Gingerbread: Take 2

I'm stubborn when it comes to cooking and wasn't about to be beaten by something as simple as gingerbread... so the first thing I did when I woke up this morning was to make the liquid base. Then during our weekly trek to the supermarket a few hours later I picked up a lamington tin... this was a round I was going to win!

Since gingerbread batter is so thick, I made sure that this time when I tested the cake for doneness I put the skewer in horizontally through a crack in the top. I found that even with the shallower pan, it still had a bit more to go, and I ended up adding 15 minutes to the cooking time.

Round 1 result vs Round 2 result

The cake was lighter than expected and the cinnamon sprinkled on top (which I was going to leave out) was 'the icing on' the icing on the cake. I don't think this is going to last long in the tin...

I really am my grandmother's grand-daughter

For my 21st birthday, Nana as always, took charge of baking the cake. The request was for 'the usual' - chocolate - which Nana could churn out whilst sleepwalking with both hands tied. I arrived home from Auckland (where I was studying) and a few nights later we had a big dinner at Mum's. The end of the meal came and out came the cake - two layers of Nana's signature chocolate cake sandwiched with mock cream and topped with a thick layer of chocolate icing and coconut. It was perfect as always... but Nana was first to point out it 'wasn't the cake she had been planning'. You see, Nana had tried not one, but FOUR different recipes to make the perfect birthday cake and each attempt had ended up in the bin. It was too dry, or didn't rise high enough, or an ingredient was omitted... Mum was shocked to hear she had thrown away completely edible cakes because they weren't up to Nana's very high cake standards and we all had a good laugh at Nana's kitchen perfectionism.

Well, after last week's icing disaster (which was very close to being a 'bin' moment), I've just returned from throwing away an attempt at Gingerbread with Lemon Glace Icing from the August 1986 issue of The Australian Women's Weekly.

My first mistake was to substitute the required pan size. The recipe called for a lamington pan, which I didn't have, so I just lined a round tin. My second (and most fatal) mistake was not adjusting the cooking time to suit a deeper baking tin. As with all gingerbread batters, this one was quite 'dry' so when I tested the cake, the skewer came out nice and dry and I pulled it out to cool. It took almost an hour for it to sink, but I blamed it on a careless transfer to the wire rack. I went ahead and iced the cake thinking all would be okay... but instead of cutting out a photo-worthy piece, I ended up with a 'cooked on the outside raw on the inside' slice worthy of nothing more than the wheelie bin downstairs.

So I took my lead from the original kitchen perfectionist and bundled the whole lot into a plastic bag and into the bin. if there was any doubt I was cut from Nana's apron cloth it's gone now. I just hope my next attempt(s) don't end up in the wheelie bin as well!

A 50/50 success on the biscuit front

I bought some new kitchenalia this week - two cookie cutters (a dog bone and a foot), a rolling pin and some measuring cups - so I was looking for a new-old recipe to try them out on. I figured biscuits were the way to go, and found a recipe for Vanilla Glaze biscuits in Nana's recipes. I stayed true to the biscuit recipe, but did do a small modification to the glaze... adding pure orange essence just because I hadn't used it in a while.

The baking part was easy, but when it came to the glaze things came a little unstuck with the first batch. As you can see, the glaze cracked while it was firming in the oven. I put too much faith in the timer and wandered off instead of watching their progress... ooops. The second batch went a lot better, with the glaze firming in two minutes (rather than the four that made the other lot ugly). The taste test (still warm from the oven... the only way I'll eat biscuits) was passed and I was forced to go in for a second - just to check the cracked ones were edible of course.

Banana-na Cake

Nana's a prolific banana cake baker. Every time I stayed at nana's she'd always have one sitting on the bench to be taken home to Auckland. Most of the time it made it back intact, but once or twice we'd get hungry on the way home and eat a slice. Work lunches that next week were the best! I delved through Nana's recipes positive I'd come up with at least one banana cake recipe, but on my first pass I came up empty handed. Then... success! I'd put a pile of recipes aside in my 'to try' pile and 'Bella's Favourite Banana Cake' was among them.
Our hopeless oven did cause a few problems, with the cake taking 1hr 15 rather than 45 minutes to cook. I was a bit worried about the result, but it turned out perfectly! It was a high, moist cake that wasn't 'soggy' in the middle or on the bottom.
I had a few limes left over from dinner the night before (mmm Frangelico and lime on ice), so made a tart lime icing with the zest and juice of two limes.

Delish!

Spicy apple cake

A pile of apples in the fruit bowl resulted in another excuse to delve into my trove from Nana's Recipe Drawer - and the winning recipe was a Spicy Apple Cake from Woman's Day.

The recipe was very quick and easy, but the cooking time was blown out to 1 hour 20 mins by my cursed oven! Damn you landlord and your ancient cooking device.

The result was a slightly dry cake (slightly saved by the fresh apple). Next time I think I'll pre-cook the apples to compensate, but Neil had no complaints so it can't have been too bad.

The Russians are coming!

After having it in practically every lunchbox from the age of about 10 to 17, I never thought I'd ever eat Russian Slice again... let alone bake it myself!

Looking for something a bit different for Neil's 'elevenses' and 'fourses' this week I found myself thinking back to the baked treats that Mum used to make. Coconut Rough was out because Neil doesn't like coconut, chocolate chip biscuits have been done to death, and he had birthday cake the other week, so that left the Russian!

Surprisingly it came out exactly as I remembered it... kinda cakey and full of juicy sultanas. I'll have to check with Mum what sort of icing she used to use, because the thin layer of vanilla just seemed too sweet.

I can see this one returning to my repertoire.

The day I ate chicken and other food tales...

Well, Sunday June 17 will be a day my parents rejoice and I feel kinda weird about. After 7 years as a vege I ate chicken. Two mouthfuls and yes it was premeditated.

The recipe was Parmesan Chicken - torn by Nana from the March 1995 issue of Australian Women's Weekly. The making of this dish has been several weeks in the planning (or is that psyching) and a wet, rainy day was the decider.
Neil made mash (being English he's something of an expert) and I made some Mushroom Ragout to supplement my foray into cannibalism.
And the verdict? Chicken tastes like... well, nothing really. The crust was tasty though.

It was a perfect end to a day in the kitchen in which Ginger Kisses (so-so) and Red Lentil Soup (a new regular) played the role of amuse buche.

Mmm cookies

I know the way to a man's heart is through his stomach because my early attempts to woo Neil (baked goodies for his lunches every day) obviously succeeded. An unfortunate side effect of this is having to drag myself into the kitchen every weekend to whip up a new batch of treats for 'elevenses' and 'fourses'. Pfft, who am I trying to kid... I LOVE those hours spent baking.

The latest treat was bill granger's Chocolate Peanut Chunk cookies. Now, after not one but two bill granger scone recipe disasters I was ready to avoid his baking recipes and just stick to the savoury meals... but I gave him one more chance. Glad I did... these were so good I even took some for my lunch.

Bored and Baking

I've had a hankering for a good hunk of ginger crunch for a while. Auntie Pauline used to do a good crunchy GC, but since then every piece I've come across has looked the part, but has ended up too base-y, not ginger-y enough or just plain disappointing.

During my trawl through the contents of Nana's Recipe Drawer I found this little gem of a recipe that ticked all the boxes.

GINGER CRUNCH
Base:
125g butter
1/4 c sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1 c plain flour
1 tsp ground ginger

Icing:
2 tbsp butter
3 tsp ground ginger
2 rounded tbsp golden syrup
1 tbsp water
2 c icing sugar

• Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C and line an 18x28cm slice tin with baking paper making sure to have enough at the sides so you can pull the slice out when it's cooled.
• For the base: Cut the cold butter into cubes and place in a food processor with the flour, baking powder and ginger. Pulse until the texture of coarse breadcrumbs. Press the crumbly mixture into the slice tin firmly and evenly.
• Bake for about 10 minutes or until evenly and lightly browned. While hot, it will still feel hot. While the base cooks, prepare the icing.
• For the icing: Place the butter, ginger, golden syrup and water in a saucepan and heat without boiling until melted. Take off the heat and stir in sifted icing sugar. Beat until smooth.
• When the base is cooked, take it from the oven and pour the warm icing over the hot base. Spread evenly over the base.
• Leave the slice in the tin to cool and set.
• When it has cooled completely, remove from the tin. Slice into large squares and store in an airtight container. Do not refrigerate!