Pound Cake

Bank Holiday Baking Bonanza!

Yes, I know the bank holiday was yesterday but I was doing so much baking I didn't have time to post so I thought I'd post the recipes this week.

I also know you're not supposed to start with the best, the creme de la creme but it was my favorite from the weekend and worked so well I was too excited to save it.

Regardless of the weather, bank holidays are synonymous with barbecues. Even if one guy has to cook the meat outside one-handed whilst holding an umbrella over himself while everyone stays dry inside, most of the country looks forward to lighting up the grill on a bank holiday weekend. We certainly planned on it. So I decided to be prepared.

One thing I always wanted to try was grilled pound cake. As pound cake isn't popular in England, I had to, you guessed it!, make mine from scratch.

Pound cake is quite easy. It's a little like a rich but light sponge cake with a few differences. It gets it's name from long ago when literally the recipe was a pound of each ingredient. Can you imagine?!

3 eggs

3 tbsp milk

1 1/2 tsp vanilla

150g flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

150g sugar

185g butter, softened.

Preheat oven to 350/170/gas 4

Spray and line a loaf pan with parchment paper

Combine eggs, milk, and vanilla. Combine the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. Add butter to dry ingredients.

Add half wet mix to the flour and butter. Mix until combined then beat on high for 1 minute.

Add remaining wet mix in two batches, beating on high 3o seconds in between.

Pour batter into the pan and bake 55-60 minutes or until a skewer inserted comes out clean. If the top starts to brown too quickly, cover with foil after 30 minutes.

Grilled pound cake has multiple variations. One option is to dip slices in a mix of egg, milk and Gran Marnier (or another liquer), then grill on each side until browned. This is sort of like French Toast/eggy bread.

Another option is to grill slices, slathered with a little butter and serve with chocolate sauce, berry sauce, ice cream, whipped cream, honey, fresh fruit, etc etc etc. The possibilities are endless.

What I ended up doing this weekend, to keep in theme with the rest of the meal (which was chicken and beef sat-ay, grilled on skewers), was to make dessert kebabs. I cubed the finished cake and threaded the cubes onto skewers. I then brushed them with melted butter and grilled them until browned. I served it with a homemade berry sauce, vanilla ice cream and framage frais. Absolutely delicious.

I wanted to post pictures but the dessert was eaten too quickly to get a clear shot in!

Apple Pie Breakfast Bars

I love the accessibility of granola bars. If you're hungry on the go (which I often am) you can just dig into your bag, grab a bar and enjoy.

The problem is, all the recipes to make your own are double or triple the calorie and fat content of store bought ones so I generally avoid making my own. Unless, of course, I cut the bars into tiny thin slices which defeats the purpose of using them as portable means to curb hunger.

This recipe, while not the healthiest granola bar on the market, is still light enough to have with a cup of tea, not as a meal replacement.

3/4 cup whole wheat flour

3/4 cup oats

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/4 tsp allspice

1/4 cup melted butter

1/4 cup applesauce

1 egg

1/2 tsp vanilla

1/4 cup raisins

3/4 cup chopped apples

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to gas 5/350F. Line a 13x9in pan with parchment paper. This enables you to keep the shape of the bars, without anything getting stuck.

Combine flour, oats, sugar and spices. Mix together applesauce, egg and vanilla. Add flour and spice mix to applesauce mix. Combine until just wet. Add chopped apple, raisins and nuts. Fold in.

Bake 20-25 minutes. Let cool in pan on wire rack. When cold, cut into bars (should make about 12).

Lemon Courgette Cake

In spite of planting the entire plot this year, the only consistent vegetable we're still harvesting at the allotment is courgette. Gold rush, zucchini and romano varieties. We have 8-ish plants total and even though we pick twice a week, they keep growing. It's astonishing.

I eat courgette at least once a day. I even have a recipe for marrow jam I'll be making this weekend just to use it all up.

So I guess it's time for another courgette cake.

I wasn't sure about lemon and cinnamon and after making it, I'm still not sure. There is a disconnect between the two ingredients. It tastes like it should be two different cakes. It's an edible cake and actually, I quite enjoyed it, but perhaps in the future I make either a lemon cake or a courgette cake.

200g grated courgette

150g caster sugar

1 egg

125ml vegetable oil

200g flour (I used half whole-wheat and half plain)

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp baking powder

1 tsp cinnamon

2 tsp lemon zest

Preheat oven to 160F/gas mark 3. Grease a loaf tin

Beat courgette, sugar, egg and oil. Sift together flour, baking soda, salt, baking powder. Stir in cinnamon and lemon zest.

Stir the dry mix into the wet. Pour into tin. Bake 45 minutes or until a skewer inserted comes out clean.

To glaze, mix together 3/4 cup icing sugar and 1 tsp lemon juice. If too dry, add a little lemon juice a drop at a time. Glaze while the cake is still warm.

Almond Butter Cookies

I'm not sure why I ever think trying to detox is a good idea but every once in a while I think, why not? let's give it a go and see how it feels. No matter what though, every time I end up feeling horrible and have to quit early.

This last time I thought it would be a good idea I ended up making my own almond butter, which is generally allowed during a light detox. After I quit and was allowed actual food again, I thought it would be a good idea to make cookies out of the remaining almond butter.

I took a regular peanut butter cookie recipe and just substituted the almond butter for peanut butter. Simple really. I left the almonds to roast in the oven a but too long originally so the cookies were quite smoky. Other than that, they were amazing. Chewy and nutty and buttery.

2 cups whole wheat flour

1 tsp baking soda

3/4 tsp salt

1 cup almond butter

1 cup maple syrup

1/3 cup olive oil

1 1/2 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 350F/gas 5

Combine flour, baking soda and salt. Mix together almond butter, maple syrup, olive oil and vanilla.

Mix dry and wet together. Don't overmix, leave the batter a little dusty. Let sit 5 minutes. Stir together once more.

Drop by teaspoonfulls onto baking sheet. Press down slightly with the back of a floured fork (don't press too hard, it will be sticky). Bake 10 minutes or until golden. Make sure you don't overbake, they will be really dry if you do.

Lemon Poppy Seed Cake

I never thought twice about the combination of ingredients in this cake and that, perhaps, it might be an unusual idea here in England. I grew up, not with homemade versions of this, but with the idea of poppy seed cake as normal, at least.

So when I decided to make this to take to a baby shower last weekend, I never thought people would look at it apprehensively. And I think I can understand why. In fact, when M went to the store to purchase the bag of poppy seeds for me, the incredibly chatty and friendly man at the till asked him if it was gunpowder.

Armed with my gunpowder spotted bundt cake (which is also not a normal thing in England) I placed my cake on the table along side more normal dishes of caramel shortbread, biscuits and the ever popular English Victoria sponge cake, complete with whipped cream and jam.

I will definitely make this cake again. The batter alone was wonderful, tasting of vanilla ice cream. Not only a delicious cake but presentable and attractive as well.

1 1/2 cup whole-wheat pastry flour

1 cup plain flour

1/4 cup poppy seeds

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1 cup buttermilk

1/4 cup canola oil

1 tsp vanilla

2 tbsp lemon zest

2 tbsp lemon juice

2 eggs

2 egg whites

1 1/4 cup sugar

3/4 cup icing sugar

3 tbsp lemon juice

1 tbsp water

Preheat to 350/gas 4.

Place poppy seeds on baking sheet. Toast in oven for 7-10 minutes.

Coat bundt cake pan. This recipe can also be made as muffins or a sheet cake. Adjust baking times accordingly.

Whisk together dry ingredients including poppy seeds. Whisk together milk, oil, vanilla and lemon in a seperate bowl or jug.

Beat eggs and sugar for about 5 minutes. Fold dry mix into wet a third at a time, alternating with the egg/sugar mix. Pour batter into pan.

Bake 35-40 minutes. Whilst baking, combine icing sugar, lemon and water to make a glaze. Let cool in pan 5 minutes. Turn out onto wire rack.

While still warm, poke holes in the cake with a fork. Brush glaze over cake.