heat. Add in the flour in parts, stirring continously  make sure to get rid of all the lumps. Stir in the double cream. Return to a low heat and stil until the sauce comes to the boil and thickens. Simmer gently, stirring constantly for about 2-3 minutes, until the sauce is smooth and creamy. Remove from the heat and stir in half of the Cheedar chesse and nutmeg.

Add the onions on top of the cauliflower in the au gratin dish.

Top the cheese sauce in the au gratin dish, add in the remaining Cheddar, the Red Cheddar, and the Parmesan and place the dish onto the middle shelf of a pre-heated over for 45-50 minutes on 200C/400F/Gas mark 6.


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