These days I am spending my spare time trying out new recipes. Well, new to me even though the recipe books have been on my shelves for some years.
Three of the books lingering on the shelves are Yotam Ottolenghi's Plenty, Plenty More and Jerusalem. Plenty More has definitely found favour with me. I made Ottolenghi's walnut and halva cake. Not just full of flavour but also full of texture: the chalkiness of the halva contrasted with the moist baked batter and chopped nuts. The savoury recipes were for cauliflower cake, ricotta and rosemary bread pudding (the recipe is more interesting than the taste), and aubergine cheesecake (essentially, roasted slices of aubergines baked in a cheesy custard).
While Felicity Cloake's recipe for tagine worked well, it's her cake recipes that have scored me lots of likes on FB: her rhubarb frangipane cake was heavenly. More importantly, her simnel cake has raised the bar in terms of what to expect at Easter. The spouse worships the sugar-dusted ground I walk on! (I hope.)
My big achievement was making parathas. I hadn't done it before despite my Anglo-Indian background. I have cherished memories of my father patiently kneading the dough and then frying the lovingly folded and rolled triangles. I was scared of failing and not living up to his standard. Of course, in the end, they were easier to make than I'd expected. The recipe was from Rick Stein's India, which also contains the recipe for mango fool and cardamom shortbread. Useful tip: if you can't get fresh mangoes (they're not in season until April), use canned mango pulp and don't add sugar.
Other sweet things I've baked include farmhouse biscuits, uncooked cherry chocolate biscuit cake, pecan maple muffins and banana gingerbread. That last one is a firm family favourite. The two offspring used to squabble over who would get to eat the end slices!
Now, on a different note I want to give a shout-out to the spouse. He has tasked himself with doing something creative every day and is making huge strides in several activities. Don't just take my word for it: check out his blog Meat Punk Spit, the title of which is inspired by graffiti on a pillar on the Palmerstown by-pass (also known as the R148).
And now it's time to sign off. Knitting to do.
Minnie
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| Walnut and halva cake |
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| This year's simnel cake |
My big achievement was making parathas. I hadn't done it before despite my Anglo-Indian background. I have cherished memories of my father patiently kneading the dough and then frying the lovingly folded and rolled triangles. I was scared of failing and not living up to his standard. Of course, in the end, they were easier to make than I'd expected. The recipe was from Rick Stein's India, which also contains the recipe for mango fool and cardamom shortbread. Useful tip: if you can't get fresh mangoes (they're not in season until April), use canned mango pulp and don't add sugar.
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| My first paratha |
Other sweet things I've baked include farmhouse biscuits, uncooked cherry chocolate biscuit cake, pecan maple muffins and banana gingerbread. That last one is a firm family favourite. The two offspring used to squabble over who would get to eat the end slices!
Now, on a different note I want to give a shout-out to the spouse. He has tasked himself with doing something creative every day and is making huge strides in several activities. Don't just take my word for it: check out his blog Meat Punk Spit, the title of which is inspired by graffiti on a pillar on the Palmerstown by-pass (also known as the R148).
And now it's time to sign off. Knitting to do.
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| Rhubarb frangipane tart |
Minnie
Of course I worship the sugar-dusted ground you walk on. That simnel cake was delightfully delicious. Thank you for your kind words about meatpunkspit.com. x
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