Raisin Cake with Apple Syrup {recipe} *inspired by The Cruel Prince by Holly Black

My life is always torn between books and baking and on occasion they merge.

This is one of those occasions.

The Cruel Prince was released early this year and everyone went mad for it. I love Holly Black, her Curse Worker series being one of my all time favorites, however fairies and the world of the Faerie have never been my first choice in supernatural worlds, genre, or whatever.

The book is clever and deserves all the praise it has received and I will probably read the rest of the series/trilogy but, I will do so in my own time. One thing about the Faerie world that I like best is the food. Note that if you are a human living in Faerie you sprinkle all your food with salt to counter act any spells or enchantments that may have been placed on the food. After that you are free to enjoy the delicious food they provide, the author mentions our heroine or anti-heroine (Holly Black writes a great anti-hero) eating a raisin cake with apple syrup and I literally had a light bulb moment.

Even if you haven't read the book this cake is worth a try. My apple syrup is a little thick and that was due to my timing of taking pictures, life of a blogger. So, the syrup can be made looser or thicker to match your preference.

Raisin Cake:

160g raisins
60ml apple juice
185g self-raising flour
60g plain flour
150g butter, cubed
140g light brown sugar
3 large eggs, lightly beaten
apple syrup to serve (recipe below)

Heat the oven to 180C/350F - Start by soaking the raisins in the apple juice and leave aside for 10 minutes. While they chilling and soaking up all that juice line the base of a deep 7 in (17cm) round cake tin grease the sides of your tin, I always very lightly grease the baking paper too.

Melt the butter and sugar on a low heat, stirring occasionally until the sugar is dissolved. While it's melting sift both of the flours into a large mixing bowl. Once the butter and sugar mixture is done mix with the raisins and then add to the flour. Add the eggs to the mixture and stir with a spatula/wooden spoon until just combined.

Spoon the mixture into the prepared tin, smooth it down as best as you can. Bake for 45-55 minutes, use the skewer test to confirm it's baked through. It will brown quicker then it will cook, so keep the golden brown color you want place a piece of tin foil over the top to help stop it from burning or becoming too dark on the top.

Leave to cool and make the apple syrup.

Apple Syrup:

2 tart apples, cored, peeled, and sliced thin
100g sugar
1 tbsp ground cinnamon
2 tbsp water

Place all of the ingredients in a saucepan over a medium/high heat and bring to a boil before reducing the heat to low and simmer for 10 minutes or until the apples are soft and the sauce has thickened.

If you aren't using immediately take off the heat and place in a separate bowl as I left it and it thickened a little more then I would have liked. But it's all a personal preference!

Then pour over a slice of raisin cake and enjoy!

The Cruel Prince by Holly Black
synopsis - Of course I want to be like them. They're beautiful as blades forged in some divine fire. They will live forever.
And Cardan is even more beautiful than the rest. I hate him more than all the others. I hate him so much that sometimes when I look at him, I can hardly breathe.
One terrible morning, Jude and her sisters see their parents murdered in front of them. The terrifying assassin abducts all three girls to the world of Faerie, where Jude is installed in the royal court but mocked and tormented by the Faerie royalty for being mortal. 
As Jude grows older, she realises that she will need to take part in the dangerous deceptions of the fey to ever truly belong.
But the stairway to power is fraught with shadows and betrayal. And looming over all is the infuriating, arrogant and charismatic Prince Cardan . . . 

*All opinions are my own, I bought my own copy of The Cruel Prince from amazon for my Kindle. For more information see my contact/policy page above!

Happiness in the form of Udi's Gluten Free Food

Udi’s, a gluten-free brand launching here in the UK, has the simple goal of creating the best gluten-free foods on the planet!

From what I've tried I have to say I don’t doubt they will achieve that goal! Considering they have already conquered the USA. 

Their mission is to provide those who suffer with Coeliac diseases, gluten sensitivities, or those who just want to cut down on gluten in their diets for a healthier lifestyle tasty alternatives.

Alternatives that will bring smiles to their faces and happiness in their hearts.

There will be two kinds of reactions to that last sentence; those who understand completely and those who just don’t.

Good food of any kind warms the soul, am I right? And those who suffer from food sensitivities or allergies shouldn't have to miss out.

My friend’s boss is a Coeliac and he can’t have dairy. She asked me as a special surprise for his birthday to make him some cupcakes. I managed to whip some up and gave him “the best cupcakes he has ever had.” It also gave him something he usually had to miss out on, birthday (cup)cake!

What I did for my friend’s boss and what Udi’s is doing for others like him, who have problems with gluten, is the exact same thing. We're giving them a chance to enjoy food! The only difference is they are doing it on universal scale!

I was sent a hamper of the first products they are lunching here in the UK, they are already very successful across the pond in America. After trying out everything they sent I look forward to their success and range widening here in the UK.

My favorite was the Cinnamon Sugar Bagel Chips; they made a perfect morning snack. My two little ones ate up the Toaster Pastries, Chocolate Chip muffin, Toffee muffin, and bagels without noticing they were any different from their normal breakfast/snack foods. I tried all of them as well and was very pleased with them.

Check out this post to see how I used up the Ancient Grain Crisps. Which were both very good, if I do say so myself.

Look for them in a supermarket near you! Or you could always contact them on their website or any of their social media sites. I am sure they will be more then happy to help you locate their amazing products.

notes: I was sent a hamper to review, all opinions are my own, please see my contact/policy page above for more information. I am a complete sucker for good presentation and Udi’s has great presentation! Loved the box it was shipped in!

UPDATE FEBRUARY 2017 - Udi's no longer operate here in the UK! 

Rum & Sultana Fudge

We all know this is suppose to be Rum & Raisin fudge, but in my attempt to use up stuff in my overflowing baking cupboard I thought I would use month-out-of-date sultanas.

At the end of November I posted a review of The Vintage Sweets book by Angel Adoree. In that review I wrote that I intended to make the Rum & Raisin fudge for my girls school Christmas fete.

Then over night I developed tonsillitis and the fudge never materialized. It wasn't the only thing that I had planned to make that didn't get made last month. 

I have a lot of catching up to do. Plus, as I already mentioned, I need to clear out my baking cupboard.

I let the sultana’s soak over night, because they aren't as soft as raisins. They are however smaller and didn't need to be chopped.

The first time I ever attempted fudge I gave myself, what looked like a third degree burn. It was pretty bad, so please be careful when working with hot sugar!

I didn't burn myself this time, which was a bonus. That and it turned out smooth and melt-in-your-mouth delicious! So, here is the recipe so you can try it out yourself!

Rum & Raisin Sultana Fudge

50ml dark rum

100g raisins, chopped or sultanas

100g butter

397g can sweetened condensed milk

125ml milk

450g demerara sugar

Soak the raisins/sultanas in the rum and set aside. Then line a square 20cm (8in) cake tin with nonstick baking paper.

Combine the rest of the ingredients in a large nonstick saucepan and dissolve the sugar over a medium heat. Remove any sugar crystals by placing a lid on the saucepan for 3 minutes. The condensation should run down the sides of the pan taking the sugar crystals with it, if there are any stubborn crystals use a pastry and warm water to wipe them away.

The mixture should be boiling, bring it down to a simmer. Attach your sugar thermometer to the side of the pan. Stir the mixture constantly until it reaches the softball stage, 116C/240F.

Take the pan off the heat and let it cool down to 110C/230F. Then beat it with a wooden spoon for 10 minutes until the mixture is very thick and resembles smooth peanut butter. Angel tells us that this step is vital to make the fudge thick.

It does get quite thick and tough to mix at that point mix in the raisins and any rum that wasn’t soaked up. My sultanas soaked up a lot of rum because I left it overnight, you’ll have more the less you soak it.

Pour the mixture into the prepared tin and smooth it down with a spatula and leave to sit for at least 3 hours before cutting into squares.

If you like this recipe in my next post I will be giving away a copy of the book! So, stay tuned!

notes: The Vintage Sweets book by Angel Adoree was provided for the review! 

The Big Breakfast Oatmeal Chocolate Covered Raisin Cookies!!

Seeing as these are OATMEAL chocolate covered raisin cookies I assume they are prefect for breakfast. I mean I eat oatmeal with raisins for breakfast sometimes? Generally without all the butter and sugar… well usually with sugar. Plus it’s not like I would eat cookies every day for breakfast, there are way too many other breakfast foods I would miss.

Anyway as you recently are aware of my twitter addiction/problem it’s no surprise I saw the idea for these cookies from @SallysBakeBlog on Twitter. Sally tweeted a link to her Thick Oatmeal Raisinet Cookies and I told her what an ingenious idea I thought it was. I also said I was going to have to make them as soon as possible! And I did.

I didn’t use the same recipe from Sally’s blog, instead I used the Oatmeal Cookie recipe from Flour by Joanne Chang and just swapped regular old raisins for chocolate covered ones! Also over here in the UK we don’t get Raisinets so just a bag of regular no brand name chocolate covered raisins were used.

They were probably some of the best Oatmeal Raisin cookies I have ever had. The thing is they are so simple. Cookies are pretty versatile and the only way to make a cookie recipe really special is just by changing what you put into them. I won’t be posting Joanne’s cookie recipe, but David Lebovitz has, the link is in the notes below!

notes: {sally’s baking addiction}; David Lebovitz - Joanne Chang’s Oatmeal Cookies; If you have lived in the UK in 1992-2002 you may recognize the plate and cup (we have the bowl too) from the Channel 4 show The Big Breakfast! Please don’t worry I didn't eat 3 cookies for breakfast… I did share!

Ooey Gooey Cinnamon Rolls!!

2 (1/4 ounce) packages active dry yeast

1 cup warm water

2/3 cup sugar

1 teaspoon sugar

2/3 cup butter

2 teaspoons salt

2 eggs, slightly beaten

7 cups flour

1 cup warm milk

Filling

1 cup melted butter

1 3/4 cups sugar

3 tablespoons ground cinnamon

1 1/2 cups chopped walnuts (optional)

1 1/2 cups raisins (optional)

Topping

1 cup butter or 1 cup margarine

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup Karo syrup

2 cups pecans, chopped (optional)

In a cup, combine yeast, warm water and 1 tsp sugar. Stir and set aside.

In a large bowl, mix milk, remaining sugar, butter, salt and eggs. Stir well.

Add yeast mixture.

Add half the flour and beat until smooth.

Stir in enough of the remaining flour until dough is stiff.

Turn out onto a well-floured board.

Knead for 10 minutes.

Place in a plastic bowl and cover.

Let dough rise in a warm place until double in bulk. This may take 1 1/2 hours.

Punch down dough and let it rest for 5 minutes.

Roll out on a floured surface into a 15x20 inch rectangle.

 To prepare filling----------.

Spread dough with half cup butter.

Mix together 1 1/2 cups sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle over buttered dough.

Sprinkle with walnuts and raisins.

Roll up and pinch edge together to seal.

Cut into 12 slices.

Coat bottom of a 13 by 9 inch baking pan and an 8 inch square pan with remaining 1/2 cup melted butter.

Sprinkle with remaining 1/4 cup sugar.

Place cinnamon roll slices close together in pans.

Let rise in a warm place until dough is doubled in bulk i.e. for about 45 minutes.

Topping----------.

In a saucepan, place all ingredients except for pecans.

Melt these ingredients on range top.

Mix in pecans and then pour over the top of rolls.

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Bake for 25 minutes or until done.

Cool.

This recipe come from food.com Recipe #9533 by Charishm Ramchandani

Pineapple Muffins!! (low-fat)

I made a very yummy sweet and sour stir-fry for dinner last night; the point of me telling you this is that it had fresh pineapple in it. The reason for me stating this is- I didn’t need a whole pineapple.

I remembered this recipe that I pulled out of the YOU magazine (4 March 2012) that comes every Sunday in the Daily Mail. These are made without butter and egg yolks so they are semi-healthy for you!! Do I dare call them low fat?

They are very moist and dense and will keep for a couple days according to the article. My Mini-Baker didn’t really like them because they do have a different texture. I really enjoyed them though, even if they can only be eaten one at a time! This recipe makes 10 ‘buns.’ Enjoy!!

200g plain flour

1 ½ tsp baking powder

100g golden caster sugar

200g trimmed and diced pineapple flesh

100ml apple juice

3 medium egg whites (large in the US)

1 tsp vanilla extract

finely grated zest of one lemon (I left this step out as my husband is citrus intolerant)

50g of dried sour cherries or raisins

vegetable oil for brushing (I used sunflower oil)

125g apricot jam

poppy seeds for sprinkles

1. Pre-heat the oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6 and prepare your muffin tin
2. Mix the flour, baking powder, and sugar together in a large bowl.
3. Mash the pineapple in a food processor or as I did with my stick blender thing that I used to make baby purees’- it shouldn’t be liquid but a puree with texture.
4. Add all the wet ingredients to the dry. Pineapple, juice, egg whites, vanilla, and zest. Stir until just combined.
5. Fold in the cherries or raisins.
6. The mixture is very sloppy so you will need to brush the inside of your paper cases with a little veggie oil.
7. Carefully spoon the mixture into the cases. I used an ice cream scoop. You can fill them up (not to the top) because they won’t raise much.
8. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until the tops are a light golden brown and they are slightly raised.
9. While they are cooling- gently heat the jam in a saucepan and once loosened sieve into a bowl. Then brush the tops of each bun with the jam to glaze them.
10. Sprinkle the poppy seeds over the tops and leave to set for 30 minutes to allow the glaze to set.

                                    

Hotcross Buns!!

These are traditional made on Good Friday, but I had things going on. Plus it’s my first time working with yeast so I wanted the time to get it right! I think I did too! It could have done with a little less time in the oven. I had made a ham for our Easter lunch so the oven was already very warm and one of the buns in the back has a blackened corner. Still edible though!!

I am glad my first experience with yeast has been a success….I see lots of breads and cinnamon rolls appearing on my blog in the near future!!

I think my family and I are (hopefully) done with germs. It seems like we keep catching everything that’s going round atm!! You should be seeing more of me again! I’m working out how to use twitter, so you if you want to help you can find me @unitedcakedom, is that all you need to find me??

I found this recipe in Sue Lawrence’s Book of Baking. It’s a wonderful book of baking! It’s recently out of print; I found my copy for something like 40p on amazon (not including shipping). It has basic, but delicious looking baked goods!!

Hope everyone has a great Easter/Spring break!!

for Buns: 

500g unbleached strong white flour, sifted

1 tsp salt

40g  light muscovado sugar

½ tsp mixed spice

½ tsp ground cinnamon

55g unsalted butter, chilled and diced

100g raisins and currants (I just used raisins)

25g chopped mixed peel, optional in my opinion

7g sachet of fast-action/easy-blend dried yeast

300ml mixed milk and water, heated to tepid

1. Sift flour into mixing bowl and stir in salt, sugar and both spices.
2. Rub in the butter until it looks like breadcrumbs.
3. Stir in raisins and peel if using.
4. Then stir in the yeast.
5. Slowly stir in the tepid liquid and bring the mixture together with your hands to form a ball.
6. Turn out on to a floured surface and knead for 10 minutes.
7. Place in a lightly oiled bowl and cover with oiled cling film. Leave for about 2 hours (or 1 ½ hours if your house/kitchen is warmer) until well risen.
8. Lightly oil a baking sheet. Knock back the dough (knock the air out) and divide into 12 pieces. Mine were nowhere near even, but you could weigh it out to get them the same size.
9. Put in a warm place for about 45 minutes or until well risen again.
10. Pre-heat the oven to 220C/425F/gas7 

for Pastry and Glaze

70g plain flour

40g unsalted butter, chilled and diced

1 tbsp golden syrup

1. Place the flour in a bowl and rub in the butter.
2. Slowly add enough cold water (1-1 ½ tbsp) to combine into stiff dough.
3. Break into 12 pieces and roll out into snake shapes and divide into two to make a cross on each risen bun.
4. Bake for 18-20 minutes or until puffed up and golden brown.
5. While the buns are baking gently melt the syrup in the microwave or in a pan on a low heat.
6. Place buns on a cooling rack and glaze each bun with the golden syrup.
7. Leave to cool and Enjoy!!

Rocky Road!!

My friend is pregnant and has been craving different things every week. I do wonder, if her excuse is pregnancy, what’s mine!?!?

Anyway she said she really liked the Rocky Road from Starbucks. She took a special trip just to get some and they didn't have any! Since this is a no-bake and it needs to set I wasn't able to help her out right away. But I will store some of this in case of an emergency! 

I choose the recipe from the Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook (the first book) because it sounded the best packed with all sorts of yummy things!!

This is really a no brainer, take some of your favourite things and cover them in chocolate and you there you have rocky road! This at least gives you a guide line of amounts and what not!

Enjoy!!

Rocky Road

1.4kg milk chocolate roughly chopped (or broken into squares)

8 regular sized chewy, filled chocolate bars of your choice (snickers, mars, musketeers etc…)

100g marshmallows

180g chocolate-covered malt honeycomb balls (Maltesers/Whoopers)

100g dried apricots, roughly chopped

100g raisins

100g cornflakes

100g chocolate vermicelli (chocolate sprinkles or Jimmy’s)

a 33x23x5cm baking tray (I used my 9x9 silicone square tin and just cut back the amounts of some of the ingredients!)  

1. Melt the chocolate in your preferred method- either over water or in the microwave.
2. Put everything else in a large bowl together.
3. Pour the melted chocolate over everything and stir until everything is evenly dispersed.
4. Press the mixture into your baking tray using the back of a tablespoon or a rubber spatula.

notes: Recipe was adjusted from the Hummingbird (bakery) cookbook.