Cinnamon Swirl Sour Cream Cake

This is one of those cakes that I tend to put in the category "plain cakes" which sounds a bit negative and unexciting but really isn't. It's just one of those simple cakes that are very easy to put together but even easier to eat. No layers, no icing, no decoration, just a straightforward one-tin bake.

I found the recipe when searching for inspiration for some leftover sour cream and discovered it in one of my Books for Cooks recipe books (compilations of recipes from the shop of the same name).

The cake itself is just a plain sponge, although sour cream is added to the usual ingredients, but the cake is well and truly brought to life by the layers of chocolatey, cinnamony nuts and raisins in the middle. No one flavour stands out; instead you have a lovely hint of the various ingredients mixed up in the slightly crunchy, slightly chewy layers. This is the sort of cake that is as perfect after dinner with ice cream as it is as an afternoon treat. P, who isn't keen on anything too sweet, really liked this one.

Cinnamon Swirl Sour Cream Cake
(adapted from Books for Cooks Favourite Recipes 7, 8 & 9)

For the mix
100g/3 1/2 oz walnuts or pecans
4 tbsp raisins
1tbsp ground cinnamon
1 1/2 tbsp cocoa powder
175g/6oz dark brown sugar

For the cake
250g/8oz plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
salt
125g/4oz butter, softened
225g/7 1/2 oz caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 large eggs
250ml/8 fl oz sour cream

1) Heat the oven to 180c/350f. Grease and line a 24cm/9 inch cake tin.

2) To make the spice mix, put the nuts and raisins in a blender and pulse until finely chopped. Transfer to a bowl and mix in the cinnamon, cocoa and sugar.

3) Sieve the flour, baking powder and salt into a bowl and set aside. In a separate bowl, cream the butter, sugar and vanilla until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, adding a spoonful of flour with each one.

4) Add one third of the flour to the mix and fold in then add and fold in one third of the sour cream. Alternate with the remaining ingredients until all mixed in.

5) Spread one third of the cake mix over the bottom of the cake tin then sprinkle with half the spice mix. Carefully add another third of the cake mix by dropping spoonfuls over the spice mix and carefully spreading it with the back of a spoon. Repeat with the remaining cake and spice mix, ending with a later of cake. Rap the tin on a hard surface a few times to remove any air bubbles.

6) Bake for 1 hour or until the cake has begun to come away from the sides of the tin and a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean. Leave to cool for 15 minutes before turning out.

Serves 8

Banana & Chocolate Cookies

If I ever write a recipe book I think I'll call it "Recipes to Make Your Home Smell Fabulous" and I've already got the first recipe right here.

The recipe in question comes from Hungry?, a book I reviewed earlier in the year and I'm still using on a regular basis.  I've been wanting to try these for ages but, until this week, never quite managed to have all of the ingredients in the house at the same time.  They were definitely worth the wait though.

They're quite unusual, being wheat and egg free, and have a more cake-like texture than normal cookies but don't be put off as they taste great, especially when they're still warm from the oven.  Plus, as I mentioned above, while they're baking your kitchen will filled with the deliciously comforting aroma of banana and coconut.

Banana & Chocolate Cookies
(adapted from Hungry? from the Innocent Drinks people)

3 ripe bananas
100g/4oz butter, melted and cooled
1 teaspoon vanilla extract or the seeds from 1 vanilla pod
2 large handfuls porridge oats
100g/4oz ground almonds
100g/4oz unsweetened desiccated coconut
a handful of raisins or chopped dried apricots
a pinch of ground cinnamon
100g/4oz milk or plain chocolate, chopped into small bits (or just use a bag of chocolate drops)

1) Preheat the oven to 180c/350f/gas mark 4.  Line a baking sheet with greaseproof paper (you may need two).

2) In a big mixing bowl, mash up the bananas with a fork then add the melted butter and vanilla and give it a good stir.

3) Add the rest of the ingredients, except for the chocolate, and mix well. Fold in the chocolate pieces.  It probably won't look quite as firm as normal cookie dough but don't worry.

4) Spoon the mix onto the baking sheets, using about 2 teaspoons per cookie.  Bake in the oven for about 30 minutes, until golden. (The original recipe suggests leaving space for them to expand but mine didn't grow that much).

5) Leave to cook on a wire rack for a few minutes.  They're best eaten while still warm but will also keep just fine in an airtight container for up to a week.

Makes about 25

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

A dangerously simple recipe

I am cursed with a terrible affliction - I call it chocolate telepathy.

Chocolate speaks to me you see. I hear it calling to me from far off places....the cupboard, the supermarket, the freezer (see below). Against my will the little voices draw me in, enticing me, encouraging me, until I'm helpless to resist. I hear stories of people leaving chocolate untouched in their cupboards for days, weeks even, but I don't believe them.

Today I am suffering at the hands of this little recipe that I found in Nigella Express (I know....Nigella again). Make it at your peril!

Chocolate Pistachio Fudge

(adapted from Nigella Express by Nigella Lawson)

350g dark chocolate (min 70% cocoa solids), chopped

1 x 397g can condensed milk

30g unsalted butter

pinch salt

150g pistachios, chopped

1) Melt all of the ingredients, apart from the pistachios, in a heavy based saucepan over low heat, stirring regularly.

2) Mix in the pistachios (as you can see from the picture I substituted the pistachios for raisins and was more than happy with the result).

3) Pour into a 23cm foil tray (or any tin of similar proportions) and smooth the top.

4) Leave in the fridge to cool then cut into bite-sized pieces.

5) The fudge can now be stored in the freezer presumably with the intention of keeping for a reasonable length of time. Good luck with that.