Recipe 6: Ballymaloe mincemeat crumble cake

So my latest offering is really two recipes in one because I made Ballymaloe mincemeat crumble cake using Rachel’s very own Mincemeat recipe. I’m telling you, I felt very Delia-ish making it. My kitchen TV is permanently tuned in to the Food Network or the Good Food channel and so I had Delia’s Classic Christmas on quite a bit over the past few weeks. Although the series was filmed may years ago, the woman hasn’t sold over 21 million books for nothing. She really knows her stuff and, even back then, she was way ahead of the game. Making homemade mincemeat is exactly the type of classic cooking that Delia would teach and, up until recently, I wouldn’t even have entertained the idea of making my own! Why would I go to the bother of making mincemeat when all I have to do is buy it in the supermarket? Surely M&S is just about the best type to be bought?! As I contemplated whether or not to make it, I kept thinking about that episode of Friends - the one where Rachel made the trifles and put minced beef into the dessert instead of mincemeat but, hey, I wasn’t about to do that! So, having looked through the ingredients for the recipe, I thought I couldn’t really go wrong and it was worth a try so here’s how it went…

The mincemeat had to be made at least two weeks in advance of its use which is what I did before moving onto the Ballymaloe mincemeat crumble cake for New Year’s Eve. The mincemeat started off with cooking apples which I peeled, cored and cut into large chunks. I then added a small bit of water and let them cook on a low heat until they were really soft. Once done, I let them cool before moving on to the next part. In a very large bowl (use a really big one!), I added raisins, sultanas, currants, chopped mixed peel, soft dark brown sugar, mixed spice, the juice and zest of two oranges and two lemons and small bit of Irish whiskey (Jameson to be exact!). The recipe gave the option of using either shredded suet (eugh!) or chilled and grated butter so you know which one I went for. Yes, must keep my shares up with the Kerrygold! I was also supposed to add nibbed almonds but the supermarket was sold out of them so I just chopped up blanched almonds and added them instead. Once the apple was cool enough, I added it to the large bowl and mixed everything.

I always have a great stock of Kilner jars about the house so I sterilised a few of them by simply running them through the dishwasher and then added the mincemeat mixture to them. According to the recipe, the mincemeat recipe can keep up to 1-2 years in a cool, dark place. Not that I suspected my mixture would have the chance to keep that long.

Then, we fast-forward to two weeks later and to making the Ballymaloe mincemeat crumble cake. I began with the crumble which was very simple – self-raising flour, caster sugar, butter (chilled and cubed) and flaked almonds. I just crumbled up the ingredients but added the almonds in last. Next on the list was the cake mixture which consisted of flour, soft, light brown sugar, eggs, vanilla extract, milk and butter. I whisked the ingredients gradually using my electric hand-held whisk and then folded in the flour before putting it into a prepared spring-form cake tin. I was surprised at how thick the cake mixture was so I added in another tablespoon of milk to absorb all the flour. It literally ended up as one large blob which I smoothed around the base of the cake tin using the back of a dessert spoon. I then added some of the homemade mincemeat on top of the cake mix followed by the crumble mix. Into the oven it then went for 50 minutes. I took it out and checked it with a metal skewer but thought it could do with another 5 minutes….and then another 5 minutes….hey, it must be my oven!!! The cake had to sit for 20 minutes and then I carefully managed to get it out of the tin and onto a plate using a large, thin knife without breaking it. Phew!!! Lastly, I dusted off the cake with some icing sugar and served with freshly whipped double cream. Yum!

The verdict…

Okay, now I can understand the difference between shop-bought mincemeat and homemade mincemeat. They really are worlds apart. I’m not an expert on mincemeat but I can confidently say that if I had to do a blind-folded taste test of many different varieties of mincemeat, I could now tell the difference between the shop-bought ones and the homemade variety. Do I now think it’s worth the hassle of making my own? Erm, yes, I do! I’m definitely a convert and, to be honest, it really wasn’t a whole load of work. I mean the only cooking involved in making mincemeat is softening two cooking apples. The rest of the recipe is flinging the rest of the ingredients into a bowl.

As for the cake itself, it was beautiful! The bottom layer is very cake-y, then the thin layer of (homemade) mincemeat (yum!), followed by the even yummier crumble with the almonds (delish!). If you want a Christmas recipe with a slightly different slant on using mincemeat, then this is it. The different layers meant different textures and I loved that about the recipe. The inclusion of the flaked almonds in the crumble really makes a difference. The verdict is 9 marks out of 10 from me. Dear Husband, who isn’t a fan of mincemeat surprisingly awarded this recipe an amazing 8 marks out of 10 so that’s as good an indication as any that this recipe is really, really good.

Overall, the cake is very easy to make and not very time-consuming – just be sure to have the mincemeat made a couple of weeks in advance. It’s definitely worth the effort though and, without doubt, it will be top of my Christmas culinary list next year. In the mean time, Happy New Year everyone!  

Recipe 5: Chocolate chestnut torte

Up until today, the closest thing I’d ever come to roasting chestnuts was listening to The Christmas Song. I only found out today that was actually the name of the song courtesy of Google. Honestly, where would I be without it?! The usual set-up when I’m cooking is that I have my cookbook sitting on its holder and the iPad is sitting right next to it. The reason I chose this week’s recipe which was Chocolate chestnut torte was because I just so happened to see them in M&S yesterday. I thought I’d surely make use of them so in they went to the shopping trolley.

 

So, today, I began by roasting the chestnuts. The recipe said to use cooked, vacuum packed chestnuts but I could also roast my own if I bought whole ones and the recipe said how to do it – just throw them into the oven for 30 minutes and then let them cool. But, hang on – did that mean I had to take them out of their shell first – just the same as I would with hazelnuts? Was I going to have to use the nutcrackers and hope they could manage the task?! Well, as you know, there’s not much that can’t be answered on Google so, once again, the iPad was the ready. I was lucky enough to come across a very good video which you can access on YouTube by clicking here - just remember these words...stick to using a long bread knife to do the cutting; otherwise, you'll end up in A&E. 

 

 

According the chef on the YouTube video, to roast the chestnuts, I had to slit them width-ways with a large bread knife. I then threw them into a saucepan, covered with cold water and added a good pinch of salt. Once they came up to the boil, I put them into a cake tin and roasted them in the oven at 210°C for 15 minutes. After that, I tossed them into a wide, shallow bowl and covered them with a tea towel for 15 minutes. The last thing I had to do was shell them. This was the first time I’d ever tasted roasted chestnuts. I can’t really think what they taste like – possibly like sweet potatoes? Either way, the thought of roasted chestnuts was better in my head. Anyway, it was on to the rest of the recipe…

In a Pyrex bowl, I added diced butter and dark cooking chocolate and placed it over a simmering bowl of water. I used my beloved Kerrygold (of course!) and then used Black’s 70% Dark Cooking Chocolate. That cooking chocolate is particularly handy as it comes in bars of 100g and I needed 200g. Also, each square is easily broken into 4 pieces by hand so I didn’t have to start chopping it up with a knife. That, in itself, saved me having to scrape and scald the melted chocolate off the chopping board which is usually what I have to do if I use a different brand. Once the butter and chocolate had melted, I gave it a good sit and set it aside.

Next on the list was to take the chestnuts to task which was fairly simple. I had to boil them in milk for 3 minutes and then whizz them in the food processer. In another bowl, I whisked egg yolks and caster sugar and, in yet another bowl, I whisked the egg whites with caster sugar until they formed stiff peaks. Yes, I know. Alarm bells were ringing in my head at that point because you know what I’m like if there’s a meringue mixture to be done! A major potential for a major disaster.

Right so, I had to mix the chestnut puree into the melted chocolate and butter. Next, I mixed that into the egg yolk mixture and then I folded the meringue mixture into that. I then poured the cake mixture into a spring-form tin which I had buttered on the base and sides. I let it cook for 35 minutes (just to be sure!) even though the recipe said to cook it for 30 minutes. Once cooled, I slid it onto a plate and dusted it with icing sugar and served with double-cream.

The verdict…

Dear Husband was very happy with it and gave it 8 marks out of 10. He didn’t realise the absence of flour until I told him. Of course, with a mark like that, he said he would, without doubt, eat it again. Well, he is going to have to as there’s still about three-quarters of it left. However, this cake wasn’t for me as I’m not big into chocolate cakes or chocolate desserts – I find them too heavy. Therefore, for me alone, I wouldn’t be in a whole hurry to make this one again. However, I would say that having tasted a chocolate torte before, the addition of the chestnuts was nice. I’d prefer that version over the original if I had to pick.

Overall, a lot of bowls and a lot of bits that have to come together. Once I had the cake cooling, I actually skedaddled out of the house with the two babies in tow as they had a play date and left Dear Husband to clean up that mess and the dinner dishes. I think that’s the first time I left the house with the kitchen in such a mess but there’s a first time for everything. It was great though to come home and see that Dear Husband had done a great job of clearing up. Alleluia!

 

So, if for nothing else than being able to say that you have had the experience of roasting chestnuts and made a Christmas recipe using them, I would still recommend you try this recipe. Sure, it’s the only time of year really when roasting them is all part of the festivities.

 

Recipe 4: Marbled chocolate crumble cake

Like many Irish households, the tradition of putting up the Christmas tree has always been allocated to the 8 December. However, we broke tradition and put it up today; it was mainly Dear Husband’s doing. In fairness though, when he suggested it, I didn’t protest as I think we were both looking forward to it as much as Dear Son. It’s a relatively simple task in our house now as, a number of years ago, our patience ran out with having to continually hoover up the pines from our ‘real’ tree that we vowed that from the next year onwards, we were getting an artificial one and that we did. Thankfully though, it’s one of those trees that really does look real and sure it’s a lot less hassle. Dear Sister No.1 thinks it is sacrilegious because she’s from the brigade that thinks that Christmas trees must always be real. Even though she moved out of home a number of years ago, she insists on picking the Christmas tree every year for my parents and her motto is simple – the bigger the better. It doesn’t matter if the tree is 9 or 10 feet tall, it’ll be grand. Unfortunately, as is so often the case, Dear Father eventually takes his bow saw to it and the poor tree looks like it’s had a run-in with a lumberjack. All part of the tradition – for us anyway. So, in honour of our tree going up, I decided to make a special cake and picked Marbled chocolate crumble cake.

If there’s one thing I love when it comes to cooking from cook books is a picture of the recipe I’m making. A lot of cook books don’t have a photo of every recipe though. I once heard a well-known male celebrity chef say it was because it is good to leave the final piece up to the person who’s making it. I always suspected that it was because they couldn’t be bothered to cook everything before their book is published and, after having completed the what really was 200 recipes from the Easy Meals Challenge, I can hardly blame them. It takes a serious amount of time and effort to cook every single recipe in a cook book. I know I was only doing one a day (on average) and it took me 6 months but even if you were making three a day, we’re still talking months to do every single one. Anyway, one of the many great things about Rachel Allen’s cook books is that most of the recipes are photographed and the Chocolate marble cake was one of them. In fact, Dear Husband happened to glance at the photo on his way past and comment that it looked complicated. Hmmm, I suppose, looking back at the cakes I’ve made in the past, this one was probably was – for me anyway. Ok, so here’s what I did...

I made the crumble part first which involved plain flour, chilled, diced butter and caster sugar. Once crumbled, I added in chopped dark chocolate, gave it a mix and let it sit in the fridge to chill.

Next, I made the actual cake mix. I began by creaming butter in a bowl using my electric whisk. I then added caster sugar and mixed until the mixture became light and fluffy. In a separate bowl, I lightly whisked four eggs and a teaspoon of vanilla extract. I then gradually added that into the sugar and butter cream. Next it was time to sift in plain flour and two teaspoons of baking powder which I then folded into the mix. The recipe said to split the mix into two bowls so, I did and then added cocoa to one and mixed it really well. This was the point where the recipe started to get a wee bit more complicated. Using a spring-form cake tin which I had greased with butter, I then had to add a spoonful of the cocoa mixture and then a spoonful of the plain cake mixture and keep alternating until I’d no mixture left. My cake mixture was probably a bit thick because I’d used medium-sized eggs so I used my plastic spatula to smooth out the mixture to fill in all the gaps in the tin. The recipe then said to use a skewer to mix the mixture to create the marble effect. It did say though not to over mix with the skewer so I did four circles in total. Next, I added the crumble mixture on top of the cake mix and popped the cake in the oven for 53 minutes exactly. I knew the cake was ready then because the top was golden and I inserted a skewer into the middle which, once removed, stayed clean. I let the cake sit for 10 minutes in its tin and then used a sharp knife to cut the cake away from the edges before removing the side panel of the tin. I then let the cake sit on a wire rack whilst still sitting in the base tin. The recipe said to wait until it was completely cook and then slide it off onto a plate. I used a long, think knife and, with some of my limited patience, I managed to get it onto its plate in one piece. Phew! Lastly, I scattered the cake with a dusting of icing sugar.

The verdict…

Dear Son described it as ‘wile yummy’ so his Donegal vocabulary is now well established as any other 3-year-olds in the county. Dear Husband said it was ‘beautiful’ and gave it 8 marks out of 10. I’m not mad about chocolate in cakes but this was a cake that wasn’t too chocolatey and also awarded it 8 marks. It really did taste nice and I must admit that I gave my slice an extra dusting of icing sugar. Afterwards, I was half thinking how nice the cake would be with plain Royal icing added to the top. I just might have to do that next time I make it. However, in terms of the ‘marbling’, as you can see, my cake wasn’t too marbled. I think I didn’t stir the skewer around enough so, next time, I try making eight circles and that make it more marbled. Not a bat attempt though for my first time all the same.  

Recipe 3: Apple, oat and pecan bars

I must admit, the only time I tend to cook with oats is when making porridge which is a daily occurrence in our house. However, baking with oats? The only time I’ve encountered that is when Dear Mother makes what she calls Sugar Biscuits. You know the ones – porridge oats, sugar and I’m not sure exactly what else. My late grandmother used to make my father Sugar Biscuits on his birthday so my mother carried on the tradition after Granny’s passing which is a lovely thought I think. So, onto this week’s recipe and it involved oats as I made Apple, oat and pecan bars. Here’s how I made them…

I started off my peeling two Pink Lady apples – they’re my favourite brand of apple. I then cut them up into squares and threw them into the food processor for a blitzing. I then added softened butter and light brown sugar and let them cream in the processor for about 30 seconds. Once they had creamed up, I added in the porridge oats, two eggs, self-raising flour and pecan nuts. They all had a whirl together and then I tipped the mixture onto a Swiss roll tin which I had greased and lined with parchment paper. I gently smoothed out the mixture and evenly dotted 12 whole pecan nuts on top. Then, into the oven the tin went for 25 minutes. Once cooled, I let cut them up into 12 bars.

The verdict…

My first thought upon eating one of these was that they are obviously a healthier treat than most others – namely because of the oats and no icing! I gave them 7 marks out of 10. Dear Husband was less impressed – 4 marks out of 10. He said that if he ordered them as a dessert if he was in a restaurant, he’d have been disappointed. To me, that meant that they were not sweet enough and did not warrant being regarded as a dessert. However, that said, he did mention that a scoop of ice-cream or dollop of cream or toffee sauce wouldn’t have gone amiss – seeing as I was asking, of course!

I still liked these bars and I definitely think they could find themselves in my lunch box tomorrow and, with Dear Husband not liking them, all the more for me…

Recipe 2: Crunchy peanut butter banana muffins

So today was the day that actually read through Cake cover to cover – twice. What in heaven’s name have I let myself in for? There is no way that I am going to be able to replicate these recipes the same as the pictures in the book. Therefore, it is no surprise to me that this blog will probably turn into a comedy blog rather than a food blog because of the mishaps I will surely encounter as I attempt each recipe.

This week then, I decided that my best approach is to ease myself in to the recipes and leave the more complicated stuff for a while. I really am going to have to master some serious baking skills which I don’t exactly have at the moment. Ah well, practice makes perfect. Well, so the saying goes…

The recipe I chose for this week’s offering was Crunchy peanut butter banana muffins. I’d had banana muffins before so nothing startling there but I most definitely hadn’t eaten peanut butter banana muffins – that was until today, of course. Here’s how I made them…

Using an electric mixer, I creamed the softened butter before adding caster sugar, crunchy peanut butter and mashed banana. I gave all of that a mix before gradually adding in beaten eggs. Finally, I sifted in self-raising flour and folded it using a metal spoon. Then, it was time to divide the mixture between 12 muffin cases. I had bought large bun cases thinking that they must be the same as muffin cases but they mustn’t be as I had enough mixture for 18 cases. The recipe said to three-quarter fill each case and that’s exactly what I did using an ice-cream scoop – a tip I picked up from watching Ina Garten on her Barefoot Contessa show. However, I only needed to half-fill the scoop for each muffin. Into the oven the muffins then went for 25 minutes.

The verdict…

I was mightily impressed with these as was Dear Husband and as was Dear Son. I tried one about 10 minutes after they came out of the oven and about two hours later – purely for research purposes, of course. It didn’t matter – both times they tasted gorgeous! Dear Husband scored them 8 marks as did I. Dear Son scored them a 4 and then a 10 but again, he doesn’t exactly appreciate the significance of those numbers just yet. Well, he is still only 3!

This recipe was easy and quick. Thankfully, it was simply a case of making the muffins and not having to make some sort of icing too even though I love icing. I was just glad to have them as they were. They didn’t taste too sweet and, with the inclusion of the banana, my brain is programmed to think they’re healthier than a lot of other sweet stuff I could eat. I think I did a good enough job of them and will surely make them again. I definitely think they’d be a nice inclusion in a lunch box. Somehow though, I know these won't last the week in our house!

 

Recipe 1: Carrot Cake

As someone who absolutely loves carrot cake, I found it really hard to believe that I had never actually made one myself. That was, of course, until today. I’m telling you, it was a tough choice as to which recipe would receive the honour of being the first one I’d make for this blog but Carrot Cake got it. Here’s how it went…

In a bowl, I whisked two eggs briefly using an electric whisk. I then added grated carrot, rapeseed oil and soft, light brown sugar and a mixture of chopped walnuts and pecan nuts. I gave all that another whisk before sifting in self-raising flour along with baking soda, ground cinnamon, mixed spice and a pinch of salt. I then used a wooden spoon to mix everything together before tipping it into a loaf tin which was lined with parchment paper. Before I put it into the oven, I smoothed out the mixture with the back of a spoon and then baked it for 1 hour 15 minutes.

Once the cake was ready (which I knew by using a skewer), I took it out of the oven and let it sit for 5 minutes before carefully peeling off the parchment paper and then let it sit on a wire rack until it cooled properly. To make the icing, I whisked Philadelphia cream cheese, icing sugar and the zest of a grapefruit. The recipe said to use the zest of an orange but, for whatever reason, I didn’t have any in stock and I love grapefruit and always have some in the fridge. To ice the cake, I simply smoothed the mixture over the top of the cake. Not content with my efforts, I went a step further and sprinkled some more chopped walnuts over the top. To serve, I sliced it up and served with freshly whipped cream.

 

Here's the cake cooling...

Here's my rather runny icing. It looks like a Christmas cake though!

 

Doesn't it look so much better with chopped nuts on top?!

 

 

The verdict…

I loved this recipe and think I made a fair attempt at it so I gave the cake 8 marks out of 10. However, Dear Husband wasn’t as enthused about this one and only gave it 4. He said that he’s not fond of carrot cake and it reminded him of an episode of All Creatures Great and Small whereby Siegfried is given scone bread that’s too moist but it was actually under-cooked. On that point, although that series was made many decades ago, it is such a fantastic show about a veterinary practice in Yorkshire and centres around three vets – Siegfried, James and Tristan. It’s also being shown again on the Sky channel Yesterday so well worth watching or save the series for Christmas viewing. Anyway, getting back to the recipe, I can vouch that I really did do well with this one as Dear Sister No.1 said it was beautiful and gave it full marks. However, the Brother-in-Law didn’t finish his as he too isn’t in to carrot cake, ginger cake and some other cake. I suppose the bottom line is that if you like Carrot Cake, you’ll like this recipe and if you don’t, you won’t.

Overall, the recipe was easy and straightforward. It took me about 25 minutes to prepare and, if you decide to make this recipe, I highly recommend getting yourself loaf tin liners which will save you time measuring, cutting and buttering. There’s a great shop in Buncrana which I still call VFM even though it’s now called Supersavers and it has loads of baking equipment (amongst other things) and that’s where I got my loaf tin and liners. When I did peel the liner off the cake, I had to be super careful as the cake would give way easily – I suppose because of how moist it was. In relation to the icing, I think I may have added a little too much Philadelphia as my icing wasn’t as thick as it should have been – just look at my photos again. Therefore, make sure you still exactly to the correct quantities so that your icing is thick enough to hold its own.

Even though this cake wasn’t a hit with the boys, it was with the girls so I will most certainly make this recipe again. Not a bad start. Not a bad start indeed.  

Hello and, yes, it's me again... :)

In the run-up to completing the Rachel Allen Easy Meals Challenge, a lot of readers asked me if I going to do another one and, with Rachel’s new book Cake out, it seemed an obvious choice. However, when contemplating a new blog, I know three things (1) I couldn’t keep making a new recipe and blog about it every day having spent the past 6 months doing exactly that; (2) one recipe a week was more manageable; and (3) probably just as well as I seriously couldn’t eat a cake recipe every day. Although Dear Husband would try his best but, no, I’m the gatekeeper to his health and healthy eating and so I wouldn’t be doing a good job of that if I encouraged him to polish off baked delights every day.

Then when I thought about cooking every recipe out of Cake, I thought that it would be a foregone conclusion as every recipe would probably score a 10. However, I had to remind myself that it was me who was cooking the cakes and not Rachel. If you look at the cook book, you will absolutely fall in love with the gorgeous pictures but, be forewarned, I can safely say that many of my attempts will probably not resemble anything like them. Therefore, this blog should be regarded as the enthusiastic attempts of an ordinary person (with no formal cooking experience) attempting to recreate each entry of the Cake cook book. Furthermore, I think that my posts will probably highlight all the things to avoid when you attempt the cakes yourself. So here goes…

New blog!

My new blog is based on Rachel Allen’s new book Cake! and starts on Sunday, 11 November 2012