The plan was to make a cardamom, pistachio and marmalade drizzle loaf from Sarah Randell’s book “Marmalade: A bittersweet cookbook.” I had my very precious pot of homemade Seville orange marmalade next to me, ready to be used. I immediately fell in love with the picture of the cake which looked so appetising. Besides, anything that has pistachios or Seville orange marmalade written on it already has my undivided attention. And then I ended up making quite a different cake!
Going through the freezer late last night, I realized I hardly used the berries that I’d meticulously frozen at the end of summer. Too good and precious to be wasted, I decided to put them to good use!
With the abundance of fruit and all sorts of berries and currants, pie makes for a perfect summer treat but I have to say it’s even better on a cold winter day. Nothing pleases more than digging into a juicy berry pie to reveal its hidden purple treasure and the deep scent of summer. It will immediately make you long for a hot summer day.
A new recent addition at Gail’s, my local artisanal bakery, has recently caught my attention. A sea salt caramel banana and pecan cake. I know! It tastes like a delicious piece of spiced banana bread but with a salty caramel difference and topped with sticky and crunchy pecans. I had to try my own version, of course, but with apples. I used my sister’s recipe for a spiced apple loaf and made an upgraded version thanks to the addition of pecans and salted caramel. All I can say is these flavours are just meant to be together. When you’re in need of an easy but delicious piece of cake with a cup of tea this will do the trick.
Of course, you can buy caramel sauce from the shop but homemade version tastes so much better and trust me when I say this – it is easy to make. Don’t be intimidated by frightening warnings to absolutely not stir and to use the thermometer. You just simply have to trust your judgement and the sugar will melt.
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This fluffy, tender, cardamon and cinnamon-scented cake is a great way of using abundance of fresh and juicy plums when in season. Plus, it tastes fantastic. What more do you want?
I love the warm, bold and floral aroma of freshly ground cardamon but if you’re not a big cardamon fan, just leave it out – the cake will still be delicious. Also, other juicy stone fruits (peaches, apricots, nectarines or cherries) work well in this versatile recipe.
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The recipe for these famous salted chocolate chip tahini cookies is adapted from Modern Israeli Cooking by Danielle Oron. These cookies are chewy, soft in the middle, perfectly flavored, with that slightly nutty and beautiful taste of tahini. My advice is don’t put it in the queue; don’t save it on that to-cook-one-day list, just make it, you’ll not regret. My kids devour these in seconds…
To make things a little more exotic, I used black sesame paste that I brought from the States many months ago but it turned out to be one of those ingredients that you don’t really know what to do with. It was only when I saw Danielle’s recipe and then David Lebovitz’s version that I squealed with excitement. …