Raspberry, Mint and Coconut Cake

August brings a pinky hue to my culinary experiments. Admittedly there is absolutely nothing challenging about raspberries. They are my favourite fruit and pretty much guaranteed to be enjoyed by all. This cake is delightfully refreshing and provides an ideal palate cleanser after a heavy meal. Perfect for late summer evenings in the garden. The mint adds an unusual twist to some classic flavours and the coconut gives it a great texture. Try it with Rachel's Coconut Greek Yoghurt.

150 - 200g fresh raspberries
50g icing sugar
A small handful of fresh mint, chopped finely
175g margerine
175g caster sugar
75g dessicated coconut
175 g self raising flour
3 eggs

Grease and line a circular tin. Pre heat the oven to 180.
Mix the margerine and sugar, mix in the eggs and flour bit by bit. Stir in the coconut and the mint.
Sprinkle the icing sugar over the raspberries and mix gently.
Pour just over half the cake mixture into the tin. Spread the raspberries as evenly as possible on top. Pour the remaining cake mixture over the top. Bake for about 40 minutes until firm.

Cough medicine or a Blackcurrant, Pear and Chocolate Tart?

Admittedly it has been a while since my last post. Unfortunately doing my finals meant time spent in the library rather than the kitchen (apart from the occasional stress baking session, which would bring much joy and happiness to friend who had not seen daylight or sleep for weeks). I returned home for summer with not only a new shiny degree certificate, but also a strong desire to get cooking again.

The blackcurrants shone from my Dad's fruit bushes, they looked promising. The problem with the blackcurrant is that it bitterly reminds me of cough treatment. Memories of a food with feelings of illness and nausea are tricky to overcome. So, faced with this problem I thought I would combine them with chocolate - which (if the scientists are to be believed) should spark feelings of love, happiness and general euphoria. The soft pear neutralises the sharpness of the blackcurrant, but I'm sure you could use any other fruit - raspberries could work wonders. Whether it was science or just superb skill we will never know, but this blackcurrant, pear and chocolate tart was quite simply scrummy.

Pastry Case
140g flour
70g butter - at room temp.
1 egg yolk (remember to keep the egg white as you will need it for the filling)
50g sugar
40g cocoa

Mix flour and butter with finger tips until it resembles fine breadcrumbs. Stir in the cocoa and sugar and then bind with egg yolk. Refreigerate for 20 minutes before pressing into tart tin and blind baking for 15 - 20 minutes.

For the filling
400g of blackcurrants and pears, or your fruit of choice, peeled, and cut.
Icing sugar
50g butter
50g sugar
50g ground almonds
50g dark chocolate
2 eggs, seperated, plus the left over egg white from the pastry.

Coat fruit liberally in icing sugar. Arrange in baked pastry case
Heat butter, sugar, almonds and chocolate over simmering water until melted and smooth.
Remove from the heat, allow to cool and add the two egg yolks
Whisk the egg whites in a seperate bowl until they are stiff and form peaks. Fold in the chocolate mixture.
Pour over the fruit in the pastry case and bake at 180 C for 20 minutes or until firm and spongy to the touch.

Best served cold with a dollop of cream or greek yoghurt.  If only cough medicine tasted like this...

Lemon and Primrose Cakes

Wanting to capture a little bit of the springtime in my baking I created these little cakes. The flowers are sugary and delicious. I used primroses from the garden, but roses and violets are also edible. Beware the foxgloves and daffodils though, they may look pretty but you definitely won't feel pretty...

To make the crystallized flowers:
1 egg white mixed with 2 tsp. of cold water
Caster sugar
Handful of flowers

Paint all surfaces of the flowers with the egg white and dip in the sugar. Leave to dry out and solidify on greaseproof paper in the sunshine. This should take 1- 2 hrs.

To make the cakes:
175g. Caster Sugar
175g. Margerine
175g. Self Raising Flour
3 eggs
Zest of 1 lemon
To ice: icing sugar, food colouring, a few tsp of cold water.

Pre heat the oven to 180.
Cream the margerine, sugar and zest. Add the eggs and flour alternately, a little at a time. Fill 24 small cake cases and bake for about 20 mins, until risen and golden.
Allow to cool completely before icing.

Drops of heavenly lemon

For some reason the lemons had started to accumulate in the fruit bowl. They were looking a little sad and neglected as the more easily enjoyed apples and bananas disappeared around them. What a waste. I set to...
These colourful and zesty biscuits are perfect for Easter, delightfully crisp and light. You can of course buy the lemon curd to save time, but making your own is very simple. This recipe should make about 2 -3 jars, much more than enough than you will need for the biscuits.

Lemon Drop Biscuits

For the lemon curd:
3 eggs
2 lemons (zest and juice)
120g Butter
240g Caster Sugar

For the Biscuit:
175g Plain flour
100g Icing Sugar
Zest of 1 lemon
115g Butter or Margerine
2 tbsp of Cornflour.

For the curd, beat the eggs, add the lemon juice and zest, the sugar and butter. Heat gently in a bowl over simmering water until the mixture thickens. Decant quickly into clean jars and seal immediately. Set aside to cool and then keep refrigerated.

For the biscuits, Grease and flour two baking trays. Pre heat the oven to 180. Combine the sugar and fat, work in the flour, cornflour and zest to form a stiff dough. Lightly flour your hands. Take a spoonful of the mixture and form into a small ball in your palms. Place on the prepared baking sheet and gently indent the centre of each ball with your thumb. Take half a teaspoon of the curd and place it in the indent. Bake for 20 minutes.

At the risk of over-doing it on the rhubarb front...

Officially my last rhubarb entry (for now) or people will begin to worry...
I was a little surprised to find so few existing recipes which mixed chocolate and rhubarb as I couldn't see why the flavours of a rich chocolate would not work with the bitter-sweet rhubarb. But I had half a bar of chocolate in the cupboard, and a barrel load of rhubarb and I was determined to give it a go. A little hesitant perhaps of this flavour combination, I decided to try and bridge the flavour gap with a bit of orange - a flavour which compliments both beautifully. The result was really quite good. Although I was hoping to create a more brownie-like consistency, actually the firmer, crisper cake provided a better base for the rhubarb compote and meant that it sliced easily.

Chocolate and Orange Tower Cake, with a Rhubarb filling

The Cake:
150g Dark Chocolate
200g Butter
200g Self Raising Flour
200g Sugar
4 eggs
Zest of 1 Orange

The Filling:
6 Rhubarb stalks
3 tbsp of sugar
Juice of 1 orange

Grease and line 3 cake tins (15 cm diameter) and Pre heat the oven to 180.
In a heatproof bowl place the chocolate and butter and melt over a saucepan of boiling water, stirring regularly. Once melted, set aside to cool slightly.
In a seperate bowl, place the eggs and sugar, beat until firmer and paler in colour, gently fold in the flour and the orange zest. Then fold in the chocolate mixture.
Quickly divide between the 3 tins evenly and put in the hot oven for 20 mins, or until the cakes are firm to the touch.

Meanwhile, make the filling. Chop the rhubarb finely and place in a saucepan with the orange juice and sugar, heat gently until the rhubarb is soft and breaks easily. Place the contents in a sieve and allow to drain and cool.

Once both components of your cake are cool, take one of the three cakes, put on a plate and pierce holes through it. Spoon half of the rhubarb filling over it and place the second cake gently on top. Repeat the process. Dust the top of the complete cake with a little icing sugar.

Serve as a teatime treat, or a delicious desert with a little cream or natural yoghurt.

Rhubarb Banter

My sister was in fits over her own 'Wayward with a Wooden Spoon' inspired joke.

Q. What do you get if you cross a plant and a doll?

...

A. A Rhubarbie!

Rhubarb at teatime...

The gloopy consistency of rhubarb is something which is difficult to enjoy delicately over a cup of tea in the garden. Hopefully you will find that this recipe capture the flavours more elegantly between two layers of lemony shortbread, no licking of the fingers and sloppy mess on the tablecloth required!

Lemon and Rhubarb Shortbread Layer

For the Rhubarb filling:
6 stalks of rhubarb
2 tbsp Sugar
2 tbsp Honey
Juice of 1 lemon

For the Lemon Shortbread:
200g Plain Flour
100g Ground Almonds
150g Butter
150g Sugar
Zest of 1 lemon.

Line a 15 by 30cm tin with greaseproof paper. Pre heat the oven to 180 degrees.
For the filling, cut up the rhubarb finely and put all the ingredients in a large saucepan, stew for 15 mins, until the rhubarb is soft. Place in a sieve to drain off excess fluid.
For the shortbread, mix all the ingredients and form into a ball with your hands. Divide the mixture in two. Roll out half the mixture to the size of your chosen tin. Place in the bottom, making sure to cover the whole of the tin. Prick all over with a fork and bake for 10 mins, until beginning to go golden.
Remove and spoon the rhubarb evenly over the base. Roll out the other half of the shortbread and gently place on top of the rhubarb. Again prick all over and return to the oven for 20 mins.
When you take it out of the oven, immediatly cut it into squares and leave it too cool and firm up in the tin.

Enjoy with a cup of tea and a lot of sunshine!