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Monthly Archives: January 2012

Carrot Cake

Posted on January 29, 2012 by thesweetestbrunch

 

So, I was going to present you with healthy chocolate cake for this post. I had found a recipe for one that had little sugar, cocoa powder instead of chocolate, plain yoghurt and no butter. All this should have probably been a warning sign to me… because what came out of the oven was unworthy of being called a cake! It was tasteless and had a rubber like texture – disgusting really. I very rarely have a baking disaster but this was definitely one and therefore I decided to make a revenge cake!

The idea of a revenge cake comes from my Japanese colleague Kei, who once made some chocolate cupcakes that didn’t come out as were supposed to be, so she had to get her revenge by making another cake straight away, a “revenge cake”. She said, her mom always made revenge cakes if a cake didn’t come out as planned. I liked the idea, so following my cake disaster I decided to bake a tried and tested carrot cake, as my revenge.

The recipe for this cake is from Pret A Manger’s cookbook Food on the Move. I always liked their carrot cake and this recipe gives you a very similar result. Pineapple pieces are added to the batter, giving the cake some juicy bursts of fruit.

The icing is very sweet but with a cake being this dense, it works. However, if you are having this cake for brunch, you might want to go easy on it. If you are having another piece as a treat later on in the day, bring it on!

You’ll need:

  • a 21cm round baking tin
  • baking paper

For the Icing:

  • 400g icing sugar
  • 100g cream cheese
  • 50g unsalted butter

For the Cake:

  • 2 eggs
  • 200g soft brown sugar
  • 150ml sunflower oil
  • 200g grated carrot
  • 50g pecan pieces, roughly chopped
  • 75g diced pineapple (fresh or tinned), roughly chopped
  • 50g desiccated coconut
  • 200g flour
  • 1tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1tsp bicarb of soda
  • 1tsp salt

Preheat the oven to 150 degrees and line the baking tin with baking paper.

Start with the icing by beating the butter and cream cheese together with an electric whisk until smooth. Add the icing sugar in three batches, whisking in each batch before adding the next. Put aside in the fridge to set.

For the cake, whisk the eggs until doubled in volume then add the sugar and whisk until pale and fluffy. Keep whisking on a high speed, as you slowly pour in the oil in a steady stream. The mix should hold the shape of a trail across the surface.

Gently fold in the carrot, pecan pieces, pineapple and coconut (I use a big metal spoon for this). Then fold in the flour, bicarbonate of soda and salt and transfer the mix into the cake tin. Bake for 1 hour (do the skewer test…) and if the cake goes too dark at the end of the baking time, cover the top with baking paper or foil to protect it from burning.

When the cake is baked, leave it to cool in the tin for 10-15 minutes before turning it out on a wire rack to cool it completely. When cold, slice the cake in half horizontally and spread one half with half the icing and sandwich the halves together again. Then cover the top with the rest of the icing and you’re done!

 

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Poppy Seed Pancakes with “Saucy Oranges”

Posted on January 19, 2012 by thesweetestbrunch


I just can’t get enough of pancakes, it seems.

After about four months of blogging, this is already the fourth time that I am telling you about another pancake recipe. I guess, it’s not that surprising as pancakes make such a satisfying brunch – they are yummy and quick and easy to make! Another reason why I have one more pancake recipe here for you is that I it was time to tidy my spice cupboard and in the back, behind all the little glasses and boxes of all sorts of spices I found a small bag of left over poppy seeds (not sure how they had moved from the baking cupboard to the spice section…). This meant that I had to look for recipes that would use up these few black poppy seeds and of course I opted for a pancake recipe!

I found it on 101 Cookbooks and have slightly amended it, omitting the sunflower seeds. The author suggested a citrus syrup with it and I liked the idea of this combination but opted for an orange sauce I had made in the past, also because I didn’t have agave or maple syrup in the house.”Orange sauce” makes me think of the colour more than the fruit… so that’s why I shall be calling it “saucy oranges” from now on The “saucy oranges” are also easy to make, as long as you mix the cornflour with a bit of the warm water first, before adding it to the hot sauce on the stove – otherwise the sauce may go lumpy.

As for filleting the orange, I used to think it requires the knowledge of some chef trick and was worried about creating a big mess trying to get out some clean orange segments. From a cookery class at Leith’s cookery school I then learned that it isn’t very hard, as long as you have a very sharp knife. You have to cut off one end of the orange to create a flat surface, before you can start cutting away at the orange so the orange doesn’t move about. And don’t be shy to be quite generous when cutting away the peel to make sure the orange segments are clean of all pith.


Pancake recipe based on 101 Cookcooks.
For about 4 portions you will need…

Starting with the “saucy oranges”:

  • 7 oranges
  • 25g caster sugar (about 2 tbsp worth)
  • juice of ½ lemon
  • 2tsp cornflour

Take 5 of the oranges and cut off the bottoms so they sit on a flat surface. Using a very sharp knife cut away the peel & pith, following the round shape of the orange with your knife. Then cut out the segments. Try and collect any juice that might collect on the board as you go along. Leave orange segments and juice to the side.

Cut the rind of the other 2 oranges with an orange peeler that gives you small matchstick strips, then squeeze the juice from these oranges into a small pan and add the rind. Add the sugar and lemon juice and simmer gently for 5 minutes until the sugar has dissolved and the rind is tender.

Blend the cornflour with 1 tbsp of water in a small cup, then mix in a little hot juice. Add to the pan and cook, stirring for 1 minute until the sauce has thickened. Take off the heat and add more orange juice if you like.

Add the juice and segments to the sauce, cover and chill.

For the poppy seed pancakes (recipe based on http://www.101cookbooks.com/archives/poppy-seed-pancakes-recipe.html):

  • 2 cups flour
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp fine grain sea salt
  • 1/2 cup poppy seeds
  • 2 1/4 cups organic buttermilk
  • 2 large organic eggs, lightly beaten
  • ½ tsp vanilla extract
  • 2 tbsps butter, melted (plus extra for the pan)

Combine all the dry ingredients – flour, baking powder, bicarb of soda, salt and poppy seeds in one bowl. In another small bowl or jug, combine the buttermilk, eggs and melted butter. Stir the wet ingredients in the dry mix until just combined (I found the batter to be quite thick).

Heat the pan to medium-hot and brush it with a bit of butter. As a test for the right temperature 101 Cooks suggests: “If a drop of water dropped onto the pan starts to dance, you are in the ballpark.”

Bake the pancakes, each of about 1/3 of a cup, and wait until the pancake bottom is deep golden in colour, then flip and cook the other side until golden and cooked through.

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Warming and Healthy Quinoa

Posted on January 9, 2012 by thesweetestbrunch

Happy New Year!

I thought it would be good to start the new year with something healthy.
Don’t worry it wont last long, I like my sugary treats too much to become a full time health fanatic. However, some so called super foods have successfully found their way in to my kitchen and gluten free quinoa is one of them (though it is not as photogenic as I’d like it to be…).

I discovered it as a breakfast option when I had the pleasure of visiting an Ayurvedic health spa in Germany. They were quite peculiar about their food in this spa, for example eating desserts before mains, but every morning they served us what they called “warm muesli”. I think it is better described as warm quinoa porridge but either way I very much enjoyed it. It is very filling – quinoa being high in protein helps with that – and as it is made with cinnamon, coconut and vanilla it is really tasty too.

On my last day I asked the kitchen for the recipe and was told that it’s often made up as they go along by adding different fruit, compote or even jam depending on what’s available. But the main principle is cooking quinoa with desiccated coconut and adding flavour with cinnamon, vanilla extract and fruit. In the spa they usually used agave syrup to sweeten the quinoa but when I don’t have that at hand I find that maple syrup works very well too. I recommend using red quinoa in my recipe as I find it has a slightly nuttier flavour but any quinoa would work in the same way.

This bowl of warming vanilla flavoured comfort food makes for a nice brunch on a cold and grey winter morning.

For one very generous portion – or two small ones – you’ll need:

  •  1/4 cup red quinoa
  • 1/4 cup desiccated coconut
  • 2 plums – or any other fresh fruit you fancy (I found apricots worked well too)
  • 1 cinnamon stick
  • 1/4 tsp vanilla essence
  • maple or agave syrup to taste 

Put the quinoa, coconut and cinnamon stick in a saucepan on the stove and cover with 1 cup of boiling water and leave to simmer on low heat for 20 minutes. You may find that you need to add a little more water as the quinoa cooks and absorbs the water. Keep an eye on it as you don’t want the quinoa to burn to the bottom of the pan as the water has dried up!

Cut the plums (or other fruit) into small pieces and add to simmering quinoa for the last 10 minutes along with the vanilla essence.

Please note, that if you are using a soft fruit such as mango or berries and you don’t want them going too soft/ falling apart, you may want to cook them for less than 10 minutes so maybe add them for only the last 5 minutes.

The quinoa will need about 30 minutes in total to be cooked through – you want a risotto like texture, with the quinoa soft and the water (or at least most of it) absorbed.

Add agave or maple syrup to sweeten and enjoy!

 

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