Wednesday 8 July 2015

This week.....seed cake!

A while back I bought some caraway seeds, to make Rye bread for someone very special.  However, even though my attempt at Rye Bread was seriously well received, I haven't had a use for the caraway seeds lately.
So.....I was browsing and found a recipe for seed cake. I knew this was a recipe dating back at least to Victorian times, maybe further back.  So I thought I would give it a try.
It's a simple recipe....
A basic Madeira cake recipe, with just a teaspoon/ or 5grams of caraway seeds.
Bake for an hour at 140 degrees Celsius in a fan oven.
But.....it really is a very nice cake, something that I possibly wouldn't have even tried if I didn't have the caraway seeds, but I am so glad I tried out this rarely used recipe.
What would I recommend?  Try it, you will be pleasantly surprised, but remember.....do not over do the caraway seeds!

Sunday 22 March 2015

Chicken Dhansak

This weekend's challenge was Chicken Dhansak.
I found the recipe on BBC Good Food.  It's the Mary Berry recipe.
The fiddliest part of the recipe was splitting the cardamom pods to get the seeds out, and the grinding them in the mortar and pestle.
I don't know if other Dhansak recipes have honey in them, but this does.  It made the chilli less fierce.
A lovely spicy, sweet dish, that is also quite dry.
Any changes if I make it again?  Only remember to start around 3 hours before I want to eat, as once everything is combined, it then has one and a half to two hours in the oven.
I might also try it with moong Dahl in place of standard red lentils.

Friday 20 February 2015

Vanilla Slices

I have been trying out recipes, just not blogging about them.
I really like Vanilla Slices, undecided it would be a good challenge.  The actual challenge is the creme patisserie, and it did challenge me.
I ended up making it twice. The first time I followed the instructions in the recipe, it went "grainy", so I ditched it and started again.  This time I used the recipe from the back of the book, it was different, but made a beautiful creamy creme patisserie.
I then assembled the slices. I had 20 small ones, so I shared them with my neighbour, as there are only so many Vanilla Slices you can eat, even if they are small.
So, that's another first.