Moroccan Style Beef Stew with Oranges & Beetroot

We love the flavours of North Africa: with ingredients such as spicy coriander and cumin, fragrant cinnamon and orange flower water, hot chilli and ginger, sour pickled lemon, salty olives and sometimes even the sweetness of fruit, although readers of other pages on this site will know that I am not keen on very sweet fruit with meat.  I was delighted, therefore, to be given a Tagine for my birthday: not absolutely necessary to cook the dishes but lovely to look at and use for serving and especially for entertaining.  Along with the Tagine, I was also given a recipe book containing a good selection of ideas for using my new pot.  This was the first recipe that caught my eye: we love beetroot cooked with meat and in combination with orange the dish sounded unusual and delicious. 

This recipe was taken from Tagine: Spicy Stews from Morocco by Ghillie Başan.  I have altered the quantities and proportions a little and have adapted the recipe for cooking in the oven.  (My Tagine cannot be used on the stovetop as I have an electric cooker with a ceramic hob.)  I served the Tagine with wedges of butternut squash oven baked with olive oil and a sprinkling of Ras el-Hanout, a spice mixture which is exclusive to North Africa (I mix my own) along with Couscous flavoured with pickled lemon and fresh coriander.  I often add chickpeas to the couscous mixture but these would also be good added to the Tagine at the same time as the orange segments.

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Moroccan Style Beef Stew with Beetroot & Orange
(Serves 4-6)

1-2 tablespoons olive oil (original uses ghee)
3-4 cloves garlic, crushed
2 large red onions, halved lengthwide and sliced
1inch/2.5cm piece of fresh ginger, peeled and grated (amount can be increased)
½ red chilli, deseeded and chopped
2tsp coriander seeds, crushed
2 cinnamon sticks
3-4 beetroots, peeled & quartered (uncooked)
1lb/500g lean beef, cut into bite sized pieces
2 or 3 thin skinned oranges, segmented
1tbsp dark, runny honey
1-2 tsp orange flower water
Sea salt & freshly ground black pepper
1 knob of butter
2-3 tbsp shelled pistachio nuts
a handful of fresh coriander, chopped (original uses flat leaved parsley)

This recipe can be either cooked on the hob, as in the original instruction, or at Step 6 transferred to the oven and baked. 
If using the oven it should be pre-heated to 160^oC Fan/170^oC/325^oF/Gas 3

1.  Melt the oil in a pan (alternatively a Tagine or lidded casserole dish suitable for stove top use) and stir in the garlic, onion and ginger until they start to colour.

2.  Add the chilli, crushed coriander seeds and cinnamon stick.

3.  Add the beetroot pieces and cook gently for 2-3minutes. 

4.  Add the beef and gently cook for 1 minute.

5.   Pour over enough water to almost cover the beetroot and beef.  Bring to the boil. 

6.  Transfer to a Tagine or ovenproof dish with a well fitting lid and place in the oven.   Alternatively leave in the pan, cover and reduce heat.  Cook for 1 hour, until the meat is very tender.

7.  Add the orange pieces, honey and orange flower water and season.  Cook, covered, for a further 10-15 minutes.

8.  Melt the butter in a small pan and lightly brown the pistachio nuts over a medium heat.

9.  Sprinkle them, with the coriander or flat leaved parsley, over the meat mixture and serve.

North African Spiced Baked Chicken with Pickled Lemon

This recipe came as a surprise.  It landed in my email Inbox from someone I do not know, via two people I do as was part of an internet recipe sharing scheme that I had taken part in (not really expecting to receive any replies).  I had forwarded recipe exchange emails twice before, but in both cases had heard nothing more, let alone receive the flood of good recipes that the emails promised me!  (By the way, I usually delete emails that ask me to forward them to others and promising me ‘rewards’, but this seemed like an interesting idea.) 

I love the flavours of North African cooking, especially the spices combined with the sourness of pickled lemon with the saltiness of  olives, but I am not especially keen on dishes which include a lot of very sweet fruit.  However, in spite of this, I did not leave out the prunes as most of my family are very fond of them: I just chose to add some olives as well, especially for myself.  As the prunes and olives are added towards the end of the cooking time their flavours complement the dish without really cooking fully into it affecting the overall flavour.  I always use home made Pickled Lemon which is simple to make.  This recipe is ideal for cooking and serving in a tagine, if one if available, but it is not absolutely necessary.

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North African Spiced Baked Chicken with Pickled Lemon
(Serves 4)

1 tsp coriander seeds
1 tsp cumin seeds
½ tsp cardamom seeds
½ tsp paprika
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 tbsp oil from pickled lemons or Olive Oil
4 chicken portions, skin on
2 medium red onions, cut into wedges
2 medium green peppers, de-seeded and thickly sliced
2 fresh bay leaves
8 slices of pickled lemons
8-12 plump no soak prunes
8-12 pitted green (or black) olives (optional – not in original recipe)
1-2 tablespoons coarsely chopped fresh coriander or flat leaved parsley, to garnish

Recipe needs a day long or overnight marinade to allow the flavours to develop. 

1.  Heat a small, dry frying pan on a low heat until warm. Add the whole coriander and cumin seeds and cardamom pods.  Cook, shaking the pan frequently, for a few minutes until the spices give off their fragrance.  Do not overcook so they burn.  Grind the roasted spices in a grinder or pestle and mortar. Combine with the paprika, ½ tsp salt and ½ tsp ground black pepper. Mix to a paste with the oil.

2.  Cut diagonal slashes on the skin side of the chicken and rub in the spice paste.  Alternatively remove the chicken skins and rub the pieces with spice mixture.

3.  Place the chicken in a tagine or baking dish with a well fitting lid.  Add the onions, peppers and bay leaves. Turn so that all the vegetables are coated with the oil. Cover, leave to stand for at least 4 hours.

4.  Preheat the oven to 190^oC/370^oF/Gas 5.  Uncover the chicken and cook for 20 minutes, occasionally basting with the juices.

5.  Lay the lemon slices over the chicken, tuck in the prunes and scatter over the olives.  Cook for a further 15-20 minutes or until the chicken is fully cooked and the vegetables are starting to brown.

6.  Garnish sprinkled with the chopped herbs.

7.  Serve with couscous, pilau rice or millet.

North African Style Pickled Lemon & Lime

Pickled lemons are traditionally used in North African dishes.  The sourness of lemon or lime and the saltiness of olives can be cooked together with meat or fish, often in a traditional Tagine, or served as an accompaniment at the meal.  (I will be posting a delicious recipe for North African Spiced Baked Chicken with Pickled Lemon in the next week or so.)  The pickle is delicious finely chopped and stirred into Couscous.  The original recipe also suggests placing pieces on fish fillets before baking or using the lemon oil/vinegar as in dressings or on fish and chips for a spicy lemon flavour.  I tried, unsuccessfully, to make pickled lemons some years ago and was loth to try it again, but I experimented with a very small quantity with a different recipe and this time found it to be extremely successful.  The lemon and/or lime pickle is very quick and simple to make and can be used after three or four days, although three weeks is recommended to allow the fruit to start to soften.

This recipe was taken Crosse & Blackwell/Sarsons Vinegar Perfect Pickles by Suzanne Janusz.  (The recipe for Lime Pickle, a spicy accompaniment for Indian Food with a very different taste, was taken from the same booklet.)  This recipe is for finely sliced lemons and limes but it can be made with lemons or limes alone and I have seen whole and halved lemons prepared in a similar way, although I have not tried this.  I see no reason why larger pieces of fruit could not be used although they would probably need longer to absorb the pickling mixture.  It is better to make several small sized pots as the lemons start to deteriorate, becoming over soft, once the pot has been opened.  For this reason too it would be wise to reduce the ingredients, making a smaller amount, where the pickle is just for occasional use. 

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North African Style Pickled Lemon & Lime
(Makes aprox 1ltr/1½pints)

6 lemons or limes (I used a mixture – 3 of each)
25g/1oz salt
15ml/1tbsp paprika
30ml/2tbsp caster sugar
75ml/5tbsp sunflower oil
300ml/½pint white distilled pickling malt vinegar

This recipe needs to be started the day before.

1.   Scrub and finely slice the lemons and/or limes.

2.  Layer the fruits and salt in a non-metallic colander or sieve.  Cover with a non-metallic cover (not touching the fruits) and leave in a cool place for 24hrs.

3.  Before preparing the pickle wash and sterilise the jars.  I usually do this by filling them with boiling water and putting the lids in a separate small bowl of boiling water.  Pour away the water just before filling each jar and once the jar is full immediately take the lid from the bowl and without touching the inside screw it onto the jar.  Although the contents for the jars in this recipe are not heated the hot lid should contract and form a seal: if re-using a jam jar with a ‘pop in/out indicator’ on top this may well contract.  However, the seal cannot be guaranteed so it is best to make occasional small quantities rather than one large batch.

4.  Do not rinse the fruit.  Layer in sterilised jars sprinkling paprika between the layers.

5.  Mix together the sugar, oil and vinegar. Pour this mixture (unheated) over the fruit.  Seal the jars. (See note above at 3.) 

6.  The jar should regularly be gently shaken to mix together the oil and vinegar.  Allow to mature for a few days and ideally up to three weeks before using.  Store in a refrigerator once open.

Ras el-Hanout

Ras el-Hanout, meaning literally “top of the shop”, is a blend of herbs and spices that is used to flavour food across North Africa.  There are many recipes online and all are slightly different but have quite a number of ingredients in common.  Ras el-Hanout is now widely available in specialist and ethnic shops but as I had almost all the ingredients in my store cupboard I decided I would have a go at making my own.  The one ingredient I did not own was dried rose petals, but I felt I would like to include them for the exotic fragrance they would bring so I was pleased to track some down in a local Turkish Cypriot supermarket.

I found the mixtures on two websites (the Epicentre and the BBC) particularly helpful and my mixture is broadly based on these recipes, plus the optional addition of lavender which appears in some of the mixtures and which I feel also gives fragrance associated with the Mediterranean region.  The ground cloves and black cardamom pod are also optional.  Sometimes Ras el-Hanout mixtures list more unusual ingredients.  These are often difficult to obtain, but are less essential so they are not included in my mixture.

A word of warning:  the essential oil in Lavender is considered to be unsuitable for those who are pregnant as it can bring on premature labour.  It would be wise if the Lavender was omitted when serving a dish flavoured with Ras el-Hanout to someone who is or might be pregnant.  (Keep Lavender ready ground for adding separately.  Add pinch or two to the spice mixture as needed rather than including it in the whole mixture.)

Ras el-Hanout

1tsp ground cumin
1tsp ground ginger
1tsp turmeric
¾tsp ground cinnamon
¾tsp freshly ground black pepper
½tsp ground coriander seeds
½tsp cayenne
½tsp ground allspice
½tsp ground nutmeg
½tbsp fennel seeds
2tbsp dried Damascan rose petals (but I would add more in future, say 5g/½oz)
½tsp mustard seeds
2 blades mace
8-10 green cardamom pods
1 black cardamom pod (optional)
½ tsp cloves (optional)
Keep separately and add a pinch as required (see note above):
Ground dried lavender (optional)

1. Gently roast all the ingredients over a low heat in a metal frying pan.  This should not take long: just until the seeds start to pop.  Toss gently once to ensure even cooking.  When the seeds pop again remove the pan immediately before they burn. 

2.  While it is still warm grind the mixture to a fine powder in a grinder or pestle and mortar.

3. When cool store in an airtight container.

4.  Use as a flavouring for North African savoury dishes and couscous.

Chocolate Rice Krispie Nests

On Good Friday we make Hot Cross Buns to remember Jesus’ death on a cross and it therefore seems appropriate to mark Easter Sunday and beyond with the symbolic use of eggs to represent the resurrection and the new life that Jesus brings.  I bought some little pastel coloured sugar coated eggs to decorate my Simnel Cake in a ‘take a bag and scoop and do-it-yourself’ shop.  Then, on a whim, I bought a few more: I, or perhaps my daughter, could make some little chocolate cereal nests.  Most people with children are likely to have had these brought home from school and may even have made them in a family home cooking session.  However I realised that the last time I made them it was with a special kit that came with a packet of Rice Krispies so I did not really have a recipe.  Searching online was simple and there seem to be two methods.  One includes butter/margerine and golden syrup.  The quick and simple method, the one I have chosen, is just melted chocolate and cereal, with the optional  of adding extra ingredients such as coconut, raisins or cherries.  Cornflakes can be substituted for Rice Krispies as can, I understand, Shredded Wheat: I have not tasted this last, though it could look rather like the twigs in a nest.

An internet search led me to the Netmums site and a recipe called Chocolate Crispies.  There are two or three other simple recipes (including one for Banana Flapjack, which is a good way of using a glut of ripe bananas).  We included some sultanas for good measure, finishing with sugar eggs – a hen and chicks were also added as Easter decoration.  The original recipe is for a larger amount of chocolate but we scaled it down for the one bar of chocolate that I had bought and found 24 nests to be ample (I was more generous with the raisins than the original). There is also a suggestion that cornflakes or other cereal could be used if you don’t have rice crispies and that the nests could be served with chopped bananas.

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Chocolate Rice Krispie Nests
(Makes  24)

150g/5ozs chocolate (I used dark: Green & Blacks Fairtrade 72% Chocolate for Cooks)
80g/3ozs Rice Krispies
50g raisins
Mini eggs: sugar coated, foil coated or jelly type – 1 per cake
Alternative extra ingredients: coconut, glace cherries, dried cranberries, chopped nuts – amount may be more or less than 50g depending on personal preference.)

1.  Gently melt the chocolate in a bowl over a saucepan of water on a low heat. (Alternatively use a bowl and quick bursts of heat in the microwave.)

2.  Put in the rice crispies and raisins (or alternative extra ingredient if you have chosen one) and stir until well covered with chocolate.

3.  Place individual paper cases into small tart or muffin tins and put spoonfuls of the mixture into these. 

4.  Place 1 or 2 mini eggs on top while still the chocolate is still soft (number depends on size of eggs/nests and personal choice). Leave to cool and set – can be put in the fridge for a short time.

5.  Lovely for tea-time on Easter day decorated with a small edible egg, or at any time of the year replacing the sugar egg with half a glace cherry.  At Christmas a piece of cherry and two pieces of green angelica give the seasonal look of holly.

Meandering past my 1st ‘Blogiversary’

‘Meanderings through my cookbook’ was officially launched one year ago today.  I started adding recipes and transferring posts from my other blog in the few weeks prior to this date, but it officially went live on 1 April 2009. 

In the past year there have been:
Posts – 150
Comments – 41 
Total Views (midnight, 31 March 2010) – 11,372
Highest number of views in one day – 160 (21 January 2010)

The most viewed post of my first year is:
Australian Spiced Roast Pork – 687 views 

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Followed by:
2.    Creamy Pasta with Bacon & Courgettes – 608
3.    Divine: Heavenly Chocolate Recipes with heart: … – 390
4.    Roast Lamb with Orange & Rosemary – 387
5.    Basic Recipe: Simple Tomato Sauce – 339
6.    Courgette & Lentil Gratin – 318
7.    Double Salmon & Avocado Pizza – 303
8.    Tarte au Citron – 254
9.    Spanish Style Pork & Peppers – 244
10.  Raspberry Bakewell Pudding – 240 

(This list is unchanged from the top 10 most viewed recipes of 2009 and it will be interesting to see how it changes in the coming months.)  Most recipes listed have been posted for a number of months so have had plenty of time to attract viewers, however rising rapidly though the ratings is Fragrant Marmalade Cake which was posted this year on 5 March 2010, so less than a month ago.  It has already reached number 13, attracting 168 views in a few short weeks.  I wonder where it will be at the end of the calendar year, or when I celebrate my second Blogiversary?

In the past year I have posted many of our favourite family recipes, plus some newly discovered ones which I fully intend to make again and in some cases have done so already. There are more recipes waiting to be posted plus lots of ideas to try out. 

Thank you for reading this post: thank you for visiting my meanderings: I do hope that you will come back again in the coming months to ‘Meander through my cookbook’ with me!  

hopeeternal

Meanderings ‘à la carte’ – March 2010

March ’Meanderings’ …

Pictured (top to bottom)
‘Oxford’ (& ‘Cambridge’) Style Seville Marmalades
Fragrant Marmalade Cake
Easter Biscuits
Bran Brack – Irish Tea Bread

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The first of March dawned bright and sunny and spring is most definitely in the air with a row of daffodils now making a lovely yellow splash in the garden.  The scents of Spring are starting to be on the air.  Floral fragranced food has appeared this month, with orange flower water added to both cake mixture and icing and also rosewater infusing desserts.  Lavender is also commonly used as a culinary flavouring, with Lavender sugar being easy to make by simply putting a few stems in a jar of sugar and leaving it to absorb the scent.  Lavender is also sometimes used in Herbes de Provence, a fragrant herb mixture from the south of France.  All of these scents can also be used in ice creams and as the summer goes on I shall be getting out the ice cream maker again in order to try them.  I have also been researching another bottled fragrance I have seen in shops: Kewra water (from the Pandanus flower), but have yet to buy a some.  I’d like to have a recipe or two to use first: if you have a one to share, please do get in touch via the comments box below. 

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So what have I been up to in the kitchen this month?  I started with a marmalade making session, having found some Seville oranges on the market.  These have such a short season and can be found for just a few short weeks from late January to late February. I made what I have called ‘Oxford’ (& ‘Cambridge’) Style Seville Marmalades.  I had been planning to post some cake recipes, so started with some citrus ones: Fragrant Marmalade Cake and Lemon Drizzle Bread, followed by a Fragrant Chocolate Orange Marble Cake using the versatile basic recipe for The Adaptable Sponge.  I then moved on to some of our favourite family fruit cakes: Bran Brack – Irish Tea Bread and a much used family recipe called ‘Knock Up’ Fruit Cake, which can be easily adapted with a variety of ingredients: I separately posted a Apricot, Date & Brazil Nut Cake version of this cake where I doubled the quantity to make two cakes, one of which was for Mothering Sunday teatime.  Finally there is Gingerbread Cake, which I first learned to make at school but has stood the test of time and Nigel Slater’s unusual but delicious Beetroot Seed Cake.

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Easter this year falls at the very start of April so at the end of March and in Holy week I shall make my usual pre-Easter food preparations.  The Simnel Cake is looking lovely – I use the family Special Occasion Cake recipe handed down from my Nanna: my father’s mother.  There will be Spicy Hot Cross Buns, of course, using the same Nigella Lawson recipe as last year, with Cardamom giving a lovely fragrance.  I shall also be making Easter Biscuits and am hoping my daughter will help me make some Chocolate Rice Krispie Nests using the extra sugar coated eggs I have bought.

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March is a busy month for celebrating.  We have birthdays, a wedding anniversary and usually Mothering Sunday as well: all these dates usually falling within a few days of each other.  I love feeding friends and family to celebrate special occasions and was delighted to give mum a special birthday meal.   We ate Duck Stewed in a Vietnamese Style Spiced Orange Sauce, which was flavoured with Star Anise, a recipe from Rick Stein’s Far Eastern Odyssey that I had seen him make on TV in Saturday Kitchen.  I had previously made a chicken version and knew that it was delicious as well as slightly unusual.  (Mum likes trying new things.)  This was served with some Thai Jasmine Rice and some simply stir fried vegetables. Dessert was Cherry & Rosewater Pavlova Meringue Roulade, from a recipe by Rachel Allen.  I will definitely be making these again, I made some simple stir fried veggies, but I need to experiment to find a good Thai vegetable recipe.  

Recently, I have started to post only two rather than three recipes each week, due to time commitments.  However, to keep to the spirit of three posts a week, I have started adding Meanderings Revisited, a brief midweek post linking to a favourite recipe from my archive.  

Finally, on 1 April I will have been Meandering through my Cookbook for one year, my 1st cookbook ‘Blogiversary’.  I am amazed at how many posts there have been and the variety of material I have covered.   Here’s to my second year: I have lots of lovely recipes waiting to be shared, so watch this space! 

March Recipes …

Basic Recipe: ‘Knock Up’ Fruit Cake
Basic Recipe: The Adaptable Sponge

Apricot, Date & Brazil Nut Cake
Beetroot Seed Cake
Bran Brack – Irish Tea Bread
Fragrant Chocolate Orange Marble Cake
Fragrant Marmalade Cake
Gingerbread Cake
Sylvia’s Lemon Drizzle Bread

Easter Biscuits

‘Oxford’ (& ‘Cambridge’) Style Seville Marmalades

Meanderings Revisited (links to original post):
Creamy Pasta with Bacon & Butternut Squash
Simple Cheese & Tomato Topped Baked Fish
Spicy Hot Cross Buns
Spicy Chicken with Chickpea Couscous 

Read Meanderings ‘a la carte’ from previous months 

‘For what we are about to receive…’ April 2010 and beyond

Food Focus – North African style food: Tagine meals, accompaniments & desserts using North African Spices (Harissa, Ras el-Hanout) & Rosewater
Recipe Book(s)
…from my shelf – Tagine: Spicy Stews from Morocco by Ghillie Basan
…from the Library – Food & Cooking of Africa & the Middle East by Josephine Bacon &  Jenni Fleetwood
Non Fiction Food book – (still reading) Climbing the Mango Trees by Madhur Jaffrey 

There will continue to be a taste of Easter in the recipes posted at the start of April.  Mostly, however during April, I will be posting some of the North African style recipes I have tried in the past few weeks, especially recipes to go with or using the Tagine I received for my birthday in February.  I have been learning about the spice mixture Ras el-Hanout, which I have mixed myself and have also used Rosewater as a flavouring in several dishes.  The Rosewater proved to be a revelation – fragrant and delicious, I am definitely hooked! 

Thinking further ahead, as the evenings get lighter I hope that the food will get lighter too (and possibly my waistline too!)  A chance, perhaps, to get back to simpler foods with more salads.  

Wishing you a very Happy Easter and…
…Happy Eating!

Easter Biscuits

The word biscuit literally means twice cooked, taken from the Latin bis (twice) and coquere (to cook). It is this slight cooling followed by a second burst of heat that gives crispness to a biscuit, a method used by the recipe I use for Easter Biscuits.  Sure enough the resulting biscuits are light and crisp and very ‘moreish’: a crispy sugar topped treat for Easter.  These Easter Biscuits are similar to the round ‘fruit shortcakes’ that can be found in shops, sometimes called ‘squashed fly biscuits’ (although I know that this title can also be given to the long Garibaldi biscuits).  I am not sure why they should particularly be associated with Easter.  Easter Biscuits are said to have originated in the West Country of Britain where they were given as gifts on Easter Sunday, (though they are also claimed by Shropshire and probably other places as well).  They were often larger too, measuring up to 4 inches (10cm) across.  An article in the Times, which includes an alternative recipe (untried by me) suggests that the ‘tradition’ be moved to Easter Monday.  Not all recipes include the mixed spice with some Easter Biscuits including lemon zest, such as this Netmums recipe (also untried by me). I will definitely add zest next time, even though there is already mixed peel in the recipe. 

The recipe used below comes from The Women’s Institute Book of Biscuits which was published jointly with Mornflake Oats.  For these small biscuits I used a 2 inch (5cm) cutter: a metal one is good as it cuts through the pieces of fruit.  However, I like the idea of bigger biscuits and I will definitely be making them larger next time.

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Easter Biscuits
(Makes about 3 dozen x 2inch biscuits)

175g/6ozs plain flour
75g/30zs butter
75g/3ozs caster sugar
50g/20zs currants
15g/½oz candied peel
Large pinch of mixed spice
1 egg yolk
Scant 2 fl ozs milk
Glaze:
1 egg white (or a little milk)
Caster sugar

1.  Preheat the oven to 170^oC Fan oven/180^oC/350^oF/Gas 4.  Grease 2 or 3 baking sheets.

2.  Cream the butter and the sugar together and beat until it is soft and fluffy.

3.  Add the egg yolk, spice, fruit and flour and mix together.

4.  Add just enough milk to make a stiff dough.  If the dough becomes sticky then add a little more flour but too much flour will make the biscuits a little hard and less rich.

5.  Roll the dough out thinly on a floured surface.  Cut rounds and place them fairly closely on the greased baking sheet:  they do not need too much room for expansion.

6.  Bake for 15-20 minutes.  After 10 minutes remove the trays from the oven, brush the biscuits with egg white or a little milk and sprinkle with a little caster sugar.  Return them to the oven for the remaining time – remove when just starting to become golden.

7.  Remove from the trays and cool on a wire rack.  Store in an airtight box or tin.

Gingerbread Cake

Do you find that some recipes stay with you down the years?  This cake is one I learned to make in Domestic Science (Cookery) when I was at school.  Seems a long time ago now, but it has stood the test of time.  (The original recipe uses the old Imperial measurement of the gill.  I remember learning: ‘4 gills are 1 pint, 2 pints are 1 quart, 4 quarts are 1 gallon, 1 pints are 1 gallon …’ so there you are, proof that I listened in school!  Nevertheless I have converted it to a more measurable amount for the 21st Century.)  The teacher called it simply Gingerbread but, as I usually now connect this word with something more like a biscuit, I have added the word Cake to the title.  There are one or two other good recipes in my old exercise book which ought to be added to this site at some future date. 

The recipe uses a technique (my 12year old handwriting says) called the ‘melting method’: the sugar and oils are gently heated together until liquid and then combined with the dry ingredients.  The basic recipe is for a plain ginger cake but sultanas or raisins could be added, but for real ginger lovers crystallised ginger or ginger marmalade could be included instead or as well.  I think it would be possible to make a citrus/ginger version but have not tried a it: experiment by replacing some of the milk with juice and/or adding orange or lemon rind or marmalade.  The proportions of 50% Treacle and 50% Golden Syrup can be adjusted as well to give a less treacly version.  The school version was baked in a square tin, but I have successfully made it in a round tin as well and am sure that it could also be baked in a loaf tin. The cake is finished with a dusting of icing sugar or drizzled icing.  Alternatively a sticky top could be achieved by adding a sugar & water glaze – see Fragrant Chocolate Orange Marble Cake.

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Gingerbread Cake

6ozs/170g self-raising flour
1tsp/5g ground ginger
¼tsp/1.25g mixed spices
¼tsp/1.25g cinnamon
pinch salt
2ozs/55g black treacle
2ozs/55g golden syrup
20zs/55g dark brown sugar
3ozs/85g lard (try white vegetable fat as an alternative, but I have never tried it)
1 egg
¾gill/scant 4fl ozs/110ml milk
¼tsp/1.25g bicarbonate of soda

Additional flavourings to add (but not all at the same time), not in original recipe:
20zs/55g dried fruit or chopped crystallised ginger – optional
2tbsp marmalade or ginger marmalade – optional
grated lemon or orange zest – optional
lemon or orange juice, in place of milk – optional

1.  Preheat oven to 170^oC Fan oven/180^oC/350^oF/Gas 4.  Line a 7inch/18cm square tin with baking parchment.  Alternatively use an 8inch/20cm round tin or a 2lb loaf tin (see picture).

2.  Sift together the flour, spices and salt.

3.  Put the treacle, syrup, sugar and lard in a saucepan and carefully heat together on a low temperature until melted.  Do not boil.  Leave to cool a little.

4.  Beat the egg and pour into a well (a depression) in the centre of the flour.  Add a little of the melted mixture and blend together.  Continue to mix together gradually until all the melted mixture is used up.  If using orange or lemon zest, dried fruit or crystallised ginger it should be added at this point.

5.  Add about three-quarters of the milk and stir in.  Blend the bicarbonate of soda into the remaining milk and stir into the rest of the cake mixture.  Beat very well.

6.  Pour the mixture into the prepared tin.

7.  Bake for about 50mins-1hour.  Cover with a piece of tin foil for the final 15 minutes of cooking time if the cake starts to get too dark. 

8.  Remove from the oven and sprinkle with icing sugar.  For a sticky surface brush with a mixture of sugar dissolved in water before the cake dries.

8.  Can be served both as a cake and as a dessert with custard or cream.

Beetroot Seed Cake

It used to lead to raised eyebrows, but carrot is more or less universally accepted these days as a cake ingredient, however beetroot is less so.  Now though, especially following some recipes and publicity in Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s River Cottage television series, where it was used to make Beetroot & Chocolate Brownies, it is now becoming a little more well known.  I stumbled across this Beetroot Seed Cake recipe online, when looking for a soup idea.  It was on the same page as Parsnip & Split Pea Soup: I got side-tracked and thought I would give it a go.  (I did make the soup too and must post it sometime.)  The finished cake really didn’t taste of beetroot.  My family could not work out the ‘secret ingredient’ in the cake and thought the red splashes might be dried cranberries or cherries.  When first mixed the bright pinky-red cake mix was rather unnerving, but the resulting cooked cake was surprisingly un-red.  Actually I was rather sorry about that, but the cake itself did not disappoint.  It was moist and delicious, especially when still warm and was not too sweet.  The grated beetroot had become slightly caramelised, with a lovely crunch from the added seeds.   I will definitely be making this again and not just because it is a talking point.   It has started me wondering about using other root vegetables in cakes.  I wonder what parsnip would be like: it’s already quite sweet so could be a good candidate for an experiment.  There is an interesting sounding recipe for Parsnip, Lemon & Walnut Cake on the Good Food Channel website, but I would be pleased to have other recommendations.

The original recipe for Beetroot Seed Cake came from Nigel Slater’s column in the Guardian online (April 2007).  The only change I made was with the oven timings, as I found it needed a longer cooking time: about 1hr 10-15 mins rather than 50-55mins.  The cake looked rather strange at the stage when the oil, sugar and egg were combined, but became more like a conventional cake mixture when the dry ingredients were added.  I used a third each of sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds and linseeds but these can be varied according to personal preference.  I decided to leave my cake as it came from the oven, however Nigel Slater suggests topping the cooled cake with a drizzled scented icing made from 8tbsp sieved icing sugar combined with either lemon juice or orange flower water and sprinkled with poppy seeds.  This should be left to set before serving.

'Meanderings through my Cookbook' http://www.hopeeternalcookbook.wordpress.com

Beetroot Seed Cake
(Serves 8-10)

225g/8ozs self-raising flour
2.5g/½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
Scant 5g/1tsp baking powder
2.5g/½ tsp ground cinnamon
180m/6½fl ozs sunflower oil
225g/8ozs light muscovado sugar
3 eggs
150g/5½ozs raw beetroot
juice of half a lemon
75g/3ozs sultanas or raisins
75g/3ozs mixed seeds (25g/1oz each sunflower, pumpkin, linseed)

1.  Preheat oven 170^oC Fan oven/180^oC/350^oF/Gas 4.  Line a 20cm x 9cm x 7cm loaf tin with baking parchment.

2.  Sift together the dry ingredients: flour, bicarbonate of soda, baking powder and cinnamon.

3.  Beat the oil and sugar together until well creamed. Separate the eggs and reserve the whites for later.  One by one gradually introduce the beaten egg yolks to the mixture and mix in well.

4.  Peel the beetroot, grate it coarsely and fold it into the mixture.  Add the lemon juice, raisins or sultanas and the  seeds. Fold in the dry ingredients.

5.  Beat the egg whites until they are light but not too stiff.  Gently but thoroughly combine them with the mixture using a large metal spoon.

6.  Turn the mixture into the prepared cake tin.  Bake for 70 – 75 minutes.  Cover the top of the cake with some tin foil after 30 minutes. When cooked the cake should be moist inside but not sticky.  A skewer inserted into the centre will come out clean if it is cooked.

7.  Leave the cake in the tin for 20-25 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool.