Despite my ailing back, I was determined to bake my husband a cake for the weekend. He does love a special treat at the weekend and I do like to spoil him. Normally it is a Victoria Sponge or some such. This week I decided to really bake him a treat.
A Coffee Cake. Not as in a cake you eat with coffee, but a cake which is coffee flavoured. A delicious cake. A, just a tiny sliver more cake.
I adapted this recipe from The Women's Institute cookery book entitled, Vintage Tea Time by Jessica Simmons.
It is a lovely little book composed of WI approved Afternoon Tea appropriate recipes.
You just know that if a recipe has the Women's Institute seal of approval, it has to be good!
The Women's Institute was formed in 1915 with the aim of revitalizing rural communities and encouraging women to become more pro-active in producing food during the First World War.
Since then their aim has broadened and it is now the largest voluntary women's organization in the UK.
It is also known to be a leading authority on home cooking. It is an organization which plays a unique role in providing women all over the country with educational opportunities.
Along with the change to build new skills, take part in a wide variety of activities and to campaign on issues that are important to them and their communities.
They also run a the WI Cookery School in Denman College, Oxfordshire, providing a whole range of courses designed to suit students of all abilities and interests.
I had a quick gander through the book this morning and settled on the Coffee Cake, as I thought it one that my husband would enjoy.
It also didn't require a whole lot of faffing about! We all know I can be lazy at times.
In North America Coffee Cakes are usually quite dense and meant to be enjoyed for breakfast or brunch with hot mugs of coffee.
This is not that kind of coffee cake.
Instead this is a light and airy cake, which derives its name from the use of strong coffee to flavour both the batter and the butter cream.
You can also use coffee essence/extract if you have it.
We don't drink regular black or green tea or coffee for religious reasons, but I do have coffee extract to use in baking.
The cake is filled with a lush butter cream frosting, also flavoured with coffee and abundantly filled with chopped walnuts.
I always toast my nuts before I use them.
They just taste nuttier! Toasting really enhances their natural flavours. Its not hard to do. Just pop them onto a baking sheet and then into a moderate oven (350*F/180*C) They will be perfectly toasted in about 10 minutes.
You will be able to tell when they are done because your kitchen will smell all nutty toasty.
It only takes a few minutes and makes a world of difference flavorwise.
The top of the cake is garnished with a dusting icing sugar.
If you wish to mark out the servings you can very cleverly lay a grid on the top using wooden or metal skewers.
This was how it looked in the book. I thought it was very clever and very pretty.
At the head of each wedge pipe a rosette of the plain butter cream (or dollop it on like me) and top with a single toasted walnut.
A very pretty finish to a very delicious cake!
Yield: 8
Coffee Cake
prep time: cook time: total time:
Not a Coffee Cake in the American sense, but a delicious Coffee flavoured cake with a coffee walnut filling and garnish. Moist and delicious!
ingredients:
For the Cake:
- 175g butter, softened (3/4 cup)
- 175g soft light brown sugar (3/4 cup packed, plus 1/2 TBS)
- 1 TBS strong coffee, or a few drops coffee essence
- 3 large free range eggs, lightly beaten
- 175g self raising flour (1 1/4 cups)
- 1 tsp baking powder
For the Butter Cream:
- 110 butter, softened (1/2 cup)
- 225g icing sugar, sifted (1 3/4 cup)
- 2 TBS strong coffee, or 1 tsp coffee essence
- 80g toasted walnuts, finely chopped (2/3 cup)
To Decorate:
- icing sugar to dust
- 8 toasted walnut halves
instructions:
How to cook Coffee Cake
- Preheat the oven to 180*C/350*F/ gas mark 4. Butter two 8-inch round cake tins and line the bottoms with baking paper. Set aside.
- Sift together the flour and the baking powder. Set aside.
- Cream the sugar and butter together until light and fluffy. Beat in the coffee and then the beaten eggs a bit at a time until well incorporated. If the mixture starts to curdle, beat in a TBS of the flour, and continue. Fold in the flour. Divide the batter equally amongst the prepared baking tins, levelling it off.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes, until risen and a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean. Let cool in the tin for about 5 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack, peeling off the paper and leaving to finish cooling.
- Beat the butter for the icing until soft and creamy. Beat in the sugar and the coffee, only adding as much coffee as needed to give you a thick spreadable/pipeable icing. Remove about 4 TBS of icing and set aside. Stir the chopped walnuts into the remainder of the icing.
- Place one cake layer on a serving plate. Spread the walnut icing over to cover. (It will be a nice thick layer) Top with the other cake layer. Lay 4 skewers on top in a criss cross manner. Sift icing sugar over top and then carefully remove the skewers. You should have the cake marked now into 8 servings.
- Into each serving section, pipe a rosette of the plain coffee icing and top with a toasted walnut half. Store any remainders in a covered container.
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I think you are really going to love this cake. Its incredibly delicious! Happy Saturday!
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.
The recipe I am sharing today is loosely based on one I found on Gimme Some Oven, who borrowed her recipe from .My Kitchen Addiction. And I will wager that she probably was inspired from somewhere else.
You know that old saying . . . "There is nothing new under the sun." This is one I love about the food blogging community. We are always sharing with and inspiring each other.
I saved a few steps in the recipe. They rubbed the meat in the herbs and spices and then browned it first before putting it into the slow cooker.
I didn't have time for faffing about with browning and such. I just put everything into the slow cooker and cooked it.
I placed the onions and garlic on the bottom of the slow cooker and topped it with the meat . . .
Then I stirred everything else together and poured it around and on top of the meat. That's it . . .
Simple. Easy. Delicious. You can either cook it on high for 3 to 4 hours, or low for 6 to 8 hours . . .
Once the meat is tender you take it out of the slow cooker and shred it with two forks. I also cut into it with my kitchen scissors so that it was more chunky and less strand-like.
I have a think about eating meat that is in strands . . . it almost makes me gag. I would rather have chunks . . .
I used soft white flour tortillas for them. The small ones. I like to toast them over the hot flame of a gas burner . . .
But you heat them whichever way that you prefer . . .
We enjoy them with salsa, guacamole, sour cream, sliced black olives, lettuce and grated cheese . . .
Any leftovers can be used to make quesadillas, or burritos, maybe even empanadas . . . if you enjoy these even half as much as we did, you are in for a real treat!
Yield: 3 - 4
Shredded Beef Tacos
Fork tender beef that works very well in tacos, and would indeed also be great in burritos or quesadillas
ingredients:
- 2 pounds Beef Brisket in one piece
- 1 TBS mild chili powder
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 1/2 tsp coriander leaf
- 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
- 240ml beef stock (1 cup)
- 2 TBS tomato puree (tomato paste)
- 1 tsp Chipotle in adobe paste
- 1 juice of one lime
- 1 small white onion, peeled and diced
- 5 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
- salt and black pepper to taste
You will also need:
- warmed small soft tortillas
- your favourite taco toppings (cheese, guacamole, sour cream, salsa, sliced black olives, lettuce, spring onions, etc.
instructions:
How to cook Shredded Beef Tacos
- Place the chopped onion in the bottom of the slow cooker along with the garlic cloves. Place the meat on top of these. Whisk together the stock, tomato puree, all of the herbs and seasonings and lime juice. Pour over and around the meat. Cover tightly and cook on high for 3 to 4 hours, or on low for 6 to 8 hours. When the meat is falling apart, remove from the slow cooker and shred with two forks. Ladle some of the hot juices over top and serve warm, with warmed tortillas and your favourite taco toppings. Cover and refrigerate any leftovers.
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This is the perfect meal when you are busy doing other things, or are feeling too lazy to really cook. Its nice to have something like this up your sleeve that you can just pop into the slow cooker and you just know your family is going to enjoy it. In my family Tex Mex was always King! They loved it!
Rice pudding is a dessert that we are awfully fond of in this house. In fact I would have to say that it is one of my husband's favourite desserts of all time.
We are also really fond of Sticky Toffee Pudding, and who isn't . . . with its moist date cake and lush toffee sauce! Its just wow.
The shop where we buy most of our groceries puts out a little magazine each month filled with content particular to whatever month it might be. Its free.
I always pick it up and bring it home to have a look through. Sometimes I see recipes I would like to try, sometimes I don't.
In the October issue there was a recipe for Sticky Toffee Rice Pudding. It immediately caught my attention!
I knew that my husband would really enjoy it. He's always asking me to make him rice pudding . . .
Today was the day. There is no sugar in the rice pudding itself. It relies on the sweetness from chopped dates to flavour it, and some vanilla.
You really don't want it to be extremely sweet anyways, as there is a sticky toffee sauce to spoon over top when you serve it along with candied pecans.
None of it is hard to make or time consuming. I made the nuts and sauce while the rice was cooking.
You do have to caramelise sugar for the nuts. This can be a bit tricky but if you follow a few rules you shouldn't have a problem
First use a heavy bottomed pan so that the caramel doesn't cook too fast. Second don't stir it at all when cooking it . . . swirl the pan to move the contents only . . .
Third, remove it from the heat as soon as it starts to turn golden brown. It will continue to cook from the heat of the pan and you don't want it to burn. It can burn in an instant, so beware!
Stir in the nuts and tip them onto a paper lined baking sheet, tearing them apart with two forks as you can. Let cool completely. It will be really hot.
The Toffee Sauce is also very easy to make. You just bung all of the ingredients in a saucepan and cook them, stirring occasionally until they thicken and form a syrupy sauce. Easy peasy.
Altogether, this is really, really delicious. My husband was in rice pudding heaven!
Yield: 6
Sticky Toffee Rice Pudding
A deliciously creamy rice pudding, studded with sticky dates and topped with a lush toffee sauce and candied pecans.
ingredients:
For the rice pudding:
- 125g pudding rice (9 1/2 TBS short grained rice, such as arborio)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 50g chopped dates (1/3 cup)
- 600ml whole milk (2 1/2 cups)
For the candied pecans:
- 40g caster sugar (1/4 cup)
- 1 TBS water
- 60g chopped pecan nuts (1/2 cup)
For the toffee sauce:
- 50g soft dark brown sugar (1/4 cup packed)
- 50ml whole milk (3 1/2 TBS)
- 20g butter (1 1/2 TBS)
instructions:
How to cook Sticky Toffee Rice Pudding
- To make the rice pudding, measure the rice, milk, dates and vanilla into a saucepan. Bring just to the simmer, then reduce to very low, cover and cook over low heat for about 20 to 25 minutes, stirring occasionally. Set aside to cook for about 10 minutes.
- While the rice is cooking you can do the nuts and the sauce.
- Have ready a baking pan lined with baking paper for the nuts. Measure the sugar and water into a heavy bottomed saucepan. Heat on low until the sugar has melted and then turn up the heat and allow to boil, swirling the mixture (don't stir) until the mixture begins to turn golden brown. Remove from the heat immediately as it will continue to cook and you don't want to burn it. Tip the chopped nuts into this and swirl the pan to coat them well and then pour out onto the lined baking pan. Cool completely and then roughly chop.
- For the toffee sauce, measure all of the ingredients into a saucepan. and simmer gently, whisking occasionally until the mixture turns thick and syrupy.
- To serve, spoon warm rice pudding into bowls. Drizzle with the toffee sauce and sprinkle on the candied nuts. Serve immediately.
Did you make this recipe?
Tag @marierayner5530 on instagram and hashtag it #EnglishKitchen
I love simple desserts like this. They spell home sweet home to me!
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.
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