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Showing posts from August, 2017

Cinnamon Sugar Apple Cake

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My love of cinnamon is well known, so when I got given some apples, I decided to try a recipe given to me ages ago by an American friend. It's nothing special to look at, but tastes great - that's of course, if you like cinnamon! It's not overwhelming, as there's none in the cake only in the topping. The recipe uses butter milk and oil. The amount of cinnamon sugar topping suggested for the cake was far too much, even for me, so I reduced it drastically, and there was still plenty. 225g light brown sugar, 75ml oil, 1 large egg, 225ml buttermilk, 1 tspn bicarbonate of soda, 1 tspn vanilla extract, 350g plain flour, 180g chopped apples [weight after peeled - I used 3 eating apples] Topping: 2 tbspn granulated sugar and 11/2 tspn cinnamon Preheat oven 160C/gas3                  Grease and base line a 20cm round cake tin. Put the brown sugar, oil, egg, buttermilk, bicarb, vanilla extract and flour in a big bowl and mis together well. Stir in the apples then spoon

Chocolate and Tonka Bean Muffins

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I think I've mentioned before that I much prefer muffins to cupcakes - I find the icing on cupcakes just too much. We have a lovely shop in town which sells a great range of herbs and spices, particularly difficult to find ones. In France I did a day's cookery course in a local restaurant, and one of the ingredients we used was Tonka beans. If you want to find out more about them: http://www.greatbritishchefs.com/how-to-cook/how-to-cook-with-tonka-beans I'd never heard of them, so was interested to taste their flavour. It's hard to describe - a bit similar to vanilla, but with fruity and spicy elements! You only use a little, as they can be harmful in large quantities, so it's claimed. I bought 3 beans from my local shop. I'm explaining all this, because my lovely friend who owns the tea shop, gave me her recipe for chocolate muffins with Tonka bean. The recipe! 200g sr flour, 1 tspn baking powder, 150g white chocolate, 12 small squares of dark choco

Upside Down Plum Cake

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I bought a punnet of local grown red plums, and wanted to use them in a cake rather than my usual pie or crumble. This is a nice easy recipe I was given by my French friend, and I often use it with different fruits. 250g red plums, 180g caster sugar, 130g soft butter, 100g sr flour, 4 eggs, icing sugar to sprinkle over top [opt] Preheat oven 200C/gas6                           Grease a 20cm cake tin Wash plums then cut in half and remove stones. Separate the eggs and add the yolks to the sugar. Beat till white and fluffy. Beat in the butter then fold in the flour. Whisk the egg whites till stiff then fold into the batter. Line the base of the tin with the plums, cut side down, and cover with the batter. After 20 mins, turn the oven down to 180C and bake for a further 20 mins. When cool, turn out upside down and dust the top with icing sugar. I like the cake mixture - it has a soft crumb and a light texture. It's a good contrast to the juicy plums. The cake make