Nectarine & Plum Sponge Cake

I'm sure you all recognise this scenario.  Trays of beautiful stone fruit at the supermarket, luring you beguilingly with their rosy-tinged skins.  Overwhelmed with desire for these seductive beauties, you fill a bag and scurry home in anticipation of that first tangy bite, which you take standing at the kitchen sink to catch all the juices that will be running down your chin and your arms.  You raise that delicate orb to your lips, close your eyes and sink in your teeth, and .... blech ... your eyes spring open with the disappointment of floury, flabby flesh, tough skin, and complete absence of any flavour.  I don't know why I keep buying stone fruit, as I am so often deeply disappointed.  I know that in reality the only way to experience a beautiful peach is picked straight from the tree at perfect ripeness, but still somehow I live in hope and am lured in time and again.  This summer, the fruit seems to have been even more disappointing than usual.

Fortunately, such disappointing fruit can be redeemed by cooking it.  I have made big batches of fruit roasted in the oven with a liberal sprinkling of vanilla sugar and a good dousing of my "44" - this makes a great dessert served with good vanilla ice cream or mascarpone, or is also beautiful for breakfast with some Greek style yoghurt and a sprinkling of nuts.  I've made crumbles and cakes.  Even adding a few bright, zingy flavours like chilli, lime and coriander to make a salsa can offer some vague redemption for otherwise lack-lustre fruit.

This week I made a Nectarine & Plum Sponge Cake to salvage some less than perfect fruit taking up real estate in my fruit bowl.  The recipe comes from Julie Biuso's book Sweet Feast.  This is Julie's latest book, and is a selection of her favourite dessert recipes.  This is the fourth book by Julie Biuso that I've now added to my cookbook collection, and like all the others this one does not disappoint.  Everything is beautifully photographed, and the recipes are clear, easy to follow, and, most importantly, reliable.  The book is divided into sections - cakes and sponges, tarts and pies, special occasions, comfort, chocolate, and festive - and at the end of each section is a really useful "cooking class" offering technical advice and hints.

This recipe comes from the cakes and sponges section of the book, and although the original recipe was for little individual nectarine sponge cakes, I chose to incorporate some plums as well and made one large cake instead of individual ones.

Nectarine & Plum Sponge Cake

Adapted from recipe by Julie Biuso

from Sweet Feast

Serves 8-10

Click here for a printable copy of this recipe

200g (7 oz) standard flour

3 teaspoons baking powder

2x large nectarines

2 or 3 plums

2 tablespoons caster sugar

1-1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

2 large free-range eggs, room temperature

225g (8 oz) caster sugar

125g (4-1/2 oz) butter

170ml (3/4 cup) milk

icing sugar for dusting

Preheat your oven to 200 degrees C (390 degrees F), regular bake.

Grease and line the base and sides of a 23cm loose-bottomed or springform cake tin.

Sift the flour and baking powder together and set aside.

Remove the stones from the fruit and cut the flesh into slices.  Set aside.

In a small bowl, mix the 2 tablespoons of caster sugar and cinnamon together, to make a spice sugar.  Set aside.

Put the butter and milk into a small saucepan, heating gently until the butter has melted.

Meanwhile, break the eggs into a bowl and, using an electric mixer, beat for about 1 minute, then continue to beat constantly as you add the caster sugar one tablespoon at a time.  Keep beating, until the mixture is very pale and thick - the mixture will form ribbons when you lift the beaters from the mixture, and it will have almost a mousse-like quality.

Sift half the flour and baking powder mixture over the egg mixture and gently fold in with a large metal spoon.  Add the rest of the flour mixture and fold in.  The mixture will be quite thick.

Bring the milk and butter up to a quick boil and pour it, still bubbling, over the cake batter, stirring continuously.  Mix until fairly smooth, but don't worry about any small lumps.

Pour the batter into the prepared cake tin.  Arrange the sliced fruit over the top of the batter, and sprinkle with the spiced sugar.

Bake for 30-35 minutes until golden on top and a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean.  Cool in the tin on a wire rack for 10 minutes, before removing from the tin and allowing to cool completely on the rack.

Dust with icing sugar and serve with yoghurt or mascarpone.

I loved this cake - it was deliciously moist, and I love the fruity tanginess when you bite into a piece of the nectarine or plum.  This is a good sized cake, which makes it ideal for serving a crowd - it offers 8 generous servings, and could probably easily stretch to 10 or 12 if serving as part of a larger meal.  It kept well for several days, and I actually thought it was better on day 2 than the day it was made.  It was great for breakfast too.  What? ... toast and jam/cake and fruit ... same/same, no different, as far as I'm concerned.  End of story.

I hope you'll give this a cake a try - I'm sharing it this week at Cookbook Sundays, where my friends are delving into their cookbook collections and sharing some of their recipes.  Do stop by to see what they're cooking - you might even feel inspired to link up a recipe from one of your own cookbooks.

I am also sharing this post with Sweet New Zealand, a monthly blog event created by the very lovely Alessandra Zecchini, and which this month is hosted by the equally lovely and incredibly talented Shirleen at Sugar & Spice and All Things Nice. This is an opportunity for all Kiwi bloggers (whether you are living in New Zealand or overseas), as well as for non-Kiwi bloggers living in New Zealand, to connect and share some of those sweet treats from your kitchen.  So, head on over to Shirleen's and share something sweet.

                

I'm also sharing this post at Foodie Fridays hosted by Designs by Gollum, and at Gallery of Favourites hosted by April at The 21st Century Housewife.

Fried Zucchini, Pea & Quinoa Salad for Cookbook Sundays

What do you do when life gives you zucchini?  Anyone who has ever grown a zucchini or courgette plant knows just how prolifically these things can produce.  I have just one plant in my garden, and I'm picking two to three of these wee babies every day.

The joy of growing them oneself is being able to pick them when they are little bigger than your index finger, often with the flower still attached.  This, in my view, is when they are at their absolute best - the skin is glossy and crisp, and the flesh delicate and creamy.  I've sliced them thinly with a mandoline and eaten them raw in all manner of salads.  I've grilled them.  I've grated them and turned them into Kolokithokeftedes - the courgette fritters, spiked with mint and dill, and served with garlicky tzatziki that I enjoyed so often on my Greek island holidays.  I've used them, shredded, in a raw pasta sauce with fresh tomatoes, garlic and basil - one of my favourite ways to enjoy pasta in the summer.  I've stuffed the flowers and served them with a cherry tomato dressing - one of my favourite Mario Batali recipes which I promise to share with you shortly.  And, I've enjoyed both the flesh and the flowers in a delicate frittata, made for me by the lovely Sasasunakku when she came to stay - I hope she comes again.  (Digressing slightly, trust me when I tell you that Sasa is one of the best house guests I've ever had.  So if she ever suggests coming to visit you in your corner of the world, open the door as wide as you can - you won't be disappointed.)

The recipe I want to share with you today was inspired by a Pasta and Fried Zucchini Salad from one of my favourite cookbooks - Plenty by Yotam Ottolenghi.

The original recipe combined fried zucchini with edamame, pasta and buffalo mozzarella.  However, lacking both edamame and buffalo mozzarella, and not wanting to venture out to the supermarket, I used some frozen peas and feta - both of which I had on hand.  I also swapped the pasta out for some quinoa, since I was in the mood for something a little lighter.  I cook quinoa up in big batches, and then store it in smaller quantities, in snaplock bags, in the freezer - it thaws pretty quickly, and is great to have on hand for a quick meal.  I do this too with things like cooked chickpeas, beans and rice.

Fried Zucchini, Pea & Quinoa Salad

Adapted from recipe by Yotam Ottolenghi

from Plenty

Serves 2

Vegetarian

Click here for a printable copy of this recipe

2-3 tablespoons olive oil

4 small (or 2 medium zucchini), cut into .5cm (1/4 inch) thick slices

1 tablespoon red wine vinegar

1/2 cup frozen peas

1-1/4 cups fresh basil leaves, coarsely chopped

1/4 cup olive oil

flaky sea salt

freshly ground black pepper

1-1/2 cups cooked quinoa

grated zest of 1 lemon

1 tablespoon capers

100g (3-1/2 oz) feta, crumbled

Bring a small pot of water to a boil.  Salt the water liberally, add the peas and blanch for just a couple of minutes.  Drain, refresh in cold water, drain again and set aside to dry.

Meanwhile, heat 2-3 tablespoons olive oil in saute pan over medium-high heat.  Fry the zucchini slices until golden brown on both sides - take care not to overcrowd them, so cook in batches if necessary.  Once cooked remove from pan and drain in a colander.  Put the drained zucchini into a small bowl, add the red wine vinegar, stir, and set aside.

In a food processor, blitz up half the basil with the olive oil, salt and pepper, until you have a smooth sauce.

Put the cooked quinoa into a serving bowl.  Add the zucchini and their juices, the peas, lemon zest, capers, basil sauce and feta.  Toss everything together gently, taste and add more salt and pepper as necessary.  Stir through the rest of the basil and serve.

I served this with some roasted shrimp on the side.  My favourite new way to prepare shrimp or prawns - toss the shrimp with olive oil, minced garlic, salt, pepper and smoky paprika;  spread in a single layer in an ovenproof dish;  bake in a preheated 180 degree C (350 degree F) for about 8 minutes, until the shrimp are pink and firm to the touch.

I hope you'll give this salad a try - the quinoa is healthy, nutritious, and has a lovely nutty flavour which marries well with the fried zucchini and feta.  A glass of pinot gris on the side and you have the perfect summer meal.

This dish is my contribution this week to Cookbook Sundays, where my friends are delving into their cookbook collections and sharing some of their recipes.  Do stop by to see what they're cooking - you might even feel inspired to link up a recipe from one of your own cookbooks.

I'm also sharing this at Souper (Soup, Salad & Sammie) Sundays hosted by Deb at Kahakai Kitchen.

Cookbook Sundays # 10

 

If you're anything like me you have dozens of cookbooks gathering dust on your bookshelves, some of which have never even been cooked from.  Sure I spent hours browsing through them when I first bought them, marking all the recipes I was going to make with little post-it notes, and yet still those books languish in the bookcase and never make it to the kitchen.  There are others from which I have made but one recipe which was such a resounding success that I've made it over and over again, and yet somehow I've never made anything else from that book.  Sound a bit familiar?!

Take comfort - you are not alone, and now Cookbook Sundays is your opportunity to change that.  Every Sunday I'm going to share with you a recipe that I haven't made before from one of my ever expanding collection of cookbooks.  And, because I know that if you have read this far then you are guilty of this too, I'm inviting you to join in with me.  Each week my Cookbook Sundays post will have a linky for you to share something you've cooked from one of your cookbooks.

The rules for joining in are simple:

1. Your post must state the author and the title of the book your recipe has come from.
2. Your post must mention Cookbook Sundays and link back to this post.  Including the Cookbook Sundays badge is optional, but always appreciated.
3. You may submit as many entries as you like, and you may use the same cookbook as many times as you like.  Old posts are also welcome.
4. Lastly,  remember that what goes around, comes around - one of the reasons you are participating in this is because you want people to read your posts, so do the right thing and go and visit a few of the other participants - you can even "Like" your favourites. 

Now, go and dust off those cookbooks and get cooking!  Use the linky tool at the end of this post to submit your entry/entries - simply scroll down to where it says "You are next ... Click here to enter", and then follow the instructions.  The linky will be open for one week.

Lastly, if you would like to use the Cookbook Sundays badge in your post, simply copy the code in the box beside the badge below and paste it into your post.  Feel free to also use it in your sidebar if you wish.

<a href="http://couscous-consciousness.blogspot.com/p/cookbook-sundays.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa476/Susan_Busch/CookbookSundaysBadge.jpg" border="0" alt="CookbookSundays"></a>

Roasted Red Pepper Soup with Olives, Lemon & Yoghurt

If you've been visiting here for a while, then you know that I'm not much of a soupy person - now and again is fine, but not something I go in for on a regular basis.  However, this recipe for red pepper soup was one of the first things I bookmarked when I bought Tessa Kiros' book, Falling Cloudberries.

I was so captivated by the incredible colour, I longed for this soup every time I opened the book - have you noticed the way some books just seem to fall open at a certain page nearly every time you open it?  Anyway, now that peppers are in plentiful supply (and you don't need a mortgage to buy them), the time seemed right to give this a try.

It's also our Pot Luck week at I Heart Cooking Clubs, and soup seems like a good dish to bring for a Pot Luck.  That actually got me thinking - you can see from the picture that this is finished off with a dollop of yoghurt, some chopped black olives, fresh basil, and some freshly grated lemon zest.  A couple of years ago, I did a cooking class in Barcelona at which we made a chilled tomato soup.  We also made a walnut and basil pesto which accompanied the soup.  The soup was then presented in small shot glasses, with a wee dollop of the pesto on top, and finished off with some freshly grated Idiazabal cheese (a Spanish sheep milk cheese - I've never come across it here, but it tastes rather like a smokey pecorino).  Anyway, as I say, that got me thinking that if you were serving this soup for a crowd or as part of a multi-course meal, I think it would be lovely served in some small glasses (or interesting cups) with the toppings delicately arranged on top.  Tessa suggests other possible toppings - rosemary, cream, a drizzle of chilli oil or truffle oil, maybe even a couple of grilled prawns.  I think also a dollop of creme fraiche or mascarpone could be a nice alternative to the yoghurt.  This could also be nice for a gathering served in small glasses, with all the toppings set out on the table in individual dishes for your guests to "dress" their soup according to their tastes.

Whatever ... no matter how you serve this soup you're going to love it.  The colour is sublime, the texture thick and velvety, and the flavour bold and robust.  I hope you will try it.

I did make a few minor adjustments to the recipe.  Firstly, Tessa suggests cutting the peppers in half and then grilling them - I chose to leave the peppers whole and roasted them.  This enabled me to retain a lot of the juice which comes out of the peppers, and which juice I then substituted for some of the liquid in the recipe.  Secondly, the recipe calls for four ripe tomatoes or a tin of tomatoes - I happened to have a couple of tomatoes sitting round in my fruit bowl so I used those as well as the tin of tomatoes.  Also, having all the juice that came out of the peppers, plus the extra tomatoes, and being a little bit suspicious of the quantity of water asked for (especially after last week's chicken curry), I cut the water back quite a bit, and found the amount of water I used was just perfect.

Roasted Red Pepper Soup with Olives, Lemon & Yoghurt

Adapted from recipe by Tessa Kiros

from Falling Cloudberries

Serves 4

Vegetarian

Click here for a printable copy of this recipe

4x red peppers

2 tablespoons olive oil

2x garlic cloves, finely sliced

2x shallots, finely sliced

2x ripe tomatoes

400g (14 oz) tin tomatoes

flaky sea salt & freshly ground black pepper

To serve:

plain Greek-style yoghurt

black olives, remove pits and finely chop

freshly grated lemon zest

fresh basil leaves, finely shredded

extra virgin olive oil

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C (350 degrees F).  Place peppers in a shallow baking dish, and roast in the preheated oven, turning from time to time, until the skin has blackened in places on all sides, and the peppers are slightly soft.  Remove from the oven and put the peppers into a plastic bag.  Set aside for about 10 minutes to sweat - this will enable the skins to slide off easily.  When cool enough to handle, peel the skins off the peppers and discard, at the same time removing and discarding the seeds and core.  Work over a bowl so that you catch all the juice that comes out of the peppers.  Tear the flesh of the peppers up into largish pieces and set aside.

Using the large holes of a box grater, grate the flesh of the fresh tomatoes, then discard the skin - much easier than peeling and chopping.  Roughly chop the tinned tomatoes (tip - in my experience, it is always better to buy tinned whole tomatoes and chop them, than buying tinned chopped tomatoes).

Heat the olive oil in a large pan, over moderate heat.  Add the garlic and shallots, and saute for a couple of minutes until the shallots have softened and the garlic is fragrant.  Add both the grated fresh tomatoes and the tinned tomatoes, and cook until it begins to bubble.  Add the chunks of roasted peppers and all the juice that came from the peppers (straining the juice as you do so if there are any errant seeds you want to get rid of).   Season liberally with flaky sea salt and pepper.  Fill the empty tomato tin with warm water, swirl it around a little to loosen any tomato juice that might be clinging to the sides of the tin, and then pour into the soup pan.  Bring up to the boil, then reduce the heat, cover the pan, and simmer for about 30 minutes.

Remove pan from the heat and puree the soup (a stick blender is ideal here if you have one).  The soup should be quite thick, but just add a little more water if it seems too thick.  Alternatively, if it's not thick enough, return to the heat and simmer uncovered for a little while longer.

Check and adjust the seasoning, then serve topped with a dollop of yoghurt and sprinkled with chopped black olives, lemon zest, and basil.  Finish if desired with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil or infused oil of your choice.

This dish is my contribution this week to Cookbook Sundays, where my friends are delving into their cookbook collections and sharing some of their recipes.  Do stop by to see what they're cooking - you might even feel inspired to link up a recipe from one of your own cookbooks.

I'm also sharing this dish at this week's Pot Luck for Tessa Kiros.  If you would like to get to know Tessa a little better, then do go and visit my friends at I Heart Cooking Clubs and see what they've all cooked up ...

... or check out Falling Cloudberries and many of Tessa's other great titles available from Amazon or Fishpond NZ.

         

I'm also sharing this at See Ya In The Gumbo hosted by Ms. enPlace, and at Souper Sundays hosted by Deb at Kahakai Kitchen.

    

Cookbook Sundays # 9

 

If you're anything like me you have dozens of cookbooks gathering dust on your bookshelves, some of which have never even been cooked from.  Sure I spent hours browsing through them when I first bought them, marking all the recipes I was going to make with little post-it notes, and yet still those books languish in the bookcase and never make it to the kitchen.  There are others from which I have made but one recipe which was such a resounding success that I've made it over and over again, and yet somehow I've never made anything else from that book.  Sound a bit familiar?!

Take comfort - you are not alone, and now Cookbook Sundays is your opportunity to change that.  Every Sunday I'm going to share with you a recipe that I haven't made before from one of my ever expanding collection of cookbooks.  And, because I know that if you have read this far then you are guilty of this too, I'm inviting you to join in with me.  Each week my Cookbook Sundays post will have a linky for you to share something you've cooked from one of your cookbooks.

The rules for joining in are simple:

1. Your post must state the author and the title of the book your recipe has come from.
2. Your post must mention Cookbook Sundays and link back to this post.  Including the Cookbook Sundays badge is optional, but always appreciated.
3. You may submit as many entries as you like, and you may use the same cookbook as many times as you like.  Old posts are also welcome.
4. Lastly,  remember that what goes around, comes around - one of the reasons you are participating in this is because you want people to read your posts, so do the right thing and go and visit a few of the other participants - you can even "Like" your favourites. 

Now, go and dust off those cookbooks and get cooking!  Use the linky tool at the end of this post to submit your entry/entries - simply scroll down to where it says "You are next ... Click here to enter", and then follow the instructions.  The linky will be open for one week.

Lastly, if you would like to use the Cookbook Sundays badge in your post, simply copy the code in the box beside the badge below and paste it into your post.  Feel free to also use it in your sidebar if you wish.

<a href="http://couscous-consciousness.blogspot.com/p/cookbook-sundays.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1199.photobucket.com/albums/aa476/Susan_Busch/CookbookSundaysBadge.jpg" border="0" alt="CookbookSundays"></a>

Chicken, Coconut & Cashew Nut Curry

It was bound to happen sooner or later - a Tessa Kiros recipe that left me feeling a little disappointed.

Our theme this week at I Heart Cooking Clubs, where we are spending six months cooking the recipes of Tessa Kiros, was "Some Like it Hot ... and Spicy!" - an opportunity to heat things up with a bit of chilli, or introduce some warming spices to a heart-warming dessert or sweet treat.

I toyed with the idea of making Tessa's Cinnamon & Cardamom Buns, a recipe which has been on my radar ever since Kim made them right back in week one, and Natashya made them last week.  But in the end Tessa's recipe for Chicken, Coconut & Cashew Nut Curry, which I'd had bookmarked ever since I bought the book Falling Cloudberries, seemed like just the thing for a quick, flavourful, mid-week dinner.

To be honest, I wish I'd stuck with the buns, since both Kim and Natashya raved about them, and I find myself falling a long way short of being able to rave about this recipe.  Now don't get me wrong - it wasn't terrible or objectionable - but when you are used to eating and making a lot of Indian food, as I am, it just fell rather short.  Despite the variety of spices in here, the flavours were somehow not fully rounded out and felt a little unbalanced, and the gravy failed to thicken and emulsify as it should have.

I think, however, the recipe is not beyond redemption.  I would make this again, but there are a number of modifications that I would make which I think would improve it considerably.  Below I have recorded the recipe from the book, as that is what I made, and then at the end I have included my notes for what I would do to improve this.  I'm going to make my improved version next week, so I'll be sure to let you know how that goes.

Don't you love the way I managed to capture my own reflection in the bowl - try cloning that out!!

Chicken, Coconut & Cashew Nut Curry

Recipe by Tessa Kiros from

Falling Cloudberries

Serves 3-4

1 teaspoon ground coriander

1 teaspoon ground cumin

pinch freshly grated nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom

4 cloves

1 bay leaf

1 heaped tablespoon garam masala

pinch freshly ground black pepper

3 tablespoons vegetable oil

1.25 kg (2lb 12oz) chicken thighs, skinned, boned & flesh diced

(use bone-in thighs for better flavour)

2 onions, finely diced

salt

45g (1-1/2 oz) dessicated coconut

70g (2-1/2 oz) roasted, unsalted cashews

1 cup plain yoghurt

Dry roast the coriander, cumin, nutmeg, cardamom, cloves, bay leaf and garam masala and black pepper in a non-stick pan set over high heat.  Stir-fry until fragrant - just a couple of minutes, then remove from the pan and set aside.

Heat the oil in a large saucepan, and brown the chicken and onions (you may have to do this in batches).  Add the spices, stirring until fragrant, and making sure all the chicken and onions are well coated with the spice mix.  Season generously with the salt.  Add the coconut and 2 cups water, bring to the boil.

Reduce the heat, cover the pan, and simmer for about 30 minutes, stirring from time to time.  Cut the cashew nuts in half, add to the pan and cook for a further 10 minutes.  (Tessa suggests adding more water, if it looks as though it needs it - I think that's unlikely, if anything I found it too watery)

Lastly, stir in the yoghurt.  Simmer for another minute or two without allowing it to come to a boil.  Serve with steamed, buttered, basmati rice.

My recommended changes:

1. Replace ground spices with whole spices
2. I would suggest replacing the nutmeg with a cinnamon stick, and substituting the ground pepper with half a dozen dried red chillies.
3. Cut the onion back to just one, but add a dozen garlic cloves and a knob of ginger, to round out the flavour a bit more.
4. Increase the amount of coconut - probably about double, and increase the amount of cashew nuts - again probably at least double.
5. Dry roast the wholes spices, along with the coconut, ginger and garlic over low heat for about 5 minutes, and then add about a third of the cashews and the onion, and continue to roast for maybe another 10-15 minutes.  Allow to cool completely, and then grind up in a blender with some water until you have a smooth, fine paste.  This should extract maximum flavour and help to get a thick, emulsified gravy.
6. Then heat oil in a large pot, and fry this spice paste for around 10 minutes, before seasoning with salt, add the chicken, and fry for a few minutes making sure chicken is well coated with spice mixture.
7. Add water, and simmer for about 10 minutes before adding the rest of the cashew nuts, and continue simmering until the chicken is cooked through.
8. I would leave the yoghurt out, but maybe add some lemon juice and grated lemon zest to the rice.

As I mentioned earlier, I'm going to try out these changes next week, so I'll let you know how it works out, but I feel pretty confident it will deliver I better balanced flavour, and a good, thick gravy.

If you would like to get to know Tessa a little better, then do go and visit my friends at I Heart Cooking Clubs and see what they've all cooked up ...

... or check out Falling Cloudberries and many of Tessa's other great titles available from Amazon or Fishpond NZ.

         

I'm also sharing this at Cookbook Sundays, where my friends are delving into their cookbook collections and sharing some of their recipes.  Do stop by to see what they're cooking - you might even feel inspired to link up a recipe from one of your own cookbooks.

Almond, Citrus & "44" Cake

If you visit here regularly, then you will know that coming across anything baked is a bit of a rarity here.  There's good reason for that.  Firstly, I'm just not very good at it - simple as that!  And secondly, I have an absolute horror of ending up with a backside that is three axe handles across, and so having tins full of baked goods kicking around the place to tempt me seems to be not such a good idea.

However, I was visiting friends for dinner last night and I offered to bring a cake for dessert.  Quite what possessed me to offer to bring a cake, given my lack of "baking pedigree" I'll never know, but the words had unbidden tumbled out of my mouth, and there was no taking them back.  What's more, I had the added challenge of having to come up with something gluten free to suit the intolerances of one of the guests.

Since I needed to dive into one of those seldom-used cookbooks languishing on my bookshelves for my contribution this week to Cookbook Sundays, I thought that I might try the Chocolate Nemesis cake from the River Cafe Italian Kitchen by Rose Gray and Ruth Rogers - a recipe I've had bookmarked to try for ages.  However, once I had the book down off the shelf and was flicking through it I came across this recipe for Almond, Orange, Lemon and Whiskey Cake.  Since I love just about anything lemony, and ground almonds took the place of flour this seemed like an an obvious choice. 

Unfortunately, citrus fruit is not really at it's best here right now, so a bit of improvisation was called for.  The cooked cake is dredged in a syrup made up of, amongst other things, the juice of 3 oranges and 4 lemons, each of which should yield approximately 320 ml (10-1/2 fl oz) of juice.  Well, with the best will in the world, and even after microwaving them for a minute to release the juice a little more, the lemons which are available here right now are never going to surrender that much juice.  In fact my oranges also didn't deliver as much juice as expected either, so I padded the whole lot out with some tangelo juice.

The syrup recipe also called for the inclusion of whisky, which I didn't have on hand.  I did have, however, have a couple of bottles of "44".  You may remember me telling you about this orange & coffee flavoured liqueur  about a year ago, when I first set it to steep.

In short, an orange is poked all over with 44 holes.  Each of those holes is then studded with a coffee bean.  The coffee studded orange is then put into a large glass jar, to which 44 sugar cubes are then added, and the jar topped up with a litre of vodka.   The jar is then stored in a dark place, and given a bit of a shake every day for 44 days.  Now this is where I departed from the original instructions.  I gave it a shake every day for 10 days.  It was then subjected it to a 6.3 earthquake, causing the bottle to be jettisoned like a missile across the room with great force.  The bottle was then left to roll around the floor, miraculously unbroken, and subjected to a further 2641 after shocks.  Next it was packed into a box, and transported to a dark storage place.  It was then subjected to a further 1107 after shocks, before being put onto a truck and transported 600 kilometres across the South Island.  Finally, after six months, and way more shaking than was originally intended, it was ready to unpack, decant and enjoy - it was definitely worth the extra effort, but hard to imagine being able to recreate that.  The resulting liqueur is a beautiful pale caramel colour, deliciously syrupy and "orangey", and the coffee adds a delicious almost "chocolatey" complexity to the flavour and a certain "warmth".  I like to store it in the fridge and drink over ice, and I have used it in many instances where an orange flavoured liqueur has been called for.

Anyway, I have digressed.  In the absence of whisky I chose to use this in the syrup for the cake.  It was a perfect match to the almond and citrus notes of the cake, both in terms of flavour and aroma.  This cake is an absolute breeze to make;  and it is wonderfully moist and intensely flavourful after its syrup bath.  This is also quite a large cake and easily gives 8 generous pieces - could probably even serve 10 to 12 people at the end of a large meal.  That said, it is actually a very light cake, and three of us had no problem polishing off a large piece each.  I served it with creme fraiche, garnished with some of my Seville Orange Spoon Sweets and some fresh cherries.

This is one of those wonderful cakes that actually makes me feel like perhaps I can bake after all, and it will definitely be at the top of my list next time I need to bring cake.  I hope you'll give this a try.

Almond, Citrus & "44" Cake Recipe

Adapted from recipe by Rose Gray & Ruth Rogers from

River Cafe Italian Kitchen

Serves at least 8

gluten free, vegetarian

Click here for a printable copy of this recipe

For the cake:

8 large free-range eggs, separated

200g (7 oz) caster sugar

grated zest of 2x oranges

grated zest of 2x lemons

300g (10 oz) ground almonds

For the syrup:

600ml citrus juice 

(any combination of oranges, lemons, tangelos)

75g (3 oz) caster sugar

1 cinnamon stick

500ml (17 fl oz) orange liqueur or whisky

To serve:

creme fraiche or mascarpone

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C.  Grease a 25cm (10 inch) diameter cake tin, and line the base with baking parchment.

In a large bowl, beat the sugar and egg yolks together until pale and fluffy.  Add the grated orange and lemon zest, and the ground almonds.  Stir until just combined.  In another large bowl, beat the egg whites to soft peaks.  Add a couple of large spoonfuls to the almond and egg yolk mixture, and stir quite vigorously to loosen the mixture.  Then add the rest of the egg whites and gently fold in.

Pour the mixture into the cake tin, and bake in the preheated oven for about 35-40 minutes until set.

Meanwhile, make the syrup.  Put the citrus juices, sugar and cinnamon into a pan, set over medium heat, and simmer until slightly reduce.  Add the liqueur or whisky.  Simmer for another minute or two, then remove from the heat.

Once the cake is ready, remove from the oven and, while still hot, prick the entire surface with a pointed knife.  Pour the syrup over the cake, making sure all the liquid is absorbed into the cake.  You may not use all the syrup (I used about two thirds of it).

Leave in the tin until completely cooled before turning out.

Serve with creme fraiche or mascarpone.

I'm sharing this recipe with Cookbook Sundays - I hope you'll stop by and see what my friends are cooking.  Maybe you'd even like to dust off some of your own cookbooks and join in.