Browsing Archive: February, 2012

Frances’s Fijian Black Forest gateau

Posted by Bake Club on Saturday, February 25, 2012, In : big cakes

This cake is an adaption of two recipes: Fijian chocolate cake by Alexa Johnston from foodie.co.nz (http://foodie.co.nz/Recipes/Fijian-Chocolate-Cake-by-Alexa-Johnston.aspx) with a Black Forest-type filling. Alexa calls in Fijian because it uses coconut cream. It makes a really dark, moist chocolate cake. I made 1 ½ times this recipe to make a big cake to feed 10 adults.

210 g flour
55 g cocoa
2 tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
200 g sugar
2 eggs
125 g melted...

Ginny’s plum cake

Posted by Bake Club on Thursday, February 16, 2012, In : big cakes

I adapted a recipe for 'Fresh Plum Cake with Yoghurt' by Amanda Laird that appeared in Viva recently (http://www.nzherald.co.nz/lifestyle/news/article.cfm?c_id=6&objectid=10781284)

Serves 8-12 (1 x 24 cm cake)

500g plums (ish)
1 cup caster sugar
250g butter
3 eggs
1/2 cup milk + 1/4 cup yoghurt
Finely grated zest of 1 large lemon
1 tsp vanilla extract
1+1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup semolina
4 tsp baking powder

Preheat oven to 180C. Grease a 24cm springform tin (if no springform...

Mama Chan’s hazelnut meringue

Posted by Bake Club on Thursday, February 16, 2012, In : desserts

6 egg whites
1 ½ c caster sugar
1 c chopped hazelnuts

Preheat oven to 100 C. Trace 3 x 20cm round circles onto baking paper. Turn over and place on baking sheet.
Beat eggs for 1 min. Then add sugar and beat further 6-8 mins until peaks form.
Add the hazelnuts or any other kind of nuts or almond meal.
Divide mixture in 3 and spread over circle shapes. Bake at for 3-4 hours until crispy.

Assemble together with sweetened cream and berries. Our bottom layer was strawberri...

Coffee snaps by Frances

Posted by Bake Club on Tuesday, February 14, 2012, In : cookies

Coffee and snaps. Two lovely words that go together. So when I saw this recipe on Shirleen’s Sugar and Spice and All Things Nice blog I had to make it (http://sugarandspice-and-allthingsnice.blogspot.co.nz/2011/03/coffee-snaps_11.html). Shirleen said she had a ‘hankering’ for some cookies – I know exactly how she feels!

125g butter, softened
1 1/4 cups (275g) firmly packed brown sugar [next time I would just use 1 c]
3 teaspoon instant coffee, the stro...

Ruth B makes apricot shortbread

Posted by Bake Club on Monday, February 13, 2012, In : slices

Ruth bought this along to a little afternoon tea we had - it was still warm! Love her duck-shaped measuring cups as well.

8oz flour
1 tsp baking powder
4oz butter
1 egg
1 dessert spoon sugar
milk - a few spoonfuls
cooked (or tinned) apricots - maybe 10 small ones

Rub butter into flour and baking powder. Mix in egg and sugar. Add a spoon or two of milk to make a light pastry. Cut the dough into two parts and roll out each. Place one on a tray and spread the coked apricots on top. Lay the second bit ...
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Nerida's mohnkuchen (poppy seed cake)

Posted by Bake Club on Sunday, February 12, 2012, In : big cakes

Welcome to Bake Club, Nerida! She explains this German specialty:
I fell in love with this kind of poppy-seed pie on my first visit to Germany. The poppy-seed filling is not adulterated with flour. And the crumble or streusel topping is the delicious finishing touch!

Filling:
375 ml milk
50 g butter
50 g sugar
250 g poppy seed
50 g semolina
50 g almond slivers
1 large egg
3 TB raisins soaked in rum

Heat milk, butter and sugar stirring constantly until butter is ...

Frances's ajo blanco

Posted by Bake Club on Friday, February 10, 2012, In : savoury

Okay, this isn't baking but as I have previously posted gazpacho, one of my favourite soups to make in summer (http://bakeclub.yolasite.com/index/frances-s-favourite-summer-soup-gazpacho-), I had to also include ‘white garlic’ soup from the Spanish, which is equally easy to make and tasty.

4 oz (1/2 cup) blanched, peeled almonds*

3-4 slices stale baguette or white bread

3 cloves garlic

4 cups water

5 Tbsp extra virgin Spanish olive oil

3-4 Tbsp Spanish sherry...

Rosie's tomato bread

Posted by Bake Club on Friday, February 10, 2012, In : bread

Rosie says she adapted this from many recipes.

3 1/2c flour
1 small tbsp sugar
2 1/2 large tbsp tomato paste
1c warm water
1 sachet yeast
handful or more sun-dried tomatoes
handful of sunflower seeds to sprinkle on top

Combine all ingredients except sunflower seeds, mix thoroughly, leave to rise in hot water cupboard for at least one hour - I left mine for two.
Preheat oven to 200c.
Knead dough well on a floured surface. Shape into a loaf, sprinkle with seeds.
Bake for 20 minutes...

Ginny's banana nut loaf

Posted by Bake Club on Thursday, February 9, 2012, In : big cakes

Here's a banana nut loaf baked good...

It is not the most beauteous thing to look at, but it is very very simple and healthy and delicious (and a good use for overripe bananas!). I used about 1/3 C sugar instead of 3/4 and it was not super sweet but still nice. It has no butter, so is an excellent dairy-free recipe. But then it is nice eaten with butter!

The recipe is from "A Second Helping: More from Ladies, a Plate" by Alexa Johnston.

Oven to 180C
grease a med-sized loaf tin, line the ...
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