Blondies

I was meant to be making gorgeous chocolate chip cookies today, but in my foray to Wellcome to pick up a few bits and bobs, they didn't have the type chocolate chips I was after - what they did have was exactly the sort I didn't want, so I embraced serendipity, grabbed a few bags and opted to make some blondies. Truth be told I they were on my list of things to bake, but just not today. Maybe it's a sign.

So, not sure where you stand on the volume vs weight debate, but I'm definitely in the "cups are for people who don't really cook" camp - sounds militant I know, but one mans cup of flour is anothers US/UK/Aussie sized, humidity effected, quality varying ingredient. You can't go wrong with weight measurements, even if your scales are cheap and have been carted round the world, spilt on, dropped, wiped, dropped again and stashed unceremoniously in the cupboard. Whereas my forlorn plastic 1/2 cup (nationality unknown) is scratched to bits and doesn't fit into the necks of any of my jars. Anyway, as many recipes still use them, especially in the US, there are some excellent conversions here from a fantastic blog worth browsing.

So, the baking - Much as we all love a brownie, Blondies, unlike in real life, are a little more subtle that their brunette counterpart. The brown sugar makes for a light butterscotchy taste and are not as sweet as you would expect. I've put white choc chips in here, but your could skip them, or use milk chocolate or butterscotch chips instead.

Blondies
makes 12-16 bars

170g unsalted butter - melted
230g soft brown sugar
3 teaspoons vanilla extract
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 large eggs (room temp, lightly beaten)
150g plain flour
100g nuts, such as pecans or walnuts, coarsely chopped
160g good quality white chocolate chips (not chocolate-flavoured ones - big difference!)

Heat the oven to 180C.

Beat the melted butter and brown sugar in your mixer until smooth. Add vanilla then beat in the eggs until thoroughly mixed. Add flour, baking powder and salt, and fold in by hand (or with just a few quick turns on your mixer - no flour should be left showing, but don't beat it in, you want air). Stir in nuts and chips until just combined. Transfer batter to a baking try lined with baking paper, and bake until golden brown and set, about 25 minutes. Remove from the oven and place on a wire rack to cool completely before cutting.

As with brownies, you don't want to over cook them - no one is going to turn down a crisp topped, soft middled Blondie.

Banana Cake

Whilst I was knocking up the previous recipe, I spied a few sad looking bananas in my fruit bowl - way past the point by which I would usually eat them, but perfect for banana cake - the sweeter and mushier, the better. Bananas, oddly (to me anyway), freeze really well - and if you are so inclined, can be peeled, popped onto lollysticks and placed in the freezer for a summery icepop version of one of your five a day.

In the past, this type of loaf cake was eaten sliced and spread with butter, but it certainly doesn't need it. Brown caster sugar, if you have it, works very well - adds a hint of toffee flavour and in fact, if you make extra of the icing for the Sticky toffee pudding cupcakes, that would be excellent smeared over the top of this.

I did throw in the walnuts and cinnamon as it only adds to the flavour - and I did have some buttermilk left over in the fridge, so I used that instead of milk for a creamier taste.

Banana Cake

100g Butter
175g caster sugar
2 eggs (lightly whisked)
2 large or 3 small very ripe bananas, mashed
225g self raising flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 tablespoons milk or buttermilk
1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon (optional)
2 big handfuls of walnuts (optional)

Pre-heat oven to 180C

Cream the butter and the sugar together very well using your mixer (can you see a reoccurring theme here? This is the opening line to pretty much ALL my cakes, so you should know the drill by now). Add the eggs slowly, beating all the while. Turn your mixer to low and add the flour,baking powder and cinnamon (mix only briefly) then stir though by hand the mashed banana, walnuts, and milk/buttermilk. Pour into a lined loaf tin (a 2lb size) and bake in the centre of the oven at 180c for about 45 mins to an hour.

You will get a crisp surface to this one and a densish cake - test for doneness by inserting a skewer into the middle of the cake and if it comes out clean, the cake is done. As you can see from the pictures I used two smaller loaf tins - this is because it wasn't until I had started that I realised I couldn't find my loaf tin, but fortunately I had two small cardboard ones from a $10 store that I brought for cuteness value. These don't work brilliantly - cakes tins are metal for a reason (heat conducting properties) which is why I always sneer at those flash gaudy silicon molds everyone bangs on about - no thanks.

Sticky Toffee Pudding and Sticky Toffee Cupcakes

This is a proper rib sticking hearty affair that will definitely make you feel a bit too full afterwards. Now, I have done this as cupcake size portions, because although the original recipe says that it serves 8 (cooked in a retangular dish), I realized that my way gets 24 good sized portions with pretty presentation and gives you thrice as many overfed satisfied guests for your buck, so to speak. So, either pour your mixture into a large oven proof ceramic serving dish, or like me, divide the mixture between 24 lined cupcake moulds.

Having used cupcakes portions, and having a few left over, I discovered that this sponge delicious in it's own right, so this Friday I am experimenting with a cupcake version that can been eaten as a cake rather than pudding - the sponge freezes like a dream, so if you have any left over, be sure to hang onto them (and defrost them with a unceramonous blast in the microwave).

STICKY TOFFEE PUDDING

Date Puree
375g dates, with stones removed
375 ml water

Toffee Sauce
600ml cream
300g sugar
130g unsalted butter

Sponge
130g unsalted butter
375g soft dark brown sugar
3 eggs, lightly beaten and at room temperature
450g plain flour
10g baking powder (sifted into the flour)
3g bicarbonate of soda (sifted into the flour)

Plus creme fraiche or good vanilla ice cream to serve.

Preheat the oven to 180 C.
Make the date puree: Simmer the dates in the water over a low heat for 10-15 minutes until they are soft and the water has almost evaporated. Process them in a blender until they are smooth.
Make the sponge: In a food processor or mixer, cream the butter and sugar with the paddle on a medium speed until it is light and fluffy. Add the eggs slowly , taking care the mixture doesn't separate (add a bit of the flour with the eggs to prevent this). Then fold in the sifted flour mixture slowly until smooth. Finally, add the warm date puree and mix well. Transfer your mixture to your baking receptacle of choice and bake for about 50 minutes in a dish, or 25 minutes in cupcakes cases or until the sponge is firm to the touch.
Make the toffee sauce: Whilst your sponge is in the oven (or before if you want to do as much prep in advance), pour half the cream and the sugar and butter into a thick bottomed pan and mix well. Bring the sauce to the boil stirring with a wooden spoon, and continue until the sauce is golden brown. This will take a while but persevere. When it goes golden brown, remove from heat, allow to cool slightly, and then whisk in remaining cream.
To assemble: If you've made cupcakes, remove the papers and arrange on a serving dish (a slightly lipped one is fine). Pierce the sponge all over with a fine skewer and the cover with about a third of the toffee sauce. Return to the oven at 175C for 10 minutes to warm through then remove.
To serve: Put the remaining sauce in a jug and heat (in the microwave). As you remove the sponge from the ovem, drizzle with a little more sauce and the serve at the table with the left over sauce on the side - encourage people to help themselves to extra sauce with thier pudding and a big dollop of creamy ice cream.

Now, if you've made these, then the above is the follow-on recipe of choice, as all you need to do is pour the leftover caramel syrup into some cream and whisk over a bit of heat to get your toffee sauce - a much faster option and worth considering to make the most of leftovers.

STICKY TOFFEE PUDDING CUPCAKES Follow the recipe as above (without the sauce), making the sponge with date puree in cupcakes.

Make the icing as follows:
Using your mixer with a whisk attachment, beat 140g of butter and 280g of sifted icing sugar together (you may want to add a bit more to get a good consistency for pipping). Add a few tablespoons of caramel syrup (either one you made here or a shop brought one is fine) and continue to beat. Taste and if overly sweet, add a squeeze of lemon juice to calm it down. Pipe onto you cooled cakes as desired.

Two treats from one recipe - I personally would use half as pudding and half as cakes, freezing the ones you don't use for later and recycling as required.

Naozen

After having walked past this sober looking place a million times, we decided to venture in. Great Japanese, simply set out with private rooms at the back, we sat at the bar and had spicy tuna roll, my favourite and served at perfect temperature - sake maki, special sauteed beef and tempura, two rice sets with 4 delicious crisp Asahi - not too much for two, just hit the spot. Well presented with an eye for detail, the meal was very good, however the bill was over HK$700 - which was a little surprising, as it was hardly the most adventurous of orders.

Red Velvet Cake

It's Valentines tomorrow and much as I don't embrace it, I did decide to take the opportunity to make lurid, E number laced cakes for Friday baking. Sugar hearts, pink food colour spray, a lot of food dye - the works.

I too baulked at the amount of red food colouring - personally I found the super cheap liquid one worked MUCH better than the expensive gel ones (and you need less). My kitchen is still covered with a fine film of tinted pink stickiness but the result was worth it. The hurriedly taken pictures don't do the kitsch cakes justice.

Next time, I'd be tempted to swap the baking soda/vinegar for good baking powder - much less hassle. I also passed on the original icing - although many recipes use a cream cheese frosting, the correct one is in fact a creamed butter/sugar whisked with warm milk and flour - it sounds pretty grim and indeed it was. In fact I started it and it looked and smelt so awful I had to reject it - there's times when this is completely acceptable - the incident where my profiteroles came out of the oven in perfectly spherical hard shiny ping pong ball like forms but welded to the baking sheet springs to mind - the whole lot went straight in the bin.
Anyway, I opted for a whipped meringue based icing that colours like a dream, holds a shape and comes from Nigella Lawson. The texture of this is just brilliant with the delicate sponge.

Red Velvet Cake:

250 grams sifted plain flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
15 grams Dutch-processed cocoa powder
115 grams unsalted butter, at room temperature
300 grams caster sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
240 ml buttermilk
2 tablespoons liquid red food coloring
1 teaspoon white distilled vinegar
1 teaspoon baking soda

Preheat oven to 175 C and line your muffins tin with suitable paper cases (I chose heart pattern ones, but as the mixture is very liquidy, the oil soaked through and obscured them, so metal silver ones may have been a better choice)

In a mixing bowl sift together the flour, salt, and cocoa powder. Set aside.

Beat the butter and the sugar until light and fluffy (about 3-5 minutes). Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the vanilla extract and beat until combined.

In a measuring cup whisk the buttermilk with the red food coloring. With the mixer on low speed, alternately add the flour mixture and buttermilk, in three additions, beginning and ending with the flour.

In a small cup combine the vinegar and baking soda. Allow the mixture to fizz and then quickly fold into the cake batter.

Working quickly, divide the batter evenly between the 12 cups. Bake in the preheated oven for approximately 15 - 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cakes comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack.

The Frosting

• 2 egg whites
• 4 tablespoons of golden syrup
• 100g caster sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• Pink food colour (small amount, adjust as desired)
  

Sit a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of barely simmering water, and put all of the ingredients for the frosting, except for the vanilla and food colouring, into the bowl. Whisk everything with an electric beater until the icing becomes thick and holds peaks like a meringue. This will take about 5 minutes, so be patient.Take the bowl off the saucepan and onto a cool surface and keep whisking while you add the vanilla. Then keep whisking until the mixture cools a little - you should have firm stiff peaks by the end of it.

Fill a piping bag, and using a 1M tip (or other large tip), pipe your glossy frosting onto the top of the cooled cakes. Immediately cover with spray pink colour, sprinkles, hearts - what ever you have. There's no such thing as being OTT here.

Coffee Grinds Cake

One of the many pleasures of cooking is getting run your finger over then empty mixing bowl and taste the last vestiges of your hard work - and although I don't like the raw mixture, I can't get enough of this coffee icing

This is another variation on a simple sponge, that can turn into a yummy cakey treat (see here and here for previous versions). As I have said before, I know no-one uses ounces, but it does make this totally memorable - 1 egg per 2 oz of flour/sugar/butter and scale accordingly. And as we all seem to use electric scales, you can make the use of the lb/kg button for once and get an instant conversion. I've done a purists version, but you can add a handful of chopped walnuts to cake mixture for a bit of texture, or pop a few on top.

I've done a tray bake, but you could easily make cup cakes or two rounds which you can sandwich together with the thick unctuous icing.

Coffee Sponge
4 eggs (at room temperature)
8 oz each of butter, caster sugar, self-raising flour (all at room temperature)
1 tsp of baking powder
1 tsp of freshly ground coffee beans mixed into 2 tablespoons of boiling water

Fluffy Coffee Icing
4oz butter
8oz Icing sugar
1 tsp of freshly ground coffee beans mixed into 2 tablespoons of boiling water

Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy - it should go very pale.
Very very slowly add the eggs one at a time, with a tablespoon of the flour with each egg to stop the mix from separating. Once all the eggs are incorporated, add the two tablespoon of coffee to the mix. turn the mixer onto it's lowest setting and add the remaining flour and the baking powder until just folded in (don't beat - the folding in of the flour is to incorporate air into your mixture to get a fluffy cake). Turn this into a baking tin (about 10in x 6in) and bake at 180c for 20-25 mins

To make the icing put your butter, coffee, and sifted icing sugar into your mixer with a whisk attachment and beat until light and fluffy.

Remove the cake from the oven, turn out onto a rack and allow to cool before spreading a thick layer of icing over the top. Cut into squares or rectangles and serve.

Tip: cutting up a good sponge can be a nightmare - it's so soft and you get crumbs everywhere - so to prevent this, once you have iced your sponge, pop it into a large Tupperware container (I put mine on greaseproof paper on the lid and the box part over the top to save me having to try to lift it out again) and refrigerate for 30 mins to an hour. Remove and slice - it will be SO much easier as the sponge and the icing will be much more firm, though remember not to serve this cold - cold sponges have a horrid texture, make sure it's up to room temp before indulging.

Carbonara

Apols, as it has been a while - CNY, guests to name but a few lame excuses. And although I took A LOT of photos, none was of the food.

As we had guests it was the usual round of eating on the tourist trail - Red Pepper, Mak's noodles (a lot), The Dragon Restaurant on Gage Street (pigs on walls - real dead ones), Dim Sum in Stanley (Shu Zhai) and Happy Valley (Sing Woo Road), Duck at Peking Garden after the light show, as well as a pizza at Simpatico and hangover Burgers at Shake 'em Buns. We need to add a few more places on to the list and remove a few others. Much as I love duck pancakes, I've had it that many times I just can't face them any more.

Amongst all this, I did manage to do some cooking - a CNY feast of Char sui, garlic pak choi, cheung fun in XO sauce and chilli prawns with chive and garlic shoots, but a favourite was carbonara - perfect for a bit of comfort eating and I usually have all the ingredients in, so it's cheap and quick too. Don't get too hung up on the exact amounts - to be honest I often do this dish to use up cream and eggs and the sad looking Parmesan that lurks at the back of the fridge.

Carbonara for two

2 teaspoons of olive oil
1 packet of pancetta (I always have some in the freezer)
4 tablespoons cheapy muscat or similar (sounds specific, but it lasts as, unlike the usual white wine, no one is tempted to drink it neat. Ever.)
1 egg yolk
1 whole egg
3 tablespoons double cream
4 big tablespoons ish of fresh Parmesan
Enough linguine for two people (bog-standard dried DeCecco is perfect)

Fry the pancetta (from frozen is fine) in a small frying pan until golden. Add the wine to the pan and let it bubble off until you are left with about 2 tablespoons of oily wine and the crispy panchetta and remove from the heat.
In a jug, beat the whole egg, egg yolk, the cheese.
When the pasta is cooked, drain and return to it’s cooking pan and stir in the pancetta and juices. The add the egg mixture and mix thoroughly with a wooden spoon and serve with some crispy garlicky bread, and a green salad if you need to feel a little less guilty.

It's back to to the low fat stuff this week after all that eating - I'll keep you posted....

edit: completely forgot that I did some excellent sticky toffee puddings as well that I need to write up at some point - we're eeking out the remains from the freezer, still good - warm and sweetly date-y (the fruit) - having been quickly defrosted in the microwave without the sauce.