Nigella Nutella Cake

Huge apologies to all my readers for the lack of blogging recently. I went to America (Florida and Washington which was amazing) then had a very hectic last 10 days at work and changed jobs this week. I've not really had time to bake much less blog even though I have quite a few posts in the draft folder. 

I've decided to share with you the cake I made for my leaving tea party at work. I felt so touched by the kind words and was extremely impressed that my colleagues made the effort to bake cakes for me as I'm always baking for them! Apparently store bought was not going to be good enough for me so there was an email going round asking for homemade cakes and I was treated to a lovely chocolate cake, apple cake, marmalade cake and homemade scones. Thank you so much!! 

Of course I couldn't resist baking one last time even though I was up half the night! I made 2 big cakes and this is one of them - a Nigella Nutella Cake. Nigella says it's one of the easiest cakes to make and the most delicious and that her household is addicted to it. I totally agree as it was delicious and the first cake to be finished amongst all the many delicious cakes on display! 

I'm entering this to AlphaBakes hosted by myself this month and co-hosted by Caroline from Caroline Makes as the letter this month is N for Nigella Nutella cake. To the AlphaBakers last month - I'm sorry I've not had time to visit your blogs and see your delicious P entries but I promise I will get to them in the next week or so! My mouth was watering from what I've seen on the roundup so I look forward to reading each entry in detail. 

 'nutty' cake 

 roasted hazelnuts 

 fold in egg whites 

 a little burnt but no one will notice after it's covered in ganache and fruits! 

 slightly uneven after the cake cooled. I initially wanted to add smarties on top but decided fresh fruit would balance out the chocolate

 the side view is much better!! 

Recipe available on Nigella's website 

The only changes I made was to omit the rum (as it was for work) and to use roasted chopped hazelnuts instead of ground hazelnuts to increase the nutty taste and texture. 

AlphaBakes October 2012

Thank you to everyone who joined in AlphaBakes last month. The letter was P and there were lots of amazing entries as always. You can check out the round up on Caroline's blog. Congratulations to Corina from Searching for Spice for winning our prize last month kindly sponsored by Charbonnel et Walker.

So I'm sure you're all dying to find out what the letter is for this month. Well our trusty random letter generator has churned out .....

N

I have so many ideas already including one of my favourite ingredients nutella. Can't wait to see what everyone comes up with. Deadline for entries is 25th October 2012.  Please, please remember to email your entries otherwise it won't be included in the round up! A quick reminder of the rules...

1. Post your recipe on your blog and link it to The More than Occasional Baker and Caroline Makes, stating the relevant month's host. If you do not have a blog, email us a picture and a brief description of your entry which we will include in the round-up at the end of the month.

2. You can use your own recipe or someone else's recipe. The recipe can be sweet, savoury or a mixture! Anything goes as long as the random letter is predominantly featured in the recipe as one of the main ingredients or flavours or in the name of the bake itself (i .e . not as a garnish , or using 'flour' for the letter F!) You can also republish old posts/recipes but you must include the information for this challenge as stated in these rules.

3. Add the logo to your post and add 'alphabakes' as a label to your post.

4. Email your entries to alphabakes@gmail.com by midnight (GMT) 25th of each month. Please include:

Your name (that you want included in the round up or we will use the name of your blog)
Your blog post URL
Recipe title
Photo of recipe (to be included in the round up)

5. You can submit as many entries as you like.

6. You do not have to participate every month to join in.

7. You may submit your entry to other challenges as long as it complies with their rules.

8. If you use twitter, please use the tag #alphabakes and mention @bakingaddict and @Caroline_Makes. We will retweet all those that we see.

9. Have fun! :)

Secret Recipe Club: Dark Chocolate Pecan Pomegranate Clusters

It's time for another Secret Recipe Reveal Day. I love this group as each month I get assigned a blog which I usually spend many happy hours stalking before choosing a recipe to make and post on the same day as all the other SRC members.  This month I was assigned to Jeanette's Healthy Living. She had my blog on a previous reveal day so I'm pleased to return the favour. Jeanette is a stay at home mum looking after her 4 boys after working 17 years in corporate finance.  She developed a passion for cooking that is health focused but never compromising on flavour. She says she started her blog becasue she was spending a lot fo time making meals for family and friends with special dietary needs due to illness including her youngest son who has been diagnosed with multiple food allergies.  In a nutshell, her recipes are healthy, delicious and adaptable to suit different dietary needs. 

 

Her blog is beautifully laid out and easy to navigate.  I went straight to the recipe index and unsurprisingly chose 'Desserts and cookies'.  Recipes on my shortlist were Gluten/Dairy/Egg/Soy Free Vegan Quinoa Banana Chocolate Chip Cookies, Oatmeal peanut chocolate chip cookie, Vegan Mango Panna Cotta with Kiwi, Mango and Strawberries and  Gluten Free Double Chocolate Fudge Brownie. In the end, I chose her  Easy Dark Chocolate Walnut Pomegranate Clusters which she made for a Valentine's treat. I was intrigued as I've never used fresh pomegranate before (I made these at the same time as the pistachio and pomegranate pitstops but had to wait till reveal day to post this recipe) The only change I made was to substitute pecan nuts for walnuts as that was what I had in my cupboard.  They were really easy to make and tasted delicious! Everyone enjoyed these treats especially those with gluten intolerance.

 

As Jeanette says, this is more of an idea than a recipe. I didn't weigh the ingredients but essentially toasted some pecan nuts in the oven whilst melting dark chocolate over a pan of simmering water. I then mixed the toasted pecan nuts and pomegranate seeds into the melted chocolate and placed clusters into a mini cupcake case. Sprinkled a few pomegranate seeds on top, refrigerated for a few hours until solid and voila - quick and easy, delicious and healthy treat!  

 

 only 3 ingredients required!

 mix everything together

 love the pomegranate seeds on top!

 

 

 

 

 

Peanut Butter Popcorn Treats

This is a really quick and easy, no bake recipe which is also gluten free. They were a real hit at work and would be great for parties too. As it contains popcorn and peanut butter, both of which start with the letter P, I'm entering them to AlphaBakes which I co-host with Caroline from Caroline Makes who is hosting this month.

 popcorn, dark chocolate peanut butter, peanut butter cups

 freshly popped corn (in the microwave!)

1 packet of microwaveable popcorn
110g sugar
185g honey
150g dark chocolate peanut butter
peanut butter cups

• Pop the popcorn in the microwave according to the instructions on the pack.
• Melt the sugar and honey in a pan over medium heat. 
• Stir in the chocolate peanut butter (or regular peanut butter).
• Pour the mixture over the fresh popcorn and mix well.
• Add peanut butter cups to the mixture.

Peanut Butter Banana Bread

I'm sure you can tell my love for banana and peanut butter on this blog. I wanted to make use of my Reese's peanut butter cups and came across this recipe online. It's a basic banana bread with peanut butter and peanut butter cups mixed in. The bread was slightly dry but the chocolate bits were really good. It's a quick, mix everything together recipe and kept well for a few days.  I think I'll add some yoghurt next time I make this.

I'm entering this to AlphaBakes, a monthly blogging challenge that I co-host with Caroline from Caroline Makes who is the host for September. The letter is P for peanut butter.

I'm also entering this to United Bakes of America hosted by Gem from Cupcake Crazy Gem. These miniature peanut butter cups came all the way from America!

 peanut butter, peanut butter cups and brown bananas

 adding the peanut butter cups 

 

3 ripe bananas

150g peanut butter

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1 egg

100g sugar

50g brown sugar

185g flour

1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

1.5 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

225g Reese's miniature peanut butter cips (approximately 24 pieces)

• Preheat the oven to 180C.
• Mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients except the peanut butter cups.
• Do not over mix.
• Stir in the peanut butter cups by hand.
• Pour into a loaf tin and bake for approximately 50-55 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. 

Bacon, Brie and Fig Muffins

I've been on a muffin spree lately. They are so easy to put together and are great for breakfast on the go. As part of my baking for my birthday last week, I wanted to make something savoury as some of my colleagues have less of a sweet tooth than me and I often get requests for savoury bakes.  I came across these bacon, brie and fresh date muffins and decided to give them a go. I changed the dates to figs so I could enter them into the one ingredient blog challenge hosted by Laura from How to Cook Good Food and co-hosted by Nazima from Working London Mummy.

My colleague who requested savoury bakes described these as the "bee's knees" and declared them the best thing I'd baked all year! I have to say that I was really impressed with the muffins - the flavours worked well together and it required no additional seasoning.  They were best eaten warm but still delicious at room temperature. Would you believe this is my first time cooking bacon and using fresh figs? 

I'm also entering this to Simple and in Season as figs are in season. I got mine fresh from the market and I really like the colour of the fruit inside. Simple and in Season was created by Ren from Fabulicious Food and this month is hosted by Katie from Feeding Boys and a Firefighter 

As figs are fruits, I'm also entering them to the Breakfast Club where the theme this month is fruit. This challenge was created by Helen from Fuss Free Flavours and this month is hosted by Urvashi from The Botanical Baker.

 figs, brie and bacon

 bacon fried to a crisp and cut into small pieces

 mash the brie into the milk 

 adding the gorgeous figs to the flour mixture 

 end result 

 my new muffin cases 

 yum! 

225g plain flour
pinch of salt
2 teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoon caster sugar
3 fresh figs (or 12 fresh dates, pitted)
2 tablespoon olive oil, for frying
15g butter, for frying
12 rashers smoked, streaky bacon
75g brie cheese, diced
150mls milk
50g butter, melted
2 eggs, beaten

• Preheat the oven to 180C. 
• In a large bowl, sift the flour, salt, baking powder and sugar and set aside.
• Using a knife dusted with flour, chop the figs (or dates) into small pieces and add to the flour mixture. 
• In a frying pan, heat the oil and butter over a medium heat and fry the bacon until crisp. 
• When it's cool enough to handle, cut the warm bacon into small pieces and stir it back into the warm juices in the pan.
• Cover with foil and set aside. 
• Mash the brie into the milk, then mix it into the dry ingredients along with the melted butter, eggs, fried bacon and any juices from the pan. 
• Mix lightly until just combined. 
• Fill the muffin cases and bake for 18-20 minutes until risen and golden. 
• Best served warm. 

Pistachio and Pomegranate Pitstops

I have a confession to make. I am addicted to cookbooks. This time, I'm going to blame Choclette over at Chocolate Log Blog. She wrote an excellent review on Honeybuns gluten-free baking and I just had to buy one! Her custard creams alone were enough to win me over :) 

I was browsing through the book and with this month's blog challenges in mind, I stopped at these pistachio pitstops.  They are really easy to make and they are gluten free and dairy free! Perfect for the recipient I had in mind. I modified the recipe slightly to include pomegranates (the recipe suggested freeze-dried raspberries) Mine don't look anything like the picture in the book but they were absolutely delicious! This is my first time using fresh pomegranate and I had real trouble getting the fruit out. Does anyone have any tips? I love the bright colour of the pomegranate seeds and will be looking for recipes featuring pomegranate in the future.  

I'm entering this to AlphaBakes, a month blogging challenge that I co-host with Caroline from Caroline Makes who is the host for September. The letter is "P" so this is perfect. 

I'm also entering it to Made with Love Mondays hosted by Javelin Warrior where the idea is to cook from scratch using fresh ingredients. 

I've also discovered that pomegranates are in season from September to February in the Northern Hemisphere so I'm entering them to Simple and in Season.  This fabulous challenge was created by Ren from Fabulicious Food and hosted this month by Katie from Feeding Boys and a Firefighter.

 pistachio, fresh pomegranate, honey 

 blitz the pistachios, sugar, salt and honey 

 my mixture was a little crumbly but there were a few reasonable looking ones 

 how cute do they look? 

100g pistachios, toasted

20g light brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

3-4 teaspoon honey

Fresh pomegranate seeds 

• Preheat the oven to 180C. 
• Toast the pistachio nuts - approximately 8-10 minutes. Allow to cool completely.
• Blitz the toasted pistachios, sugar, salt and honey until they resemble fine crumbs. 
• Scoop out the mixture into balls using a small ice cream scoop. Flatten the mixture slightly before baking.
• Bake for 5-6 minutes until golden.
• Immediately sprinkle fresh pomegranate seeds on top of each cookie, pressing them on gently.