Tag: baking days

Child improved Carrot Cake…
Stylemesisteradmin
November 16, 2018

Carrot Cake

I have a soft spot for delectable carrot cake. When I was younger I used to heave at the idea of a vegetable in a cake. Actually I just disliked all vegetables as my parents lacked the kitchen skills of cooking vegetables without blitzing them into a ghastly grey mush.

So when I was older I discovered my love of cinnamon, orange and carrots combined in a carrot cake. The sweet yet spiciness from the cinnamon and the slight zesty taste from the orange married to carrots in a sponge had be at hello.

Over the years I’ve tried various recipes and I have to admit the best one I have found it the one I have below. I actually make the cake without raisins or nuts as my youngest loves carrot cake (she loves cinnamon) but cannot stand nuts or raisins. So rest assured that if you need to omit these ingredients this cake still tastes bloody awesome!

This cake also freezes well so I cut it into slices, wrap it into greaseproof paper and freeze it with the intention of using it up within 3 months. Don’t forget that leftover cake can also be used as a trifle base. So really there’s no reason for wastage here.

This cake is pretty easy to put together however I’ll warn you now; peeling and grating took me about 20 minutes. So if you have children who like carrot cake encourage them to help.

Ingredients:

Dry ingredients:
260 grams plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tbsp ground cinnamon (less if you are not a friend of cinnamon)
1 tsp salt

Wet ingredients:
300 grams castor sugar
300 ml vegetable oil
4 medium eggs
Juice of one orange (& fine zest if you like citrus)

Fruit, nuts & Vegetables:
4 large carrots peeled and grated (or 6 medium carrots)
60 grams chopped up walnuts & a few ‘whole’ pieces to decorate the cake
60 grams raisins

Icing:
100 grams cream cheese
250 grams icing sugar
100 ml double cream
1 TBSP orange juice

1) Heat your oven to 170 c. Grease a 20 CM (8 inch) size round cake tin. I usually use Wiltons cake release as it it’s basically like greasing and flouring all in one but with no mess. You squirt a bit on the pan and brush it around. That’s optional; you can also use greaseproof paper to line your tin.

Note: you can use this recipe to make cupcakes. Fill large muffin tins up to 2/3 and bake for 20/25 minutes.

2) In a large bowl mix together the dry ingredients. Set to one side.

3) In another large bowl (the bigger the better trust me on this!) mix together the oil and sugar. Add the eggs, a bit at a time (you can add one at a time to make it easier for you). Beat together. You’ll notice the mixture is becoming like a thick paste. Don’t worry; that’s science. Once you’ve added all the eggs stir in the orange juice and zest (if using).

4) Now carefully add the dry mixture to the wet mixture folding in to ensure the ingredients mix well to create a batter. This may have a little while but don’t panic.

5) Now you need to add in the fruit, nuts and carrots bit my bit. Fold in.
Note: please don’t reduce the amount of carrots thinking you don’t need that many. What’s a carrot cake without carrots?!

6) Now that you’ve managed to make the cake batter (well done you…you domesticated force of baking power). Pour the mixture into the prepared cake pan. Bake in the oven for 40/45 minutes until golden brown and a skewer comes out clean.

7) Allow the cake to cool and then remove from the tin.

8) to make the icing: whip the double cream until stiff. In a separate bowl whip together the cream cheese and icing sugar. Add the orange juice. Stir in. Fold in the double cream. Refrigerate until you ice the cake.

9) Ice the cake. I just added a layer all over and used cake decorations to add a bit of jazz.

10) Serve with a cuppa.

Zesty Citrus Slices
Alliyah Dawud
November 2, 2017

Zesty citrus slices

I absolutely love citrus fruit. My favourite has to be lemons closely followed by limes. Lemons are just so versatile. From being the feature of a lemon drizzle cake to being a star of a tagine and not to forget good old lemonade.

So when I was looking for something awesome without cocoa powder citrus popped up in my mind.

These slices are great. Extremely easy to make and versatile as you can switch up the citrus fruit to suit your fruit bowl.

I’ve tried the following:
Lemon and lime
Lime
Orange and lemon
Orange
Orange and lime

So as you can see you can mix and match the citrus to suit your needs. My favourite is pure lemon which I believe goes really well with mint tea (Arabian style).

Ingredients:
180 Grams plain flour
80 grams icing sugar
180 grams margarine or other solid fat suitable for baking (softened/melted)

For the citrus filling
3 eggs
Juice of 3 citrus fruit (or two if you are using oranges. So you can use 1 lemon and 1 orange) . Don’t forget to strain the juice.
Zest of the citrus fruits
270 grams caster sugar

Extra icing sugar for decorating

1) Preheat the oven to 375F (160 C). Grease a 19cm by 19cm square square pan. I use Wilton Cake Release greaser as it has never let me down and is less messy than traditional butter and flour.

2) In a large bowl combine the plain flour, icing sugar and margarine. Use a wooden spoon. What you’ll have is a rough dough like mixture. That’s fine. It’s meant to look like that.

3) Tip the flour mixture into the pre-prepared pan and pat down (pushing into the corners too). Try to level out the mixture as much as possible.

4) Now place in the oven and bake until lightly golden (approx 25 minutes).

5) Whilst the pastry layer is baking create the filling. In a large bowl (go on; wash the bowl you used the create the first layer) add the eggs, caster sugar and zest whisk. Now add the citrus juice and whisk a bit more.

5) take the pan out of the oven. Pour over the filling mix. Return to the oven and continue to bake until lightly golden ( check after 20 minutes to ensure you don’t burn it. My slices took 30 minutes to become golden brown).

6) Take out of the oven and allow to cool completely.

7) Dust with icing sugar and slice into 9 slices.

8) Serve with a nice cup of Mint Tea/Coffee or whatever you prefer.

Keep these slices in an airtight container and eat within 5 days.

NOTES:
For an extra citrus kick add the zest of one fruit to the dough mixture.

 

 

 

 

Chocolate Concrete Cake
Alliyah Dawud
October 19, 2017

Chocolate Concrete Cake

So if you were an 80s baby in England and attended mainstream public school there’s a huge possibility you will remember hard slabs of cake like substance served with colourful custard. The cake was fondly knows as concrete cake a nod to it’s hard texture and make up. But once you left it in lashings of custard it turned into this soft delectable delight. My old School could cut it into rectangular slabs (and sprinkle on some extra granulated sugar).

Recently my oldest asked me about my memories of School. The one thing that was apparent was I blocked out a lot of stuff (perhaps due to the constant bullying the Schools chose to ignore) but what I can remember is the delectable desserts (I was a foodie in the making from a young age). So recently we tried a few recipes and this one below in my opinion smells and tastes like the retro School dinner classic.

Don’t forget to serve it with colourful custard. I used instant custard with a bit of food dye added. Yes this is a treat so I didn’t mind injected my children with nasty food colours.

Preparation time:
10 minutes

Baking time: 30 minutes

Servings: 8 slices (easy!)

I used a 20 cm shallow pie dish to bake the concrete cake. You can use a sandwich cake tin if that’s what you have on hand. Grease the tin with butter/oil.

Ingredients:
200 grams plain flour (shifted)
200 grams granulated sugar (that’s right-granulated!) plus a little extra for sprinkling on top
60 grams cocoa powder (shifted)
110 grams butter (or substitute that is suitable for baking). softened. You could soften it in the microwave if you wish.

1) Mix together the flour, sugar and cocoa powder.
2) add butter. Stir. The mixture will start to look like breadcrumbs. Stir until all the ingredients are thoroughly.
3) Now tip the mixture into the greased baking dish. Pat down.
4) Bake in the oven at 180 c for 30 minutes on the middle rack.
5) Take out of the oven and either: allow to cool down completely (which is what I do). Or cool enough to remove from pan, slice and serve (warm). Don’t forget to sprinkle on the sugar.

I allow the concrete to cool over night. I then remove from the pan and slice. Serve with some bright coloured custard. And enjoy the walk down memory lane.
PS: if you do end up with any leftovers store them in an airtight container and you’ll be good for 4 days.

OMG OREO BROWNIES
Alliyah Dawud
October 12, 2017

Easiest Oreo Brownies like ever

Hands up who likes a good brownie. I see some of you are in denial. Well I ain’t going to lie to any of you. I love brownies. Maybe because they are easier to put together than a cake that needs decorating. Or maybe because I can adjust the flavouring ingredients to reflect what I have in my leftover chocolate jar (yup there is such a thing).

I love one bowl recipes because of the lack of post clean up required. If you have baking these for a bake sale you can even use foil disposable trays/containers so you don’t need to worry about losing your favourite platter plate post event.

I’ve used the original flavour of oreos for this recipe. Let me know if you try other varieties and how they work out.

Ingredients:

9 whole oreos (to make the stuffed oreo brownies)
3 oreos chopped up (optional to decorate your brownies)
150 Grams butter/other solid fat suitable for baking (I personally use Stork or store brand) Softened/melted. You can use the microwave to blast it.
225 Grams Castor Sugar
65 Grams Cocoa powder
Pinch of salt
1 tsp vanilla flavouring or extract
2 eggs (large)
60 Grams plain flour

1) Preheat your oven to 325 F (160C). Line a 19 by 19 cm square pan (the easiest way to line one I found was to basically take a roll of foil and place it in the pan and leave excess foil on both ends so there’s overhang. Then repeat the process to cover the other two ends. Again leave excess to create overhang. It will look a bit like a cross. Yes there won’t be foil lining right up in the corners however that’s fine. You won’t be removing the brownie until it’s cooled so it’s fine. Don’t worry!

2) In a large bowl beat together the margarine, sugar, pinch or salt and cocoa powder. As you beat it (anyone else hear MJJ song right now?!) you’ll notice it looks grainy and well not very brownie like. Don’t worry. It’s normal.

3) Add the eggs and beat further.

4) Now add the flour and vanilla. Beat to encorporate the ingredients in.

5) Now take half the mixture and pour it into the pre-prepared pan. Now add the oreos. Cover with the remaining brownie mixture and smooth over with a bread knife/palette knife or other suitable kitchen utensil.

OPTIONAL: You can scatter the crushed/chopped oreos on top if you are using them.

6) Place the brownie on the middle rack of your oven. Bake for 30 minutes (please note: I like my brownies sticky but not gooey. So 30 minutes does that. If you prefer gooey ones take the brownies out earlier around 25 minutes).

7) Once the brownie is baked take it out of the oven and allow to cool completely before removing from the pan.

If you’ve lined the pan as I do (using two pieces of foil) you’ll need to gently lift out the brownie using the handles.

8) Remove from the pan and slice into 9 pieces.

Voila. Job done.

If the calorie count isn’t enough for you you could warm the brownies and serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and drizzle with chocolate sauce.

Enjoy!

NOTES:

You can easily double this recipe.

These brownies freeze well for for 8 weeks. Wrap individually in greaseproof paper, and then wrap in foil and place in a zip lock style bag or airtight food box.