Apple Orchard Pecan Crumble

Ok, so I actually have a REALLY good reason for this being a bit late this week -

Jon PROPOSED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So we're getting married which is just about the most exciting thing in the world EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So I was a little tied up this weekend what with all the accepting of engagement rings and all...... But I did manage to bake up these little beauties a few days ago so as not to let the SMS side down!! I did modify the recipe slightly - of course they are individual ramekins (as the photo shows!) and yep, that caused a huge volcano of treacley fruit juices to permanently affix themselves to the bottom of our oven, but worked really well (other than that!). The other modification that I did was switch the flour with half wholemeal and half oats. I really liked that - complimented the nuttiness of the pecans and was a definite hit.

Many thanks to Cristine from Cooking with Cristine (you can find the recipe on her blog) for choosing this week's Sweet Melissa Sundays recipe and don't forget to check out the other bakers.

Rosy xx

PS WE'RE GETTING MARRIED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Perfect Pound Cake

I went into this week's Sweet Melissa Sunday's swearing that I wouldn't modify the recipe. I really did, I promise!! But then it kind of went like this... We got home from Italy and I remembered that I'd totally forgotten to pick up more vanilla essence, so subbed in vanilla paste. And I didn't get around to buying the right sized tin (which I've been intending to get for ages). So with the first attempt I used a small loaf tin and, upon discovering some rogue blueberries in the back of the fridge I mixed them into the left over mix and popped it into my trusty mini springform tins - thus far only really used for left over mix but oh so cute!

I have to say the result was everything the title promised that it would be. Absolutely perfect. The crumb was light but not fluffy like a sponge cake - more dense and moist. Just delicious! In fact, it was so good I immediately dashed out to pick up the correct sized tin to make it again!

I did manage to have a little batter left over as yes, I didn't buy a large enough tin, but it was closer! Not doing very well today... I also popped some raspberries into the little cake and more blueberries into the loaf, just because I loved it so much!

Just soooooo good. I've now eaten way too much cake... Oops...

This has to be my fave recipe from the book so far, not just because it's perfect as it is, but it's also such a great base for experimenting! Thank you so much to the lovely Michelle of Veggie num nums and don't forget to check out the other bakers here! I'm not not off to eat more cake...

Rosy xx

PS In my haste to post, I totaly forgot one significant alteration that I made to the recipe (honestly, I don't know what's happened to my brain at the moment!). We don't have cake flour in the UK due to some stuff about bleaching agents. Anyway, I used a conversion thingy I found online and (having discovered that the weight of flour required was 220g) I used 190g all purpose (plain) flour and 30g cornflour (cornstarch). Worked a treat!

And JJ informs me this cake is awesome dipped in clotted cream. Yes, he dunked a chunk of cake in a pot of cream. Not just regular cream - clotted cream. Honestly! All my pretty china is totally wasted on him. Does anyone want to come over for tea so that it can get an outing??!

SMS - Fallen Chocolate Souffle Cake

My love affair with chocolate goes back as long as I can remember. I put it down to my Belgian routes... So many of my great food memories revolve around chocolate - eating Fauchon chocolate cake on the corner of a Parisian street, discovering Pierre Marcolini chocolates in Belgium (they stock them in London as well - AMAZING!!!!!), eating the largest piece of chocolate cake ever in Gail's in Hampstead with JJ after a long walk over the Heath... Oh how I love chocolate! And so of course I was utterly delighted when this week's Sweet Melissa Sunday, chosen by Sarah from Blue Ridge Baker, turned out to be a chocolate cake. And not just a simple chocolate: a fallen chocolate souffle cake! So I had high hopes for this baby. And I was so not disappointed - the best thing about this gorgeous cakey dessert how light it is. The photos make the centre look incredibly rich but in fact its light, smooth and just delicious. I didn't use good enough quality chocolate and that's something that I would change next time. I also didn't use the orange flavourings as I totally forgot to pick up an orange, but I switched it for a tablespoon of espresso which worked a treat. I only used a tablespoon of powder, dilluted with a tablespoon of boiling water, and I'm going to up that next time as they coffee didn't really come through enough for my liking. But seriously, a definite winner. Also worth noting that it's gluten free for those who are intolerant.

Do grab yourself a cup of tea and check out the other bakers' posts!

Rosy xx

SMS - Fresh Peach Muffins

I managed it this week! A Sweet Melissa Sundays post on a Sunday – yaaaayyy! Wonders will never cease…

So this Sunday it’s Fresh Peach Muffins and it’s hosted by Mrs G of The Givens Chronicles. Do spend some time looking at all the other awesome posts on the blogroll.

I was so excited when she chose this recipe – this is just the kind of recipe which makes me so pleased I joined SMS. It’s not something that I would normally pick to bake from a cookbook – don’t get me wrong, I love peaches but it’s the muffin part. I’ve just never had that much success with them. I guess I put it down to the UK flour (we can’t get cake flour over here. After much research, it turns out there’s something in the bleaching agents used that means it can’t be sold in the UK. Boooo!) or the inconsistencies associated with cup measurements*, but I always ended up with large, dense cupcakes rather than light, fluffy muffins with the characteristic muffin tops.

But not here! I did fear for their success at one point as the one thing you shouldn’t do with cakes is overmix and I gather that’s especially true of muffins. Of course, I did these at 9pm and so messed up the method entirely – I totally forgot to add the fruit to the flour mix, something which stops the fruit from all sinking to the bottom, and I had started filling the cases before I remembered they needed cinnamon. So the small amount of mixing went out the window and these were fairly thoroughly mixed!

While I wouldn’t recommend overmixing (and I certainly wouldn’t recommend late night baking in a rush) they turned out perfectly! A touch too much orange zest for my liking so I’m going to ease up on that next time, or maybe use lemon or use orange juice instead of milk. Just needs a slightly more subtle orange flavour in my opinion but maybe my zesting was a little too zealous! Although all my testers disagree with me on that one and thought the orange added a freshness to the muffin so I might be wrong...

The one thing that’s a unanimous yes is the addition of raspberries – something I just had to add as soon as I’d seen this week’s recipe. Is there a more perfect pairing than peaches and raspberries? I used the 1 cup of chopped peaches specified in the recipe (2 regular sized peaches, peeled** and chopped) but also threw in a cup or so of raspberries. The raspberries add a gorgeous tartness as well as pretty pink streaks to the muffins.

All in all, a definite addition to my recipe collection! Perfect for a lazy breakfast. Next week it’s fallen chocolate soufflé cake. I’m dreaming about it already…



Rosy x

*so much so that I actually never measure anything but liquid in cups. I normally go though a recipe and convert everything to grams first using this website – it’s the scientist in me! I crave precise measures! Seriously, it nearly killed me measuring out a cup of chopped peaches but there’s no conversion for that. Although now I know! 2 peaches.

**I find that the easiest way to peel a peach is using the tomato method – slice a cross in the skin on the bottom of the fruit without cutting too deep. Then cover in boiling water until you see the cuts expand down the fruit (normally a minute or so). Plunge into cold water and the skins should peel away like a dream!

Sweet Melissa Sundays - Mom's Banana Apple Bread

Ok, so this is technically a Sunday post but due to a rather busy weekend I only got around to making the recipe last night - I shall do better next weekend, I promise!!

This is my first SMS posts which is rather exciting! And I'm really pleased to be involved in such a fun group. The idea is that a group of food bloggers all bake the same recipe (modifications allowed) from the 'Sweet Melissa' recipe book. This Sunday Joy from Hot Oven, Warm Heart chose Mom's Banana Apple Bread. Check out the other bakers on the blogroll!

I'm a huge fan of banana bread - not a huge fan of bananas, but when turned into a tea loaf they create a luscious, sweet, dense cakey bread. This was no exception. Not being in possession of a large loaf tin, I made a small loaf and 4 little cakes with my super cute individual springform cake tins. The loaf was exactly as per the recipe. In two of the small cakes, I threw in some sultanas...In the last two, I placed a layer of sliced caramelised apples on the bottom. Just for kicks. I'm that kinda gal. That, and who doesn't like a layer of caramelised apples?

I did love the plain loaf but felt I'd gone to so much extra effort caramelising the apples that leaving it plain was just a waste, so on the little plain cakes, I iced them with a simple cream cheese icing.

And that was good! Of all the modifications I messed around with, the addition of the icing was the best. It's actually the same icing I use on my go-to banana bread and so I guess it's no surprise that it worked like a charm on this one. And there's the only issue I have with this recipe - it's just too fiddly.

Banana breads for me are a quick bake - something I can whip up with some left over almost dead bananas, a cake that keeps well and goes perfectly with a cup of tea. This recipe called for dicing and caramelising apples which, whilst helping the texture, added a chunk of time onto the prep. So yes, this is undoubtedly delicious and I'm thinking of incorporating the spice mix into my banana bread recipe, but I'm still on the fence as to whether the frying of the apples is necessary... I might try it again but not actually cook the apples first - I'll keep you posted!

Rosy x