ORANGE POPPY SEED BUNDT CAKE

I made this Bundt last year and forgot to blog about it. So as I've been meaning to do a recipe post for some time I thought I'd tell you about it now.

As I've mentioned on previous posts I am part of the Borough Belles and am in charge of making sure there is something to eat at the meetings, whether it be Jamaican Patties or Oreo Brownies! I'm in charge of drumming up interest and excitement in the other Belles to bake for the odd meeting however sometimes people are unable to make it at the last minute, so it always good for me to have an emergency cake in the freezer to prevent lack of cake!

This cake is perfect for such an occasion. It keeps really well in the freezer and if you get it out the night before, it leaves plenty of time to whip up the icing just before serving.

Funny how my emergency freezer cake is also my emergency blog post too!?

ORANGE POPPY SEED BUNDT CAKE

Ingredients:

• Melted butter, to grease
• 125ml (1/2 cup) fresh orange juice
• 130g (1/2 cup) Greek-style natural yoghurt
• 60g (1/4 cup) poppy seeds
• 250g butter, at room temperature, chopped
• 270g (1 1/4 cups) caster sugar
• 2 tbs finely grated orange rind
• 4 eggs
• 340g (2 1/4 cups) plain flour
• 2 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 orange

For the Icing:

• 150g icing sugar
• Juice & Zest of 1 Orange

Method:

Pre-heat the oven to 180C. Grease and flour your Bundt tin.

Combine the orange juice, yoghurt and poppy seeds in a small bowl.

Use an electric beater to beat the butter, caster sugar and orange rind in a large bowl until pale and creamy. 

Add the eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition until just combined.

Sift the flour and baking powder over the egg mixture. 

Add the yoghurt mixture and use a large metal spoon to fold until just combined. 

Spoon mixture into the prepared pan and smooth the surface. 
Bake in oven for 1 hour or until a skewer inserted into the cake comes out clean. 

Leave to cool for 5 minutes before turning out. 

To make the icing simply beat all the ingredients together until smooth. Then drizzle over the top. Using a proper zester will allow you to get those longer zest stripes that look great on top. Leave for 20minutes to set before serving.

This cake freezes very well (un-iced) and can keep for up to 3-4 days in an air tight container.

MINT PEA HOUMOUS // SAFFRON CHICKEN SALAD

I grew up understanding the importance of a Sunday Lunch. It wasn't the fact you were having a roast dinner, but the fact it was the one day in the week where the family would all sit together to eat. It is so easy to get wrapped up in day to day life, hectic schedules and social media that the 'here and now' seems insignificant. However the 'here and now' is all we have. Sit, take your time and eat rather rushing to consume food before hitting the next task. But the most important part is that you end up talking to one another.

Last week I made a simple Sunday lunch for Ben and his parents. The sun has been out in full force recently and rather than cooking a hot heavy rich roast dinner I thought a light summer zesty menu would fit the bill a lot better.

MINT PEA HOUMOUS
This was a last minute addition to the menu. I only decided to do this an hour before the Pickett's arrived. It's definitely an adapted recipe as I had to work with what was in the fridge and there was no fresh broad beans! Fortunately we already had a lovely fresh loaf of sourdough.

RECIPE 

*Adapted recipe from "Incredible smashed peas & broad beans on toast " Jamie oliver

450g Frozen peas, defrosted and drained.

1/2 Red onion, finely chopped

1 Garlic clove, peeled and crushed.

1 small bunch of fresh mint leaves

Juice of 1 lime

115g yogurt

50g Finely grated parmesan plus extra for serving

2 tbsp Extra virgin Oil *Highly recommend reasonably priced Sainsbury's Kalamata Extra Virgin Oil PDO £5.50

Freshly ground pepper and salt.

4 Slices of Sourdough bread, toasted & halved.

METHOD

1. Put the peas, onion, garlic, mint, lime juice, grated parmesan, yogurt olive oil and seasoning into a blender and whizz up. *I got a little carried away with the blender and think in retrospect that it would've been better to have it slightly courser with perhaps a few peas smashed by hand and then mixed through.
2. Chill the houmous in the fridge for a bit before serving.
3. Toast the sourdough and put a dollop of the houmous on the toast. With a peeler, peel a slither of parmesan place on top and fishing with a drizzle of olive oil, lime juice, fresh pepper and a mint leaf.

 

SAFFRON CHICKEN SALAD

I have recently got myself Ottolenghi's PLENTY recipe book. Now that I'm slowly gathering a library full of cookbooks I am made a decision to try to use recipes from the books I already have,  however I did get this recipe from his other cookbook 'jerusalem' which I haven't yet added to the collection. This was delicious recipe and I would do it again in a heartbeat! 

RECIPE

*Adapted recipe from "Saffron chicken and herb salad " Jerusalem by Yotam Ottolenghi

1 Orange

50g Honey

1 tsp saffron threads

1 tbsp White wine vinegar

300ml Water

700g Chicken breast

4 tbsp Olive oil

2 Small fennel bulbs, thinly sliced *Try using a mandolin as long you don't cut your finger off!?

15g Fresh coriander leaves

15g Basil leaves

15g Mint leaves

100g Rocket

2 tbsp lemon juice

1 Red chilled, thinly sliced

1 Garlic clove, crushed

Salt and pepper.

METHOD

1. Heat the oven to 180°C. Trim and discard 1cm off the top and tail of the orange and cut it into 12 wedges, keeping the skin on but picking out any pips. Place the wedges in a small saucepan along with the honey, saffron, vinegar and just enough water to cover. Bring to a boil and simmer gently for about an hour. At the end, you should be left with soft orange pieces and about three tablespoons of thick syrup; add water during the cooking, if needed. Use a food processor to blitz the orange (skin and all) and syrup into a smooth, runny paste; again, add water if needed.
2. Rub the chicken breasts with half the olive oil and plenty of salt and pepper, and place on a very hot ridged griddle pan. Sear for about two minutes on each side, to get clear char marks all over. Transfer to a roasting tray and roast for 15-20 minutes, until just cooked.
3. Once the chicken is cool enough to handle, but still warm, break it up with your hands into quite large pieces. Put these in a large bowl, pour over half the orange paste and stir. *The remaining orange syrup will keep in the fridge for a few days, and makes a good addition to a herb salsa to serve with oily fish.
4. Add the remaining ingredients to the salad, including the rest of the oil, and toss gently. Taste, add salt and pepper and, if needed, some more olive oil and lemon juice.