WEEKEND KITCHEN RECIPE SHEET 8th November 2015 Charlotte White Spiced Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting This is a recipe that I have adapted over the years from a Delia Smith book! I love Delia’s recipes but found that the resulting cake from her Carrot Cake recipe was not quite big enough for my liking – I do like to provide generous portions! I have also added Orange Extract to this recipe as it gives a much stronger flavour than orange zest and is far less messy to use. Good quality natural Orange Extract is divine. I always couple my Carrot Cake with an American inspired Cream Cheese Frosting. This is essentially just buttercream made with half butter and half cream cheese but the result is a wonderful creamy texture that holds up to being spread all over the cake or piped on cupcakes too. Carrot Cake Ingredients: 350g Dark Brown Soft Sugar 300ml Sunflower Oil 4 Large Eggs 1 tsp Orange Extract 400g Self-Raising Flour 6 tsp Mixed Spice 2 tsp Bicarb of Soda 400g Grated Carrot 200g Sultanas 100g Desiccated Coconut Oven temp = 180C/ Gas Mark 4 Whisk the sugar, oil and eggs until combined. You will need to whisk until the sugar is all dissolved and this should take 3 minutes or so. Add the orange extract. Combine the flour, mixed spice and bicarb in a separate bowl and fold this into the wet ingredients a third at a time. Add the carrot, sultanas and coconut to the cake mixture and fold these through until all are well covered. Spoon the cake mix into two lined 8” sandwich tins and bake in a 170 oven for around 35 minutes. The cake is done when it has risen and springs back when pressed lightly. If you are Hear the Weekend Kitchen with Nick, every Sunday morning at 11am on BBC Three Counties Radio www.bbc.co.uk/threecountiesradio Page 1 unsure, a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake should come out clean or with only a few crumbs on it. Leave the cakes to cool on a cooling rack in their tins for 10 minutes before turning them out to cool completely. Cream Cheese Frosting Ingredients: 250g Unsalted Butter 250g Cream Cheese 750g Icing Sugar Cream the butter in a freestanding mixer for 2-3 minutes until soft Add half of the icing sugar and mix until combined, then add half of the cream cheese and mix again Repeat this until all of the ingredients are thoroughly combined and the frosting is light and creamy To assemble: Use this frosting to sandwich your two layers of Carrot Cake together. You will also have sufficient frosting to cover the top and sides of the cake too if you like! Lady Baltimore Cake I am a huge fan of all desserts from the Southern states of America. This is a wonderful example of a white sponge cake, in which only the egg whites are used. The result is light, fluffy, and deliciously permeated by vanilla. The filling is fruity and boozy and the frosting is sticky and sweet. Really, what is not to like here? Filling Ingredients 100g sultanas 100g cranberries 50g dates 50 pecans 2 tbsp brandy Combine all ingredients together in a small bowl and set aside at room temperature for at least an hour before you plan to use them. This can be done the night before. Drape a clean tea towel over the bowl to prevent any nasties finding their way in – this is especially important in the summer months! Cake Ingredients 350g caster sugar 110g unsalted butter 1 tsp vanilla extract 250ml full fat milk Hear the Weekend Kitchen with Nick, every Sunday morning at 11am on BBC Three Counties Radio www.bbc.co.uk/threecountiesradio Page 2 320g plain flour 2tsp baking powder ½ tsp salt 4 egg whites Oven temp = 180C/ Gas Mark 4 Line three 8” sandwich tins with baking parchment. Cream the butter and sugar until pale and completely beaten together until soft and amalgamated. Slowly pour the milk and vanilla extract into this mixture, while still beating, to make a wet batter. Add flour, baking powder, and salt to the wet batter and mix gently until just combined. Beat the egg whites until they are stiff but not dry. They should hold a peak which curves over at the top – this is known as a ‘soft peak’. Gently fold half of the beaten egg whites into the cake batter. This should always be done by hand and I find that a silicone spatula is the best tool for this job. Once the first half of your egg whites have been incorporated, gently fold in the second half. Immediately divide the cake mixture between your three cake tins and bake for 25 minutes until risen and springy. The fail safe test is that a cocktail stick will come out clean when poked into the centre of the cake. Allow the cakes to cool for 5 minutes in their tins before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely. Marshmallow Meringue Frosting 4 egg whites 120ml golden syrup 250g caster sugar ½ tsp salt ½ tsp cream of tartar 2 tsp vanilla extract 12+ pecans Put all of your ingredients, with the exception of the vanilla, into a large mixing bowl. Prepare a large saucepan with 3” simmering water and set your bowl over the top to make a bain marie. Whisk your mixture with a handheld mixer on high speed over the heat of the simmering water until the frosting holds stiff little peaks. This will take around 10 minutes and you will think that I have gone insane – please trust me that the pale yellow slop in your bowl will transform into a wonderfully white glossy meringue. You may want to check Twitter with your free hand to pass the time... tweet me @restorationcake #deadarm #frosting #bored Once you are happy that your frosting is holding peaks, remove the bowl from the heat and whisk in your vanilla for a minute or two as the frosting cools. Hear the Weekend Kitchen with Nick, every Sunday morning at 11am on BBC Three Counties Radio www.bbc.co.uk/threecountiesradio Page 3 To assemble: Mix around a cup full of this gloriously thick and shiny frosting into your boozy filling ingredients and spread this between each layer of your cake. Use the remaining frosting to generously cover the top and sides of your cake and stud with a few pecan nuts to decorate. Spiced Apple & Almond Roulade Roulade Sponge 30g flaked almonds (toasted) 5 eggs 150g caster sugar 1 tsp vanilla extract 125g grated marzipan 3 tbsp plain flour Oven temp = 180C/ Gas Mark 4 You will need a 30x20cm swiss roll tin, lined with baking parchment Begin by dry frying the flaked almonds in a frying pan for a few minutes until they are lightly toasted and golden. Scatter these in your lined swiss roll tin, reserving a few to decorate the finished roulade. Separate your eggs and set the whites aside. Whisk the egg yolks with 125g of your caster sugar until pale. Stir fold in your vanilla, grated marzipan, and flour. Whisk your egg whites until they are voluminous and slowly incorporate the remaining 25g of sugar whilst still beating and stop when the eggs are glossy and mountainous. Beat a spoonful of egg whites into the cake mixture to loosen it a little, before gently folding in the rest. Pour the cake mixture into your prepared swiss roll tin and bake for 20 minutes until risen and springy. It will puff up in the oven but settles down, I promise! Leave to cool covered with baking parchment and a lightly damp tea towel. Filling 2 apples 15g butter 1 tsp cinnamon 150ml double cream Prepare your filling by chopping the apples into easily manageable cubes. Honestly, this sounds fiddly but the smaller you can bear to chop the pieces, the easier the roulade will be to cut and eat. Toss these tiny pieces of apple into a small saucepan along with the butter and cinnamon and warm over a low heat for 5 minutes until slightly softened. Hear the Weekend Kitchen with Nick, every Sunday morning at 11am on BBC Three Counties Radio www.bbc.co.uk/threecountiesradio Page 4 Once your apples have cooled, whip the cream until it holds soft peaks and stir the spiced apples in gently. Now, remove the tea towel from your cooled sponge and turn the swiss roll tin over to release the cake onto your worksurface. Carefully peel away the top layer of baking parchment and spread your filling over the sponge. Go right to the edges. With the shorter ends of the sponge nearest to your hands, slowly roll up the sponge into one tight roulade. The sponge may crack but this is not the end of the world. Decorate your finished roulade with a sprinkling of icing sugar and a few toasted almonds. Jon Watts Fruit and Nut Flapjack These are exactly what flapjack should be. Soft, gooey, sticky with a slight crunch. The sea salt adds a whole new moreish dimension to these treats which are perfect for the festive season too 125g butter, and a bit more for greasing 125g soft light brown sugar 40g honey 10g of sea salt 50g mixed nuts (I used pistachios and almonds) 75g dried fruit (I used figs and cranberries) 175g rolled porridge oats Pre-heat the oven to 150C/ Gas Mark 3 Grease and line a rectangular cake tin.