Carrot banana cake - #GameOnCooks

When it comes to baking, The Women's Institute which was founded in 1915, is a great authority. Last year I picked up a copy of The Women's Institute Big Book Of Baking reduced from £25 to £2.99. And though most recipes looked familiar, there were quite a few recipes with a twist on the much loved British classics.
I bake a carrot cake at least a couple of times a month, sometimes every week, as this is one of our family favourites. I have tried many carrot cake recipes, some were delicious, some less so.
The Women's Institute has created a carrot cake recipe with a twist - adding a banana to the cake batter and swapping the cream cheese frosting for buttercream frosting.
I have fancied trying the recipe, but have adapted it and changed the frosting back to cream cheese, simply because my guys are not overly keen on buttercream frosting. I have also skipped the dessicated coconut and did some other minor changes, but the overall idea of adding a banana to a carrot cake was a novelty to me. The WI named it a Passion Cake, not quite sure why, but I'll go for a more descriptive Carrot banana cake.

Carrot banana cake
Ingredients:
zest of 1 orange
1 banana, mashed
1tsp baking powder
1tsp ground cinnamon
1/3tsp ground cloves
1/2tsp ground allspice
200g crunchy demerara sugar
a pinch of salt
170g carrot (peeled weight), grated
3 medium eggs
45g walnuts, chopped finely + more for decoration
125ml vegetable oil
2tsp ground hazelnuts (optional)
225g wholemeal flour
For the cream cheese frosting:
200g cream cheese (I used Philadelphia original)
150g icing sugar
100g softened butter

Grate the zest of 1 orange in a big mixing bowl, add a peeled banana and mash it with a fork. Add the baking powder, spices, demerara sugar, a pinch of salt, grated carrot, beat in the eggs, mix well. Add the chopped walnuts, oil, flour and ground hazelnuts. The original recipe asks for dessicated coconut, but I couldn't find any in my kitchen, so I have reduced the amount of vegetable oil to 125ml and added a couple of heaped teaspoons of ground hazelnuts. Mix all the ingredients together, and pour the cake batter into a well buttered round cake tin. Place the tin in an oven preheated to 200C and bake for about 45 minutes until golden brown (check if it's ready with a wooden toothpick).
Remove from the oven and leave it in the tin for 10 minutes before removing out of the tin to cool completely.
Slice the cake in half horizontally.
Make the frosting with the cream cheese, softened butter and icing sugar. Spread 1/3 on the lower layer of the cake, sandwich it and top up with the remaining frosting. Sprinkle some finely chopped walnuts on the top.
Enjoy!

In this recipe I used a Lurpak unsalted butter to make a delicious cream cheese frosting. For the tasty frosting you need the best ingredients - a quality butter and a decent cream cheese. I used Philadelphia original. In the past I have tried Light and Lightest Philly, but they didn't quite work. They might be less in calories but make a runnier frosting, so the choice is yours.

And that's my second bake for #GameOnCooks.
To encourage us to do more cooking, Lurpak has started a new Game On, Cooks campaign. It's challenging Brits to turn their screens off and ovens on. Their motto is "You're not a cook until you cook".

If you're curious about the vintage style magazine used in the photos, this is a replica magazine from 1950s Household pack from Historic Newspapers. This replica memorabilia pack is a splendid educational resource, great for a school project or for bloggers who might use them in vintage themed posts - be it a fashion or recipe post.
This pack contains a Ration Book, Timothy Whites Xmas brochure, household bills, TV and 1950s Radio brochure, housework ephemera, mini postcards, leaflets on Belling fires and kitchen cookers as well as advertising images. These colourful prints were carefully scanned and printed as close to the original as possible.
I love the random choice of items in this pack.
For someone who loves rummaging at the flea markets and vintage shops, looking for memorabilia, this is an inspiring little gift.

Curd cheese cake - #GameOnCooks

I used to watch a lot of cooking shows in the days before children. I would run home after work to watch Ready Steady Cook, does anyone even remember it? Later, when Eddie was a baby, I was quite addicted to Come Dine with Me, though I haven't watched it in the last couple of years.
GBBO attracts over 10 million viewers per episode every week, and though I have an occasional peek at it, I'm not the biggest fan.
When I read the research conducted by Lurpak that the average Brit spends more than five hours a week consuming food culture and cooking for just four hours, I thought, that's not me then, I don't watch TV much these days. But then if you add up the time I spend reading foodie blogs and cook books, and visiting Instagram and Pinterest, it could easily be more than five hours per week for me.
Though in my "defense" I must say I do a lot of cooking, definitely more than four hours per week, at least a double of that.
To encourage us to do more cooking, Lurpak has started a new Game On, Cooks campaign. It's challenging Brits to turn their screens off and ovens on. Their motto is "You're not a cook until you cook".

I love baking, so for this challenge I have picked a simple cake recipe.
It is based on a family favourite - ricotta cake - but this time I used a curd cheese rather than ricotta. And it was a great success.

Curd cheese cake
Ingredients:
zest of  1 orange, grated
3 eggs
200g caster sugar
200g curd cheese
1tsp baking powder
300g self-raising flour
100g butter, melted
1tsp vanilla bean paste

Grate the zest of 1 orange in a deep mixing bowl.
Beat in the eggs with the caster sugar, add curd cheese, baking powder, flour, vanilla bean paste and melted butter and mix well.
The cake batter is quite thick. Spoon it carefully in a well oiled cake tin. Put the bundt cake tin in an oven preheated to 180C for 45+ minutes (depending on the size of the bundt tin). Check with a wooden toothpick if it's ready. You might need to lower the temperature and bake it for another 10 minutes, until the skewer comes clean.
Sprinkle some icing sugar on the top.
Serve warm or cold. It will keep well for a couple of days, wrapped in foil.

You can swap the ingredients: curd cheese for ricotta, orange zest for lemon zest or even clementine.
I used Lurpak unsalted butter in this recipe, but any good quality butter will do.

Disclosure: I received a supermarket voucher to buy the ingredients to take part in the campaign.

Lurpak Infusions

It's funny just how brand-oriented some of our food choices are. If I'm baking cakes, I go for an Anchor butter, if I plan to make a batch of cookies, then a spread like Flora would find its way into my shopping basket. As for a morning toast, there is no - it must be Lurpak. We all love the salty buttery spread, which melts over a hot toast, creating a perfect combination of flavours.
Lurpak - a well known and much loved brand of butter and spreadable - has recently unveiled Lurpak Infusions, a blend of butter and rapeseed oil with added herbs and spices, all lightly whipped for the ease of spreading.
There are three new flavours - Chilli & Lime, Smoked Chipotle and Sea Salt & Pink Peppercorn.

Dan Lepard, a master of baking, has given his endorsement to the new range and offered his serving suggestions with such mouth-watering recipes as Hor Smoked Salmon on soda bread with Lurpak Spreadable Infusions Sea Salt & Pink Peppercorn, Lurpak Spreadable Infusions Smoked Chipotle & pulled pork bagel and Lamb kebab in pitta with Lurpak Spreadable Infusions Chilli & Lime.

Well, Dan is a celebrity chef with a magic touch, and has inspired many legions of fans.

But what can ordinary Mums - like me - who have a family to feed and a home to run do with the new spreadable flavours?

Sea Salt & Pink Peppercorn spread was probably my top favourite. It is meant to be ideal for paninis and soda bread.
The peppercorn smells and tastes very fresh, and looks so pretty, with specks of bright pink.

It added an extra flavour to a classic Reuben sandwich.

Apart from sandwiches, you can use it as an ingredient in all kinds of meals - from mains to side dishes.
For example, it gave a wonderful flavour to roasted baby carrots.

Smoked Chipotle spread is pastel orange in colour, easily spreadable, great for burrito-style wraps. It's not a spread with a delicate hint of chipotle, neither does it hit you with a heat wave, it's somewhere in between, flavourful and creamy.

The other day I cooked a roast chicken, and used Smoked Chipotle (about 3 heaped tbsp) to smother the chicken all over. If you enjoy your roast really hot, you might want to top up the chipotle or perhaps chop up a fresh chilli and add to the spread. To keep the chicken moist, add a whole red onion and halved lemon in the cavity too.
The gravy made with the chicken stock and the juice from the roast was tasty, with a hint of heat and smokiness, but not overwhelming.

I have added a smoked chipotle spread to a dish of fried courgettes and tomatoes cooked with garlic cloves and tomato paste. It works well with the vegetables.

Heat up a pitta bread in the toaster, slice in half, creating a pocket, spoon 2-3 tbsp of the courgette-tomato mix, add a chopped sausage.

Chilli & Lime combines the lime zest with the red hot chilli. Lovely in grilled cheese sandwiches, it is another creative cooking ingredient.

For a flavourful turkey stir fry, melt a couple of tablespoons of Chilli & Lime spread, add the strips of turkey and sliced sweet peppers, cook for about 10 minutes, stirring often. Serve with rice.

Have you tried new Lurpak Infusions? What did you cook with them?

Disclosure: I received three tubs of new Lurpak Infusions for the purposes of testing and reviewing. All opinions are mine.

Open sandwiches for tea

Cucumber sandwiches

Warmer weather just invites us to have tea outdoors. We're lucky to have an enclosed garden. It is so quiet and peaceful in our garden, pretty amazing if you think that the front of the house is facing a busy road. The old trees and greenery make our garden a perfect spot for a leisurely tea. Tea and cakes go well, but so do sandwiches. When I was asked to create freestyle sandwiches with Lurpak, my first thought was those quaint classic cucumber sandwiches.
Of course, there are cucumber sandwiches and there are cucumber sandwiches. They could be soggy little horrors, which are sometimes served at parties. But if you prepare them the right way, they are truly one of the simplest yet elegant and tasty British classic dishes. A national institution. And they're perfect for an afternoon tea, delicate and delicious yet not too filling so you have some space left for dinner later. They might quaint and Victorian, but don't discard them as an old-fashioned trend.

Choose a good sliced bread. My guys prefer Warburtons sliced bread for sandwiches. Sasha with his autism won't eat any other bread, which makes it tricky when we have to travel. Imagine how odd it might look to the airport check-in people, if they decide to open my suitcase. Probably nobody else takes sliced bread to Italy. Italians make all sorts of wonderful tasty breads, but their sliced bread is really not good at all. But going back to our cucumber sandwiches.

First prepare the cucumber. Peel it or leave the skin on. I actually prefer the skin on, especially with young cucumbers. Slice the cucumber thinly. It's up to you, whether you prefer it sliced in circles or thin ribbons. Or even cut into flower shapes with a cookie cutter, I have seen these sandwiches on Pinterest, they look cute, but of course, you waste some of the food by cutting it into fancy shapes.

I used an OXO Good Grips simple mandoline slicer (which I reviewed back in February, see my blog post Valentine's day menu) to slice the cucumber into thin strips. Arrange the slices on a big plate and sprinkle with salt. Leave it for 15 minutes, then pat dry the ribbons with a paper kitchen towel on both sides. The mandoline makes a fiddly job of even slicing very easy and quick.
Take the bread slices and remove the crusts. Butter each slice well.
We have tried many brands of butter spreads, and it's Lurpak that we go back to again and again. I believe it's one of the tastiest butter spreads.
Arrange the cucumber ribbons over the buttered bread, then cut the sandwiches into neat triangles.
If you have access to fresh flowers like primroses and violets, you might like to prettify your sandwiches with a few flowers. I have plenty of them in the garden, all organic and untreated by any chemicals, so they are safe to eat.

For a more substantial sandwich spread, go Scandi and prepare a platter of sandwiches with a herring butter. You will need some pickled herring either from the deli or get a variety in a jar. I like Elsinore Herrings in sweet & spicy marinade (found in Waitrose, but might be available in the other supermarkets or delis).

Rye bread & herring butter sandwiches

You will need rye bread for this simple Scandi-Russian fusion sandwiches. Both Russian and Scandinavian cuisine favour salted & pickled herring, and of course, a good rye bread is a must.
Finely chop the pickled herring and mix with soft butter spread and chopped fresh dill. Spread the herring butter over the sliced rye bread and decorate with more dill or lemon slices.
Tuck in at once!

In both recipes I used Lurpak spreadable Lighter slightly salted. It is a blend of Lurpak butter and vegetable oil. It is easily spreadable even straight from the fridge; contains no palm oil, hydrogenated fats, artificial colourings or preservatives.

What are your favourite open sandwiches?

Disclosure: I received a £5 supermarket voucher to cover the cost of products. All opinions are mine.

New Lurpak Cook's Range

We love Lurpak spreads which are a perfect match for a slice of toast, and I was very excited to hear about new Lurpak Cook's Range, which includes four different products: Clarified butter, Cooking Liquid, Cooking Mist and Lurpak Baking.
In the last week I have been testing two of the new products, Lurpak Cook's Range Cooking Mist and Clarified Butter.

Clarified butter brings back memories of the Russian markets with the dairy stalls which used to offer a great variety of dairy products, some of which are unknown beyond the Eastern Europe. Buxom sellers would grin and offer you to try their wares, and each one would try to convince you that their produce is the best. Clarified butter has always been popular in Russia. This was one of the ways of keeping the butter for longer, especially in the days before fridges.
Most grannies knew how to make their own clarified butter, which is though not difficult, requires patience.
If you haven't tried the clarified butter before, it is a concentrated pure butter from which the milk solids have been removed. It has a yellow colour and thicker texture than the standard butter.

It endures much higher temperatures than the standard butter, and can be used at higher cooking temperatures required to fry a steak, fish or potatoes. It is a versatile product, and it adds an amazing nutty flavour to the dishes cooked with it.

Cod fillets with fried potatoes was a simple but delicious meal.

Crumbed chicken cooked with clarified butter was also very tasty.

When I spotted these gorgeous looking mixed mushrooms in the supermarket, I knew they would be fab with the fried potatoes, and so they were. First fry the thinly sliced potatoes in the clarified butter (2 medium potatoes, 30g of clarified butter, sea salt, thyme). Add the mushrooms later and maybe another spoonful of clarified butter. Squeeze some fresh lemon juice over the pan.

Fried potatoes and mixed mushrooms

I have also used the clarified butter in a sweet dish, which I wanted to try after seeing a recipe for Dulce de leche coconut squares by Jagruti Dhanecha in Issue 27 of My Favourite Recipes. These coconut squares are very chewy and lovely with a cup of tea or coffee.

Dulce de leche coconut squares

Lurpak Cooking Mist is a sprayable liquid blend of Lurpak butter and rapeseed oil. "The spray mist is the perfect basting tool to make sure roasts are evenly glazed and crisp, and works brilliantly as a quick and efficient way to grease pans and tins. The mist can also be used as a glaze for the final flourish on pies too".
I haven't yet tried it on meat roasts, but the vegetables are coated evenly and efficiently. I cooked the butternut squash with a sprinkle of cinnamon. And yesterday I roasted the sweet potatoes and sweet peppers, which I later blitzed into a lovely light soup.

I loved both Lurpak products which I have tried. In fact, after I finished the tub of clarified butter which I received for testing, I have bought two tubs (on offer in Waitrose at the moment, two for £4).

Disclosure: I received two Lurpak products from their new Cook's range for the purposes of testing and reviewing. All opinions are mine.

Cod fillets in crumbs

Fried fish and potatoes... when it's done properly, it's one of the most satisfying meals. As I have mentioned already on my blog, these days I am going crazy for the clarified butter as introduced by Lurpak's new Cook's Range. I even tried it in a sweet dish (but I will do a separate post about it). To keep the prices down, go for the bag of frozen cod fillets (for example, Tesco has frozen cod for £3.25 for 5 fillets).

Cod fillets in crumbs
Ingredients:
2 Cod fillets (about 130g each)
1 egg
bread crumbs (from 3 slices of stale-ish bread)
1tsp grated lemon zest
1tsp finely chopped parsley
sea salt, pepper, thyme
2tbsp clarified butter
2 medium potatoes, thinly sliced
2 spring onions, chopped
2tbsp+ clarified butter

Start by slicing the potatoes thinly and frying in the clarified butter until golden and cooked through for about 15 minutes. Keep stirring them. If you like your fried potatoes chunky, you might need to parboil them first. Add the spring onions, finely sliced, in the last few minutes of cooking. Season with sea salt.
This is the most delicious way of cooking fried potatoes. Simple, easy but oh so tasty! The clarified butter takes this simple dish to a new level.

Pat dry the cod fillets, dip them in the beaten egg with chopped parsley, then coat in bread crumbs with finely grated lemon zest.
Heat the clarified butter in a frying pan, when it starts sizzling, put the cod fillets in it. Fry until the crumbs are golden brown on both sides for about 4-5 minutes on each side. Season with sea salt and pepper (I use the salt grinder with pepper and thyme, but this is optional).

You can substitute cod for any other white fish, if you like.

Crumbed chicken with crispy sage

Now that I have re-discovered the clarified butter, there's no stopping me. I chuck it into everything, and love its rich intense flavour. If you haven't seen it yet in the supermarkets, keep a eye on Lurpak's new Cooks Range of butter. The recipe for Crumbed Chicken which is cooked in the clarified butter is quite easy but totally lip-smackingly delicious.

Crumbed Chicken with crispy sage
Ingredients:
2 chicken breasts/fillets
2 cloves of garlic
a handful of thyme, chopped finely
1 egg
1tbsp chopped fresh herbs (parsley, thyme)
bread crumbs (made from 3 slices of bread)
2tbsp+ clarified butter
1 red onion, thinly sliced
sea salt, pepper
a handful of fresh sage leaves

Start by chopping the garlic with thyme leaves and spreading it all over the chicken fillets. Wrap in a cling film and leave to infuse for 30 minutes or an hour.
If making your own crumbs, take 3 slices of white bread, which is quite stale, but not completely dry either. You can just blitz them in the food processor, or just grate them, but be careful with your fingers.

Beat the egg, dip the chicken fillets or breasts in the egg and then in the crumbs, they should be covered well but not too thick-layered. Melt the clarified butter in a frying pan, and once it is sizzling hot, put the chicken fillets in it. Season them with sea and pepper. Cook for about half an hour or less, check with a wooden skewer if they are ready.
Slice the red onion and fry it with the chicken for the last ten minutes of cooking. Remove the chicken and onion on a plate with a paper kitchen towel. In the meantime fry the sage leaves until crispy, this will take literally a minute or two.
Serve with a fresh salad.

You can substitute the clarified butter with the olive oil, but the clarified butter gives this dish a deeper flavour and a delicious aroma.

Chicken liver pate with juniper berries

In the last few days I have been cooking with clarified butter, adding it to almost everything. It tastes delicious and has a lovely aroma. Add a dollop to a plain dish of boiled potatoes or fry the breaded fish fillets in it. It is also great for fried potatoes. I plan to do a series of recipe posts where I use the clarified butter, while today's recipe is a Chicken liver pate with juniper berries.

Chicken liver pate
Ingredients:
250g Chicken livers
80ml milk (or more)
2 banana shallots
2tbsp clarified butter (to fry)
1tsp ras el hanout (optional)
2tbsp brandy
50ml milk
sea salt with pepper
4tbsp+ clarified butter (to top up)
1tbsp or more of juniper berries (I use Schwartz juniper berries)

Defrost the chicken livers (if buying in the frozen ailse). Place them in a medium sized bowl and pour milk over them, leave for a couple of hours to soak. Discard the milk later. Finely slice a couple of banana shallots or one medium sized red onion. In a hot sizzling pan fry the livers and the onion together, stirring occasionally. Sprinkle with some ras el hanout spice mix, and season well with sea salt and pepper (ras el hanout is now widely available, for example, in Waitrose or Tesco, I love the exotic touch it adds to any meal).
The livers should be well browned but slightly pink inside (but not bleeding). Add a dash of brandy to the frying pan. Heat up the milk in a small pan. Blitz the chicken livers and onions with a hand blender or in a food processor, adding a bit of hot milk, a spoonful at a time, to reach the right consistency, not too thick but not runny either. Spoon your pate in a ceramic dish or bowl.
Melt the clarified butter and pour on top of the pate. Scatter a handful of juniper berries on top. Let it set, preferably overnight in the fridge (cover the bowl with a lid, or cling film).

In this recipe I used Lurpak clarified butter, which is a product in their brand new Cook's range. It is a versatile product, which adds a soft nutty flavour to many dishes. I liked it so much that I have already run out of the tub which was sent to me for testing, and bought two tubs today (they are on offer of 2 for £4 in Waitrose at the moment).

You can of course, make your own clarified butter if you have time. It is very common in Russia, and in the days when people didn't have fridges, the clarified butter would keep much longer in the larder than the "normal" butter.

Juniper berries add a touch of sweetness, but if you don't like them, add some peppercorns instead.
This pate is best served on wholemeal or multi-seeded bread.