Another loaf cake :))

Well this cold weather looks like its here to stay for a while...must say I'm sick of it now and desperate for some mild and warm weather but until then I'm occupying the cold days with lots of baking. Again I made a loaf cake but this was purely because I had some ricotta left over and didn't really fancy anything savoury haha! I found a recipe and although it looked good I made many alterations to make it my own and really glad I did as the end result was divine, moist, chocolatey, and very moorish!

Chocolate, Orange and Walnut Ricotta Loaf Cake

1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
¾ cup unsweetened Dutch cocoa powder
1 ¼ tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
¼ cup milk
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup caster sugar
1/2 soft light brown sugar
8 oz whole fat ricotta cheese, at room temperature
Zest of one large orange
3 large eggs
1/2 cup toasted walnuts
½ cup (3 oz) chocolate chips

preheat the oven to 180/170c . Butter and Line an 8×4-inch loaf pan with parchment paper.
Sift the flour, cocoa, baking powder, soda, and salt into a bowl.
In another small bowl or a cup, combine the milk and vanilla extract.
In a large bowl, beat the butter until creamy, add the sugar and beat until light and fluffy. Add the ricotta and beat well to combine. Now add the orange zest and mix in.
Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Now add the dry ingredients in two additions alternating with the mix mixture, try not to over mix, just fold in enough to incorporate the ingredients. Stir in the toasted walnuts and chocolate chips.
Transfer the batter into the loaf tin, smooth the top and bake for about 1 hour or until a cake tester inserted into the centre comes out clean. Cool in the pan on a rack for 10 minutes, then turn out and cool completely on a rack.

Walnut and seeded Soda Bread

About 10 years ago when I was at uni...okay its probably longer than 10 years ago haha, I used to buy a bread that was just wonderful, the flavours and textures were fantastic but I didn't ever pay attention at what it was or what the name was, i just bought it and ate it and all of a sudden the shop didn't sell it anymore! But this weekend I decided to make a soda bread and rather than a boring plain one i decided to add some nuts and seeds...so off I went with the help of my three year old son and we produced the walnut and seeded soda bread...I took a bite and it was exactly like the bread I had regularly bought years ago and had never found anything even similar in taste....now I can enjoy it again and again woohoo :)

Walnut and Seeded Soda Bread

170g self-raising flour
170g wholemeal plain flour
½ tsp salt
½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
1/2 tsp brown sugar
Hand full of walnuts
1 tbsp poppy seeds
1tbsp Sunflower seeds
1 tbsp pumpkin seeds
290ml/½ pint buttermilk or yoghurt

Preheat the oven to 200C/190 fan
Tip the flours, salt and bicarbonate of soda and walnuts and seeds into a large mixing bowl and stir.
Make a well in the centre and pour in the buttermilk, mixing quickly with a large fork to form a soft dough. (Depending upon the absorbency of the flour, you may need to add a little milk if the dough seems too stiff but it should not be too wet or sticky.)
Turn onto a lightly floured surface and knead briefly.
Form into a round and flatten the dough slightly before placing on a baking tray lined with a baking sheet
Cut a cross on the top and sprinkle with flour and bake for about 30-40 minutes or until the loaf sounds hollow when tapped. Cool on a wire rack.

A very summery dinner :)

Well as the sun is shining, I made a very summery dinner and wow was it nice and I must say, I almost forgot it was still just above freezing outside :)) I love it when food can do that!

Wild Mushroom, Spinach and Manchego cheese tart with a Walnut Pastry

Walnut pastry
60g walnut
250g plain flour
125g butter
Pinch of salt
1 egg yolk
2 tbsp water chilled

Filling
300g wild mushrooms - mixture
Good handful of spinach
100g Manchego cheese grated
300ml double cream
3 eggs
Salt and Pepper

Olive oil for frying

Make up the pastry
First of all toast the walnuts in the oven for about 5 minutes and allow to cool
Add the walnuts and half the flour to the bowl of a food processor and pulse until walnuts are broken up.
Add the remaining flour, butter and pinch of salt and blitz until you have a fine breadcrumb consistency.
Add the egg yolk and blitz. Add a tbsp of water at a time until the dough comes together.
Tip onto a floured work surface and gently work to form a smooth ball (the trick is not to over work as you don't want it to be tough)
Wrap in cling film and place in the fridge for at least half an hour.

Roll out the dough and fill a tart tin. Blind bake at 200/190 fan for 20 minutes and remove baking beans and bake for a further 5 minutes.

Reduce the oven temp to 190/180 fan
Slice the mushrooms and fry for a couple of minutes until they just start to go soft.
Fill the pastry case with the spinach, top with the mushrooms and then the grated Manchego cheese.
Mix together the double cream and eggs and some seasoning and pour this over the other ingredients in the pastry case
Place in a pre heated oven for 30-35 minutes. Serve warm


Roasted Cherry Tomatoes and Aubergine with rosemary, garlic and cannellini beans
(Of course feel free to substitute the beans to butter beans or flageolet beans if you wanted)

10 Cherry tomatoes
1 Aubergine cut into cubes
Rosemary
4 Garlic cloves
5 tbsp Garlic oil
1 tin of cannellini beans

Add all the ingredients to a roasting tray and add to a pre heated oven (180/170 fan) and roast for 15-20 minutes
The cannellini beans will go soft so if you prefer yours harder then please feel free to either add them in the last 5 minutes of cooking or add just before serving. (This is a large side dish so reduce if only serving to a few people)

All served with a rocket salad with peppers, tomatoes, roasted red peppers and artichoke hearts and walnut and seeded soda bread