Apricot, Date & Pistachio Loaf

So far at I Heart Cooking Clubs we've cooked with some great chefs:  Nigella Lawson, Mark Bitman, Giada de Laurentiis, Jamie Oliver, Tessa Kiros, Rick Bayless, Madhur Jaffrey, Yotam Ottolenghi (my favourite), Donna Hay, and Nigel Slater.  I'm excited now to tell you that a new chef joins the line up this week - we will spend the next six months cooking with Diana Henry.

Raised in Northern Ireland, and now living in London, Diana started cooking when she was just six years old, and has never looked back.  She is not just a passionate and adventurous cook, but also a gifted food writer.  Diana has published eight stunning cookbooks, writes a regular column for The Sunday Telegraph's Stella magazine and several other magazines, has her own website and appears on UKTV's Market Kitchen.

Diana talks a lot about the sense of connectedness that food and cooking gives her, something I relate to completely.  To welcome Diana this week to the IHCC fold I turned to her Date, Apricot & Walnut Loaf Cake from her latest book, A Change of Appetite.  In this book she turns towards lighter, fresher, healthier dishes (without any compromise in flavour) inspired often by dishes of the Middle East, Scandinavia, and the Far East.  There are some stunning recipes in this book, and I swear I want to make nearly everything.

I can imagine that if I could sit down in my kitchen for an afternoon with Diana, we would find a great deal to talk about.  Of course there would be coffee, and cake (there has to be cake), and this delicious loaf packed full of dried fruit, seeds and nuts would fit the bill perfectly.

I made a couple of changes to the recipe - don't I always?!  In the original recipe, Diana has you soften the fruit in apple juice and cook it down to a puree - I opted for an infusion of apricot tea and date syrup instead - but really you could use any fruit juice or even just water for that matter.  I cut down the amount of sugar just a little, and I used coconut sugar instead of brown sugar.  In the original recipe, Diana uses a mixture of regular flour and malted brown flour (which is not available here) - I used all wholemeal flour instead.  Lastly, because thoughts of apricots and dates and date syrup always transport me to the Middle East, I used pistachios instead of walnuts.  Once again, you could really use any kind of nuts that you like.

An important note here - my loaf tin is a tiny bit bigger than that called for in the recipe, so I didn't get the nice big slices that I was hoping for.  It also took quite a bit less cooking than that specified in the recipe.  The recipe offers a cooking time of 1-1/4 hours, but I noticed that mine smelled like it was done after about 45 minutes - a quick check, and I found that it was indeed ready, in fact ever so slightly over-done.  This could have been because of my larger tin size, but my tin was not that much bigger that it would have taken half an hour off the cook time I don't think, so I suggest that you keep a close eye on the time.

This is a deliciously moist and flavourful loaf, so fragrant with spices that your house will smell like Christmas while it's baking.  Like anything of this nature, this is fabulous with a generous smear of butter (although entirely unnecessary), and I found that it kept well for a week.  The only reason it lasted so long around here is that someone else in the house is not fussed on apricots - in most normal households I would expect this to be gone in a few days!

Apricot, Date & Pistachio Loaf Recipe
Adapted from recipe by Diana Henry
from A Change of Appetite
Click here for the free recipe card

1 cup chopped dried dates
1/2 cup chopped dried apricots
1/2 cup apricot tea
1 tablespoon date syrup
175g (6 oz) butter
130g (4.5 oz) brown sugar
grated zest of 1x orange
1x large free-range egg
225g (8 oz) wholemeal flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 heaped teaspoon mixed spice
generous grating of fresh nutmeg
1/3 cup pistachios, roughly chopped
generous handful of pumpkin seeds, plus extra for the top
generous handful of sunflower seeds
sprinkling of sesame seeds

Put dates and apricots in a small saucepan with the apricot tea and date syrup.  Set over medium heat, bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer until softened to a thick puree - 10 to 15 minutes.  Set aside to cool.

Also melt butter and leave it to cool.

Meanwhile, preheat oven to 180 degrees C (350 degrees F).  Grease a 22cm x 12cm x 6cm (8" x 4-3/4" x 3") loaf tin, and line the base with non-stick baking paper.

Add the cooled butter to the date and apricot mixture, along with the brown sugar, grated orange zest, and the egg.  Mix together well.

Place the flour in a large bowl with the baking powder, mixed spice, nutmeg, pistachios, pumpkin seeds, and sunflower seeds. Mix together well, then add the fruit mixture and mix until everything is just combined - don't over-mix.

Tip everything into the prepared baking tin, using a rubber spatula to even out the top.  Sprinkle over the extra pumpkin seeds and sesame seeds.  Place tin in the preheated oven, and bake for up to 1-1/4 hours or until golden on top and a skewer inserted into the centre of the loaf comes out clean.

Remove from the oven and cool for 10 minutes in the tin before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

If you would like to get to know Diana Henry a little better, and to see what everyone else has cooked up this week, then do go and visit my friends at I Heart Cooking Clubs and check out the links (who knows, you might even want to join the journey and cook along with us) ...

... or check out A Change of Appetite and Diana's many other great titles available from Amazon USA, Amazon UK, or Fishpond NZ.

I will also be submitting this post to Sweet New Zealand.  Inspired by Alessandra Zecchini, and hosted this month by Lesley at eat, etc ..., Sweet New Zealand is an event for all Kiwi bloggers (whether living at home or abroad), or all foreign bloggers living in New Zealand, to link up their sweet treats.

I'm also linking this post to Tea Time Treats, hosted by one of my favourite bloggers - the lovely Karen at Lavender and Lovage, and The HedgeCombers.  The theme this month is vegetables, and technically there's no vegetables in this recipe, but I've been wanting to join in here for ages, so I'm taking the creative leap that since this loaf contains pumpkin seeds that's near enough :-)

Mocha, Date & Meringue Ice Cream

Pot Luck week at I Heart Cooking Clubs is always one of my favourite weeks, because it means that we get to cook with any one of our ten IHCC chefs.  For me that usually means the irresistible opportunity to catch up once again with my favourite chef, Yotam Ottolenghi.

This is timely, because this month at Tasting Jerusalem** we are exploring cooking with date syrup, through the lens of Ottolenghi's book Jerusalem.  I've use date syrup a few times before in dishes such as this Butternut Squash & Tahini Spread, which is finished off with a drizzle of date syrup.

Date syrup has a consistency similar to maple syrup, agave nectar, brown rice syrup or runny honey, and makes a great substitute anywhere you would use any of those ingredients, but the flavour is so much more, for want of a better word, "exotic" and complex than any of them.  The sticky sweetness of dates, combined with the intense flavour and aroma of rosewater, makes for an ingredient that will transport you to places far flung.

I've also used date syrup in these Pumpkin, Date & Chocolate Scones ...

... but today I wanted to come up with something that was altogether more indulgent and which really played to the exotic nature of this ingredient.

Doing a little research, I found my inspiration in Ottolenghi's recipe for Chocolate, Rose & Walnut Ice Cream.  This seemed like a good starting point, and I thought I could come up with my own version.

To start with, I simplified the whole process by using a combination of coconut cream, condensed milk, and melted dark chocolate, instead of the typical custard base used in the original recipe.  Since I had decided I was going to work date syrup into the recipe, I didn't need rose water, as that flavour is already sufficiently pronounced in the syrup.  I also wanted actual dates in the ice cream, as well as the syrup, so I soaked them in some freshly brewed espresso to soften them, before swirling into the ice cream.  And for that all important crunch, I replaced the walnuts and digestive biscuits Ottolenghi used, with some crumbled meringues.  I love the way they hold their texture, and keep that little bit of "chewiness" even once frozen.  I did think about also including some cacao nibs, but I think it would have been an ingredient too far, and the depth of chocolate flavour here is more than sufficient without it.

Ottolenghi served his ice cream with chocolate sauce drizzled over the top, which seemed a bit unnecessary in the circumstances, and some little cubes of Turkish delight sprinkled over the top.  I think this would have been delightful, but I didn't have any on hand.  He also finished with a little sprinkling of dried rose petals - another delightful touch, which I did have and would have added, but the ice cream was melting and for the life of me I couldn't find them in the cupboard (note to self:  time to give the cupboard a clean out!)

In the end, this ice cream is everything I wanted it to be.  Rich and chocolatey and almost fudgy;  there are delightful little of nuggets of chewy dates and crunchy meringues;  the date and rose flavours really come through without overpowering, and linger long enough on the palate to tantalise the mind with thoughts of far flung places.  I think I should have called this Magic Carpet Ice Cream.

Mocha, Date & Meringue Ice Cream Recipe
Inspired by a recipe by Yotam Ottolenghi
Makes about 1 litre
Download the free recipe card here

1/2 cup finely chopped, dried dates
3 tablespoons freshly brewed espresso
1 tablespoon date syrup
400ml (13.5 fl oz) coconut milk
2/3 cup sweetened condensed milk
200g dark chocolate, melted (I used Whittaker's Dark Ghana)
40g (1-1/2 oz) crumbled meringues

Place chopped dates in a small bowl.  Pour over the hot espresso and date syrup.  Stir to combine, and set aside until the dates have softened, and mixture has cooled.

Break chocolate into smallish pieces.  Place in a bowl over a pot of gently simmering water, making sure the water is not actually touching the bowl.  Stir from time to time, until the chocolate is melted and glossy.  Set aside and allow to cool completely, but without re-solidifying.

In another bowl, beat together the coconut milk, condensed milk and melted chocolate, until everything is well combined.

Churn in an ice cream maker according to manufacturer's instructions.

Empty ice cream into a freezer safe container.  Stir in the softened dates and crumbled meringues.  Cover the surface of the ice cream with a piece of non-stick baking paper, and put in the freezer to firm up.

Serve generously whenever you have itchy feet.

If you would like to get to know Yotam Ottolenghi a little better or any one of our other IHCC chefs, then do go and visit my friends at I Heart Cooking Clubs and see what they've all cooked up for Pot Luck week.

** Tasting Jerusalem is a virtual cooking community exploring the vibrant flavors and cuisine of the Middle East through the lens of Jerusalem: A Cookbook by Ottolenghi and Tamimi published by Ten Speed Press. You can follow along and cook with us by subscribing to omgyummy.com, following the hashtag #TastingJrslm on Twitter and Instagram, liking our Facebook page or joining our Google+ Community and finally checking out all of our groups’ dishes on Pinterest.

I'll also be sharing this post at See Ya In the Gumbo hosted by the lovely, and very amusing, Michelle at Ms. enPlace, at Weekend Cooking hosted by Beth Fish Reads, and at Foodie Friday hosted by Designs by Gollam.

         

I will also be submitting this post to Sweet New Zealand.  Inspired by Alessandra Zecchini, and hosted this month by Michelle at Munch Cooking, Sweet New Zealand is an event for all Kiwi bloggers (whether living at home or abroad), or all foreign bloggers living in New Zealand, to link up their sweet treats.

Chocolate, Date & Banana Bread

It's no secret that making ethically responsible choices, as much as possible, about the food that I consume, is a subject which is dear to my heart, and is indeed one of the founding principles of this blog.  As such I regularly use Fair Trade products - they are always exceptionally good quality and Fair Trade principles are consistent with my own food philosophy.  So I was pretty excited a couple of weeks ago then, when a nice big hamper of gorgeous Fair Trade goodies turned up, along with an invitation to bake something delicious and join in this year's "The Big Fair Bake" event.

What you don't see in the photo, is a bunch of Fair Trade bananas, which, by the time they had traveled for a couple of days to get to me, were a bit riper than I like to eat them.  So it seemed inevitable that they would be included in my recipe.  I started thinking banana cake, but to be honest I generally prefer banana bread - it usually keeps well for several days, and makes a great snack or breakfast on the run.  Once I got to thinking about adding in some dates and dark chocolate, I knew this would elevate my regular banana bread to something really special.

Chocolate, Date & Banana Bread Recipe
Click here for a printable copy of this recipe

1/2 cup coconut oil  
1/2 cup Fair Trade organic cane sugar  
1 teaspoon vanilla extract  
2x eggs  
13/4 cups plain flour  
1 teaspoon baking powder  
1 teaspoon baking soda  
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3x medium-sized All-Good Fair Trade ripe bananas, mashed  
1/3 cup golden syrup
1 cup Trade Aid Medjool dates, finely chopped
80g Fair Trade Whittaker's Dark Ghana chocolate, roughly chopped  

Preheat oven to 160 degrees C (325 degrees F).

Lightly grease a 23cm x 13cm (9" x 5") loaf tin, and line with baking paper.

In a medium sized bowl mix together coconut oil and sugar, then add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.  Stir in the vanilla.

Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and cinnamon.  Add to the wet ingredients, and mix until just barely combined.

Add the mashed bananas, golden syrup, dates and chocolate, and once again mix until just combined - take care not to over mix.

Spoon mixture into the prepared tin, and bake for 60-65 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre of the loaf comes out clean.

Cool in the tin for 20 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack.  Allow to cool completely before slicing.

I will also be submitting this post to Sweet New Zealand.  Inspired by Alessandra Zecchini, and hosted this month by Libby at Ditch The Carbs, Sweet New Zealand is an event for all Kiwi bloggers (whether living at home or abroad), or all foreign bloggers living in New Zealand, to link up their sweet treats.

            

Pumpkin, Date & Chocolate Scones

I know I've said this before, but I'm going to say it again, I'm not much of a breakfast lover.  Not that I have anything against "breakfast food".  To the contrary, in fact, I can very happily eat breakfast food for dinner.  It's actually eating breakfast first thing in the morning that I struggle with - my body generally feels a bit happier if it's been up and moving about for a few hours before shovelling in a bit of fodder.  Still, much as I would generally prefer to skip breakfast, conventional wisdom seems to be that one shouldn't begin the working day on an empty stomach.  That being the case, I will often start my weekday morning with a smoothie, or this Tropical Fruit Granola, or even this Banana, Lemon & Passionfruit Guilt-Free Ice Cream (which is really just a frozen smoothie).

Despite my breakfast reticence, however, I do love brunch.  Taken a little later in the morning, and consumed at a more leisurely pace, this to me is how every day should begin.  I love, of course, a good feed of bacon and eggs, almost any kind of omelette, and what would brunch be without a classic eggs benedict?  But, to my way of thinking, every good brunch should also include a little sweetness - maybe something like these Peach & Blueberry Pancakes or this Orange Mango French Toast with Honey Roasted Strawberry Compote.

Such thoughts were uppermost in my mind when it came to choosing a dish for our "Let's Do Brunch" theme at I Heart Cooking Clubs this week.  Leafing through my now much thumbed copy of Nigel Slater's Tender Vol. I, his recipe for a warm pumpkin scone captured my attention.  Nigel's suggestion of serving these with grilled bacon and sharp cheddar cheese would make a great brunch indeed, but as I mentioned I was looking for a little sweetness.  I left out the fresh thyme called for in the original recipe, and my initial thought was to add some prunes to the scones, but I had some fresh dates on hand to be used up, and I figured that some dark chocolate I had lurking in the pantry wouldn't go astray either.

These were quick and simple to make, with a soft, moist centre.  The combination of pumpkin, dates and chocolate strikes just the right balance between sweet and savoury notes, and served with a little drizzle of date syrup (entirely optional, but a nice touch if you have it) or maple syrup, these were the perfect addition to Sunday brunch.  They'd also be great with an afternoon cup of tea or coffee.

Pumpkin, Date & Chocolate Scones Recipe
Adapted from recipe by Nigel Slater
from Tender, Vol. I
Makes 8
Click here for a printable copy of this recipe

300g (11 oz) pumpkin, peeled & seeded (I used butternut)
140g (5 oz) plain flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
70g (2-1/2 oz) butter
1x free-range egg, lightly beaten
90ml (3 fl oz) warm milk
handful of fresh or dried dates, roughly chopped
85g (3 oz) dark chocolate (I used Whittaker's Dark Ghana), roughly chopped
a little oil or butter
date syrup or maple syrup to serve (optional)

Preheat oven to 200 degrees C (390 degrees F).

Cut pumpkin into large chunks, and steam until tender.

Meanwhile, mix flour, baking soda and salt together in a medium-sized bowl.  Cut butter into small cubes, and with your fingertips rub butter into the flour until it resembles coarse breadcrumbs.

Mash pumpkin and stir in the warm milk and egg.  Mix in the dates and chocolate, then add everything to the flour mixture, and mix until just combined.  (Don't be alarmed - the dough is not firm enough to handle like a conventional scone dough - mine was almost more like a thick batter.)

Heat an ovenproof, non-stick fry pan over medium heat.  Melt a little knob of butter in the warmed pan, and add the dough to the pan.  Spread it out and smooth the top.  Turn heat down to low and cook until the underside is firm and browned  - about 5 minutes.

Lightly oil a dinner plate.  Remove pan from the heat and loosen dough from the pan with a palette knife.  Place plate over the top of the pan, then flip everything over so that the scone drops out onto the plate.

Now slide the scone back into the pan, cooked side up. and put the pan into the oven until the other side is cooked and the middle is set - about 5 to 8 minutes.

Turn the scone out onto a wooden board, cut into wedges and serve while still warm.  Drizzle with date or maple syrup if desired.

If you would like to get to know Nigel Slater a little better, and to see what everyone else has cooked up this week, then do go and visit my friends at I Heart Cooking Clubs and check out the links ...

... or check out Tender, Vol. 1 and Nigel's many other great titles available from Amazon USA, Amazon UK, or Fishpond NZ.

I will also be submitting this post to Sweet New Zealand.  Inspired by Alessandra Zecchini, and hosted this month by Amanda at Move, Love, Eat, Sweet New Zealand is an event for all Kiwi bloggers (whether living at home or abroad), or all foreign bloggers living in New Zealand, to link up their sweet treats.

I'll also be sharing this post this week at See Ya In the Gumbo hosted by the delightful Michelle at Ms. enPlace, at Weekend Cooking hosted by Beth Fish Reads, at Foodie Fridays hosted by Designs by Gollum, and at Cook Your Books hosted by the lovely Joyce at Kitchen Flavours, and at Hearth & Soul hosted by the gorgeous April at 21st Century Housewife.

                   

Sweet New Zealand # 34 Round-up

It has been my privilege to host Sweet New Zealand once again this month - a monthly blog event, created by the lovely Alessandra Zecchini, which offers 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.  As always, we have some wonderful entries this month, and I have certainly enjoyed discovering and visiting all of your posts.  Thanks to all of you for participating.

Our first entry this month was from our founder, Alessandra Zecchini, who shared these Hazelnut & Vanilla Verrines with Quince Jelly, Figs & Cape Gooseberry.  This is quite possibly one of the most beautiful desserts I've ever seen and, as an added bonus, Alessandra also shared some uplifting photos of the beautiful Cardboard Cathedral in Christchurch.

Next up was my own entry for a Chocolate Beetroot Cake. This may not be the absolutely best chocolate cake you've ever eaten, because as everybody knows there are plenty of people out there who can bake a better cake than me. But this is hands down the best, most moist, dense, fudgy chocolate cake I've ever made, and it won't be the last time I make it either.

Feijoa season may be almost over, but there's still a bit of fruit around and if you've been wondering what to do with that over abundance then check out this gorgeous looking feijoa jam from Alessandra Zecchini which she says is just like guava paste.

Would you ever imagine that such decadent looking little morsels are in fact Healthy Vegan Cookies? Check out these gorgeous looking cookies from Arfi at HomeMadeS - seriously, if that's healthy, pass the plate my way!

And, since we're talking healthy, how about this Low Carb Baked Cheesecake with Chocolate Ganache from Libby at Ditch The Carbs.  This is a quick and simple, yet low carb version of a New York style baked cheesecake, and I'm loving the idea of the chocolate ganache topping.

This stunning gluten-free Baklava Cake came from "new to me" blog, My Persian Feast by Sanaz.  After getting kind of addicted to baklava when holidaying in Greece, I can't wait to try it in cake form.   Looks amazing.

Do you, like me, have a secret passion for Bounty Bars?  Of course you do - how could anyone not love all that coconut smothered in dark chocolate.?! I'm thinking these homemade "healthified" Bounty Bars from Amanda at another new to me blog, Move Love Eat, could be dangerous, very dangerous indeed.

I don't know about you, but a good lemon tart is pretty much hands-down my favourite dessert, but I'm always a bit nervous about making it.  I think this utterly gorgeous looking Heston Blumethal Lemon Tart from Mairi at Toast just might be the one that helps me overcome my lemon tart fears. 

We've nearly all made the good old pineapple upside down cake at some time or another, haven't we? But how about this luscious looking Upside Down Caramelised Banana Cake from Frances at Bake Club. Now if that doesn't get you licking your lips I don't know what will. 

Lesley at Eat, Etc. always does beautiful baking, frequently serving up things that are a little different to the run of the mill, and often things I haven't come across before. Her gorgeous looking Dutch Ginger Cake this month is no exception. 

Is there anything better than a seriously decadent chocolate tart?  Well, actually, there just might be if that chocolate tart happened to also have a salted caramel filling!  Yes, you read that right.  I could literally feel my thighs expanding just looking at this gorgeous Chocolate and Salted Caramel Tart from Gillian at So So Simple Food. 

Is it a muffin? Is it a doughnut? No it's a muffin which masquerades as a doughnut and is filled with jam no less!!  I just couldn't resist sharing these Jam Doughnut Muffins.  Seriously, once these muffins have been bathed in melted butter and then rolled in cinnamon sugar, they really do taste like doughnuts. 

Looking for the perfect little something to go with a cuppa on a wintery afternoon?  Our last entry for the month, this warming Hazelnut Ginger Loaf from Julie at Domestic Executive, could be just this thing. With ground hazelnuts replacing flour and sweet dates replacing molasses, you know this is going to be great on so many levels. 

And now I can't wait to see what you all cook up next month. Amanda at Move Love Eat will be hosting, and I know you'll all share lots of sweetness with her. 

Jam Doughnut Muffins

Today is our Secret Recipe Club reveal, which means that I can now tell you the secret that I've been keeping for the last month ... the blog I was assigned this month was Food. Baby. Life.

I've had a month to poke around in Susan's blog, checking out lots of her posts, and getting to know her a little bit from afar.  And, actually as it turns out "afar" is not really that far, since Susan lives "just across the ditch" from me in Australia.

Susan started her blog nearly 5 years ago as a creative outlet during some major life changes, including the loss of her mother to cancer.  Since then she has married and has three wee boys, and what originally started out as a mostly baking blog has developed into a lot of family friendly fare, and a more healthy approach to her baking.

I have bookmarked a load of recipes on Susan's blog that I can't wait to make:  Kumara, Chilli & Coriander Soup, Beetroot Ravioli with Walnuts and Goats Cheese, Chickpea Salad with Curried Yoghurt Dressing, Curried Carrot & Chickpea Burgers, and Leek & Cheese Tart with Olive Oil Pastry, not to mention Soft Pretzels, No-Bake Lemon Slice, Peanut Butter Squares, and Panforte Ice Cream.

But, in the end, it was Susan's Jam Doughnut Muffins (and I love the fact that she spells doughnuts the same way I do) that stole my heart.  Let's face it, a muffin is great for breakfast, or a snack on the run.  A doughnut is even better ... actually, a whole lot better, but they can be a bit of a faff to make, and you have to wait a good deal longer for satisfaction, and I have to admit that delayed self gratification has never been my strong suit.  On the other hand, something that cooks up quick and easily like a muffin but tastes like a doughnut has got to be the best of both worlds.

I made a couple of small changes, replacing caster sugar with brown sugar, and melted butter in the muffins with coconut oil.  Coconut oil does solidify at low temperatures, so chances are you might have to dissolve it first - no biggie.  What I did discover though, was that as soon as I added the cold milk, the coconut oil started to solidify a bit - not completely, but a bit.  The upshot of that was that when I added the liquid ingredients to the dry ingredients, there wasn't quite enough liquid, so I added another 1/2 cup of milk.  As it turned out, I don't think this was a bad thing - the combination of the coconut oil and the extra milk delivered a muffin with a beautiful, moist texture and which tasted just as good the second day as they did straight out of the oven, and this my friends, as you probably know, is a rare thing in the muffin world.  (The quantities given in the recipe below are what I actually used.)  I also froze half of the batch, and I can tell you that once thawed they are every bit as good as the fresh ones were.  Only other changes I made ... I didn't have any buttermilk, so I used a combination of regular milk with a bit of natural yoghurt;   and I used homemade plum jam instead of strawberry jam in the middle - really any jam would be great, or even a dollop of nutella if you wanted to go the chocolate route.  Lastly, Susan says the original recipe was for six large muffins, and that is what she made.  She did however recommend making smaller ones, and since I knew that I would want to eat two of these babies in one sitting (no matter what their size), I decided it would be more prudent to make the smaller, regular-sized ones - smaller ones also give you, I think, a better jam to muffin ratio, which makes me smile.

Once the baked muffins are brushed all over with melted butter, then rolled in sugar and cinnamon, they seriously do taste for all the world like a doughnut, and I know for sure that this has become my go-to muffin recipe.

Jam Doughnut Muffins Recipe
Adapted from recipe from Food. Baby. Life.
Makes 12
Click here for a printable copy of this recipe

300g (10-1/2 oz) self-raising flour
pinch of sea salt
2/3 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup coconut oil
1 large egg
1 cup milk
1/4 cup natural yoghurt
1 tsp vanilla extract
good-quality plum jam
100g unsalted butter
1/2 cup caster sugar
1-1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 180 degrees C (350 degrees F) and grease a 12-hole regular-size muffin tin.

Sift the flour into a medium-sized bowl.  Add the salt and brown sugar, and stir to combine.

In separate bowl, combine the coconut oil, egg, milk, yoghurt and vanilla extract.

Add wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix until only just combined.

Put a spoonful of mixture into each muffin hole and make an indent in the centre. Fill each indent with a generous dollop of jam.  Top with the remaining muffin mixture and bake in the preheated oven for 20 minutes.

Remove from the oven and set aside to cool slightly.

Meanwhile, melt the butter.  Combine the caster sugar and cinnamon in a large bowl.

As soon as the muffins are just cool enough to handle, brush each muffin all over with the melted butter, then roll in the cinnamon sugar.

Serve while still a little warm (the jam in the middle really holds its heat so watch out!).

Hope you enjoy this dish as much as I did, and visit the links below to check out all the other great dishes my Secret Recipe Club friends made.

Also linked to Foodie Friday hosted by Designs by Gollam, Weekend Cooking hosted by Beth Fish Reads, and Sweet New Zealand hosted here at Couscous & Consciousness.

An InLinkz Link-up

Chocolate Beetroot Cake

We're doing the "Rootie Patootie" this week at I Heart Cooking Clubs, preparing any Nigel Slater dish using root vegetables.

I know most of you out there would probably find it hard to go past the potato if asked to name your favourite root vegetable.  For me, however, much as I love the humble spud, it has to be beetroot.

Finding a suitable dish to make was as simple as hauling Nigel's book "Tender, Vol I, A cook and his vegetable patch" off the shelf, and heading straight to the beetroot chapter.   As with every other chapter in this book, each sentence is so beautifully crafted I find myself longing to read late into the night, and at the same time shuddering with my own ineptitude as a food writer.  Here you will find Nigel not only offers recipes for using beetroot, but also offers advice on growing them, the various varieties of beets, simple advice on preparing them for the pot or oven, and some "quick fix" uses and great pairings.

I was sorely tempted to try the lamb, cracked wheat and beetroot meatballs paired with a yoghurt, cucumber, mint and caper dressing.  The chickpea patties with beetroot tzatziki sounded equally tantalising.  And, although I've had an absolute horror of beetroot soup ever since a rather wretched experience in my early 20s, I flirted briefly with the idea of trying the chilled soup of goat's cheese and beetroot.  But once I got to the recipe for "An extremely moist chocolate beetroot cake with creme fraiche and poppy seeds" I was completely seduced.

In his introduction to this recipe, Nigel says: "Keeping a cake's heart on the verge of oozing is down partly to timing and partly to the ingredients - ground almonds and very good-quality chocolate will help enormously.  But there are other ways to moisten a cake, such as introducing grated carrots or, in this case, crushed beetroot.  The beetroot is subtle here, but it is a lot cheaper than ground almonds" (at  $4.50/kg compared to $29/kg, he's not wrong there) "and blends perfectly with dark chocolate."  He goes on to say, "This is a seductive cake, deeply moist and tempting."  And I can tell you that he is absolutely right about that too.

I made a couple of small changes to the recipe.  Firstly the recipe called for 200g of dark chocolate, but chocolate here comes in 250g blocks, and it would have been churlish to hold back just a few squares.  I also replaced golden caster sugar with coconut sugar, which happens to be my favourite sugar right now.  Lastly, there were a couple of steps in the method which seemed either unnecessarily complicated or at odds with how I would ordinarily have done things, so I made changes to the method accordingly.

The end result:  When Nigel calls this an "extremely moist ... cake", he's not kidding.  Around the edges this is like a dense, fudgy brownie, and at the centre almost like a rich chocolate mousse.  This is hands down the best chocolate cake I've ever made - admittedly I've not made a lot of chocolate cakes, but this is still the best.  You will definitely want to eat this with a spoon, and it would make a great dessert.  That said, given that it contains a vegetable (beetroot), I wouldn't be opposed to eating it for breakfast.  I have also heard that eating chocolate with vegetables cancels out the calories - ok, we know that's not true, but I'm not above kidding myself.

Nigel serves this with a side order of creme fraiche mixed with poppy seeds.  I got so excited by the cake I completely forgot about the side, but I'm pretty sure they would be great together if you can exercise enough restraint to mix it up before being overtaken by cake lust.

Chocolate Beetroot Cake Recipe
Adapted from recipe by Nigel Slater
from Tender Vol. I
Serves 8
Click here for a printable copy of this recipe

250g (9 oz) beetroot (approx. 2x medium sized beetroot)
200g (7 oz) butter
250g (9 oz) dark chocolate (I used Whittaker's Dark Ghana), broken into small pieces
4 tablespoons espresso
135g (5 oz) plain flour
1 heaped teaspoon baking powder
3 tablespoons cocoa
5x free-range eggs
190g (7 oz) coconut sugar

Cook whole beetroot in boiling, unsalted water until tender to the point of a knife - approximately 45 minutes depending on the size of your beetroot.

Meanwhile, preheat oven to 180 degrees C (350 degrees F).  Lightly grease a 20cm (8 inch) springform or loose-bottomed cake tin, and line the base with baking paper.  Set aside.

Drain beetroot and cool under cold running water until you can handle them.  Peel the beetroot (skins will slip off easily with your fingers), remove stems and roots, roughly chop, and blitz in the food processor until you have a coarse puree.

Cut butter into chunks and add to a large bowl set over simmering water until melted.  Remove from heat, add chocolate and espresso, and stir until chocolate is melted and everything is smooth and glossy.

Separate the eggs. Put the whites in a large bowl and set aside.

Lightly whisk the egg yolks, and add them to the chocolate mixture, along with the coconut sugar and pureed beetroot.  Stir to combine.

Beat the egg whites until stiff and gently fold into the chocolate mixture.

Lastly, sift together the flour, baking powder and cocoa, and gently fold into the wet ingredients until fully combined.

Pour into the prepared cake tin and put into the preheated oven.  Immediately turn heat down to 160 degrees C (320 degrees F).  Bake for 40 minutes, by which time the edge of the cake will be feeling quite spongy but the centre will still have a wobble when gently shaken.

Remove from the oven.  Set the tin on a rack and leave to cool.  Loosen around the edges with a palette knife after 30 minutes, but allow to cool completely before removing from the tin.

If you would like to get to know Nigel Slater a little better, and to see what everyone else has cooked up this week, then do go and visit my friends at I Heart Cooking Clubs and check out the links ...

... or check out Tender, Vol. 1 and Nigel's many other great titles available from Amazon USA, Amazon UK, or Fishpond NZ.

I will also be submitting this post to Sweet New Zealand.  Inspired by Alessandra Zecchini, and hosted this month right here on Couscous & Consciousness, Sweet New Zealand is an event for all Kiwi bloggers (whether living at home or abroad), or all foreign bloggers living in New Zealand, to link up their sweet treats.

I'll also be sharing this post this week at See Ya In the Gumbo hosted by the delightful Michelle at Ms. enPlace, at Weekend Cooking hosted by Beth Fish Reads, at Foodie Fridays hosted by Designs by Gollum, and at Cook Your Books hosted by the lovely Joyce at Kitchen Flavours, and at Hearth & Soul hosted by the gorgeous April at 21st Century Housewife.