Cornmeal, coconut and marmalade cake

I bought Ottolenghi’s beautiful book ages ago and if I am not mistaken the first recipe I made from it was the semolina, coconut and marmalade cake – it is delicious and the recipe yields two cakes: you can enjoy one while making other people’s day better sharing the second loaf.

One day I wanted to make this cake again, however I did not have any semolina at home. I decided then to use corn flour instead and it worked beautifully. Feel free to use one or the other.

Cornmeal, coconut and marmalade cake
slightly adapted from the wonderful Jerusalem

Cake:
¾ cup (180ml) sunflower oil
finely grated zest of 1 orange
1 cup (240ml) freshly squeezed orange juice
160g orange marmalade
3 large eggs
70g granulated sugar
70g unsweetened desiccated coconut
90g all purpose flour
180g fine corn flour
2 tablespoons almond meal
2 teaspoons baking powder
pinch of salt

Soaking syrup:
¾ cup (150g) granulated sugar
140ml water
1 tablespoon orange blossom water

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Whisk together the oil, orange zest and juice, marmalade, and eggs until the marmalade dissolves. In a separate bowl, mix together all the dry ingredients and add to the wet ingredients. Mix until well combined. The mixture should be runny.
Butter or brush with oil, line two 1-lb loaf pans (8½x4½ in/22x11cm) with baking paper and butter the paper as well. Divide the filling evenly between them. Bake for 45-60 minutes, until a skewer inserted in a cake comes out clean and the tops turn an orangey brown.

Near the end of the baking time, place the syrup ingredients in a small saucepan and bring to a boil, then remove from the heat. As soon as the cakes come out of the oven, start brushing them with the hot syrup using a pastry brush; you’ll need to do this in a few goes, allowing the syrup to soak in for a minute or two before you carry on brushing with more syrup. Make sure you use up all the syrup and it is all absorbed into the cakes.
Cool completely on the pans over a wire rack.

Makes 2 cakes

Crumb cake with orange marmalade and "Girls"

I am here today to make a confession: after trying a couple of times to watch Girls, I finally binge watched the show on a weekend while in bed with a cold. As I watched the episodes, it became clearer to me why I’d hated it in the past: I had a hard time believing that people could be that stupid. I tried to remember things from my twenties and I kept thinking that well, thank heavens I did nothing (or almost nothing) like those girls. I finally understood the reason why watching Girls made me suffer so much: it bothered me to watch people making one mistake after the other, making one bad choice after another.

Maybe that makes a bad person. I don’t know. :S

I hope that I can make up for that by sharing baked goods with the people I love, like I did with this cake: I used orange marmalade and found it that its bitter taste went really well with the sweet of the cake batter and the topping, but if you’re not into bitter flavors swap the marmalade for any other jam you prefer.

Crumb cake with orange marmalade
slightly adapted from the always wonderful Food & Wine magazine

Streusel topping:
½ cup (88g) light brown sugar, packed
½ cup (70g) all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon table salt
4 tablespoons (56g) unsalted butter, cold and diced

Cake:
2 cups (280g) all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon table salt
½ cup (113g/1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup (200g) granulated sugar
3 large eggs
¾ cup (180ml) whole milk
½ cup orange marmalade

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F and butter a deep 20cm (8in) square metal baking pan.

Topping: in a medium bowl, mix the brown sugar with the flour, cinnamon and salt. Add the 4 tablespoons of diced butter and, using your fingertips, rub the dry ingredients with the butter until evenly moistened, then press the mixture into clumps. Refrigerate the streusel until chilled, about 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, make the cake: in a medium bowl, whisk the flour with the baking powder, cinnamon and salt. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat the butter with the sugar at medium speed until fluffy, 2 minutes. Beat in the eggs, one at a time. Scrape down the side of the bowl, then beat in the dry ingredients and milk in 3 alternating batches, starting and ending with the dry ingredients, until just incorporated. Don’t overmix.

Transfer the batter into the prepared pan, spreading it in an even layer. Dollop the orange marmalade evenly over the batter and sprinkle the streusel evenly on top. Bake for about 50 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. (Some of the streusel will sink into the cake.) Transfer the pan to a rack and let the cake cool completely in the pan. Cut into squares and serve.

Makes 16

Jam and rye crumble bars - falling in love with rye flour

There was some beer left from Nigella’s spectacular cake, and I started looking for a good recipe to use it in. I froze part of the beer for another day and part of it was transformed into a rye bread. Very flavorful, it was gladly devoured in open sandwich form – I mixed Brazil and Scandinavia and made the open sandwiches with hearts of palm and cheese. They were extremely simple but oh, so delicious.

I liked the bread so much I couldn’t wait to use the rye flour again, and it was such a revelation to me to use it in baked goods other than bread – I’d seen the recipes before, but hadn’t tried them myself. In these bars, for instance, it adds a very interesting depth of flavor, not to mention it paired beautifully with the jam flavors I chose – I mixed apricot jam and marmalade because I did not have 1 cup of either to use in the recipe, and it ended up being a very nice thing. Because I was using marmalade, I added orange zest to the topping, and you can’t imagine how great my kitchen smelled while the bars were in the oven.

I still have some rye flour left and several ideas in my head from the recipes I’ve seen, like using it in cakes and tarts. Such a wonderful addition to my repertoire – and it all started with a simple (yet delicious) loaf of bread.

Jam and rye crumble bars
slightly adapted from the glorious Good to the Grain: Baking with Whole-Grain Flours

Shortbread base:
55g rye flour
105g all-purpose flour
40g light brown sugar
pinch of salt
75g unsalted butter, melted and cooled
¼ teaspoon vanilla extract

Crumble topping:
70g rolled oats
2 tablespoons light brown sugar, packed
40g rye flour
25g all-purpose flour
1 ½ tablespoons granulated sugar
1/8 teaspoon table salt
finely grated zest of 1 orange
55g unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 cup jam – I used ½ cup apricot and ½ cup marmalade

Position a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat the oven to 160°C/320°F. Lightly butter a 20cm (8in) square pan, line it with foil leaving an overhang in two opposite sides and butter the foil as well.

Crust: in a large bowl, whisk together the flours, sugar and salt. Add the melted butter and vanilla and stir until thoroughly combined. Press the dough evenly into the bottom of the pan. Put the pan in the freezer for 30 minutes.

Crumble topping: add the oats, brown sugar, rye flour, all purpose flour, granulated sugar, salt and orange zest to the bowl of a food processor and process until the oats are partially ground, about 5 seconds. Pour the mixture into a bowl. Add the melted butter and stir with your hands, squeezing the dough as you mix to create small crumbly bits. Set aside.
Bake the frozen shortbread until golden brown and firm when touched, about 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and increase the temperature to 180°C/350°F.
Spread the jam over the shortbread crust and top with the crumble. Bake the bars for about 35 minutes or until golden brown. Cool completely in the pan. Cut into squares to serve.
The bars can be kept in an airtight container for up to 2 days.

Makes 16

Marmalade cake and new things

Jam is something I always have around, but I have a special kind of love for marmalade, so much it has become a staple at my house: its tangy bitterness is great on toast and/or whole wheat bread and it goes well in baking, too – delicious in cake, bar or tart form.

I used to think marmalade was way too bitter, but learned to appreciate it with time – just as I did with beer. Now, it’s really hard for me not to gobble up a spoonful of marmalade while separating ingredients for a baking session. :D

This very easy to make and very tasty cake comes from here – I had never heard of Rosemary Shrager before and the cookbook was a very nice surprise: everything looks wonderful and I have bookmarked several recipes to try. I’d also never heard of David Michôd or Michaël R. Roskam before the excellent Animal Kingdom and Bullhead and now I cannot wait for The Rover and The Drop – new things can be good, people. :)

Marmalade cake
slightly adapted from the delicious Rosemary Shrager's Bakes, Cakes & Puddings

Cake:
250g all purpose flour
1 ¾ teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
pinch of salt
130g unsalted butter, softened
130g granulated sugar
finely grated zest of 1 orange
3 eggs
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
50ml whole milk, room temperature
150g marmalade

Glaze:
¾ cup (105g) confectioners’ sugar
1-2 tablespoons fresh orange juice

Cake: preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Lightly butter a 20cm (8in) square cake pan, line the bottom with baking paper and butter the paper as well.
In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
Using an electric mixer, cream butter, sugar and orange zest until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, and scrape the sides of the bowl occasionally. Beat in the vanilla and the milk.
Fold in the marmalade (mixture might look curdled), followed by the sifted ingredients. Mix until combined. Pour into the prepared pan and bake for about 40 minutes or until golden and a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool completely in the pan over a wire rack, then carefully unmold, remove the paper and place onto the rack.

Glaze: sift the confectioners’ sugar into a small bowl and gradually add the juice, mixing until you get a drizzable consistency. Pour the glaze over the cake and let it set for 20 minutes.

Makes 16 squares

Orange and marmalade bars with almond crust and a certain British actor

Right after I started watching "Game of Thrones" (I have just finished the first season, so no spoilers, please), I accessed Sean Bean's profile on IMDb to check on his age, because on the show he just did not look as his regular charming and handsome self. :) The text says he's England's most versatile actor, and as much as I adore Sean Bean the person who wrote that clearly hasn't been introduced to Gary Oldman. :D

When it comes to versatility Alice Medrich's bars are hard to beat: I have made them in numerous ways already, with and without nuts on the crust, with different jam flavors, you name it. This time I've adapted the recipe once again, using oranges instead of lemons and making it in a larger baking pan so I could feed more people with it. Delicious.

Orange and marmalade bars with almond crust
adapted from the delicious Chewy Gooey Crispy Crunchy Melt-in-Your-Mouth Cookies by Alice Medrich

Crust:
180g all purpose flour
60g almond meal
75g granulated sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
¾ cup (168g) unsalted butter, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Topping:
¼ cup (50g) granulated sugar
3 tablespoons all purpose flour
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
225g marmalade
½ cup (120ml) freshly squeezed orange juice

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Lightly butter a 20x30cm (12x8in) baking pan, line it with foil, leaving an overhang in two opposite sides. Butter the foil as well.

Crust: place the flour, almond meal, sugar and salt in a large bowl and mix to combine. Add the butter and vanilla and mix until smooth. Press dough evenly on the bottom of the prepared pan. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until fully baked and golden brown in the center.
Towards the end of the cooking time of the crust, make the topping: in a medium bowl, stir together the sugar and flour. Whisk in the eggs and vanilla. Stir in the marmalade, breaking up any large pieces, then stir in the orange juice. Pour the filling over the crust. Bake for another 10-15 minutes or until the topping no longer jiggles when the pan is tapped. Cool completely over a wire rack. Cut into bars.
Bars can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

Makes 24

Chocolate marmalade slump cake

An open jar of marmalade in the fridge – left from making brioche – had to be used and since it was such a delicious product I had to make something just as good. Lucas Hollweg’s cake was the perfect choice: moist, full of chocolate flavor and gluten free (for those of you who follow that kind of diet).

That was a good use for an excellent ingredient (not exactly like Robert Zemeckis using the crew members of “Cast Away” to film “What Lies Beneath”). :D

Chocolate marmalade slump cake
from the beautiful and delicious beyond words Good Things to Eat (I bought mine here)

150g unsalted butter
150g good dark chocolate (60-70% cocoa solids), chopped – I used one with 53% cocoa solids
100g chunky orange marmalade
finely grated zest of 1 large orange
125g granulated sugar
4 eggs, separated
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
a pinch of salt
½ cup (45g) cocoa powder
icing sugar, for dusting

Preheat the oven to 190°C/375°F. Lightly butter a 20cm (8in) round cake pan with a removable bottom, line the bottom with a circle of baking paper and butter the paper as well.
Melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Remove from the heat, add the chocolate and let stand for 1-2 minutes. Stir until melted and smooth. Put the marmalade and zest in a food processor and blitz to a slush. Add the sugar and whizz in. Stir into the chocolate mixture.
Beat the egg yolks vigorously into the chocolate mixture, then beat in the vanilla. Sift the cocoa powder over the top and beat that in as well. Put the egg whites in a clean bowl with the salt and using an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whip until they form soft peaks. Beat a third of the whisked egg whites into the chocolate mixture to loosen it a little, then carefully fold in the rest.

Pour the mixture into the prepared pan, smooth the top and bake for 30 minutes, or until the centre is set. Cool for 30 minutes over a wire rack, then carefully remove it from the pan. Dust with icing sugar. Serve warm or at room temperature with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.

Serves 6-8

Marmalade and raisin brioche - much better than a certain pie

Even though I wasn’t happy with the winner of “The Great British Bake Off” I did have lots of fun watching the show – therefore, after Tania and Ana told me about the American version of the show I watched the first episode (which was focused on pies) and now I don’t feel like watching it anymore. :S

Mary Berry is not in the show, the host is annoying and the contestants aren’t interesting at all. And after a pie made with peanut butter, chocolate and BACON ranked so well among the other pies I thought I should quit the show - if not wanting bacon mixed with chocolate makes me a conservative person so be it. I found that pie really disgusting, but Paul Hollywood adored it – I prefer something more normal and, to me, far tastier: his wonderful brioche, the one I have made several times already, this time filled with marmalade and raisins.

Marmalade and raisin brioche
slightly adapted from the excellent How to Bake (I bought mine here)

Brioche:
500g strong white bread flour + extra for dusting (I used all purpose flour)
½ teaspoon table salt
½ cup (100g) granulated sugar
10g dried yeast
140ml whole milk, warm
5 large eggs
250g unsalted butter, very soft

Filling:
200g marmalade
½ cup golden raisins

Put the flour into the bowl of a mixer fitted with a dough hook. Add the salt and sugar to one side of the bowl and the yeast to the other. Add the milk and eggs and mix on a slow speed for 2 minutes, then on a medium speed for a further 6–8 minutes, until you have a soft, glossy, elastic dough. Add the softened butter and continue to mix for a further 4–5 minutes, scraping down the bowl periodically to ensure that the butter is thoroughly incorporated. The dough should be very soft. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight or for at least 7 hours, until it is firm and you are able to shape it.
Butter a 20x30cm (8x12in) baking pan.
Take your brioche dough from the fridge and transfer to a lightly floured surface. Knead 3-4 four times, then roll it out onto a 35x20cm (14x8in) rectangle. Spread the marmalade evenly on top of the dough and sprinkle the raisins on top. Roll it like a cylinder, beginning with the longer side. Cut into 9 slices then arrange them about 2.5cm (1in) apart onto the prepared pan. Cover with a clean kitchen towel and leave to prove for about 1 hour.
Preheat the oven to 190°C/375°F.
When the brioche is proved, bake for 20-25 minutes or until brioche is golden brown. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Makes 9

Marmalade muffins + moments of stress in the kitchen

I was talking to my father about my mother the other day and I remembered something she used to do when my brother and I were little: every time she made a cake she would let us lick the bowl, which was something we both enjoyed very much (I might have told you that already but I’m not sure – 936 posts will do that do one’s mind). :) She was a fabulous baker and baked very often, not only because she loved it but also because she wanted my father and I to have something tasty in our lunch boxes.

Licking the bowl is a sport I still practice – in fact, I’ll gladly try most doughs and batters before actually baking them. What I did not expect was that this habit would actually save me a great amount of stress after a baking session: Sunday morning and I set out to make muffins. I chose Delia Smith’s marmalade muffins because I love anything marmalade and wanted to give that beautiful book a try. The batter was ready in no time and soon the muffins were in the oven. While they baked, I started making the bed and all of a sudden it hit me: I hadn’t added any sugar to the batter!!! O_O I ran back to the kitchen, grabbed the recipe and read it again – no, there was no sugar in it. It wasn’t my mistake. Then I remembered how good the batter tasted and felt instantly relieved: the marmalade alone would be enough to sweeten the muffins. Phew.

These muffins are not too sweet – obviously :) – and the marmalade topping make them even tastier. I’m a sucker for marmalade but I believe these could work with other preserves, too – apricot comes to mind, or maybe raspberry paired with lemon zest.

Marmalade muffins
slightly adapted from the master Delia Smith (mine was bought here)

225g chunky orange marmalade
1 cup + 1 tablespoon (150g) all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
pinch of salt
finely grated zest and juice of 1 large orange
whole milk, if necessary
1 heaping tablespoon almond meal
1 large egg
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
50g unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled

To finish the muffins:
2 heaping tablespoons orange marmalade

Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F. Line a 1/3-cup capacity muffin pan with 9 paper liners and fill the remaining cavities halfway up with water.
Place the marmalade in a small bowl and give it a good stir to loosen it up. In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. Zest and juice the orange, then measure the juice – you’ll need ½ cup (120ml); if you don’t have enough juice, make it up with some milk.
In a small bowl, whisk together the zest and juice (and milk, if using), almond meal, egg, vanilla and melted butter. Pour these ingredients into the flour mixture and lightly whisk with a fork – do not overmix or your muffins will be tough. Fold in the marmalade. Divide the batter between the muffin liners and bake for 18-20 minutes or until risen and golden and a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in the pan over a wire rack for 5 minutes, then carefully unmold onto the rack and cool. You can serve these muffins warm or at room temperature – before serving, spread the extra marmalade on top of each muffin.

Makes 9

Yogurt cake with marmalade glaze and a solved dilemma

The whole vacation song dilemma got solved after all: in the end, throughout my entire trip, Phoenix’s “1901” got stuck in my head in such a deep way that it ended up putting the other two songs aside up to this moment. Go figure. :D

Dorie’s delicious yogurt cake with marmalade glaze got stuck in my head for ages, but the “Tuesdays with Dorie” event made me completely ignore the cookbook for months; I don’t even know if it still goes on, but I used to find it oh, so annoying – nothing personal, but it drove me crazy to read the same recipe over and over in so many different blogs. :/
The jar of orange marmalade I had home was the perfect excuse for this recipe, and the cake turned out so good I bought another jar of marmalade just to make it again. :D

Yogurt cake with marmalade glaze
from the always great and now interesting to me again Baking: From My Home to Yours

Cake:
1 cup (140g) all purpose flour
½ cup (50g) almond meal
2 teaspoons baking powder
pinch of salt
1 cup (200g) granulated sugar
finely grated zest of 1 lemon
½ cup plain whole-milk yogurt
3 large eggs
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
½ cup (120ml) vegetable oil

Glaze:
½ cup orange marmalade
1 teaspoon water

Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 180°C/350°F. Generously butter a 21x11xcm (8½x4½in) metal loaf pan and place it onto a baking sheet.
Whisk together the flour, almond meal, baking powder, and salt into medium bowl.
Combine the sugar and zest in a medium bowl and using your fingertips rub the sugar into the zest until fragrant. Add the yogurt, eggs and vanilla and whisk vigorously until smooth. Still whisking, add the dry ingredients, then switch to a rubber spatula and fold in the oil. Scrape batter into prepared pan.
Bake until cake is golden brown and begins to pull away from sides of pan and tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 50 minutes. Cool cake in pan on rack 5 minutes. Carefully cut around pan sides to loosen cake. Turn cake out onto rack. Turn cake upright on rack and cool completely.
Glaze: stir marmalade and water in small saucepan over medium heat until marmalade melts. Brush hot mixture over top of cake. Let glaze cool and set before serving.

Serves 8

Gingerbread, pear and almond tart

I got hypnotized by this tart when I first saw it on the DH mag – it looked so beautiful and delicious! My first thought was to make it at the end of the year and post the recipe as part of my Christmas series, but then I remembered that pears are at their peak now, and I had a small amount of marmalade in the fridge (left from a cake I’d made a couple of weeks before) that ended up being the exact ¼ cup called for in the tart recipe; as the universe had conspired in my kitchen before and the results were wonderful, I went ahead and made the tart, and that turned out to be a very smart decision. ;)

Gingerbread, pear and almond tart
from the always gorgeous and delicious Donna Hay Magazine

½ cup + 1 tablespoon (127g) unsalted butter, softened
½ cup (88g) brown sugar, packed
2/3 cup golden syrup (I used corn syrup)
2 2/3 cups (373g) all purpose flour
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon baking soda
pinch of salt
½ cup (50g) almond meal
1 ½ tablespoons granulated sugar
3 firm pears, halved lengthwise, each half cut in 4-5 slices
¼ cup (50g) granulated sugar, extra
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
¼ cup orange marmalade
icing sugar, for dusting
whipped cream, for serving

Place the butter and sugar in the large bowl of an electric mixer and beat until pale and creamy. Add the golden syrup, flour, ginger, baking soda and salt and beat until mixture just comes together to form a smooth dough. Divide in two equal portions and form each one into a rough rectangle. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for 1 hour.
In a small bowl, mix together the almond meal and the 2 tablespoons of sugar. Set aside. Place the pears, extra sugar, vanilla and marmalade in a large bowl and mix to combine.
Line a large baking sheet with foil. Roll each portion of dough between two pieces of lightly floured baking paper until you get a 20x30cm (12x8in) rectangle. Sprinkle the almond meal mixture down the center of each dough rectangle, leaving a 5cm (2in) border. Place the pear filling on top of the almond meal and fold the edges of dough over the pears. Transfer to the prepared sheet. Refrigerate the tarts for 20 minutes – in the meantime, preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F.
Bake for 30-35 minutes or until cooked and golden. Cool in the pan over a wire rack – you can serve the tarts warm or at room temperature.
Dust with the icing sugar and serve.

Makes 2 tarts, each serving 4-6

Marmalade and almond tart and being persistent

Some people say I'm stubborn – myself included, sometimes – but this time I’ll choose the term “persistent”. :)

Remember those silly pastry strips from the other day? The ones that almost ruined my Saturday morning? Here they are, in this beautiful – and delicious – tart. Or did you think I was going to give up on this recipe just like that? ;)

This tart is for marmalade fans – and I am definitely part of that group; if you’re not into bitter flavors go for apricot or other kind of preserves/jam.

Marmalade and almond tart
slightly adapted from the always wonderful Australian Gourmet Traveller

300g sweet pastry*
¼ cup (56g) unsalted butter, softened
1/3 cup + 1 tablespoon (78g) superfine sugar
finely grated zest of ½ orange
1 large egg
1 tablespoon Cointreau
1 cup (100g) almond meal (ground almonds)
220g marmalade
1 lightly beaten egg, for brushing – I used heavy cream

Roll out two-thirds of the pastry between two pieces of lightly floured baking paper to 3mm thick. Line a lightly buttered 30x10cm (12x4in) tart pan (with a removable bottom), trim edges, prick all over with a fork and refrigerate for 1 hour. Roll out remaining pastry to 3mm thick, cut into 1cm strips and refrigerate on a tray for 1 hour.
Preheat oven to 180°C/350°F; beat butter, sugar and orange zest until light and fluffy (1-2 minutes). Beat in eggs, one at a time, and liqueur. Scrape the sides of the bowl, then beat in the almond meal. Spread in the pastry case and bake until filling just sets (12-15 minutes). In the meantime, remove the pastry strips from the fridge. Remove tart from oven, stand for 5 minutes, then very carefully spread the marmalade over the almond filling – be gentle so the jam doesn’t sink in the filling. Arrange pastry strips in a lattice pattern over the top and brush lattice with egg wash/heavy cream, bake until pastry is golden (15 minutes) and filling is bubbly. Remove from the oven and cool the tart in the pan over a wire rack. Dust with icing sugar to serve.

* I doubled this recipe, which gave me 800g pastry; I used 300g for this tart and froze the remaining pastry for another use

Serves 6

Wholemeal apple and marmalade cake

Back in 2009 my dear friend Valentina introduced me to Nigel Slater – it was love at first sight. His delicious recipes, beautiful garden and passionate way of speaking about food – clear without being patronizing – were a perfect combination.

I really do not know why it took me so long to buy one of his books, but I certainly started with a wonderful one. This cake is absurdly tender – despite being made entirely with whole wheat flour – and the apples go really well with the marmalade. Great with a cup of tea.

Take a look at Nigel’s website and I’m sure you’ll instantly become a fan, too. :D

Wholemeal apple and marmalade cake
slightly adapted from the gorgeous Tender Volume II

1 cup (226g/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 ¼ cups (218g) light brown sugar, packed
4 large eggs
1 ¾ cups + ½ tablespoon (250g) whole wheat flour
1 ¼ teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
220g apples – I used Gala apples
125g orange marmalade
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
demerara sugar, for sprinkling (about 2 tablespoons)

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Lightly butter a 20cm round cake pan*, line the bottom with baking paper and butter the paper as well.
In the large bowl of an electric mixer, using the paddle attachment, beat the butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Meanwhile, sift together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt, and pour back into the bowl any bits of grain that may remain in the sifter. Peel, core and roughly chop the apples (about 1cm). In a small bowl, mix the apples, marmalade and vanilla.
Add the eggs, one at a time, to the butter mixture, beating well after each addition – add 1 tablespoon of the flour mixture if the batter starts to curdle. Scrape the sides of the bowl. In low speed, add the sifted ingredients and mix only until incorporated. With a rubber spatula, fold in the apple mixture. Spoon into the prepared pan – batter will be thick. Sprinkle with the demerara sugar and bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes or until risen and golden and a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool completely in the pan.

* I used a high pan (8cm) – less than that and it won’t be large enough to hold the batter

Serves 8-10

Marmalade bread and butter pudding

Yesterday I did two things for the first time in my life: I made bread pudding and watched “Fargo”.

Let’s just say that the dessert was a thousand times better than the movie – and for the record, I like the Coen brothers. Even though I’m 14 years late for this, I think Frances McDormand should mail her Oscar to Kristin Scott Thomas, Brenda Blethyn or Emily Watson – the award should have gone to any of the three.

 

Marmalade bread and butter pudding
adapted from Donna Hay magazine

softened butter, for spreading
8 thick slices bread
1 cup marmalade
2 cups (480ml) whole milk
1 cup (240ml) single (pouring) cream
3 eggs
½ cup (100g) caster sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 tablespoons demerara sugar
custard, ice-cream or double (thick) cream, to serve

Preheat oven to 160°C/320°F. Butter the bread slices, spread half with marmalade and sandwich with remaining slices.
Cut in half and arrange in two 3 cup-capacity (720ml) ovenproof dishes. Place the milk, cream, eggs, caster sugar and vanilla extract in a bowl and whisk well. Pour over the bread. Allow to soak for 1–2 minutes. Sprinkle over the demerara sugar and place in a large deep baking dish. Add enough boiling water to come halfway up the sides of the dishes.
Bake for 1 hour 5 minutes or until just set. Serve with custard or cream.

Serves 6