Posts tagged walnuts

Coffee Drizzle Cake with Hazelnut Mascarpone

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Coffee Drizzle Cake with Hazelnut Mascarpone

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f you are, like me, an appreciator of all things coffee in flavour then this cake is certainly one to test out on a cold Sunday afternoon for a crowd that need pleasing. And more specifically a mother! (Happy Mother’s Day!) I’ll admit I’m no coffee nerd but even those that can pour a perfect patterned topped latte will love you for this moist sponge cake. I think many people these days are intimidated by baking with a preconcieved idea that it is difficult due to the eleborate disguise of the 21st century decoration, intricate piping and macaroon topped bakes. However like most cakes, the baking bit is extremely easy! Mix and combine. How you choose to refine your decoration is up to you. I don’t seem to have a natural knack for it sadly and my piping skills are far from successful on most attempts so this weekend I abandoned the fancy piping bag in place of the palate knife and went for a more welcomed rustic and homemade visual. It won’t win any show stopper rounds thats for sure but its all about the taste and texture…

This cake is based on a Delia classic. The sponge and syrup recipe have been taken from her ‘How to Cook – Book One’ with just a few adaptations in the ‘forage in the pantry’ style.

Sponge and Icing

  • 1 1/2 tbsp coffee dissolved in 2 tbsp boiling water
  • 75g walnuts
  • 175g self raising flour
  • 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 175g softened butter
  • 175g caster sugar
  • 3 large eggs
  • 250g mascarpone
  • 8 tbsp sieved icing sugar
  • Handful of chopped toasted hazelnuts
  • Optional – 1 tbsp Frangelico/Amaretto
  • 1 tsp cocoa powder

Syrup

  • 1 tbsp instant coffee granules
  • 50g demerara sugar
  • 55ml boiling water
  1. Preheat the oven to 170°C and grease and line two cake tins (18cm/20cm wide. No bigger than 20cm)
  2. Toast the walnuts in a dry pan or hot oven for a few minutes until fragrant then set aside. Once cool, chop roughly.
  3. Sieve the flour and baking powder into a mixing bowl or the bowl of a food processor.
  4. Add the butter, sugar and eggs and mix until smooth and shiny. Add the coffee and combine well.
  5. Finally fold in the chopped walnuts then divide the mixture into the two tins, spreadably evenly and flattening out the tops.
  6. Bake in the oven for about 30 minutes until a knife inserted into the middle comes out clean.
  7. Meanwhile make the syrup. Combine the sugar and coffee in a jug before adding the boiling water. Stir continuously and thoroughly until he sugar has dissolved fully. Set aside until needed.
  8. Next make the icing. Sieve the icing sugar into a bowl before beating in the mascarpone cheese. Add the liquor of choice if using and beat until smooth. Stir in the chopped hazelnuts, leaving some for scattering over the top. Taste and add more icing sugar if you like it a little sweeter.
  9. Once the cakes are cooked remove from the oven and prick all over with a cocktail stick or similar.
  10. Pour the syrup over both cakes until evenly absorbed. I find this is best done a spoonful at a time to avoid overflow.
  11. Leave to cool completely.
  12. When cool, remove from the tins and turn out onto a wire rack. For the base you’ll need the most even and flat looking cake. You may need to slice off the rounded top in order to get this but this little syrupy slice is an ideal tester!
  13. Place this onto a plate or cake stand and spoon over half the mascarpone smoothing out with a palate knife.
  14. Top with the second cake and the rest of the mascarpone.
  15. Scatter with any remaining nuts and a sprinkling of cocoa powder

Jess - Coffee Cake3

Coffee and Walnut Brownies

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Coffee and Walnut Brownies

Leftover Easter eggs. Still you cry! Yes, as a dark chocolate lover you don’t need much hence why I have a vat of the stuff still sitting patiently in the pantry. Brownies anyone?

Without doubt the best, most trusty brownie recipe and one I’ve always gone back to time after time. My only concern each time I make it is the sugar content. But we are talking about brownies here which come with a certain set of health flaws anyway. Courtesy of Green & Blacks but highly adapted here to reflect one of my favourite cakes, walnuts for crunch and coffee beans for surprise.

Makes about 20

  • 200g unsalted butter
  • 100g dark chocolate (70%) Green & Blacks
  • 350g dark brown soft sugar
  • 4 eggs, beaten
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 200g self raising flour
  • 1 tbsp instant coffee granules
  • Pinch salt
  • 100g chopped walnuts
  • 2 tbsp coffee beans, ground into chunks in a pestle and mortar
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  1. Preheat the oven to 180°C and line a 28cm x 18cm brownie tin with parchment (or a similar size)
  2. Melt the butter and chocolate in a heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water until melted and combined. Remove from the heat and leave to cool slightly.
  3. Stir in the sugar and instant coffee granules until combined.
  4. Whisk the eggs and vanilla well in a bowl and then whisk these continuously into the chocolate mixture until well combined and glossy.
  5. Gently fold in the flour and salt.
  6. Finely, stir in the chopped nuts and crushed coffee beans.
  7. Bake for 25-30 minutes until crispy on top but still soft inside. The edges may cook quicker leaving the middle pieces gooey and dense.
  8. Leave to cool completely (yes I know…amuse yourself here) until cold. Then cut into enormous pieces. Serve with some cool creamy ice cream.
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Pearl Barley with Walnut, Mint and Basil Pesto

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Pearl Barley with Walnut, Mint and Basil Pesto

 

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Pesto is such a great addition to bland food – pearl barley, pasta, tossed on boiled vege of ripped through your favourite pizza dough base (personal favourite!) I’m not a regular to the jar of shop bought but sometimes a tablespoon of the punchy stuff is needed, homemade or not. Pesto is all about the basic ingredients (Parmesan cheese, fresh herbs, nuts, lemon and oil) mixed until you get the right balance. Basil and pine nuts if you’re a traditionalist but its also delicious with other nuts or herbs. As usual, my lazy self can’t be bothered to weigh so the ‘handful’ measurement has come in again here….I have averaged-small sized hands so do as you please…

Serves 2

Pearl Barley with Walnut, Mint and Basil Pesto

  • 120g pearl barely
  • Handful walnuts
  • Handful grated parmesan
  • ½ lemon
  • Large bunch basil and mint, leaves picked
  • 1 garlic clove, crushed
  • Extra virgin olive oil
  • 2 x salmon fillets
  • Slow roasted balsamic onions (see here)
  1. Toast the walnuts in a hot dry frying pan until fragrant or roast in a hot oven for about 6 minutes until warm and smelling delicious!
  2. Transfer to a pestle and mortar or a food processor. Pulse until you have fine crumbs with texture.
  3. Add the herbs, garlic and cheese and blend. Season and thin out with the lemon juice and enough oil to get the right consistency for your liking.
  4. Taste and adjust with more of the above.
  5. Cook your pearl barely until tender in a pan of simmering water. When ready, drain and toss liberally with the pesto. Stir through a few whole walnuts and chopped herbs too if you like. Set aside at room temperature
  6. Roast the salmon in a 200°C preheated oven or pan fry, skin side down until crisp and cooked.
  7. Serve the barely topped with salmon, a spoonful of roasted balsamic onions if you like (see here). Drizzle with a good oil and scatter with mint. Serve with greens beans or similar…

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Carrot Cake Ice Cream

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Carrot Cake Ice Cream

 

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What could be better than combining the forces of a good cake and its  slutty partner in crime ice cream? This recipe is adapted from the Babel Restaurant in South Africa, Babylonstoren, whose ‘cookbook-come-brochure’, is to die for. As a spicy ice cream, they suggest serving it with chilli grilled pineapple slices, but hey, whats wrong with serving it with a slice of carrot cake….?

  • 500ml double cream
  • 180ml milk
  • 180ml caster sugar
  • 5 egg yolks
  • 1 vanilla pod
  • 125g carrot, boiled and grated
  • 5ml ground cinnamon
  • 2ml ground nutmeg and ginger
  • 125g walnuts/pecans toasted and roughly chopped
  1. Start with the custard base. Heat the milk in a saucepan with 90ml of the sugar and the seeds from the vanilla pod until just coming to the boil.
  2. Whisk the egg yolks in a bowl (a wide shallow bowl helps) with the remaining 90ml of sugar until combined.
  3. When the cream is hot, tip a third of it in a slow stream into the egg yolks whisking continuously and vigorously to prevent it scrambling. Make sure it is all combined then add the rest and whisk together for a few minutes.
  4. Tip the mixture back into the saucepan and place over a low heat stirring with a wooden spoon continually until the mixture begins to thicken and it coats the back of the spoon and leaves a mark when you run your finger through it. keep the heat low and keep stirring to prevent getting scrambled eggs….
  5. Strain through a sieve into another wide shallow bowl. Whisk in the ground spices.
  6. Peel about 2-3 carrots (depending on their size) and boil whole in water for about 5 minutes, until soft. Cool under cold water and then grate into the custard base and mix to distribute. Leave to cool and then place in the fridge.
  7. Meanwhile, toast the nut in a dry frying pan for a few minutes or in a hot oven for 5 minutes and leave to cool.
  8. When the custard is cool, churn in an ice cream maker for about 15-20 minutes until thick and beginning to freeze. Once it begins to thicken during churning, tip in the toasted nuts. Place in a container and freeze.

Butternut Muffins

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Butternut Muffins

 

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These little muffins are courtesy of Jamie Oliver from his ‘Jamie at Home’ cookbook. The book is one of my favourites and will always be sentimental to me as it was the first cookbook I ever received on my journey to foodie obsessive. I am always making the delicious recipes from the squash chapter and hadn’t made these in a while. I’d forgotten how deliciously moist they are, just like a quirky take on a carrot cake. With a dad who hates the addition of butternut squash in ANYTHING, a little white lie that these were in fact carrot cake muffins didn’t even muster a thimble of doubt…..

Makes 12

  • 400g butternut squash, roughly chopped
  • 350g light brown soft sugar
  • 4 eggs
  • 300g plain flour
  • 2 heaped tbsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 1 handful walnuts
  • 175ml olive oil
  • 200g cream cheese
  • 2 tbsp icing sugar
  • ½ lemon, juice
  • 1 vanilla pod, seeds scraped
  • Lavender to garnish (optional)
  1. Preheat the oven to 180°C.
  2. Add the butternut squash to a food processor and roughly chop.
  3. Add the eggs and sugar and a pinch of salt and blitz
  4. Sieve in the flour, cinnamon and baking powder followed by the oil and process to combine
  5. Add the walnuts and pulse to mix to make sure the nuts are kept chunky
  6. Generously fill the muffin cases with the mixture and bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes until cooked. Leave to cool
  7. Meanwhile, mix the cream cheese, icing sugar, lemon juice, a pinch of cinnamon and the seeds from the vanilla pod. Fill a piping bag with the mixture and chill until needed.
  8. When the cakes are cool ice with the cream cheese topping and scatter with a few lavender flowers.

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Vitamin C Brownies

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Vitamin C Brownies

These chocolate orange brownies won’t fight off scurvy but I’m sure the Government would say you’re well on your way to one of your five a day here…..they do contain orange zest after all. Add a packet of fruit pastels and hey….new years health resolution kept. I’ve made countless amounts of brownies and all have varying textures from ‘cakey’ to ‘gooey’ but this one I would describe as ‘fudgy’ I think.

Makes, well, more than enough….(about 25 squares)

  • 225g unsalted butter
  • 350g plain, good chocolate chopped into chunks
  • 150g walnuts (or hazelnuts)
  • 4 large free range eggs
  • 350g light brown muscovado sugar
  • 225g plain flour, sieved
  • Grated zest from 2 large oranges
  1. Preheat the oven to 180°C and line a 23x32cm deep tin with parchment. Alternatively, use a few smaller tins, it just depends how thick you want the end result.
  2. Put the walnuts onto a baking tray and toast in the oven for about 10 minutes until fragrant
  3. Melt the butter in a saucepan over a low heat and once beginning to turn liquidy add the chocolate chunks and stir until melted. Put aside to cool slightly.
  4. Put the eggs, sugar and orange zest into a large bowl and whisk for a good 5 minutes or so until light, airy and creamy.
  5. Add the slightly cooled chocolate mixture into the eggs and stir to combine.
  6. Add the walnuts and fold in with the sieved flour.
  7. Pour into your prepared baking tin and bake for about 20-25 minutes until set but with a slight ‘goo’ in the middle. Allow to cool in the tin before cutting into fudgy chunks and dust with icing sugar.

Also a great gift to cunningly ply any potential life-long friends or future husbands with…………..

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