Rhubarb and Almond Cake

Please forgive me for being so remiss, over the last couple of weeks what with work, WI centenary  celebrations, the garden and many many other things I haven't posted any recipes to the blog.

Naughty naughty me, instead of baking and cooking I have been needle felting, bead netting and more gardening and this has somewhat distracted me from the job in hand. Whilst gardening I noticed that our rhubarb bed was again producing huge crops of rhubarb, we have a couple of varieties hence the slightly greener rhubarb in the picture.

This cake is light and deliciously almondy and has the benefit of being gluten free, you need to be a patient baker as it does take quite a while to bake particularly if you rhubarb is quite sappy but the results are well worth it. Its amazing served with creme fraiche or yogurt but lovely on its own too.

This recipe is adapted Rhubarb and Almond Cake from the Sainsbury's Magazine

What you need

• 150g butter - softened
• 150g caster sugar
• 2 eggs - free range
• 200g ground almonds
• Couple of drops panettone essence (I use Bakery Bits)
• Couple of  drops of Almond essence
• 100g gluten free plain flour
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 4 sticks rhubarb, chopped into 2cm lengths
• 2 tbsp flaked almonds

180c oven - pre heated

22 cm spring form cake pan - oil sprayed and base lined

What you do

• Cream the butter, sugar and essences until pale and fluffy, I used my trusty Kitchenaid mixer. Whisk in the eggs and add the flour/almonds a little at a time with the eggs if it looks in danger of curdling.
• Add the rest of the flour/almonds to the bowl and mix until well incorporated.
• Spoon approximately half the cake mixture into your prepared cake and spread to the edges, arrange roughly half of the chopped rhubarb on to the mixture, staying away from the edge of the tin. Sprinkle over a little caster sugar (1 tbsp)
• Top with the remaining cake mixture and spread to cover the rhubarb, now arrange the rest of the chopped rhubarb on the top in attractive pattern, again keeping away from the edge (this to prevent sticking to the tin), sprinkle with flaked almonds and another 1 tbsp of caster sugar.
• Bake for 6o minutes until golden and well risen, now cover with baking paper and bake for another 15-30 minutes (may be even a little longer as this depends on the moisture level in your rhubarb) until cooked in the middle.
• Cool initially in the tin and then transfer to a wire rack, the cake is quite delicate so be prudent and ensure very loose before removing from tin.

I'm linking up to Bake of the Week at Casa Costello, a linky for all things baked !

                                                   

Blackcurrant and almond traybake - gluten free

This year from the garden we have had a bumper crop of blackcurrants and quite a few are now in the freezer awaiting my attention. I have already made a few jars of jam for the store cupboard and have made some tumbleberry froyo lollies as well, so as usual my thoughts turn to baking. Blackcurrants have a distinct flavour and need careful pairing if you are to get the best from them, somehow and I'm not sure how I came up with it, that they would combine well with almonds to give a twist on the traditional bakewell tart flavour combination. So this moist, tasty traybake was born, I just love the wild purple colours of the berries in the bake.

What you need

• 200g softened butter
• 200g caster sugar
• 3 free range eggs
• 200g ground almonds
• 1 tsp almond extract
• Approx 200g blackcurrants
• Handful of flaked almonds

Baking tray - lined

What you do

• Pre heat the oven to 180C
• Mix the softened butter and caster sugar together in a mixer until pale and fluffy
• Add the eggs, ground almond and almond extract to the bowl and mix until smooth
• Pour into the prepared tin, strew with the blackcurrants and sprinkle with flaked almonds.
• Place in the oven 
• Bake for 40 or so minutes or until golden and firm in the middle.
• Cool in the tin
• Serve in generous squares 

I am linking up to teatimes treats with this post, the them this month being traybakes. Created by Lavender and Lovage and Hedgecombers hosted this month by  Hedgecombers.
            
                                                                
               

                                                         

Amaretto chocolate torte - Gluten Free

Chocolate cakes are always popular regardless of the time of year and this is a recipe I have been using for quite a while even before I went gluten free, the resultant cake or should I say torte is not a natural beauty but it is light, moist and very chocolately. The addition of amaretto and almond essence make this an adult treat and a cake that can both happily be served with a cup of tea or cream for a dinner party.

Whipped up in a flash this is an easy reliable recipe, which despite having a fragile top (as you can see from the photographs) is happy to sit in a cake for a few days whilst its devoured. Its also currently a favourite as it uses a good quantity of eggs and the battle of the egg mountain continues, 3 hens equals 3 eggs a day most days and as we are a 2 person household that's a lot of eggs. We do give to friends but most of our neighbours keep hens too so the market is limited locally.

What you need

• 200g salted butter - chopped into chunks
• 200g dark chocolate - broken into pieces
• 4 eggs - large and free range
• 200g caster sugar
• 50g plain flour (Gluten free)
• 50g ground almonds
• 1 tbsp amaretto
• 1 tsp almond extract

Greased and base lined round cake tin, loose bottomed or springform is best about 22cm diameter

What you do 

• Melt the butter and chocolate in a pan over a very low heat, keep stirring so it melts and is smooth. Allow to cool slightly.
• Whisk the eggs and sugar in a mixer until light frothy and the consistency of custard. This will take about 5 minutes.
• Add the chocolate and butter mix to the egg and sugar mixture and also the flour and almonds, fold in with a large metal spoon retaining as much air as possible.
• Once full mixed pour into your prepared cake tin and bake for 35 minutes until risen slightly and set in the middle. This is more of a torte than a cake.
• Remove from oven and allow to cool in the tin

This recipe is being linked to We should Cocoa created by Choclette and hosted this month over on Utterly Scrummy food, the theme this month is Gluten Free, so this cake qualifies.

                                                      

And I am also linking up to  Baking with Spirit , created by Cake of the Week and hosted this month over at The usual saucepans , the theme being a re-invented classic. This chocolate torte is a recipe I have had for a while but I have added the twist of amaretto and almond extract to give it an adult twist, its also gluten free too which is always a bonus.

                                                                 

And my final linky is to Alphabakes, with the letter D this month, so I am using Dark Chocolate as my entry into this challenge hosted by Caroline Bakes and More than the occasional baker.

                                                       

I am also linking up to Bake of the Week over at my fellow cakeclubbing WI member blogging chum Casa Costello 
                                                            

Chickpea and almond biscuits - naturally gluten free

I have come to the conclusion that gluten free biscuits and cookies are pretty easy and I really can't see any reason to buy the overpriced ones you see in stores. This recipe uses besan flour or chickpea flour (garbanzo to our American friends) as its base combined with ground almonds, the resultant biscuit is deliciously crunchy with a slight nutty flavour, you can add spice or flavourings to your delicious biscuit.

Besan flour is available in the ethnic area of the supermarket or at specialist stores, just watch out for added ingredients if you need it gluten free. Chickpea flour is one of the cheaper naturally gluten free flours and is used frequently in Asian cuisine.

What you need

• 1 cup of ground almonds
• 1 cup of chickpea flour (besan)
• 3/4 cup soft light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup butter (or if diary free coconut oil)
• 1 egg yolk (large egg)
• 1 1/2 tsp of your chosen spice ( cinnamon is nice)

What you do 

• Preheat the oven to 180c
• Line 2 baking trays with a silicone sheet or baking parchment.
• Mix all the ingredients except the egg in a mixing bowl until the fat is rubbed in.
• Add the egg yolk and combine.
• Form ball of the mixture using your hands and press down on the prepared baking sheet
• Bake for approx 15 minutes until golden and starting to firm
• Cool initially on the baking sheet and then fully cool on a wire rack, the biscuits will firm up on cooling.

Apple and almond cake

I make no excuse for another cake using ground almonds as the flour substitute, this is a recipe I spotted initially being tweeted by Nigella (she of soft focus fame), no sooner had I followed the link to her website that I then saw another food blogger with a similar post. I now know why this recipe is so popular, it tastes so buttery and is moist with a subtle apple flavour. Just like Nigella's famous clementine cake its an easy bake which when combined with its fairly plain looks belies its deliciousness.

Ideal as a gluten free adult birthday cake and apparently a traditional "Seder" treat (Seder being the ritual feast at the start of Passover) why not give this bake a try.

What you need

• 3 eating apples (ones with plenty of flavour)
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 2 tsp caster sugar
• Oil spray for the cake tin
• 8 eggs 
• 325g ground almonds
• 275g caster sugar
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 50g flaked almonds
• Icing sugar for dusting 

What you do

• Firstly we need to make an apple puree, place the peeled, cored apple chunks in a sauce pan with 2tsp caster sugar and 1 tbsp lemon juice, simmer for about 10 minutes until soft and the apples make a rough puree.
• Allow this to cool fully before starting to bake
• Preheat the oven to 180c and oil spray a round loose bottom ( base lined) or spring form cake tin, approximately 9 inch diameter
• In a food processor blend the eggs, puree, sugar and lemon juice until you have a smooth mixture
• Pour into the prepared tin and sprinkle the top with flaked almonds
• Bake for 45 minutes or so until golden and the cake tests cooked.
• Cool in the tin initially and then cool fully on a wire rack
• To serve sprinkle with icing sugar, it needs nothing more.

Blood orange, lemon and almond cake

On a recent visit to my local greengrocers I was pleased to see that blood oranges were in season, juicy sweet and full of orangey flavour they make a great addition to the fruit bowl. Combined with a classic lemon this is a gorgeous zesty bake, the blood orange adds a beautiful orange hue to the cake, this recipe is based on Nigella Lawson's clementine cake which in turn is based on Claudia Roden's orange and almond cake, I am pretty sure Fiona Cairns has a version too.

This recipe is reliable and naturally gluten free, its a plain Jane of cake that packs a glorious flavour punch, juicy, zesty and ever so slightly adult. I couldn't resist decorating it with the little viola's coming into flower in the garden, those little cute faces calling out to me.

The cake require no real skill and I now have a short cut route of cooking the orange and lemon, rather than boiling in water for a couple of hours,you can avoid the steamy kitchen by microwaving in a covered bowl for about 8 -10 minutes until soft. Easy !

Its great to be able to use the lovely unsung blood orange in a recipe and a great celebration of spring. You can substitute any citrus fruit, lemons, clementines, all work fine, just keep the quantity roughly the same.

What you need

• 1 orange and 1 lemon, ideally organic and unwaxed (if you can't get blood orange ordinary works fine)
• 6 eggs - large free range 
• 220g caster sugar
• 250g ground almonds
• 1 tsp baking powder
• pinch of sea salt
• Springform cake tin - approx 8" diameter, oil sprayed
• Icing sugar to dust
• Violas

What you do

• Firstly you need to cook the orange and lemon, you can either boil in water for approx 2 hours until soft, or alternatively microwave for about 8-10 minutes
• Allow the soft whole fruit to cool and cut open to remove any pips.
• Preheat the oven to 170c fan / gas mark 5
• Now pulp in the food processor until a fine puree
• Now add the other ingredients, pulse again until you have a smoothish mixture
• Pour into your prepared tin and smooth the top
• Bake for approx 50 minutes until a cocktail stick comes out clean and the cake is a gorgeous golden colour, cover with foil if it appears to be darkening too quickly
• Allow to cool full in the tin
• Dust with icing sugar and serve

Serve on a platter or cake stand strewn with viola's, spring has sprung !

I am entering this post in for the blog challenge Simple and in Season created by Renbehan and hosted this month by Utterly Scrummy Food 

                                               

                                           
                                               

Fresh Cranberry and Almond Slices

It's always around about this time of year that I start craving fruit. It must be something to do with the change in the weather; possibly also due to the fact that more and more chocolate and festive treats are becoming part of my daily diet.

I love the colour of cranberries, so bright and cheerful. They are relatively undiscovered in this country other than the ubiquitous cranberry sauce. Our friends over the Pond however, use this beautiful berry in a  range of bakes, both fresh and dried.

Since discovering this recipe I have already made it a couple of times, once for a birthday cake for a close friend and  again for my work colleagues who loved the bake as a tasty contrast to all the mince pies and chocolates at this time of year.

Once baked, the berries keep their lovely bright pinky-red colour and the almonds provide a crunchy contrast to the soft almondy sponge.

If you want to serve this for a special occasion, just cut it into dinky little squares and serve on an attractive platter dusted with icing sugar. If you can find some suitable "kitsch" decorations, why not accessorize accordingly. 

What you need

• 1 1/2 cups of plain flour
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 cup softened butter 
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 2 eggs - free range (whisked together with the milk)
• 1/2 tsp vanilla paste
• 1/2 tsp almond extract
• 1/2 cup milk ( I used skimmed)
• 1 1/4 cups fresh cranberries (chopped in half)
• Flaked almonds

You will need a non stick baking tray about 9" by 5" and approx 1" deep, sprayed with oil or cake release

What you do

• On a plate or a shallow dish, sieve the flour and baking powder to remove any lumps
• In your mixer cream the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy
• Add the vanilla paste, almond extract to the mixer and the egg/milk mixture and the flour, whisk briskly until you have a smooth mixture
• Gently fold in the chopped cranberries by hand
• Tip into your prepared tin and smooth the top
• Sprinkle with flaked almonds
• Bake in a pre heated oven at 180c (160c fan) for approx 35 minutes until golden, well risen and cooked through
• Cool in the tin
• Cut into slices or squares

I am linking up this post to Blue Kitchen Bakes - Fresh Cranberry Recipe Linky

                                                    

                                                

Courgette and almond loaf with crunchy lemon topping

In an attempt to keep up with the courgette glut I am back to baking cakes with them, this blog already has about 6 recipes on it for courgette cakes, but I feel there is room for a few more. This one is going almondy with a cheeky crunchy lemon topping which really does make a difference to the finished cake.

Not the most pretty of cake I have made but it more than makes up for it in flavour and it keeps beautifully wrapped in foil.

What you need

• 200g ground almonds
• 240g plain flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp bicarb
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• Freshly grated nutmeg
• 350g caster sugar
• 225ml olive oil
• 3 eggs
• 1 tsp almond extract
• 2 tsp vanilla paste
• 300g grated courgette

For the topping

• Juice of one lemon
• 4tbsp granulated sugar
• 125g icing sugar

What you do 

• Preheat oven to 180c
• Line two 2lb loaf tins with baking parchment
• Whisk up the olive oil and the caster sugar, until lightened and slightly fluffy
• Add the eggs one by one to the oil and sugar mixture
• Now add all the other ingredients except the courgettes, mix well and then fold in the courgettes
• Pour into the loaf tins , level and bake in the oven for approximately for about 45 -50 minutes, until tested cooked with a skewer.
• Allow to cool initially in the tins
• Whilst the cakes are cooling, mix the lemon juice, granulated and icing sugar in a bowl and brush on the top of the cakes whilst still cooling, don't worry this will set to a crunchy glaze.

Based on a recipe from the Telegraph in 2012, the stunning photography is once again by Mr Lancashire Food.

Almond, amaretto and blueberry torte

This bake is inspired by the great Jo Wheatley - winner of the Great British bake off in 2011, I love making her raspberry and almond torte as featured in her book and also on the daily mail website here, I suggest if you are interested in baking you buy a copy as it contains some great no nonsense family recipes.

My variation on a theme is to pimp the cake by adding booze, in this case amaretto (thats inspired by a book Flavour Thesaurus - but thats another post) and to use blueberries rather than raspberries, obviously blueberries when cooked are more moist so the resultant cake is  slightly different in texture than Jo's version,  but very delicious all the same.

Ingredients - these were my additions and substitutions to the original recipe

• 2 tbsp amaretto
• 1/2 punnet blueberries
  
                               

Jo is regularly on twitter and facebook and seems to be one of life's genuinely nice people despite what life throws at you, I tend to find most bakers are like that as when you bake you really are putting you heart and sole out there on a plate.

So buy her book , its fantastic . I purchased my copy and in respect for Jo, I am not publishing the recipe, just linking to where it is available in the publish domain.



Studded rosewater, almond and yogurt cake

I have been having some fun with the Total Greek yogurt I have been sent for recipe development, the inspiration for this cake came from wanting to recreate the moist almondy  yogurt cakes common in the Mediterranean or middle east, that are normally syrup drenched, but instead I wanted to stud it with raspberries or in my case tayberries.

This cake can be served plain drenched in icing sugar or decadently drizzled with rose honey and served with more creamy yogurt on the side, as in the photograph.

Ingredients

• 250g Total Greek Yogurt
• 150ml sunflower oil or rapeseed oil
• 2 large free range eggs
• 200g self raising flour, sifted
• 100g ground almonds
• 150g golden caster sugar
• 1 tbsp rosewater
• 1 tsp baking powder
• Handful of fresh raspberries or tayberries
• Pinch of salt

Approx 20cm spring from cake tin - oiled

Preheat oven to 160c fan, 180c normal / gas 4

Method

• Place your flour, almonds, sugar, baking powder and salt in a large bowl
• Add the yogurt, oil, eggs and rosewater in the same bowl and mix throughly incorporating as much as was possible.
• Once well mixed, pour / scrape into your prepared tin, level and stud with berries
• Place in your pre heated oven and bake for approximately 30 minutes until well risen and golden. Test with a skewer to ensure it is cooked through.
• Remove from oven and allow to cool in tin for approximately 15 minutes and then remove outer ring.
• Serve with more yogurt and drizzled with rose honey 

Cherry and Almond Loaf

Feeling a autumnal nip in the air, I wanted to bake something comforting and homely. This is cake is the equivalent of a cosy snuggly jumper. Based on a recipe from the Domestic Goddess herself, Nigella, its a pretty easy bake. Glace cherries always remind me of when I was little and my Mum used to buy glace cherries in different colours (green, yellow, red) and other dried fruits for Christmas loose from a lovely shop in Southport, the shop is no longer there and loose dried fruits is something you don't see now. 

Ingredients

• 200g glace cherries, preferably the undyed if you can get hold of them
• 250g self raising flour
• 225g butter softened
• 175g caster sugar
• 3 eggs beaten
• 2-3 drops almond essence
• 100g ground almonds
• 6 tbsp milk

Method

Preheat your oven to 170c, grease and line your 2lb loaf tin

Firstly rinse your glace cherries,drain and dry and then tosh in a little flour. Beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, then gradually add your eggs and almond essence, until well mixed, now add the flour and ground almonds. Lastly mix in the milk and the cherries. Now spoon into your tin, bake for approximately 45 -60 minutes until golden and baked through when tested with a skewer. 

Allow to cool in the tin, stores very well in foil.

Banana and almond tray bake

This weekends bake is an easy traybake using up a couple of spotty bananas from the fruit bowl in the process. The recipe is based on a recipe from "The Great British Bake Off, How to Bake" book. I like traybakes as they are perfect for lunch boxes and for packing in a picnic.

Ingredients

• 175g butter softened or quality margarine
• 250g caster sugar
• 1/2tsp vanilla extract
• 3 free range eggs - beaten
• 50g ground almonds
• 225g self raising flour
• 150ml creme fraiche
• 2 ripe bananas

Method

Preheat your oven to 180c. Grease and line a tin approx 25 by 20 by 5 cm.

Beat your butter until softened and then add your sugar and beat together until lighter and fluffy. Beat in the vanilla, then gradually add your eggs , beat well after each addition.Now fold in the ground almonds. Sift in approx 1/3 of the flour and fold in, add 1/3 of the creme fraiche and fold in. Now add the rest of the flour and creme fraiche and fold in. Now add the lightly mashed banana and stir in, tip into your tin and level before baking for approximately 50 minutes until golden brown and a cocktail stick inserted in the centre comes out clean. 

Allow to cool slightly in tin and then cool on a wire rack. Cut in to approx 20 pieces.