Apricot and orange marmalade cake

Two weekends ago I made my first batch of marmalade. And what do you do once you've made a big batch of jam or marmalade? Use it in a cake, of course!

The resulting marmalade cake (with a handful of chopped dried apricots) had a lovely tart, citrus flavour from the Seville orange and marmalade. However the texture was a bit dense. I don't think my mixing was at fault, it was more likely due to the amount of liquid in the cake batter (orange juice, apricots and the marmalade which was slightly underset.) I left the cake in the oven a bit longer than stated as the centre was still liquid when I inserted a skewer into the middle. By the time the centre finally cooked I think the rest of the cake dried out a bit despite covering the top with greaseproof paper for the last 15 minutes.

Not a failure of a cake by any means, but mildly disappointing due to the bake. I have plenty of marmalade though so I can easily try again.

Apricot and orange marmalade cake

Recipe very mildly adapted from Vintage Cakes by Jane Brocket

175g baking margarine/ softened butter

175g light soft brown sugar 

3 large eggs

Grated zest of 1 orange (plus the juice from half the orange). I used a Seville orange, the same as I used for my marmalade.

75g chopped dried apricots 

2 rounded tablespoons of orange marmalade 

200g self raising flour 

Icing: 

150g icing sugar 

Juice of 1 orange. Orange zest for decoration.

Preheat the oven to 180C/ 160 Fan/ gas mark 4 and grease and line a 20cm round deep cake tin with greaseproof paper.

Mix together the butter and sugar in a large bowl until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Add the orange zest, juice and marmalade and mix. Add the flour and mix gently until everything is fully combined. Finally stir in the chopped dried apricots.

Pour the cake batter into the tin then bake in the centre of the oven for approx. 1 hour, checking on it after about 45 minutes. You may need to add a layer of greaseproof paper as a "hat" on top of the cake to stop the top from burning but allow the centre of the cake to continue cooking. The cake is ready when a skewer or knife inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean.

Leave the cake to cool on a wire rack before icing. Turn out of the tin after 5-10 minutes.

For the icing, mix together the icing with enough orange juice to create a thick, smooth, pouring consistency. Spread over the cooled cake. For extra flourish grate orange zest to sprinkle on top.

carrot and coconut battenberg cake

I've had this recipe bookmarked for ages as I've been itching to make a battenberg cake for a while and I was really intrigued by the flavours of this version.

I'm really pleased with how it turned out; it's a classic with a twist. In hindsight I could have decorated the cake with one of those fancy crimped edges that Paul and Mary would have done on the Great British Bake Off, but ultimately I just want to tidy up the kitchen and eat the cake. It's a wonder I can restrain myself long enough to take a few photographs for the blog.

I'm not sure how to describe the flavour of this cake. The dominant flavour is almond, obviously due to the marzipan (mmmm, marzipan) followed by apricot as it is in both the sponge and the jam, then the warming spices of cinnamon and ginger. Despite carrot and coconut being in the title of the recipe I'd say they provide texture and  moisture rather than big flavour. They're there, but more subtle.

The carrot cake half didn't rise as well as the coconut half so I had a bit of levelling to do once the cakes were cool. I'm assuming that's due to extra moisture from the carrots, apricot chunks and orange food colouring. Other than that the cake came together very smoothly. Although I'm generally not keen to add food colouring to cakes, I love the extra punch the orange colouring adds to the carrot cake half. It really enhances the classic battenberg chequerboard pattern.

If you love battenberg cake and fancy something a little bit different then I'd definitely recommend giving this recipe a go :)

Carrot and coconut battenberg cake

Recipe (marginally adapted) from "Peek-a-boo cakes" by Joanna Farrow. Pub. 2014

carrot sponge:

100g margarine

100g light soft brown sugar

2 eggs, large

100g self-raising flour

1/2tsp baking powder

1/2tsp ground ginger

1/2tsp ground cinnamon

75g carrot, finely grated

40g dried apricots, finely chopped

25g ground almonds

orange food colouring

coconut sponge:

100g margarine

100g caster sugar

2 eggs, large

100g self-raising flour

25g dessicated coconut

1/2 tsp baking powder

decoration:

200g apricot jam

375g marzipan

icing sugar for dusting

Preheat the oven to 350F/180C/160 Fan/Gas 4. Cut a strip of cardboard the same length and depth as a 8" / 20cm square cake tin (I used a cereal box). Cover the strip with baking foil and fit it down the centre of the tin. Grease and line the bases and sides of the two sections with greaseproof paper.

In a large bowl, beat together all the carrot cake ingredients, excluding the food colouring, for about a minute until smooth. Add some food colouring to enhance the "carrot" colour, mix well, then pour the mixture into one side of the tin. Level the surface.

In another large bowl, beat together all the coconut cake ingredients for a minute until smooth. Pour the mixture into the other side of the tin and level the top so it rises evenly. Bake the cakes in the centre of the oven for about 40 minutes until well risen and just firm to touch. Cool on a wire rack before peeling off the greaseproof paper.

Once the cakes are completely cool, set them side by side on a work surface and level their height using a sharp knife. It's important they're the same height for stacking. Trim the sides of the cakes if necessary as well. Cut each sponge in half lengthwise so you have 4 strips of sponge. Warm the jam in a saucepan on the hob to slacken it and remove any lumps with a sieve if necessary. Use half the jam to stick the sponges together, stacking them in a chequered pattern.

Sprinkle a layer of icing sugar on a work surface and roll out 375g of the marzipan in a rectangular shape until it is big enough to wrap around the cake. Brush the marzipan with the remaining warm jam, put the cake in the centre and wrap the marzipan up over the sides. Trim until neat and turn the cake over so the overlap is at the bottom. Brush the ends of the cake with any remaining jelly and any left over/spare marzipan can be used be roll out into squares to cover the ends.

almond and apricot banana bread

I think this might just be my favourite banana bread. A big statement to throw around, but I really think it is.

Sometimes the tastiest things are made from leftovers and that's the case here. I had some left over dried apricots and blanched almonds from making the Christmas cake and two incredibly brown bananas sitting on the worktop so I decided to throw them together in a loaf.

The loaf has a good balance of flavours and textures: soft crumb, warm spices, juicy apricots and crunchy almonds. It's definitely a cake I want to bake again.

Almond and apricot banana bread

Recipe adapted from Hummingbird Bakery's banana bread

250g soft light brown sugar

2 large eggs

2 large very ripe bananas, about 225g in weight

280g plain flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp ginger

140g butter/margarine (I used Vitalite to keep the cake dairy free)

75g mixture of chopped apricots and chopped blanched almonds (although I may add more next time)

25g ground almonds

a handful of flaked almonds to scatter on top

Preheat the oven to 170C/325F/Gas 3 and grease and line a 23 x 13cm loaf tin with greaseproof paper. Beat together the sugar and eggs until well incorporated. Mash up the bananas and beat them into the sugar/egg mixture. Add the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, ground almonds and spices and mix thoroughly. Melt the butter and beat it into the mixture until everything is combined. Stir in the chopped almonds and apricot pieces. Pour the mixture into the prepared loaf tin and scatter with a handful of flaked almonds. Bake on the middle shelf of the oven for roughly 1 hour until firm to touch and a skewer inserted in the centre of the cake comes out clean. Leave to cool in the tin for 5-10 minutes before turning out to finish cooling on a wire rack.

muesli cookies

There was a disaster yesterday.

The biscuit jar was EMPTY. Not even a rich tea biscuit.

Nothing.

Since nobody was going to venture out to restock our digestive/hobnob/custard cream supply any time soon, I took it upon myself to bake something that evening.

After a quick rummage around the baking cupboard I discovered some dried cranberries and apricots which needed using up, perfect for this muesli cookie recipe I found in my Lakeland book.

I took these out the oven a bit earlier than the recipe stated as they looked golden and I wasn't sure how much they would harden once cool. In hindsight I should have left them in the full allocated time as they're quite chewy, almost like a syrupy flapjack, which is incredibly tasty but I suppose not what they're intended to be.

I'll probably make more in the next couple of days to use up the rest of the cranberries and apricots as I don't think these are going to last long in the biscuit jar!

Crunchy (or not so crunchy in my case) muesli cookies

Recipe from Cupcakes and Cookies by Lakeland, slightly altered to suit what I had

90g rolled oats

150g plain flour

220g caster sugar

2 tsp ground cinnamon

50g flaked almonds

50g chopped dried apricots

50g dried cranberries

125g butter (I think I used 100g unsalted, 25g salted)

2 tbsp golden syrup (go on, lick the spoon, I did)

1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda

1 tbsp boiling water

Preheat the oven to 150C/Gas 3 and grease and line oven sheets with baking parchment. Mix together the oats, flour, sugar, cinnamon, nuts and fruit. In a saucepan, melt the butter and syrup over a low heat, then add the combined bicarb. soda and boiled water. Mix then add to the dry ingredients. Combine everything together and roll pieces of the mixture into (roughly) tablespoon sized balls. I think the recipe was a bit optimistic claiming the dough makes 36 biscuits, I got around 20 and I personally wouldn't have wanted them any smaller. Space about 5cm apart on the baking trays and flatten slightly with your hand before baking in the oven for roughly 20 minutes.  Cool on trays.