Raspberry and yoghurt loaf - Frank Camorra

Raspberries are reaching the end of the season here, as summer fades slowly into autumn.  The mornings are cooler and darker, and evening approaches more quickly. 

In The Age on 1 March, I found this recipe for Raspberry and Yoghurt Loaf by Frank Camorra of Movida fame. The great thing about this recipe is that it uses frozen raspberries, so you don't need to wait until the summer returns to enjoy this cake.

I have made various raspberry cakes before, including a raspberry and yoghurt version.  However, this one differed from those because it has almond meal in the ingredients.

This raspberry and yoghurt loaf is more robust than the other one, and I prefer it.  As the ingredients are very similar, I can only imagine that it is the almond meal which gives it its robustness.

Here's a peek inside:

Wouldn't you like a slice?

Orange-Cranberry Scones

The New York Times recently featured a recipe for orange-currant scones which sounded exceptionally good, and  I duly printed out the recipe for future reference.

Cue a shopping day with my friend E, who likes scones, and I thought that I would make them for her.  As you know, scones should be eaten on the day they are made, so I made them on the morning that I was going to meet E.  I only had a short time in which to make them, leading inevitably to a time pressure disaster.

First, I couldn't find any plain flour in the cupboard and thought I'd run out.  I was mistaken - I had simply put all of the flour into glass jars to try and eradicate a case of pantry moths, but forgotten about it.  Unfortunately, I did not remember in time to make the scones, so I frantically turned to alternatives in my cupboard.

I had a bag of coconut flour and thought that I would use this to make the scones instead.  Umm, except that I forgot that coconut flour does not contain gluten, which is necessary to make scones. After substituting the plain flour with an equal quantity of coconut flour, I ended up with a crumbly mess.

To try and rescue the situation, I added a cup of self raising flour (yep, I had some of that) and an extra quarter cup of milk to the mixture.  (Note that I used milk, not cream, in my scones.) Miraculously, it formed  dough that stuck together.  Instead of currants, I used dried cranberries in my scones.

The scones were duly baked and cut and topped with lemon curd:

The verdict - my concoction made scones, albeit a little drier than I am used to.  They were also more crumbly and did not travel well, so E only got a few scones.  However, if you are not travelling with the scones, my substitutions are perfectly serviceable, if you want a scone with a coconut flavour and a different texture to the norm.

What I loved about these scones was the orange-cranberry flavour combination.  Whether you make them in the way you are supposed to, or make some experimental substitutions like me, these scones have a delicious flavour from the fruit, and are definitely worth a burl.

FFWD - Sausage-Stuffed Cornish Hens

This week's French Friday with Dorie recipe is Sausage-Stuffed Cornish Hens.

Dorie says that she chose Cornish hens rather than poussins because the Cornish hens are easier to get.  Here in Oz, the opposite is true, so I purchased the local version of poussins - spatchcock:

Even these little babies were hard to track down.  Woollies, unsurprisingly, did not stock them.  More surprisingly, the guy at the specialist poultry shop looked at me very blankly when I asked him if he stocked spatchcock - now that is worrying.  Finally, I went to Thomas Dux after getting off the train a stop early on the way home, and hallelujah - they stocked spatchcock.   They were not cheap, but that's OK - the two of them only cost a little more than a decent sized chicken.

For the sausage stuffing, I bought Italian flavoured sausages, whatever that means.  What I did work out is that they contain a lot of basil - which was not what I was expecting, but it worked OK.

This dish was easy enough to prepare, and the end result was very tasty:

 

 

 

I served my sausage-stuffed birds with sweet potato and stir-fried veges (half a bird = one serve).  Verdict - delish.  The only drawback was the itty bitty bones in the teeny weeny bird that you have to eat around and be careful not to swallow.

To see what the other Doristas thought of this dish, visit the LYL section of the FFWD website.

Somerset Easter Biscuits - BATW: Great Britain

Recently, I found a new blogging event called Bloggers Around the World, hosted by Chris of Cooking Around the World.  This month's challenge is to make a dish from Great Britain. 

I have decided to join the fun with Somerset Easter Biscuits, originating from - you guessed it, the county of Somerset in England.  I know, it's not Easter yet, but how could you resist buttery tea biscuits that smell of heavenly spices at any time of the year? 

I also found The Biscuit Barrel Challenge, so I am sending these off to Laura of I'd Much Rather Bake Than ... for the Spring-themed challenge. After all, Easter is in Spring in the Northern Hemisphere (though not here).

I used the recipe that I found on p25 of The Great British Book of Baking. To make them, you will need:

125g butter
75g sugar
1 egg, separated
200 grams plain flour
Pinch of salt (if using unsalted butter)
A good pinch of baking powder (yup, your guess is as good as mine - I used about 1/2 a teaspoon)
1/2 teaspoon mixed ground spice (I didn't have any so used 1/8 teaspoon cloves, 1/8 teaspoon ginger, 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg)
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
50g raisins
1 teaspoon mixed peel, finely chopped
 extra sugar for sprinkling on top

Line a baking sheet with baking paper and preheat your oven to 200 degrees Celsius.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the softened butter until light and creamy.  While still running the mixer, slowly add sugar and beat the mixture until well combined.  Add the egg yolk (reserve the white) and beat until well combined. 

In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, salt, baking powder and spices.  Add this mixture to the butter mixture and combine on low speed (don't overmix).  Turn off the mixer and fold in the mixed peel and raisins with a spatula.  If the dough doesn't come together, add a little ice water (add slowly and in small amounts - you don't want to make the dough soggy.) Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and roll the dough out until around 5mm thick.  (I rolled it between two pieces of baking paper instead.)  Using a 2.5 inch fluted cookie cutter, cut out rounds of dough and place them on the lined baking sheet slightly apart (they don't spread much). 

Bake the biscuits for 10 minutes until lightly golden and firm.  Meanwhile whisk the egg white until slightly frothy.  Remove cookies from oven and lightly brush the biscuits with egg white and sprinkle the tops with sugar.  Return the biscuits to the oven and bake the biscuits for a further 5 minutes or so until tops are golden and crunchy.  Allow the biscuits to cool on the baking sheet for a few minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.

 

 

The Village Larder, Woodend, Victoria

A couple of weekends ago, during the trip that Tim and I took to Woodend, we dined at The Village Larder in down town Woodend.  The Village Larder is the kind of place that I adore on sight, from its gorgeous logo featuring a little girl peering in the shop window, through to the retro kitchen-style outfitting and the jams, preserves and other foodstuffs on sale.

We didn't have a booking and just dropped in from the street for dinner, although I understand from my research that The Village Larder can get very busy, especially at breakfast and lunch.

The staff at The Village Larder were super friendly and attentive. 

Mains are around the $25-30 mark, so it is towards the occasion dining end of the scale.

Tim ordered the fish with tomatoes, hasselback potato, rocket and relish: 

 while I ordered the char-grilled scotch fillet with roasted beetroot, radicchio, fried shallots and blue cheese dressing:

We also ordered dessert (~$12 each).  For me it was a special from the board - plum and cardamom icecream with chocolate truffles: 

and for Tim, golden syrup dumplings with vanilla icecream that reminded him of growing up:

All of the food was delicious, although Tim's warning on the dumplings is that they are super hot, so watch out for your tongue when they are first served.

If we return to Woodend, The Village Larder will definitely be on our itinerary.

81 High Street
Woodend, VIC 3442
Ph: (03) 5427 3399

WWDH - Baked pear custard

This week's Wednesday with Donna Hay recipe was chosen by Sarah, and is a lovely dessert - Baked Pear Custard. 

To make this dessert is super easy - you make a simple custard mix, float some pear slices on top, and bake.

Twenty-five minutes later, dessert is ready:

I ate this totally ungarnished, although, I am sure it would be lovely with cream or icecream. 

To see what Sarah and Margaret thought, visit their websites.

Lemon Chiffon Cake with Zesty Peach Icing for Food 'n' Flix - Stranger than Fiction

 We are here to fight, to think, to love, to rebel, to bake.

Signage on Ana's Bakery in Stranger than Fiction

Food 'n' Flix is a blogging event that is new to me.  I found it by accident when randomly surfing the Net a few days ago, but it grabbed my attention immediately.  Food and movies are two of my favourite things, so this event is a perfect match for me.
 
This month's host of Food 'n' Flix is Deb of Kahakai Kitchen, who has chosen Stranger than Fiction, starring Will Ferrell, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Dustin Hoffman and Emma Thompson, for this month's movie.  I had never heard of this movie before, but boy, am I glad that Deb chose it.  It is a pearler of a film, and features Will Ferrell in a role that I like him in.  The movie is set in Chicago, which excites me because I am going to visit there for the first time in April. 
 
The plot goes something like this:  Harold Crick (Ferrell) is an IRS agent who is sent to audit a bakery owned by Ana Pascal (Gyllenhaal) for unpaid taxes.  Harold begins to hear an unknown woman's voice in his head narrating his every move as if reading a novel aloud, which is disturbing enough, but Harold panics when the narrator foreshadows his imminent death.  Desperate to avoid that conclusion, Harold seeks help, first from a psychiatrist (Linda Hunt), who thinks he is schizophrenic, and then from a literary professor, Jules Hilbert (Hoffman).  Hilbert agrees to help Harold after deciding that he isn't crazy.  Together, they identify that the voice in Harold's head is the elusive author, Karen Eiffel (Thompson), who only writes novels in which the hero dies, and that Harold is the hero in her latest novel, Death and Taxes.  Harold then races against time to find Eiffel and persuade her to change the plot of her latest novel before she writes his death. 
 
The subplot revolves around Harold's unexpected crush on Ana, the rather hostile baker whom he is auditing.  She has deliberately not paid all of her taxes because she doesn't agree with how all of them are used.  Ana eventually warms to Harold, too, and we learn that she is a Harvard law dropout who turned to baking to change the world.
 
My recipe for Food 'n' Flix was inspired by the following monologue by Ana, in which she explains to Harold how she became a baker:
 
And anyway, we would have to participate in these study sessions, my classmates and I, sometimes all night long. And so I baked so no one would go hungry while we worked. Sometimes I'd bake all afternoon in the kitchen, in the dorm, and then I'd bring my little treats to the study groups and people loved them...  I was always looking for better and better recipes until soon it was ricotta cheese and apricot croissants and mocha bars with an almond glaze and lemon chiffon cake with zesty peach icing...
 

(From the script for Stranger than Fiction by Zach Helm)

 

 
"Lemon Chiffon Cake with Zesty Peach Icing" stuck in my head.  How wonderful does that sound!  Accordingly, I hit the books to look for recipes for lemon chiffon cake and zesty peach icing.
 
I selected the recipe for Lemon Chiffon Cake from Tartine by Elisabeth M Pruiett.  I have had this book for years and have rarely used it, so it was great to be able to put it to good use.  The zesty peach icing was harder, because I did not in fact find any recipes for it in my books or on the Net.  Instead, I took inspiration from a recipe for Peach Buttercream by Cathlin Cooks, and combined it with my favourite buttercream recipe by the Primrose Bakery.  I used peach puree in place of milk to make the buttercream, and tinted it a subtle shade of peach using red and yellow food colouring.  For the zesty part, I added the zest of about half an orange to the buttercream.  I halved the buttercream recipe because I didn't want stacks of icing left over, but on reflection, given the size of the cake, I should have used the whole recipe.  This is why my icing is a bit scant.
 
The resulting cake is like an enormous sponge, which tastes only faintly lemony.  For me, the highlight was the frosting, which lifted the flavour of the cake and had a distinct yet subtle peach flavour. 
 

 
To make this cake, you will need:
 
Cake
 

2 1/4 cups plain flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 1/2 cups sugar

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup vegetable oil

6 large egg yolks

1/2 cup water

1/4 lemon juice

1 1/2 tsp lemon zest

10 large egg whites

1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

 

Peach Buttercream (full recipe)

 

110g butter
60ml peach puree (made by processing then straining about 16 slices of canned peaches)
500g icing sugar
finely grated zest of half an orange
Red and yellow gel food colouring combined to desired peach colour

To make the cake:

 

Preheat your oven to 180 degrees Celsius and line the bottom and sides of a 10" round springform pan with baking paper. (Don't grease it.)

  

Sift the flour and baking powder together into a large bowl. Mix in 1 1/4 cups of sugar (reserving the other 1/4 cup) and the salt. In a small bowl, whisk together the oil, egg yolks, water, lemon juice and lemon zest. Make a well in the centre of the flour mixture, pour in the oil mixture, then whisk the ingredients together until smooth.

 

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whisk the egg whites together until soft peaks form.  Add the cream of tartar and slowly add the reserved 1/4 cup of sugar and continue to whisk the whites until stiff peaks form. Using a rubber spatula, fold a third of the egg whites into the cake batter to lighten it, then fold through the remaining egg whites.

 

Pour the batter into the prepared springform tin and bake for 45 to 55 minutes or until cooked through. (I needed an extra ten minutes - this cake is huge!)

  

Remove the cake from the oven and place on a wire rack in the tin. Run a knife around the inside edge of the cake tin to loosen the cake from the sides, then leave the cake to cool in the tin.  Don't skip the loosening step - I did, and my cake contracted from the sides of the tin as it cooled and became rather wrinkly in appearance.  Apparently leaving the cake in the tin while it cools helps it to hold its shape.

To make the icing:

 

In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the butter, peach puree and half the icing sugar together until smooth. Gradually add the remainder of the icing sugar and beat until the buttercream is smooth and creamy. Mix in the orange zest and food colouring.

 

Halve the cake using a serrated knife (I did a terrible job because I was trying to rush it), and put about a third of the icing in the middle of the bottom half of the cake, and spread evenly over the surface.  Place the other half of the cake on top, then spread the remaining icing over the top and sides of the cake.

 

Slice, eat and enjoy! 

 

 

I am looking to see everyone else's Food 'n' Flix creations inspired by Stranger than Fiction, which is a terrific film.

Postscript - The delicious roundup is posted here on Deb's blog.  Treat yourself and take a look!