Cake

[Iwannabemargo]

My gymmie is allergic to anything artificial, so I make all our food from scratch. As she needs the calories I feed her cake. I will attach a few of my favourite recipes.

 

[Iwannabemargo]

Sticky Ginger Cake
Ingredients
Serves: 16

• 100g brown sugar
  
  
• 125g butter
  
  
• 1 egg
  
  
• 150g treacle (molasses)
  
  
• 163g Golden syrup (Substitutes: Combine two parts light corn syrup plus one part molasses OR equal parts honey and corn syrup OR maple syrup)
  
  
• 300g plain flour
  
  
• 1 1/2 teaspoons bicarbonate of soda
  
  
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  
  
• 4 teaspoon ground ginger
  
  
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
  
  
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
  
  
• 250ml hot water
  

1. Preheat oven to 180 C / Gas mark 4. Grease and flour a 23cm (9 in) square tin.

2.In a large bowl, cream together the sugar and butter. Beat in the egg, and mix in the treacle.

3.In a bowl, sift together the flour, bicarbonate of soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger and cloves. Blend into the creamed mixture. Stir in the hot water. Pour into the prepared tin. The mixture will be very runny.

4.Bake 1 hour in the preheated oven, until a knife inserted in the centre comes out clean. Allow to cool in tin before serving.

Great with custard for a quick pudding. Will keep for a week in an airtight container.

 

[Iwannabemargo]

Proper Custard

1 egg
1 dstsp Castor Sugar
1 tsp Cornflour (cornstartch)
1/2 pt (10 fl oz) Milk

Place all ingredients except milk in a microwavable jug, mix well with a whisk. Add milk, whisk again and heat on full power for a couple of mins. Mix again, heat again til thick and boiled (about another 2 mins).

Serve with fresh fruit or ginger cake.

 

[coachmolly]

That sounds yummy! I am very picky about foods I eat to avoid artificial junk and people usually seem surprised to learn that I love to bake and eat desserts. But I would much rather have something rich and buttery than artificial and chemical-y.
I'll have to give the cake a try! And oooo you've added the custard recipe! A little disappointed I don't have time to try one of them immediately.

 

[Iwannabemargo]

Swirly Lemon Drizzle Fingers

Ingredients

• 200g golden caster sugar
  
  
• 200g butter, well softened, plus extra
  
  
• 4 large eggs
  
  
• 100g fine polenta or fine cornmeal
  
  
• 140g self-raising flour
  
  
• zest 3 lemons
  

For the swirl and drizzle

• 4 tbsp lemon curd
  
  
• 5 tbsp golden or white caster sugar
  
  
• zest and juice 1 lemon
  

Method

1. Heat oven to 180C/fan 160C/gas 4 and make sure there’s a shelf ready in the middle of the oven. Butter a rectangular baking tray or small roasting tin, about 20cm x 30cm. Cut out a sheet of baking paper a bit larger than the tin, then push it in and smooth it out with your hands so it sticks to the butter. Snip into the corners with a pair of scissors to get the paper to lie neatly.
   
   
2. Put all the cake ingredients and a pinch of salt into a large bowl, then use electric beaters to beat until creamy and smooth. Scoop into the tin, then level the top. Spoon the lemon curd over the batter in thick stripes. Use the handle of the spoon to swirl the curd into the cake – not too much or you won’t see the swirls once it’s cooked. Bake for about 35 mins or until golden and risen. It should have shrunk away from the sides of the tin ever so slightly and feel springy. Don’t open the oven before 30 mins cooking is up.
   
   
3. Leave the cake in the tin for 10 mins or until just cool enough to handle. Carefully lift out of the tin and put it onto a cooling rack, sat over a tray or something similar to catch drips of drizzle. To make the drizzle, mix 4 tbsp sugar and the lemon juice together and spoon over the cake. Toss the lemon zest with the final 1 tbsp sugar and scatter over the top. Let the cake cool completely, then lift onto a board, peel away the sides of the baking paper and cut the cake into fingers. Will keep in an airtight tin for 3 days.

You can substitute the plain flour for gluten-free flour for those who are allergic, it works well.

 

[Iwannabemargo]

Lemon Curd

110g Butter

230g Sugar

the Grated rind and juice of 2 large or 3 small lemons

3 extra large eggs beaten.



Put all ingredients except the eggs in a double boiler and stir until melted and combined. Add eggs and stir til thick. Do not boil or eggs will scramble.



Pour into sterilised jars – will keep in the fridge for 2 weeks.

Absolutely yummy - great for on toast for a quick snack, poured on ice-cream, as part of lemon meringue pie, or lemon fingers above.

 

[All Chalked Up]

Proper Custard

1 egg
1 dstsp Castor Sugar
1 tsp Cornflour (cornstartch)
1/2 pt (10 fl oz) Milk

Place all ingredients except milk in a microwavable jug, mix well with a whisk. Add milk, whisk again and heat on full power for a couple of mins. Mix again, heat again til thick and boiled (about another 2 mins).

Serve with fresh fruit or ginger cake.

Could I use a different sweetener? Maple syrup, stevia, honey, brown sugar, etc.

 

[Faith]

Could I use a different sweetener? Maple syrup, stevia, honey, brown sugar, etc.

Maple syrup or honey in custard- just no! Plus I would think it will affect the lovely consistency.

Stevia- what's the point? We're trying to get calories into gymmies . Plus it's disgusting if that new coke is anything to go by.

Brown sugar, again, would make it taste odd, plus the texture is wrong.

Stick to good old caster sugar!

 

[Faith]

Microwave mug cake...

4 tbsp flour
4 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp cocoa
2 tbsp melted butter
2 tbsp water

Microwave for 45-60 seconds so it's just set on top but still gooey underneath.

Ice cream optional

 

[Iwannabemargo]

Pound cake

Weigh your eggs, whole including shells (any number but I usually use 4 for 2 8" round tins), write down this number
Use the same weight of Butter, sugar and flour.

Cream butter and sugar together til light and fluffy, crack eggs into a jug and mix loosely, add eggs slowly to butter and sugar, beating all the time. Fold in flour.

Place in tins and bake at 175oC for about 35 min.

You can flavour by adding cocoa (replace 3 tblsp of flour with cocoa), or orange, or lemon, or almond essence.

Once cold can be eaten as it is or split and frosted. Good with lemon curd inside.

 

[proud-gym-mom]

There is a great blog that has some wonderful recipes for desserts that are super healthy too. Everything I've made off this site has been surprisingly good! Some of my favorites are the chocolate cake made with avocado instead of butter and a deep dish chocolate chip cookie pie that has two cans of garbanzo beans in it! Sounds odd but if you love dessert but want to eat healthy definitely check it out. http://chocolatecoveredkatie.com. The author uses a lot of coconut oil, applesauce and stevia, honey, agave, etc. and some recipes have been tried with coconut flour, gluten free flour etc.

 

[Iwannabemargo]

That sounds yummy! I am very picky about foods I eat to avoid artificial junk and people usually seem surprised to learn that I love to bake and eat desserts. But I would much rather have something rich and buttery than artificial and chemical-y.
I'll have to give the cake a try! And oooo you've added the custard recipe! A little disappointed I don't have time to try one of them immediately.

The custard takes literally a few minutes and once you have tasted it you will never buy instant again - my smalls like it with chopped banana or apple, great with steamed fruit, or @Faith s mug cake, steamed pudding etc. I do use sweetener if I'm making it for pink as I have to watch her sugar, but its fab with Jersey milk if you can get hold of it.

 

[Faith]

..

 

[Iwannabemargo]

Love it

 

[Vivianflips]

I'm glad to hear I'm not the only who struggles with a lot of artificial products! I might just have to make some cake now...

 

[BachFlyer]

Can't wait to try your "authentic UK" custard recipe for my younger dd. She is obsessed with custard, and basically anything and everything from your side of the Pond, all thanks to one unnamed Time Lord!!

So until I can afford her dream vacation, I'll be off to find that caster sugar...I've never seen it in stores in the US, but maybe I just haven't looked.

 

[Iwannabemargo]

Castor I think is Superfine, second smallest milling,

we have granulated - used in coffee and tea, preserving, cornflakes etc
Castor (Superfine ?)- used to make cakes and to sprinkle on top of things
Icing (Confectioners) - used in icings and sweets.

 

[Jenny]

you can make it yourself by putting granulated sugar in a food processor

 

[sce]

Castor I think is Superfine, second smallest milling,

we have granulated - used in coffee and tea, preserving, cornflakes etc
Castor (Superfine ?)- used to make cakes and to sprinkle on top of things
Icing (Confectioners) - used in icings and sweets.

I think in the US you can get Baking Sugar, which sounds similar to Castor Sugar: http://www.chsugar.com/sugar/detail/bakers-sugar

 

[mariposa]

This thread has me hungry!