Recipe for an August afternoon...& a giveaway!

 My newest acquisition in the vast library of cookbooks that threaten to take over our home is 'The Baking Book' from the fabulous Honey & Co . You may remember that I wrote about their first book 'Food from the Middle East'...and gave a copy away here too! Well, this one is just as good...it contains some wonderful recipes - not all sweet - and I've been having such fun with it in my (not too copious) free time! I wanted to share the cake I made yesterday with you. As usual, I tweaked the original recipe. NOT because there was anything at all wrong with it - but just because I was giving it away to my family, and I know what they like! The 'real' recipe for Coffee, Cardamom & Walnut Cake has a rich coffee cream icing as a filling and on top. Delightful as that sounds, I knew that this wouldn't go down too well with 'my lot' as they prefer things less creamy and more fruity. So I followed the recipe for the cake, but added fresh apricots and finished it simply with the syrup from the original and a sprinkle of toasted walnuts after baking. The perfect marriage of flavours for a sultry August afternoon.

The cake itself is not difficult to make and has no weird ingredients...the only technique that may be new to you is making the 'burnt butter' that adds a deep, nutty note to the batter. This isn't difficult either...you simply melt the butter over a low heat and then increase it slightly, 'cooking' the butter until it turns a rich brown. It will smell delicious...sort of caramelly & hazelnutty...and you'll notice little brown specks at the bottom of the pan. These are good! Don't leave it, though...or it WILL burn, and black is not the colour you need....
                                     
 ...it should look like the photo above, in fact! It will be really hot to start with, so it may help to make it first and then set it aside while you get the rest of the ingredients together.

Coffee, Cardamom & Walnut Cake with Fresh Apricots
Inspired by an original recipe from Itamar Srulovich & Sarit Packer from their book Honey & Co - The Baking Book 

For the cake batter:

330g icing sugar
120g ground almonds
130g self-raising flour
80g roasted walnuts (plus a few extra to garnish)
1 tsp ground coffee (I used ground espresso beans)
1/2 tsp freshly ground cardamom
3 whole eggs
150g egg whites (from about 4 eggs)
140g burnt butter (see above!)
Approx 4-5 ripe apricots 

For the syrup:
2 tbsp honey (I used runny orange flower honey)
60g/ml water
50g caster sugar
a double espresso (or 60g/ml strong black coffee)

Preheat oven to 190c/170cfan/gas mark 5
Line a 9"/23cm square pan with baking parchment (or circular if you prefer!)

Stir the dry ingredients and nuts together in a large bowl, 


then add the eggs and egg whites and mix really well until smooth (I used my Kitchenaid for this) Pour in the warm melted butter (scrape in all the nutty brown bits too!) and stir carefully, then transfer to the prepared tin...

...break the apricots apart gently using your fingers, remove the stones and arrange in rough pieces lightly over the surface of the cake batter. Don't push them down, just lay them on top...

 Let the batter rest in the tin for about 10 minutes, then bake for about 35 minutes until set and golden brown...this may take a little longer depending on your oven. Meanwhile, bring the syrup ingredients to a boil in a small saucepan and remove from the heat. Once the cake comes out of the oven, brush the top generously with the syrup while still hot and let it absorb...

 ...sprinkle with the remaining toasted walnuts and allow to cool in the tin...

...before you dive in...(although it's lovely slightly warm, too...I'd eat it like that, with a big spoonful of labneh or creme fraiche...)

 Totally divine!

To celebrate this beautiful book, I'm giving away a copy to one of you loyal readers of this blog! 

All you need to do is leave me a comment on this post to qualify. I'll send it anywhere in the world, so don't worry that you'll miss out if you don't live in the UK. I'll make the draw two weeks from today, on Monday 24th August...good luck...and thanks for reading! Have a great week x

Cookbooks to cherish....Part 2, the vintage selection..

As you probably know if you've been to my website, Sugar Moon Brownies, I come from a long line of bakers...at least back to my 3 x great grandfather. Above is the original auction document, dating from 1880, when my great-great-grandfather Robert Adam Took bought the family bakehouse, shop & restaurant. He had rented it for some years before the sale, so was already established in business. The bakery remained in the family until my grandad decided to change careers in the 1960's and give up the 4am starts...understandable, but I often wish he'd just rented it out again so that our family still owned it! All that history...it had been a bakery right from the 1500s...and still is, of sorts (a well-known chain now..)

I was very close to my grandfather, and I learnt so much from him. Through the years he gave me many of his treasured books and baking equipment...and the rest came to me when he died. He was especially skilled at sugar work (which I am not!) and made his own wedding cake in 1934...

which was probably almost as tall as my tiny grandma! I love to look through the books and paraphernalia that came from him and those before him...they are an insight into another world, and of course they bring him back to me too...

 Can you imagine anyone now making...or paying for...a sugar omnibus?? An amazing piece of history, though...as are these...

 beautiful line drawings of 'fancy ice moulds'....fancy doesn't really start to describe them, by our standards! Both these beauties are contained in this wonderful publication...

one of a series of 6 volumes that I own, they cover every aspect of the subjects...even down to equipping your own bakery and how to price the goods therein!

Grandad loved to collect recipes and wrote many of them down...

 This is from his formal recipe book...he was very neat & meticulous...as you can see, he inscribed it to me the year before he died...

 Remember that these were commercial bakery recipes, hence the huge quantities!

 the book is full of scraps written on envelopes, torn from newspapers and magazines...

 His other notebook is much smaller and scruffier...this was the one at his side in the bakehouse, to refer to and scribble in..

 Stained by age, grease and the heat of the ovens...they are amongst my most prized possessions...

My most special & precious book is very beautiful, even though the binding is showing clearly the fact that it's now 206 years old...

 At the front is a series of very detailed illustrated suggestions for laying out the dessert table...

 a hundred years before 'Downton Abbey'....

 they are an absolute testament to the skill of the cooks and bakers back then...working with rudimentary ovens where the temperature control consisted of moving items further from or closer to the fire...

 and the 'Two Guinea Cake' has mesmerised me from childhood...some poor little kitchenmaid whisking 54 eggs for ten minutes! But still...it's really a historical document now, rather than a cookbook....I am very lucky.

 I have used 'All about Gateaux' many times...it contains great ideas and templates for all sorts of fancy cakes...

 and some brilliant adverts at the back...

 This 1920s beauty is really comprehensive...

 even if I think many of the recipes sound & look rather vile! And I have a good selection of pamphlets and booklets, mainly distributed by various ingredients salesmen...

 Still beautiful, though! The last book I wanted to share with you wasn't my grandfathers, and isn't British at all...although this is the British edition, printed in 1938...

 If you can search out a copy of 'The Country Kitchen'...( you could try here )....you are in for a complete treat..

It's mainly a memoir of growing up in the USA in the countryside of the late 19th century...but there are recipes and some hilarious characters, too. It's beautifully written and utterly charming!

So, that's a little look at some of my vintage gems...I hope you've enjoyed it...there are more but I'll save them for another time! There is still nearly a week left to enter my two giveaways (details in the last post) and to do so just leave me a comment after either that one or this...

The afternoon is beautiful...time to grab a cup of coffee and plan the rest of the week! I hope that yours is wonderful and thanks for reading!

Cookbooks to cherish...Part 1

Because of my job, I have bought an incredible number of cookbooks over the years...in fact, my love of food began so early that I used to spend my pocket money on them, too. I remember the cover of the Penguin edition of the first volume of 'Mastering the Art of French Cooking' piquing my interest (I think it was the red of the lobster, alongside a beautiful copper pan full of bright green mange touts!) I still use it...the same copy that I bought, aged 12, for £1.95...my name carefully biroed on the first page in case anyone doubted that it was mine! It set a pattern because even today I gravitate towards cookbooks with lots of written content...in fact some, like Nigel Slater's original 'Fast Food', contain no illustrations at all. I think that some of the choices I've made for this first of a two-part post reflect that...although I didn't realise it when I chose them!

I've decided to post in two halves, because the next part will focus on some of my vintage books...those passed down by my grandfather, who was an award-winning Master Baker...some date back to his grandfather's time...(pictured below outside his shop in 1884)

...and they are beautiful and fascinating, so I thought you'd like me to share them with you. But this time, it's contemporary books. Some of the ones that I turn to time and time again...not always for complete recipes, but for the inspiration they give me..here goes!

First is the newest addition...Honey & Co by Itamar Srulovitch and Sarit Packer...a truly beautiful book, one that I actually (sadly...) walked around hugging when I first got it! I have cooked so many recipes from it already, all to acclaim...including the Cherry, Coconut & Pistachio Cake three times in various guises...

the Pomegranate Molasses Chicken...

which has a meal-in-itself bulgar wheat salad to accompany it...and so many more. The writing, too, is funny and, at times, incredibly moving...I can't recommend it highly enough. If you want a real treat, then do buy it (& visit the restaurant too, if you can...it's a joy!)

Next...

Russell Norman's Polpo ...which was published a couple of years ago and continues to delight me. It is so beautiful & yet practical too...the recipes are eminently 'do-able' and the photography whisks me back to many happy times spent in unforgettable Venice...his love for the city shines from the pages and adds to my own. Also another (group of) restaurants that are fab to visit...

 Susan Hill is an incredible writer in many different genres....'The Woman in Black' is now a classic chiller of course...I really enjoy her 'Simon Serrailler' series of detective novels...and there are so many more (thankfully, she's prolific! Always a good thing in a favourite author...) Her countryside books may be less well-known (The Magic Apple Tree, Through the Garden Gate...) and are now very sadly out-of-print...but they are no less wonderful.

'Through the Kitchen Window', with gorgeous paintings by Angela Barrett, is really lovely. A collection of small essays, anecdotes, observations and recipes on subjects from marmalade to rhubarb to quinces...arranged in seasons.

I actually find it hard to choose just one of Nigella's books...or Yotam & Sami's ....all three ('Ottolenghi', 'Plenty' & 'Jerusalem' with a new one - 'Plenty More' in the offing, yay!) Ottolenghi cookbooks are brilliant and beautiful. Of Nigella Lawson's, I always turn first to the big, wordy ones...'Feast', 'Kitchen' and her first 'How to Eat'...great writing again, accessible recipes, stunning inspiration...

 Vegetarian cookbooks can be a bit 'hit or miss' for me...I need big flavours and interesting ideas (like those in 'Plenty' mentioned above, which is exclusively veggie) rather than the older style 'whole food' books which used to be the only real choice. Catherine Mason's 'Vegetable Heaven' is perfect...

doesn't that recipe title just make you want to cook and devour?? It's full of all sorts of delights from many cuisines...and has something for wintery days when you want something hot, cheesy & comforting as well as those fresh, zingy meals that you crave in summer. The vibrant ink paintings by Elda Abramson really make the book, too..

And finally...for this post...'Home Cooking'...such a special book. Laurie Colwin died 22 years ago, tragically young...and this, together with the second collection 'More Home Cooking' and her novels, make one mourn her loss all the more. A collection of essays, written so beautifully with humour and sparkle and truth...as well as recipes interspersed throughout. Her voice shines through and makes me so wish that I'd met her. Just a jewel. 'Home Cooking' is available in the UK but my copy is American, as she was.

So...do you want some good news?? I have giveaways! To celebrate the launch of Sugar Moon Brownies I will be sending two blog readers a wonderful gift.

The first (open to UK readers only, I'm afraid) is one box of 12 Sugar Moon Brownies - a tasting box containing 3 flavours which you can choose yourself - sent to any address in the UK. I'll let you know how to let me know what and where after the draw.

I'm so very sorry that I can't offer this giveaway to everyone, everywhere. But the second one is open to all and will be sent anywhere in the world, so I hope that makes up for it! I have a copy of both Susan Hill's 'Through the Kitchen Window' AND Laurie Colwin's 'Home Cooking' (US edition) to give away!

I'm very pleased and excited to offer these lovely prizes!
To enter, please just leave me a comment on this post...if you could indicate your country of residence at the end of the comment (just UK, AUS or whatever) it will enable me to exclude those ineligible from the first draw. But everyone will be included in the second!

The draw will be made in two weeks time...there will be another opportunity to enter by commenting on Part 2 of this post as well...but do be sure to check back on Monday 28th July to see if you've won!

Good luck...and thanks so much for reading!

New books, new cakes...& an old favourite too!

I baked this good old Coffee & Walnut Cake last week...baking usually cheers me up no end...but I  was feeling especially blue. You can read why here, on my other blog...

As most women will agree, a little retail therapy in these situations works wonders. But I'm not really a shoe-&-handbag type of gal. It's cookbooks that do it for me...and I succumbed to a bit of an indulgent splurge!

Dan Lepard is a bit of a star in the food writing world, & my kind of baker. Innovative and verging on the healthy, his recipes are inspirational. I made the delightfully named Marrakesh Express loaf cake (although I called it Middle Eastern Date Cake for The Coffee Tree...and mine wasn't a loaf cake!) which tasted absolutely gorgeous...and also created these Sour Cream Cupcakes with Banana Caramel -

which were received very well and are a hybrid of several different recipes in the book! I shall be using 'Short & Sweet' a lot!
Jamie is Jamie...a national (& becoming international) institution. He writes a book, I buy it. I always will. Love him!
Sticky, Chewy, Messy, Gooey (not absolutely enthralled by the title...) by Jill O' Connor jumped out at me, partly because it's published by one of my very favourite US publishers, Chronicle Books (their publications are just so beautiful...) and the recipes are really good and interesting too. I made (but forgot to photograph, doh) the Chewy Lemon-Pistachio Financiers last week...gorgeous! Another one I'll be using a lot, I know.
Australian Women's Weekly (confusingly published monthly...!) is to Australia what Good Housekeeping is here in the UK. You know that the recipes will work as they're all triple-tested and totally reliable. And this book, The Cake Stall, has some great ideas...it also looks beautiful and is no-nonesense, which can be really useful when I just need a quick jolt of inspiration for the next day.
So, that was my cheer-up...and it worked!
I produced these creations of my own too...

Blackberry, Apple & Cinnamon Muffins....perfect for the autumn weather we're now having...and a new recipe I devised for my forthcoming baking book (I don't talk a lot about it - too scared! - but it's on it's way...more soon!)

Fresh Rhubarb Macaroon Cake...with a chewy toasty top. Delish!
Now time to plan next week's orders...
I hope you're having a wonderful weekend....x