An Easy Spicy Applesauce Cake

Hello Friends!

I don't know about you, but I am baking a lot more these days. Is it the craving for comfort food and something sweetly satisfying?  Is it driven by the need to do something familiar and soothing? Or is it the need to make sure nothing goes to waste?  I am using up a lot of out of date things that might otherwise have lingered too long in the cupboard and ended up wasted.  I know one thing, as a nation we must be baking a lot more as, following on from the toilet paper shortage of seven weeks ago, we now find ourselves struggling to find flour, sugar and eggs!

I found some chunky, home made applesauce lurking in the freezer. It has been there since last Autumn.  It needed using, and as I have not been baking much since Christmas I found I have some slightly out of date flour and baking fat that needed using up too.  I don't know why, I suddenly fancied an apple cake of some sort, so I Googled Applesauce Cake.  I found a lot of different recipes, so I took elements from several of them, converted from metric and cups into Imperial {I am an old fashioned girl when it comes to my baking} and devised my own recipe, which follows.

Cooling in the tin

A slice showing the chunky apple sauce and raisins

It makes quite a dense texture, maybe I didn't add enough baking powder?  Maybe I should have used self raising?  It is not unlike a Bread Pudding {do not confuse with a Bread and Butter Pudding}and for that reason I really like it.  A lot. It is good warm with yogurt, or a drizzle of Golden Syrup.

Here's what I did.

4 oz butter
7 oz sugar {I used golden granulated}
up to 10 oz apple sauce {smooth or chunky} unsweetened if using a sweet apple.
8 oz plain flour, sifted
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon powder
a scant 1/4 fresh grated nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ginger powder {optional}
2 oz dried fruit {cranberries, raisins, sultanas etc} optional
sugar for sprinkling {optional}

Cream together the butter and sugar.  Stir in about 8 oz of the apple sauce and combine well.  Add the rest of the ingredients.  Add more apple sauce if mixture is too dry, and make sure all ingredients are well incorporated.
Tip into a greased and floured 20cm round baking tin.  Sprinkle with a little sugar, if using, or add when cake comes out of the oven, depending how you want it to look.
Bake on Gas Mark 4 for approximately 40 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean.
Cool in tin for 15 minutes then carefully remove from tin to finish cooling.

I may try adding walnuts next time, which I think would be a good addition.  I will also bake it in a suitable loaf style pan too.

As there are no eggs, if you use a vegan baking fat I think it would be good for vegans too.

with home made yogurt for pudding

Next up to the oven are the two long term resident oranges in my fridge. I fancy an Orange Drizzle and maybe a small batch of Orange and Blueberry Muffins.  Waste Not, Want Not, and my freezer has space now, at last, but not for long.

Today is VE Day. Normally, street parties and all manner of social gatherings would have occurred, along with events from Buckingham Palace and all up and down the length and breadth of Great Britain, but Covid-19 has put a stop to almost all activities.  A lot of people put up bunting, and this afternoon a few of us gathered, carefully observing social distancing, in a neighbour's car port. We each brought our own cup of tea, and our own plates of food.  We sat, a good six feet apart, and chatted for over an hour.  Up and down our street similar groups gathered outside on the pavement. I cannot begin to tell you how good it was to talk to people face to face instead of over the phone, but it was a strange time too, celebrating that which brought us all closer together seventy five years ago, by keeping our distance from one another.

Here is my tray.  I picked a tiny posy from the garden, including Forget-Me-Nots and London Pride, which seemed appropriate inclusions, and Treasure had his own, special, tiny picnic hamper too.

Did you do anything to celebrate VE Day? I hope you managed something to alleviate the current mood.  We do know how to put on a good street party in Great Britain, and excel at celebrating all the anniversaries, jubilees and royal weddings!

Until next time
Deborah xo

Summer Tomato Soup

Hello Friends!

It's a very busy time of year, the tourists are in town and for those of us who work in the tourist industry it's Go! Go! Go! until the middle of September.  It's so easy to grab a ready meal, a quick snack, or rely on sandwiches as finding time to eat a healthy, balanced diet, and cook delicious food is something that is often a bit of a struggle during the busy summer months, and if I am honest, after a long day on my feet the last thing I want to be doing is standing in the kitchen prepping supper and tomorrow's lunch box.

I had to do a bit of a fridge clearing out a day or two ago, and as ever there were plenty of things nearing or even past their best, so here's what I came up with to avoid wasting a glut of cherry and other small tomatoes.  I have to say it's quite possibly one of the best soups I have ever made.

I found about 300 gr, or about 10 oz, of very ripe tomatoes in the salad drawer in the fridge.  Far too many to eat, and far too ripe to think about keeping any longer, so here's what I did:

I placed a layer of fresh basil in the bottom of a shallow Pyrex casserole, big enough to take the tomatoes in a single layer. I drizzled them very lightly with olive oil, and seasoned with freshly ground salt and black pepper, with a teaspoon of Balsamic vinegar and a teaspoon of sugar sprinkled over. I roasted them on Gas Mark 7 for about 25 minutes until they had started to caramelise. I removed the basil and cooled the tomatoes before putting in the fridge.  Today, I tipped them into my Ninja goblet, added the juice of a freshly squeezed, large orange and blitzed to a puree.  I warmed it through in a saucepan, seasoned with a little more freshly ground black pepper {to me there are few seasonings more special than freshly ground black pepper} a sprinkling of grated Parmesan, and a sprig of fresh basil to garnish.

Can I say it was utterly, completely, and totally lip smacking? Perfect for a light, summer lunch if you have a glut of tomatoes too, although it only made a small bowlful.  I am sure it could have been diluted to serve two, but then all that delicious oven roasted tomato goodness would also have been diluted, and tomatoes are so good for us.

I always like to play with my food, but this is one recipe I don't think I want to play with, and will definitely be making again, very soon. Fresh tomatoes and herbs only, and I don't think I will even consider adding onions or garlic, or any other tweaks to the seasonings.

Let me know if you try it, and if so, I do hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

Until next time
Deborah



p.s. I have to say my Ninja food processor is one of the best gadgets I have ever bought, and I have owned mine now for two years and I think I have used it nearly every day since I got it home. It wasn't cheap, but oh, my! how it has proved it's value in the food preparation in my kitchen.