Banana and guava jam cake

Just after Christmas I won a couple of food prizes on Instagram and Twitter. The Insta prize of a food hamper from Tropical Sun, including a lovely book of Caribbean recipes arrived promptly.
The Twitter prize from Cirio has never materialised, and after several attempts at communication I gave up. The excuses were rather unconvincing, and I still see them tweeting comps regularly. It doesn't put me off buying Cirio products, but I don't think I would bother with their giveaways any longer.

One of the exotic products from Tropical Sun was a jar of guava jam. It's a thick jam, which reminds me of the quince paste in flavour and texture. My guys are more of a strawberry/raspberry/black currant jam type of eaters, and were not enthusiastic about the guava jam.

Then I remembered that years ago we used to bake a sponge with jam mixed into the cake batter, with lots of soured cream.

This is a variation on the theme of the Russian jam cake, which I used to bake as a student, with soured cream (Smetana), 1 egg, flour, oil and any jam that was available (strawberry, raspberry or black currant).
Yet again, I had bananas going over-ripe, and a single pot of yogurt that nobody wanted to eat. I didn't include oil in the photo, but I did add it.

Rum adds a bit of a tropical flavour too. It has been suggested by my Twitter friend and queen of baking Antonia, who mentioned adding rum to the banana bread a couple of times.

Banana and guava jam cake
Ingredients:
2 bananas, mashed
100g demerara sugar
2 medium eggs
3 heaped tbsp guava jam
1 small pot of yogurt
juice of 1 orange
1tsp ground cinnamon
2tbsp spiced rum
50ml mild olive oil
250g self-raising flour
1tsp baking powder

Mash two peeled bananas with sugar, using a fork in a medium sized mixing bowl. Beat in the eggs and guava jam. Add a small pot of yogurt, orange juice and spices, rum, olive oil, flour and baking powder.
Mix all the ingredients together, and pour the cake batter in a well oiled bundt cake tin.

Place the tin in the oven preheated to 180C and bake for about 45 minutes (check if it's ready with a wooden toothpick).
Remove from the oven, leave in the tin for  several minutes before removing it out of the tin and letting it cool on the cooling rack.

What have you been baking recently?

3-ingredient scones for National Cream Tea day

The sun is out in full force, and today is a National Cream Tea day. Now, I might not be a proper Brit, but that's one of the aspects of Britishness I have embraced with enthusiasm. I love cream tea.
Scones with clotted cream and jam is one of the wonders of British food, which should definitely be celebrated and feted.
I love scones, but haven't eaten any recently. In fact, I think the last time we had them, was most likely last summer in Cornwall. Every time we go to stay for a week in Cornwall, we are greeted by a lovely stash of scones with clotted cream, jam, teabags and a bottle of milk. This kind gesture is always appreciated.
Though we love Cornwall, we do eat scones the Devon way. For me, spreading the clotted cream first makes the total sense.

In the last few weeks I kept coming across the 3-ingredient recipes of all kinds. I think there is a cook book published recently on the topic. One of the recipes that I have fancied trying was the easiest recipe for 3-ingredient scones.
I don't know who the original author is, but I'd like to shake their hand in gratitude. There are multiple blog posts and food sites (Good Housekeeping, Prima, even Mumsnet) with the same recipe, so in no way I'm taking the credit for this recipe.

All you need is self-raising flour, double cream and lemonade (for the exact quantities check the recipe out at Good Housekeeping post Cheat's lemonade scones, but as mentioned before, it appears on many sites).

I used Fentiman's Victorian lemonade in this recipe. You cannot actually taste the lemonade in the finished result, so don't worry about the scones tasting different.
They are delightfully light, fluffy and moreish.

Just mix together all the ingredients, roll out the dough on the work surface, dusted with flour, roll the dough into 2cm thickness, cut out scones, and bake at 180C for about 12+ minutes.

Serve with clotted cream and jam. And lots of tea, of course.

Are you celebrating the National Cream Tea day? And how do you eat your scones - the Cornish or Devonian way?

Sloe gin plum jam

We have two huge old plum trees in the garden, they blossom beautifully in spring, but all the fruit is way up too high to reach, even with a ladder. When the blue plums fall down on the path through the garden, it's usually the slugs who get to them first.
We also have a younger plum tree, a different variety, which produces sweet pink plums.
Last year many plums were ruined by the squirrel who comes to raid our hazelnuts. She also bites off the plums and just throws them on the ground.
I can see why they are called tree rats. Just look at this cute thug.

I did manage to pick about a kilo and a half of plums last week. We ate half of the juicy sweet plums, and the rest were turned into a sloe gin plum jam.
I like to add a bit of alcohol to preserves. I'm always tempted by the jars of strawberry prosecco jam or raspberry Cointreau preserve, or whisky marmalade, which typically appear in shops as gifts before Christmas. I like to give and receive them as gifts.

Sloe gin plum jam
Ingredients:
750g plums (stones removed)
750g preserving sugar
50g sloe gin
a blob of butter

Place the halved stoned plums in the medium sized pan, pour the sloe gin over the plums. Add the sugar, bring to boil, stirring all the time until the sugar dissolved. Lower the heat and simmer the plums for 10 minutes.
Bring to boil again, boil rapidly for 10 minutes, stirring regularly and skimming the scum.
Turn off the heat, add a blob of butter.
Let it rest for 10 minutes before ladling into sterilised jars.

In this recipe I used Gordon's sloe gin, but any sloe gin would do. You can't actually taste the alcohol in jam, it gives a lovely depth of flavour.

If you like this recipe, you might also like a recipe for Plum, sloe and vanilla jam.

Which preserves are you making this time of the year?

Curd cheese cake with buttercream frosting and jam

It's a contradiction - you wait and wait for holidays, but when they come, you find them as stressful as school days. This doesn't mean that I'm looking forward to back to school, early mornings and dash to the school.
In the last few days my husband was away on a conference or giving talks, whatever, I have lost track of his academic shenanigans. That meant, I had to cope with my guys on my own.
On Tuesday, our friend Jen took my boys and me by car to the garden centre. Both boys love going there and seemed very happy and relaxed.
I don't dare to venture out of the house with the boys on my own, as Sash is too quick for me now. We joke that he could easily win any sprint race. And so we stayed at home yesterday and today, which made both guys grumpy with me.
When I'm feeling stressed, I bake. I rummaged in the fridge and kitchen shelves, and found a container of curd cheese as well as the remains of the damson jam, which I bought for using in the Easter lamb recipe.

I have baked a curd cheese cake on many occasions, typically as a plain bundt cake, with just a dusting of icing sugar. This time I baked it in a standard spring cake tin, and added buttercream frosting and jam inside.

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
For buttercream frosting:
100g softened butter + icing sugar, enough to make a sweet frosting
jam of your choice (I used damson jam)

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 cake tin in an oven preheated to 180C for 40+ minutes (depending on the size of the cake 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.
Once cooled, slice in half. Spread one half with buttercream frosting, and jam on the other half. Sandwich two halves together.
Sprinkle some icing sugar on the top.
Serve with tea or coffee. It will keep well for a couple of days, wrapped in foil.

Since I used the remains of the jam in this recipe, I'm adding this post to #KitchenClearout linky hosted by Cheryl from Madhouse Family Reviews.

Strawberry Prosecco Jam

Late summer and autumn for me means making preserves. I mostly use just plain granulated sugar, as many berries have a high pectin content as it is and don't need any extra pectin.
I was recently asked to try a delightful recipe for Strawberry Prosecco Jam, which uses a jam sugar.
This summer preserve is delicious, sweet and refined, perfect with scones and clotted cream.
I used a big punnet of strawberries (750g), and adjusted the quantities of sugar and prosecco accordingly, which was enough for two big Kilner jars.

Strawberry Prosecco Jam (recipe courtesy of Tate & Lyle)
Prep 5 mins
Cooking 15-20 minutes
Makes 5 x 450g jars

150ml prosecco
1kg Tate & Lyle Jam Sugar
1kg strawberries

Put the prosecco, jam sugar and strawberries into a large heavy-based saucepan, placed over a low heat, stirring until the sugar is dissolved.
Increase the heat and boil steadily for 10 minutes, taking care to keep an eye on the jam to ensure it doesn't boil too rapidly.
Meanwhile, sterilize 4 x450g jars by washing them in hot soapy water, rinsing well, then placing them in a low oven at 150C/Fan 130c/gas mark 2 for 10 minutes.
Test the jam for setting point. To check, remove the saucepan from the heat, spoon a little jam onto a cold plate and leave for 2 minutes - it should wrinkle softly when your finger is pushed over the surface. If this point has not been reached, return the saucepan to the heat and continue to boil for another 2 minutes. Test as before until setting point is reached (you may need to test several times, though be patient, as this testing is crucial to achieve the correct consistency).
Pour the hot jam into the warm sterilised jars. leave to cool, then seal and label.

Check out his and other tasty recipes, using Tate & Lyle's products at Taste and Smile (link removed as comes as broken).

Cook's tip: Chill a stack of small plates in the fridge, so that you have a few lined up for checking the setting point.

Disclosure: I received a pack of jam sugar to try and test the recipe.

Royal Jam Tarts (recipe by Ruth Clemens for Patron's Lunch)

To honour the Queen's official birthday, this weekend is jam-packed with festivities and celebrations. Tomorrow is the day of the much-anticipated Patron's Lunch, which is being held to celebrate Her Majesty The Queen's 90th birthday and her patronage of over 600 charities and organisations. One of the biggest street parties ever will be taking place on The Mall, just outside Buckingham Palace in London.

If you cannot attend the big street party but would like to mark the occasion and perhaps bake something festive, how about the Royal Jam Tarts as created by Ruth Clemens of The Pink Whisk for Stork? Have a look at the selection of festive recipes on Baking with Stork recipe pages.

Royal Jam Tarts (recipe reproduced courtesy of Stork)
Ingredients:
170g plain flour
85g Stork with butter
30g caster sugar
2-3tbsp cold water
225g seedless raspberry jam (or seeded, like I did)
Oven temp 180C (fan)/200c/Gas mark 6
Makes 12
Freezing: suitable for freezing
Prep time: 20 minutes plus 30 minutes chilling
Bake time: 12-15 minutes

Method:
1. To make the pastry place the plain flour in a bowl with the Stork with Butter.
2. Rub the Stork with Butter into the flour using your fingertips until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.
3. Stir through the sugar.

4. Add the water a tablespoon at a time and work the pastry until it just comes together.
5. Knead lightly  until even, wrap in clingfilm and allow to chill in the fridge for 30 minutes.
6. Roll out the chilled pastry on a lightly floured work surface to approx 4mm in thickness and cut out 12 circles.
7. Line the recess of a shallow bun tray with the pastry circles.
8. Gather together the pastry trimmings and re-roll. Cut out 12 small crowns with a sharp knife.
9. Fill each pastry case with 1-2tsp of jam.
10. Top each tart with a pastry crown and bake in the oven for 12-15 minutes until golden.
11. Transfer to a wire rack and allow to cool. Serve.

Shortcrust pastry with Stork was very easy to make, and tasted lovely. Stork has even released a limited edition pack for Patron's Lunch.

I used a delicious raspberry and vanilla jam from a Culinary Couture range by Hawkshead Relish, making the Royal Jam Tarts, but any good quality raspberry jam will work in this recipe.

My men have loved the jam tarts. Eddie was eating them with such enthusiasm that some jam ended on the tip of his nose.

Yum!

Curd cheese cookies with jam

There are many Russian recipes, using cottage cheese or curd cheese, which is an excellent ingredient for both sweet and savoury baking.  The other day got a big tub of curd cheese in Waitrose deli just for 45p, and since I wanted to bake some Russian-style cookies for a long time, this was a good chance to use the cheese. Curd cheese cookies are lovely with a raspberry or apricot jam, but made with Christmas preserve with mulled wine (a new tasty jam from Mackays) they were elevated to a different level. I say "were" because there is less than a half left already, and there were over 20 earlier this morning.

Curd cheese cookies with jam (makes 20+ cookies)
Ingredients:
80g caster sugar
150g butter, softened
a pinch of salt
30g ground almonds
300+g plain flour
270g curd cheese
Mackays Christmas preserve with mulled wine (about 300g, almost a whole jar)
a bit of milk, less than 2tbsp

In a big mixing bowl beat the softened butter with caster sugar and a pinch of salt. Add the ground almonds, flour, curd cheese and mix well. First use a fork, then your hands to knead the dough. It is pliable but quite thick dough. Roll it in a big ball, and place in the fridge for 15 minutes.
Divide the dough ball in half, roll out the dough to 5mm thickness and cut small squares with a knife (about 9x9cm). Place a teaspoon of jam on each square and fold two sides to make an open envelope. Brush a bit of milk over the side where the flap goes over, to "glue" the sides.
Place the cookies on trays covered with the oiled foil or parchment paper and bake in the oven preheated to 200C for about 20 minutes. Check after 15 minutes if the cookies are golden in colour, they might be ready by then,

Take the trays out of the oven, let them cool for about 3 minutes, if you can wait that long. They are delicious hot and cold, with tea or coffee.

I used Mackays Christmas preserve with mulled wine in this recipe, but any good quality raspberry or apricot jam will do. New jam from Mackays is made from strawberries, raspberries, black currants, red currants, red wine among the other ingredients. This festive jam made with whole fruit has a great taste and smells lovely too of mulled wine. It's another fabulous new addition to Mackays' range of scrummy goodies.

These cookies will make a nice foodie gift. They will keep for a few days in a closed container but don't cook them too far in advance.

Disclosure: I received a few jars of new preserves for the purposes of creating a recipe.

Fig and almond crostata

Our weekly fruit and vegetable market is just on my way to school, and if you visit it later in the day, almost at closing time, you can get really good bargains. As I was passing through the market last Thursday, I could hear the fruit vendor shouting at the top of his voice "10 figs for £3!" and couldn't resist such a nice offer. I got my fresh figs, picked up my younger son from school, and we rushed home to wait for the school bus, bringing my older son home. My initial plan was to make some fig chutney, but then I happened to discover a recipe for fig and almond confiture with Vin Santo on Simona's Kitchen blog. It looked delightfully sophisticated and I just had to try it. After I made a big jar, I used the confiture as a filling for a crostata for yesterday's lunch.

Do read Simona's recipe, I followed her advice closely enough, though I had to adapt it to suit the amount of figs, and change some ingredients slightly.

I used a dark variety of figs. When I weighed them, the total weight was 750g. The original recipe suggested that sugar should be roughly half the weight if figs. I didn't have enough of Vin Santo, only leftovers in the bottle, so I mixed it with Muscat wine.
Please read Simona's recipe for the precise list of ingredients.
I soaked the quartered figs in sugar and sweet wine overnight, then cooked for half an hour with the almonds and 4 Rose Extract Spice Drops (added by the end of cooking).

Rose Extract Spice Drops from Holy Lama are a concentrated essence of rose. You literally need just a few drops to add a beautiful aroma and enhance the taste. Rose is a trendy ingredient nowadays, though I have been using it quite a while. I always dry the rose petals from my garden to add to my cooking. Rose Spice Drops have an exquisite smell, I can probably wear it as a perfume.
Going back to my confiture, it was simply luscious, sweet, elegant and very tasty.

As for the crostata, I used a ready-made Jus-Rol shortcrust pastry. I might not get any points from the virtuous cooks and judges at GBBO for using a ready-made pastry (Quelle Horreur! Sacrilege!), but my family loved my dessert. My in-laws are visiting us this week, and they enjoyed my baking very much. I served it with cream, and once I finished my slice and took an empty plate back to the kitchen, I couldn't resist licking my plate. Yes, it was that good.

If you don't have fresh figs, there is a similar recipe for a crostata made with dried figs soaked in marsala, and very tasty it is as well.

Plum, sloe and vanilla jam

The Indian summer is here, and it's a perfect time for foraging. Wild berries and fruit are now out in abundance, and who doesn't like free food?! Sloes are quite ripe already, much earlier this year than usual. I know people tend to pick them after the first frosts for making sloe gin. But I am not a fan of gin. I know it is trendy nowadays, but in my mind it is forever associated with the Hogarth's Gin Lane. Sloes' main claim to fame is it use in sloe gin, but surely there are other ways of using this tart fruit with shiny dark blue skin. Walking yesterday into town, my son Eddie and I went through the fields near our house and I have picked a punnet of sloes.

Plum, sloe and vanilla jam (makes 4+ assorted jars)
Ingredients:
400g sloes
1200g plums
1400g sugar (I used 1kg of preserving sugar and 400g of granulated sugar)
4 Vanilla extract Spice Drops
a blob of butter.

Cover the sloes with water in a deep pan, bring to boil and cook for 15 minutes on low. Once the sloes are soft and mushy, remove the pan, let it cool a bit and strain through a sieve. Use a wooden spoon to push the sloes around the sieve to get as much juice as possible. I ended up with 350ml sloe juice.
If you like you jam smooth and skin-free, skip this stage altogether, and cook the plums and sloes together before straining them, so that the skins are left in the sieve. I prefer to have a bit of a bite in my plum jam, and love plum skins and pieces.
Place the stoned and quartered plums in the deep pan, pour the sloe liquid over the plums. Bring to boil. Lower the heat and simmer the plums for 15 minutes. Add all the sugar, stir on low heat until all sugar has dissolved. I used a mix of preserving and granulated sugar, by all means use whichever you prefer, just preserving or just granulated.
Bring to boil again, boil rapidly for 10 minutes, stirring regularly and skimming the scum (though it is a shame to call the pink sweet foam scum; in fact don't throw it, is is lovely on toast or in croissants). Add 4 Vanilla Extract Spice Drops if using (or a tbsp of vanilla essence).
 Turn off the heat, add a blob of butter.
Let it rest for 10 minutes before ladling into sterilised jars).

I used Vanilla Extract Spice Drops in this recipe. Spice Drops are a new range of concentrated extracts of natural spices. They are not alcohol based, but are very concentrated extracts of natural spices. You literally need just a few drops to enhance food and drink. I have recently received a couple of spices for testing and reviewing.


Adding my jam recipe to Four Seasons linky hosted by Delicieux and Eat Your Veg.

The Vegetable Palette on Allotment2Kitchen blog this month is everything Purple, so I am adding this recipe too.