Fig and Berry Slice

This is a recipe from a Weight Watchers book and it's not bad at all.

In fact it's quite nice with a cuppa of an afternoon, or as something sweet for breakfast

You'll need

8 dried figs (chopped)
1 tablespoon of honey
1/4 cup water
60 grams butter (or margarine)
1/4 cup sugar
1 1/4 cups plain flour

Topping
200 gr frozen raspberries (I used mixed berries)
1/2 cup raspberry jam

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees and grease and line a 20x30 lamington tray. (I used a 20x20 cake pan)

Combine the figs, honey and water in a saucepan and bring to the boil, then simmer for 5 minutes and let cool

Beat the butter and sugar together until pale and fluffy then stir in the flour and cooled fig mixture. Place it in the baking tray and press down with a fork then bake for 20 minutes.

Combine the raspberries and jam in a saucepan and bring to the boil then let cool for a minute
Spoon it over the cooked slice and allow to cool before slicing and serving

Delicious

Slow roasted tomatoes

These are easy....especially if you've got a couple of bushes going crazy in the garden

I picked these when I got home from the beach...and I didn't want to just throw them in a salad or a spaghetti sauce....even though both are very nice ways to use them

So I decided to slow roast them

Preheat the oven to about 100 degrees

Cut the tomatoes in half and place them on a lined baking tray.

Season with freshly ground salt and pepper, then drizzle some olive oil over them

Put them in the oven and let them roast for about 2 and a half hours

That's it

They go from this.....

To this...

EAT

You can speed up the process a little...preheat oven to 150 and check on them after an hour...it really all depends on you and how juicy you like your roasted tomatoes.

It's a great way to use up all those tomatoes that spring up in the garden

Apricot Walnut Shortcake Slice

Time to bake again...This time a nice slice.

It's good as a dessert with some cream or ice-cream...or with an afternoon cuppa, or even for breakfast.

You'll need
------------
1 x 410gr can bakers apricot halves (no added sugar)
125gr softened butter
1/2 cup caster sugar
slurp of vanilla
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups self raising flour
1 cup walnuts
extra 2 tablespoons sugar


Pre-heat your oven to 180 deg fan forced.
Grease and line a 20cm square cake pan

Cream the butter and sugar and vanilla till light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, then the flour, half a cup at a time. The mix will be quite dry. Spoon it into the cake tin and smooth the top. Spoon the apricots on top and then sprinkle with the extra sugar and the walnuts. Unfortunately, I didn't have a full cup of walnuts. Pity because they make it extra delicious....but if you don't like nuts you don't have to use them

Bake for 30 minutes, then cover with foil and bake for another 25 minutes.

Let it cool and eat....even for breakfast, which I did this morning with a cup of coffee.

I let mine sit in the tin for about 15 minutes before lifting it out

Told you it was easy...it's even printed on the back of the can

Enjoy

A new look for a new year

I thought it was time for a bit of a change, so let me know what you think.

Hopefully, the text will be easier to read and I'll be able to have larger photographs...the old template wouldn't allow me to modify that function

Anyway, a change is as good as a holiday right?

Chocolate Mousse cake

This is a cake recipe that, by the looks of it, shouldn't work. But it does.

It's my chocolate mouse cake and it is rich and luscious and totally addictive...and best of all, it can be prepared in advance and frozen!

It's simple. So simple that if you can turn on your oven, work the microwave and open the door to the freezer then you can make this rich dessert.

These are the things you need

20cm round cake tin
450 grams dark chocolate
4 eggs
145 grams unsalted butter 
1 tablespoon caster sugar
1 tablespoon plain flour

First off, line the cake tin with baking paper or silver foil, (do not grease it) with enough hanging over so it can cover it later. Just note, this will not work out as well if you use a larger cake tin. A smaller one will be OK, but using a larger one means you'll end up with a rather flat and solid cake.

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees.

Melt the butter and chocolate together in a bowl in the microwave then let cool to room temperature. 
Using an electric mixer, beat together the eggs and sugar until pale and creamy and fluffy
Fold in the sifted flour, then the room temperature chocolate mixture
Pour into the lined cake tin and put in a 180 degree oven for 20 minutes until the top cracks and it's still a bit wobbly. Do not leave this in the oven thinking it's undercooked because it's wobbly. It's not.

Let it cool in the tin then cover it with the foil and put it in the freezer overnight

To serve the next day, take it out of the freezer at least an hour before serving, then invert it onto a plate, cover the top with berries and serve with cream or ice-cream. Or both!

Told you this was easy!

Lemon Poppyseed Cake via Jamie

We have three lemon trees at Number 10 and two of them are going crazy with fruit...so it was time to use some up and make a lemon and poppy seed cake..

This is a recipe that I first saw on the Jamie Oliver site and have tried it out a few times now...it's terrific if you like a tangy cake....it's also pretty easy, which is always important. It's a cake that is very moist, a little tart and truly delicious

I tweaked Jamie's recipe a little to increase volume...

You will need

150g unsalted butter, softened
130g caster sugar
4 large eggs
180g ground almonds (almond meal)
30g poppy seeds
large dollop yogurt
zest and juice of 2 lemons
125g self-raising flour, sifted

Lemon syrup:

100g caster sugar
juice of 2 lemons

Lemon Icing:

250g icing sugar
zest and juice of 1 lemon

Preheat oven to 180 Celsius

In a mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar until pale and creamy, then add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each one

Place the poppy seeds into the yogurt and let sit for a few minutes.

Fold in the almond meal, self raising flour, lemon zest, lemon juice and poppy seeds and yogurt

Line a cake tin with baking paper, spoon the mix in (it shouldn't be runny) and place in the oven for approx 35 minutes or until golden and the top springs back then lightly pressed.

When ready, remove it from the oven and let it cool in the tin for a few minutes before you turn it out onto a plate

For the lemon syrup, place the juice and sugar in a saucepan and bring to the boil until the sugar has dissolved, then pierce the top of the cake a few times with a skewer and spoon the syrup over the top

When the cake has completely cooled, make the icing, (which will be runny), and spoon it over the cake

So you get a hit of tangy lemon in the cake, from the syrup and finally from the icing.

YUMMO!

Truly delicious!

Thanks Jamie

No need to knead

I have to admit I was a bit sceptical when a friend told me about this bread, I mean all bread dough needs to be kneaded right?

Apparently not.

This is a really easy recipe and while it's not particularly pretty along the way, the end result is fabulous, not only to eat but to look at. It's a long process, but oh so worth it!

The first thing is to mix the ingredients together and there are just 4 of them

3 cups bread flour
1/4 teaspoon instant yeast
1 teaspoon fine table salt
1 1/2 cups of warm water

You'll also need a covered pot of some sort, like a large cast iron or Pyrex one that can go into a very hot oven

The night before, put all the ingredients in a large bowl and use a wooden spoon to bring them together. But don't over do it. It will look pretty rough but don't worry, this is just how it should look.
Now cover the bowl with glad wrap and let it sit on the bench for between 12 and 20 hours.

The next day the dough will have expanded and look wet and bubbly and sticky, so sprinkle some flour on the bench ...

This is where the yeast action is

....and with a wet spatula, put the dough on it and use the spatula to fold the ends over a few times to form a ball.  Generously dust a cotton tea towel with flour and put the ball of dough on it and place it in a bowl to let rest for a couple of hours until it doubles in size

Now, preheat the oven to about 200c and place your pot in there so it can heat up

When the dough's ready, place it in the pot, put the lid back on and bake for 30 minutes. It's sort of like baking in an oven within an oven.
Uncover and then bake for another 15 to 20 minutes or until the crust is golden brown.

When it's all ready, place your loaf on a wire rack to cool then eat.

This is what you end up with.

A delicious loaf that is crusty and moist and scrumptious

I think I prefer this to the sour dough loaf I made. This takes a little longer, but I like the end result a lot more

Thanks to Steamy Kitchen for this recipe...it's terrific!