Afternoon-Tea Tea Cake

I am a tea lover


MiddleC is very well trained and puts the kettle on as soon as she stumbles into the kitchen in the morning so it's ready for when I stumble into the kitchen in the morning. I don't feel ready to start the day until I've had at least one cup of my favourite Dilmah Earl Grey...... or maybe two.

I have a fancy-pantsy De Longhi coffee machine that does everything a coffee machine should do and more, but it sits there on the bench while I dunk my little baggie into my mug of hot water and wait for the magic to happen.




I needed to make a cake for afternoon tea, for when littlej stumbles into the kitchen after a hard day at school. This one has dried fruit, fresh fruit, and Tea. Just what you need mid-afternoon to keep you going until dinner, with a bit of an extra kick from the tea.

Afternoon Tea Tea Cake

2/3 cup dried Dates
2/3 cup Sultanas
2 Apples
1 1/2 cup SR gluten free Flour
150g Butter or dairy free alternative
4 Eggs
3/4 cup strong Tea
3/4 cup Brown Sugar
1 tsp Vanilla
1 tsp Bicarb Soda


First things first, boil the kettle and brew a good, strong cup of tea. I used Dilmah Earl Grey, my absoloute favourite tea in the world. So fragrant and refreshing, perfect for a pick-me-up any time of the day or evening

Put the dates, sultanas, hot tea and bicarb in a bowl and let steep for about 10 minutes. This will soften the fruit and help break down the fibres

Blitz in a food processor/blender/ or even easier use a stick blender to whizz it all up until nice and smooth

Add in the eggs, butter, vanilla and sugar and beat well

Grate the apples- I don't bother to peel them,

then add in to the mix with the flour and mix through until thouroughly combined

Pop into a greased loaf pan and bake at 160*C for about 50 minutes until nicley browned and cooked through all the way

I burnt mine juuuust a little, but nothing that a quick trim and flipping the cake over can't fix.  My excuse is that I was trying out my new Convection/Grill/Microwave Oven and it was the first time I baked anything in it. I think I've figured it out now, and next time will know to pop it on the rack to allow for even cooking instead of opening the door all the time to fiddle with it :)

Serve your cake with, of course, another lovely cuppa for a lovely afternoon tea snack. A smear of butter is yummy, but not strictly necessary- I'll leave that to you and your wasteline to decide. I think I'll sit in the sun and read a good book while I nibble and sip my steamy cup of Earl Grey, then I'll be ready to take on the rest of the day.

So Dear Readers, are you a tea or coffee fan, and which blend is your favourite?







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Fruit and Nut Loaf

One of the fun things about my job is developing new recipes.

Well, really, there's no such thing. Unless you work at Noma, El Bulli or Fat Duck or in one of the magical molecular kitchens,that is. When I'm looking for something new, I have a bit of an idea in mind,then start delving deep into my resources - cookbooks, magazines, favorite food blogs and Google. I brainstorm and scribble little notes to myself in notebooks and even sketch out stick figure type drawings of how I want it to look and be plated. I take elements of many recipes and slowly piece them together a bit like Frankenstein's Monster cobbled together from many sources, until it resembles most the idea rattling around in my head.

This month we wanted to revamp the Cheese Platter dessert option. Well, really, there's not much you can do with chunks of cheese on a plate. No matter how delicious they are. We want the integrity of the cheese to remain, so it's all about 'Accessorising'

Anyone can do crackers; fresh crispy type fruit is a given; so we decided to go for a fruit and nut loaf. I based the idea on the good old Stained Glass Window Cake. This is made up of different types of glace fruits and nuts held together with a very minimal amount of batter to cement it.

The original recipe of glace fruits would be way to sweet and overpower the delicateness of the cheese, so I chose different types of dried fruits to compliment them instead. There were a couple of types of nuts and just a little orange zest for that special little something extra.

Ingredients:

175g cranberries

175g dates

175g plump style dried figs

175g naked ginger- crystallised but not rolled in sugar

175g of mixed nuts- I used Brazil and walnut, but will change to almond and macadamia

1/3 cup gluten free plain flour

1/4 tsp gluten free baking powder

2 tablespoons castor sugar

2 tsp grated orange rind

40g of melted butter

2 eggs

Roughly chop the figs and dates

Mix the eggs, sugar, rind and butter

Add in the flour and baking powder

Mix in the fruit and nuts

Tip into a lined loaf tin and press down hard to compress

Bake at 150* for 90 minutes

Let the cake cool in the tin and preferably leave overnight before cutting, to avoid it breaking into pieces. When you do cut it, use a sharp serrated knife and saw through carefully as the fruit may be a bit sticky.

Serve this as part of a cheese platter, or enjoy it with a cup of Earl Grey tea.

If you want to make this as an alternative Christmas Cake, just use a selection of glace fruits instead, and maybe a dash of rum or brandy. While the cake is still fresh and ht from the oven, brush it generously with the rum or brandy so it sucks up even more festive cheer!

Now an update on BigJ... the good news is that the surgeon was able to reattach the severed finger and we expect a full recovery with free range of feeling and movement! The bad news is that this, of course, takes time. It will be at least 3 months before things are even remotely back to normal. He will have keep it dressed and splinted for most of that time, and really be careful. He is managing to get back to work and even do a modified style of typing.


This is littlej's solution to the problem.
Isn't she a subtle, sensitive soul?


So Readers, what do you like on a Cheese Platter?