Classic Fruit and Golden Syrup Loaf

Well if you thought the previous post was pretty plain, this one is even worse. It's hard to get a good picture of a simple brown loaf. This probably would have looked better with a good slathering of butter. I thought this was pretty plain but the work people seemed to really like it...I did provide butter too (which I think it really needed). You can use whatever fruit you like...I used dried cranberries, raisins and figs but maybe apricots would be better? Anyway this is a good afternoon loaf to have hanging around for when you want something sweet but not too over the top.

Classic Fruit and Golden Syrup Loaf

1 c mixed dried fruit chopped finely
1 tsp vanilla
2 tsp finely grated orange zest
70 g butter diced
boiling water (about 2-4 Tbsp)
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 c golden syrup
2 eggs
1/4 c milk
2 1/2 c flour
1/2 c brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp mixed spice

Preheat the oven to 180 C and grease the loaf tin.

Combine the fruit with the vanilla and orange. Add the butter and pour over the boiling water, baking soda and golden syrup. Stir to combine.

Whisk the eggs with the milk.

Sift the flour, sugar and spices. Fold the fruit into the eggs, then fold into the flour and spoon into the loaf tin (I needed to add a little more milk).

Bake about 1 -1 1/4 hours until cooked.

Afternoon Chocolate and Hazelnut Loaf

So this loaf is not going to win any beauty contests. In fact it looks so plain as to be something you wouldn't want to eat. Well don't be fooled. This loaf was yummy and the most perfect thing to have with a cuppa...or in my case a coffee from Planet during a nasty day shift. Give this a go....you can fool yourself that it's healthy but just focus on the carrots and ignore the hazelnuts, chocolate and butter. 

Afternoon Chocolate and Hazelnut Loaf

3 eggs
200 g butter, melted
200 g carrot, grated
200 g brown sugar
100 g plain flour
150 g wholemeal flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
70g hazelnuts, toasted and finely chopped
70g dark chocolate, roughly chopped

Preheat the oven to 180C and grease the loaf tin (10 x 20 cm).

Combine the eggs, butter, carrot and sugar in a large bowl. Stir gently to combine without over mixing.

Sieve the flours with the baking powder, cinnamon and salt. Add the hazelnuts and chocolate.

Pour the egg mixture into the flour mixture and fold. Spoon into the loaf tin and bake about 50 mins until cooked (test with a skewer). Dust with icing sugar before serving.

Baking for Nightshift- Lemon Madeira Loaf

Anyone who lives in Auckland (and beyond) will probably have heard of, or been to, a cafe called Little and Friday. Kim Evans who owns it wrote a cookbook not so long ago and I think it has been very very popular. As someone who buys a lot of cookbooks, I tried to resist this one telling myself that I didn't need it, and that I probably wouldn't use it anyway. I manged to hold off....a bit BUT then I made the clinching fatal error and finally went to Little and Friday. OMG this place really is phenomenal and it is worthy of all the accolades it has received. Even though I had just had breakfast I felt obliged to try the extremely popular doughnuts. I mean all good Kiwi's love a good doughnut. I was brought up with those school lunch doughnuts which I still have very fond memories of....those ones with the mock cream and dab of the fake tasting jam.....YUM!!!! However L & F's doughnuts are in a whole league of their own. They are hard to describe except to say they would have to be the best I have ever ever had....ever!!! The book was effectively sold the minute I tried my hardest not to stuff that delicious doughnut down my throat. I NEED to make these! Look for the post where I actually do give them a go.

Anyway last week I was actually on a day shift....shock and absolute horror! As I usually bake for my first shift I thought I might as well bake for our morning tea so decided upon this recipe. I love Madeira cake and this one is made that little bit more special with the addition of a lemon syrup (I just made a simple sugar syrup with lemon juice added) and then adorned the top with a lemony glaze to make it look pretty. In the book she makes a simple syrup with 1 cup of sugar to 1 c up of water and the juice of 2 lemons. She brings it to the boil until the sugar is dissolved and then pours it over the hot cake. In the photo the topping looks really sugary but mine never looked like that and when I think about it how could it? Therefore I think a sugary mix of sugar with some lemon juice is probably the way to go. The ground almonds really gave this cake a good texture. I have already made it again and successfully halved the recipe for afternoon tea at a friends house yesterday. I would strongly suggest you give this recipe a go. It's easy and well worth it. I think it would keep well but I never got the chance to try this theory out. As the recipe makes 2 loaves try not to freak out about the amount of butter in it....you get 2 for 1!

Lemon Madeira Loaf

350g butter, softened
1 1/4 c caster sugar
6 eggs
zest and juice of 3 lemons
1 1/4 c flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 c ground almonds

Preheat the oven to 170 C and grease and line 2 loaf tins.

Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time beating well after each addition. Add the lemon zest and juice and mix to combine.

Sift the flour and baking powder together and fold through the egg mixture with the almonds. Don't overmix.

The tins can be filled to 1 cm from the top but mine were both a bit smaller than that as my loaf tins must have been a bit bigger.

Bake about 50 mins or until cooked. Put the glaze on or else a nice lemon syrup...it's up to you.

This would be delicious with lemon curd, whipped cream or yoghurt.

Banana Bread

The other day I looked at the pile of too-ripe bananas sitting on my bench and wondered what to do with them. I am well sick of Banana Cake and as it isn't my favourite cake anyway, quickly put that out of mind as an option. However I remembered this recipe found in a NZWW by Annabelle White (my least favourite cooking personality). It seemed simple to make and a good way to use up those bananas. As an aside isn't it annoying how fast they go off in this heat? I can't bear bananas that are too yellow so as soon as they go on the 'turn' they are off my list of fruit to eat and quickly assigned to the freezer...which is why I have so many of the things sitting in there. 


Anyway this recipe is fantastic. The 'bread' is lovely with a smear (or maybe a bit more) of butter and would also be nice with maybe some mascarpone and fruit. I would think it could be lightly toasted too. To be honest it is a bit like a banana cake but I think the texture is a bit different AND the best thing is that it is really quite low in fat with only 75g butter in it. Great for when I restart good old WW!


Banana Bread


4 very ripe bananas so you get about 1 1/4 c bananas (I only used 3)
1/3c melted butter (that's about 75g)
1 c sugar
1 egg, beaten
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp baking soda
pinch salt
1 1/2 c flour


Preheat the oven to 180 C and grease and line a loaf tin (about 25x15x8cm).


In a large bowl mash the bananas with a fork then add in the melted butter.


Mix in the sugar, egg and vanilla. Sprinkle the baking soda over the mix then sift over the flour.


Bake about 50mins.

Gin and Tonic Cake with a Twist of Lemon

Ok so these photos don't really do this cake justice but OMG you have GOT to make this. Delicious, divine, moist, yummy, lemony are just a few words to describe this cake. This recipe is from Julie Le Clerc's fantastic new cookbook called 'Favourite Cakes'. There are so many recipes I want to try from this book it's hard to pick one to make so no doubt over the next few months you will see quite a few cakes from here. I served slices of this with some of the lovely, creamy Kapiti lemon meringue yoghurt which went with it perfectly...much better than cream I thought.


Gin and Tonic Cake with a Twist of Lemon (Julie Le Clerc)


125g butter, softened
1 c caster sugar
3 eggs
1/2c sour cream
finely grated zest of 2 good sized lemons
1 c flour
1 tsp baking powder


Preheat the oven to 170C and grease and line with baking paper a 12 x 22cm loaf tin.


Cream the butter and sugar until pale and creamy. Add the eggs one at a time and beat well after each. Beat in the sour cream followed by the zest.


Sift the flour and baking powder over the creamed mixture and stir to combine. Bake about 50-60 mins. Stand in the tin for 15 mins before removing to a wire rack to cool completely. Pour the hot syrup over the cool cake.


Gin and Tonic Syrup
1/2 c tonic water
juice of the 2 lemons
1/2 c white sugar
1 lemon finely sliced
1/4c gin


Combine the tonic water, lemon juice and sugar in a pot. Bring to the boil, then turn down the heat and simmer about 3-5mins until syrupy.


Add the lemon slices and simmer for 2 mins more. Remove from the heat and stir in the gin.

Lemon and Raspberry Loaf

For quite a few years now I have been following the forums on a website called Foodlovers which is owned by a woman called Helen Jackson. You might know her as she is also one of the hosts of the Kitchen and Garden Show on Radio live on a Saturday morning. Anyway she recently released a book called 'Helen Jackson's Kitchen' and I, of course, had to buy it....I did resist for a couple of weeks but temptation got the better of me and I caved in. It's a fantastic book with easy to follow recipes. It isn't so basic as to be boring or unchallenging but it also isn't so challenging that the recipes are unachievable. If you want a good all-round cookbook which you can use for everyday food as well as food for a special occasion, then this book is it. I have made the 4 1/2 c chicken and can recommend this highly. 


Anyway as I lean to the baking side I thought I would try out the recipe for this delicious sounding, yet easy to whip up, loaf to take to my friend Annie's house when I go to see the new puppies this afternoon. I mean how can you go wrong with lemon and raspberry! This loaf is divine- I HAD to try it of course in the interests of this blog! It is very easy to make and the flavour is wonderful. In fact it tastes even better than I thought it would given the ingredients. 


I recommend having a look at the Foodlovers website as it has loads of great recipes and a fantastic forum to follow. There is a recipe on there for a Lemon and Blueberry Loaf which is the same as this recipe but with raspberries substituted. It is not only lovely with a cup of tea but would also make a great dessert especially with some lemon curd and whipped cream or nice yoghurt on the side.


Make sure to check out the book...you might be like me and unable to resist temptation.

Baking for Nightshift- Quadruple Chocolate Loaf Cake

Hmmm I cut this while it was still warm and the chocolate still gooey

So tonight I start back on 3 night shifts. I usually try to take something to work for my first shift so as I had some spare time today, and I wanted to do something relaxing, thought it was a good chance to whip something up. I have made this recipe before but that was a long time ago. It comes from Nigella Lawson's book 'Feast'. I remembered it as being a bit of a dessert cake particularly nice with cream...hmmm that reminds me that I must buy some on my way to work tonight! It is called a quadruple chocolate loaf cake because it has cocoa in the basic mix, then it has chocolate stirred in to it, then is is drenched in a cocoa/sugar syrup and finally has some more chocolate grated over the top. Mine is there but because it is still warm, the grated chocolate melted. Oh well just a wee excuse to grate more over it before I leave for work...


Nigella says that this is easy to make and she is not wrong. All you need is a food processor and that is it. She recommends making the chocolate syrup really thick so that the sugar almost caramelises. I did this but I found that all the syrup-now-gone-like-fudge did, was to sit on top of the loaf and form a layer. So I quickly whipped up some more and poured this over the cake again so it would sink into it. I love syrupy, moist cakes so I think this will add to it even more. This is a rich, decadent tasting loaf/cake. The photos don't really do it any justice but then again I did cut it a bit early so I could photograph it before I forgot. As well as that Harry was looking forward to trying it and well it gave me a reason to sneak some too...well it has to pass the taste test! So I hope the girls like it tonight, I know it will at least give us all a bit of a sugar hit when we need it the most in the middle of the night.


Quadruple Chocolate Loaf Cake


200 gm flour
1/2 baking soda
50 gm cocoa
275 gm caster sugar
175 gm soft butter
2 eggs
1 Tbsp vanilla
1/3 c sour cream
125 ml boiling water
175 gm chocolate chips (I used a mix of dark and milk)


Syrup
1 tsp cocoa
125 ml water
100 gm caster sugar


Oven to 170 C. Line a large loaf tin with baking paper.


Put the flour, soda, cocoa, sugar, butter, sour cream, vanilla and eggs into a food processor and blitz until you get a smooth batter. Scrape down the sides and pour in the boiling water while it is processing again. Stir in the chocolate chips.


Bake about an hour. This is a damp cake so the skewer won't be totally clean. 


Make the syrup about 10 mins before the cake comes out of the oven. Pour over the cake and leave in the tin until it goes cold. Grate over more chocolate and enjoy.

Baking for nightshift- Crunchy Top Lemon Loaf

Last night was my last night shift of three before I go back for another two tomorrow night. As I slept so badly on Sunday I decided to give up trying to sleep and get up to do some baking to take to work. It's nice to have food in the middle of the night and I think it can be a morale booster for the staff especially when things are hectic in the unit where I work. I ended up making a lemon loaf and my favourite chocolate chip cookie.

The lemon loaf was delicious. The crumb was nice and tight but it was light at the same time. The 'crunchy' top gave it an extra dimension and it was very very easy to bake. Next time I must make two so I can freeze one for later. I think it would be lovely served with some lemon curd (homemade of course) and some softly whipped cream. My camera battery is almost dead so I was lucky enough to get a couple of shots before it died completely. Here are a couple of photos of it...excuse the shadowing but I'm not a technical photographer at all....where is my fabulous arty and amazing photographer friend Michele when I need her....? 



Crunchy Topped Lemon Loaf

115 gm butter

150 gm caster sugar

Zest of two good sized lemons

2 eggs

180 gm plain flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 c milk

70 gm caster sugar

2 Tbsp lemon juice

Heat the oven to 180 C. Lightly grease a medium sized loaf tin and line with baking paper.

Cream the butter and sugar well then beat in the zest.

Add the eggs one at a time.

Add the sifted dry ingredients mixing it in alternatively with the milk.

Bake 30-40 mins (mine took around 35 mins)

Once it is cooked remove from the oven and leave in the tin. Mix the second measure of caster sugar with the lemon juice and spoon over the still hot loaf.

Cool completely in the tin.

Now to the chocolate chip cookies. I have tried MANY different recipes for these but I always come back to this one. It is a flexible recipe and can be altered in lots of different ways. I have been making this for years now and I no longer remember where I got the recipe from but I have seen many recipes like it so I think it must be a pretty standard recipe. These cookies are not chewy but are more firm. They keep well too and as it makes a lot of dough I have, in the past, rolled half of the mixture into logs and put them into the freezer to slice and bake when I need them. The boys LOVE these biscuits and they are ideal for school lunchboxes or for children to make themselves as they are so easy.



Best Ever Chocolate Chip Cookies

250 gm butter

100 gms sugar

190 gm condensed milk (or 1/2 a can)

350 gm plain flour

4 tsp baking powder

210 gms chocolate chips

Heat the oven to 180 C and line baking trays with baking paper.

Cream the butter, sugar and condensed milk.

Sift flour and baking powder and stir into the mixture (I just use my Kitchen Aid).

Add chocolate chips.

Roll into balls and flatten slightly with a fork.

Bake for around 10 mins depending on the size and thickness of your cookies.

Notes

* I sometimes replace a 1/2 c of the flour with cocoa making them double chocolate chippie cookies.

* For these ones I used a mixture of dark, milk and white chocolate buttons cut in half but you can use plain old small chocolate chips.

* You could add nuts, coconut or dried fruit...I only ever do chocolate but hey the option is there to customise these to your taste.

* I wish we could get Heaths toffee bits here as I think they would be lovely in these but I suppose Werther's chopped up might be quite good too.