WWDH - Spinach with sesame dressing

 

 

This week's Wednesday with Donna Hay recipe was chosen by Kayte from Modern Classic Book I - spinach with sesame dressing.

 

I used baby spinach instead of spinach, halved the recipe and used Shao Xing Rice Wine rather than mirin (because that is what I had).  My sauce ended up being rather chunky with the ground sesame seeds - hmmm, the photo in the book shows the sauce as being quite liquid.

 

In any event, I liked it - not enough to make it again (I found the rice wine had a slightly peculiar flavour to my palate), but enough to eat it.

 

To see what Kayte, Margaret, Chaya and Sarah thought, visit their sites.

Toffee-Topped Almond and Rhubarb Cake - Gluten Free and Dairy Free

Recently, I had a minor day procedure, and even though I only live two blocks away from the hospital, I was not permitted to walk home or leave alone.  My friend Craig saved the day and picked me up so that I was allowed to leave.  To say thank you, I made him a cake all for himself. 

As Craig is gluten and dairy intolerant, his cake had to be gluten free and dairy free.  I was pretty excited, as this gave me a chance to use my scrumptious new book, Honeybuns Gluten Free Baking by Emma Goss-Custard. Honeybuns is a UK bakery that started in Oxford but is now based in Dorset.  One flick through the delicious looking pages of the Honeybuns book, and I knew I had to have it in my library.  The recipes in Honeybuns are not dairy free, but it doesn't take a genius to make them that way.

For Craig, I chose the Toffee-Topped Almond and Rhubarb Cake (p21 Honeybuns).  How could I not - it has rhubarb cooked two ways, oodles of caramel-like brown sugar and  almonds.  Yum!

Although you need to prep the rhubarb before you can make the cake, it is fairly easy and quick to make.  So that I could taste the end result, I made myself a mini cake:

And the verdict? Delish!  Unfortunately, I did not have any toffee on top of mine, but otherwise it was a replica of Craig's cake.  Because the cake contains polenta and almond meal, it has both texture and crunch, and the polenta gives the crumb a lovely golden hue.  The rhubarb adds moisture and flavour, and the brown sugar gives a glorious caramel flavour to the cake.  There is also rhubarb on top of the cake in the recipe, but because I didn't want to make the cake soggy to give to Craig, who obviously wouldn't be eating it straight away, I left it off the top.  However, there is plenty of rhubarb in the cake itself.

 To make this cake with my adjustments, you will need:

Baked rhubarb

100g rhubarb cut into 5 cm lengths
25g brown sugar
1 tablespoon brandy

Toffee Rhubarb

75g dairy free spread (I used Nuttelex)
70g brown sugar
1/2 tablespoon golden syrup
100g rhubarb cut into 5cm lengths

Cake

225g dairy free spread, melted
3 eggs
140g ground almonds
70g polenta
70g sorghum flour (I just used a commercial gluten free flour mix)
1 teaspoon gluten free baking powder
140g brown sugar
140g chopped toasted almonds (I left these out)
1teaspoon almond extract
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
pinch of salt

Toffee almond topping

55g roughly chopped almonds
90g white sugar

Preheat your oven to 180 degrees Celsius and line a 23cm round cake tin with baking paper, spray with non-stick cooking spray and dust with rice flour.

For the baked rhubarb, put the rhubarb onto an oiled or lined baking tray, sprinkle with brandy and bake for 20 minutes, stirring half way through.  Remove the rhubarb from the oven and allow it to cool, but leave the oven on and reduce the temperature to 170 degrees Celsius (I didn't reduce it).

To make the toffee rhubarb, melt the dairy free spread in a saucepan, and add the sugar, golden syrup and rhubarb.  Stir until a toffee sauce forms, then simmer for around 5 minutes or until the rhubarb is soft but still maintains its shape.  Take off the heat.

Break the eggs into the bowl of a stand mixer and add all the dry ingredients, the extracts, the melted dairy free spread and the toffee rhubarb and baked rhubarb.  Beat with the paddle attachment until well combined.  Pour the batter into the prepared cake tin, and bake for approximately 40 minutes or until cooked through.

Remove the cake from the oven and allow it to cool in the tin for an hour.  Unmould the cake onto a cake board or plate. 

Make the almond toffee topping by putting the almonds and sugar in a saucepan over low heat and stirring continuously until the sugar has dissolved and turned golden, and the almonds are coated with the liquid.  Pour the toffee over the top of the cake and allow to cool and set before serving.

Kamel, Albert Park

In Australia, we are in the middle of winter, and the last week seems to be telling us that winter has only just begun.  As the Northern hemisphere is cold at Christmas time, Aussies like to celebrate a second "Christmas" in July so that we too can comfortably enjoy all of those wintery Christmas treats that are wholly inappropriate when the sun is blazing and it is thirty plus degrees outside.

To celebrate Christmas in July, a group of ladies from my work went to lunch at Kamel in Albert Park.  Kamel serves Middle Eastern and North African inspired mezze dishes - right up my alley.

Our table was right beside the cosy fireplace:

The interior of Kamel in the room where we were sitting is lined with shelves of books, which patrons can read if it takes their fancy:

Here is our merry band of ladies, waiting in anticipation for our feast: 

I started the ball rolling with a fruity fez fizz - vodka soaked blueberries in sparkling wine ($9.50):

The vodka certainly packed a punch!

With seven of us, we decided to go for the $42 banquet menu.  For starters, we were served marinated kalamata olives:

and pistachio crumbed goats cheese, fig paste & turkish bread:

The pistachio crumbed goats cheese was  revelation - I loved it.

Next came baked saganaki prawns in spiced tomatoes, spanish onion & red capsicum:

I was not such a fan of cheesy prawns, but it was OK.

However, I was a fan of the warm moroccan salad of cauliflower, red & white quinoa, pinenuts, chickpeas & feta:

I cannot begin to explain how devine this was, and it was a hit with everyone at my end of the table.  I laughed when my friend Sandra happily dug into this salad, but fished out the cheese (as she doesn't like dairy).

On came the main course - first up was chicken breast stuffed with dates & pistachios on roast vegetable couscous :

I just had to read those ingredients to fall in love.  I like meat and fruit together, and to have dates, one of my favourite things ever, feature in the dish was a treat.

Next up came honey & fennel pork belly with fennel, orange & black olive salad:

I thought this was OK, but I liked the chicken better.  People were incredulous that I did not want the crackling - but just the thought of crispy fat makes me shudder.

On the side, we had patatas bravas with roast baby onions & aioli:

As you can imagine, these potatoes were addictive - so addictive that we had to ask the staff to take them away so that our heaving bellies could fit in some dessert.

And the dessert was worth the wait - a platter of turkish delight, baklava, turkish fairy floss, halva icecream and turkish delight icecream.  I adore Turkish delight, and there was no competition for either the cube of rose flavoured  or vanilla flavoured Turkish delight - so it was all for me!

The Turkish delight icecream was a favourite of everyone at our end of the table, but the little baclavas were a tad dry.

Everyone unanimously voted the food spectacular, and that it was a fabulous way to celebrate Christmas in July.

When you are finished eating, if walking does not seem too impossible after all of that food, there are lovely little shops near Kamel.  In a pet accessories store, Sandra and I met a gorgeous miniature schnauzer named Mimi who happily took all the attention we could give her.  There is also a fine bookshop and some lovely homewares stores, not to mention an organic grocer.  Accordingly, a visit to Kamel is a great opportunity for an all round outing. 

Kamel
19 Victoria Avenue
Albert Park, VIC
Ph: +61 3 9696 1386

Daring Bakers - Strawberry Mirror Cake (Bakers Choice)

This month's Daring Bakers challenge is a choose your own adventure. 

In a "celebration" of past Daring Baker and Daring Cook challenges, Lisa challenged all of us to search through the Daring Kitchen archives and pick any one we'd like! The REAL challenge was picking which delicious recipe(s) to try!

For me, the choice was easy.  I was inspired to join the Daring Bakers by Peabody's choice from July 2007, the Strawberry Mirror Cake by the California Culinary Academy, so this is the challenge I have chosen to make.

There are lots of eggs and lots of strawberries in this challenge, meaning that I had lots of incentive not to stuff it up, because a mistake would be expensive.  In the end, I was very happy with the results:

My mirror finished on top of the cake, was smooth and didn't tear, my Bavarian cream filled in all the spaces it was supposed to, and everything set.  The only variations from the recipe for me were that I didn't dye the mirror or the Bavarian cream with food colouring, and I (accidentally) did not strain the strawberry puree for the Bavarian cream.  I don't think it mattered a jot. 

This cake was smooth and light, not overly sweet or creamy, and is a perfect summer breeze through a miserable winter's afternoon.    I think this cake should be served at a garden party with ladies in dainty tea dresses and dapper gents, with long tall glasses of Pimms and lemonade on the side.

To see what challenges the other Daring Bakers selected this month, visit the slide show at the Daring Kitchen.

This will be my last Daring Bakers challenge for now.  I have been a member since January 2008, when I made lemon meringue pie, and have completed 66 challenges, so I think I have proved my daring. I now want to free up some space in my life for other things.  I think that making the cake that inspired me to join the group is a fitting way to bow out.  It's hard to pick a favourite challenge, but I particularly enjoyed making the Caramel Cake, the decorated sugar cookies, the Povitica, the Battenberg cake and the recent Princesstarta.  Best wishes to the continuing Daring Bakers - be daring!

FFWD - Dieter's Tartine

Welcome to another French Friday with Dorie. This week's recipe is Dieter's Tartine.

This dish is comprised of toasted sourdough topped with cottage cheese (I left out the sour cream), cucumber , tomato, salt and pepper and chives. It tasted really good - better than I had thought it would. I would never have tried this on my own.

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

WWDH - Brussels sprouts with lemon, garlic and almonds

This week's Wednesday with Donna Hay recipe was selected by Chaya, and is Brussels Sprouts with Lemon, Garlic and Almonds.

I really enjoyed this dish, the recipe for which is online here.  The almonds gave a lovely crunch to the sautéed Brussels sprouts.  This one is definitely a keeper.

To see what Chaya, Kayte, Margaret and our newest member, Sarah, thought of this dish, visit their websites.

Lemon baby cakes for the Royal baby

 
Prince William and the Duchess of Cambridge's baby was born yesterday, 22 July 2013, at around 4.24 pm.  It was a baby boy, and it is a very exciting event for Britain and the Commonwealth. 
 
Unfortunately, I was tucked up in bed when the baby arrived, but the night before, when I knew that Kate was in labour, I made some celebratory lemon baby cakes for the occasion.  I made them yellow, being a gender-neutral colour, as I could not guess whether the Royal bub would be a boy or a girl.
 
I made my baby cakes in some cute London fairy cake papers I picked up in Daylesford, bedecked with red double decker buses and Royal Guard soldiers in bear skin hats: 
 

 
There is even a soldier on the base of the cupcake paper:
 

 
The recipe that I used was for mini lemon meringue cupcakes from The Primrose Bakery Book (suitably from a London bakery), sans the meringue. Instead, I topped the cupcakes with vanilla buttercream tinted yellow.  I only made a third of the recipe, as I didn't want to have to ice 36 cupcakes in the middle of the night.
 
These cupcakes are light and spongy, and rather more on the sweeter side than I would normally like.  Next time, I would up the lemon factor by rubbing lemon zest into the sugar rather than just using a minimal amount of lemon juice, as the flavour was not very lemony.
 
To try out these cupcakes for yourself, you will need (for the full recipe, which makes 36 mini cupcakes):
 

110g softened butter

225g sugar

2 eggs

150g self-raising flour

125g plain flour

90ml milk

30ml lemon juice

1tbsp sour cream (I left this out)

Preheat your oven to 180 degrees Celsius.  Beat the butter and the sugar together in a stand mixer until light   amd creamy, then beat in the eggs.

 

In a small jug, mix together the milk, lemon juice and sour cream.  Sift the flours together in a separate bowl.

 

Alternately add to the sugar/butter/egg mixture one third of the flours and one half of the milk mixture, combining well between each addition, and repeat until all of the flour and all of the milk has been added to the mixture, beginning and ending with the flours.

 

Spoon the batter into mini muffin tins lined with papers, ensuring that you do not fill the papers more than 2/3 full, and bake in the prepeheated oven for 15 minutes or until the cakes are cooked through and golden.

 

Immediately unmould the cakes from the tins (otherwise the papers will sweat off), and allow the cakes to cool on a wire rack.  Once cooled, ice the cakes and decorate as desired.  I used this buttercream recipe and piped it in ruffles on top of the cakes.

 

Congratulations to the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge on the birth of their son!