Almond Honey Cake with Apricots

Ingredients

1 tsp vanilla essence
100g read-to-eat dried apricots
2 large eggs (or medium, whatever you have)
180g honey
150g peeled and finely grated sweet potato
finely grated zest of 1/2 unwaxed lemon
100g spelt or any other type of flour
100g ground almonds
2 tsps baking powder (more generous if using wholemeal)
1/4 tsp salt (if you wish)
100g whole blanched almond (keep a dozen or so for the top)

3 tbsp apricot jam or 1 tbsp of clear honey to glaze the top

20 - 23 cm tin

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees.  Grease the tin.

Chop the apricots into small cubes (about 1/2 cm).

Beat the eggs, honey and vanilla essence in a mixing bowl (about two minutes).  Add the grated sweet potato and lemon zest and mix well.  Add the flour, ground almonds, baking powder, salt (if using) and mix thoroughly.  Add apricots and blanched almonds and mix gently, so as not to break the almonds.

Put the mixture into the tin.  Decorate the top with the 12 remaining almonds and place in the centre of the oven for 40 minutes.

Remove cake and while hot, brush over heated jam or honey.

Enjoy with yogurt or ice-cream.  Mummm.


PS  This receipe was adapted from 'red velvet, chocolate heartache'

Honey and peanut butter booster bars

This is a 'Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall at River Cottage' receipe.  It's a great snack bar.  However, it can't go in packed lunch boxes as it has nuts, but it's super for an after-school snack and as a pick-them-up at the weekend. 

If you don't have any oranges and lemons, it's ok to use a tablespoon of mixed peel.  Same with the dried fruit and mixed seeds, I finished as many bits and pieces as I could find.  A great larder clearer-outer!  Same with the peanut butter, it doesn't matter if it's smooth.
 
Ingredients
125g mild olive oil or unsalted butter
150g brown sugar
125g no-sugar-added crunchy peanut butter
75g honey, plus a little more to finish
Finely grated zest of 1 orange
Finely grated zest of 1 lemon
200g porridge oats (if jumbo, blend a bit to break down)
150g dried fruit, such as raisins, chopped apricots and prunes or dates
150g mixed seeds, such as pumpkin, sunflower, poppy, linseed, hemp and sesame

Grease and line a baking tin, about 20cm square. Put the oil, sugar, peanut butter, honey and grated citrus zests in a deep saucepan over a very low heat.  Leave until melted, stirring from time to time.

Stir the oats, dried fruit and three-quarters of the seeds into the oil mixture until thoroughly combined.  Spread the mixture out evenly in the baking tin, pressing down and smoothing the top as you go.

Scatter the remaining seeds over the surface and trickle with a little more honey.  Place in an oven preheated to 160°C/Gas Mark 3 and bake for about 30 minutes, until golden in the centre and golden brown at the edges.

Leave to cool completely in the tin, cut into 16 squares.  These bars will keep for 5-7 days in an airtight tin.

Variation: Banana booster bars
Replace the peanut butter with 1 medium ripe banana (about 175g), mashed.  Stir it in after all the other ingredients have been combined.

Mediterranean Tart

My daughter is struck with the worst case of Hay fever (any remedies welcome).  We have been house-bound  for ages in this glorious weather!  She is cooking the Tart with a little help from her sous chef.  At seven years old, it's a great activity bringing together lots of different skills, as well as having the satisfaction of making something delicious.

Parmesan Pastry: as previous blog

Roll out the pastry thinly on a lightly floured surface and line one 20cm flan tin.  (The left over bits of pastry can be baked to a make for nice savoury biscuits.)  Cover and chill for about 20 minutes.  Prick the base several times with fork and bake blind at 200c for about 15 minutes or until crisp and golden brown.

450g onions, peeled and fine sliced
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon of dark brown sugar
50g sun dried tomatoes in oil, chopped
125g feta cheese
2 tablespoons basil, chopped

Meanwhile heat the oil in a large frying pan, add the onions and saute over a high heat, stirring until they begin to brown, about 5-6 minutes.  Stir in the brown sugar and cook for a further 3-4 minutes until the onions caramelise.  Allow to cool slightly.

Add the sun dried tomatoes, crumble the feta cheese and mix together with the onions.  Fill the tart and sprinkle with the basil.  Season with Pepper.



Enjoy.

Sunday Smoothie

I can't be the only person out there, who has all the greatest of intentions when buying fresh fruit and vegetables.  I seem to wait till they're on the turn before doing something with them!

My daughter hates bananas.  It was a case of one too many.  Now I slip those frozen chopped up over ripe bananas into smoothies.  They do a great job of cooling down the fruit.  Today, it was a pineapple that was so over ripe that I had to put it in the fridge to keep the mould at bay, a bargain bucket punnet of strawberries and a glug of goat's milk.  No sugar needed.  Usually I use yogurt, but I was too lazy to get a spoon out, and pouring seemed so much easier.

Put into glasses and eat (too thick to drink).  A whole blender full was demolished, and a waddle to the park was all that was manageable.