Pudding Club Part 2 - Rococoa Cake & Date & Orange Syrup Pudding

In my last post I wrote about my dinner party/pudding club and the first of the recipes I used - the French Apple Tart. This time it's the turn of the two recipes that, I think, came in joint second place.

The first of these is the Rococoa Cake from Nigella's book, Feast: Food that Celebrates Life, a rather decadent chocolate cake layered with a zabaglione/mascarpone filling and heavily laced with rum. This one was probably the most divisive of the four puddings, with some people declaring it as their favourite and some putting in a definite fourth place. I personally loved it although it was definitely the richest of the puddings on offer and also the most complex to make. Having said that, it needs to be made the night before serving it which is always helpful. I will certainly be making it again and it would make a perfect dinner party pudding at Christmas time as the rum gives it a real festive flavour.

I'm afraid I won't be sharing the recipe for this one as the list of ingredients and instructions are pretty lengthy and it would take ages to reproduce it here. I do recommend you find yourself a copy of Feast if you don't already have one though as it's a great cookbook.

The other pudding that I've ranked in joint second place is a delicious Date and Orange Syrup Pudding that I found in Rachel Allen's book, Home Cooking. I love steamed puddings and this one turned out particularly well. For some reason I always half expect steamed puddings to be quite dense and heavy but this certainly wasn't the case this time. The sponge was light and fluffy and the orange mixed with the syrup gave lots of lovely fruity, sweet flavour. As you can see in the picture below the fruit all sank to the bottom (or top depending on how you look at it) of the sponge. I don't think it was supposed to do this but it didn't matter and actually made the sponge look quite attractive when turned out. And it still tasted great!

Date & Orange Syrup Pudding

(adapted from Home Cooking by Rachel Allen)

125g/4 1/2oz butter, softened, plus extra for greasing

50g/2oz pitted dates, sliced into 4-5 strips

25g/1oz raisins (small ones are best)

Finely grated zest of 1 small orange

75ml/3 fl oz golden syrup

juice of 1 orange

100g/3 1/2oz caster sugar

2 eggs, lightly beaten

140g/5oz self raising flour, sifted

2 tbsp milk

1) Lightly butter a 1.25 litre/2 pint pudding basin. Place the dates, raisins and orange zest in a small bowl and mix together. Mix together the golden syrup and half the orange juice and pour it into the bottom of the basin.

2) Cream the butter and sugar in a large bowl or in an electric food mixer until light and fluffy. Gradually add the eggs, beating well between each one and adding a little of the flour if the mixture appears to be curdling. Stir in the flour, then the milk and the remaining orange juice, mixing them thoroughly.

3) Fold in the dried fruits and spoon the cake mixture into the pudding basin, taking care not to mix it in with the syrup at the bottom of the basin. The mixture should come about two-thirds of the way up. Flatten the mixture with the back of the spoon.

4) Butter a piece of greaseproof paper and fold a pleat across the centre. Cover the basin with the paper, butter side down, and secure with string under the lip of the basin. Place in a steamer with a tight-fitting lid and simmer on a low heat for 1 1/4 - 1 1/2 hours or until the top of the pudding is firm to the touch and a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean. Remember to top up the water if necessary.

5) Remove from the steamer or pan and slide a palette knife gently around the pudding to loosen it, then invert onto a warm serving plate (one that is wider than the top of the basin). Spoon over any remaining sauce and eat while hot, served with cream or custard.

Serves 6-8

Orange Madeira Cake

I love cooking with citrus fruits, especially at this time of year when there are so many more available in the shops and there are so many festive recipes to put them in. I had bought some oranges to put into my Christmas cake and mincemeat this weekend but this afternoon I had a sudden urge to bake and this recipe came to mind. I'll have to go out and buy some more oranges now but this lovely cake more than compensates for that!

The only issue I had with this cake was the icing. I foolishly mixed 2 tablespoons of orange juice into the icing sugar in one go and ended up with icing that was too runny. Next time I'll add about a teaspoon at a time.

Orange Madeira Cake

(adapted from Home Cooking by Rachel Allen)

175g/6oz butter, softened

175g/6oz caster sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

3 eggs, beaten

Finely grated zest of 2 oranges

225g/8oz plain flour

1 tsp baking powder

4 tsp freshly squeezed orange juice

For the topping

75g/3oz icing sugar

2-3 tbsp freshly squeezed orange juice

1) Preheat the oven to 170c/325f/gas mark 3. Lightly grease and line a 23 x 13cm (9 x 5 inch) loaf tin.

2) Cream the butter in a large bowl or in an electric food mixer to soften it further. Then add the sugar and vanilla extract and beat until the mixture is light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well between each one, then add the orange zest.

3) Sift in the flour and baking powder and fold in with the orange juice. Stop when all the flour is incorporated. Transfer the mixture into the prepared loaf tin and smooth the top.

4) Bake in the oven for 50-55 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Leave to cool in the tin for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

5) For the topping, sift the icing sugar into a small bowl and stir in just enough orange juice to make a soft, but not runny, icing. If you want the icing to stay on the cake, place the cooled cake back in the tin and spread the icing over the top.

Somerset Apple Cake

Mmmm....it's been so long since I last made this cake I had forgotten how great it is. We have apples coming out of our ears at the moment thanks to the two lovely apple trees we have in the garden and this recipe is the perfect way to use a few up. What really makes this cake a bit special is the orange zest - every time I lift the lid on the cake stand I'm greeted with a wonderful waft of citrus and the orangey flavour complements the big chunks of apple so well.

Somerset Apple Cake

(adapted from The Complete Farmhouse Kitchen Cookbook produced in association with Yorkshire TV)

3oz/80g butter

6oz/175g caster sugar

Rind of 1 orange, grated

8oz/225g self-raising flour

1lb/450g Bramley Apples, peeled, cored and cubed

2 eggs, beaten

2 tbsp milk

Approx 1 tbsp granulated or demerara sugar

1) Grease and flour a 23cm/9inch cake tin. Preheat the oven to 180c/350f/gas mark 4

2) Cream the butter, sugar and orange zest until pale in colour. Mix 1 tablespoon of flour with the apples in a bowl.

3) Add the eggs and milk to the butter and sugar and beat in. Add the remaining flour and apples to the mixture and blend together well. Turn into the tin, sprinkle with the granulated/demerara sugar and bake in the oven for 40-50 minutes.

Duck, Orange and Honey Stir-fry with Lots of Greens

I recently came across this lovely stir-fry in Jo Pratt's In the Mood for Food, a really nice cookbook full of tempting recipes and great photography that I dip into on a regular basis. Before I made this recipe I was a bit concerned that it might turn out to be a bit, well, unexciting. But I'm pleased to say that I was proved wrong. The orange, honey and soy sauce provided lots of flavour with the orange in particular really standing out and adding something a bit different.

I also liked the fact that the stir-fry is designed to be a complete meal with noodles being just an optional extra - great if you're trying to cut back on the carbs a bit.

Duck, Orange and Honey Stir-fry with Lots of Greens

(adapted from In the Mood for Food by Jo Pratt)

Grated zest and juice of 1/2 small orange

2 cloves garlic, crushed

1 knob (about 15g) fresh ginger, peeled and chopped or finely grated

1 tablespoon dark soy sauce

2 tablespoons honey

1 large or 2 small skinless duck breasts, cut into strips (I used chicken which worked just as well)

1 tablespoon sesame seeds

1-2 tablespoons sunflower or vegetable oil

2 pak choi, cut into quarters lengthways

100g thin asparagus tips

200g Chinese, tenderstem or traditional broccoli

1 bunch spring onions, cut into 2-3 cm pieces

1) Mix together the orange zest, garlic, ginger, soy sauce and honey in a bowl. Add the duck strips and leave to marinade for up to 30 minutes.

2) Heat a wok over a high heat. Add the sesame seeds and toss around until they are lightly golden. Remove from the pan and return the pan to the heat.

3) Add 1 tablespoon of oil to the pan and when it is beginning to smoke remove the duck from the marinade (leaving behind as much marinade as possible) and add to the wok. Stir-fry for a few minutes until it is browned and sticky and then transfer to a plate.

4) Add all of the vegetables to the wok with a little extra oil if it looks like it needs it. Stir-fry for about 3 minutes. Mix the orange juice into the remaining marinade and pour in. Cook for a couple of minutes longer for the sauce to thicken and the vegetables to become tender. Return the duck to the wok, stir, then spoon into bowls and scatter with the sesame seeds.

Serves 2

Snow and mince pies

Just last week I was reading the latest post by Molly of Battered Splattered. Molly lives in Alaska and I love her posts as her adventures in the Alaskan wilderness always seem light years away from my life in Suffolk. Her post contained some lovely shots of the local snowy scenery. How marvellous, I thought, snow at this time of year. How lovely that must be! Well someone must have been paying attention because all of a sudden my world was transformed by the sudden arrival of some seriously Arctic conditions! And this isn't the British snow we're used to - a few flurries which quickly dissolve into muddy slush - no this is the real thing. And a week later it's still here, well some of it anyway. Will we have a white Christmas?

Anyway, the Christmas madness has well and truly set in, but I wanted to squeeze in at least one Christmassy recipe before the big day. So here, for the record, are my favourite recipes for mincemeat and mince pies.

Mincemeat

900g/2lb bramley apples, peeled and chopped into small chunks

2 oranges

1 lemon

500g bag of luxury mixed dried fruit

175g/6oz dark muscovado sugar

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground mixed spice

1 tsp ground ginger

1/4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg

100/4oz butter

300ml/1/2 pint dry cider

5 tbsp rum or brandy

1) Zest and juice the oranges and lemon and add to a large pan.

2) Add all of the other ingredients. Slowly bring to the boil, reduce the heat and simmer, uncovered, for 1 hour, stirring occasionally.

When the mincemeat is cooked it will be thick and pulpy. It will keep for up to one month in sterilised jars or 6 months in the freezer.

What follows is my preferred recipe for mince pie pastry. I know it is more common to use a simpler fat and flour combination but this one results in a shorter, sweeter pastry which I find much more appealing.

225g/8oz plain flour

140g/5oz butter, cut into small pieces

grated zest of 1 orange

50g/2oz caster sugar

1 egg yolk

1) Put the flour, butter, orange zest and sugar into a food processor and whizz to form crumbs.

2) Add the egg yolk and a tablespoon of cold water and pulse to form a dough.

The recipe now advises that you chill the dough in the fridge for 30 minutes but I'm not convinced about this as it results in a very solid dough that needs a fair bit of work to warm it up again. I'll leave you decide which option to take.

Either way, the dough can be rolled out as desired and filled with your mincemeat. A standard sized pie will cook in 12-15 minutes at 200c/gas 6.

A Christmas Trifle

I recently came across a request on the UKFBA website calling for volunteers willing to get creative and come up with an alternative use for the traditional Christmas pudding.

The competition was set by Matthew Walker Christmas Puddings, who are reputably the World's Oldest Christmas Pudding Maker and have trademarked their 'Recipe 13' 'The Perfect Christmas Pudding Recipe'!

So my puddings arrived, handsomely packaged in brown, gold and green and I set to thinking what to make. The Christmas pudding is pretty much the complete package really and apart from a jug of custard it doesn't really need anything adding to it. So my thoughts turned for possible uses for leftovers. Cake....leftovers......trifle! I can't say I've considered putting christmas pudding in a trifle before and I can't recall anyone else doing so either but it was worth a go.

Trifle is a pretty simple combination of cake, fruit, custard and cream but what fruit to use? Well, this is a Christmas trifle and nothing says Christmas to me like citrus fruit so oranges seemed the best option. It's also traditional to add a swig of something alcoholic to the layer of cake, however as Christmas puddings are alcoholic by design I decided not add anything extra. Don't let that put you off adding a little splash of something if you fancy it though.

So, decision made....I was ready to go.

Well, the result was delicious! It was far better than I'd hoped and I will, without question, be making this again at Christmas. I may well even buy an extra pudding in case I'm not left with sufficient leftovers on the day. I assembled the trifle while the pudding and the custard were still warm to great effect however the small amount that I somehow managed not to eat straight away was still gorgeous a while later from the fridge.

Here's the recipe...

Christmas Pudding Trifle

Serves 1 (but can easily be scaled up)

100g Christmas pudding

1 orange, segmented

50-100ml custard

50-1ooml double cream, whipped to soft peaks

Mixed peel or flaked almonds to decorate

1) Break the pudding into bite sized pieces and line the bottom of a small dish or ramekin

2) Place the orange segments in a layer on top of the pudding

3) Layer the custard over the orange and top with cream

4) Decorate with mixed peel or flaked almonds.

Enjoy!

White Chocolate and Orange Cookies

The October Sweet and Simple Bakes challenge was a recipe for White Chocolate and Orange Cookies. To my great frustration I didn't have the chance to make these in time for the deadline but they sounded so tempting that I was determined to crowbar them into the schedule as soon as possible.

So here they and they absolutely lived up to my expectations. Packed with orange flavour and plenty of chocolate, they had the perfect cookie texture - crispy at the edge but with a soft chewy centre. Mmmmmm!

You can find the recipe here - give them a try!

Sweet and Simple Bakes - St Clement's Drizzle Cake

This month's Sweet and Simple Bake is the St Clement's Drizzle Cake - a twist on the classic lemon syrup cake thanks to the addition of orange zest and juice. This was very simple to make, as most loaf cakes tend to be, and as lovely on it's own for afternoon tea as it is teamed up with some vanilla ice cream for an indulgent pudding. The cake itself turned out to be wonderfully light and the orange/lemon syrup topping added loads of citrussy (is that how you spell it?) flavour. The next time I make this (and there will be a next time) I think I'll put more holes in the cake so the syrup soaks in even more.

Many thanks to Rosie and Maria for hosting the Sweet and Simple Bakes website and for choosing this great recipe for us.

The recipe can be found here.

Chocolate Orange Loaf Cake

This month I've decided to switch my monthly baking challenge allegiance over to Sweet and Simple Bakes as the recipe on offer this month looked too good to pass up. It's not a recipe I've come across previously but just the name was enough to tell me I was going to like it.

The chosen recipe this month was for Chocolate Orange Drizzle Loaf Cake and I think the name tells you all you need to know! And what a great recipe this is. The addition of orange zest and the orange syrup to what is basically a plain sponge recipe adds an enormous amount of flavour and, as you would expect, the chocolate is a perfect partner for the orange.

Chocolate Orange Drizzle Loaf Cake

For the cake

175g/6oz softened butter

175g/6oz caster sugar

3 large eggs at room temperature

Finely grated zest of two oranges

175g/6oz self raising flour

2 tbsp milk

For the orange syrup

Juice of 1 orange

100g/4oz granulated sugar (although I just used caster sugar again)

For the topping

50g/2oz dark or milk chocolate (I used dark and was glad I did)

Sprinkles of your choice (optional)

1) Preheat the oven to 180c/350f/gas 4

2) Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time and beat in until fully incorporated. Add the orange zest, flour and milk and fold in gently with a spatula or metal spoon.

3) Pour the mixture into a greased/lined 900g/2lb loaf tin and bake for 35-45 minutes until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. When cool make little holes in the cake for pouring the syrup into.

4) Make the syrup by putting the orange juice and syrup into a pan and heating gently until the sugar is dissolved. Bring to the boil and boil for a couple of minutes. Pour the syrup over the top of the cake. The leave the cake to cool completely before removing it from the tin.

5) Melt the chocolate in a bowl over a pan of barely simmering water. When melted spread it over the top of the cake. Smooth with a spatula or make patterns with the prongs of a fork. Add sprinkles if required. Leave the chocolate to cool before cutting the cake.

Rhubarb, rhubarb, rhubarb....

Rhubarb is one my favourite fruits (vegetables??) and now that more and more is appearing in the shops I hope to make the most of it and try out a number of rhubarb-based recipes over the next few weeks. If only I could persuade the sad little rhubarb plant in our garden to pull itself together and give us a decent number of stalks each year I'd be a happy bunny. But instead we have to make do with it half-heartedly sending up a couple of feeble efforts before dissapearing back into the ground until the following spring. I do envy people who are overrun with the stuff!

Anyway, this is without a doubt one of my very favourite rhubarb recipes, Rhubarb Meringue Pie from How to Eat by Nigella Lawson. It tastes fabulous and the sweetness of the meringue sets off the tartness of the rhubarb perfectly.

I won't give you the full recipe, suffice to say you need to make up and blind bake a 24cm shortcrust pastry case, using the juice of half an orange to bind the dough together. The filling is then put together as follows:

Rhubarb Meringue Pie

(adapted from How to Eat by Nigella Lawson)

24cm shortcrust pastry case

800g rhubarb, untrimmed weight

juice of 1/2 orange

2 eggs, separated

150g sugar

2 tablespoons plain flour

30g melted butter

1) Trim the rhubarb and chop it into roughly 1cm slices. Put in a saucepan with the orange juice and heat briefly, just until the rawness is taken off them. Remove and drain (but keep the liquid).

2) In a bowl mix together the sugar, flour and melted butter. Add the eggs and enough of the rhubarb juices to make a smooth runny paste. Add some more orange juice if needed.

3) Put the rhubarb into the blind baked pastry case and pour the sugary, eggy mixture over. Bake in the oven at 200c/gas mark 6 for 20-30 until just set.

4) Use the egg whites, 120g caster sugar and 1/4 teaspoon of cream of tartar to make a meringue mix. Spread the meringue over the pie, sprinkle with a teaspoon of caster sugar and bake for 15 minutes.

A wonderfully simple pudding

This is another recipe from In the Mood for Food by Jo Pratt called Orange Caramel Yoghurt.  However if peeling and slicing an orange is too much trouble you can substitute it with some chopped strawberries and blueberries, as I did today, or raspberries or pretty much anything you like.

Orange Caramel Yoghurt 

(adapted from In the Mood for Food by Jo Pratt)

2 large juicy oranges

250-350ml greek yoghurt

2 tablespoons dark or light brown sugar or muscovado sugar

1) Using a sharp knife cut of the skin and pith from the oranges and thinly slice.

2)  Place in the base of two dishes and spoon over.

3) Scatter over the sugar and leave for just a few minutes for the sugar to dissolve and create a caramel syrup.  The longer you leave it, the more the caramel dissolves into the yoghurt.

Serves 2