Cakes & Bakes: Ginger stout loaf

I’ve made a few ginger cakes before, however, this ginger stout loaf is probably the most moist, treacly, dark and delicious of them all!

I’ve had a couple of bottles of Hatherwood Purple Panther porter in the fridge since before Christmas. I’ve not tried them yet, we’re having a Dry January… does cooking with alcohol count as breaking the fast? I’ve only used about a quarter of the bottle, so I’m wondering how to use the leftovers… baking-wise. I’ve used it in the past in chocolate cake and bread, so perhaps something different this time. What do you recommend?

I’ve halved the original recipe, which is a Bundt cake that serves 12. It called for 3 large eggs. How do you halve 3 eggs? Well, I whisked up the 3 eggs and poured half of the mixture into the batter. I used the other half in a frittata for lunch… waste not, want not!

We’ve had lots of cold, damp, misty, murky weather of late. This rich, warming cake – served alongside a nice strong cup of tea – or with some piping hot custard – is the perfect antidote.

Click here to save the recipe to Pinterest if you want to try the recipe soon!

Ginger stout loaf

2018-01-10 13:12:19

Serves 8

Cook Time

45 min

Cook Time

45 min

Ingredients

120ml/8 fl oz stout/porter
6tbsp molasses
3tbsp ginger in syrup, chopped finely
2 medium-sized eggs, at room temperature
1tsp vanilla extract
100g/½ Muscovado sugar
100g/3½ Demerara sugar
100ml/3½ fl oz vegetable oil
125g/4½oz plain flour
¼ teaspoon baking soda
½tbsp ground ginger
½tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp ground cloves
¼ tsp freshly grated nutmeg
¼ tsp freshly ground black pepper
¼ tsp allspice
¼ teaspoon fine sea salt

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Instructions

Heat oven to 175ºC/350ºF/gas mark 4
Grease & line a 1kg/2lb loaf tin with parchment paper
Pour the stout and molasses into a medium-sized saucepan, bring to a simmer, stirring to combine. Remove from the heat, set aside and allow to cool
In a large mixing bowl, combine the chopped ginger, eggs, vanilla extract, Muscovado sugar and Demerara sugar until the mixture is no longer gritty
Slowly add the oil, mixing all the while
Slowly add the stout mixture and mix until well combined
Carefully add the dry ingredients in two parts, mixing well in between each addition.
Pour the batter into the prepared tin
Bake for 45-55 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the middle comes away clean
Cool in the tin for 15 minutes before removing and allowing to cool completely on a wire rack

Notes

Serve warm with custard or allow to cool completely before topping with cream cheese icing

By The Marrow in the West Village

Adapted from New York Times

H is for Home Harbinger https://hisforhomeblog.com/

Cakes & Bakes: Prune tea loaf

We’ve been having a busy first few days of 2018. I’ve been a bit tardy again this year with preparing & filing our tax returns so I wanted this week’s Cakes & Bakes to be quick and simple. This prune tea loaf is just the ticket!

Armagnac is the perfect pairing for prunes. However, if you prefer, you can swap this out for an equal quantity of freshly-brewed, strong black tea.

Serve warm, cut into thick slices, buttered generously accompanied by a cup of tea. After my little break, it’s back to doing the accounts!

Click here to save my recipe to Pinterest for a later date!

Prune tea loaf

2018-01-03 17:45:39

Serves 8

Cook Time

45 min

Cook Time

45 min

Ingredients

200g/7oz prunes (Agen ones are best)
2-4 tbsp Armagnac
2 eggs
100g/3½oz brown soft sugar
250g/9oz self raising flour
75ml/2⅔fl oz milk

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Instructions

Preheat the oven to 170ºC/325ºF/Gas mark 3
Grease & line a 900g/2lb loaf tin
De-stone and roughly chop the prunes and put them into a medium-sized mixing bowl
Pour the Armagnac over the prunes - it should just about cover all the fruit
Cover with a reusable food cover for about half an hour to allow the fruit to absorb the liquid
In a measuring jug, lightly beat the eggs before adding them to the soaked prunes and any un-absorbed liquid
Add the sugar and flour and combine well
Mix in the milk to loosen the batter
Spoon evenly into the lined loaf tin and sprinkle a little granulated sugar evenly over the top
Bake for 45 minutes or until an inserted skewer comes away clean
Leave the loaf in its tin to cool for 5 minutes before turning it out on to a wire rack

Notes

The loaf will keep for a couple of weeks (if it lasts that long!) if wrapped in baking parchment and kept in an airtight container in a cool place

H is for Home Harbinger https://hisforhomeblog.com/

Cakes & Bakes: New York maple-walnut cheesecake

Baked cheesecake is both Justin’s and my favourite kind of cake. I often make it for special occasions such as when we’re having people over to visit. The last time friends came to stay, I made a New York maple-walnut cheesecake. It was such a hit – with us and them – that I’ve been looking forward to making it again and sharing the recipe on here.

I found the recipe on the New York Times website. It’s pretty similar to the one that I make using a Gordon Ramsay recipe, with one… or should I say two great additions. Including maple syrup in cheesecake is delicious; Tossing and coating walnuts in hot maple syrup and then sprinkling them over the top is candied heaven on earth!

I made a few little adjustments to the NYT’s original New York maple-walnut cheesecake recipe. For a start, I cut down on the quantities; much as I love cheesecake, 12 portions is too much for just the two of us. I also swapped the Graham cracker base for the more usual British version of digestive biscuit crumbs. Lastly, I doubled the amount of maple syrup in the actual cheesecake mixture as I thought the flavour was a little too subtle.

Also, the original method included an initial hot bake at 260ºC/500ºF for 15 minutes. This, I think, is to give the top of the cake a nice golden brown colour. It would have completely burnt my first attempt if I hadn’t been keeping an eye on it. This time around, I lowered the temperature and duration of this stage… it turned out perfectly!

The walnuts can be substituted for other nuts, I’d think that pecans or Brazil nuts – or both – would be wonderful.

Click here to save the recipe for later!

New York maple-walnut cheesecake

2017-12-19 12:52:09

Serves 8

For the base

200g/7oz digestive biscuits (about 14 biscuits)
50g/1¾oz unsalted butter, melted

For the cheesecake

600g/21oz cream cheese
2tsp cornflour
200g/7oz caster sugar
120ml/4fl oz maple syrup
2 eggs + 1 egg yolk
60ml/2fl oz double cream

To finish

60ml/2fl oz maple syrup
1tsp cornflour
115g/4oz walnut halves

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Instructions

Preheat the oven to 175ºC/350ºF/gas mark 4

For the base

In a bowl, grind the digestive biscuits to fine crumbs (I use the end of a rolling pin)
Add the melted butter to the bowl and toss with a fork until the butter has moistened the crumb mixture
Grease the sides of a 23cm/9-inch, spring-form cake tin and scatter the crumbs evenly over the pan bottom, pressing it down using the bottom of a straight-sided glass or back of a spoon
Bake for 10 minutes and allow it to cool

For the cheesecake

Raise the oven temperature to 200ºC/400ºF/Gas mark 6
With an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese until soft and fluffy (about 2 minutes)
Combine the flour and the sugar and add this mixture and half of the maple syrup to the cheese in thirds, mixing after each addition
Add the eggs and the yolk to the mixture, one by one, beating after each addition
Add the heavy cream and mix again
Pour the batter on to the cooled base and bake for 5 minutes
Lower the oven to 90ºC/200ºF/Gas mark ½ and bake for a further hour
Switch off the oven, leave the door ajar and allow the cheesecake cool in the oven for ½ hour
Chill in the refrigerator for 4 hours but no more than 24

To serve

In a small saucepan, heat the remaining maple syrup over a low heat until it bubbles. Allow to simmer gently for 1 minute until it has thickened slightly
Whisk in the cornstarch and turn off the heat
Add the walnuts and turn to coat
Spread them out on a piece of parchment paper to cool and harden into praline
Sprinkle over the cheesecake

By Matt Lee & Ted Lee

Adapted from New York Times

H is for Home Harbinger https://hisforhomeblog.com/

Cakes & Bakes: 24-hour sourdough loaf

Someone over on our Instagram feed asked when I was going to share the recipe for the 24-hour sourdough loaf that I’d photographed. I forgot that I’d never actually blogged about it, so here it is!

It’s my new favourite sourdough bread recipe because it helps me plan my baking time to a tee. No more hanging around at bedtime for my bread to be ready to take out of the oven. You start at “zero hour” with a refresh of the starter and end with taking it out of the oven.

The 24-hour duration is a fairly loose timing. You can stretch or shorten the timeline to suit by warming or cooling the environment of the starter and the rising dough. I like to time it so that my final proof takes place overnight. The recipe suggests refrigerating the dough for this 8-12 hour stage however, our downstairs cloakroom gets really cold at night – and the banneton takes up a lot of space – so I do the rise in there.

It means I can get up in the morning, pre-heat the oven and La Cloche and enjoy lovely, fresh sourdough for breakfast!

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24-hour sourdough loaf

Vanessa Kimbell

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Course Bread

Cuisine British

Equipment

Reusable food cover
1.5kg round banneton
Grignette/lame for slashing dough
La Cloche baking dome

Ingredients

585 ml/20½fl oz water at 27ºC
180 g/6⅓oz 1:1 100% hydrated, fresh sourdough starter that's been refreshed the night before and again in the morning (Hour 0)
900 g/31¾oz strong white bread flour
9 g/⅓oz fine sea salt
a little rice flour for dusting your banneton I can't recommend this enough!!

Instructions

Hour 6

In a bowl, whisk the warm water and starter and mix well
Add the flour and salt (combined well) and mix until all the ingredients come together into a large ball
Cover with a reusable food cover / cling film and let the dough rest in a cool environment for 1½ hours

Hour 8½

Lift and fold your dough over, do a quarter turn of your bowl and repeat three more times. Repeat hourly 3 more times

Hour 12½

Shape your dough lightly and place into a dusted banneton
Cover with the reusable food cover or damp tea-towel and leave to prove on the side until the dough has risen by about 50%. This normally takes about 2 hours in a kitchen that is about 18-20 degrees, then transfer to the fridge for 8-12 hours

Hour 24

In the morning, preheat the oven to 220ºC for 30 minutes to 1 hour before you are ready to bake with your La Cloche in the oven. The dish or La Cloche must be very hot
Take the dish out of the oven and sprinkle a little flour over the bottom
Put your dough into the La Cloche and slash the top of your bread using a grignette (or lame) then place the lid back on top and return to the oven as quickly as possible. Bake for 45 minutes
Turn the heat down to 190ºC, remove the lid and bake for another 15-20 minutes

Keyword bread, loaf, sourdough