Tag Archives: cinnamon

A day of food heaven in Romania

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Our hosts here in Romania are showing us the most incredible hopsitality, and really spoiling us when it comes to food – something which I’m sure my waistline is going to start to reflect very soon!

Yesterday was basically an amazing food day – our host Emilian cooked us a delicious herby tomato and spinach omelette for breakfast and we were treated to a delicious buffet lunch by our guide Jonny’s parents’ catering business – I don’t think I’ve ever seen a buffet look so pretty…

Lunch dessert was an apple and cinnamon cake, pictured above, which I’ve asked Jonny to track down the recipe for – I will definitely try to recreate it at home if I can as it was really, really good.

After mentioning we liked ice cream a couple of days ago, in the afternoon we were surprised with basically an ice cream buffet with I think 6 or 7 different flavours – I tried a little wild fruits, rum and raisin and pecan praline, all of which were good but I think the wild fruits was probably the best.

For dinner, I chose a mushroom omelette (Omeleta Ciuperci) partly because I wanted something light and partly because I just love them. It was a good choice, as for dessert the Rotary president here, Uri, suggested we try Papanasi, which he explained to me as ‘the food that policemen eat in cars – I love how certain images work in every culture!

These were basically like doughnuts on steroids, absolutely huge with sour cream and jam – I chose blackcurrant and it really was delicious, although I could only manage one. Anyone who can polish off two gets my ultimate respect!

Today has also been a good food day, after visiting our host’s favourite patisserie and sampling the Romanian version of cheese pasties, apple strudel and a fantastic pecan cake – pictures to come soon!

Nutella-filled cinnamon sugar muffins

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Nutella-filled cinnamon sugar muffins

I absolutely adore cinnamon (despite spending the first 22 years or so of my life hating it) so when Choclette chose it as this month’s We Should Cocoa challenge ingredient it should have been easy for me to think of things to bake.

We_Should_Cocoa_V3

In a way it was, I had plenty of ideas, but things have been a bit manic in my kitchen recently, what with making Christmas gifts, food for parties and catering to the pony’s rather specific needs (quick to eat breakfasts and bars he can take to work), so finding a way of squeezing cinnamon in was actually harder than I expected.

Attempt one was cinnamon chocolate shortbread, which was a disaster, but attempt two, these Nutella-filled cinnamon sugar muffins, was a resounding success.

I’m aware my last post also featured both muffins and Nutella, but who cares because it’s a great combination.

The Nutella is baked into the centre, so when you eat one warm you get a lovely melty surprise when you bit into it, and the tops are brushed with melted butter and rolled in cinnamon sugar which make them a lot like cinnamon sugar doughnuts – basically, finger-lickingly irresistible.

Even the pony, despite claiming not to like cinnamon, has been happily having two a day for breakfast, which I put down to Nutella’s having the baking equivalent of the Midas touch – it just makes everything into food gold!

Nutella-filled cinnamon sugar muffins (recipe adapted from Sally’s Baking Addiction)

  • 70g butter
  • 100g caster sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1 tsp vanilla bean paste (or extract)
  • 125ml semi-skimmed milk
  • 180g plain flour
  • 1.5 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp cinnamon
  • pinch nutmeg
  • pinch salt
  • 8 tsp Nutella (about 50g)

For the topping:

  • 25g butter, melted
  • 35g caster sugar
  • 1 tsp cinnamon

Beat together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, then add in the egg and vanilla followed by the milk, beating until you have a smooth, fairly liquid batter. Sift together the remaining dry ingredients, then fold into the batter gently until no white flour bits remain.

Butter and flour 8 holes of a muffin tray, then drop a good tablespoon of cake batter into each. Place a teaspoon of Nutella in the centre of each muffin, then finish by dividing the remaining cake batter between the cops, completely covering the Nutella. Bake at 200 degrees for 5 minutes, then drop down to 170 degrees and cook for a further 15-20 minutes, or until the muffins are well risen, golden and springy to the touch.

Transfer to a wire rack as son as they’re cool enough to handle – it’s easier to get them out of the tin that way. Brush the tops with melted butter, then mix the sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl and roll the muffin tops in it to coat. Eat while warm, or leave to cool and pop in the microwave for a few seconds before serving.

Apple pie

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Apple Pie

Apple pie has been on my to-bake list for forever, and I really don’t know why I’ve taken so long to get around to making it – I love apples, love pie, it’s easy to make, doesn’t need any fancy ingredients and it’s perfect for the autumn/winter. I must have been mad for not making one sooner!

I did fancify this one a little bit by trying out a cream cheese pastry and adding a caramel sauce, but as baking goes it’s still very much at the simple end of the scale. If you can chop apples and press the ‘on’ button of a food processor you’re basically good to go!

I didn’t fall in love with the cream cheese pastry, apart from cutting calories I can’t really see any major benefit to it, but overall I loved the pie and would definitely make it again. It’s such a traditional favourite I don’t think there are many people who would turn down a slice!

Apple pie

For the pastry

  • 75g butter
  • 75g light cream cheese
  • 300g plain flour
  • 25g icing sugar

For the filling

  • 6 large granny smith apples
  • 3 tbsp light brown sugar
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp nutmeg
  • 25g butter
  • 2 tbsp creme fraiche

To make the pastry, add the flour and sugar to a food processor and pulse to mix. Add the butter and cream cheese and blitz until it goes past being breadcrumb-like and starts to come together into a dough. With the food processor running, slowly pour alittle cold water down the chute, until the dough forms a ball that leaves the sides of the blender. Wrap in cling film and chill in the fridge for 20 minutes.

Divide the dough into two pieces, one roughly twice the size of the other. Roll out the larger piece of dough and use to line a 10″ fluted flan tin, or smaller high-sided  pie tin if you prefer. Roll out the smaller piece and use a star-shaped biscuit cutter to cut as many stars as you can, re-rolling and cutting until all the dough has been used up.

For the filling, peel and core the apples, chop into quarters, lengthways, then cut into fairly thin slices. Toss in a bowl with the cinnamon, nutmeg and 1tbsp of the sugar, then spread evenly on top of the pie crust. To make the caramel, melt the butter in a small saucepan and add the rest of the sugar, stirring until it starts to bubble and thicken. Whisk in the creme fraiche, then pour over the apples.

Finish the pie placing the pastry stars all over top, making sure they slightly overlap each other. Brush with egg wash or milk, then bake at 180 degrees for about an hour, or until the apples are tender and cooked through. You can cover the pie with foil if the pastry starts to brown too much. Cut into wedges and serve!

Chocolate spiced parkin

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Apologies for the lack of posts recently – there are a couple of reasons for this but the main one is that I have been stuck in a bit of a baking rut, making quite a few things which have either been a complete disaster, or just ‘ok’, and not really worth blogging about.

This chocolate spiced parkin kind of falls into the second category, but I wanted to blog about it anyway because I think it does have the potential to be really good.

Taken from my favourite chocolate cookbook by Joanna Farrow, it combines a dark, treacly, spiced parkin with lots of chocolate, and it’s a combination that works well especially at this time of year.

The main problem is that either the baking time stated in the book is far too long, or my oven just went into overdrive – I took it out after 45 minutes rather than 75, but it was still dry and overbaked, which made me rather sad!

I did make a few alterations to the recipe based on what ingredients I had (subbing plain flour and bicarb for self raising, and swapping light brown for caster sugar) but I don’t think these would have had a huge effect on the outcome…

It’s definitely still edible, and the pony has been particularly enjoying it warmed up with a bit of custard, but I think if I’d reduced the baking time it would have been a lot nicer to just eat straight up as a snack cake.

This recipe gives the baking temp and time that I used, but I would strongly recommend reducing it if you want to have a go!

Chocolate spiced parkin (from Chocolate by Joanna Farrow)

  • 250g dark treacle
  • 250g golden syrup
  • 125g butter
  • 375g self raising flour
  • 50g cocoa powder
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp ginger
  • 1/2 tsp nutmeg
  • 75g caster sugar
  • 375g porridge oats
  • 300ml milk
  • 1 egg
  • 200g milk chocolate, chopped
  • 2 tbsp oats to sprinkle on top

In a heavy based saucepan, heat the treacle, golden syrup and butter until the butter has melted, then remove from the heat. Sift the flour, cocoa powder and spices into a VERY large bowl, then stir in the sugar and oats.

Whisk together the milk and egg, then pour into the dry ingredients with the melted butter and syrup and stir until just combined. Add in the chopped chocolate, then pour into a lined 8×8″ square tin. Sprinkle the remaining oats on top, then bake at 180 degrees for 45 minutes – but check after half an hour and if it’s cracked on top it’s probably done!

Baking with pumpkin – the basics

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After selecting pumpkin as this month’s We Should Cocoa ingredient, I set about shortlisting pumpkin and chocolate recipes.

Pretty quickly, I realised there are two essentials if you want to bake with pumpkin – pumpkin puree and pumpkin pie spice.

I’m sure in many places both of these things are readily available to buy, but I’m yet to see either of them here in Cornwall, so I thought that in case anyone else has the same dilemma I would post the super simple ways to make them yourself.

First up, pumpkin puree.

Get a medium sized pumpkin and chop into wedges. Scrape out the seeds then place skin side up in a roasting tray with a little water in the bottom. Bake for 30-40 minutes at 180 degrees, or until the skin darkens and begins to wrinkle and the flesh softens.

Leave to cool, then peel the wedges and discard the skin (or eat it, if you’re me). Chop the flesh into chunks then blend in a food processor for a couple of minutes until fully pureed.

1 medium pumpkin produced 500g (or 2 cups) of puree, which I think is probably the same amount you’d get in one can. A bit more time consuming than buying it, but still not hard, by any stretch of the imagination!

For pumpkin pie spice, I used a recipe from My Baking Addiction, with the only change being to tone down the cloves.

Literally all you have to do is measure out the ingredients, mix together, and store in a spice jar. It will make enough for several uses, but that shouldn’t be a problem with all the delicious pumpkin recipes out there waiting to be tried! It would also be a great partner for apple, or other seasonal bakes.

Both my pumpkin puree and pumpkin pie spice have been tested out in my first pumpkin cake, which I will blog about very soon – and they worked out perfectly!

Chocolate orange spice cake (GF)

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I bought Levi Roots’ Food for Friends cookbook a little while ago on a whim, and I’m so glad I did – every recipe I’ve tried so far has been a resounding success. The recipes are simple, and usually only use a few ingredients, but are packed full of flavour (as you’d expect from a Caribbean chef I suppose!)

The cakes and desserts section is also more extensive than I would have imagined, which is always a good thing in my book.

This chocolate orange spice cake caught my eye, not only because of the delicious combination of flavours but also the fact that it’s gluten and wheat free. Add to that the fact it doesn’t have any butter or oil, and use half fat creme fraiche for the topping, and it’s practically a health food!

I did change it up a bit, using ground almonds rather than toasting and grinding my own, using less of them because I didn’t buy enough, swapping sour cream for the creme fraiche and adding some extra spice to the topping – but I think that just goes to prove it’s a very forgiving recipe!

The cake went down very well when I took it into work, and the pony is now enjoying what’s left of it for his breakfasts. I ma have to sneak one more slice tonight before it’s all gone though…

Chocolate orange spice cake (adapted from Levi Roots’ Food for Friends)

  • 75g dark chocolate
  • zest of 2 oranges
  • 2 tbsp orange juice
  • 1 tbsp cinnamon
  • 4 eggs, separated
  • 170g caster sugar
  • 100g ground almonds

For the topping:

  • 140g dark chocolate
  • 140g half fat creme fraiche
  • 1 tsp caster sugar
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/4 tsp hot chilli powder

Start by finely grating the dark chocolate into a bowl (yep, it’s a pain) and add to that the cinnamon and orange zest, then set aside.

Add half of the sugar (85g) to a fairly large bowl with the egg yolks and beat until light and fluffy. Add the chocolate mixture, orange juice and ground almonds and beat again – you will have a pretty thick mixture, a bit like frangipane. In a separate bowl, whisk the egg whites, gradually adding in the remaining 85g caster sugar, until it forms stiff glossy peaks.

Fold the egg whites into the chocolate mixture a quarter at a time, making sure it’s well combined but you don’t beat the air out of the air whites. Pour the mixture into a greased and lined 8″ round cake tin and bake at 180 degrees for about half an hour, or until risen and pulling away from the sides of the tin. Leave to cool before removing from the tin.

To make the topping, put all the ingredients in a heatproof bowl and heat over a saucepan of simmering water, stirring until all the chocolate has melted. Leave to cool for 10 minutes or so, then spread over the top of the cake. Leave to firm up a bit before cutting into slices and serving.

Blueberry buckle

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I’ve been wanting to make this cake for absolutely ages – so long that the pony actually thought I had made it because I’d talked about it so much.

I was put off to start with by the price of blueberries, but they’ve gone down a bit recently so I finally felt like it wouldn’t be ridiculously indulgent to throw 450g of them into a cake.

Mine definitely doesn’t look as good as the original, I think maybe because my butter was too soft for the streusel so it sort of melted into the cake, but taste-wise it definitely didn’t disappoint.

I guess it’s kind of like a blueberry muffin in cake form, but much moister and with a much higher (better!) ratio of blueberries to sponge.

Warmed up a little it was especially delicious – I’m really sad that it’s all been eaten now so definitely one to make again!

Blueberry Buckle (recipe from Laura’s Sweet Spot)

Streusel:

  • 60g plain flour
  • 65g light brown sugar
  • 2 tbsp caster sugar
  • 1/4 tsp cinnamon
  • pinch of salt
  • 55g unsalted butter, cubed

Cake:

  • 180g plain flour
  • 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 140g unsalted butter, softened
  • 130g caster sugar
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • zest and juice of 1 lemon
  • 2 eggs, room temperature
  • 450g blueberries

To make the streusel, stir together the flour,sugar, cinnamon and salt and rub in the butter until it forms a breadcrumb-like texture and starts to clump together.

For the cake, beat together the butter, sugar, salt and lemon zest until light and fluffy. Add in the lemon juice and eggs, one at a time, then sieve in the flour and baking powder and fold until just combined. Fold in the blueberries, then spread into a 9″ round greased and lined tin. It might be a bit hard to spread evenly because there are so many blueberries, but it will even out as it bakes.

Sprinkle the streusel over the top in rough lumps, then bake at 180 degrees for about an hour, or until golden on top and a skewer comes out clean. Leave to cool before removing from the tin and serving.

Hummingbird Cake

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Last week, I went to another brilliant Cornwall Clandestine Cake Club, and have been terribly slack in posting about it – apologies!

Held at a gorgeous farmhouse near Tintagel, the Cornwall and North Cornwall branches of CCC came together for a 4th of July all-American spectacular. Just look at this spread of cakes – and that was before everyone had even arrived!

I decided to make a Hummingbird cake – apparently Southern Living magazine’s most requested recipe, so it must be a true American classic!

I was a bit worried someone else would do the same, but luckily they didn’t. For those of you who haven’t heard of or tried a Hummingbird cake, it’s basically a super-charged banana cake, with added pineapple, pecans, cinnamon and cream cheese icing –  an inspired combination!

This is probably one of my favourite things I’ve baked recently, as all the elements just work really well together – the bananas taste delicious and make it smell heavenly when it’s baking, same for the cinnamon which I love in pretty much anything; the pineapple makes it extra-moist, the pecans add a nice texture contrast, and cream cheese icing is my all-time favourite frosting.

Hopefully everyone else who tried a bit liked it – I took a slice home with me at my boss’s request, and even his banana-hating son approved so it must have been pretty good!

Just in case the giant flag the pony made to go in my cake wasn’t enough to let people know what it was, I made a little hummingbird to go on top, although my lack of artistic skills may have just left everyone more confused…

Hummingbird Cake (adapted from Southern Living magazine)

  • 360g plain flour
  • 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 400g sugar
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 3 large eggs, beaten
  • 250ml vegetable oil
  • 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 200g can crushed pineapple
  • 100g chopped pecans
  • 450g chopped over-ripe bananas (3 large bananas)
  • 500g cream cheese
  • 250g butter
  • 250g icing sugar

Start by greasing and lining four 7″ sandwich tins – I only have two so I baked in two batches. Sieve together the flour, bicarbonate of soda, salt, sugar and cinnamon into a large bowl. Whisk together the eggs, oil and vanilla and stir into the dry ingredients, until just combined. Fold in the banana, pineapple and pecans and stir to make sure they’re all distributed evenly, then divide the mixture between the pans and bake at 180 degrees for about 20-25 minutes, or until risen and springy to the touch.

For the icing, beat the butter to soften, then add the icing sugar and half the cream cheese. Using an electric mixer, beat for 3-5 minutes until light and fluffy and no lumps remain, then quickly add in the rest of the cream cheese and beat until just combined. Chill in the fridge until thick enough to spread.

To assemble the cake, level off each of the cake layers, then stack with a layer of cream cheese icing between each, and cover with the rest of the icing. Keep in the fridge until half an hour or so before serving.

Cinnamon blondies

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If I were American, I’d probably call these ‘snickerdoodle blondies’. Because if I were American, I probably wouldn’t have got to the age of 24 without having ever eaten, seen or been near a snickerdoodle cookie – as it is, I thought it would feel a bit fraudulent making blondies in their name, which is why these are simply cinnamon blondies.

They were super easy to make and turned out really well. Although they look a bit cakey in the photos, they had just the right amount of fudgyness to definitely be a proper blondie rather than just a cake bar.

In fact, I may make this my go-to blondie recipe, as the cinnamon sugar topping could easily be left off and any number of add-ins thrown in.

The thing I like most about them is that they aren’t dripping in buttery grease, which is what put me off blondies for about a year after my first disastrous attempt!

Now all I need to do is actually go make a snickerdoodle cookie!

Cinnamon blondies (recipe adapted from Baking Bites)

Makes 16 small squares

  • 115g butter
  • 200g caster sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 120g plain flour
  • 100g white chocolate, chopped
  • 1 tbsp caster sugar
  • 1tsp cinnamon

Beat the butter and sugar together until well creamed. Add in the egg and vanilla and beat again, then fold in the flour and white chocolate chips. Spread the mixture into a greased and lined 8×8″ square baking tin, then mix together the remaining caster sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle evenly on top. Bake at 180 degrees for 25-30 minutes, or until golden and a skewer comes out clean. Leave to cool then cut into squares and serve.

Gingerbread chocolate souffles (GF)

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I remember bookmarking this recipe when the first series of Eric Lanlard’s Baking Mad was shown (back in the not-so-good old days of my unemployment, when it was acceptable to spend four hours or so a day watching cookery shows) but have only just got around to making them now, thanks to a set of ramekins I was given for my birthday.

I think for a first ever attempt at souffles they turned out ok, although my ramekins look a bit wider than the ones in the picture  which might be why they aren’t quite so risen – although the before and after shots prove there was a bit of a rise!

I cooked them for 11 minutes as directed, but they were most definitely not ready after that long so I gave them another couple of minutes (I was using an oven thermometer as well so not quite sure what went wrong…)

They might not look all that impressive, but they certainly tasted it! I love chocolate and ginger together, and the added cinnamon worked really well – I would definitely make these again!

Gingerbread Chocolate Souffles (recipe adapted from Eric Lanlard, posted by Delicious Magazine)

Makes 4 souffles

  • 15g butter
  • 60g caster sugar
  • 105g plain chocolate
  • 3 small eggs, separated
  • 1 1/2 tsp ground ginger
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 1tsp vanilla extract
  • Extra melted butter and caster sugar to prepare the ramekins

Brush the ramekins with melted butter, and sprinkle with caster sugar to stop the souffles sticking. Melt the chocolate, butter, spices and vanilla in a bowl over simmering water (my chocolate mixture seized, but heating in the microwave loosened it up again). Beat in the egg yolks to the chocolate mixture, and whisk the egg whites and sugar in a separate bowl, until they form meringue like stiff peaks.

Stir in a third of the egg whites to the chocolate mixture to loosen, then gently fold in the rest. Divide the mixture between the four ramekins and bake at 180 degrees for 11-13 minutes – they should be well risen with a slight wobble. Serve with cream, clotted cream or ice cream – all would be delicious!