Sorry for the quiet. Been caught with festivities, making Valentines cookies & cakes, birthday cakes, and catering a few parties in town. Yah, can't complain....: )
To make up for my silence, I thought I would share a recipe for a great cake with you. Kristian found this old recipe last week. It was passed to him by a Jewish lesbian chef working in Morocco. It's a Tunisian Orange Cake. I'm addicted to it already and will be introducing this as one of our tea cake selections ; )
Here's the recipe:
50g (2 oz) slightly stale white breadcrumbs (this is a flour-less cake)
200g (7 oz) caster sugar
100g (3 1/2 oz) ground almonds
1 1/2 level tsp baking powder
200ml (7 fl oz) sunflower oil (no butter used)
4 eggs
zest of 1 large orange, finely grated (pick oranges with thick rinds to get more zest)
zest of 1/2 lemon, finely grated (same as above)
cream, Greek yoghurt or creme fraiche to serve
Citrus Syrup:
juice of 1 orange
juice of 1/2 lemon
75g (3 oz) sugar
2 cloves
1 cinnamon
How To:
* Line the base of an 8 inch round tin with greaseproof paper. (we made individual tea cakes with friand tins last night to bring to Yeen and Julian's dinner)
* Grease and flour the tin.
* Mix the breadcrumbs with the sugar, almonds, and baking powder.
* Whisk the oil with the eggs, pour into the dry ingredients and mix well.
* Add the orange and lemon zests.
* Pour the mixture into the prepared tin.
* Put into a cold oven (yes, cold) and turn oven on to 180 degree C(350 degree F)
* Bake for 45-60 mins until cake is golden brown.
* A skewer inserted should come out clean.
* Allow to cool for 5 mins before turning out onto plate.
* To make syrup, put all ingredients into a heavy saucepan and bring gently to a boil, stirring sugar until dissolved.
* Simmer for 3 mins.
* While the cake is still warm, pierce with a skewer or toothpick all over the top.
* Spoon the hot syrup over the cake.
* Leave to cool.
* Spoon excess syrup over the cake now and then until it is all soaked up.
* Cloves and cinnamon may be removed or left on top of cake.
* Now, enjoy this luscious citrusy dense cake with a huge dollop of cream, yoghurt or creme fraiche!!
Some Valentines edibles we made for the occassion......
This was more difficult than it looks. Getting the chocolate to the right consistency whilst working in this high 80's degree heat was no easy task. But these assorted sized chocolate covered lemon butter eventually came together and was my favorite of the Valentines range.
These traditional linzer cookies were worth trying and I think the different shapes and sizes make such a pretty picture.
These are heart-shaped brownies with chunks of walnuts and icing sugar. I made the wax paper for packing by sticking heart cutouts from crepe paper between 2 sheets of wax paper : )
This is a recipe Kristian found last week. It was given to him by an old friend, a Jewish lesbian chef who lived in Tunisia. It turned out fantastic! It's a Tunisian Orange Cake and this recipe is definitely a keeper. I'm a bit OTT on chocolate lately with the Valentines creations so this cake really did it for me. It uses no flour, instead it uses breadcrumbs.
Here's the recipe:
50g slightly stale breadcrumbs (can probably use semolina or polenta meal as well)
200g castor sugar
100g ground almonds
1 1/2 level tsp baking powder
200ml sunflower oil
4 eggs
zest of 1 large orange, finely grated (use oranges with thick rind to get the most zest)
zest of 1/2 lemon, finely grated
cream, greek yoghurt or creme fraiche
Citrus Syrup:
juice of 1 orange
juice of 1/2 lemon
75g sugar
2 cloves
1 cinnamon stick
Line base of 8" round tin with wax paper. Grease the tin. Mix the breadcrumbs with the sugar, almonds, and baking powder. Whisk the oil with the eggs, pour into the dry ingredients, and mix well. Add the orange and lemon zests. Pour the mixture into the prepared tin. Put into cold oven(yes cold) and turn on with the heat set to 180 degree Celcius/350 degree Fahrenheit.
Bake for 45-60 mins but check after 35-40 mins. Go for a nice golden color. Check with skewer. It should come out clean. Cool in tin for 5 mins. Turn out onto plate.
Start citrus syrup by putting everything into a heavy saucepan. Bring to a boil. Stir occasionally. Simmer for 5 mins to slightly thicken syrup.
While cake is still warm, pierce it on top with skewer. Spoon hot syrup over cake and spread evenly over top of cake. Leave the cinnamon and clove from the syrup and used as garnish if you fancy.
Serve with whipped fresh cream, Greek yoghurt or creme fraiche.
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