London Pride Fruit Bundt

After a baking disaster on the weekend I needed something failsafe and simple to make as an emergency Plan B for my Grandad's birthday. His favourite is fruit cake, nothing too sweet and something that will last through the week to squirrel away chunks when he thinks my Grandmother isn't watching.

Pre-secondary school he'd take me to an after school tutor and always bring an apple for the car journey. So this year, in honour of our apple tradition, I'd originally decided to make an apple and cinnamon cake from Mary Berry's Baking Bible. With some gentle spice and currants I thought it would be a winner.

Trust your gut people.

I thought the recipe sounded a little daft as I was working through it. With hindsight I'd have actually read the method before getting all the ingredients out and starting. The recipe asked to sandwich a big pocket of slushy, grated apple between layers of the cake batter instead of folding into the mix. Within the first 20 minutes of its hour in the oven I could already smell it burning so had to stealthily make a tin foil hat for it.

Once cooled, I crossed my fingers and went for the upturn. The first part smashed out onto the plate followed by raw apple stodge and the rest of the cake stuck to the bottom of the tin.

With burnt sides and a raw centre, it was completely inedible. The Baking Gods have reaffirmed to me that they are in control and that like my mother says, trust your gut and read the method first!

Here's when an old favourite bundt fruit cake recipe comes into play, with a little twist. I swapped the regular tea for the same amount of London Pride Ale and upped the spices. Grandad's love ale! And you know what? It turned out of the bundt beautifully! Sorry Mary.

L O N D O N   P R I D E   F R U I T   B U N D T
(makes 1 bundt cake or 2 loaves)

370g plain flour

2tsp bicarbonate of soda

pinch of salt

1/2 tsp ground cloves

2tsp allspice

2tsp ground cinnamon

260g soft light brown sugar

200g unsalted butter, softened

2 eggs

480ml London Pride

80g chopped pecans

130g dried fruit (dates, cherries or currants)

1. Heat the oven to 170 degrees and thoroughly grease a bundt tin.
2. In a mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, bicarbonate of soda, salt and spices and set aside.
3. Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add each egg one at a time, beating well after each addition.
4. Continue to mix whilst alternating between spoons of the flour mix and London Pride until everything is just combined. Fold in the fruit.
5. Pour into the prepared bundt tin and bake in the oven for 50 minutes - 1 hour. The top will be golden and a skewer inserted into the middle will come out clean.
6. Leave to cool in the tin for 15 minutes before upturning onto a wire rack to fully cool.

Once cooled, this cake will last up to 5 days in an airtight container.

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Recipe: Spiced Christmas Jam

Each year I attempt to make some edible treats for gifts. Last year was the year for mulled wine kits and homemade giant scotch eggs. This year, something a little more simple and perfect to make in batches. Make a big stash of Christmas jam and you're all set to spread some festive jammy cheer to everyone you know!

Cranberries, berries, orange, cinnamon and cloves make this a real winter warmer. If you prefer something sharper, make the lot with just cranberries, or for those with a sweet tooth, half and half with mixed berries like raspberries.

You don't need a giant maslin (jam) pan but it does come in very handy for making big batches like this one. My pan is a 9 litre one from Domu, which should make up to a dozen jars of jam. Or, 9 litres of mulled wine! 

S P I C E D   C H R I S T M A S   J A M
(Makes 6 regular sized jars, double up or halve as necessary)

1 cinnamon stick

a few whole cloves

450g cooking apples like bramleys, peeled, cored and cubed

zest of 1 large orange or 3 clementines

200ml fresh orange juice

450g fresh cranberries

450g mixed frozen berries 

1kg jam sugar

1. Tie the cinnamon and cloves in  a square of muslin cloth. Add the apples, orange zest and juice into a large maslin pan and cook on a medium heat until the apples are soft, approximately 10 minutes.
2. Add the berries and continue to cook gently for around 5-10 minutes, checking the cranberries retain their shape.
3. Pour in all of the sugar and turn the heat up. Continuously stir until all the sugar has dissolved. Place a sugar thermometer in the pan and leave on a rapid boil for 10 minutes. 
4. At around 110 degrees the jam should be at setting point. To check, take a small spoon of jam on a chilled plate, leave to cool for a few minutes before pushing your finger through the jam. If the jam wrinkles then its ready. If its too runny then put back on a rapid boil for another 5 minutes.
5. Remove from the heat and take out the muslin bag. Leave to cool for a further 10 minutes and remove any scum from the top of the jam with a slotted spoon.
6. Warm some clean jam jars up either in the oven or with a swill of boiling water. Pour in the jam and seal with a lid. Leave to cool fully before labelling. 

Thanks to Domu for sending me a shiny new maslin pan for this post, next stop...mulled wine! 

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Recipe: Spiced Pumpkin Bundt with Cream Cheese Frosting

There's only so long you can go without making a bundt. 'Almost' the most easygoing and fuss-free cake going (only trumped by a loaf cake). You give the ingredients a little mix then let it do its thing whilst it basks in the oven. I love that I can even fit some washing up and a browse through Instagram with a coffee in whilst its baking!

And, if you haven't seen enough pumpkin recently, then here's some more!

Super moist with warming spices and not too sweet. The cream cheese frosting is my favourite too. The perfect 'grown-up' cake that you can get away with having generous slices...pumpkins are vegetables after all. 

Spiced pumpkin bundt cake with cream cheese frosting
(adapted from Martha Stewart)

Spiced pumpkin bundt cake:

275g unsalted butter, softened

600g soft light brown sugar

4 eggs

560g plain flour, plus extra for the bundt tin

4tsp baking powder

1tsp bicarbonate of soda

1tsp salt

2tbsp speculoos mix (recipe here, alternatively use a mix of cinnamon, nutmeg & ginger)

200ml buttermilk

1 tin of Libby's pumpkin puree

1. Heat the oven to 180 degrees. Lightly grease a bundt tin, dust with flour and shake off any excess.
2. In a stand mixer, beat together the butter and sugar until light and creamy.
3. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
4. In a separate bowl, add the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and spice mix and give a quick shuffle with a whisk to get rid of any clumps.
5. Back to the batter! On a slow speed, continue to mix alternating between a few dollops of buttermilk and the flour mix until everything is incorporated.
6. Gently fold in the pumpkin by hand.
7. Pour into the bundt tin, two thirds of the way up the tin and bake in the centre of the oven for 50-55 minutes. A skewer inserted into the middle should come out clean.
8. Leave on a wire rack to cool.

Spiced cream cheese frosting:
(yields enough to frost at least a dozen cupcakes or one bundt cake)

200g cream cheese, room temperature

50g unsalted butter, softened

350g icing sugar, sifted

1tsp vanilla extract

1tsp speculoos spice mix (recipe here, alternatively use cinnamon, nutmeg or ginger)

1. In a stand mixer, beat the butter until smooth. This will ensure there's no lumps in the finished frosting. 
2. Continue to beat whilst adding the cream cheese and icing sugar, a little at a time on a low speed.
3. Finally add the vanilla and spice and beat until incorporated. The mix will be nice and thick for frosting, but add a splash of mix if you want to be able to drizzle over the bundt a little more.

To finish, tip the bundt out onto a serving plate. If the bundt isn't flat on the bottom, you may want to slice a little off with a serrated knife to level it. I decorated mine with a big drizzle of the frosting and blitzed the chopped off bottom pieces to crumbs and scattered on top.

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Recipe: Spiced Sweet Potato Cake with Marshmallow Frosting

I'll make pretty much anything to use up what's lurking around in the cupboard or fridge. I hate to waste food. Usually this involves some form of dinner which, in my family, is known as an 'around the world dinner'. By this, you can expect any combination of leftovers of all sorts of cuisines.

I couldn't quite face eating a bag full of sweet potatoes to myself this week so set out to find a suitable use for them. After making a few pumpkin cakes with cans of Libby's last year I was keen to try sweet potato and see how they compare.

This sweet potato cake is slightly more dense than the pumpkin ones I made last year and has much more flavour. But, if you do have a can of Libby's pumpkin purée hanging around, you can substitute with the same quantity.

Spiced sweet potato cake with marshmallow frosting
(Recipe slightly adapted from Smitten Kitchen)

680g sweet potatoes (approximately 2-3)
115g unsalted butter, room temperature
190g soft light brown sugar
2 large eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
250g plain flour
1 3/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 bicarbonate of soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground cloves, or mixed spice

Marshmallow frosting:

3 large egg whites
180g golden caster sugar
pinch pf salt
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Prick the sweet potatoes all over and roast in the oven at 180 degrees for 30 - 45 minutes. They may need a turning a few times. Once cooked they'll be soft and look a little deflated. Leave to cool completely. If you're baking in advance, leave them in the fridge for up to 3 days, otherwise give them plenty of time to cool before moving onto the cake.

Heat the oven to 170 degrees and grease and line an 8 - 9 inch round springform tin, or an 8 - 9 inch square tin.

Peel the sweet potatoes and mash until smooth (don't be tempted to blitz in the blender, your mix will be too loose).

Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Gradually add the eggs in one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Add the vanilla extract.

Gently fold in the sweet potato, followed by all the dry ingredients. Continue until well incorporated. Pour the batter into the prepared cake tin, smooth the top with a knife and bake for 35 - 40 minutes. Once baked, a skewer inserted into the middle should come out clean. Leave to cool for 10 minutes in the tin before turning out to cool completely on a wire cooling rack.

To make the frosting, add the egg whites, sugar, salt and cream of tartar to a heatproof bowl and place over a pan of barely simmering water. Whisk for approximately 3 minutes, until the sugar has fully dissolved. Remove the bowl from the saucepan and continue to whisk with an electric mixer for a further 4 - 7 minutes on a high speed, until stiff, glossy peaks form. Add the vanilla and mix to combine.

To decorate, spread a thin layer of the marshmallow onto the cake with a palette knife or spatula. Then, with a piping bag or sandwich bag, pipe small dollops over the thin frosting layer. With a kitchen torch, lightly brown the marshmallow dollops until browned.

Find my recipe for sweet potato brownies here if you'd like to try them another way.

Alternatively, you could substitute the same quantity of pumpkin for sweet potato in my spiced pumpkin mini cakes or in my pumpkin praline cake.