Firstly, sorry. To say I have been absent from my own blog is putting it mildly. It’s not that I haven’t thought about it, or any readers still out there in the ether, but life got in the way. Rather, a change to my life.

You see, I’ve lost 3.5 stone (49lbs), dropped 4 dress sizes and from starting c25k in April, am preparing for my first half marathon in three week’s time.

Yeah. Crazy. I’m a running fool. Love it. Can’t be without it. Even better? Now that I have the thyroxine at the right level and do all this running, I can eat cake. And bread. And pasta.

I. Love. Running.

I can eat cake without gaining weight.

Is miracle.

Also, our computer monitor went majorly up the creek and getting the colour right has been a mission. If the photos look very dreadfully wrong, do let me know.

So enough about me, let’s talk about this here cake. I got the magazine – Country Homes and Interiors (October 2011) – fourth-hand. I’ll be honest, it was a bit depressing looking at these spectacular places in the countryside with their achingly cool interiors and shabby chicness flung around, so I turned to the recipe bit. You know where you are with recipes. Doesn’t require a lottery win either. Or a grubby fling with a millionaire.

I chose it because it looked easy, simple and, well, filling. Nourishing. Not airy-fairy or full of cool, but solid and hole-filling.

Turned out to be one of the most flavoursome and delightful cakes I’ve made. Can’t recommend it enough.

Isn’t it just lovely when that happens?

Start by mixing 2 peeled, cored and diced apples with the chopped dates, 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda and 200 ml boiling water. Leave to cool completely.

Preheat the oven now and grease and line either a rectangular tin of 24x14cm or a 19-20cm square tin. I opted for the square tin. Now, if I were to stumble across a rectangular one with those dimensions, I could justify buying that. Feed that baking tin habit. Feeeeeeeeeeed it.

Ahem.

Beat the butter and sugar together til pale and fluffy/creamy/whatever

Beat in the eggs and vanilla then stir in the flour gently

Followed by the date/apple/water mixture (including any liquid left in the bowl)

Level the mixture into the prepared tin and bake for 1 hour.

Towards the end of the cooking time, make the topping. Put light muscovado sugar, butter and coconut cream (or coconut milk) in a small saucepan and heat until the butter melts.

Bring to the boil and let it bubble away for a couple of minutes

Remove from the heat and stir in 115g dessicated coconut then spoon over the cake

and smooth to an even layer

Return to the oven for another 15 minutes or until the topping is golden.

Cool in the tin before revealing its beauty

and slicing into delicious, moist, flavour-packed slices.

Date, Apple and Coconut Cake

(Country Homes and Interiors October 2011)

PRINT THIS RECIPE (opens in a new window)
200g dates, chopped
2 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and diced
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
200ml boiling water

125g lightly salted butter, softened
200g caster sugar
2 medium eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
200g plain flour

Topping:
75g light muscovado sugar
50g lightly salted butter
100ml coconut cream or coconut milk (the cream gave it a really rich flavour)
115g dessicated coconut

Mix the dates, apple, bicarb and boiling water in a bowl then leave to cool completely.

Preheat the oven to GM4/180C/350F.
Grease and line a square tin of 19-20 cm or a rectangular tin measuring 24x14cm.

Beat the butter and caster sugar until pale and fluffy/creamy.
Beat in the eggs and vanilla.
Stir in the flour then tip in the apple/date mixture – including any liquid left in the bowl. Stir to combine.
Put into the prepared tin and level the top. Bake for 1 hour.

Towards the end of the cooking time, make the topping.
Put the muscovado, butter and coconut cream in a small saucepan and heat until the butter melts.
Bring to the boil and let it bubble for a couple of minutes.
Remove from the heat and stir in the dessicated coconut.

Spoon over the baked cake evenly, then smooth to an even layer.
Return the cake to the oven for another 15 minutes or until the topping is golden brown.

Leave to cool in the tin before slicing.
Store in an airtight container.
It won’t last long.
The Borrowers eat it.

Morning, steeping fruit and sugar! Sleep well? My, haven’t you grown? You’re looking a bit swollen, love.

Best make you into a tea loaf then.

——————-

Preheat oven to GM3/160C/325F and line a 2lb loaf tin with baking parchment.

Add 1 tbsp oil

and beat an egg really well, then pour that in

and stir it well

then add 2 cups of self-raising flour and mix that in thoroughly too.

Spoon the mixture into your lined 2lb tin

Put into the oven and bake.

Mine took 1hr 15mins, but I always, always check it at the 1 hr mark. Check to see if it’s done using a wooden toothpick; clean is good.

Mmmmm.

*sniff* MMMMmmm

Cool in the tin. When fully cooled, keep in the paper and wrap in clingfilm. It really does need to sit until tomorrow – you’ll do it no favours by cutting it now – let it get squidgy.

Tomorrow, you can start cutting slices off. Spread with a little butter if you like. It freezes well, so bear that in mind too!

Now this IS a traditional British recipe – the cold tea loaf; a good keeper, moist, fruity, delicious and very low fat. What’s not to like?

This is in 2 parts simply because before you fling together the ingredients, you first have to soak your dried fruit in cold tea.

Make 1 cup (250 ml) of strong tea – I use 2 teabags. Let it stew and then remove the teabags and allow to cool.

Meanwhile, measure a lightly packed cup of light brown sugar. I use Waitrose’s own light brown sugar because it is much darker and more treacle-y than other brands. If you can’t get it, consider using ¾ light brown and ¼ dark brown sugar. Add that to the bowl and quickly stir together.

Measure 1 lb of dried fruit. This can be raisins or sultanas or a mixture of both. I like to use about 7 oz of raisins, 7 oz of sultanas and 2 oz dates. Cut the dates up so they are nearer the size of the raisins and sultanas. Put into a medium bowl.

Once the tea is cold, pour it over the fruit and sugar and stir briefly again

Cover with clingfilm and leave out overnight.

Night night.

By the way, to make the loaf tomorrow, we need 2 cups self-raising flour, 1 egg and 1 tbsp oil. And a 2lb loaf tin to cook it in.

The rest tomorrow!

Here’s part two

Sorry for the brief hiatus in recipe posting. We were away for the weekend and then I made some cookies to blog about, but they need more tweaking before they are revealed.

This is a real favourite of our family – the reliable, delicious ‘go-to’ recipe. It’s a tasty bar; filling, well-behaved and perfect for lunchboxes and big gaps between meals when you want more than a bite. I have never met anyone who didn’t love it.

This is the half quantity version, because I only had 1 egg. Guess what I’m going to the shops for tomorrow.

So, to the ingredients – I measured the weighed ingredients into cups for you US gals;  but I’ll list quantities at the end. Let’s just talk dates for a moment.

It’s obvious to me now, but wasn’t until I tried it, that the stickier the dates, the damper the bars. I used to use those ready chopped dates from the supermarket and the bars were very firm. I had some run of the mill dates in the larder once and chopped them up instead – the texture was much improved. Now, I don’t suggest getting expensive Medjool dates, but ones that you can comfortable bite, as opposed to having to fling to the mercy of your molars would be nice. These are the ones I used:

So let’s get down to business. Put all the dry ingredients, that is, self-raising flour, desiccated coconut, demerara sugar and dates, into a large bowl and mix them

In a saucepan, melt 4oz of butter with 1 tblsp of golden syrup (have a look at the link if you haven’t heard of this, but from what I understand, this is increasingly available in the States). I suppose you could substitute honey if you really can’t find it, but it would significantly alter the flavour. Have a look here,

Once melted, allow it to cool for 5 minutes, then beat in the egg. Add this mixture to the dry ingredients and mix well

Tip the mixture into a 8×8″ square tin that you have lined with foil.

Smooth/spread/press the mixture down evenly and bake in a pre-heated oven at GM3/325F/160C for about 30-35 mins, until risen and golden.

Mmmmmmmm. Never in all my life have I wished more that you could smell this, and I don’t say that lightly.

Allow to cool and then slice into bars, diamonds, squares – whatever moves you.

This recipe freezes really well, so you can always freeze them, then pack into lunchboxes as and when. They’re great for journeys too.

As I said, I normally do double the amount, so go ahead and do that, but put in a 13×9″ foil lined tin and bake for about 40-45 mins.

I really, really wish I’d had 2 eggs. I’m not going to tell anyone else I’ve made these. Shhhhhhhhh!

Date and Coconut Bars

PRINT THIS RECIPE (opens in a new window)

4oz (1 stick) unsalted butter
1 large tblsp golden syrup
1 large egg
5oz (1 cup) dates, chopped
5oz (3/4 cup) demerara sugar
6oz (1 cup) desiccated coconut
4oz (1 mean cup) self-raising flour

Melt the butter and golden syrup together in a small saucepan. Leave aside to cool for 5 minutes then beat in the egg.
Mix all the dry ingredients in a large bowl, then add the egg, butter, syrup mixture and stir well.
Tip the mixture into an 8×8″ square tin, lined with foil. Spread/press mixture down evenly.

Bake at GM3/ 325F/160C for 30-35 mins.

Allow to cool before slicing into bars.

This recipe doubles to fill a 13×9″ tin, baking for 40-45 mins. Freezes very well; simply defrost and serve.