Honey nougat & Orange brownie cake

That title certainly sounds like a mouthful! This is one of the best brownie cake recipes you will ever make and trust me, one mouthful won't be enough! Undoubtedly! Even if it sounds like I'm tooting my own horn! 

I was given the original recipe for it by my friend's Mum.  The version below is my tweaked one as the original does not call for the addition of orange.

Ingredients

185 g caster sugar

125 g unsalted butter

125 g margarine

300 g toblerone

125 g self raising flour

30 g plain flour

30 g dark cocoa

2 eggs, lightly beaten

Rind of 1 orange

3 tbsp orange juice

Method

1. Line a 20 cm x 30 cm shallow tin with baking paper.  Preheat oven to 160 degrees celsius.

2. Place sugar, butter, a third of the toblerone and 125 ml of hot water in a bowl.  Place the bowl over a pan with boiling water until the contents have melted. Take it off the heat and cool. 

3. Sift together the dry ingredients and add them to the melted chocolate mixture.  

4. Stir in the two beaten eggs. Do not overbeat. 

5. Add the orange rind and orange juice.  Pour into the prepared tin and sprinkle over the remaining toblerone which has been chopped into pieces.  Bake for 40 - 50 minutes until done.  Do not overbake, once the top starts cracking, insert a skewer in the center and if it comes out clean, take your cake out of the oven and let it cool in the tin.

The margarine gives it a very moist, melt in the mouth texture. If you prefer a firmer texture, use 250 g butter instead. 

This is one dessert that will not disappoint - a guaranteed hit if you have friends around :)

Orange almond loaf

Sunday afternoons have turned into baking afternoons at the Jacob house.  Its quite becoming a little tradition - baking with Little Miss J!  Today we tried an Orange Almond Loaf...yum yum....even if I say so myself! Very moist and very moreish.

I really do need to get better at photography!!!

Ingredients

190 g plain flour

190 g caster sugar

60 g ground almonds

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

3 eggs

190 g unsalted butter

Rind of two oranges, grated

2 tbsp orange juice (can be reduced as per taste - I like my cakes really orangey!!)

25 g plain yoghurt

Flaked almonds to sprinkle on top

Method

1.  Pre-heat oven to 175 degrees celsius and grease and line a loaf tin. 

2. Sift together flour, baking powder, salt and ground almonds.

3. Cream butter, caster sugar and orange zest until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time and beat thoroughly.  

4. Fold in the flour mixture until it is fully incorporated.  Stir in the yoghurt and orange juice. 

5. Pour the batter into the prepared loaf tin and sprinkle the top with flaked almonds. 

6. Bake in a pre-heated oven for about 60 minutes.  You can check on the cake in about 40 minutes and if you feel the top is getting too brown then cover it with foil.  Check to see if it is done by inserting a skewer into the center.  If it comes out clean, the cake is ready. 

7. Let it cool in the tin and then cool completely before you slice it.  Perfect with a hot cup of tea!

Orange & Cinnamon Crisps

I love the flavour of orange in desserts! In fact, I'm a little bit obsessed with oranges in general! Now add cinnamon to that and you have an absolute winner! I tried a recipe for orange and cinnamon crisps which are actually cookies, on the weekend.  It was pouring down with rain outside and it was something to do to keep Little Miss J occupied! Although having said that and having done it now, this isn't the ideal recipe to make with a toddler! If you want a toddler friendly recipe, try these lemon biscuits.

The crisps turned out great. Here is the recipe.  I've made a few tweaks to the original as I like things more orangey and more cinnamony (yes both those words exist - at least in my world!). Again, apologies that I only have a photo of the final outcome! Like I've said, baking with a toddler and photography don't go together! Also they're not perfectly round, but who cares - they taste great!

Cinnamon & Orange Crisps

Makes 25 – 30

Ingredients

225 g butter, softened

180 g golden caster sugar (you could reduce this if your oranges are really sweet)

Grated rind of 1 orange

1 egg yolk, lightly beaten

6 tsp orange juice

280 g plain flour

3 tsp ground cinnamon

A pinch of salt

Method

1.    1. Cream the butter and 140 g of sugar along with the orange rind in a bowl.  Beat until light and fluffy.   Then beat in egg yolk along with half the orange juice.

2.     2. Sift together the flour and the pinch of salt. Slowly add this to the butter and sugar mixture, along with the remaining sugar and stir until it is thoroughly combined.  Shape the dough into a ball and wrap in clingfilm and chill for about 30 to 45 minutes.  The dough is a little bit fiddly to work with – just so you know!

3.      3. Take the dough out of the fridge, unwrap and lay it between two sheets of baking paper and roll into a square about 10 x 10 inches.

4.    4.   Brush the remaining orange juice and sprinkle with cinnamon.  I like cinnamon so I used 3 tsp.  If you prefer, you can reduce this.  Roll the dough up like a swiss roll, wrap in clingfilm and chill again for about 30 minutes.

5.    5. Preheat oven to 190 degrees Celsius/Gas mark 5/375 degrees Fahrenheit.  Line two baking trays with baking paper.

6.    6.  Take the roll out of the fridge and unwrap.  Using a sharp serated knife, cut into small discs.  Lay them on prepared baking sheets.  Ensure you leave some room as they will expand.  Bake for about 12 minutes until it is lightly browned on the edges.

7.      7.  Leave to cool on the sheets for 10 minutes before moving them to a wire rack. 

     When I make these again, I think I will leave out the 'swiss roll' bit and just bung the cinnamon in with the dough - then shape into a log, chill and cut. I found it a bit annoying to use the 'swiss roll' technique as the dough gets quite sticky. So it might be worth considering!

I hope you enjoy these!

Gluten free you say?

A friend of a friend asked for an almond meal cake recipe and here is my favourite - Nigella's clementine cake. Sorry I don't have a picture to post, but its a super easy cake and you can't go wrong. To top it off it is gluten free and fat free (the good fat from the almonds does not count!!!) - so if you're going to have cake, this is as indulgent as you can get without the guilt!

I wouldn't call it a cake you make on a budget as it uses 6 eggs and ground almonds which aren't the cheapest ingredient on the block, but it is a rich moist cake that you can make a day ahead and tastes absolutely gorgeous. :)

Ingredients

4 -5 clementines (about 375 g total weight)
6 eggs
225 g sugar
250 g ground almonds
1 heaped teaspoon baking powder

Method

1. Put the clementines in a pan with some cold water, bring to the boil and cook for one and a half to two hours. Drain and when cool, cut each in half and remove the pips. Put the clementines in a blender/food processor, skin, pith, fruit and all and give them a quick blitz.

2. Preheat the oven to gas mark 5/190 degrees celsius and grease and line a 21cm round cake tin.

3. You can then add all the remaining ingredients to your blender/food processor and blitz or you can beat the eggs by hand, add the sugar, ground almonds and baking powder and mix well and finally add the pulped blitzed clementines.

4. Pour the cake mixture (it is a pouring consistency) into the prepared cake tin and bake for approximately an hour or until a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean. You may have to cover the tin with foil after 40 minutes to prevent the top of the cake from burning.

5. Remove when done and leave to cool on a wire rack but in the tin. When the cake is completely cool, take it out of the tin. This cake tastes even better the day after it is made and is incredibly moist.