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[jennywales]

Rum Cake

Ingredients

250g strong whole-wheat or spelt flour
2 tsps baking powder
1 tsp baking soda (bicarbonate of soda)
150g dates, stoned (!) and chopped
100g Brazil nuts, chopped
250g chopped and drained tinned pineapple
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
225g muscovado sugar
2 large eggs
125g corn oil
175 ml dark rum
100g caster sugar

Butter a deep, 20cm ring tin (or you can use an ordinary round cake tin - I find the ones with the removable bottom plate very useful.) Normally these days they are non-stick so there is usually no need to do that lining with baking paper business - just a thin greasing with butter or oil is fine.

Heat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas mark 4.

Get together all the ingredients in advance; weigh out the flour and combine with the baking powder and bicarb; separately combine the dates and nuts with the pineapple; warm the spices and sugar in a sacepan, transfer to mixing bowl, and then add the eggs and beat for three or four minutes. Beat in the oil and 74 ml rum, then the flour mixture. Beat until smooth, stir in the nuts, pineapple and dates, then spoon into the tin. Bake for 40 minutes, until risen and firm to the touch.

In a suacepan, boil the caster sugar with 50 ml water, then remove from the heat and cool before adding the remaining 100ml of rum. Spoon half of the syrup over the cake in the tin and leave for 30 minutes. Turn out the cake, then invert onto a plate and spoon the rest of the syrup over the top.

When I made this the first time I "misread" the quantities of rum, and doubled the input. The cake kept for over a year........(in a tin of course) because it was too rich and alcoholic for people to eat much of it! If you don't like rum you could substitute whisky or brandy.

Notice that this is a cake that is suitable for vegans if a substitute for the eggs is used - I wouldn't want to guarantee how it would come out though!

With acknowledgements and thanks to Mair Marzin!

[Papa 2]

I believe this is the bee's knees.


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WE ARE NOT STRANGERS, JUST FRIENDS WHO HAVE NEVER MET.

[jennywales]

Bought cake is never as good as home-made Papa2!!  

[Jimbob]

[jennywales]

[Tagalie]

I'm thinking of making biscuits for my girly mates this Christmas. Anyone have a basic biscuit recipe please? I will add choc drops/chopped cherries etc and will possibly cut them into rude shapes ho ho ho!

You just need a baking tray to cook them on, right?
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Be good. Don't trust boys.

[Papa 2]

[jennywales]

Tags, I have a recipe for chocolate biscuits of a very rich nature - but the trick is to get the mixture right, so you will need to try it out before you go for the public launch!!

Here is the recipe (my own):

4.5 oz butter
3 oz soft brown sugar
2 good desseertspoons golden treacle
5 oz self-raising flour
4.5 oz broken chocloate pieces (the higher quality the better - people think that cooking chocolate is called that because it is made specifically for cooking - no, it is just cheaper chocolate!!)
2 oz cocoa powder
1 large egg
Chocolate dots to finish (most good supermarkets will have these)

Soften butter and cream together with the sugar (make sure the butter is soft first - you can't do this straight from the fridge, but at the same time warming up the butter over the stove to hurry up the process usually ends in disaster because the oil will separate from the solids and it will become ghee!!)

When the mixture of sugar and butter is creamy, add the cocoa powder, beaten egg and syrup. Mix well. Add flour. Mix again. Stir in chocolate pieces.

Spoon the mixture onto greased baking trays in fairly small separate blobs - the biscuits will spread as they cook, so leave gaps. Put chocolate drops on the top of each pile.

Bake at 170 (c) in the centre of the oven for about 20-25 minutes. Keep an eye out for burning, particularly if you have got a fan oven!

This quantity will be enough for one baking tray of biscuits (say 10 small ones). If you are making shapes, you will have to cut them out before baking, and this mixture might be a bit too "loose" for that. But give it a go! You can only end up with a tray of delicious chocolate biscuits you can eat yourself!!

[lochsong]

[Tagalie]

They sound divine Jenny, I'm sure I'll have no problems disposing of any unsightly failures after a trial run. I don't have a single one of the ingredients in my kitchen though!
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Be good. Don't trust boys.

[jennywales]

[Tagalie]

Not really a grown-up recipe and certainly didn't take ages, but I was very impressed with my attempt at "cooking". My mates were quite enraptured with their biscuit pressies (cinammon with cranberry bits) last night, so it was a great gift to give. Lots of good ideas on this site: http://www.biscuit-recipes.co.uk/index.html


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Be good. Don't trust boys.

[piecja]

recipe sounds good, i must try it
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[jennywales]

Very nice Tags! Well done!

For those of you with a turkey to cook this Christmas.

Defrost properly (if frozen) for at least 24 hours, and probably more.

Fresh or frozen, this works well but you have to keep your nerve!

Place turkey in a deep roasting pan or (preferably) on a rack above a deep roasting pan, after stuffing it in the usual way (I prefer chestnuts and pork forcemeat, but up to individual taste as long as there is plenty of fat/butter in the stuffing.)

24 hours before cooking, in a large saucepan melt a whole block of butter and a whole jar of honey very slowly, Stir to blend. Pour the honey/butter mixture over the turkey. Keep basting the turkey with this mixture at least once an hour (except when asleep) until the turkey is ready to cook. Roast turkey to the usual prescription (20 mins on high heat to start with, then 20 mins per pound on low-ish, as far as I remember, but if you're not sure look it up).

When the turkey is finished cooking it will be black. But the honey/butter glaze will have sealed in the moisture and made a beautiful crisp skin. Let the turkey rest for about 30 mins before carving. Serve as usual.

I am having goose this year, so I will not be doing the above. But it is hard to beat a fine, free-range, organic proper Norfolk Black turkey, if you like turkey (which I don't!)

Stuffing for goose:

Apples from the orchard
Light brown sugar
Butter
Breadcrumbs
Calvados
Dash of sherry vinegar or soy sauce

Stew apples until puree with light brown sugar. Blend puree with butter, breadcrumbs, vinegar and calvados. Stuff goose. Roast as usual.....Goose is very fat, so you could do without the butter and add more breadcrumbs - the Calvados is essential to cut the fat. If you haven't got Calvados, brandy will do.

[lochsong]

Hi Jenny

We had goose about 3 years ago for a change. That is one bird that you need on a rack over a very deep tray. Must've been 3 pints of fat in there after roasting.

It was good though, nice and gamey.

Next mission is to stuff a turkey with a goose with a partridge with a duck with a pigeon with a woodcock with a starling.  
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By the way, that's Master Minded jumping the last at Sandown.