Orange, Fig And Cardamom Cake

Nothing like a new year to start afresh with this blog. Last year was a nondescript year for me and yours truly is more than ready to welcome the new year. As for this blog, it seems that all I managed was nine posts for the whole of 2016. So, this year will be all about getting all those posts floating around in my head onto this little space of mine. 

And getting straight onto the job with a cake that I baked this weekend. For some reason, almost every post in the latter half of the year was chocolate. So, am taking a break from chocolate and turning to my other love, baking with the fruit of the season.

That would be figs and oranges today. I found this cake in Nigel Slater's 'Ripe', his weighty ode to cooking with the fruit in season. This is essentially an almond cake, flavoured with oranges and cardamom that has a layer of fresh figs, running through the middle of the cake. As the cake bakes, the figs cook into a soft, jammy consistency.

Once baked, a lemon and orange syrup is then poured on top of the hot cake. You will be tempted to give it a miss but don't. You will appreciate the citrus syrup when you help yourself to a slice. 

The cake does not score high on looks but cut yourself a slice and you will realise that all the drama is in the taste and texture of this cake.

This is a moist cake that uses not only almond meal but chopped almonds too and that gives it this nutty, grainy texture, very different from your regular cake. This is a cake where you must wait till it completely cools down or else you won't taste all the flavours that this cake promises. On first taste, it's the orange that will hit you but later you will discern the cardamom as well as a hint of lemon from the citrus syrup. The cake looks so moist that I wondered if it was too sweet but turns out that the syrup in fact infuses it with extra citrus notes that balances out any fears on the sugar front. 

Whist figs are a personal favourite, any other fruit such as strawberries or plums should work just as well.  
 

  

As the new year started, articles all over were about how we need to slow down, be mindful and move out of our social media bubbles. I couldn't agree more. So, here's to a new year, where you make the time to discover, connect, embrace and rejoice in life's simpler pleasures. Happy New Year..x!

Dark Chocolate And Fig Biscuits

If you enjoy reading as much as I do, you will most likely identify with what I have to say. I buy new books at a much faster rate than I finish reading the books I already have. When I hear about a book or read a good review or listen to an author talk about their work or spend an hour or two at the bookshop, invariably I'd pick up a book or two. And for some reason, if I don't get the time to catch up with my reading, the pile of unread books just grows.

 

With the elections last year, much of my reading was political and non-fiction. So, at the beginning of the year, when I took stock of my books, I realised that pile of fiction had really, really grown. A few of my favourite authors from Kazuo Ishiguro to Alex Rutherford to Amitav Ghosh are releasing their new books this year. It makes sense that I should tackle some of my unread books before I buy any more new books. It's a different matter that the day after I made the resolution, I spent an hour at the book store and picked up two new books. I need help! Tell me, I am not the only one guilty of this??

 

 

And these biscuits are perfect to have nearby when you curl up with a good book on a lazy afternoon. Nothing extraordinary about them but there are comforting and cosy as only biscuits baked at home can be.

 

These are flavoured with dark chocolate chunks and chopped dried figs. I have used demerara sugar because I want to increasingly use raw and demerara sugar for my regular home baking. I rather leave the refined, white stuff for special occasions. For anyone in India wondering, FabIndia sells both raw and demerara sugar that can be used for baking.

 

 

The biscuits are just how I like them. Not too crunchy nor too soft and not too sweet. If you like, use any other dried fruit of your choice but don't let go of the dark chocolate. It's always nice to encounter a chunk of dark chocolate in your biscuit.

 

The biscuits taste better the next day and hold up very well for a week. I am sure you will enjoy them.

 

 

I have just started reading Richard Flanagan's 'The Narrow Road to the Deep North'. It got itself recommended after it won the Booker. It's still early days to pass an opinion on the book. What's been occupying your bed side table these days??

 

Fig And Almond Cake

It wouldn't be until I started working that I would sample a fresh fig for the first time. Am not sure why that was the case considering I have always loved them in their dried avatar and you always got them easily in Bombay. It would take my flatmate's parents to come visiting to get me to try one. Clearly ignoring the fact that we were no longer in college, her mother, much like mine, would stock up the pantry with the essentials and the freshest fruits and vegetables. They clearly had no faith in our housekeeping skills!!

 

Anyhow, on one of their visits, they brought home a box of fresh figs and that's how I got to eat my first fresh fig and have been hooked ever since. I have always loved how a dried fig tastes but cutting through the dark purple skin of a fresh fig and then encountering the luscious, soft, deep red flesh inside has a charm of its own. And since then, I wait every January when the fruit makes it to our markets!

 

 

I enjoy them just as they are, no adornments, no embellishments. But, over the years, they seem to be much more in abundance than before. So, I couldn't let them leave the market without giving this cake, on which I have had my eye on for the longest time, a shot!

 

The recipe is available on Ottolenghi's website, so, you know you are in safe hands! It is a cake made with almonds and Greek yoghurt and the top is adorned with fresh figs. The recipe states that while it was not needed, a red wine caramel syrup with fresh figs was recommended to go with the cake. Well, when the masters of cooking recommend it, who am I to say no!

 

 

The cake comes together very easily. I liked the fact that it has ground star anise, a welcome change from the usual cinnamon that I normally turn to. You won't only taste the star anise but you will smell it as the cakes bakes. Remember, there is no baking powder, so this is a dense cake in terms of consistency.

 

The recipe is right. You don't need the red wine caramel syrup but I will insist that you do not miss out on it. Toss some fresh figs in the syrup and then serve them with a slice of cake and some Greek yoghurt. The fresh figs along with the figs in the cake pay a fitting tribute to the fruit. The almond meal not only provides a different texture but ensures that a small slice goes a long way!

 

 

The red wine caramel syrup ties all the elements together and the Greek yoghurt ensures that it never gets too sweet for the palate. The hint of star anise that you encounter plays up the Middle Eastern heritage of the fruit.

 

 

If you love the fruit as much as I do, there is no way you should miss out on this cake. My mother, who personally does not like figs, enjoyed the cake with all its accoutrements. But, then again, I think she is unfairly biased towards this baker!!

Fig, Hazelnut and Dark Chocolate No-Churn Ice-Cream

Anybody know what happened to the rains?? And no, I am not talking about the insipid sprinkles that we saw sometime in the beginning of the month. I am talking about the all-encompassing, intemperate, unbridled, imprudent monsoons that should have come by now! I hate to sound like the English and talk about the weather but the thought of the impending monsoons was the only thing that got me through the miserable, soul sucking Summer. So, again, anybody know what happened to the rains??

 



Anyhow, between the late night football matches and the incessant complaining about the heat, I found myself a gem of a chocolate ice-cream recipe to get me through the days. You know those no-churn ice creams which I have tried with fresh fruit pulp.. well.. this time I added dark chocolate. And for added measure, some hazelnuts and figs dunked in coffee liqueur!!

 

And whoa.. I think I hit the jackpot! This was the darkest, creamiest, luscious, rich, intensely chocolaty chocolate ice-cream made without an ice-cream maker!  Imagine melding chocolate ice-cream with chocolate truffle with chocolate mousse, this ice-cream is that end product. The hazelnuts and boozy figs are a brilliant addition to this chocolate ecstasy blowout! Both pair brilliantly with the chocolate. The hazelnuts provide some textural crunch and the boozy figs.. well.. need no justification!

 

 

This is a soft serve ice-cream. Being quite rich and intense in flavour means a small scoop goes a long way. A tiny drizzle of the coffee liqueur on top ... happy days!!!

 

But, I'm still asking...anybody know what happened to the rains??



Cucidati | X-Cookies : 'TWD : Baking With Julia'

I have been most erratic with baking along with 'TWD : Baking with Julia', these past few months. With the year drawing to a close, I think I still have some time to catch up with a few of the interesting ones I missed out on. For instance, I have had my eye on these X-cookies, ever since I bought the book, last year.

Turns out these fig stuffed, hand-shaped cookies originate from Sicily. The distinctive X-shape that this batch has, is contributing baker, Nick Maglieri's, special touch in shaping these cookies. Apparently, for Sicilians all over the world, there is no Christmas without cucidati.

 

 

The dominant ingredient in the stuffing is figs. The rest you can take liberties with. My filling was much like Nick's, except that I replaced the apricot preserve with some homemade strawberry jam that I had lying around in the fridge.

 

The biscuit that holds this filling is a buttery, short-crusty kind of  pastry. Both the components can be made in a processor, so there is nothing tedious about it.

 

 

My issue was with the time consuming process involved in filling and then shaping these cookies. If anything, while working with these cookies, I had a vision of a Sicilian Nonna, sitting around with her friends, shaping these cookies while they indulged in a round of gossip and match making. As you might have guessed, this recipe is definitely not for those short on time or patience!!

 

 

But, if you manage to get through that tedious process, rest assured, the fruits of your labour will have many admirers. You will definitely taste the figs but the rest of the filling has a complexity that will not be easily distinguishable. The entire sweetness comes from the dried fruits, as there is no sugar added to the filling. That ensures that there is no cloying sweet after taste.

 

Give it a day or two, and the flavours meld and mature beautifully together and if you are discerning enough, you might get a hint of the alcohol used. The pastry that encases is buttery and a perfect foil for the filling.

 

 

These cookies are traditionally made for Christmas. If you have it in you to put yourself through the time consuming process of making these cookies, for your platter at home, you can be sure that these will be the star of the show!!

 

Honey-Toasted Muesli

Read food blogs and you'll notice one thing - food bloggers have this common tendency to re-create a supermarket-bought product at home (think jams, sauces, vanilla extract) and then go on to write about how easy it was to make it. About how much better the home-made stuff tastes compared to the "awful" and "over-priced" versions in supermarkets and then invariably, the post will end with the words "make this once and you will never go back to the shop-bought version" or something along those lines!!! And without doubt, topping that list of products is home-made muesli and granola!!

 

Since, I now consider myself a bonafide food blogger, I thought I would let myself into this Martha Stewart-esque world to see what the fuss was all about. My first stop was going to be ...  why muesli, of course!!!

Scour the Internet and there are literally hundreds of muesli and granola recipes. The difference between muesli and granola is that while they both contain oats and dried fruits, granola has oil and honey added, making it more crisper and sweeter. I took the middle path and since, I still had some honey left over from when I made this bread, I went with this recipe of honey-toasted muesli that I had seen on Masterchef Australia!!

The recipe can't get any simpler .. weigh out all the ingredients in a baking tray, toss them around, drizzle some honey on it, in to the oven for 15 minutes and the aroma from the oven will tell you that you are done!!! You know that, more often than not, the recipes I blog about are fuss-free and hardly take any time. But even by my standards, this seemed a bit too simple ... I actually re-read the recipe twice to check if I had missed out any steps. Nope, it turns out.. that is all there is to it!!!

 

But, does it really taste any better than the shop-bought stuff. Here's the thing .. make muffins at home and then buy some from a supermarket (not some fancy bakery). There will be a difference, the home-made ones will feel and taste fresher, less greasier and you will taste flavours besides, just sugar!! It is the same deal with this muesli.

Personally, I have always found store-bought muesli a bit chalky and this is where the home-made stuff triumphs. You can discern each and every component - their texture, their flavour, their shape and their colour .. all of it!! In simple terms, it's all that much fresher!!!  

Make it at home and you can play around with the ingredients. Omit the stuff you can't stand and add in the stuff you love!! There are no rules. Search the Web for inspiration or make your own mix.

 

I do realise that while people see the benefits of making stuff at home, sometimes, with the pressures of work and life, it is just more convenient to buy stuff from the supermarket. It's just that much more practical!! But in this case, I'll make a case for this muesli a bit stronger... all it will take you is 20 minutes from start to finish to get a week's supply of breakfast!!! And this will sound cliched .. but it's 20 minutes well spent!!!

Personally, muesli is not so much for breakfast but for my 4 pm hunger cravings, that special time of the day when all my good diet behaviour of the day comes undone!! A bowl of this with some yoghurt is the option I highly recommend. 

 

And yes, I admit .. I've enjoyed this little foray of mine into the world of making home-made supermarket stuff. Next stop.... home-made vanilla extract!!!