The Modern Housewife Series Vol. I

chocolate cake recipe

While you are reading this i will be baking birthday cake number two and preparing for the arrival of the in-laws.  I'm fairly sure a one year old needs no came rather than two of them.

Yesterdays cake was a complete and utter success. Small children clamoured for the sickly chocolatey goodness. It tastes extra chocolatey because of the coffee I added to both the batter and the icing. I may or may not have mentioned this to the parents. Yeah, I didn't. I had the foresight to use decaffeinated coffee in the batter but negated that by putting ground up instant coffee in the icing. It really makes a difference and I know this because I did frequent taste tests.

Sponge
200g caster sugar

2 heaped tbsp dark cocoa powder

100g self-raising flour

200g Plain flour

1 tsp salt 

2 tsp bicarbonate of soda

150ml sunflower oil (I like cold-pressed)

2 tsp cider vinegar or lemon juice

250ml  milk (I use soya)

150ml brewed cooled coffee

Pre heat the oven to 180C and grease, line and dust with cocoa powder  two shallow 8 inch cake tins). Put all the dry ingredients in a bowl and put all the wet ingredients in a jug. When the oven is hot mix the wet ingredients into the dry.

Pour the mixture into the greased cake tin (or divide equally between the two tins). Bake for approx 40-50 minutes if using one tin (20-30 if using two smaller cake tins). The times are a bit vague as I have found that different ovens vary hugely and different batches of ingredients differ. The cake should be light and springy and an inserted skewer or sharp knife should come out clean. Leave in the tin to cool slightly then turn out onto a wire rack to cool

 

While the cake was in the oven I also made big fat delicious cookies because it was a shame not to once the oven had heated up. They are too good. Using a food mixer for these made all the difference when mixing the sugar, margarine and sunflower oil. Do it by hand and you get a disgusting, curdled, separating mess. The machine emulsifies it all  nicely. I thought I had posted the recipe for these somewhere but I can't find it right now. I might share it.

(I was going to do a post tomorrow all about giving birth a year ago but quickly realised that no one needs to know about episiotomies. Or what they sound like when you get one. I'm more or less recovered now but sometimes, late at night, I can still hear those scissors!!

a birthday chocolate cake

As you read this the above cake will be being tasted by a tirade of toddlers and their parents. I can't recall ever letting non vegan children eat a vegan cake but that's  mainly because when I bake cake I eat it all myself. I'm not one for sharing. I would give you the recipe now but i shall wait and report back with the verdict. If the children all spit it onto the floor it's not a sharer.

a post where I waffle on about food again

I'm not destined to be a food blogger that's for sure. How do they do it? Delicious food sitting getting cold while they snap away with the camera! I have good intentions and then before I know it I have eaten everything. You'll just have to take my word for it that the food in this house is first class.

More notes to self:

Follow Hannah's advice. She was right about the flatbreads, correct about the carrot hummus and it turns out she gives great bread making advice. My loaves have recently been coming out like bricks (and I don't say that as an exaggeration). I made the dough softer, kneaded it longer and ,voila ,cloud like bread which slices easily and is edible.

Florence fennel, despite having a liquorice taste, does not ruin food it comes into contact with (unlike liquorice and caraway). Puy lentil, roast squash and fennel salad is very tasty (and serve it with carrot hummus and flatbreads!).

Always take a list when going food shopping otherwise you will cease to purchase the one important ingredient that you drove 30 miles for and that the village shop has ceased to stock despite it not being unusual. This forgetfulness will then cause you to visit the local shop repeatedly and complain each and every time said item fails to appear on the shelf. I think they hate me now. (oh and it's bicarbonate of Soda. Do you know how many delicious baking recipes call for bicarbonate of soda? Every single one I've looked at that's how many! )

There is a very special birthday coming up this week and the pressure is on to deliver a top quality cake or two (hence the need for bicarbonate of soda!). There will be a new and improved chocolate cake with the obligatory chocolate buttons and a plain vanilla cake which shall be doused in hundreds and thousands. I was planning three tiered extravaganzas and fancy combinations (white chocolate and raspberry anyone?) but then remembered that one cake is for a tirade of toddlers and the other for the in laws and none of the above have complex taste buds. Chocolate and vanilla it is then. (...and, I have to say it, ONE!!!!!  One year old! How did this happen?! )

(And talking of birthdays I believe it is this bloggers birthday today. You should pop over and say hello and read about her online dating experiences. Worth it!)

Nu är det dags för semlor!

Today is Shrove Tuesday or Fettisdagen (fat Tuesday) which means it's time to eat pancakes in Britain or semlor in Sweden. I opted for the latter as I love these sweet buns filled with marzipan/almond paste and cream. And I'm in Sweden.

This year I even made my own buns and they were delicious. Not the chocolate ones I posted about last year, just plain cardamon buns. There are recipes in English but I used this one and the buns were soft and lovely. Next year I think I will make the smaller buns as I tend to feel quite sick after one big one but still want to have a second a few hours later.

Also, the title says "Now it is time for semlor!". I have seen signs saying that since the start of January. Now it actually is time for semlor. Hooray!

new growth

dog having mad roll on grass beyond crocuses...

I find it awe inspiring that no matter how weedy and and covered in winter detritis the garden gets, the chives always push their way though, remarkably early :)

Flowering currant buds.

Walking round the garden today I felt slightly overwhelmed at how much weeding and tidying there is to do... but starting to plan what to put in the raised beds this year cheered me up. Deciding (or deluding oneself) that all the weeds will pull out really easily is an uplifting thought too...

Notes to self: mostly food related (and an eggless frittata)

 

My life has revolved excessively around food this last week:

• I make the eggless frittata/Spanish Tortilla (shown above) at least once a week. It always contains onions and potatoes and then whatever needs used up. In this case peas and leeks. The base of it is simple: one packet silken tofu, heaped tablespoon gram flour and a heaped tablespoon of nutritional yeast (optional). Then blend and scrape and blend until smooth and mix it in with the cooked vegetables. Whack in the oven at 180C for about 30 minutes. I prefer it at room temperature, the texture is better.

 

• I've been making garlic flatbreads excessively using this "magic dough" recipe (The pizza dough recipe is essentially the magic dough). Easy to make, ready to use quickly (in terms of bread products), tasty. I blame/thank Hannah for my excessive consumption because she mentioned it's deliciousness to me.

 

• On/in this flatbread has gone...puy lentil, roast parsnip and rocket salad, carrot hummus, dal, cannelini bean hummus... Most of this has come out of the Veg cookbook. I got this book for Christmas and was initially dubious (it being written by renowned carnivore Hugh Fearnley Whatshisname but, but...damn, it's good. Most recipes are vegan or very easily made vegan and all are vegetarian and the recipes are seasonal, use what I normally have in anyway, aren't lengthy, don't use difficult to get hold of ingredients and are delicious. I have many, many recipe books (a whole bookshelf at least) of omnivore, vegetarian and vegan cookbooks and most of them I use for inspiration. This book I use.

Blog posts I've enjoyed:

• I got caught out by this organisation post at Modern Parents Messy Kids big time! I wanted to know how, how do I have this life! So I've started at the top and I'm working my way down. A list of all the meals i regularly make is being compiled and a cheat sheet is getting typed up of basic recipes I use fairly frequently and end up searching for each time (white sauces, crumble toppings etc). Its not the full recipe really but just a list of the ingredients. Its the proportions of things i need to look up rather than how to do it. There is one sweet and one savoury. They will probably get laminated as otherwise they will become instantly illegible as I paw them with my doughy hands. I'm not convinced I'll end up a menu planner as we tend to buy seasonal British good looking fruit and veg (except lemons and bananas they just have to be good looking!) but it's still handy to have a comprehensive list to delve into when I'm feeling completely uninspired.

 

Cuban Bread

No heart shaped quiches this year but we did end up having pink pasta. More due to laziness and having beetroot pesto to use up than because it's Valentine's day. It did look pretty before we guzzled it down. Anyway, no pictures of that. Here's some bread:

That is Cuban bread. It's a little bit special as it goes in a cold oven to prove then bake which makes it easy and fun to bake. It ends up with a fairly dark brown, chewy crust but light and soft inside. The recipe can be found on Lucullian Delights. I used half bread flour and half plain and presumed that hot water meant the usual finger temperature water to not kill the yeast. I've made it with fresh yeast and dry yeast. It's easy to make half the amount if you can only find one packet of yeast in the cupboard (like I did) or freeze the second loaf. I like to freeze it in slices so its easy just to take what you need but the bread stays soft for a couple of days and the two of us can easily finish a loaf in that time.

the obligatory valentines post

I abhor valentines day with a passion. I'm essentially a very unromantic person who has never expected nor wanted bunches of flowers or boxes of chocolates so to have a day dedicated to all things lovey dovey and which actively encourages public displays of affection...urgh, it gives me shivers up my spine.

I grudgingly acknowledge that not everyone is devoid of emotions though so if you can't fight those glandular secretions awash in your bloodstream and have the urge to proclaim your undying love you could try these few items (click on image to take you to the page):

Hannah's heart shaped quiche

 

 Lucy's lanterns (why not put rose petals in them?)

 Lucy's cake inspiration (I believe she has made a new one this year with even more tasty treats on top)

(This was going to be a longer post but, meh.)

 

normal service will resume

I'm sure normal service will resume here next week. I got distracted this week with my iPod which was supposed to be used for writing posts and keeping on top of my emails but in reality got used for playing Where's My Water and Mahjong. I shouldn't play games because as soon as I start using that problem solving part of my brain I find it virtually impossible to switch back to doing something more creative. Add to this the fact that once I start a game I have to finish every level and collect everything which must be collected then you'll see the problem. I could also blame the technical issues earlier in the week but let's face it, it just gave me more time to play games.

So until next week ( wait! That's tomorrow right?!) here is a poor, low res photo of a surprisingly delicious salad from a book I'll probably go on and on about lots

DIY blackcurrant liqueur and sloe gin

1. Put your frozen fruit in a kiln jar
2. throw in some sugar and ...
3. fill it up with gin. 

Couldn't be simpler so I'm not sure why it has taken me months to do this. It took, oh, less than a minute.

I used 600g fruit in a 2 litre jar with 1 litre of gin and a reasonable whack of caster sugar. I like my alcohol on the dry side so If you like your alcohol more like syrup then add a little more sugar.

Rum would be an excellent substitute and I have used bags of frozen mixed fruit in the past with great results.