Christmas Cake

It's Christmas time, mistletoe and wine and I'm not home  for Christmas this year. Sad face. Tosakanth is sad. Christmas is my favourite time of year to be in Sri Lanka because my family and the extended jingband all go for a Christmas breakfast at a family friends place. It's the bestest thing ever. AuntyChurchVillage makes the best breudher ever ever. I personally hate breudher because it's always really dry and full of raisins and stuff that I don't like. But this lady's breudher is to die for. I look forward to this day the whole year and I eat till I pop. Second most awesomest thing about Christmas at home is Christmas dinner at my friend BigMommaR's place. I've been attending her Christmas dinners now for about 6 years I think and it's so much fun. A bunch of fun fellas having homemade Christmas dinner and then afterwards playing havoc with  firecrackers. Our favourite thing to do is sweep the bambara chuckra (the spinny wheely thing) with a broom as far as we can using our hockey skills. best times. sigh.  So anyway, this time I won't be enjoying any of those fun stuff because I'm all alone in Sydney. To numb the pain (and also because I love throwing parties) I decided to have a Christmas Jingle at my place for all those orphaned loners who are in Sydney with me. I wanted to do something authentically Christmassy for dessert. So decided to make Christmas pudding. My mother always fusses and says what a painful task it is because it takes so long to make and all the ingredients are really expensive and stuff. But I think I managed to do a super job of it. although I did want to make pudding and not cake, once I had finished making the batter I decided to bake it instead and make it a cake because steaming it would take forever and I didn't have forever. But O.M.G. the cake is divine. It is soooo moist and rich that I myself am very impressed by how it turned out. 

Your Challenge: This cake is all you will want for Christmas. Trust me. Mariah Carey is lying to you.

  

 

             

Ready --- Steady --- Bake!

Christmas Cake
(Serves 10)

INGREDIENTS: 

100g sultanas 

100g raisins 
100g currants

50g glace cherries, chopped 
50g candied peel
50g ginger preserve, chopped

50g mixed glace fruits. chopped
50g pineapple, Chopped
50g chopped nuts (almonds, cashew, hazelnuts, walnuts etc)

125ml (1/2 cup) brandy 

125g butter, softened 

155g (3/4 cup, firmly packed) brown sugar 
50g white sugar

60ml (1/4 cup) golden syrup 
30ml Honey

2 eggs 

125g good quality dark cooking chocolate, melted 

75g (1/2 cup) plain flour, sifted 

55g (3/4 cup) breadcrumbs

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon 

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg 

1/2 teaspoon allspice 
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

2 tbs brandy, extra, to serve

 

METHOD:

1. Preheat the oven to180°C.

2. Line cake pan with baking paper. (two 9-inch cake pans)

3. Combine the fruits (sultanas, raisins, currants, candied peel, pineapple, ginger, cherries, nuts and glace fruit) in a glass or ceramic bowl. 

4. Place brandy in a heatproof, microwave-safe jug. Cover with plastic wrap and heat on High/800watts/100% for 1-2 minutes or until hot. 

5. Pour brandy over fruit mixture and stir to combine. Cover with plastic wrap and set aside, stirring occasionally, for 30 minutes to macerate.

6. Use an electric beater to beat the butter, sugar, honey and golden syrup in a large bowl until thick and pale. 

7. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition.

8. Add the melted chocolate and beat well

9. Add the batter into the fruit mixture, and stir until well combined. 

10. Add flour, breadcrumbs, cinnamon, nutmeg and allspice, and stir until well combined.

11. Spoon the mixture into the prepared tray and bake for about 35 minutes until toothpick comes out dry. 

12. serve with a brandy butter cream cheese icing.

Note: if you want to make Christmas pudding instead

Cover with 2 layers of baking paper. Tie unwaxed white kitchen string under the rim of the basin to secure. Cook on Defrost/350watts/30% for 20-30 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre of the pudding comes out clean. Drizzle with extra brandy and set aside for 15 minutes. Turn pudding onto a plate and cut into slices to serve.

Challenge Accepted ???

Have yourself a MERRY LITTLE CHRISTMAS, my internet buddies!

Enjoy!

Tosakanth

 

Egg-less Coffee Cake

I was craving coffee cake for the last few days because now that classes have finished I don't get my coffee fix for the day anymore. Since I hadn't made anything for a while I decided to finally get off my arse and make something. However, I didn't have any eggs at home because de facto had finished them all. She's obsessed with eggs, she has one or two everyday I think, so we go through them like crazy. So I decided to make do and make an egg-less cake instead. It turned out really well. It was really soft, like a sponge cake, yet moist. There were no air bubbles in it like normal cake. So I'm assuming that's what eggs do to cakes, make them air bubbly. The batter was very watery so I was a little sceptical about how it would turn out but it turned out super. It's definitely a must try, specially if you don't have all the ingredients you would normally use for a cake. 

Your Challenge: egg-less cake just as a trial bake.

Ready ---  Steady --- Bake!

Egg-less Coffee Cake

(Serves 8)

INGREDIENTS

230g Self Raising Flour

1 Teaspoon Salt

50g Unsweetened Cocoa Powder

300g Granulated Sugar

240ml Vegetable Oil

4 Tablespoons Instant Coffee (dissolved in half a cup of hot water)

200ml Milk

1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
if using All Purpose Flour add:

1 Teaspoon Baking Powder

2 Teaspoons Baking Soda

METHOD:

1. Preheat the oven to160°C.

2. Grease and flour two 9-inch cake pans.

3. Sift together the flour, (baking powder, baking soda), salt, cocoa and sugar into a large mixing bowl.

4. Make a well. Add the oil. coffee, milk and vanilla essence.
5. With an electric mixer, beat at medium speed for 2-3 minutes.

6. Pour the batter evenly into both 9-inch cake pans. (or fill the 6 muffin cups halfway with batter and divide the remaining batter between both 8-inch pans).
7. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until a wooden tooth pick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. (Check the cupcakes after 15 minutes).

8. Let the cakes cool completely before removing them from the pans. 
9. Serve with coffee cream cheese frosting.

Challenge Accepted ??? 

Enjoy!

Tosakanth 

Fluffy Pancakes

Pancakes! best thing ever! I love American fluffy pancakes, they are the bestest. When I was in New York in 2010 my friend MissO and I went looking all over New York for an International House of Pancakes (IHOP) because I had to have some before I left. And the only place they had an ihop was in HARLEM! So Harlem is this scary area that you don't go to because you will get mugged, raped and murdered. The two of us were so determined to have pancakes that we put on our bravest faces and ventured out into the darkside, the kinda side that Mufasa warned Simba about. The dark shadowy place. You have no idea how scared we were. We had to get there before the sun went down, so we got on a bus, got there, eventually found the place, ate and ran back like scaredy cats. All that horror was well worth our while. The pancakes were amazing and it also proves why American's are obese. I mean, who wouldn't be when food is that amazing. So one day I decided to make pancakes at home instead of buying pre-made mix at the supermarket or even going to Pancakes On The Rocks. I must say, they did come out rather fluffy. Good effort.

Your Challenge: Pancakes for those with a brave face.

 

Ready --- Steady --- Cook!

Fluffy Pancakes

(makes 8 pancakes)

INGREDIENTS  

135g Self Raising flour
½ teaspoon Salt
5 Tablespoons Sugar
130ml Milk
1 large egg, lightly beaten
3 Tablespoons melted butter (allowed to cool slightly) or olive oil, plus extra for cooking

If using plain flour
1 teaspoon baking powder

Method
1. Sift the flour, (baking powder), salt and sugar into a large bowl. 

2. In a separate bowl or jug, lightly whisk together the milk and egg, then whisk in the melted butter.

3. Pour the milk mixture into the flour mixture and, using a fork, beat until you have a smooth batter. Any lumps will soon disappear with a little mixing. Let the batter stand for a few minutes.

4. Heat a non-stick frying pan over a medium heat and add a knob of butter. When it's melted, add a ladle of batter (or two if your frying pan is big enough to cook two pancakes at the same time). It will seem very thick but this is how it should be. Wait until the top of the pancake begins to bubble, then turn it over and cook until both sides are golden brown and the pancake has risen to about 1cm (½in) thick.

5. Repeat until all the batter is used up. You can keep the pancakes warm in a low oven, but they taste best fresh out the pan.


To serve maple syrup, butter, bacon, eggs, sausages Variations

Challenge Accepted ???

Enjoy!

Tosakanth

Mongolian Beef

Sorry for my lack of action in the past few weeks. Been super duper busy with work and study and haven't had time to do anything. I leave home in the morning and only come home to sleep and do the same cycle the next day. do forgive me. The story behind this was that I was craving some Asian food and didn't have enough money to go get take out so I decided to make some at home with ingredients I had lying around. Anyway, this recipe is a mix between a Mongolian beef and a beef in oyster sauce, because I'm an oyster sauce addict and thought it would taste better with some oyster goodness. Either way, it's yummy.

Your challenge: Mongolian beef to go head over heals.

Ready --- Steady --- Cook!

Mongolian Beef

(Serves 4) 

Ingredients

300g Beef tenderloin, thinly sliced against the grain

1 Red bell pepper, sliced 

2 Green onion, sliced 

2 Bunches of Bok Choy, cut

50g Cornflour

2 Cloves garlic, minced

1/4 tsp ginger, grated
1 Teaspoon chilli flakes
1 Tablespoon Corriander, chopped 

4 Tablespoons soy sauce
3 Tablespoons oyster sauce

3 Tablespoons agave nectar (or sugar)

3 Tablespoons Chinese rice wine or dry sherry or any red wine

3 Tablespoons water

1-2 Tablespoons oil for the pan

Method:  

1. Stir together soy sauce, agave nectar/sugar, water, and Chinese rice wine/dry sherry. Set aside. 

2. coat the beef in cornflour

3. Heat oil in a pan over medium-high heat. Make sure the oil completely coats the bottom of the pan. Add the beef and quickly sauté until lightly browned.

 

4. Add garlic and ginger. Sauté for a few seconds. 

5. Add onions, bell peppers, bok choy and cook.

6. Add the sauce from step 1. The sauce should quickly come to a boil. Lower the heat a bit and allow it to bubble. Keep stirring. Reduce until it becomes thicker and glazes the beef. It should happen very quickly, within minutes. 

serve with steamed rice

Note: The corn starch helps to brown the beef and thicken the sauce once the sauce is added to the pan. 


Challenge Accepted ??? 

Enjoy!

Tosakanth