Pecans are one of our favourite nuts; they’re a very versatile ingredient and suit lots of flavour combinations. Coffee, chocolate, maple syrup and coconut are some of the pairings that work really well with pecans.
As a quick and healthy snack, I lightly toast some pecan halves then combine them in with some mixed dried fruit such as raisins, sultanas, dried cranberries and chopped dried apricots. The mixture can also be scattered over cereal or breakfast porridge.
If you fancy including them in cake or cookie dough, These are 6 of our top pecan recipes.
Since lock-down, Justin has been the one that’s been going into the supermarket while I wait in the car outside. Last week, I asked him to get me some walnuts as they’re great in chocolate cake and brownies. When he got back to the car, he said that there weren’t any walnuts, so he bought a bag of pecans.
I love pecans, they’re one of my favourite nuts; I’ve used them in mixed nut brittle, cookies and blondies. This time I’ve made a pecan toffee loaf cake.
The original recipe, from the BBC Good Food website, is double the amount and makes a round cake that serves eight. There are only 2 of us, so I made a little loaf cake. After I’d put it in the oven, I thought that it would have improved it if I’d sprinkled a couple of tablespoons of Demerara sugar over the top first. It would have given an extra crunchy bite… next time, maybe.
It went down a treat with a cupppa (coffee for me, tea for Justin) – the toasted pecan topping, the little bit of mixed spice and drizzle of maple syrup at the end really worked well together. A side serving of vanilla ice cream is another yummy accompaniment.
100g/3½oz butter, softened, plus extra for greasing
100g/3½oz light muscovado sugar
½tsp mixed spice
2 eggs, beaten
70g/2½oz self-raising flour
maple syrup, to serve
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Instructions
Put 50g of the pecans into a food processor and pulse until fine before decanting them into a mixing bowl
Put the dates into a small saucepan with enough water to cover, boil for 5 minutes until very soft. Drain, discarding the liquid, then whizz in the processor until puréed. Leave to cool
Heat your oven to 180ºC/fan 160C/Gas mark4
Butter and line a 500g/1lb loaf tin
Beat the butter, sugar and spice together until lighter and creamy
Tip in the dates, ground pecans, eggs and a pinch of salt and beat briefly until smooth
Fold in the flour with a metal spoon, then spoon into the loaf tin and level the top
Sprinkle the remaining pecans over the top (don't press them in), then bake for 30 mins or until risen and golden and an inserted skewer comes out clean
Allow to cool for a few minutes before removing from the tin, slicing and serving
Notes
Jane Hornby advises to serve warm, with generous drizzles of maple syrup and scoops of maple crunch ice cream
Justin enjoyed it with a scoop of vanilla ice cream
I have found my new ‘go to’ sourdough loaf recipe; a run-of-the-mill, no frills method that has worked for me perfectly every time. I give you… **loud trumpeting sound** the Buckfastleigh sourdough loaf!
It’s the unfussiest sourdough loaf recipe I’ve come across, and it’s also the best tasting. With the scarcity of strong bread flour (all flour, to be fair) because of the Covid lockdown, I bought a few kilos direct from Shipton Mill and boy, did their Extra Course Organic Wholemeal Flour make a difference to the finished loaf. The flavour was incredible; I won’t be going back to the common or garden supermarket own brand version.
The recipe came from Gordon, a small-scale baker who bakes 5 times per week, selling his loaves locally. I’m not sure if he’s based in the Devon town of Buckfastleigh – which I think may be the origin of the bread’s title.
The recipe directions are very spare; perhaps not the best to give a go if you’re a complete newbie. However, he gives a more detailed breakdown of the method (broken down into two separate posts) – complete with photographs – on the Fresh Loaf blog.
In it, he reveals his views on the matter… about which I wholeheartedly agree:
Sourdough – I do not think there is any magic to it… Here’s my take; It’s just bread. Get over it and just do it.
Sure – you can apply rules, you can take far more care with it that I appear to do, you can regiment the process and create rules – if what you’re after is something extra special. The one loaf a week you make and you want to take pride in it and make sure its the best there is. And that’s fine. I’m making basic daily sourdough bread here and for that, there is nothing special. No tricky processes, no strict timings or (within reason) temperatures. Gordon, on the Fresh Loaf blog
Mix, knead, leave overnight, shape into a boule, put in a cloth-lined basket/banneton, leave to prove (maybe 2 hours, do the finger poke test) and into a 250ºC oven with a cup of water splashed on the bottom (in a metal tin) and down to 210ºC after 12 minutes for another 25 minutes.
This week’s recipe, a rhubarb and cream sponge cake was a winner. However, there are a few things I’d do a little differently next time. Don’t worry, I’ve altered the recipe below to take these factors into consideration.
I can be a very impatient person; I really love rhubarb, but I should have waited a couple more weeks to let it grow before I harvested stems from our one and only little plant. I picked almost all of it for the rhubarb and vanilla sponge pudding last month. I could have done with at least another stick for making my rhubarb syrup.
Another thing, I think a finished sponge sandwich looks neater and better if you bake a single cake and slice it horizontally, than if two separate cakes are cooked and layered one on top of the other… that’s just me. However, on this occasion, I think the amount of cake mix in a single tin was too much and too heavy and the weight of it hindered the rise and made the texture a bit dense.
One thing that I am glad that I did was use up a spare container of extra thick double cream that Morrison’s delivered as a substitute for whipping cream. It was like slathering clottted cream over the rhubarb syrup… yum!
All in all, I think it was a success; it was all eaten in a couple of days. I’ll make it again, with my little adjustments… and perhaps buy another rhubarb crown or two for future years!
If you don’t have Buy Me a Pie! app installed you’ll see the list with ingredients right after downloading it
For the sponge
Pre-heat the oven to 170ºC325ºF/Gas mark 3
Line or lightly grease two 20cm/8" loose-based cake tins
In a large mixing bowl, cream the sugar and butter until light and airy
Lightly beat the eggs and vanilla extract in a 1-litre/1¾pt measuring jug
Pour the beaten egg into the sugar & butter mixture in 3 stages - mixing in thoroughly each time - stir in a tablespoon of the flour if the mixture looks like it will separate
Into a medium mixing bowl, sift the flour, baking powder and bicarb
Fold the flour into the mixture, taking care not to knock the air out
Add equal amounts of the mixture to the 2 prepared tins, level off and bake on the centre shelf of the oven for about 30 minutes
When cooked leave in the tins for a minute before turning them out onto a wire rack to cool completely
For the filling
Place the sliced rhubarb evenly on the bottom of a pan sprinkle over the caster sugar and water
Over a medium heat, bring the pan up to a simmer - stirring gently to allow the sugar to dissolve - for 5-7 minutes until the rhubarb has softened but hasn't lost its shape
While still hot, spoon the rhubarb and syrup over one of the sponge layers. Allow to cool
Whip the cream and spoon it generously and evenly over the rhubarb before placing the other sponge layer on top
Dredge with icing (powdered) sugar and serve
Notes
Refrigerate to store
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H is for Home Harbinger https://hisforhomeblog.com/
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