Weird and Wonderful Flavours: A sambo and a cake

I should really learn to stop promising things, because when it comes to anything bloggy I am utterly and completely useless. But here it is a bit late and I've combined it with my favourite wrap. Both are rather unconventional, but I assure you both are delicious, I'm munching on a wrap as I type this, om nom nom!

Thai Veggie Wraps

This is one of my all time favourite lunches, you can add meat if you like, but I think it's flavourful enough with just veggies and the seasonings. It's about as Thai as Guinness, but I needed a name - authentic it may not be - but delicious it is!

Powered up with some superfood goodness of nuts and avocados, this is a strangely weird but wonderful wrap. I love food with contrasting flavours and textures and this one ticks all the boxes. Sweet, savoury, smooth, crunchy and colourful there's something for everyone.

I find different cultures like different styles of sandwich. For instance Americans like to add cheese to everything (not just sandwiches for that matter) and if that floats your boat, go for it.  Here in Ireland sandwiches are often preferred toasted and this is actually delicious toasted as well, but because I don't like wilted rocket I add that after I toast it.  A great trick for toasting is to wrap your wraps up tightly in foil and get your iron out and pop it on full temp. Place it on the wrap packet for a few minutes, switch sides and do the same. Voila, toasted wrap! :) But I digress... onto this delicious madness!

Ingredients:

• 2 wraps of your choice
• 1 tbsp cream cheese
• 1/2 tsp thai curry paste
• 1 tbsp mago chutney
• 1 tomato, thinly sliced
• 1/2 avocado, thinly sliced
• 10 thin slices cucumber
• handful cashews
• few slices red onion
• salt and pepper, to taste

Spread the cream cheese on your wraps, then spread the thai curry paste and chutney on top, mixing the three as you spread.

Top with veggies and cashews, season, wrap up, toast (optional) and enjoy! 

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Grapefruit Cake
We ate it all before I took a picture of it, but think loaf cake. It's ridiculously moist and delicious and I would highly suggest doubling the recipe as you will want more. I made one to bring over to a friend of mine who was under the weather, when I got home I promptly made another one for us! It's an easy recipe and perfect when Aldi are selling grapefruits for 39c! I got this recipe from a friend of mine Bryony and I am so glad I did, I've adjusted slightly after baking it a few times. I suspect any citrus fruit would work just as well, but the grapefruit is so unique, it really surprises people!

Ingredients:

For the cake-

• 1.5 cups plain flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup natural yoghurt*
• 3 large eggs
• 1 tbsp grapefruit zest
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil

For the syrup-

• 1/2 cup grapefruit juice
• 3 tbsp sugar

For the glaze-

• 1 cup icing sugar
• 2 tbsp grapefruit juice

Pre-heat oven to 180 and grease and flour a 2lb loaf tin.

Mix dry ingredients and set aside. Beat eggs together with yoghurt and zest and pour into dry ingredients to make a thick batter.  Stir in oil.

Bake for approximately 50 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean.

Allow to cool in tin for ten minutes.  Make syrup by heating grapefruit juice and sugar until sugar dissolves.  Using a skewer make some small holes in the cake and pour syrup on top.  Allow to cool completely.

Whisk icing sugar and remaining juice for glaze until smooth and pour over cake.

Sweet Baby Carrot Cake

I love heady textured carrot cake as much as any other person but sometimes the occasion calls for something more feminine and elegant. Enter the sweet baby carrot cake!

This cake (a Paula Deen recipe I believe, copied it down from a magazine years ago) is originally made with jars of baby food carrot purée but I just puréed half a pound of boiled carrots. Baked in layers with a lusciously light cream cheese frosting the cake turns out delicate and moist and stays tasty for days. Perfect for a baby shower or just having the girls round for coffee. People who don't normally like carrot cake (aka my kids) adore this cake.

It's very simple too I just dump everything in the food processor that I puréed the carrots in, easy peasy and no mess!

Ingredients:

For the cake-

• 2 cups plain flour


• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 2 cups sugar
• 1.5 cups vegetable oil
• 8 oz puréed boiled carrots
• 4 large free range eggs
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp mixed spice
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• Cream cheese frosting (follows)
• Pecans to garnish, if desired.

Preheat oven to 170C/325F.

Butter and flour three 9 inch round cake pans.

Beat together or food process all ingredients.

Divide evenly between the three pans.

Bake for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Cool for five minutes or so in pans and then turn out onto a cooling rack. Do not frost until fully cooled.

Frost liberally the top of the first cake and place the second layer on top. Repeat with the third layer.  Put an extremely thin layer over the sides and top of the cake, paper thin, this is known as the crumb coat and will prevent crumbs from getting in your frosting.  Allow this to set for 30 minutes or so, popping in the fridge to speed up the process if you would like.

Once the crumb coat is set frost top and sides liberally with an offset spatula and decorate as desired.

For the Frosting-

• 8 oz cream cheese, at room temperature
• 2 oz / 1/4 cup butter, softened
• 1lb of icing/powdered sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Beat cream cheese and butter together and slowly add powdered sugar.  Add vanilla and beat until smooth and creamy and there's no trace of graininess from the sugar.

Clementine Creamsicle Cupcakes

Came up with this glorious cupcake recipe yesterday, they taste just like an orange creamsicle.  I baked them for a birthday party and they went down a treat, especially when I told the kids they didn't have to eat the orange on top! ;)  These would be perfect for a baby shower or christening, they're really light and delicate. 

Ingredients:

For the cupcakes:

• 1/2 cup  (4oz)  butter, softened
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 vanilla bean, sliced in half, beans scraped
• 1 tbsp orange zest
• 2 large eggs
• 3/4 cup (6 fl oz) cream
• 1/4 cup orange juice, fresh squeezed
• 1 tbsp vanilla extract
• 2 cups plain flour
• ½ tsp. baking powder
• ½ tsp baking soda
• ½ tsp. salt
• Vanilla buttercream mixed with 1tbsp orange zest
• Clementine segments to garnish
• Orange zest to garnish

Preheat oven to 180C/350F.  Prepare a cupcake tin with liners.

Cream butter and sugar until light in colour in large. Add in eggs, vanilla bean and orange zest. Mix orange juice and cream into the bowl.

Sift flour with the other dry ingredients and slowly add into the liquid ingredients, mixing well.

Spoon into cupcake liners, filling about 3/4 of the way up. This should yield about 16 cupcakes. 

Bake for 20 minutes until puffed up and golden brown.  Allow to cool before frosting.

Decorate with vanilla frosting and clementine segments, sprinkling with some orange zest if desired.

Beautiful French Macarons

I have always loved macarons - even just to look at.  They are so sweet and cute that it almost grieves you to eat them.  I tried to make them a few years back and ended up getting into a vicious fight with my silpat and haven't tried again in years.

Hubby knows I just love these little delights and decided he would make me some for Valentine's Day.  Valentine's came and went without the romantic dinner I'd planned to make and without any macarons, but that's quite all right considering I got a new car instead!  We ended up making these together yesterday and thanks to his patience and my kitchen savy they turned out perfectly.  I made a quick vanilla bean buttercream to fill them and we added raspberry jam to some as well.  They were truly sublime.  This is a fairly easy recipe from Martha Stewart that for me worked much better than any I've tried in the past using sugar syrups.  I highly recommend giving it a go for any special events.  I will definitely be making baby blue ones when this little bundle arrives!

• 1 cup icing sugar
• 3/4 cup ground almonds
• 2 large egg whites, old and room temperature
• Pinch of cream of tartar
• 1/4 cup caster sugar

Pulse icing sugar and almonds in a food processor until combined. Sift mixture twice.

Preheat oven to 190C/375F degrees.

Whisk whites with a mixer on medium speed until foamy. Add cream of tartar, and whisk until soft peaks form.

Reduce speed to low, then add superfine sugar. Increase speed to high, and whisk until stiff peaks form, about 8 minutes.

Sift flour mixture over whites, and fold until mixture is smooth and shiny.  It took us about 40 folds.

Transfer batter to a pastry bag fitted with a 1/2-inch plain round tip, and pipe 3/4-inch rounds 1 inch apart on parchment-lined baking sheets, dragging pastry tip to the side of rounds rather than forming peaks.

Tap bottom of each sheet on work surface to release trapped air. Let stand at room temperature for 15 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 160C/325F degrees. Bake 1 sheet at a time, rotating halfway through, until macarons are crisp and firm, about 10 minutes. After each batch, increase oven temperature again, heat for 5 minutes, then reduce as before.


Let macarons cool on sheets for 2 to 3 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack. (If macarons stick, spray water underneath parchment on hot sheet. The steam will help release macarons.)

Sandwich 2 same-size macarons with 1 teaspoon filling. Serve immediately, or stack between layers of parchment, wrap in plastic, and freeze for up to 3 months.

Linking up with: Transformation Thursday, Hooking Up with HoH, Strut Your Stuff, Making it with Allie, Catch A Glimpse Thursday, It's a Keeper Thursday, Full Plate Thursday, Sweet Treats Thursday

Orange Pound Cake

My organic box arrived this week loaded with oranges.  It is Seville season after all and people all over Europe are making marmalade.  Well, I hate marmalade and I'm not particularly fond of oranges on their own, so I had to come up with some way to use them.  This is a fabulous pound cake that is melt-in-your-mouth buttery orangey goodness.  The syrup ensures it stays moist and I do believe it tastes better the next day.  I will definitely make this again and add a tiny bit of orange extract to the batter next time.  If you're looking for a lovely fruity cake to cheer someone up, this has got to be a hit!


Ingredients:

• ½ pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 2 ½ cups granulated sugar, divided
• 4 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
• 1/3 cup grated orange zest (6 oranges)
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• ¾ cup freshly squeezed orange juice, divided
• ¾ cup buttermilk, at room temperature
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Heat oven to 350F / 180C. Grease and flour two 8 ½ x 4 ½ x 2 ½ – inch loaf pans.

Cream the butter and 2 cups of the sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, and then add the orange zest.

In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In another bowl, combine ¼ cup of the orange juice, the buttermilk, and vanilla.

Add the flour and buttermilk mixtures alternately to the batter, beginning and ending with the flour.

Divide the batter evenly between the pans, smooth the tops, and bake for 45 minutes to an hour, until a cake tester comes out clean.

While the cakes bake, cook the remaining ½ cup of granulated sugar with the remaining ½ cup orange juice in a small saucepan over low heat until the sugar dissolves. When the cakes are done, let them cool for 10 minutes. Spoon the orange syrup over the cakes and allow the cakes to cool completely.

Source: Barefoot Contessa