Double cherry almond cake

Can you believe it's over 6 months since I last posted anything on this blog? It's amazing how quickly times flies - the truth is that while I've kind of missed posting new recipes, I've also felt some relief to be able to ignore the tyranny of the blog itself. (Kind of. Obviously, since I'm posting a recipe now, I've not exactly totally escaped the tyrant!) Anyway, my husband keeps saying that it would be a shame to shut down this blog, considering how many years I've been keeping it going. I guess that's true, too. 

So, I made this cake because Pete loves maraschino cherries. I'd bought a big bag of these in the run-up to Christmas 2013, and while I did use some in fruit cake and Christmas cake, I've also been half toying with the idea of throwing the remainder of the cherries away. It's their sticky sweetness that puts me off. 

Pete would have been happy if I'd used just those cherries in a cake, but that really did not appear to me one bit. So I compromised by using the maraschinos, but also added Kirsch-soaked Morello cherries (I thought I had some dried sour cherries, but turns out not) that were lurking in my dried fruits container. Again left over from last Christmas, but no complaints there. 

For some crunch, and because I like nuts in my cakes to cut through the sweetness, I used flaked almonds both in the cake batter and in the topping. Of course, since this was baked in a Bundt pan, the "topping" is really the "bottoming", to coin a phrase. Doesn't sound particularly graceful, but that's how it hangs, my friends. In other words, you sprinkle the almonds in the pan, pour the batter on top, bake the cake, invert the baked cake - and voila, the bottoming is now the much nicer topping!



This cake smelt to me like a combination of sweet bread and cake all at once, while baking. No idea why, but it was lovely. The texture of the cake is moist and moreish, and the combination of the dark Morello cherries and the jewel-coloured maraschinos in every slice made the cake look beautiful!



 
Recipe for: Double cherry almond cake

Ingredients:

1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup ground almonds

1 cup butter at room temperature

1 cup Quark (you can use cream cheese)

1 cup white sugar

1/2 cup maraschino cherries

1/2 cup kirsch-soaked Morello cherries (or plain dried Bing cherries)

4 eggs

3 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

2 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp almond extract

1/3 cup + 2 tbsp flaked almonds

Method:

1. Butter and flour an 8" Bundt pan and knock off the excess flour. Sprinkle the 2 tbsp flaked almonds evenly on the bottom of the cake pan. Preheat the oven to 165 degrees C. 

2. Mix together the flour, salt and baking powder, and set aside.

3. Beat the butter and sugar together until fluffy and light, then beat in the Quark and flavourings. 

4. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then mix in the flour until just combined. Stir in the maraschino and Morello cherries as well as the flaked almonds. 

5. Dollop the cake batter into the prepared Bundt pan. Tie or pin a wet towel around the cake pan. This helps the cake to rise evenly and not "dome" too quickly or crack. 

6. Bake the cake for about 70 minutes, testing with a skewer to see if it is done. If the top of the cake browns too quickly, cover it with a piece of foil. The cake is done when a tester or skewer poked into it comes out clean. 

Leave the cake in the pan for 5 minutes, then turn it out onto a cooling rack. Let ir cool for 15 minutes or so, then slice and serve.

Blueberry nectarine cake

“Perfectly ripe nectarines – ready to eat now” is what the label on the package said. HA! The nectarines were anything but perfectly ripe… and unless you like your tongue twisting itself into a knot while your eyes do the Lalita Pawar squint, they most certainly were NOT ready to eat “now” or any time in the near future. Man, were they sour or what!

So there were these four nectarines taking up valuable fridge space and not getting any riper for being in there… and I had to do something with them before I forgot about them. Naturally, the first thing that came to mind was “CAKE”. To my husband’s mind, that is, not mine.

To add to the nutrition quota of fresh fruit cake (and thereby pay lip service to the "healthy" aspect), I threw in a cupful of blueberries left over from a previous muffin making day.

I have only one thing to say about the cake – actually, it’s Pete’s thing I’m going to say because I don’t want to sound like I’m praising my own effort – “It’s sensational”.

I think that about covers my opinion, too.

Recipe for: Blueberry nectarine cake

Ingredients:
1 cup butter/margarine, softened
1 cup sugar
3 large eggs
1/3 cup cream/milk
1-1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
4 tbsp flaked almonds
1-1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup fresh blueberries
2 large nectarines, chopped

Method:
1. Beat butter/margarine until creamy. Gradually add sugar, beating until light and fluffy.

2. Add eggs, one at a time, beating just until the yolk disappears.

3. Add vanilla, beating just until blended.

4. Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt. Gradually add flour mixture to butter mixture, stirring well.

5. Add cream/milk and stir it in, then beat the batter fo 2 minutes till well blended.

The batter will be fairly thick.

6. Gently fold in nectarines and blueberries. Pour batter into a deep 8" round cake pan.

7. Sprinkle the flaked almonds evenly over the top, then press them in lightly. Not ALL the way in, but just enough that the batter rises over the edges when the cake is in the oven.

8. Bake at 180°C for 40 minutes or so, until a wooden pick inserted in centre comes out clean. Cool the cake in the pan for 10 minutes, then turn it out onto a wire rack.

Serve warm. For a decadent option, serve warm with vanilla-flavoured double cream.

Note: For the best taste, warm every subsequent cake slice for 20-30 seconds in the microwave before serving.

RECIPE: BLUEBERRY NECTARINE CAKE

Ingredients:
1 cup butter/margarine, softened
1 cup sugar
3 large eggs
1/3 cup cream/milk
1-1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
4 tbsp flaked almonds
1-1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
2 large nectarines, chopped
1 cup fresh blueberries


Method:
1. Beat butter/margarine until creamy. Gradually add sugar, beating until light and fluffy.
2. Add eggs, one at a time, beating just until the yolk disappears.
3. Add vanilla, beating just until blended.
4. Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt. Gradually add flour mixture to butter mixture, stirring well.
5. Add cream/milk and stir it in, then beat the batter fo 2 minutes till well blended. The batter will be fairly thick.
6. Gently fold in nectarines and blueberries. Pour batter into a deep 8" round cake pan.
7. Sprinkle the flaked almonds evenly over the top, then press them in lightly. Not ALL the way in, but just enough that the batter rises over the edges when the cake is in the oven.
8. Bake at 180°C for 40 minutes or so, until a wooden pick inserted in centre comes out clean. Cool the cake in the pan for 10 minutes, then turn it out onto a wire rack. For a decadent option, serve warm with vanilla-flavoured double cream.
Note: For the best taste, warm every cake slice for 20-30 seconds in the microwave before serving.

Brown rice chakkara pongal

My two pennies on the matter of brown-rice chakkara pongal: It takes longer to cook but tastes chewier and better than regular chakkara pongal.

Other points to note:

1. It might not take YOU as long as it did me to cook the brown rice, even in a pressure cooker, if you know:
a) how long it takes to cook brown rice, and
b) how much liquid to add per measure of brown rice so that it is not just perfectly cooked, but perfectly overcooked (as required for pongal).

2. Following on from 1(b) above - and if 1(a) and (b) don’t apply to you, the way they didn’t to me - your pressure-cooked brown rice+dal might be slightly swimming in milk. This will not matter if:
a) You boil the heck out of the pongal to reduce down the excess milk to the consistency you like, and
b) You like your chakkara pongal to be slightly runny even when cold, rather than so thick that you can slice it.

3. I substituted flaked almonds for the more traditional cashewnuts because I didn’t have the more traditional cashewnuts. You don’t have to do what I did. Especially if you DO have cashewnuts.

With these facts and caveats to hand, you may now go on to the

Recipe for: Brown rice chakkara pongal


Ingredients:

1 tbsp moong dal
3 tbsp brown basmati rice
1/4 cup jaggery
Seeds from 3 cardamom pods
1-1/2 cups milk
2 tbsp flaked almonds
2 tbsp raisins
1 htsp ghee
About 1/4 cup water

Method:

1. Toast the moong dal in a pan, shaking it frequently so that the dal doesnt burn, until the dal changes to a darker colour.


2. Pressure cook the dal, rice and milk for at least 5 whistles, preferably turning down the heat after 3 whistles and letting it simmer for 10 minutes before turning up the heat again.

3. Let the pressure reduce on its own before opening the cooker. Mash the rice and dal a bit - it's ok if there's some milk left in the container.


4. Meanwhile, heat the ghee in a pan and fry the raisins and almond flakes until toasted light brown. Remove from the heat and pour onto the milk-dal mixture.

5. Now place the jaggery and water in a pan and let the jaggery dissolve.
Once it is dissolved and the water is bubbling,
pour the milk-dal mixture into it and stir well.

If the chakkara pongal is runny, let it simmer for 5-10 minutes or till the pongal thickens. (It will thicken a bit more on cooling.)

Serve warm.

RECIPE: BROWN RICE CHAKKARA PONGAL

Ingredients:

1 tbsp moong dal
3 tbsp brown basmati rice
1/4 cup jaggery
Seeds from 3 cardamom pods
1-1/2 cups milk
2 tbsp flaked almonds
2 tbsp raisins
1 htsp ghee
About 1/4 cup water

Method:

1. Toast the moong dal in a pan, shaking it frequently so that the dal doesnt burn, until the dal changes to a darker colour.
2. Pressure cook the dal, rice and milk for at least 5 whistles, preferably turning down the heat after 3 whistles and letting it simmer for 10 minutes before turning up the heat again.
3. Let the pressure reduce on its own before opening the cooker. Mash the rice and dal a bit - it's ok if there's some milk left in the container.
4. Meanwhile, heat the ghee in a pan and fry the raisins and almond flakes until toasted light brown. Remove from the heat and pour onto the milk-dal mixture.
5. Now place the jaggery and water in a pan and let the jaggery dissolve. Once it is dissolved and the water is bubbling, pour the milk-dal mixture into it and stir well. If the chakkara pongal is runny, let it simmer for 5-10 minutes or till the pongal thickens. (It will thicken a bit more on cooling.) Serve warm.