Banoffee Cupcakes

My work colleagues do pretty well when I get the baking urge, as I very often end up taking the end result into work to share out.  My friend Val's kids go particularly mad for banana muffins (they often end up getting their own side order) but I came up with these as a variation.  They are INCREDIBLY SWEET because of the fudge-style topping - I had to have a strong coffee with mine to provide a contrast - don't say I didn't warn you!  Because of this and because of the addition of mashed banana to the basic cake mixture, I've cut down on the amount of butter and sugar used in the cakes.  It's a good one for using up over-ripe bananas (the blacker the better) - I freeze them until I need them because I'm a bit eccentric like that.

The frosting comes from Martha Swift and Lisa Thomas' "Cupcakes from the Primrose Bakery" and is half the quantity in the original recipe (you'd probably better book a dentist's appointment at the same time as buying one their cakes then).  It sets very quickly (the wonky rice paper toppers in the photo are like that because the frosting had already set and I had to stick them down with a small blob of royal icing).  This recipe makes 12 cupcakes.

Banana cakes:
75g unsalted butter, at room temperature
75g caster sugar
2 very ripe bananas, mashed
2 medium eggs
125g self-raising flour, sifted
1/2 teaspoon baking powder

Caramel frosting:
30g unsalted butter
3 tablespoons milk
110g light soft brown sugar
120g icing sugar, sifted
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C/Gas Mark 4.  Line a muffin tray with 12 cupcake cases.
2. Beat the butter and caster sugar together until pale, light and fluffy.  Beat in the mashed banana.
3. Beat in the eggs one at a time, adding a tablespoon of flour with each egg.  Fold in the remaining flour and baking powder with a large metal spoon, until there is no flour left visible.  The mixture will look slightly curdled at this point, don't worry.
4. Divide the mixture between the cupcake case and bake for 20-25 minutes until the cakes are golden and spring back when you gently press them with a finger.  Leave them to cool on a wire rack.
5. Once the cakes are cooled, get on with making the frosting.  Place the butter, brown sugar and milk in a saucepan and bring to the boil, stirring continually.  Let it boil for about 1 minute, still stirring.
6. Remove this sauce from  the heat and whisk in half the icing sugar.  Leave it stand for around 1 minute, then whisk in the vanilla extract and remaining icing sugar.
7. Spread the frosting over the cakes whilst still warm as it will cool and set very quickly.  Add any toppings (eg: banana chips, crushed Dime bars) whilst the frosting is still soft.

Vegan Jaffa Cake Dessert

This pudding came about when I was pondering the injustice of there not being a vegan equivalent of trifle as (to my knowledge), no-one has ever devised an acceptable non-dairy substitute for double or whipping cream (or not in the UK anyway).  It is a bit of cheat as there is not much cooking involved but it's a good one for slinging together at the last minute as it sets quickly and mostly uses ingredients that you can find in a decent supermarket.  I was pleasantly surpised to find out that vegan jelly is easier to find than I thought.  In my research, I came across three brands that do an orange or mandarin flavour - Green's Quick-Jel, Hartley's QuickSet Jelly (not the regular variety) and Marks & Spencer's from their Terribly Clever range. I made my own vegan sponge cake base for this but you might find that your supermarket sells a ready made equivalent as part of a FreeFrom-type range (or if your dessert doesn't have to be vegan, use ready-made trifle sponges).

This makes either one big dessert (to serve 6-8 people) or 6 individual ones.  It tastes pretty good!

For the vegan sponge base:
50g non-dairy margarine
50g caster sugar
20g egg replacer
50g self-raising flour, sifted

1 small tin mandarin oranges in juice
1 quantity orange or mandarin vegan jelly (if you use Quick-Jel, you'll need both sachets)
x1 4-pack of dark chocolate flavour Alpro Soya desserts (they also do a regular chocolate flavour if you don't like dark chocolate - personally, not something that I understand - or if you're nostalgic for the flavour of that Heinz Chocolate Pudding that you had as a baby), chilled
40g good-quality dark chocolate, finely chopped

1. If you're making your own cake base, preheat the oven to 180 degrees C/Gas Mark 4.  Drain the mandarin segments of juice but don't throw the juice away (you'll need it for the jelly).
2. Beat together the margarine and caster sugar until pale, light and fluffy.  Using a metal spoon, fold in the egg replacer and sifted flour until there are no specks of flour visible.  You'll need to add a small amount of water to get the cake mixture to a soft dropping consistency.
3. Spoon the cake mixture into a prepared tin (one 7" sandwich cake tin is ideal).  I thought I'd save on washing up and put mine in fairy cake cases in a bun tin (the mixture will fill six).  Bake for around 20 minutes until the cake is golden and risen (it should spring back when you gently press it with a finger).  Leave the cake to cool on a wire rack.
4. Once cooled, break the cake into pieces and use to line your serving dish.  Arrange the drained mandarin segments over the sponge.
5. Make the jelly according to the packet instructions but use half water and half mandarin juice.  Leave it to cool slightly before pouring over the cake and fruit layer.
6. Once the jelly has cooled, place it in the fridge to chill.  Just before serving, spread the chilled chocolate soya dessert over the jelly and top with the finely chopped chocolate.

Good Day Sunshine

I hardly ever buy ready-made muesli any more, as I find a lot of them have a lot of added sugar (regular Alpen being the worst culprit) or are just a bit boring (I quite like the Dorset Cereals range but they are very expensive).  Not what you want from a “health food”.

Lucky then that making your own muesli is very easy – just remember the old Lucky Strike slogan, “it’s toasted” and you won’t go far wrong!  I can’t remember where I originally saw this recipe (probably the result of internet surfing) but think of it as a blueprint for your own tastes or whatever you’ve got in the cupboard.  It’s great for using up whatever little amounts of nuts and dried fruits you’ve got left over, especially after a Christmas baking session.  Sultanas and raisins are fine as dried fruit additions but don’t limit yourself to those – for instance, dates are great for adding sweetness.  I promise you, you will not need to add any sugar.  Some of my favourite combinations include:

• Superfood: dried apricots (snipped into pieces), dried blueberries and toasted walnuts.
• Tropical: dried pineapple and mango (chopped), dried banana chips and a little toasted dessicated coconut.
• What I call Naughty Muesli (strictly a once a year Christmas breakfast treat): toasted almonds, chopped dried sour cherries and chopped dark chocolate.

Some nuts are suitable for toasting (almonds, hazelnuts, unsalted peanuts, pecans, coconut and walnuts), others will just go soft due to their high fat content (macadamias, brazils and pistachios) and are better added raw to the cooled muesli along with the dried fruits.  You will probably need to get the barley flakes and wheatgerm from a health food shop (Holland & Barrett stock both) but once you’ve got them, a little goes a long way.  This muesli is very cheap to make and keeps well (store in an airtight container).

200g porridge oats

75g barley flakes

25g wheatgerm

50g chopped nuts

50g chopped dried fruits of your choice.

1. Preheat the oven to 170 degrees C/Gas Mark 3.
2. Mix the porridge oats, barley flakes, wheatgerm and chopped nuts together and pour into a large roasting tin.  Bake for around 15 minutes until the mixture is golden and lightly toasted – give it a stir with a spatula halfway through and do keep an eye on it as nuts burn very easily.
3. Leave the mixture to cool and then stir in the dried fruits before transferring the muesli to an airtight container.  Serve with milk, yogurt or fruit juice.

Muesli with apricot, cranberry, almond, coconut and fig

Some Like It Hot (Part 2)

I absolutely love all Indian food and love cooking it at home.  Vicky Bhogal's "Cooking Like Mummyji" has become my Bible as far as Indian food goes - but yet again, it's another book that's gone out of print (what is wrong with some publishers?!)!  Vicky grew up in a Sikh family in the Midlands and is on an evangelical mission to popularise what she calls "British Asian cooking".  This is what Asian families in the UK eat at home as opposed to what we're used to eating in "Indian" restaurants.  It is very different to curry house food - lower in fat, fresher flavours and using a surprisingly simple list of ingredients.  The staple ingredients tend to be onions, garlic, coriander, green chillies, turmeric, root ginger, tinned tomatoes and garam masala - these form the foundation of many dishes but the book is full of all sorts of wonderful variations that do taste very different.  I've amended some of the quantities in Vicky's original recipe slightly as she's a little too heavy handed with the oil and salt for my taste.

This dish is medium to hot, depending on whether or not you leave the chilli seeds in (I did and was definitely in need of the cooling Cobra beer that you see in the photograph).  I served it with plain basmati rice and the Cauliflower, Pea and Potato Bhaji in the previous post.  In case you're wondering, "thariwala" is a Punjabi word that describes any curry dish with a runny sauce.  Great for dipping your naans or chapatis in!

Daddy's Thariwala Lamb (serves 4-6)

800g boneless lean lamb, cubed
A splash of vegetable oil (you don't need much but keep stirring the onion to make sure it doesn't burn and stick)
1 large onion, chopped finely
1 garlic clove, chopped finely
1 cup of canned chopped tomatoes, whizzed in a blender (or the same quantity of passata)
1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
1 tablespoon grated fresh root ginger
2 green chillies, chopped finely
1 teaspoon of salt
4 teaspoons garam masala
2 handfuls of chopped fresh coriander
Juice of 1/2 a lime

1. Gently heat a large frying pan (preferably non-stick).  Place the cubes of lamb in the pan and cook on a low to medium heat until there is no pink flesh to be seen.  When the lamb is pale brown all over, turn off the heat.  Discard the fat by draining the meat in a colander.
2. Heat the oil in a large saucepan and add the onion.  Fry until a deep golden brown and add the garlic (this is my own variation - I always cook the onion first and then add the garlic.  This is because garlic burns very easily and tastes bitter and horrible if it does.).  Cook for a further 1-2 minutes until the garlic has softened but not browned.
3. Turn the heat down and add the tomatoes, turmeric, ginger, chillies, salt, garam masala, a handful of coriander and a good splash of water.
4. When the mixture becomes shiny and the oil separates, add the lamb.
5. Stir thoroughly to coat with the mixture.  Stir-fry for 5 minutes.
6. Add the lime juice and enough boiling water to make a runny sauce for the lamb (not too much, you don't want to end up with soup).  Bring to the boil.
7. Reduce the heat and simmer, covered, on a low heat for 35 minutes.  Sprinkle with more coriander before serving.

Some Like It Hot (Part 1)

This recipe is a winner.  I cooked this as a side dish to go alongside a lamb curry and plain basmati rice but there is no reason why this shouldn't be the star of the show in its own right as a main course.  It's basically a dry-textured vegetable curry, so if, like me, you like having something to dip your naans/chapatis in, why not serve some dahl and/or chutneys alongside?  It looks beautiful once cooked and you've added the garnishes, as it's so colourful.  It's also one of those very useful recipes where you can do the initial cooking and then leave it to stand, just giving it a final blast in the oven when you're getting ready to dish up.  And I normally hate cauliflower but this convinces even me to give it a second chance.  Leftovers (if there are any) go very nicely in a warm pitta bread or wrap with a spoonful of raita on top.

I do think it's only fair that I credit my sources - it's another Jamie Oliver recipe but I can't find this anywhere in any of his books.  I came across it in the 2003 Comic Relief fundraising book "Funky Food"- if you buy a second-hand copy, please do the decent thing and bung Comic Relief an extra quid or two come March.  Ta.

My top tip for cooking Asian and Caribbean food is get to know where the specialist food shops in your area are and pick the brains of the people who work there!  My favourite shop for the more unusual ingredients is the Eastern & Continental Store on Cowley Road, Oxford.  Spices are an especially good buy - much better value and more choice than supermarkets and probably fresher too, as they have a higher turnover of stock.

Cauliflower, Pea and Potato Bhaji (serves 4)

A bunch of fresh coriander
4 medium potatoes, peeled and diced (waxy ones like Desiree work best)
1 cauliflower, broken into florets
A pinch of black mustard seeds
1/2 teaspoon of cumin seeds
1/2 teaspoon of fennel seeds
1/2 teaspoon of coriander seeds
1/2 teaspoon of fenugreek (methi) seeds
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon of butter (this is dead easy to make into a vegan dish - just substitute the butter for 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil)
1 onion, peeled and finely sliced
A pinch of turmeric
A handful of frozen peas
4 ripe tomatoes, roughly chopped (I skin mine before adding as I hate the way that tomato and pepper skins come adrift in hot food and stick in your throat - but by all means don't bother if you're not as squeamish as me)
1 fresh red chilli, thinly sliced (this will make the finished bhaji quite hot - remove the seeds from the chilli or omit altogether if you prefer mild curries)

1. Preheat the oven to 220 degrees C/425 degrees Fahrenheit/Gas Mark 7.
2. Remove the stalks from the coriander and chop finely.  Put these to one side, then chop the leaves.
3. Boil the potatoes and cauliflower for 10 minutes.
4. Bash the whole spices to a powder with 1 teaspoon of salt, using a pestle and mortar.  Melt the butter in a pan and fry the onion gently for 5 minutes with the coriander stalks until soft.  Add the spice mixture and the turmeric and fry gently for another minute.
5. Drain the potatoes and cauliflower and add to the pan with the peas and chopped tomatoes.  Stir everything together, then season to taste.
6. Place in a baking dish and cook in the oven for about 15-20 minutes until golden.  When serving, sprinkle with the chopped coriander leaves and chilli.

Light Relief

You might think from reading this blog so far that everything I cook is very rich and indulgent.  Whilst I love my grub, I'm not daft and I know that heart disease/Type 2 diabetes/gout are no joke and so I do try to be sensible some of the time.  I do actually own quite a lot of diet recipe books (as part of the strange and contradictory relationship I have with food) but don't very often use the Weight Watchers-type ones as  - well, some of the end results taste like cack.  Who wants to eat a large serving of a cake made with artificial sweetener, ultra-low fat margarine and 0% fat yogurt when you could eat a smaller portion of a cake made with real ingredients and enjoy it so much more?

One of the better (ie: contains recipes for things you'd actually enjoy eating) healthy eating cook books that's come along in recent years (although the title is cringeworthy) is "Fat Girl Slim" by Ruth Watson.  Sadly it seems to be out of print now but you shouldn't have any trouble getting hold of a copy second hand.  Ruth is a gastropub owner and food enthusiast who managed to lose 4 and a half stones by applying the same principles of not compromising on quality or flavour to low-fat meals as she would with anything she'd serve to customers.  Some of the recipes do use ingredients that are expensive or difficult to source for many people.  But this recipe isn't too outrageous and best of all, tastes great and comes in at a respectable 480 calories per serving, if you skip the rice noodles that I served it with (largely to finish off a few lonely noodles in the bottom of the packet).  Unless you're really hungry, it doesn't really need any accompaniment.

Salmon Teriyaki and Wilted Greens (serves 2)

2 salmon escalopes (preferably with the skin still on)
2 tablespoons Chinese rice wine/sake/dry sherry
1 teaspoon caster sugar
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 large piece root ginger, peeled and grated
A little groundnut (or vegetable) oil + 1 tablespoon
3 spring onions, trimmed and cut into thirds at an angle
1 garlic clove, peeled and finely chopped
3 pak choi, separated into leaves, root ends trimmed (OR you could do what I did and use a bag of fresh spinach instead)
100g beansprouts

1. Put the salmon into a shallow non-reactive (ie: not metal) container.  Whisk together the rice wine, sugar, soy sauce and ginger and pour over the fish.  Leave the escalopes to marinade in the fridge for at least 30 minutes but preferably 2 hours (turn the fish over halfway through).
2. Drain the marinade into a small pan and bring to the boil over a high heat, uncovered.  Continue to boil for just 2 minutes, the marinade will thicken slightly.  Set the pan aside.
3. Pat the salmon dry with kitchen paper and very lightly oil each piece on either side.  Place a heavy frying pan over a medium-high flame and when it is very hot, put in the salmon skin-side down.  WARNING - nothing lingers in your clothes/hair/furniture like the smell of frying fish so make sure you have all the windows nearby open or if you have a tiny kitchen like mine, invest in some Febreze.  Cook the fish for 4 minutes, brushing the salmon with the marinade halfway through.  Turn the fish and baste again.  Cook for 4-6 minutes (depending on the thickness of the fish), again basting.  The salmon is ready when it has turned from translucent to opaque in the middle.
4. Meanwhile, heat the remaining 1 tablespoon of oil in a wok or large frying pan over a medium flame.  Toss in the spring onions, garlic and pak choi/spinach and stir-fry for a few minutes until wilted.  Add the beansprouts, toss thoroughly and pour in a dash of the marinade.  Continue to stir-fry for 1-2 minutes, or until the veg is tender-crisp, then divide it up between 2 plates.  Perch the salmon on top (skin-side up) and brush over any remainin marinade.

Ruth Watson urges you to eat the skin, saying "it's almost the best part".  I completely agree and couldn't help feeling slightly miffed that the salmon pieces I used were skinless.