Apple Amber

Does anyone else feel like they're done with summer? As soon as we got back from our holiday and hit back-to-school mode my thoughts turned to Autumn and beyond and I've spent much of the last week or two looking at winter clothes, planning a trip in December and even, I confess, thinking about Christmas. The arrival of a big pile of logs for the fire and the increasingly dark evenings aren't helping either.

I'm thinking more and more about autumn food aswell. After taking an unexplained sabbatical last year our two apple trees are now producing a bumper crop. I love cooking with apples (although peeling  and coring them is one of my least favourite kitchen tasks) and I'm looking forward to plenty of apple cakes, crumbles and pies.

This recipe is one I've been meaning to make for years but never quite got around to, partly because the recipe includes a few tablespoons of cake crumbs and I rarely have these to hand. This time, however, an unsuccessful batch of cupcakes that got consigned to the freezer provided the missing ingredient and I had everything I needed.

The recipe is very simple, but delicious, and fills the kitchen with that lovely apple/cinnamon smell that will have you thinking about scuffing through autumn leaves and turning the clocks back before you can say "Bonfire Night".

Apple Amber
(adapted from The Dairy Book of Home Cookery)

450g/1 lb cooking apples, peeled, cored and sliced
1 tbsp water (I found I needed a couple more tablespoons to stop the apple getting too dry)
25g/1 oz butter
50g/2 oz caster sugar
3 tbsp stale cake crumbs (plain cake is best)
1 tsp ground cinnamon
2 egg yolks

For the meringue topping
2 egg whites
100g/4oz caster sugar

1) Put the apples, water and butter into a saucepan and cook until soft and pulpy, then beat until smooth.

2) Add the sugar, cake crumbs, cinnamon and egg yolks and beat well. Transfer to a 900ml/1 1/2 pint ovenproof dish.

3) To make the meringue, beat the egg whites in a large bowl until stiff and peaky. Add half the caster sugar and beat until the meringue is shiny and stands in firm peaks. Add the remaining caster sugar and beat until the meringue is very stiff and silky-looking and the texture is fairly close. Cover the apple mixture with the meringue.

4) Bake at 150c/300f/gas mark 2 for 30 minutes or until the meringue is light gold.  Serve with fresh double cream.

Serves 4

Black Forest Gateau

Here, at last, is my post about my contribution to the last Bury St Edmunds Clandestine Cake Club which took place in July. For my full write and pictures of all the gorgeous cakes have a look here.

The theme was Summer Fruit & Veg and I asked everyone to use seasonal British produce where possible. I decided to use one of my favourites, the cherry, which is a key ingredient in the all-time classic Black Forest Gateau. There are many, many versions of the recipe out there but I decided to use one I found on the Waitrose website. A lot of recipes use cherry jam for the filling however this one appealed to me as it uses fresh cherries.

I had high hopes for the cake as I was making it however when I came to remove the sponge from it's tin I was disappointed to see that it hadn't risen nearly as much as I'd expected. If you compare the picture next to the recipe to mine you can see that my sponges are half the size. I really wonder if the Waitrose picture contains two whole sponges rather than one cut in half. The recipe does, however, require the folding in of egg whites so maybe I was just too heavy handed.  

If I'd had the ingredients to hand I might have tried an alternative but I didn't so had to make do with what I had. Thankfully, when I had finished filling and topping the sponges it looked pretty good and I think it tasted fine too. Not surprisingly the cake was quite dense but the fruit and cream helped to balance it out a bit.

I loved the flavours in this cake and I think it looks pretty impressive but next time I'll try a different recipe.

You can find the recipe here.

Beaters Hut Bakers Club - Wednesday 18th July

Hot on the heels of the Bury St Edmunds Clandestine Cake Club last week came the first meeting of a new baking club near me - The Beaters Hut Bakers Club, near Thetford. This club has been set up by Shauna, a fellow CCC'er who wanted to set up a club that brings bakers together on regular basis. This club, however, isn't limited to cake and each month will have a theme which could be either sweet or savoury.

This month's theme was Summer Sweets and by the time everyone had arrived there was a fantastic array of goodies on display.

































Once everyone had arrived and drinks were in hand we were ready to dig in. There were a few moments hesitation, mostly down to us not knowing where to start first, but we were soon tucking in. Thankfully, past experience with the Clandestine Cake Club has taught me the skill of pacing myself so I was able to have a try of almost all the puddings on the table. I was still very glad to be able to take a tin of leftovers home with me to enjoy the next day.

So here's what we had to choose from....

Sophie's Whisked Lemon Sponge


Katie's Strawberries & Cream Cupcakes









Vicky's Summer Fruit Pavlova




Kayleigh's Key Lime Pie



Corinne's (of Gourmandises) Cherry Armandine

Shauna's Chocolat Beetroot Cake



















Lucy's Cherry Meringue Tarts


Mandy's Strawberry Shortcake with Elderflower Chantilly Cream




Shane's Revani - a fragrant, moist cake made with semolina and orange peel. This was served with greek yoghurt and cream, mixed together, and chopped pistachios.






Anna's Strawberry & Cream Meringue Cake



Charlotte's Raspberry Layer Cake

Lynsey's Strawberry Trifle

































My contribution was this Strawberry Marshmallow Cheesecake. It turned out pretty well and looked quite impressive, however it didn't have as much strawberry flavour as I had hoped it would. The texture also wasn't as "mousse-like" as the recipe promised it would be.























Please don't ask me to pick a favourite - they were all fab!

For Shauna's write-up of the event or for more information about the Beaters Hut Bakers Club then you can have a look at the website or Facebook page. You can also follow Shauna on Twitter on @BHBakersClub.

Clandestine Cake Club - Bury St Edmunds - 14th July 2012

Last Saturday saw the return of The Clandestine Cake Club to Bury St Edmunds. For those of you who haven't heard of it or haven't seen my previous posts on the subject, the Clandestine Cake Club was set up by Lynn Hill in 2010 with the aim of bringing people together with one common purpose - to make, eat and share cake.

I had originally decided to try a new venue this time but after they told me at the last minute that they intended to charge me to use the room I asked our previous venue, the apex, if they would be happy for us to return and thankfully they were. I was very happy to go back there too as this is pretty much a perfect venue - bright and airy with plenty of space and hot and cold drinks on sale at the bar. The staff were all lovely and helpful too.

So, on to the cakes...

The theme this month was Summer Fruit & Veg and again we had a wonderful variety of delicious cakes.

First up we have Shauna's Chocolate Courgette Cake. I really loved the flavour of this cake and the extra crunch from the hazelnuts.



This beauty is Nathalie's Summer Fruit Drizzle Cake. This cake was so moist and looked so pretty with the colourful fruit mixed through it.

This is Lynda's Red Velvet Chocolate Beetroot Cake. I loved the combination of rich chocolate cake and raspberries.

Rene brought this gorgeous Blueberry and Raspberry cake with her which was full of summer flavours. I'm just kicking myself for not getting an extra slice to take home with me!

This is Charlotte's White Chocolate and Strawberry cake. The sweet white chocolate really complimented the strawberries and the sponge was lovely and light.

Ruth brought along Strawberry Eton Mess Cake. These were lovely and moist with a delicious fruity flavour and the meringue topping finished them off beautifully.

This fabulous specimen is Corinne's Charlotte aux Fraises. It won't surprise you to know that Corinne runs her own business (Gourmandises) making authentic French patisserie and this was a real treat. Thin slices of cake were layered with creme patissiere and strawberries with a little bit of brandy to bring out the flavour.


Finally, we have my contribution, a Black Forest Gateau. Despite a few concerns during the baking process I think it turned out pretty well and it's definitely a cake I want to try again in the future.

If you want more information about The Clandestine Cake Club or would like to find a club in your area then full details can be found on the website here.  I'm hoping to organise the next Bury St Edmunds cake club for some time in the autumn.

Fruited Chocolate Cake

You might remember me writing about hosting my first Clandestine Cake Club a few weeks ago. Well here at last is the recipe for the cake I took with me.

The title Fruit Cake often brings to mind something quite plain and unexciting (well it does to me anyway). Lots of dried fruit, maybe some nuts, but nothing particularly indulgent unless you decide to cover it in marzipan and icing. Well this cake breaks all the rules by being anything but plain and boring. Yes it has plenty of dried fruit, but this is immeasurably boosted by the large amount of milk chocolate and the small but crucial ounce of cocoa powder added to the mix. The other bit of magic in this cake comes from the chunks of ginger which add a delicious spicy warmth. It does still look like quite a plain cake but trust me, this is a real gem.

The next Bury St Edmunds Clandestine Cake Club has been arranged for Saturday 14th July and you can find all the details here. Alternatively you can find details of all the events coming up across the country and beyond here.

Fruited Chocolate Cake

(adapted from the Marks & Spencer book, Chocolate)

2505/8oz unsalted butter or margarine, softened
250g/8oz light muscovado sugar
275g/9oz plain flour
25g/1oz cocoa powder
1 teaspoon ground mixed spice
4 eggs
200g/7oz mixed nuts, eg Brazil nuts, almonds and hazelnuts, roughly chopped
250g/8oz milk chocolate, chopped
100g/3 1/2oz chopped glace ginger
250g/8oz mixed dried fruit

1) Preheat the oven to 150c/300f/Gas Mark 2. Grease and line a 20cm/8 inch round cake tin. Cream the butter and sugar together until softened.

2) Add the eggs and beat until smooth. Sift the flour, cocoa and mixed spice into the bowl and mix together.

3) Reserve 25g/1oz of the chopped nuts, 40g/1 1/2oz of the chopped chocolate and half the glace ginger. Add the remainder to the cake mix, together with the mixed dried fruit, and stir until evenly combined.

4) Turn the mixture into the prepared tin and level the surface. Scatted with the reserved nuts, chocolate and ginger.

5) Bake for 1 1/4 to 1 1/12 hours until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Leave to cool in the tin.

Serves 12-14

Eggy Rice

Now here's a nice recipe. This another one from the best cook book I acquired last year, Hungry?, by the people who make Innocent Smoothies. You can see from my original post here, that this was sent to me to review so I'm aware that my praising it seems like a bit of a sales pitch but I honestly love this book. I've tried maybe a dozen of recipes from it so far and pretty much all of them have been winners. And if you don't believe me then have a look at the reviews on Amazon via the link above.

This recipe is one of my favourites. If you like stir fries but fancy a change from noodles then this is ideal. I love the flavour combination of soy, oyster sauce and lime and there's enough veg included to make it feel like a really healthy meal. Plus, like most stir fries, it doesn't take long to bring it together once all your ingredients are ready.
















Eggy Rice
(adapted from Hungry by the Innocent Smoothie People)

a thumb-sized piece of fresh ginger
4 garlic cloves
8 spring onions
2 pak choi, washed
2 carrots
groundnut oil
4 large free-range eggs, beaten
1 teaspoon runny honey
2 tablespoons rice wine
600g cooked rice
2 tablespoons oyster sauce
2 limes
a glug of soy sauce
chilli sauce (optional)

1) Peel and finely chop the ginger and garlic, finely slice the spring onions and pak choi, and grate the carrot. Set all these aside.

2) Put a wok or large frying pan over a high heat and let it get really hot. Add a splash of groundnut oil and lightly scramble the eggs for about a minute. When just cooked through, remove the eggs from the pan and drain on some kitchen roll.

3) Give the wok or pan a clean and add a splash more oil. Add the ginger and garlic and fry for a couple of minutes, then stir in the honey and rice wine and cook for another minute.

4) Add the cooked rice, egg, spring onions, pak choi, carrot, oyster sauce, a splash of sesame oil, juice of 1 lime and a big glug of soy sauce. Turn up the heat and cook for 5 more minutes, until the rice is piping hot.

5) Serve with a wedge of line and a dash of chilli sauce for an extra kick.

Serves 4

Meal Planning Monday - 11th June 2012

I can't believe we're nearly half way through the year already. I've done so little blogging lately what with one thing or another but I'm determined to try harder over the next few weeks. 

I thought I'd easy myself back into it by starting with a meal planning post. There's nothing hugely exciting on the list this week, partly because I bought too many potatoes last week and now need to find ways of using them up! I will be trying something new though in the form of Nigella's Moonblush tomatoes which should go nicely with some salad.

So here we go...

Monday - Veggie Burgers and Wedges

Tuesday - Pasta with my Go-to Tomato Pasta Sauce

Wednesday - Salad with Moonblush tomatoes and Goats Cheese

Thursday - Steak and Wedges

Friday - Leek & Potato Soup with some nice bread

Saturday - Some sort of Risotto

Sunday - Sloppy Joes with Barbeque Mince

If anyone wants to submit their own meal plan or find some more inspiration then have a look at Mrs M's blog, At Home with Mrs M, and add your own link.