Blood orange and chocolate cake

On a recent trip to the Cotswolds, a friend and I peered into various coffee shop windows looking at the wonderful array of cakes and bakes we could see. We didn't go into all of shops as I think we might have exploded or been a little buzzing from too much coffee. We did try out some places in Stow on the Wold, Broadway and Chipping Campden and had some wonderful treats.
One bit of window eating had us trying to work out the combinations in a very impressive range of loaf cakes - lemon drizzle was one, pear and cardamom another and blood orange and chocolate was the final one as far as our bespectacled eyes could see! Amanda went away and made and amazing moist pear loaf and this is my first try at the blood orange and chocolate cake! We still have other things from the day on our list to bake...!

Ingredients

For the cake

190g soft unsalted butter

225g caster sugar

3 medium eggs

150g self-raising flour

70g cocoa powder

¼ tsp salt

½ tsp vanilla extract

zest of 1 blood orange (You can use normal oranges, but blood oranges have a lovely different taste to them. They are available in the few months in early Spring)

flesh of 3 blood oranges segmented to remove the membrane

For the candied peel and glaze

2 blood oranges – you need the peel of the oranges removed from the flesh and the white pith taken off. These should then be cut into thin strips

200g granulated sugar

175ml water

Method

1.     Pre-heat the oven to 180/ Gas Mark 4 and line a 2lb loaf tin (I use tin liners as they are quick, easy and you can now buy them in most supermarkets)

2.     Combine the flour, cocoa and salt in a mixing bowl

3.     In another bowl, beat together the butter, sugar, zest and vanilla extract until they are light and fluffy

4.     Add the eggs one at a time until they are well incorporated

5.     Fold in the flour and cocoa mix until everything is well mixed together

6.     Fold in the orange segments and any juice that may have escaped when you have been chopping them up!

7.     Transfer to the prepared tin and bake in the centre of the oven for 50 minutes to an hour or when a skewer comes out clean. You may need to give the cake a tin foil hat if it starts to go too brown before it is cooked through

8.     Remove from the oven and let it cool in the tin before moving it to a cooling rack

Method for the candied peel and glaze

You can do this while the cake is baking!

1.     Put the peel into a saucepan and cover with water. Bring to the boil and then drain. Repeat this a further two times.

2.     Remove the peel from the pan and set to one side

3.     Put the sugar and 175ml of water into the pan and bring it to a gentle simmer. Let it bubble away for around 8 minutes until the sugar has dissolved

4.     Return the peel to the saucepan and simmer for 45 minutes to an hour or until the peel has started to go see-through and is soft

5.     Do not throw the syrup away when you remove the peel to a cooling rack! You will need this.

6.     Once the cake has cooled and the syrup from the peel has also cooled, use a pastry brush to paint the sticky, sugary, orangey liquid over the top of the cake. Don't let the syrup go completely cold before brushing on as I did the first time as it is like painting on glue!

7.     Put on the pieces of sticky candied orange on top of the cake.

Raspberry Frangipane Bites

I'm slightly obsessed with frangipane. On a holiday to Yorkshire with a friend a few years ago, it was any excuse to eat Bakewell tart and now I don't even need an excuse! I love the almondy taste and slightly denser texture to the bake.
I recently read about a bake that used shortbread as a base rather than pastry. I liked the idea of this - a crisp, buttery, crumbly base, and also quicker than pastry with less chance of a soggy bottom! So an afternoon in the kitchen (freshly painted - that's as much DIY as I am capable of!) and I came up with these. I've used raspberries in these, but any fresh berries would work.
This was my first try, so if you try these, please leave any comments about how they could be improved!

Raspberry Frangipane bites with a shortbread base

Ingredients

For the shortbread base:

125g                unsalted butter

55g                  caster sugar

180g                plain flour

For the frangipane topping

220g                unsalted butter

220g                caster sugar

4                      medium eggs

160g                ground almonds

60g                  plain flour

200g                fresh raspberries

handful            flaked almonds

Also enough raspberry jam to cover the shortbread base

A deeper sided rectangular baking tray measuring around 30cm x 20cm, preferably loose bottomed, greased

Method

To make the shortbread base

1.     Pre-heat the oven to 190/ Gas Mark 5

2.     Make sure that the butter is nice and soft and beat with the caster sugar until it is a smooth paste

3.     Mix in the flour until it is well incorporated and the dough starts to come together

4.     Bring the dough into a ball with your hands and tip onto a floured surface

5.     Roll out to a depth of around 2-3mm and shape to the same size as the base of the baking tin

6.     Put the rolled out dough into the tin and fork it well to stop in rising

7.     Bake in the pre-heated oven for 10-15 minutes until golden

8.     Set aside to cool

To make the frangipane

1.     Put all the ingredients except the raspberries into a bowl and mix well using a hand mixer or wooden spoon until well combined

2.     Gently fold in the raspberries

To put it altogether

1.     Pre-heat the oven to 170/ Gas Mark 3

2.     Spread a thin layer of raspberry jam over the cooled shortbread, leaving it in the tin

3.     Gently spread over the frangipane mixture, making sure that it goes into the corners

4.     Sprinkle over the flaked almonds

5.     Bake in the oven until the topping is golden brown and springy, about 30-40 minutes

6.     Leave to cool in the tin for 10 minutes before removing and cutting into the desired size. It can make 18 smaller pieces or 9 generous ones!

Tortes de Aceite

If I'm given some kind of nice cake or biscuit as a present, I always want to know where it has come from and then can I make it myself!
This happened at Christmas this year when a friend bought me some Tortes de Aceite. I'd never even seen these Spanish Olive Oil biscuits before - I've since seen them in several different places but mainly savoury versions. 
I set out to find a recipe to see if homemade ones would be as good as the shop bought ones. I came across this recipe by Jamie Oliver which I have adapted slightly to give them an additional crunch with the addition of some chopped almonds and crunchy sugar on top.
I was really pleased with the outcome and I have been told I have to make them again. Beware, they are very addictive! Thank you Jamie Oliver!

Ingredients: 

Makes 12
300g Type '00' flour1 teaspoon sea salt2 teaspoons fennel seedsSpanish extra virgin olive oil3 tablespoons  caster sugar plus extra for dusting1 x 7g sachet of dried yeasticing sugar, for dustingplain flour, for dusting1 large egg white, preferably free range, beaten
handful of chopped almonds

a sprinkling of crunchy sugar crystals


Method:
Preheat the oven to 230°c. Mix the flour, salt and fennel seeds in a bowl. Pour 100ml of extra virgin olive oil into a jug with 150ml of warm water then add the caster sugar and yeast and mix well. Leave for a few minutes.
Make a well in the centre of the flour mixture and slowly pour in the yeast mixture, using a fork gradually mix in the flour from the outside as you go. When it all starts to come together, use your hands to mix it into a lovely smooth dough.
Lightly oil two large baking trays, then dust them with icing sugar. Lightly flour a clean work surface and a rolling pin. Divide your dough into 12 equal-sized pieces and roll each one into a ball, then roll out each ball until it's about 10cm in diameter. The thinner you roll out the dough, the crispier the final biscuit will be. Put these on your trays, and brush each one with some beaten egg white. Dust each biscuit lightly with icing sugar so they all have an even coating, and scatter over some almonds and the crunchy sugar.
Cook in the hot oven for around 10 to 12 minutes or until golden and crisp. Transfer to wire racks to cool, then tuck in.