............ thank you Ina

For many that know me well , know that I am not a baker. I enjoy cooking , everyone says I cook well ( thank you) - however "baking" mortifies me .

Being an aquarian , there is a free spirit within us that does not like to be sequestered. Rules are made to be broken and does it really matter if I put in one teaspoon of this or half a teaspoon of the same thing.

In the world of baking it does.You see baking is a precise science, it involves accuracy , it involves good chemical reactions between baking soda and buttermilk which produce the fluffiest cakes , and precise ratios of liquids that help a cake rise and impress.

However , I have started to overcome my phobia of baking, by tackling baking recipes that involve mixing together wet and dry ingredients. How difficult can that be ? I ask myself. Not difficult at all , to me a marriage made in baking heaven . There is room for a little extra of this and smidge of that .

So, I now welcome you to the world of Ina Garten , one of the cooks I idolise , whose recipes never fail me, but always impress .  She is famous for starting all cake recipes with a pound of butter and in an effort to lighten things up she makes this delicious Lemon Yogurt cake  - which is so mind boggling simple I don't know why I did not make this sooner.

The other day I adapted her recipe and turned it into a Lemon- Blueberry Cake - yummy.

Then I was eating one of my favourite oranges, the Cara-Cara orange. So deliciously sweet and juicy , I thought I would try and adapt her recipe and make it with oranges , and for an over the top finale, decorate the top of the cake with glazed orange segments . The inspiration for this came from watching Jamie Oliver's new cooking show ( travelling around europe) where he made a Honey and Pistachio Cake during his trip to Greece.

So, with yoghurt at hand, I used low fat , 2 sturdy mixing bowls , and quite literally 5 minutes of your time ( it takes longer for the oven to reach temperature) - you will make a cake that will impress everyone and give Top Pastry Chefs a run for their money.

This morning I enjoyed sharing this cake with my wonderful neighbour Lisa - goes perfectly with a nice cup of coffee and wonderful conversation.



Cara-Cara Orange Yoghurt Cake with Glazed Oranges
adapted from an Ina Garten recipe and inspired in part by Jamie Oliver

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup low-fat yoghurt ***
1 cup sugar
3 extra large organic eggs at room temperature ( very important)
zest of one cara-cara orange
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
the juice of half an orange

Glaze

1 cup confectioners sugar
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed cara-cara orange juice

Glazed Orange Segments

1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups water
half a cara-cara orange thinly sliced

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350F and spray a non-stick loaf pan with some canola oil and dust with flour - guaranteed not to stick .

In one bowl measure out the all-purpose flour, baking powder and salt, place to the side.

In another bowl place the yoghurt, 1 cup sugar, room temperature eggs, orange zest, vanilla extract and the juice of half an orange. Whisk until well combined .

Pour the batter in to the floured loaf pan and place in oven, bake for 50 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean .

Meanwhile, make the Glazed Orange Segments. Place the water and sugar and water in a saucepan and add the orange slices . Bring to boil then immediately turn down to a simmer , you want the syrup to thicken slowly and cook and soften the orange slices in the meantime. Keep an eye on this step , if it looks like the water is evaporating too quickly , add a splash of hot boiling water and stir gently and continue to cook for approximately 15 minutes.

Once the syrup has been almost absorbed by the oranges turn off the beat and allow to cool . Should the orange glaze become hard and stuck to the saucepan, gently reheat to loosen up the sugar syrup , then place on top of the cake for decoration after you placed the glaze and it has set slightly.

While the orange segments are been cooked make a thin  glaze for the cake, Mix 2 tablespoons orange juice into 1 cup confectioners sugar and mix well until you have a nice runny consistency. Pour over the cake once it has been removed from the loaf pan and cooled.

*** I use the Mountain High brand Low-fat yoghurt. It is best to use a thick style greek style yoghurt , and there are plenty easily available in the supermarkets. A lot of low-fat yoghurt tends to be a little runny and this will ruin the consistency of the batter .

NOTE: you can also make this cake with regular oranges , just not too sure if they will be as sweet as the cara-cara oranges.

Caramelised Pear and Cardamon Tart

Not too sure if you can possibly have a sense from the photo of what this tart tastes like?

Exotic ...... incredible ..... delicious ......sophisticated ..... mmmmmm


Just before Christmas last year, I had a get together with my expatriate friends and we cooked up another storm. I enjoy these sessions because they allow us to forge a friendship and enjoy each others company and try something new - be it directly form each others culture or what ever we fancy.

Rose-Anne brought along this little treat in a really beautiful pie plate holder/carrier ( which I regret not photographing) and we enjoyed this with some coffee and good laughs, just before the arduous task of cooking for fun began.  

It is a play on the classic french dessert tart aux pomme . It does not require a heavy cast iron pan , it was made in a ceramic quiche dish . You could easily substitute any type of pan dish . The combination of pears and cardamom is exotic and intoxicating and by using prepared store bought puff pastry - putting it together is easy. I loved its rustic look but was completely blown away by its silent sophistication. I especially loved the delicious syrup it basted itself in. If you were to take this dessert to any dinner party, believe me when I tell you - you will be elevated to Dessert Goddess status in a heartbeat.

Please make this tomorrow, pears are in season and are often overlooked for desserts. Here, they can outshine all other fruits used in baked desserts.

Long live Regina Pear !!!!


Caramelised Pear and Cardamon Tart
from a collection of recipes from expats


1/4 cup softened but not melted butter
1/4 cup caster sugar - or fine granulated sugar
seeds from 10 cardamon pods or 1/2 teaspoon cardamon powder
8 oz puff pastry
5 ripe pears recommend using Bosc or Bartlett pears ( make sure they are ripe)

Preheat oven to 400F. 

Distribute the butter evenly on the bottom of your tart tin, sprinkle with the sugar and cardamon pods - I would recommend the use of cardamon pods over using ground cardamon powder. Place in the oven so that the sugar caramelises a little ( be careful not to let it burn).

Peel the pears , cut them in half and arrange the pears round side down. Place the softened puff pastry on top then fold down in a rustic manner around the pears.

Bake for 25 minutes.

Cool the tart in the pan for 5 minutes . Place a larger platter on top of the tart pan then carefully invert onto platter.

Serve on its own hot or at room temperature and or with fresh cream . Some good quality vanilla ice cream will also be a good accompaniment.


You could substitute ground cinnamon or vanilla extract for the cardamon.

Enjoy.

Spiced Pumpkin Pie

I am converted . I have had a conversion ..... I take back everything I have said or written .......NO ..... I am not joining a sect .... just beginning to like pumpkin pie !!

My little gourmet , daughter number 1 , professed to me that she likes pumpkin pie , and she would like to make one for Thanksgiving . I embraced the fact that she wanted to make something , BUT , I cringed at the thought of having to make pumpkin pie. The truth be told - my culinary experiences have been pretty sad to date and the thought of having to expose myself to actually making one needed a deep deep breathe !!!

So, we perused my collection of cookbooks and came across this wonderful and abundantly simple recipe by Sara Foster with the pie crust recipe from the Barefoot Contessa . Maybe keep this recipe in store for next year , maybe consider it for the upcoming holiday season . Have I just shown I am not a local by espousing that we dare to eat pumpkin pie after Thanskgiving ?

Number 1 daughter made this pie all by herself , barr a couple of minutes of tutorial from the Gourmet Goddess , mainly helping out with the pie crust ... the rest was sheer GG pride !!!!

I hope everyone had an enjoyable Thanksgiving and heres to the upcoming Holiday Season !!!

Spiced Pumpkin Pie

adapted from Sara Foster and the Barefoot Contessa

The Crust

2 cups graham crackers ( 14 crackers)

1/3 cup granulated sugar

1/4 teaspoon ground cinammon

1 stick unsalted organic butter

Place crackers in food processor and pulse until nice and crumbly, add sugar and cinammon and pulse to combine then add the melted unsalted butter . Place in 11inch tart pan , with removable base , press evenly into the sides , using a measuring cup for uniformity. Bake for 10 minutes at 350F ans allow to cool slightly before adding the pumpkin mixture .

The Filling
3 large organic eggs

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 can sweetened condense milk, 14 oz

1 tin organic pumkin puree , 15oz

3 tablespoons unsalted butter melted and cooled

1 tablespoon all purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1/2 tesaspoon ground cinammon

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

pinch of ground cloves

pinch of kosher salt

1 prepared pie crust as per recipe above.

Preheat oven to 350F.

Combine eggs, sugar , condensed milk and pumpkin puree in a bowl and mix with a wisk to combine well. Add the butter and stir until thoroughly blended .

Mix all the dry ingredients in a bowl and add to the pumpkin mixture.

Pour into prepared and cooled pie crust and bake for 40-50 minutes until the pie is light golden brown on top and firm to the touch and set in the center when you jiggle it .

Cool completely and decorate with whipped cream or some delicious good quality vanilla ice cream.

Note to self : Maybe by this time next year I can write and let everyone know that I now LOVE pumpkin pie .... but lets not get ahead of ourselves !!!

Apple Cranberry Loaf

Thanksgiving is but a mere 8  days away , I am sure for everyone who is hosting, menus have been planned , shopping trips mapped out with military precision . And the all important "Turkey" has been nabbed !

Until I arrived to this country, I was not familiar with Thanksgiving. Yes,  I had heard of the pilgrims and the Mayflower , Yes, I had heard how they ate what the Indians ate ..... however the whole tradition surrounding this holiday began to slowly unravel itself to me over the past 10 years .

Upfront let me announce to the world that I LOVE turkey , as much as I LOVE chicken . Where I come from turkey was the main event for Christmas , stuffed "just right" and accompanied with roast vegetables ... and of course plum pudding . It was inevitably always hot on Christmas day - but all good cooks sweated it out in the kitchen - because Christmas just would not be Christmas without the turkey.

However , I have digressed from the theme of Thanksgiving . As I eargerly await my portion of the bird next week I have begun to look at other offerings that can be enjoyed . Again , not wanting to put a damper on all things dessert for this day - pumpkin pie ......just does not cut it for me ....... . Don't get me wrong I love fresh pumpkin oven roasted - delicious ... but this strange dessert that everyone clamours for at Thanksgiving - has to this day, remained a mystery to me . My eldest daughter came home the other day after tasting some pumpkin pie and announced that it was " the best pie she had ever tasted!!!" .... I think an intervention is required .

So , the Apple Cranberry Loaf recipe was sent to me from down under , it had one crucial ingredient that make this a Thanksgiving must ... dried cranberries ....... I just simply had to make it .

It is delicious, it is healthy ( whole wheat flour and very little butter) , it is like an energy bar in cake form and perfect for the Thanksgiving table and travels really well . I made it in little mini cake loaves - because I thought they looked so cute .

So , if you are not responsible for the turkey and the hostess asks your " just bring a dessert" , consider forsaking the pumpkin pie and shake things up a bit with apple cranberry loaf .

Apple Cranberry Loaf

1 stick Unsalted Organic Butter
¼ cups White Granulated Sugar
¼ cups Light Brown Sugar
3 whole Organic Eggs
2 cups Whole Wheat Flour
½ teaspoons Kosher Salt
½ teaspoons Ground Allspice
½ teaspoons Ground Cinammon
¼ teaspoons Ground Nutmeg
¼ teaspoons Ground Cloves
½ cups Organic Whole Milk Or 2%
2 whole Granny Smith Apples, Grated
½ cups Walnuts, Chopped
½ cups Roasted (Unsalted) Whole Pepitas
¾ cups Cranberries


Method

Preheat oven to 350F. Grease and line a loaf tin or 4 mini loaf tins.


Cream butter and sugar till pale. Add the eggs one at a time, beating and scraping sides between each addition.

Sift flour and spices into a bowl, then add flour mixture to the butter, slowly along with the milk.

Once the mixture comes together, add the grated apples (see note below). Fold in nuts, seeds and cranberries. Place in the loaf tin and bake for 1 hour 15 minutes, on the center rack of the oven. Remove from the oven and let the loaf stand in the tin for 5 minutes before turning out. Allow to cool before slicing.

Note: I peeled and quartered my apples, then put them in the food processor and pulsed until coarsely chopped. Do this step after you have added the eggs, or the apples will start to turn brown.



Enjoy this deliciously healthy bread!

Blueberry muffin perfection.

If you search the web , if you flip through tomes of cookbooks , you will finds myriads of recipes for blueberry muffins . Each of them promising the perfectly moist , most tastiest muffin you will ever eat . I am sure many of you have also tagged plenty of pages attesting to the quest for the perfect muffin.

Your quest has ended .

Behold the perfectly moist blueberry muffin , with blueberries picked at the peak of season and cooked with love .

Many recipes , for me, have lacked that blueberry taste , and after much testing and trialing I think I have found the secret ingredient .......... lemon peel and the juice of a  fresh lemon.

In August the family, along my sister visiting from overseas and family friends, we all trekked out to New Buffalo Michigan and went blueberry picking. It was a glorious day , the children were filled with much anticipation . We were all looking forward to a funfilled day . There was not a lot of complaining from the little ones, they were happy to walk up and down , in between the rows and happily fill their little tin cans with the luscious fruit , and the many handful of blueberries which were enjoyed - on site .....

At this point I should be inserting photos , showing blueberry pickers in action ...... alas the delete button was activaed on the camera - before I had a chance to download the pictures - so imagination please !!!!

I share with you a recipe I use from my go to book by Sara Foster .

So , if you have had your fill of fresh blueberries and the freezer is packed with happy blueberries , take a moment to make some yummy and delicious muffins the whole family will enjoy .

Blueberry Muffins

adapted from Sara Foster

3 cups all purpose flour

1 cup granulated sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 cup canola oil

3 large eggs , preferably organic

3/4 cup whole milk

greated zest and juice of a medium size lemon

2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries

Preheat oven to 375F and line muffin tins with paper liners - put aside .

Combine all the dry ingredients in a large bowl.

In  a separate bowl place the canola oil, eggs ( room temperature) , milk, lemon zest and juice and combine well with a whisk.

Add to the egg mixture to the dry ingredients , stir a couple of times then add the 2 cups of berries ( if they are frozen do not defrost) and mix with a wooden spoon until just everything is well blended .

Use an large 1/3 cup icecream scoop and scoop the batter into the muffins tins. Bake for approximately 25-30 minutes .

Enjoy !