Author: Alex

Lemon and Thyme Cake

- Alex 3 Comments

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I have just ended up with a pile of lemons and a surfeit of eggs. I’m working my way through both … slowly.

I spotted this recipe for a lemon and thyme cake about a month ago and I invariably find Nigel Slater’s cake recipes flawless (his chocolate brownie recipe is fantastic). I am also a sucker for cakes using ground almonds and cakes dredged in syrup when they come out of the oven … Of course, being a lemon and thyme cake … I now have an excess of thyme hanging around the house.

As I was using my trusty Magimix I took some short cuts with Slater’s method … but if you don’t bake a lot or you’re doing the hard work by hand, I’d defer to his recipe rather than what follows …

Preheat oven to 160°C. Slater doesn’t specify if this is normal or fan forced but, as I opted for normal bake and had to cook the cake for a lot longer than suggested, I think it’s fan forced. Grease a 1lb loaf tin and line with baking paper (yes, actually do this!).

Cream 200g butter with 200g caster sugar, and then add 100g plain flour, ½ tsp baking powder and 100g ground almonds. I always mix between each addition. Then add 4 large eggs. Finish by adding the finely grated zest of one large lemon (depending on how much you like lemon) and approximately 1 tsp of finely chopped fresh thyme leaves (you really can’t go the dried route here).

This makes a really thick batter so you’re going to have to spoon it in to the tin, rather than pour. Don’t be alarmed.

Slater says to bake for 45 mins. At 160°C, no fan, this wasn’t long enough and I ended up baking for just over an hour. If you can, opt for 160°C fan forced, or try 180°C in a normal oven.

Just before the cake finishes baking, make the syrup. In a pan over a moderate heat, dissolve 4 tbsp of caster sugar in the juice of 2 large lemons, adding in ½ tsp of thyme leaves. Make sure the sugar dissolves but don’t bring the mix to the boil. This did make a generous amount of syrup (not that it worried the cake) so don’t be too fussed about sourcing huge lemons!

When the cake comes out of the oven, take a long skewer and poke holes all over the cake, all the way to the bottom and then drizzle the syrup over the cake evenly, before allowing to cool in the tin.

Because you did use the baking paper to line the tin, when the cake is cool simply pull it out of the tin and cut in generous slices. Slater suggests serving with thick yoghurt but you don’t even need that.

Absolutely delicious – and I think it took me longer to do the dishes than put the cake together!

Burgundy Dinner at Edinburgh Hotel

- Alex 1 Comment

If you’re keen on a drink or two, you may well be interested in a forthcoming dinner at the Edinburgh Hotel, in Mitcham.

On Tuesday 22 June, Eurocentric Wine (with some help from Wine Academy) will be hosting a meal in the hotel’s High Street Bar, featuring a selection of red and white Burgundies.

Burgundy is never cheap and some of the wines that will be tasted on the evening retail well in excess of $100 (and the remainder hover dangerously close to the $100 mark).

White Burgundy is Chardonnay – but not as you know it. Unlike the ripe tropical fruit flavours, laden with vanilla that you might be familiar with, Chardonnay from Burgundy has more green apple like flavours (that’s due to the cooler climate), and much more restrained vanilla and buttery characteristics (that’s due to how oak is used).

Red Burgundy is made from Pinot Noir, a grape which is notoriously difficult to grow and almost always results in highly priced wines. The chances are you’ve enjoyed Pinot Noir from areas like Tasmania, the Adelaide Hills or parts of New Zealand. Pinot Noir from Burgundy is something a little bit different (and special) and if it’s a wine you haven’t experienced before, this is a great opportunity to try a whole pile!

Seating is limited to just 40 people so you should book sooner rather than later … The best thing is that you can book online … you don’t have to move, find a telephone or anything … just head over to Eurocentric’s online store.

Pasta Presto

- Alex 6 Comments

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We eat pasta at least once a week and, often, it is an emergency meal.  We get home late from something and throw some frozen filled pasta in boiling water and mix through some bought pesto.  Proper lazy food.

But then there are occasions (all the time, really) where there is no excuse for such laziness.  As Susan, at the Well Seasoned Cook, is hosting Pasta Presto Nights this week I took this as an opportunity to NOT crack open a jar but instead use up what was in the fridge.

Fortunately, the fridge was well stocked for pasta making.  We had half a jar of passata – absolutely essential for a fast pasta sauce, as well as half a small pot of tomato paste.  An excellent start.

If you’re using dried pasta, start cooking it before you start on the sauce.

I started by heating some olive oil in a pan, and crisping up a couple of rashers of bacon, chopped up.  Then I added a roughly chopped leek and 3 minced cloves (large!) of garlic.  Once the leek had softened, in went the passata, and I rinsed out the jar with some of the red wine that was open.  Then I mixed through the tomato paste, and added a teaspoon of oregano and a tiny scotch bonnet chilli (the first of what is looking like a very large harvest), very finely chopped.

And I just let that all very gently simmer while the pasta cooked.  Shortly before the pasta was ready I stirred through the remnants of some mascarpone (probably about 75g worth).

Mix the pasta through the sauce, and serve, topped with plenty of parmesan and black pepper.

From start to finish, this took less than half an hour (in fact, the sauce was finished before the pasta had finished cooking) and it was absolutely delicious.  The tiny chilli added a lovely background heat that built up as we ate and the mascarpone and tomato paste both enriched the sauce and made it fabulously creamy.

The only problem?  We don’t always have a fridge so conveniently stocked for pasta sauce making!