Hello folks, I’m back, yes I know its been a while and it’ll probably be like this for a while, but my plan to keep this up is to do a post as soon as the daily homework ordeal is over and I can just get the kettle on and settle down to some writing. I must admit I do miss sitting in front of the laptop, with tea in the left hand and cake in the other. Oh and I can’t forget the music flowing through my ears, that’s really what depicts what I write.
So these past few days have been spent on Amazon, trying to source the little bits and bobs required for when Christmas arrives. I know you must all be sitting there going ‘why on earth is he sitting there typing about Christmas, when I haven’t even bought birthday presents yet’, there is logic in my response. I am not one of those people who leave everything to the very last minute, infact it’s like a have an inner compulsion to complete tasks well before they are needed. Basically I like to stock up my cupboards with all the little things, such as preserving jars, ribbons, cards, wrapping paper, cellophane bags (we will come onto these In a later post) and spices. The truth is, all year long these items stay at next to nothing prices, and so when Christmas comes around Amazon shoot the prices up to gain more profit. If you buy it all now or in the next few coming weeks then you are likely to save yourself a fortune in the long run. After all, by the end of the festive period, wallets are bone dry, in need of fresh money to repay for all the over expenses spent at that time of year, but hey its Christmas and its all about having fun and letting down your frontal guard, giving into temptation.
Tonight’s post is all about letting your hair down and having a little fun in the kitchen. This recipe is courtesy of Lorraine Pascale and her wonderful book, fast, fresh and easy. I love the fun in making this cake and it’s simply beautiful to look at when sliced. It never fails to please me when people always comment saying ‘wow, you made that? No surely not’. Its a real comfort to know that baking is not a complicated science at all. You just need to ensure you have a cup of tea at the ready, a good set of digital scales and some simple logic. I love the amber concentric circles interlaced with dark brown circles in this cake. It bakes a real treat and requires no faff.
The great thing is that it doesn’t require you to be able to handle using a piping bag, after all when the daily stresses are kicking in, the last thing you want to be handling is a piping bag. You simply divide the mixture in half, make one lemon and one chocolate orange, take spoonful’s and blob on top of each other, simples.
INGREDIENTS:
250ml vegetable/sunflower oil.
250g caster sugar.
100ml semi-skimmed milk.
4 medium eggs.
a few drops lemon oil.
300g self-raising flour.
1 tsp baking powder.
25g cocoa powder.
1 orange.
METHOD:
Preheat the oven to 180c/gas 4. Grease the bottom of a sandwich tin with a little oil. Line with paper and oil the paper lightly. Set aside.
Put the oil, sugar, milk, eggs, and lemon in to a large bowl and combine. No need to whisk vigorous amounts of air in here.
Pour of 400ml of this mixture into a medium bowl. Sift in 175g of the flour into this bowl along with 1/2 tsp of the baking powder. Mix well and leave aside. This is your lemon mix.
Sift the reaming 125g and the other 1/2 tsp baking powder into the remaining oil mixture along with the 25g of cocoa powder, and the zest of the orange. Combine well and set aside, this is your chocolate mix.
Now, put a tablespoon of the lemon mix in the middle of the sandwich tin. Then using a clean tablespoon add a blob of chocolate to the mix, on top of the vanilla. Keep alternating the to mixes until the spread out to the edges of the pan and you can clearly see the bulls eye target look.
Bake in the oven for 35 minutes.
Check the cakes are ready by piercing the centre with a skewer, if it comes out clean cakes are ready. If not then pop back in for another 5 minutes.
Take the cake out of the oven and place the tin onto a wire rack. Leave to coo for 5 minutes then turn out on the wire rack and leave to cool completely.
Cut into wedges and serve with a cup of tea, i.e when blogging hehe!
Enjoy, thanks for reading,
Ryan! 🙂
Eat Well...Feel Well 