Sticky Stem Ginger Cake

Ooops!

I borrowed this recipe from the Good Food Magazine but having looked at the ingredients I made a couple of changes and substituted the black treacle with golden syrup. If you feel that there just aren't enough calories in this cake you can add lemon icing for a bit of zesty enjoyment. Having just started a strict diet I thought I would leave the topping out. 

 

The original recipe suggests that you grate the stem ginger but I decide to chop mine into fine chunks. However, these do tend to sink to the bottom of the cake but I prefer chunky pieces of stem ginger.

Ingredients

225g self-raising flour
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 tbsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground mixed spice
115g butter, cut into cubes, plus extra for greasing the tin
115g dark Muscovado sugar
230g golden syrup
250ml semi-skimmed milk
85g drained stem ginger, finely chopped
1 egg

Method

1. Preheat the oven to fan 160C/conventional 180C/gas 4. Butter and line a 2 lb loaf tin, with grease-proof or parchment paper.
2. Put the flour, bicarbonate of soda and all the spices into a large mixing bowl. Add the butter and rub it into the flour with your fingertips until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.
3. Put the sugar, syrup and milk in a medium saucepan and heat, gently stirring until the sugar has dissolved. Turn up the heat and bring the mixture to just below boiling point.
4. Add the stem ginger to the flour mixture, then pour in the treacle mixture, stirring as you go with a wooden spoon. Break in the egg and beat until the mixture is combined and it resembles a thick pancake batter. Pour this into prepared tin and bake for 50 minutes to 1 hour, until a skewer pushed into the centre of the cake comes out fairly clean. Leave to cool completely in the tin before turning cake out.

The finished cake is very light and moist and it will improve with age.

Truly Irresistible - Ghanaian Dark

Today, there are just two things that concern me. No, it is not that a two year old from North Korea is about to start a global thermonuclear war. This is but a mere trifle when compared to the spectacular cost of Margaret Thatchers funeral and Hazel Irvine's hairstyle which appeared on TV a few hours ago. I have a feeling Hazel has taken Margaret's Spitting Image wig for keeps. If you don't believe me tune into The Masters tonight.  

Every country in the Euro is facing economic ruin and we're spending £8 million and possibly more on the Iron Lady's funeral. Nobody in government has an idea of how much it is costing but that comes as no surprise. Somebody must have been tasked with obtaining quotes?! 

Don't get me wrong she deserves some pomp and ceremony and in the eyes of the world, a ceremonial state funeral, is a must.  But surely, there are better ways to remember her. I can think of many good causes that would benefit from a few extra quid and I'm sure you can. Oh, Hazel, avoid the Poodle Parlours in future.


Ok, lets talk about chocolate. The co-operative Fairtrade Ghanaian dark chocolate with spices and orange oil contains 93% Fairtrade ingredients and is suitable for vegetarians. As the years go by there is more and more information being squeezed onto our labels. It seems we can't cope without this information. Take this label for instance: Advice to Parents - Frequent eating of sweets and sugary snacks may lead to tooth decay and poor nutrition. Remember it is important to brush teeth regularly. Yikes, I must remember to clean my teeth tonight and not feed the kids chocolate on toast....thank god I read this label! Utter tosh!

40g Fairtrade Ghanaian Dark Chocolate Orange

Ok, a nicely presented bar of chocolate with a strong orange aroma. The cocoa content is not particularly strong, 51% cocoa, but then it doesn't want to be too strong as it is fighting a losing battle with the orange and spices which include Cardamom, Ginger and Cinnamon. Like a Master Chef contestant I'm having trouble picking out the individual spices even though I know they're in there somewhere.

Overall a very tasty bar of dark chocolate and orange loveliness with spicy undertones, 6/10. Well done to the CO-OP and read about their ethics here. Oh, I must remember to clean my teeth!

Posted by Richard....

Chocolate Easter Loaf

This particular recipe was adapted from a Mowielicious recipe which was in turn adapted from a Nigel Slater dish. Be warned, you'll require several bowls and probably a spare pair of hands to assist with the various tasks. They can also help with the washing up! 

Ingredients

For the loaf

200g dark chocolate (64%)
4 tbsp hot espresso
200g butter, cubed
135g plain flour
1 heaped tsp baking powder
3 tbsp cocoa powder
5 eggs, separated
200g caster sugar
250g cooked and peeled beetroot, pureed

For the chocolate butter cream

150g icing sugar
75g butter, softened
25g cocoa powder
50ml double cream

For the chocolate icing

100g dark chocolate (64%)
2 tbsp golden syrup
100 ml double cream

Method

Heat the oven to 160C/Fan/Gas 4. Grease and line two cake tins with baking paper. I used two 3 lb loaf tins - alternatively you can use two 20cm round cake tins. Melt the chocolate in a bowl over hot water, ensuring the bottom of the bowl doesn't touch the water. Pour the espresso into the melted chocolate, stir, then add the cubes of butter and continue stirring until melted. Remove from the heat and allow to cool slightly.

Sift the flour with baking powder and cocoa. In another bowl, whisk the egg yolks until frothy. In another bowl, whisk the egg whites until stiff peaks form, then add the sugar and fold into the egg whites. Pour the egg yolks and beetroot into the chocolate mixture and carefully fold in. Add the egg white mixture and fold in. Add the flour mixture and fold until just incorporated. Pour into the prepared cake tins, level and bake for 30 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the cake comes out clean. Remove from the oven and allow to cool.

For the butter-cream, sift the cocoa with the icing sugar and mix with the butter until crumbly. Add the double cream and mix until incorporated. Smooth this onto the top of one cake and cover with the other cake. 

For the icing, heat the chocolate with the cream and syrup over a low heat, stirring continuously until thick and glossy. Pour over the cake, decorate as desired and serve.

I used dark chocolate truffles and white chocolate bunnies for the Easter season.

Bunnies and Truffles Optional

The cake is light and moist and trust me, you will only need a small piece!

A Perfect Sponge

Continuing the tea-room theme I decided on making a simple but perfect sponge from a recipe that has been passed down through the generations of my family.

Making the perfect sponge may sound like the most boring of recipes but it does help to understand the basics of baking.

Top Tip: Rather than worrying about a recipe that asks for large, medium or small eggs weigh your egg (whole with shell) and then weigh out each of your ingredients to match the weight of whole eggs. Today my eggs weighed a total 280 g (shell on).

Ingredients:

280g Eggs (4 eggs) then weigh out the rest of your ingredients to match.
280g Margarine hard
280g Castor sugar
280g Self raising flour
1 tspn vanilla extract
A pinch of salt

Method:

1. Prepare two 20 cm/8" sandwich tins, grease each tin with margarine and place a circle of grease proof paper in the base of each.
2. Beat the margarine and sugar together until light and fluffy and pale in colour.
3. Break the eggs one at a time into the mix and beat until combined.
4. Sieve the flour and salt into the mix and fold in gently with a large spoon.
5. Split evenly between two sandwich tins using a palete knife spread evenly in the tin.
6. Place in a pre-heated oven 160Fan/180C/Gas Mark 4 for approximately 35 minutes.
7. To test if cake is done lightly press the centre of each sponge which should spring back.
8. Place tins on cooling rack for 5 minutes then carefully remove from the tins and leave until cold.

Butter Cream Ingredients:

50g Softened butter
100g Sieved icing sugar
1 tbsp Boiling water

Method - Mix all ingredients together in a bowl until light and creamy.

Build your sponge!

1. Spread approx. 3 tbsp of jam (flavour and quantity entirely up to you) onto one half
2. Spread the butter cream on the other half.
3. Take the half with the butter cream and sandwich together with the jammy half.
4. Dust liberally with icing sugar.
5. Now eat it!

The Loft Tea Rooms

In the past few years there has been a resurgence of interest in all things to do with tea, probably because as a nation we are going through a difficult patch. As we all know the British like nothing better than slurping and gulping down buckets of tea at times of trouble, "batten down the hatches and put the kettle on love, we might be here for a while!"  There has also been a huge increase in retro and vintage tea cups and associated china.

One such coastal tea room, The Loft (Tea by the Sea), situated in the village of Tollesbury opened in April 2011, in a converted Sail Loft. It will come as no surprise that sail lofts were originally used by

sail-makers to spread out their sales. 

Yesterday, it seemed that the whole village of Tollesbury had actually descended upon The Loft. Every nook and cranny was taken and we just managed to squeeze into a corner table. The place was rammed to the rafters with young mothers and their offspring, all very well behaved of course, chatting and enjoying speciality tea and scrumptious handmade cake.

Step back in time as you enter the tea room. The restaurant is decorated with an array of vintage china with many designs that I can remember as a child.  

The light egg shell blue melamine table tops and chairs have also been chosen with care to give that retro feel. Even the owner, Sheila, is dressed in retro clothing, well, I hope she was! The whole experience is very enjoyable. It's one of those places where the volume control on the vocals just keeps going up and up. It's vibrant!

Local sourcing is important and many ingredients come from the surrounding area including fresh locally baked bread, Wicks Manor meat and Essex Birds Chicken. 

Speciality teas, which are their forte, include Suffolk Special Blend; Earl Grey Blue Lady; Green Gunpowder; Egyptian Mint and Glamour which all sound very dramatic for cups of tea! 

The Suffolk Special Blend was excellent with a rich full flavour. I need a tea now.....

The menu is what I would call simple, uncomplicated and well executed including freshly made sandwiches, soup and bread (£3.95); Panini (£4.95); Homemade Cakes (£2.50); Mugs of tea (£1.45); Cappuccino (£1.90)  I don't think there is much time to faff in this little tea room. Gluten free cakes are also available.

We had a cake take-away!

Well, was it worth the 60 mile round trip from Chelmsford? Yes, absolutely! 

The tea room is open from 10:30 am until 3 pm and interestingly only open between Tuesday to Saturday according to their blog. 

The Loft, Woodrolfe Road, Maldon CM9 8SE