Chocolate and Liquorice Cake with Fennel

Every so often I see or read something and think that it will be worth trying.
I'm thinking this is one of those recipes...
So it's being put on this blog in order that I can find it easily.
Thanks to Cuisine magazine, Issue 206, July 2021 page 118
I'll be back to update once I've had a chance to give it a go.
I still haven't got a conclusion on the correct way to spell licorice/liquorice

Chocolate and Licorice Cake 
This makes 1 cake that can serve 4 to 6 people

150g caster sugar
130g plain flour
40g brown sugar
7g baking powder
3g baking soda
1g salt
1g powdered star anise
100ml molasses
100ml vegetable oil
100ml orange juice
90ml licorice water
1 egg
1 egg yolk

Preheat oven to 175 degrees Celsius
In a bowl, sift the dry ingredients.
In another bowl, whisk the wet ingredients and eggs.
Pour this into the dry ingredients bowl 
and mix gently with the whisk  until smooth.
Pour this batter into a lined 24x15cm cake tin.
Bake for 45 minutes or until an inserted skewer comes out clean.
Cool cake in the tin before turning it out.
Trim the top of the cake with a serrated knife to make it flat.
Place cake on a cake rack set over a tray.

Warm the ganache gently in a saucepan stirring constantly.
Pour over the cake to cover the entire surface.
Place in the fridge to set.
Once set, trim away the edges to make it squared up
so the delineation between cake and ganache can be seen.
Garnish with macerated fennel and fronds, if desired.

Licorice Water
1 bag hard aniseed candy
500ml water

Bring candy and water to a gentle simmer over low heat.
Stir occasionally until candy is completely melted.
Set aside in the fridge.

Chocolate Licorice Ganache
260g soft organic licorice
400ml water
100g 70% dark chocolate (broken into pieces)

Finely chop the licorice and combine with water
in a saucepan over a low heat on the stove.
Stir often until nearly melted.
Pour into a blender and blitz until smooth.
While the mixture is still hot, add the chocolate
and mix until the ganache forms.
pour into a container and set aside.

Garnish (optional)
80g sugar
80ml water
30ml white vermouth
half fennel bulb
fennel fronds

Combine sugar and water in a small saucepan.
Heat until sugar is dissolved.
Take it off the heat to cool.
When cool, add the vermouth.
Peel the outside of the fennel bulb.
Shave it thinly with a mandolin.
Macerate the fennel in the vermouth syrup
and keep it in the fridge to serve cold.
Garnish with fennel fronds. 

So, there you have it - and me for future reference.

Rhubarb Rose Cake with a swish of ginger syrup

So you've bought yourself a 250ml bottle of Rose Water for a recipe you liked - but it only required 1 or 2 teaspoons. Now you have 240mls left over - just sitting in the pantry cupboard. What to do? Well, try this...

This is what you need:
2½ cups diced rhubarb
1-2 teaspoons rosewater
1 teaspoon cornflour
¼ cup caster sugar
150g butter - softened
¾ cup sugar
3 eggs
1¼ cups self-raising flour
½ cup ground almonds
¼ cup milk

This is how you do it:
Slap your oven onto 175 Celcius - fan bake
Line a 22cm square cake tin with greaseproof paper
Combine diced rhubarb, rosewater, cornflour and caster sugar. Mix it up real good
Spread this mix evenly over the base of your cake tin
Haul out your electric beater from that drawer that has everything in it (I always seem to find one beater attachment quite easily but spend a good deal of time rifling through all the other bits and pieces of utensils before finding the other one) then cream the butter and sugar together for a good 3-4 minutes on medium speed
Add eggs (at room temperature) one at a time, beating well
Into this mixture, fold the sifted flour, almonds and milk until you have a smooth batter. No need to overdo it...
Spoon this batter over the top of the rhubarb - making sure it has a smooth even top
Then bake it for 45 minutes or so - or until your cake is golden and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean
Leave the cake in the tin and let it cool on your bench for around 20 minutes - while you make the ginger syrup.
Put a serving tray over the top of the tin and invert/flip it. Now remove the baking paper
And - you're ready to serve as is, or cooled down a bit more. The good news about this cake is that it keeps well in the fridge for 2-3 days and is quite ok when heated up in the microwave.

For the Ginger syrup:
1 cup water
¼ cup honey
6 pieces crystallised ginger - sliced

Combine water, honey and ginger in a medium saucepan and simmer for 5-10 minutes. You want it slightly reduced but definitely syrupy. Best way to serve is warm (or at room temperature) spooned over the cake.
No need to say that the cake and syrup deserves to be accompanied with whipped cream or a good vanilla ice cream.
There you go... Enjoy

Special thanks to Jo Wilcox and NZ House and Garden magazine for the recipe


Rhubarb Rose Cake

best ever, last minute - easy fruit cake recipe

For a no-fuss - last minute - moist fruit cake, guaranteed to become a favourite - here is the recipe...
You don't have to make it just at Christmas or Easter...

best ever last minute Fruit Cake

Ingredients:
1 kg mixed dried fruit. (If you like a darker looking cake, add prunes to the mix. Everytime we make this, the mixed dried fruit stays the same but we add other fruit to it as well: dried cranberries, crushed pineapple etc )

½ cup liquid. (Use sherry, rum or Earl Grey tea)

200g butter

2 cups flour

½ cup sugar

½ teaspoon baking soda

Pinch of salt

2 eggs

½ cup milk

¼ cup honey

Method:

Soak dried fruit in the liquid overnight














then...

Rub butter into flour in a large bowl

Add sugar, baking soda and salt then mix in the soaked dried fruit mix

In a separate bowl, mix eggs with milk and honey

Add to the fruit mixture and mix well with your hands

Put into a lined tin (23cm)

Bake at 160°C for 2½ hours

Enjoy, with or without icing

You know you're serving up something good when everyone who tastes it asks for the recipe
This one is a winner

easy fruit cake recipe

Tres Leches_three milk cake_with pictures

milk cake 

When my wife and I first saw this three milk cake (Tres Leches) recipe, we thought it may have originated in Iran because of it using pomegranate and the rich three milk mix. But, oh no; flick left, right across the globe – all the way to Mexico - with not a chilli in sight.

Here is the recipe with pictures...

For the cake

225g flour

¼ teaspoon baking powder

¼ teaspoon salt

5 large eggs, separated

225g caster sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 teaspoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

½ cup full-cream milk

Preheat the oven to 180°C.

Butter a 21cmx12cm loaf or cake tin and line with baking paper.

Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt.

Place egg whites in a large bowl and beat ‘til stiff (to firm peaks) with a cake mixer or your old and trusted electric beater.

While still whisking/beating, gradually add the caster sugar.

Turn the motor to the lowest speed and whisk/mix in the egg yolks,

followed by the vanilla extract,

and then the lemon juice.

Fold in the flour mix and the milk.

Spoon into the tin

and bake for 40 minutes until a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean.

For the three milks

200ml condensed milk

150ml cream

150ml full-cream milk

Combine all the ingredients in a jug. Our ‘fancy’ blue one holds exactly 500mls, so I measured the cream and milk into it first, then topped up with condensed milk.

Turn the baked cake on to a wire rack and cool for about 10 minutes.

Cut off the dark sides and feed to the birds – they’ll love you for it – assuming there are no kids in the house at the time of course...

Place the cake in a dish slightly bigger than the cake and poke holes in the top with a skewer.

Pour half the milk mix over, reserving the remainder.

Cool, then cover and refrigerate overnight so the cake can nicely soak up the milks.

For the marshmallow topping

2 egg whites,

125g caster sugar

1 teaspoon lemon juice

1/2 teaspoon rose water

2 sheets leaf gelatine (or 1,5 teaspoons powdered)

125ml boiling water

Whisk the egg whites to firm peaks then gradually whisk in the sugar and finally the lemon juice and rose water.

Soak the leaf gelatine in a dish of cold water for 2 minutes.

Squeeze out the excess moisture then dissolve the gelatine (or add powdered here) in the boiling water.

Slowly pour the gelatine into the egg mixture while whisking.

Continue whisking until the mix is cool and firm (about 8 minutes).

Pile the marshmallow mixture on top of the cake. It doesn't matter if the sides are uneven as you can tidy these up after it has set. 

Chill for at least 1 hour or for up to a day.

Our marshmallow topping didn't quite turn out like the picture in the original recipe but tasty nonetheless. Next time we might double the quantity for the marshmallow...

To serve

1/2 cup pomegranate seeds,

1/2 cup (70g) pistachios, lightly roasted and chopped.

Remove the cake from fridge 30 minutes before serving.

Using a knife dipped in hot water, tidy up the sides of the marshmallow if desired then cut the cake into 6-8 pieces.

Place each in a bowl (or deep side plate) and pour in a little extra three-milk mix.

Sprinkle with pomegranate and pistachios.

Then enjoy.

If you don’t have pomegranate and pistachios, then try a topping of whatever suits you. I’ve seen this cake’s marshmallow topping decorated with (what looked like) edible shaved gold leaf and silver balls, mango, pineapple and peaches, berries...

Special thanks to Fiona Smith and Cuisine Magazine (Issue 143, November 2010, p82) for the recipe

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



three milk cake recipe with pictures

Apple Crumble - easy

My mother makes the best Apple Crumble and on our last visit home she wrote out the recipe for me. God Bless Mother's they're amazing...

Since then, we've been making it regularly as a comfort food - complimenting it with a great coffee or two as memories of childhood, holidays, family gatherings, etc come flooding back.

So, here is my Mom's recipe (my 10cents worth in italics) - with pictures...
ENJOY...

this recipe is a lot easier to master than it sounds - check the matching recipe photos

GERMAN APPLE CRUMBLE:

ingredients
2 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp baking powder
125g margarine (don't replace this with butter - it doesn't have the same 'niceness')
1 tsp vanilla essence
1 egg
1 can of apples
[or: 4 (or more) fresh granny smith apples - peeled/sliced/blanched with a cinnamon quill]more sugar and or cinnamon for sprinkling


method
rub margarine into dry ingredients

whip egg and vanilla essence then add to mixture and mix with your hands


line a baking dish with half the pastry

fill pastry case with apples

sprinkle with sugar (and a little cinnamon if preferred)


grate the balance of the pastry on top (I sprinkle a little brown sugar on top as well)

bake in a preheated 180 Celcius oven for about 30 minutes


After minimal cooling time - slice and enjoy with low fat yoghurt (yeah right!...) or whipped cream

Apple Crumble recipe