Cake #34 - Lemon and Almond Cake

Wednesday Natural Ingredient / Healthy Cake - Lemon and Almond Cake.

Almonds belong to my favourite baking and cooking ingredients because they are so versatile. With ground almonds you cook the perfect Chicken Korma or mix a tasty Xató sauce. Of ground almonds you can make yummy marzipan. Toasted flaked almonds look festive on a cake or on sweet buns. A whole blanched almond can a lucky one find from their traditional Finnish Christmas porridge made of rice and fresh milk - and keep being the lucky one the following year. 

The recipe for this cake I found again on Nigella's webpage. Again, yes. To be honest, I am not a huge Nigella fan - nor am I a huge fan of any celebrity chef. Homebakers and chefs are the ones that rule! Of course we need inspiration and sometimes the celebrities are the ones to bring up important issues which need urgent attention - Jamie Oliver vs. school lunches, for example. And sometimes, simply, a celebrity chef's website just happens to be the one where you end up when googling  for a recipe with almonds and lemon. Like in this case. Nigella. Again. 

Despite of/thanks to Nigella the cake turned out great. There is no flour at all in the recipe so if you have wheat allergy, this will suit you, too. Enjoy with vanilla ice cream and black espresso!

Cake #33 - The Yolk's on You!

Tuesday Humour Cake -  "The Yolk's on You!"

How would you like to have your egg? Boiled, fried or scrambled? Five minutes or eight minutes? 

How about your cake? Would you like to have it ten minutes...?

Yes, it was one of those days that both my mind was blank and my fridge nearly empty. Too late to go to the shop any more and what would I even buy with a blank mind? I had all day kind of waited for the idea to pop into my head - like it always does!! And finally it did - like it always does [I told me!].

How to assemble Humour Cake in 10 minutes:

- Take the leftovers of the cake you baked the previous day  (amazingly we had some as there are a few family members who do not like mocha that much), crumble the slices, add some black food colouring if you like and press the crumbs inside a springform frame.
- Take a round scone shape and cut out four holes for the "eggs".
- Mix together some cream cheese and sugar and fill the holes with it.
- Make little egg yolk -look-a-likes of yellow fondant icing (or use peach halves, maybe) and stick them on the egg whites.
- Take some more cake you baked the previous day and shape it in your hands to go as the handle of the pan. I preferred a square shape because a round handle looked like dog poop.

Cake makeover can save your day!! 

Cake #32 - Banana Mocha Cake

Monday Mood Cake - "Tired", Banana Mocha Cake for caffeine and energy boost.

It is not a cliche or an urban myth that Monday mornings always come too soon and in an inhuman way, too! They need to be stopped!

On Saturdays my inner clock usually wakes me up early and eagerly as, although there is usually a lot to do, there are no fixed schedules. Then, towards the end of the day, when my to-do list is not that long any more, I let myself finally relax. Usually that is amazingly just in time to start watching the X Factor, around 8 p.m., and around that time The Husband usually starts cooking Saturday dinner so I need to be off the kitchen anyway.

On Saturdays I even may go to bed earlier than during the week and then let myself sleep in on Sunday mornings. Heavenly! And if I am lucky, I may be able to have a nap on Sunday afternoon, too. Luxury! 

So by Sunday evening I have let myself unwind and that is the reason why the early and busy Monday morning feels so unfair. I would love to have one more day to enjoy the energy saved, to actually do things 100%, with no lack of sleep. Four Monday bank holidays a year is way too few. Four a month would be grand! Sigh. 

While waiting for that to happen, I just need to stick to latte and cake. 

Banana Mocha Cake

3 bananas

100 g butter

200 ml strong coffee

2 eggs

200 ml caster sugar

500 ml plain flour

50 ml cocoa powder

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

2 tsp vanilla sugar

2 tsp ground cinnamon

2 tsp ground ginger

1. Preheat the oven to 175C / 350F and grease and flour a 2 l loaf pan (or bundt cake pan).

2. Mash bananas.

3. Melt butter and mix it with coffee, or let it melt in hot coffee.

4. Beat eggs and sugar until white and fluffy.
5. Mix all dry ingredients, and together with coffee, butter and banana, fold into the egg-sugar mix.
6. Pour into cake pan and bake in the oven for 40-45 minutes.
7. Let cool before icing the cake.

Icing

2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp strong coffee
2 tbsp cocoa powder
200 ml icing sugar

Melt butter and mix all ingredients together. Spread evenly on cake. Decorate with sprinkles or chocolate coffee beans if you like.

Eat a slice or two and freeze the rest for the Mondays to come.

Cake #31 - Date Cake

Sunday Traditional Cake - Date Cake.

Traditional Finnish Christmas Cake, to be exact. Summer is gone so it is about time to start getting on the Christmas mood! 

Already a week ago you could see Christmas stuff in many shops in Dublin. Brown Thomas had their Christmas Shop open  and Penneys was full of the cutiest Christmas jumpers ever. In my kitchen you can hear Christmas carols already and in October - the latest - I usually start buying stocking stuffers for the family. 

Buying stocking stuffers is a demanding job and you really cannot do it in a hurry if you want them to be a success. For me the stocking stuffers are also a very personal thing. You want to surprise but you also want to be 100% sure the family member loves what they get. Very often the little gifts  I stuff the stockings with may refer to some inside story or they are meant to touch deeper...

During  the past years I have, for example, bought a Pacman mug and socks for The Husband [to remind him in a retro-kind-of-way what a good game is all about];  a jar of caramel sauce for Daughter #1 [who has always dreamed of eating a whole jar by herself and not having to share it with her three siblings as usually], and a set of dice for Son #2 [who used to steal all dice from my Yatzy box]. These gifts may sound dull and ordinary and that is what they would be without the story behind. 

So, Dear Family, it may look to you that I am just baking Christmas cakes and listening to Christmas songs in my kitchen but, in fact, I am also reviewing the past year and hopefully getting some marvellous and witty stocking stuffer ideas!

Date Cake

250 g pitted dates

300 ml water

200 ml caster sugar

200 g butter

2 eggs

350 ml plain flour

2 tsp baking powder

½ tsp baking soda

2 tsp vanilla sugar

1. Boil the dates together with sugar and water on low heat until mushy. Add water if needed.

2. Remove from heat and add butter. Mix well so that the butter melts.

3. Add eggs.

4. Add all dry ingredients.

5. Preheat oven to 175C / 350F.

6. Grease and flour a 2-litre bundt cake pan. 

7. Bake in the oven for 50-60 minutes.

Cake #30 - Tomato and Mozzarella Cake

Savoury Saturday Cake - Tomato and Mozzarella Cake.

After spending half of the day outdoors I wanted to bake something quick. Simon Cowell was calling my name from the digibox and I also needed to make room in the kitchen for The Husband who was about to cook some ragu and spaghetti for Saturday dinner. It sounded like Italian to me so I immediately thought about turning the little Mozzarella balls I had in the fridge into a cake to go with the dinner. 

I admit, Mozzarella, tomatoes and basil are a very safe combination but when the time is limited you do want to play it safe. So safe that this cake does not come with a story at all as the story would be something as dull as I wrote above. And it does not come with a recipe of my own, either, but with a link to one.

The recipe for this savoury cake is from Nigella's website. Quick and simple! Moist and gooey! I did not use any bacon, though, and I used grated Mozzarella instead of Cheddar. I baked the cake in a large Ø 30 cm springform pan and for that I multiplied all ingredients by 1.5.  And I roasted about 50 g of pine nuts to go with the cake. 

I just love pine nuts and especially the smell of them roasting! I love to see them roasting slowly and I love breathing the smell. If there had not been The Husband  reminding me he would want me off the kitchen soon I would have just ignored Simon and continued sniffing my roasted pine nuts...

Cake #29 - "Smiley"

Friends First Friday Cake - "Smiley", Almond Cake with Vanilla Creme and Fresh Berries

A computer scientist called Scott Fahlman invented the :-) emoticon 19 September, 1982. In social media emoticons seem to be equally loved <3 and hated >:(. They can be used in a funny :D way, or, you know, in a funny ;) way... An emoticon in a wrong place at a wrong time can lead into a disaster :(. And at this point I am not even talking about emails -  business ;) or pleasure :p. 

I would love ;) to see people showing their feelings more openly - which is not easy because one has to be tactful, too, how to express their feelings.

I would love to see people showing their feelings more openly - which is not easy because one has to be tactful, too, how to express their feelings.

Feelings can never be accurate and exact but there is one thing for sure. If you are hungry, eat first and then reconsider. How much they try to convince us that wifi is nowadays the most important human need, you would not even be able to type a smiley on Facebook without a good piece of cake! :D

Almond Cake with Vanilla Creme and Fresh Berries

Base

2 eggs

100 ml caster sugar

80 g ground almonds

50 ml cornflour

1 tsp baking powder

1. Preheat oven to 175C / 350F and grease and flour a Ø 23 cm springform cake pan.

2. Beat eggs and sugar until white and fluffy.

3. Fold in dry ingredients.

4. Pour into pan and bake in the oven for 20 minutes.

5. Let cool completely before decorating.

Topping

Vanilla Creme

400 ml milk

3 tbsp sugar

2 egg yolks

2 tbsp corn flour

3 tsp vanilla sugar or 2 tsp vanilla extract

2 egg whites, whipped until stiff

400 g fresh berries

1 gelatine leaf

100 ml raspberry juice

1. Mix all ingredients together except vanilla in a saucepan.

2. Heat over medium heat until the mixture thickens but does not boil.

3. Let cool down and add vanilla sugar/extract.

4. When the creme is cool, fold in the whipped egg whites.

5. Soak the gelatine leaf and melt in hot raspberry juice. Put in fridge to set a little - not too much as you need to be able to brush it on top of the berries.

To compile the cake

1. Place the base inside the springform frame straight on your serving plate.

2. Pour the vanilla creme on the base.

3. Place the berries on top  - you don't have to ;) make a smiley of them.

4. Brush the berries with the juice and gelatine leaf mixture and let set in the fridge for an hour.

5. Send all your friends a message with lots of  :)'s  and <3's, We all deserve some true emoti(c)ons every now and then.

Cake #28 - Black Cat

Thursday Cat Theme Cake - Black Cat.

Volevo un gatto nero [I wanted a black cat] is originally an Italian childrens' tango and, sung in Finnish, it was one of my favourite songs when I was a child. The first Finnish recorded version is from 1971 so nearly my age. As I believe there are no English recordings of the song let me share a more recent Finnish one with you. Goes well as baking music, too - how about a little tango with your spatula?

For me, black cats do not represent anything superstitious. Nor do I believe in any myths related to baking. So, on this rainy day I bake a black cat cake. If it fails, it is me and myself to blame. If it turns out great, I may give myself a little reward like get a kitten praise.

Black Cat Cake

Sponge

4 eggs

200 ml sugar

150 ml plain flour
2 tbsp potato or corn flour
3 tbsp dark cocoa powder
1 tsp baking powder

Filling

200 g cream cheese

50 ml sugar

100 g black cherry jam 

Icing

300 g icing sugar

28 ml bottle of black food colouring

(water)

1. Preheat oven to 225C and line an oven tray with baking paper.

2. Beat eggs and sugar until white and airy.

3. Mix flours, cocoa and baking powder and add to the egg-sugar mix.

4. Spoon evenly on the baking tray and bake for about 15 minutes. Let cool.

5. When the base is cool cut it carefully into cat shapes - as many as you can get (depends on the shape of the cat and the size of the tray).

6. Mix together cream cheese and sugar.

7. Spread a layer of jam and then a layer of cream cheese on each cat when compiling the cake.

8. See that the cats are placed evenly on top of each other and press firmly on each side.

9. Mix the icing and spread on top. Let set before serving.

PS If you happen to have any kittens I would love to have one. Any colour.