Small Spicy Bundt Cake

We found this recipe, printed out, from 2012 and finally decided to give it a go.  Using a 1 litre Bundt tin (from Aldi) we gathered the following ingredients

• 375g plain flour (we used Dove's Farm Gluten Free)
• ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda (we used Dr Oetker)
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• less than ½ tsp grated nutmeg
• ½ tsp ground allspice
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 medium eggs
• 125 ml sunflower oil
• 72½g/dark muscovado sugar (we used a dessert spoon to break up the naturally forming clumps when it was added to the caster sugar)
• 72½g caster sugar
• 72½g pecans chopped (we used the OXO good grips chopper)
• 225g cored, peeled and diced bramley (cooking) apples

 

   We greased the Bundt tin well with melted butter before lightly flouring with plain Gluten Free flour.

   The eggs were beaten with the vanilla extract and sugar until they had lightened and increased in volume.

   The sunflower oil was then added in a steady stream until batter was quite thick.

   Having sifted the flour, bicarb and spices into a large bowl, they were added, a spoonful at a time, to the batter, mixing well after each spoonful.

Next we folded in the pecans and diced apple.

   The mix (which was quite firm) was then placed in pre-greased Bundt tin and cooked in a pre heated oven to 180ºC for 40 minutes.  We checked with a skewer after 30 minutes but returned the oven until the skewer came out cleanly.

   We allowed the cake to cool in its tin for 10 minutes before turning onto rack to cool completely.

   Finally, the cake was decorated with water icing (you could also add chopped, spiced nuts) once completely cooled.

The cake was a huge success, and rose more than we'd expected it to... a variation we will try next is soaked date in place of the apple and walnuts instead of the pecans.  

Pineapple upside down cake

Sous Chef J has been wanting to try making a Pineapple Upside Down Cake for ages.  Last week I bought a couple of fresh pineapples (one medium and the other HUGE sized).  So, when they had ripened and we were looking for inspiration on a chilly afternoon, he suggested the cake.  We searched for a suitable recipe to follow and came up with this slightly tweaked amalgam recipe -

For the topping -

50g softened butter
50g soft brown sugar
1 medium pineapple, peeled, cored and sliced (we reserved the juice from this undertaking for later use) - if you don't have fresh, then tinned pineapple rings in juice will be fine.

For the cake -
100g softened butter
100g golden caster sugar
100g self-raising flour (we used Dove's Farm gluten free SR Flour)
1 tsp baking powder (we used Dr Oetker gluten free)
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 large eggs

We set the oven to 160C fan and prepared the topping.  To do this, we beat the butter and sugar together until creamy. The topping mix was then spread over the base and a quarter of the way up the sides of a 21cm round spring-form cake tin. 

The pineapple was prepared using an Oxo Good Grips pineapple
device... it was a two person job but we were pleased it worked well.  Next, Sous Chef J arranged 4 pineapple rings on top of the butter/sugar mix. 

Placing the butter and sugar in a bowl, we used an electric hand mixer to cream them together.  The eggs were add, one at a time, before including the flour and baking powder.  The mix came together nicely and looked creamy and light in colour.  We then mixed through about 2 Tablespoons of the reserved pineapple juice and made sure it was fully combined to a soft consistency. 

The cake mix was put into the tin on top of the pineapple and smoothed. 

We baked the cake, having placed the tin on a baking sheet (as the springform tin leaked - use a tin without a loose bottom if you have one!  We learnt from this for subsequent bakes) for 35 mins. 

Having left the cake to cool for 10 minutes, it was turned out onto a platter.

Sous Chef J has developed a liking for helping with "cook's reward" activities and is keen to assist with "checking the mix tastes OK".

We have also repeated this recipe making a square traybake cake (pics show both baking sessions) and Sous Chef J's "Singular Pineapple Upside Down Tarts" ....they were fab and are the header pic.

Festive Star Tree

Whilst considering the 'options' for baking Seasonal Fare the other day, Sous Chef J decided he'd like to make a tree using star cutters (using the cutters we'd bought whilst shopping last week).  He messed about stacking the cutters up to see if his creation would work and then set me the task of finding a recipe to use for the biscuits we'd need to bake.  I found a remarkably similar idea on the Sainsbury's website and decided it looked like something we could adapt to be gluten free.  This wasn't the only alteration we made... Sous Chef J wanted gingerbread stars so we substituted ground ginger for the ground cinnamon the recipe lists.

Thus, we used the following ingredients:-

• 200g unsalted butter, softened
• 200g caster sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 medium egg, beaten
• 400g Dove's Farm Gluten Free plain flour

To start with, the butter, sugar and ginger were creamed together using an electric mixer until light and fluffy.

Next we added the egg and flour and mixed it well - first of all using a silicone spatula, then bringing the dough together by hand.





The dough was then cut in half and placed in plastic bags.  One bag was labelled and put in the freezer for use at a later date, the other was chilled in the fridge for almost an hour.


Taking the dough from the fridge, we rolled out small pieces on silicone lining paper (we find this really helps to stop sticking) and cut out the stars.

Each star was lifted from the paper with a palette knife and put on a greased, non-stick baking sheet.

When all the dough had been used up, the stars were baked in the oven at 150ºC (fan) for about 12-15 minutes... you need to check them as the larger stars take longer than the smaller biscuits.

Once baked, the stars were left on the baking tray to cool for 10 minutes before being transferred to a cooling rack to completely cool down.

We stacked the stars, sticking them with icing sugar and water mix and layering them.

Next, small blobs of the icing were used to glue a decoration on - Sous Chef J chose some Dr Oetker Chocolate Beans to be the 'baubles'.

A small sugar star for the top and our creation was complete!




Next time we make these we will add more ground ginger as, although the biscuits are tasty, there isn't much of a ginger flavour... so it's either that or call it a shortbread tree instead.