Syrupy marmalade and almond cake with apricot compote

 

If you love oranges, this Syrupy Marmalade and Almond Cake recipe by Maggie Beer in this month’s Australian Women’s Weekly could be for you.

This buttery, sweet cake is moist as the result of a liberal application of blood orange juice syrup, and the use of a whole boiled orange in the cake batter itself. You can use navel oranges if blood oranges are not available. The cake is also gluten free, as it is based on almond meal and polenta.

The apricot compote is optional, but is a nice touch.

The cake recipe is also available online here.  I followed the recipe faithfully, but topped the finished cake with toasted chopped almonds rather than flaked almonds.

I also made it easier for myself to make the compote by simply putting a couple of handfuls  of dried apricots into the cake syrup to cook for around 5 minutes before removing them with a spider while the syrup continued to reduce, and saving a quarter of a cup of the syrup to pour over the apricots - done.

This cake is quite rich, so s little goes  a long way. Serve small slices with icecream or cream for a lovely dessert.

The beautiful brooch decorating the plate is by Fractured Lace.

Fig Tart

Recently, a work colleague gave me some figs from her garden, and I had some figs that I had bought. I wanted to use them in a way I hadn’t before, so a quick Internet search yielded this recipe for Fig Tart.

 This fig tart is truly devine - the figs sit atop an orange flavoured pastry cream, and are caramelised in the oven.

I used Dorie Greenspan’s shortcrust recipe as opposed to the one in the recipe because I trist it and know it works.

To make this tart, you will need:

1 x 9” unbaked tart shell

Pastry cream

2 large egg yolks

1/4 cup sugar

1/8 cup cornflour

1 cup milk

Grated zest 1/2 orange

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract 

Pinch of salt

1 tablespoon cold butter, cubed

Topping

18-20 fresh figs, halved (I needed less)

1 whole fig

2 tablespoons melted butter 

2 teaspoons sanding sugar

For the pastry cream, whisk the egg yolks, 1/8 cup sugar, the cornflour and milk together in a large heatproof bowl.

Put the rest of the milk and sugar into a medium saucepan with the vanilla, orange zest and salt, and bring to a simmer. 

Whisking constantly, pour the hot milk in a steady stream into the egg mixture. Strain the mixture back into the saucepan, bring to the boil, whisking constantly, and boil for 10 seconds or until thickened (so it coats the back of the spoon).

Transfer the pastry cream to a bowl and stir through the cubed butter. Press cling film against the top of the pastry cream and chill for 2 hours.

When you are ready to bake, preheat your oven to 220 degrees Celsius. 

Whisk the pastry cream to loosen it, and spoon evenly into the tart shell. Arrange the halved figs on top of the pastry cream in concentric circles, skin side down. Quarter the whole fig leaving connected at the base and squeeze gently to form a flower shape, and place in the centre of the tart. Brush the figs with melted butter and sprinkle with sanding sugar.

Bake the tart for ~ 40 minutes or until cooked through, turning it half way through the baking time.

Remove the baked tart from the oven and cool on a wire rack.

WWDH - Flat-Roast Chicken with Almond and Mint

This week’s Wednesday with Donna Hay is Flat-RoastedChicken with Almond and Mint, from her Seasons cookbook.

It is what it says on the tin - a butterflied roast chicken served with a toasted almond and mint sauce:

 It was an ok dish - it’s not dissimilar to something I would ordinarily make, zhouzed up a bit.

To see some other Donna Hay dishes, visit Kayte at Grandma’s Kitchen Table, and Margaret at Tea and Scones.

Spiced Sour Cream Bundt Cake

This week’s Tuesday with Dorie recipe is Spiced Sour Cream Bundt Cake. It is a huge sour cream Bundt cake spiced with cinnamon and allspice (or in my case, Hot Cross Bun Spice). There is a walnut/cocoa/choc chip/sugar ribbon running through it. It can be glazed or simply dusted with icing sugar.

I really liked the soft texture of this cake which came from the sour cream (or Greek yoghurt, in my case). It contrasts nicely with the slight crunch of the ribbon.

 To see what everyone else made this week and what they thought of it, visit the LYL section of the TWD website.

WWDH - Chicken and Potato Tray Bake

 This week’s WWDH recipe comes from One Pan Perfect, released last year. The recipe was called Chicken, Chorizo and Potato Tray Bake, but I couldn’t get chorizo, so I left it out.

I also thought that 1kg of potatoes was excessive, so I halved it. Other vegetables baked with the chicken are red onion and kale.

I really liked how easy and tasty this dish is.

To see some other Donna Hay dishes, visit Kayte at Grandma’s Kitchen Table, and Margaret at Tea and Scones.

TWD - Cocoa-Cayenne Cookies

 This week’s Tuesday with Dorie is Cocoa- Cayenne cookies. They look chocolatey, but the cayenne sure packs a punch. There is also a sprinkling of salt on top, so there is a sweet/salty thing going on.

I liked these - not sure whether they’d be everyone’s cup of tea, but as long as you warn people about the cayenne, I think they’d be appreciated.

To see what everyone else made this week and what they thought of it, visit the LYL section of the TWD website.

WWDH - Donna Hay’s Essential Mince Mixture

 This week’s Wednesday with Donna Hay recipe is Donna’s Essential Mince Mixture, baked as rissoles.

You can find the recipe online here.

Once you have made the mince mixture, it’s up to you how you cook it. I shaped it into rissoles and baked them at 180 degrees Celsius for around half an hour.

That’s parmesan cheese oozing out onto the baking tray - they have plenty of cheese in them.

To check out some more Donna Hay dishes, visit Kayte at Grandma’s Kitchen Table, Margaret at Tea and Scones.

TWD - Glenorchy Flapjacks

This week’s Tuesday with Dorie recipe is Glenorchy Flapjacks. Dorie’s recipe comes, not from Scotland, but “across the ditch” from New Zealand.

These scrummy, oaty treats are packed with cranberries and ginger to give a bit of zing against the sweetness of the golden syrup binding them together.

This is definitely a “keeper” recipe.

To see what everyone else made this week and what they thought of it, visit the LYL section of the TWD website.

TWD - Leckerli

This week’s Tuesday with Dorie recipe is Leckerli, a type of dense cookie packed with honey, almonds (I used walnuts), citrus (I only used lemon zest) and alcohol (I used rum).

You need to be organised with these, as the dough needs to rest in the fridge for a day or two before baking.

 Leckerli are baked in a slab and glazed before cooling completely then cutting into bars.

These cookies are quite tasty although very sweet from the honey.

To see what everyone else made this week and what they thought of it, visit the LYL section of the TWD website.