Showing posts sorted by date for query Cardamom and Coffee Cake. Sort by relevance Show all posts
Showing posts sorted by date for query Cardamom and Coffee Cake. Sort by relevance Show all posts
One of the cooking sites I like to visit from time to time is Food 52. There are quite a lot of good recipes on that page, as well as the option of saving the ones you like to your own personal cookbook/lists.
When I was in the UK I had a few of their cookbooks and I have replaced a couple since moving back to Canada. The recipe I am sharing today comes from their book Genius Desserts, 100 recipes which will change the way you bake.
It is attributed to Claire Ptak and does not appear on their site. Not that I could find.
In the write up for the recipe they talk about these giving off the vibe of a Canelé. A Canelé is a French Cake from the south of France and they are quite custardy with the flavors of vanilla and rum.
I have eaten Canelé that I bought from a pastry shop in Saint Emilion in the south of France and I will be honest here, these bear not even a hint of resemblance. Not a smidgen in the least!
Having said that, however, they are very tasty cakes. Upside down cupcakes as it were, with beautiful flavors.
They have a moist and tender crumb and you have a beautiful blend of cardamom, cinnamon, cloves and pepper flavors, with only the slightest crunch of rich toasty walnuts. That coffee glaze is the perfect way to top them off.
One of my favorite of all the British Cakes has to be the Coffee and Walnut Cake. You will see it on offer in all of the tea rooms across the UK.
Coffee and Walnuts have a flavor marriage made in heaven. Adding ground cardamom into the mix along with pepper is a genius addition!
I have always loved the flavor of coffee in desserts, chocolates, ice cream, etc. I think cardamom is a flavor that goes very well and in face enhances both the flavors of the walnuts and the coffee icing.
Coffee, walnuts, cardamom. Three flavors that marry perfectly together. (On a side note, don't you just love my tea cloth? It was a gift from my friend Paula for Christmas. I think it is just beautiful!)
WHAT YOU NEED TO MAKE COFFEE, CARDAMOM, WALNUT CAKELETTES
I am betting you have everything in your kitchen right now. The original recipe called for ground pink peppercorns. By all means use it if you have it. I used black pepper with perfect success.
- 3/4 cup (75g) walnut halves
- 1 1/2 cups (210g) plain all purpose flour
- 3/4 tsp each baking powder and baking soda (bicarbonate of soda)
- 1/2 tsp salt (I use salted butter so leave this out)
- 1 tsp ground cardamom (you can use cardamom pods, remove the seeds and grind them in a spice grinder)
- 1 tsp ground pink peppercorns (I used black)
- 3/4 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/8 tsp ground cloves
- 3/4 cup plus 1 TBS (180g) butter, at room temperature
- 3/4 cup (150g) granulated sugar (In the UK use castor sugar)
- 2 large free range eggs
- 1 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 3/4 cup plus 2 TBS (210g) crème fraiche (I used sour cream)
For the glaze:
1 1/2 cups (185g) sifted icing sugar
2 - 3 TBS freshly brewed strong coffee or espresso
I just threw about 1 TBS of instant coffee granules into a small cup and added some boiling water. I didn't bother to cool it down in order to add it to the icing.
Pink peppercorns are not something which I have routinely in my kitchen and I would not go out and buy them specifically for a recipe such as this.
Pink peppercorns have a flavor that is very similar to black pepper, perhaps being a bit milder, with a hint of sweet and fruity. Black pepper makes a very suitable substitute.
There is nothing very difficult about making these cakes. It is a typical butter cake batter, baked in medium muffin cups.
You do want to butter your muffin cups really well so that the batter doesn't stick and dust them lightly with flour or bread crumbs, tapping out any excess.
She does suggest warming your walnuts first to release their natural oils. I usually toast my nuts, but today I warmed them as per her instructions.
If I make these cakes again, I will definitely toast them. Just make sure you bring them back to room temperature before using them in the cake. They need to be finely chopped. I use my zyliss food chopper.
You need to sift together the flour, soda and baking powder in a bowl. Then stir in the spices and the walnuts. The room temperature butter gets creamed together with the sugar until it is light and fluffy.
Once that happens you can beat in the eggs, one at a time. If you see the mixture beginning to curdle, you can beat in a TBS of the flour mixture. Beat in the vanilla.
Once this is done you can stir in the flour, only until it is just mixed in and no dry streaks remain, and then you stir in the crème fraiche (sour cream) just to combine.
The mixture gets divided between the prepared baking cups and baked for 20 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through the bake time. They are done when the tops spring back when lightly touched and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Leave them to cool in the pan for 10 minutes before tipping them out onto a wire rack to finish cooling completely. You want to leave them upside down in preparation for glazing.
Once they are completely cold, whisk together the glaze ingredients, only adding enough coffee to give you a thick pourable glaze.
Spoon this mixture over top of each cakelette and leave it to set before serving. Store any leftovers in an airtight container.
I have not frozen them, nor have I baked them in any other sized container. I do think they would freeze well however, without glazing.
These cake are cakes that actually improve in flavor with each day that passes. That has been my experience anyways. The first day they were good, but each day they have become tastier.
I suppose that is as the flavors start to mellow out. I think they are fabulous and I highly recommend!
These were the perfect cake to begin the new year on! Happy 2022 people! I am really looking forward to exploring new flavors, tastes, recipes, etc. with you this year!
I wish you could smell my house right now. It smells really cosy. What is it about the warm baking spices and gingerbread that makes us feel right at home sweet home??
I have been baking these small batch Gingerbread Cookie Bars and let me tell you, our house smells truly A - MAZE - ING! Truly splendiferous!!
These might not look like much, but trust me, they are destined to become a firm favourite. Todd just loves them. He loves anything Gingerbread, as do I.
They are crisp edged and chewy middled. The recipe makes exactly 8 nice sized bars. No more, no less. I suppose you could cut them larger, but there is such a thing as too much goodness, and that would be it.
Eight bars is just the perfect size for us. We are only two. I find these days that if I bake anything in large numbers, it just doesn't get used up.
The empty nest sure takes getting used to. For years and years I cooked for seven people. Now there are only two of us. It has taken me a while to adjust.
I suppose when we do get company (my oldest son and daughter are supposed to be coming over at some point) I will have to try to expand my recipes again!
They were originally supposed to be coming for the month of April, but alas the Pandemic put an end to those plans. Now we are hoping that they will be able to come next year. Fingers and toes are being crossed on both sides of the pond!
These lush bars are buttery and flavoured with molasses and vanilla, as well as plenty of warm baking spices. I do so love the warm baking spices, don't you??
Cinnamon, Ginger, Cloves, Allspice . . . they are all in there . . . you could also add a touch of ground cardamom as well if you wished. It would not go amiss.
The icing is a simple lemon buttercream. Basic buttercream icings are very simple to make. Just pop everything into a bowl and beat on high with an electric whisk. Butter, (I like Lurpak lightly salted) cream, icing sugar and lemon extract.
Just beat them together until the mixture is light, fluffy and smooth. If you want your icing to be a bit thinner, you can add a smidgen more cream, or a small splash of milk.
I think it is pretty perfect just as it is. Just look there . . . delicious . . .ooey, chewy centred. What a fabulous looking mouthful.
I just adore the crisp edges and I love the chewy middles and I love that frosting. It is sweet and tangy and rich and goes so perfectly with the flavours of gingerbread.
These lush cookie bars are perfectly at home with ice cold glasses of milk or hot cups of tea or coffee . . . whatever it is you personally enjoy with things like these.
I had to have a taste of course, just to make sure they were okay before I fed them to Todd. I wouldn't want him to have to eat anything nasty . . .
Its a tough job but somebody has to do it. I am always willing to take the bullet for just such a cause, and I'm afraid my hips show it!
Moderation is evidentally not really a part of my vocabulary. That's another reason why small batch recipes work well for me. There is far less temptation for me to have to deal with.
Just because you are a small family that doesn't mean you can't enjoy the same things that larger families enjoy. These are perfect.
You can freeze any leftovers, or keep them in an airtight container for about a week, no problem. I am pretty sure, however, that these won't be around that long to worry about their storage.
Lemon Frosted Gingerbread Cookie Bars
Yield: Makes 8 bars
prep time: 10 Mcook time: 25 Mtotal time: 35 M
Todd just adores these soft and chewy Gingerbread Bars. He doesn't like anything too hard. These are crisp edged and chewy middled. With their sweet lemon buttercream frosting, they always go down a real treat!
Ingredients:
For the Bars:
- 1/4 cup butter, softened (60g)
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar (50g)
- 1/4 cup soft light brown sugar, packed (50g)
- 1 large free range egg yolk (freeze the white to make angelfood cake at another time)
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 TBS molasses
- 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp ground ginger
- pinch each cloves and nutmeg
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 cup all purpose flour (140g)
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
For the Lemon frosting:
- 1 cup sifted icing sugar (130g)
- 1 TBS butter softened
- 1 TBS cream
- 1/2 tsp lemon extract
Instructions:
- Preheat the oven to 160*C/325*F/ gas mark 3. Butter an 8 by six inch baking dish and line with baking paper so that you can remove the bars easily. Set aside.
- Cream together the butter and both sugars. Beat in the egg yolk, vanilla and molasses until light and creamy
- Sift the flour together with the spices, salt and baking soda. Add to the creamed mixture and mix together until combined and there are no longer any white streaks. Press this dough into your prepared pan.
- Bake in the preheated oven for about 25 minutes. It will be golden around the edges and puffed up. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely in the pan. (It will sink in the middle, don't worry that's what is supposed to happen.)
- To make the icing, beat all of the ingredients together until light and creamy. If you think it is a bit too stiff, add a crop more cream. Spread this into the sunken area of the bars once they are completely cold.
- Cut into 8 bars to serve. Store any leftovers in an airtight container.
Make sure you come to visit me on Monday, I have a fabulous Giveaway to share with you for something that is really REALLY delicious!
This content (written and photography) is the sole property of The
English Kitchen. Any reposting or misuse is not permitted. If you are
reading this elsewhere, please know that it is stolen content and you
may report it to me at: theenglishkitchen@mail.com
I've been cooking and sharing recipes online for about 18 years now. I have shared my love of food and recipes on a variety of sites throughout the years, some of which no longer exist.
I discovered very early during my online journey that people really love food and recipes and that I had plenty to share. My blog in its current form has been going for about 10 years now.
Throughout that time I have shared well over 3000 recipes with you. That's a lot of food and a lot of cooking and a lot of tastiness. I thought it would be fun today to share some of my all time favourites with you!
Perhaps some of them are also yours, or maybe you have missed some. In any case there is sure to be something here for everyone.
Creole Chocolate Cake. This is one that I shared with you back in August of last year on my Birthday. This is my all time favourite chocolate cake for several reasons.
It could be the incredibly moist chocolate sponge, or maybe the date caramel nut filling, combined with that rich whipped cream. Don't get me started on the sour cream chocolate ganache frosting. Its just a winner from the outside in and back out again!
Classic Fruited Scones. I love doing tutorials and this one I did on the classic British fruited scone is on of the favourites that I have done.
These scones always turn out light and flaky and go so wonderful with some clotted cream, jam and of course a nice hot cuppa.
BBQ Bacon Cheeseburger Skillet Macaroni. This was a favourite of ours for many years and many Missionaries have enjoyed eating it at our table. A couple of years ago I decided to add some BBQ Sauce to my old standard and took it from wow to WOWSA!
Bacon, ground beef, cheese and a delicious sauce combined with cooked macaroni for a dinner that everyone is sure to want seconds of.
Baby Gem Salad with a Blue Cheese Vinaigrette. I could eat this every night of the week. Crisp baby lettuces, with a wonderfully tangy vinaigrette, plenty of cheese and sharp spring onion. I could eat this and nothing else, truth be told. It is that good.
Crispy Tortilla Eggs. With crisp cheese filled tortillas on the bottom, a perfectly fried egg on top and some sriarcha sauce, green tabasco and spring onions.
I once ate these three times in one week. Yes, they are that good!
Basic Roast Chicken. Of all the roast chickens, this one is the best in my opinion. Nothing
is more comforting than a delicious dinner of Roast Chicken and
vegetables. Crisp skin on the outside, and succulent, flavourful, tender
and juicy meat on the inside.
This is my way of achieving just that.
Lemon and Garlic bring out the best in chicken. The three just go
together like peas and carrots!
Blackberry Pie Bars. Picture this . . . a buttery shortbread cookie type of base . . .
topped with fresh blackberries . . . topped with a rich sour cream
filling . . . and a final topping of the shortbread mixture, crumbled
this time . . .
Cabbage Soup with Cheese. My goodness but this is tasty. Just perfect for these cooler autumn
nights when one has been out and about in the chill. Makes a sturdy
lunch, and a delicious light supper, especially when accompanied with
some crusty bread or homemade scones!
Canadian Dutchies. These sultana studded glazed and yeast raised Doughnuts are a bit of a Canadian
Institution! Not as hard to make as you might think. You can easily
double and make more.
Cardamom & Coffee Bundt Cake. This beautiful cake is an adaptation of the Perfect Pound Cake recipe found
in Rose Levy Bernbaum's Cake Bible. Its rich, dense and delicious with a
wonderful cardamom batter swirled with a tasty coffee and cocoa swirl.
This is a cake that gets better tasting with each day that passes.
That's only ten for you to be getting on with. There are ever so much more. Just a tiny taste today. Enjoy!
This week I was craving a cake. Oh, we still have Christmas cake left, but I wanted cake cake. Something without raisins and currants and peel . . . just cake.
Something that I could just sit down and enjoy a slice of with a nice hot cup of herbal tea.
It didn't have to be fancy smancy . . . just pleasant and satisfying. I toyed with making a Victoria Sandwich Cake (which is our favourite cake).
I also though about making a Coffee Walnut Cake (another favourite), but they just weren't ticking the boxes of my desire.
I wanted something spicy and dense, dark and delicious. I then remembered this gingerbread cake recipe.
I have had the recipe in my big blue binder for about a bazillion years. In fact I think its been about a bazillion years since I have made it.
You cannot call it a pretty cake by any stretch. It is the ugly step sister of pretty cake.
It is like the country cousin of the city mouse. This is a cake you might be tempted to overlook when glancing upon it sitting in the glass case of a bake shop.
Were you to do so you would be making a grave mistake. This is the kind of gingerbread cake that sonnets could be written about, poems . . . novels.
This is the kind of gingerbread cake that you could imagine Meg, Amy, Jo and Beth sitting down to enjoy on cold winter's evening while the fire burns low in the grate, whilst Marmee reads to them the latest missive from their pa . . .
It is a gingerbread cake that gets more delicious with each day that it stands. Like magic it gets denser, moister . . .
It is just like magic. Trust me on this . . . just leave it sit, you will see.
This is the cake you will find yourself sneaking down the stairs to steal a smidgen of in the middle of the night. Midnight feast cake has no calories, everyone knows that!
Don't burst my bubble if that is not true.
This is the kind of cake as a child I imagined Mary Poppins picking up for Michael and Jane Banks. Decorated with shiny gold stars stuck to its surface, all wrapped up in brown paper . . .
I love the Mary Poppins Books when I was a child, did you?
Oh, I know I do have a fanciful mind. It comes from a lifetime of reading books. I come by that habit honestly.
My father inspired a love of the written word in me when I was very young . . . I can still hear his voice reading to me in my mind's eye. He would change his voice with each character in the story. It is a beautiful memory that I hold dear and close in my heart.
In any case I do hope you will bake this lovely ugly step sister of a cake. I hope that you will enjoy it.
The ginger glaze icing is quite tasty . . . and it would be lovely spread with softened butter as well, or . . . dare I suggest it, lemon curd.
Today I fancied a little bit of indulgence with a small squirt of squirty cream . . . .
They do say a little bit of what you fancy does the body and the mind good . . . I believe that's true.
Yield: 16
Deep, Dark & Delicious Gingerbread
A moist, sticky and dense slice with plenty of ginger spice!
ingredients:
- 250g butter (1 cup +1 1/2 TBS)
- 250g soft dark brown sugar (1 1/4 cup, packed)
- 250g molasses or dark treacle (9 fluid ounces)
- 300ml whole milk (1 1/4 cups)
- 2 large free range eggs
- 5 knobs of preserved ginger in syrup, chopped finely
- 375g plain flour (2 1/2 cups + 3 TBS)
- 2 tsp baking soda
- 2 tsp ground ginger
- 1 tsp allspice
- 1/4 tsp ground cardamom
instructions:
How to cook Deep, Dark & Delicious Gingerbread
- Preheat the oven to 165*C/325*F/ gas mark 3. Butter a 9-inch square baking tin and line it with baking paper. Set aside.
- Put the butter, sugar, and molasses into a saucepan. Cook over low heat to melt the butter and sugar. Whisk in the milk. Set aside to cool some.
- Whisk together the flour, soda, ginger, allspice and cardamom in a large bowl. Stir in the chopped glace ginger. Make a well in the centre.
- Beat the eggs into the liquid ingredients thoroughly. Pour into the well in the centre of the dry ingredients. Using a wooden spoon, stir together, gradually drawing in the dry ingredients from the side of the bowl until you have a smooth and thick batter. Pour into the prepared baking tin.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 1 hour, until well risen and firm to the touch. Do NOT be tempted to open the door prior to that time or the cake may sink in the middle. Once an hour has passed, check the cake. A skewer inserted in the centre should come out clean. If it doesn't cook for a further 10 minutes and try again. The cake is done when the skewer comes out clean.
- Leave to cool completely in the tin. Once cold remove from the tin and either wrap tightly and store in an airtight container for up to a week.
- Optional Icing - Whisk together 65g of sifted icing sugar (1/2 cup) and enough ginger syrup to give you a smooth drizzle icing. Drizzle decoratively over the cold cake.
NOTES:
Note - if you can't get preserved stem ginger, you can use candied ginger. I would say about 12 pieces, chopped finely. Instead of syrup in the glaze icing use some fresh lemon juice
I enjoyed this with a hot cup of Taylor's Spiced Apple Tea. It was definitely a "Home Sweet Home" moment and made for a great beginning to my year.
This content (written and photography) is the sole property of The English Kitchen. Any reposting or misuse is not permitted. If you are reading this elsewhere, please know that it is stolen content and you may report it to me at: mariealicejoan at aol dot com Thanks so much for visiting. Do come again!
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