Let Us Eat Cake

[MarkJ]

Originally Posted by Seaworthy Lass

Who other than an Aussie is best qualified to pass over all the secrets to making a perfect pav?

Traitor! Those New Zealanders will steal the recipe again.



Mark

[carstenb]

Lassie,

I'll grant you that it is possible to cook without cream or butter - but cook well and have get taste……………..

I'm just old fashioned.

Mea Culpa

[Seaworthy Lass]

Originally Posted by carstenb

Lassie,

I'll grant you that it is possible to cook without cream or butter - but cook well and have get taste……………..

I'm just old fashioned.

Mea Culpa

Carsten, just give the date cake or two chocolate cakes a go .
Or wait until I post the recipe for the prune tart (alcohol infused) that I made today. "Seriously good" is what my harshest critic pronounced before he held the plate out for another slice .

[carstenb]

Originally Posted by Seaworthy Lass

Carsten, just give the date cake or two chocolate cakes a go .
Or wait until I post the recipe for the prune tart (alcohol infused) that I made today. "Seriously good" is what my harshest critic pronounced before he held the plate out for another slice .

Making anything with prunes requires that the head be checked for functionality before eating

Alcohol is always a mitigating factor when confronted with food made without butter or cream

[Seaworthy Lass]

Originally Posted by carstenb

Making anything with prunes requires that the head be checked for functionality before eating

No need to check LOL. Definitely defective here .
PS A whole CUP was used in the tart

(At least everything else will be functioning normally LOL)

Edited to add: oh, I am slow tonight, I blame the alcohol in the tart. You mean my head not my head LOL.

[MarkJ]

I cook with cream and butter as I am on a low carb diet.

I can still have my cake, just not every day.

Home baked cakes not out of a box but with individually sourced ingredients are much more healthy than bakery bought, store bought, or box made cakes.

Theres anoth great idea that you can go berserk on Friday Saturday and Sunday stuffing your face, but then on Monday anf thursday have a 600 calorie salad fast.

[carstenb]

Originally Posted by Seaworthy Lass

No need to check LOL. Definitely defective here .
PS A whole CUP was used in the tart

(At least everything else will be functioning normally LOL)

Edited to add: oh, I am slow tonight, I blame the alcohol in the tart. You mean my head not my head LOL.

yes lassie, the head you sit on, not the the you hang a hat on LOL

[Seaworthy Lass]

Originally Posted by Seaworthy Lass

Carsten, just give the date cake or two chocolate cakes a go .
Or wait until I post the recipe for the prune tart (alcohol infused) that I made today. "Seriously good" is what my harshest critic pronounced before he held the plate out for another slice .

OK, this is the "seriously good" tart. The prunes sink and combine with the batter to form a dark alcohol infused caramelised cake layer at the bottom.

I arrived at this just playing around with a recipe for frangipane almond filling that is often poured over a shortcrust pastry base, but substituting sugar and butter with honey and oil, omitting the pastry and adding the prunes (OK, I really only retained the almonds and lemon rind ).

I hit jackpot with this experiment . This is a brilliant boat recipe as all the ingredients last well for ages unrefrigerated (see other threads on tips for egg storage) and only the briefest hand whisk is needed.

Next time I will try some fruit variations. Sultanas soaked in alcohol and fresh sliced apple with cinnamon may work well. Or Grand Marnier infused soft fresh fruit like ripe apricots or nectarines may also be good. I suspect fresh fruit may be too moist in the mix, but I will give it a go. Too many recipes to try and not enough days.

When serving this tart to guests I will pile on some white and dark chocolate curls. I work on the principle that food must look so good that your mouth is watering before a spoonful even touches your lips .

PRUNE TART

1 cup prunes, pitted and halved
½ cup gin

3 heaped tbsp honey
3 eggs
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
Grated rind 1 lemon

1.5 cups ground almonds
1 flat tsp bicarbonate of soda

- Soak prunes in brandy at least a few hours, covered (the liquid should get completely absorbed)
- Hand whisk honey, oil, eggs, vanilla and lemon
- Stir in almonds and bicarb
- Clamp a square sheet of non stick baking paper on the base of a 24 cm springform pan
- Spoon over the batter
- Scatter on the prunes
- Bake in a 180°C preheated oven 20 minutes then turn off oven and leave another 20 min to finish cooking
- Cool in the pan
- When the spring surround is taken off use a spatula to help slide the tart off the baking paper onto the serving plate.

Heavenly warm or cold, but it needs chocolate curls to lift the appearance.

Edited to add: After the success with the prune tart, I turned my hand to an apple variation. The result was "OK", but as suspected it was just not in the same league as the prune one. I reduced the alcohol as I knew the sultanas would not absorb it as easily as the prunes (and they didn't). Maybe that was part of the problem .

[Teknav]

Sailing wisdom...Don't cook anything with prunes, unless you have a functioning fresh water maker!

Mauritz
No like sticky fingers!

[Seaworthy Lass]

This morning apple cake was made using an old favourite boat recipe of mine. I am happily munching on it right now with a pot of iced Earl Grey tea. It is 43°C at the moment (109°F), so ice cubes have been added .

APPLE CAKE

4 crisp red apples (eg Pink Lady), peeled, cored and roughly chopped
1 heaped tsp cinnamon

3 heaped tbsp honey (¼ cup)
2 eggs
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil

½ cup walnuts, roughly chopped
½ cup dates, roughly chopped
½ cup crystallised ginger, finely sliced (omit if you dislike ginger)

1.5 cups SR flour
1 flat tsp baking powder
1 flat tsp bicarbonate of soda


- Combine the apples and cinnamon first so they have a chance to sit while preparing the rest
- Clamp a square sheet of non stick baking paper on the base of a 24 cm springform pan and very lightly oil
- Hand whisk honey, eggs and oil
- Stir in walnuts, dates and ginger
- Fold in sifted flour and bicarb
- Fold in apple
- Pour into the pan, levelling the top
- Bake in a 170°C preheated oven for 40 minutes then test
- Cool in the pan
- Drizzle with icing (thick paste of icing sugar and any liquid of choice, eg water, juice, coffee, alcohol ) or dust with icing sugar.

(This has been added to the recipe index in post #1)

2018 Edited to add:
Finely chopping the apple is even better.
Dates can be substituted with sultanas.
If half the honey is substituted with molasses the colour and flavour are richer.
Nuts are not essential.
On board I use a silicone pan for all my cake baking now.

[bfloyd4445]

I am still having trouble keeping up with your chocolate cake recipe it has turned out very popular among my friends. <smile>...and now you want me to do apples?

[beverley]

Apple cake rather than apple pie. Interesting .......

I will have to try this one :-)

[Seaworthy Lass]

Originally Posted by bfloyd4445

I am still having trouble keeping up with your chocolate cake recipe it has turned out very popular among my friends. <smile>...and now you want me to do apples?

Britt, try the Date & Banana cake. This is another real winner. I made it again a few days ago for dinner with close friends. All plates were held out for second helpings . I served it with a choc coffee icing with a handful of macadamia nuts in the centre sprinkled with icing sugar. It looked and tasted fantastic.

Have you noticed I am cooking more with honey? You gave me a good nudge to substitute it more frequently.

Originally Posted by beverley

Apple cake rather than apple pie. Interesting .......

I will have to try this one :-)

Being chock a block full of apples makes it a very moist cake. It is lovely served with warm runny custard as a dessert (would suit you well at the moment while in the midst of winter). I originally made it with 3/4 cup of sugar, but it is one recipe that honey works well in.

[Seaworthy Lass]

For everyone but the most ardent butter lovers, yoghurt cake substitutes butter cake extremely well. It is a less crumbly, less rich cake, but a beautifully moist one and it only needs a very brief whisk by hand. While I am cruising in the Med the ingredients are readily available and keep well. Greek yoghurt is superb, so I use it a lot. If unexpected guests drop around, the ingredients for yoghurt cake are usually on hand and if I bake it as muffins (cooking time about 20 minutes) I can have warm cake served within half an hour of a dinghy pulling up.

I usually vary it by adding different combinations of fruit, nuts, spices and citrus rind (lemon rind and sultanas is a quick favourite). I also use this as the base for lemon drizzle cake (see post #5).

Yesterday morning, working on Carsten's premise that "alcohol is always a mitigating factor when confronted with food made without butter or cream", I added raisins soaked in rum. Chunks of dark chocolate were also added, brown sugar used and I added a little cocoa mainly to enrich the colour. If you prefer sticking to butter cake, just try adding this mix to your basic recipe for a great taste sensation .

RUM & RAISIN CAKE

1 cup seedless raisins (or sultanas)
¼ cup rum
100 g dark chocolate, roughly chopped

¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
¾ cup Greek yoghurt
Juice of one lemon and enough milk to make ½ cup liquid in total
1 cup soft brown sugar
2 cups SR flour
1 tbsp cocoa
¼ tsp bicarbonate of soda

- Roughly chop raisins/sultanas to help them absorb the alcohol
- Soak raisins in rum for several hours or overnight in a covered container
- Whisk liquids and sugar
- Stir in raisins and chocolate
- Very gently fold in the sifted flour, cocoa and soda until just combined
- Spoon into a round 24 cm oiled pan
- Bake 180°C approx 35 min (don't overcook as it will dry out).

(This has been added to the recipe index in post #1)

I can report after taking the rest of this cake racing yesterday, that it goes very well even with beer . The entire cake was demolished in about ten seconds.

[Coops]

A litlle idea for the chocoholics,

How to make chocolate bowls. [VIDEO]

Coops.