Apricot, walnut and honey loaf cake

I love a tea loaf. And anything that involves honey and walnuts tends to catch my eye - since I began dabbling in beekeeping I've always failed to keep up with the honey supplies (I read in a beekeeping book that beekeepers tend to start because of the bees and stop because of the honey - it struck a chord); and we have an epic quantity of walnuts dropping every autumn, that it is hard to keep up with. So I liked the look of this one - also because I liked the idea of cake as a vehicle for cheese...

I convinced s to help me make it this windy sunday afternoon.

150 g honey
100 g light brown sugar
250 g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
pinch salt
50 g oats

150 g dried apricots

2 eggs
125 ml black tea, cooled if possible

150 g golden sultanas (used mix of these and raisins)
50 g walnuts

Heat oven to 160C. Grease and line loaf tin. Gently warm the honey and sugar in a small saucepan, without stirring, until the sugar has dissolved. Combine the flour, baking powder, salt and oats in a large bowl. Cut the apricots into small pieces and stir them in. Break the eggs into a small bowl, beat lightly with a fork.

Pour the warm honey and sugar mixture into the flour together with the tea and the beaten eggs. Then fold the golden sultanas and walnuts into the batter. Scoop the mixture, which will be soft and runny, like a gingerbread batter, into the lined tin.

Bake for 60-75 min until risen and lightly springy (mine seemed perfect at 60 min). Remove from the oven and leave to cool in the tin.

 

It fit perfectly in my regular sized loaf tin.

Cabbage, watermelon radish and bitter orange salad

I couldn't resist marmalade orange season. But since I still have several jars of last year's marmalade in my preserve stash, I am trying to resist actually making marmalade. Instead, I thought I'd see what else I could come up with using bitter / Seville / marmalade oranges. We are out of lemons, so the idea of using bitter orange in salad instead seemed an interesting one. I was just reading about some Japanese citrus the other day - there's so many other kinds of citrus out there beyond lemon, lime, orange and even grapefruit. I knew yuzu, but there are all these other ones I'd never even heard of too. Anyway, I'd never used marmalade oranges for anything other than marmalade, so here's a starter foray into the world of alternative citrus.

1/3 of a small white cabbage, shredded
2 small watermelon radishes, peeled and finely sliced (or cut into matchsticks)
1/4 cup golden raisins
1-2 tbsp sesame seeds
1-2 tbsp chopped fresh coriander
juice (and a little bit of zest) of half a bitter / Seville orange
1-2 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp white miso
pepper and salt

Put the prepared cabbage, watermelon radish, raisins, sesame seeds and coriander in a bowl. Put the orange juice and zest in a separate, small bowl, add the olive oil, miso and seasoning and check it tastes good. Just before serving tip the dressing over the salad and toss.

Shredded cabbage salad

The last couple of cabbages we had ended up in curry or soup. We were chopping some for soup the other day, predictably snacking on it as we chopped, and found ourselves talking about how delicious and sweet and crispy-crunchy and fresh it is just raw. And how I actually like it most like that. We've had warmer weather recently, and with two cabbages in the fridge a salad seemed like a great idea - a change from soup and dal. I pulled out all these other things to add in - celeriac, apple, parsley, seeds, spices... But then realised simple made more sense: just shredded cabbage, golden raisins, walnuts and lemony dressing.

1/2 a good-sized white cabbage
handful of golden raisins
handful of walnut pieces
juice of 1/2 a small lemon
1 tsp honey
2 tsp white miso
1 tbsp wholegrain mustard
~2 tbsp olive oil
salt (just a little, the miso is salty) and pepper

Shred the cabbage and put in a serving bowl. Add the raisins and walnuts. Whisk the remaining ingredients together in a small bowl, then pour over the cabbage just before serving and toss.

The rest of the filo: sweet potato, chickpea, kale and almond filo parcel

It can be a little challenging thinking of something that feels fancy and festive enough for Christmas, still a little traditional, but vegetarian and appetising to us. I was considering making something with filo pastry (we had some in the freezer), but then realised I had way too many things I wanted to make, and actually, since I had the filo defrosted for making mince pies, it made more sense to make this on Christmas Eve. So I did. It started with sweet potato, kale and almonds, then I added a bunch of stuff and spices and ended up with something kind of Middle Eastern in flavour. 

(makes 2 medium parcels)
(move the filo from freezer to fridge to defrost 3-24 hours in advance)

4 sweet potatoes
1 cup chickpeas, defrosted
~4 medium kale leaves
3 spring onions, trimmed and finely chopped
~2 tbsp slivered almonds
2 tsp coriander seed
1 tsp cumin seed
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp sumac
1/2 tsp chilli flakes
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1-2 tbsp golden raisins
1-2 tbsp chopped parsley
salt and pepper
olive oil
half a package of thickish filo (#7 - #10) = ~10-12 sheets (used rest of package for mince pies)

Heat the oven to 375F. Put the sweet potatoes on a lightly greased baking sheet and put in the oven for ~30 min, until tender. When ready, remove, let cool until you can handle them and then peel.

Meanwhile, defrost the chickpeas and mash them roughly with a fork. Wash and chop the kale and steam it until just tender, along with the spring onions. Toast the almonds, tip into a bowl, then toast the coriander and cumin seeds. Let cool a little, then tip into a grinder and grind to powder.

Put the peeled sweet potatoes in a bowl and mash lightly with a fork. Add the mashed chickpeas, steamed kale and spring onions, almonds, all the spices, raisins and parsley. Mix, taste and season with salt and pepper.

Take the first sheet of filo and lay it on a baking tray. Grease lightly with olive oil, then put the next sheet on top. Keep going until you have laid out six sheets (or half the total number you have, some number between four and six). Squish half the filling mix into a fat sausage shape along one of the short sides of the filo pile, then roll up around it, tucking in the short ends as you go. Repeat with the other six sheets of filo. Brush the tops with more olive oil, cut slashes on top, then bake for 30-40 min, until hot and golden brown. Remove from the oven and let cool a little before eating.

Basic Vegan Muffin Recipe / Pineapple, Coconut and Pumpkin Seed Muffins

I've made all sorts of vegan muffins, but just realised I didn't have a basic recipe - for non-vegan muffins I always had a basic recipe, which I modified according to what I fancied / had in the cupboards. So I went through the vegan recipes I've tried, and this is the basic recipe I came up with.

I wouldn't bother making it as is, it needs stuff added to it before it would taste good, but all sorts of simple additions are possible - a tsp of vanilla essence and some frozen blueberries for blueberry muffins, for example, or a few tbsp of cocoa powder, a tsp of vanilla and some chopped chocolate for choc-choc chip ones... Loads of variations possible!

One example is below - I rescued a couple of huge, almost-out-of-date tins of pineapple juice from work so wanted to experiment with pineapple juice in baking.


Basic Vegan Muffin Recipe

(for 12)

2 cups flour
3 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2/3 cup sugar
1 cup soy milk mixed with 1 tbsp cider vinegar
1/2 cup veg oil
1 tbsp ground linseed mixed with 2 1/2 tbsp boiling water*

Heat oven to 400F. Prepare a 12 cup muffin tin. Mix dry ingredients in a mixing bowl with a fork. Mix wet ingredients. Add wet to dry and mix until just combined. Dollop into prepared tin. Bake for 20-25 min, until lightly browned and a skewer comes out clean.

*may not be necessary


Pineapple, Coconut and Pumpkin Seed Muffins

(makes 12)

2 cups flour
3 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
4 tbsp pumpkin seeds
4 tbsp golden raisins
1/2 cup shredded (unsweetened) coconut
1 cup pineapple juice
1 tbsp ground linseed mixed with 2 1/2 tbsp boiling water
1/2 cup veg oil
1 tsp vanilla essence

Heat oven to 400F. Mix dry ingredients in a mixing bowl with a fork. Add raisins and pumpkin seeds and stir. Mix wet ingredients. Add wet to dry and mix until just combined. Put into prepared muffin tin and bake for ~25 min, until lightly browned and a skewer comes out clean.


The pineapple taste is subtle, but they are nice muffins - good mix of colours, flavours and textures. Not too sweet - I used less sugar because of the pineapple juice sweetness.

Kale salad with radish and spelt

All my salads lately have involved honey-mustard dressing (+raisins+flaked almonds). It's simple and tasty and storecupboard-friendly, and if you ask me it goes with almost anything. I guess it's kind of a go-to comfort food for me: I've been somewhat distracted by preparing for my trip to Scotland. This time it was kale's turn. I've been experimenting a bit with kale salads, this time I thought I'd try it super simple. The kale and the daikon radish both came in last week's bumper CSA. The kale was listed as 'White Russian Kale', which suggests, as S pointed out, that it might taste like kahlua, vodka and cream. Not so, but it was quite nice anyway: the lobed, non-crinkly variety.

1 bunch kale, washed, leafy parts only (stripped from main stems and torn into manageable pieces)
1 cup whole spelt berries (or wheat berries)
2 tsp wholegrain mustard
1 tsp honey
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp cider vinegar
salt+pepper
1/4 of a medium sized daikon radish, peeled and thinly sliced
small handful of golden raisins (would have liked cranberries but I was out)
small handful of flaked toasted almonds

Put the spelt on to cook (should take ~ 20 min). Prepare the kale and let it drain. Mix the dressing (mustard through salt+pepper) in a serving bowl. Add the kale and mix thoroughly, using hands to make sure all the kale is coated. Let it sit for a while to soften - at least half an hour. When ready to serve add the sliced radish, raisins and almonds and toss. Serve over the cooked spelt (or you could mix it all together before serving).


I liked this. I think this kale variety is perhaps a little better for salads than the regular crinkly stuff - with less surface area it seems to soften easier / be a bit less fibrous. Perhaps they just happened to be younger leaves, I don't know. Anyway, it definitely filled a comfort food gap for a late supper after aerials, and the crunchy peppery radish/irony green kale/sweet dried fruit/toasty crisp almonds were a pretty complete combination.

Red cabbage salad

Previous red cabbage experiments having led me to believe that raw in salad is by far the best way to eat red cabbage, more salad was definitely in order for this one.  Dried fruit, nuts, honey and mustard were calling out to be added, so I obliged.

1/2 a red cabbage, outer leaves and thick stem in the middle removed and the rest finely shredded
1 tbsp chives, chopped
1 tbsp coriander leaves, chopped
1 tsp nigella seeds
1/2 tsp caraway seeds
1 tbsp golden raisins
1 tbsp flaked toasted almonds
2 tsp wholegrain mustard
1 tsp honey
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tbsp cider vinegar
2 tbsp olive oil
salt+pepper

Put the shredded cabbage, herbs and seeds in a serving bowl.  In a small bowl, mix the remaining (dressing) ingredients and check for tastiness.  Pour the dressing over the cabbage, toss and eat.


S said he didn't think he liked red cabbage but then he really liked this, so that seems like a recommendation.  Lots of space for adaptation, as ever with this kind of recipe. 

Spiced carrot muffins

I woke up this morning wanting carrot cake. And we actually had some carrots in the fridge, so it seemed like a realistic desire to fulfill. I haven't made carrot cake in ages (my go-to is the Delia recipe), but didn't really feel like the whole, cakey, sugary shebang, so decided to go for lots of spices, adapting this recipe, instead.

(makes 12)

1 1/4 cups wholemeal flour
1 1/4 cups plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground allspice
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp salt
2 tbsp ground linseed mixed with 5 1/2 tbsp boiling water
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup veg oil
1 1/3 cups almond milk mixed with 1 1/2 tsp cider vinegar
1 tsp vanilla essence
1/3 cup golden raisins mixed with a little flour
1/3 cup chopped pecans
1 1/2 cups grated carrot

Heat the oven to 375F. Prepare muffin tins.

Mix the flours, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, spices and salt in a large bowl with a fork.

In a separate bowl, beat together the linseed mixture, sugar, oil, milk mixture and vanilla. Add the wet to the dry and mix until just combined. Fold in the raisins, pecans and carrot in the final strokes.

Spoon into muffin cups. Bake for 25 minutes until lightly browned and a skewer comes out clean.

Golden salad

Once again, our regular weekly CSA gift from Alvin delivered something fun - this time, golden beets.  I haven't cooked them much, but boiled the bigger ones up at the weekend, and then began to nurture an image of a beautiful, golden, autumnal sunshine kind of salad, with plenty of sweetness (perhaps to note Rosh Hashanah and a sweet Jewish new year).  Pecans were a given, and I was thinking of cranberries, but when I pulled out my box of dried stuff the golden raisins were staring me in the face, and it seemed like it would be utterly fatuous not to use them.

4 medium-large golden beets
bunch of rocket leaves (from the roof!)
1 1/2 tbsp golden raisins
1 1/2 tbsp toasted pecan pieces

1 1/2 tbsp wholegrain mustard
1 tbsp honey
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp cider vinegar
salt+pepper

Wash the beets and put them in a medium saucepan.  Cover with water.  Cover the pan and bring to the boil.  Boil until the beets are tender (about half an hour, give or take - depending on the size of the beets - test with the point of a knife).  Allow to cool to room temperature (this step is best done in advance - the whole cooked beets can be stored in the fridge for several days).

When ready to make the salad, peel the beets (the peel should come away pleasingly easily between your fingers) and chop them into chunks ~ 2 cm square.  Wash the rocket and tear into pieces, removing any tough stems.  Put the rocket and beets in a salad bowl and add the golden raisins and pecans.

To make the dressing, mix the mustard, honey, oil, vinegar and seasoning thoroughly in a small bowl.

When ready to eat, add the dressing to the salad bowl and toss.


This was a very pretty, very tasty salad.  I have been underwhelmed by golden beets previously but these had great taste and texture, and looked lovely.  I think my mistake in the past has been to mix them with regular beetroot - the taste and colour of normal beetroot (much though I love it) overpowered the golden ones.  Better to keep them separate to let them shine!

I think this salad would work just as well with red beetroot, spinach (or finely chopped parsley), cranberries and red wine vinegar instead of golden beets, rocket, golden raisins and cider vinegar.