Tag Archives: cake

Mincemeat and apple cake

Ok, so I know that we are supposed to be on the wagon, down the gym and following a blameless diet but before I can start all that there is the question of leftovers, and what to do with them. I can’t just chuck them out, that would be wasteful and along with all the anonymous foil parcels I daren’t unwrap that are lurking in the fridge there is half a jar of mincemeat, a couple of spongy apples and a loads of nuts in shells staring at me accusingly. Why oh why do I always buy so many nuts in shells when nobody eats them? I think it’s the memory of my dad cracking shells from a big basketful on his lap while wearing a slightly wonky paper hat that means Christmas is just not the same without them(or him). And he would always pass me a couple, but never the brazils, they were his favourites. So with family coming for the weekend the only answer to my dilemma is of course cake. This is a pretty hands-free recipe as most of the work is done in the food processor so in a matter of moments it’s ready to fling into the oven. It makes a good sized cake and if you can’t eat it now it will freeze beautifully ready to reward you for losing that first couple of kilos.

 

Mincemeat and apple cake
Print Recipe
Servings Prep Time
12 slices 20 mins
Cook Time
1-11/4hours
Servings Prep Time
12 slices 20 mins
Cook Time
1-11/4hours
Mincemeat and apple cake
Print Recipe
Servings Prep Time
12 slices 20 mins
Cook Time
1-11/4hours
Servings Prep Time
12 slices 20 mins
Cook Time
1-11/4hours
Ingredients
Servings:
Instructions
  1. Heat the oven to 160C/fan 140C/Gas 3. Butter and base line a 20cm deep cake tin. Tip the flour and spice into the food processor, add the butter, cut into cubes and process to form a crumbly texture.
  2. Add the sugar and process briefly to mix.
  3. Tip the mixture into a large bowl and add the eggs, apples, raisins and milk. Beat together until it all comes together to a soft batter with no dry mix visible.
  4. Spoon half the mixture into the prepared tin and smooth over. Drop spoonfuls of mincemeat evenly over the top, then carefully smooth almost to the edges.
  5. Spoon the remaining mixture over the mincemeat and smooth the top. Scatter with nuts and demerara sugar and bake for 1-1/4 hours until the cake is nicely browned and firm to the touch.
  6. Cool in the tin for 10 mins, then turn out, peel off the paper and cool completely before cutting into generous slices. You can dust the top lightly with icing sugar if you fancy. As this cake contains fresh fruit it will only keep in the tin for 3-4 days.
Share this Recipe
Powered byWP Ultimate Recipe

There’s a zebra in the cake tin!

P1020461

P1020462

I have to admit I get obsessed with recipes. I might try something really good in a restaurant and spend the next couple of weeks trying to crack the dish, each time getting a little closer, but not happy until I get it right. It often means sleepless nights and a husband who tires of being my taster-in-chief. As he loves anything sweet no such complaints were heard when I decided to try my hand a making a zebra cake. It’s a big cake that’s a bit like a marbled cake but when you cut into it you find stripes instead of swirls. Last week my good friend Reza Mahammad came for tea to talk about the cookery school he is setting up near Cognac so I had the perfect excuse to give it a go. There are loads of recipes on the internet for this cake but most are in cup measures and none explain properly how to get perfect stripes- and only perfection will do where zebra cake is concerned. The cake I made for Reza worked out just fine and tasted brilliant, but the stripes became too thick in the centre of the cake. Zebra cake number two is for my sister Deirdre who arrives tomorrow. Sitting by the river with a cup of tea and a big slice of cake is just what she needs I reckon.

Zebra cake
Cuts into 16 generous slices

4 large eggs
200g caster sugar
200ml milk
200ml sunflower oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
300g self raising flour+ 2 tbsp
1 tsp baking powder
2 tbsp cocoa powder
grated zest of 1 unwaxed orange
FOR THE GANACHE
100g dark chocolate
100ml double or whipping cream

1 Heat the oven to 180C/160C fan/Gas 4. Butter and line the base of a 22-23cm round cake tin with baking parchment.
2 Put the eggs and sugar in a large bowl and whisk until light and creamy, and the mixture leaves a trail which the whisk blades are lifted. Stir in the milk,oil and vanilla using the whisk blades until evenly mixed. Sift in the flour and baking powder and fold in using the whisk blades.
3 Spoon half the mixture into a separate bowl. Sift the cocoa into one bowl and stir to mix. Sift 2 tbsp flour into the other bowl, along with the orange zest and mix well.
4 Spoon 3 tbsp of the orange batter into the centre of the prepared cake tin. Allow to settle a little then spoon 3 tbsp chocolate batter carefully into the centre of the first batter. Continue in this way until half the batter is used up, then reduce the amount you add each time to 2 tbsp until all the batter is used.
5 Bake the cake for 35-45 mins, until the cake feels firm to the touch in the centre and springs back when gently pressed. Cool in the tin for 5 mins, then turn out, peel off the paper and cool on a wire rack.
6 To make the ganache finely chop the chocolate, then heat the cream gently in a small pan or the microwave. Remove from the heat and stir in the chocolate until you have a smooth glossy sauce. If the chocolate is not completely melted return to a gentle heat for a few seconds, stirring all the time. Pour into a bowl and leave to cool, stirring occasionally until it is spreadable. Spread over the top of the cake and leave to set.