Rich Fruit Cake

Fruit cake is traditional for family celebrations, at weddings, anniversaries and Christmas. Rich fruit cakes keep well, it actually improves in taste if kept in an airtight container or wrap in greaseproof paper or foil. (Spoon over a little brandy or other spirit now and then.)

Try this delicious recipe !!

Ingredients

225 g butter or margarine

225 g caster sugar

4 eggs, beaten

225 g plain flour

½ tsp salt

½ tsp mixed spice

225 g seedless raisins

225 g mixed currants and sultanas

100 g glace cherries, halved

1 tbsp brandy

walnuts

Method

1 Grease a 20 cm round cake tin. Line with greaseproof paper and grease the paper.

2 Beat the butter (margarine) with sugar until pale and fluffy. Add the egg a little at a time, beating well after each addition.

3 Sift the flour, salt and spice together into a bowl and stir in the raisins, mixed fruit and cherries. Fold the flour and fruit into the creamed mixture with a metal spoon.

4 Add the brandy and mix to a soft dropping consistency. Turn the mixture into the prepared tin, level the surface and arrange the walnuts on top.

5 Bake in the oven at 150°C for 2 ½ hours. Leave the cake for 15 minutes to cool slightly in the tin, then turn out on to a wire rack to cool completely.

Apple Almond Pudding / Pie

This is a delicious Apple Almond Pudding recipe. Not the usual apple pie we are so used to. Ground almonds gives a nice flavour to the pudding. You can add orange zest or lemon, raisins for variation. Do try it.

Ingredients

700g cooking apples

1 tsp ground cinnamon

175 g brown sugar

125 g butter, softened

2 eggs, beaten

125 g self raising flour

25 g ground almonds

30 ml milk (2 tbsp)

25 g almond flake

icing sugar

Method

1 Peel, quartered and core the cooking apples, then slice them thickly into a

1.4 lt ovenproof dish. Combine the cinnamon with 50 g of the brown sugar and scatter over the apples. Cover tightly with cling film while preparing the topping.

2 Beat the butter and remaining sugar, until creamy and fluffy. Gradually beat in eggs.

3 Fold in flour, ground almonds, and milk. Spread the mixture over the apples.

4 Place the flaked almonds on top in six squares to form a chequerboared effect. Bake in the oven at 180°C fo 50-60 minutes until the apples are tender and the sponge risen and golden.

5 Sprinkle icing sugar between the flaked nut squares. Serve.

You can add sultanas / raisins to the apple mixture in the base of this pudding. Grated orange or lemon zest added to the sponge topping also adds extra flavour

Cut Cookies / Refrigerator Cookies

A very simple and easy cookie recipe, also known as the refrigerator cookies.

You can even keep a roll of the dough in the refrigerator ready to make a batch of cookies at a moment's notice.

Ingredients

225 g plain flour

1 tsp baking powder

100 g butter or margarine

175 g caster sugar

1 tsp vanilla

1 egg, beaten

Method

1 Sift the flour and baking powder into a bowl. Rub in the butter or margerine until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs, then add the sugar and stir until evenly combined.

2 Add the vanilla and egg and mix to a smooth dough with a wooden spoon.

3 Turn the dough onto a large sheet of foil and shape into a long roll about five cm in diameter. Wrap in the foil and chill in the refrigerator overnight.

4 Slice the roll very thinly into as many cookies as required. ( The remainder of the roll can be wrapped and refrigerate for up a week)

5 Place the cookies well apart on a buttered baking sheet. Bake in the oven at 190°C for 10-12 minutes until golden.

6 Leave the cookies to settle on the baking sheet for a few minutes, then transfer to a wire rack and leave cool completely. Store in an airtight tin.

The above is the basic dough. You can add variations :-

Walnut – add 50 g very finely shopped walnuts with the sugar in step 1.

Sultana – add 50 g very finely chopped sultanas with the sugar in step 1.

Chocolate – add 50 g very finely grated plain chocolate with the sugar in step 1.

Spicy – omit the vanilla and sift in 2 tsp ground mixed spice with the flour in step 1.

Ginger – omit the vanilla and sift in 1½ tsp ground ginger with the flour in step 1.

Lemon – omit the vanilla and add the finely grated rind of 1 lemon with the sugar in step 1.

Orange – omit the vanilla and add the finely grated rind of 1 orange with the sugar in step 1.

Enjoy !!

Boston Brownie

Who doesn't love a good brownie? Here is basic brownie recipe you can try!
Try making this Boston Brownie, I am sure you will love it.

Ingredients

50g plain Chocolate

65 g butter or margarine

175 g caster sugar

65 g self raising flour

¼ tsp salt

2 eggs, beaten

½ tsp vanilla

50 g walnuts, roughly chopped

Method

1 Grease and line a shallow 8 inch square cake tin. Then break up the chocolate and put it in a bowl with the butter. Stand the bowl over a pan of hot water and heat gently, stirring occasionally, until melted. Add the caster sugar.

2 Sift together the flour and salt into a bowl. Add the chocolate mixture, eggs, vanilla and walnuts. Mix thoroughly.

3 Pour the mixture into the prepared tin and bake in the oven at 180°C for 35-40 minutes.

4 Leave in the tin to cool, then cut the brownies into squares.

Enjoy !

Macaroon / Macaron

Macaroon or Macaron is a sweet confectionary made with icing sugar, egg white, ground almond and food coloring. In France patisserie Laduree is famous for its tasty and quality Macarons.

The basic batter and fillings for these little desserts can be varied by simply adding different flavouring and coloring. 
Try making them yourself, here is a basic recipe of Macaroon / Macaron.

Ingredients

175 g icing sugar

125 ground almonds

3 large egg whites

75 g caster sugar

For filling

150 g butter, softened

75 g icing sugar

Method

1 Whizz the icing sugar and ground almonds in a food processor to a very fine mixture, then sift into a bowl.

2 In a separate bowl, whisk the egg whites with a pinch of salt to soft peaks, then gradually whisk in the caster sugar until thick and glossy ( you can stir in flavour extract and coloring depending on what kind of macaroons you want)

3 Fold half the almond and icing sugar mixture into the meringue and mix well. Add the remaining half, make sure you use a spatula to cut and fold the mixture until it is shiny. Spoon into a piping bag fitted with a 1cm plain nozzle.

4 Pipe small rounds of the macaroon mixture, about 3 cm across, onto baking

pan line with baking paper. Give the baking sheets a sharp tap. Leave to stand at room temperature for 10-15 minutes to form a slight skin. ( you should be able to touch them lightly without any mixture sticking to your finger.)

5 Bake for 15 minutes on a preheated oven at 160°C. Remove from oven and cool.

6 For the filling – Beat butter until light and fluffy then beat in the icing sugar (You can add flavouring or nuts and color.) Sandwich macaroons together.

Colorings and flavour extracts are available in supermarket and cake shops.

To add flavour and color to your macaroons, in step 2 add ½ tsp flavour extract and add the appropriate coloring a drop at a time.

Flavour and color the buttercream in the same way.

Tips

Chocolate – replace ¼ of icing sugar with cocoa powder and use Nutella as filling.

Pistacio macaroons – green coloring and finely ground pistachio.

Apple Crisp

Ingredients

4 medium cooking apple

(granny smith)

2/3 cup packed brown sugar

½ cup all purpose flour

½ cup quick cooking oats

1/3 cup margarine or butter at room temperature

¾ tsp ground cinnamon

¾ tsp ground nutmeg

Method

1 Grease the bottom and side of 8 or 9 inch pan.

2 Peel the apples. Cut the apple into slices. You will need about 4 cups of apple slices. Spread the slices in the greased pan.

3 Mix the brown sugar, flour, oats margarine, cinnamon and nutmeg with a fork. The mixture will be crumbly. Sprinkle this mixture evenly over the apples.

4 Bake in the oven at 190°C for 30 minutes or until topping is golden brown and the apples are tender when pierced with a fork.

5 Serve with ice-cream.

Corn Bread

Ingredients

1 cup milk

¼ cup butter or margarine melted

(4 tbsp or ½ stick)

1 egg

1 ¼ cups cornmeal

1 cup all purpose flour

½ cup sugar

1 tbsp baking powder

½ tsp salt

Method

1 Beat the milk, margarine (or butter) and egg in a large bowl until well mixed. Stir in the cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking powder and salt all at once just until the flour is moistened. The batter will be lumpy. Pour the batter into a greased pan. (8 inch square pan)

2 Bake at 200°C for 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown and when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Serve warm.