Triple Ginger Bundt Cake

GIngerbread is a big deal in my family, a really big deal. My grandmother, Nanna, had a version that was made once a week, a firm family favourite, it is one of those recipes that I will cherish and bake forever. Even though she passed away when I was little I have her handwritten recipe and make it often. It helps that it is incredibly easy to make, a simple wet into dry, muffin style method, and I do love a recipe that massively exceeds in taste the effort required to make it. Whilst I have a lot of loyalty to that recipe for this gingerbread I wanted a slightly different tone, something darker, more intense, something similar to my other favourite gingerbread recipe; the legendary ginger stout cake from Claudia Fleming, a recipe she developed whilst the pastry chef at The Gramercy Tavern. The recipe appears in her out of print of book The Last Course, a copy of which I am lucky to own (it is currently being sold on amazon for £138!). Similarly to Flemings recipe mine is oil based and uses a stout to give extra depth, instead of the usual go-to guinness I went with a chocolate stout. To give a darker, richer flavour I switched my recipe from golden syrup to black treacle and upped the spicing, using a trifecta of ginger in the form of ground, fresh and candied, I wanted this to be a properly fiery gingerbread. 

Triple Ginger Bundt Cake
Serves 12-16

340g plain flour
2 tbsp ground ginger
1 tsp mixed spice
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground cardamom
1/4 tsp freshly ground nutmeg
1 tsp baking soda
pinch of salt
175g vegetable oil
150g light brown sugar
2 tbsp freshly grated ginger
4 tbsp roughly chopped candied ginger
340g black treacle (or molasses)
200ml stout (I used chocolate stout but any stout will work) 
2 large eggs

Making this cake really couldn't be easier, simply preheat the oven to 180C (160C fan) and take a a 10-cup bundt pan, I used Nordicware's Kougelhopf pan, and lightly grease, making sure to cover the entire pan right into all of the crevices of the pan. Lightly dust the inside of the pan with a little flour, tapping out any excess.  

In a large bowl mix together all of the dry goods. Add the remaining ingredients, except the eggs, into a saucepan and heat over medium heat cooking until the sugar has melted and everything is evenly combined. Remove from the heat and allow to cool slightly before whisking in the eggs. Pour the liquid goods over the flour mixture and whisk briefly until smoothly combined. Pour into the prepared bundt pan and place onto a baking tray, baking in the preheated oven for about 45-50 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean. Allow the cake to cool in the pan for 10 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely. If you fancy you can glaze or frost the cake but personally I think a simple dusting of icing sugar works perfectly. 

As with all gingerbread recipes this actually improves after a couple days, the flavour gets better and the cake gets stickier. 

Cranberry Meringue Roulade with Orange Mascarpone

During the Christmas festivities we put a lot of pressure on ourselves to make elaborate meals with fancy desserts that take time and effort to make. Nothing wrong with that but per se but sometimes that effort and time means less time spent with family and friends, to enjoy the holiday. This dessert is perfect for those of us that want something delicious but also something that is quick and simple to prepare. If you've never made a meringue roulade before don't fret, they are fairly forgiving and as they are prone to the occasional crack, embrace them and forget about perfection, rustic is the name of the game with this recipe.

Cranberry Compote

200g cranberries, fresh or frozen

75g caster sugar

juice of 1 lemon

Roulade

4 large eggs

225g caster sugar

a few drops of lemon juice

1 tsp almond extract

1 tsp cornflour

4 tbsp flaked almonds

Orange Mascarpone Cream

250ml double cream

225g mascarpone

zest of 1 large orange

Preheat the oven to 180C (160C fan).

To make the compote place the cranberries into medium sized saucepan along with the sugar and lemon juice. Cook over a medium/high heat until the cranberries have released a lot of juice and it has reduced to a syrupy consistency, roughly 5-10 minutes. Remove from the heat, pour into a small container, cover, and refrigerate until needed. This compote is sharp from the cranberries and lemon juice but don't be tempted to add more sugar, the sweetness of the meringue and the creaminess of the mascarpone balance this out beautifully.

To make the roulade, lightly grease a 37x26cm rimmed baking tray (the exact size is not crucial but if you you go much smaller the meringue will be very thick and hard to roll and much bigger the meringue will be thin and will crack more than expected) and line with a piece of parchment paper allowing a little excess to go up the sides of the tray, the meringue will rise a little as it bakes and you don’t want to end up with the roulade glued to the rim of the tray. To make the roulade, place the egg whites into a large bowl and mix with an electric whisk on high speed until the egg white is foamy. Slowly add the sugar, a tablespoon at a time, whisking until the meringue holds stiff peaks. Add the almond extract and cornflour and whisk briefly to combine. Spread the meringue evenly over the prepared baking tray and sprinkle with the flaked almonds. Bake in the preheated oven for about 30 minutes or until the meringue is lightly browned and feels firm to the touch, don't worry the meringue will be soft and pillowy underneath meaning it will be easy to roll.

Remove the roulade from the oven and immediately turn it out onto another sheet of parchment paper, peeling off what was the original lining. Allow the meringue to cool.

For the mascarpone filling, add the mascarpone and orange zest to a large bowl and beat together until the mascarpone is soft. In a separate bowl whisk the cream until it barely holds it shape. Fold the cream into the mascarpone in two or three additions, as you add the cream and mix it together the mixture should become a little stiffer, you want a soft cloud like mixture, that perfect light whipped cream consistency.

To assemble the roulade spread the cream evenly over the meringue and top with dollops of the compote, lightly swirling to combine. Gently roll the roulade into a tight spiral, using the parchment to help tease the meringue into shape. Don’t worry that the outside will crack a little, its part of the charm of a meringue roulade and perfection is overrated anyway.

To finish dust with a little icing sugar or top with a few extra cranberries. Serve on the day made, refrigerating until needed if not serving straight away.

Black Charcoal Doughnuts

If you have been following me on social media (basically lots of cake pictures. You know, the good stuff!) then you know Kitchenaid challenged me to come up with a recipe inspired by their limited edition Black Tie Standmixer, which you can find out about here. Well, this is that recipe. A doughnut turned ink black, using charcoal powder, filled with a delicious chocolate pastry cream, perfect for halloween next week!

Black Charcoal Doughnuts
500g strong white bread flour
50g light brown sugar
1 tsp fine salt
7g dried fast action yeast
25g black bamboo charcoal powder
4 large eggs
150ml whole milk
250g unsalted butter, diced and at room temperature

Dark Chocolate Custard
500ml whole milk
2 large eggs
4 large egg yolks
200g caster sugar
30g cocoa powder
30g cornflour
75g dark chocolate, roughly chopped

To make the chocolate custard place the milk into a large saucepan and heat over medium heat until it comes to a boil. Meanwhile whisk together the eggs, egg yolks, light brown sugar, cocoa and cornflour until smooth. Pour over the hot milk and whisk to combine. Scrape the custard back into the pan and cook, whisking constantly until the custard has thickened. Scrape the custard into a bowl and add the chocolate, mixing together until melted and combined. Press a sheet of clingfilm onto the surface of the custard and refrigerate until needed. 

To make the doughnut dough place the flour, light brown sugar, salt, yeast and charcoal powder into the bowl of a Kitchenaid Stand Mixer, fitted with the dough hook and mix together to combine. Pour in the milk and the eggs and with the mixer turned to low mix together to form a shaggy dough. Knead on low/medium speed for about 10-15 minutes or until the dough is elastic and pulling away from the sides of the bowl. Start to add the butter a couple pieces at a time, until fully combined. Once the butter has been combined continue to knead until the dough is elastic again and pulling away from the sides of the bowl. This will take about 10-15 minutes. 

At this stage place the dough into a lightly greased bowl, covering with clingfilm, allow to rise until doubled in size. You can either do this at room temperature which will take around an hour or you can refrigerate the dough for about 8-10 hours. 

Tip out the risen dough and divide into 16 equal sized pieces and form into rounds. Set each ball of dough onto a square of parchment paper and flatten slightly with the palm of your hand. Lightly cover with clingfilm and allow to rise until almost doubled in size. To test if the doughnuts are ready for frying press one with your finger. It should spring back slowly, if it springs back quickly it needs to rise longer. 

Fill a large saucepan about 1/2 full with a neutral oil and heat over medium heat to 180C. Once the oil is at temperature turn the heat down to low so that the heat stays at 180C. Add the doughnuts 2 or 3 at a time frying for 5 minutes, flipping half way through cooking. As the doughnuts are black it is hard to tell if they are fully cooked so it is best sticking to the temperature and timings quite closely. Set the doughnuts onto a plate lined with kitchen roll to drain any excess oil. Whilst still a little warm toss in caster sugar. Set aside and allow to cool fully.

To finish use a small knife to cut a slit in the side of each doughnut. Place the custard into a piping bag fitted with a bismarck tip (a long thin piping tip used for filling doughnuts) and fill generously. These doughnuts are best served on the day they are made. 

Matcha Oreos

Makes 20-25

Oreo Cookies
275g plain flour
40g cocoa powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp fine sea salt
200g unsalted butter
125g caster sugar
125g light brown sugar

Matcha White Chocolate Ganache
300g white chocolate
200ml double cream
2 tsp matcha powder

Preheat the oven to 180C (160C fan) and line two baking trays with parchment paper. 

To make the cookies place the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt into a bowl and mix together to combine. Add the butter and sugars into a large bowl and using an electric mixer beat together for a couple minutes until everything is combined. Add the flour mixture and on low speed mix until the flour has just been incorporated into the butter, stopping when the dough is still very crumbly but only once you can no longer see any flour. Tip the crumbly dough out on the work surface and carefully bring together into a dough. Divide into two equal pieces and working with one piece at a time roll out between two pieces of parchment paper until about 4-5mm thick. Place the dough onto a baking tray and refrigerate for am hour until firm. 

When chilled use a 5cm round cookie cutter to cut out as many cookies as possible, placing on the prepared baking trays, a couple cm's apart. You can gather the scraps together and re-roll as above once but any more and the cookies will become tough. 

Bake the cookies in the preheated oven for 10-11 minutes. As they are chocolate it is hard to tell when they are done but they will be set around the outside and a little soft. When they bake they also puff up a little so as soon as they are removed from the oven press with the back of a glass so they are nice and flat. 

Whilst the cookies are cooling make the ganache. Place the chocolate into a large bowl and set aside. Add the cream and matcha to a saucepan and bring to a simmer, stirring vigorously to dissolve the tea. Once the cream is at temperature pour over the chocolate and leave alone for a couple of minutes before stirring together to form a vibrant green ganache. Press a sheet of clingfilm onto the surface of the ganache and refrigerate for an hour or so until a pipeable consistency. Place the ganache into a piping bag fitted with a small round piping tip and use to sandwich the cookies together.

Kept in a sealed container these cookies will keep for up to three days.