Toscatarta (Swedish Almond Cake)

This is a really nice almond cake; a moist butter cake, topped with a sweet crunchy buttery almonds. Another lovely recipe from the book "Cake" by Rachel Allen, 

It is baked in a springform pan, and Rachel has given a useful tip to use the base of the pan upside down, so that there's no lip at the sides of the base removable bottom, and the cake can be slide off easily after baking.

Recipe says to bake the cake for 30 minutes, then add on the topping, which is to be prepared about 5 minutes before the cake's 30 minutes is up. A cake tester inserted in the middle of cake is supposed to have some moist crumbs on it before the topping is added, but my cake tester is clean when I inserted it in the cake at 27 minutes, so it would be a good idea to check on your cake earlier. 

To prepare the topping, melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat, add the rest of the ingredients, sugar, flour, cream, vanilla extract and flaked almonds, letting the mixture bubbles for a minute. Spread the mixture evenly over the hot cake, and continue to bake the cake for another 10-15 minutes until the almonds are golden brown.

I sliced  a piece when the cake is still slightly warm, as it smells so good with the almonds! The cake turn out moist with tender crumbs, and the almonds are crunchy, a little sweet, buttery and smells good! The next time, when I make this again, I would reduce slightly, the amount of sugar for the topping, it is a little sweet for me, but it would probably be just right for those who love their dessert a little sweet.

If you love almonds, then you just got to give this cake a try!

Toscatarta or Swedish Almond Cake
(adapted from "Cake", Rachel Allen)
Serves 8-10
3 eggs
150gm (5 oz) caster sugar (I use 120gm)
150gm (5 oz) plain flour, plus extra for dusting
1-1/2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp vanilla extract
3 tbsp milk
75gm (3 oz) butter, melted, plus extra for greasing

For the Topping :
50gm (2 oz) butter
100gm (3-1/2 oz) flaked almonds
50gm (2 oz) caster sugar
2 tsp plain flour
3 tbsp double or regular cream
1 tsp vanilla extract

One 23cm (9 in) diameter spring-form or loose-bottomed cake tin with 6cm (2-1/2 in) sides

Preheat the oven to 180C (350F), gas mark 4, then grease the base and sides of the cake tin with butter and dust with flour. If you're using a spring-form tin, make sure the base is upside down, so there's no lip and the cake can slide off easily when cooked.

Using a hand-held electric beater or an electric food mixer, whisk together the eggs and the sugar for 5-7 minutes or until thick and mousse-like.

Sift in the flour and baking powder and pour in the vanilla extract, milk and melted butter, then fold everything in until combined. Tip the mixture into the prepared tin and bake for 30-35 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the center of the cake comes out moist but not totally clean, as the mixture will still need another 10 minutes of cooking. Increase the heat to 200C (400F), Gas mark 6.

Just before the 30-35 minutes are up, make the topping. Place the butter in a saucepan over a medium heat. When it has melted, add the remaining ingredients and bring to the boil, allowing the mixture to bubble away for 1 minute.

After the cake has been cooking for 30-35 minutes, remove it from the oven and spoon the almond mixture evenly over the top. Place it back in the oven and bake for about 10-15 minutes or until the topping is golden.

Leave to cool in the tin for 10 minutes. Then, using a small, sharp knife, loosen around the edges and carefully remove the sides of the tin before placing the cake (still on the base of the tin) on a wire rack to cool down fully.

To transfer to a plate, use a palette knife to loosen the bottom of the cake from the tin, then slide the knife under the cake and ease it onto the plate to serve.

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I'm linking this post to Little Thumbs Up : June 2014 - Butter, organized by Zoe of Bake For Happy Kids, Doreen of My Little Favourite DIY, and hosted by Jozelyn Ng of Spice Up My Kitchen

and Cook-Your-Books #13 @ kitchen flavours

Lettuce, Cucumber and Cherry Tomato Salad with Ranch Dressing

I made this salad a few weeks ago when we had this baked chicken for dinner. This is a really simple salad, easy and quick to put together especially if you are rushing for time when preparing the main dishes. Another lovely recipe from The Deen Bros.

Recipe uses romaine lettuce, though any lettuce can be used, and here I have used Green Coral Lettuce, with Honey Cherry Tomatoes and some Japanese cucumber.

The Ranch Dressing is so yummy, we love it! According to The Deen Bros., any extra dressing can be used as a dipping sauce for chicken fingers or chicken wings, and can be covered in the refrigerator for a week. We like all the flavours in the dressing; the garlic powder, onion powder, black pepper, minced garlic, chopped fresh chives, parlsey, mayonnaise, milk and white wine vinegar. The only thing I omitted was celery seeds, since I did not have any. I do agree with The Deen Bros., this dressing would be great as a dip for crispy fried or baked chicken.

To serve this easy salad, drizzle some dresssing over the salad, toss gently and enjoy! I would definitely make this dressing again, to enjoy with some fried or baked chicken the next time. 

Romaine, Cucumber, and Grape Tomato Salad with Ranch Dressing
(adapted from "Y'all Come Eat", The Deen Bros)
Dressing :
1/2 cup mayonnaise
3 tablespoons buttermilk (I use milk)
1 tablespoon chopped fresh chives
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
1 teaspoon white wine vinegar
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon celery seeds (omit this)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 large clove garlic, minced

Salad :
2 large heads romaine lettuce, outer leaves removed
1 cup grape tomatoes
1 cucumber, coarsely chopped

1. For the dressing, whisk together the dressing ingredients; set aside.
2. For the salad, chop the lettuce into bite-size pieces; place in a bowl with the tomatoes and cucumber. Toss salad with just enough dressing to lightly coat the greens (reserve extra for another use). Serve immediately.

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Cook Like A Star event, featuring Paula Deen and The Deen Brothers, hosted by Zoe of Bake For Happy Kids, Diana of Domestic Goddess Wannabe and Joyce of Kitchen Flavours.

and Cook-Your-Books #13 @ kitchen flavours

Souper Sundays @ Kahakai Kitchen
See Ya In The Gumbo Potluck #138 @ Ms. enPlace

Noodles, Chicken Broth and Chives

"Budget Friendly Dishes", is our theme for this week at I Heart Cooking Clubs (IHCC), where we are cooking from Nigel Slater's recipes. I was browsing thru his two books, The Kitchen Diaries, and this recipe caught my attention weeks ago. 

I made this for my lunch, and have scaled down the recipe for one. I have used 3 medium-sized chicken wings and instead of water, have used my homemade chicken stock (about 3 cups). A quarter of a lemon is just right for the light lemony taste. Season with salt, and Nigel says to season generously with black pepper, and he is right!

I do not have any angel hair noodles, and have replaced it with Chinese wheat vermicelli (misua), which is great in soups. 

A bunch of chives from my potted garden completes the ingredients for this noodle dish. The chives are left whole as it is, as according to Nigel, it is an idea from James, his friend who says, "Then they'll get tangled up with the noodles and make them more interesting to eat".

According to the recipe, the chicken wings are fried in 1 tablespoon of oil on both sides until they are browned, add in the cut lemon, let the cut side of the lemon browns a little, then add in the water, let it come to a boil, then simmer for 45 minutes. Frankly, I do not know how he did it with 1 tablespoon of oil to fry all the 8 wings for the full recipe, but I've used a few tablespoons of oil for 3 chicken wings! But not to worry about all that oil, what I did was, I fried the wings on both sides till they are brown, one at a time, so that I do have to use so much oil. Then I drained the wings on kitchen paper towels, and place them in a clean saucepot. Fry the cut side of the lemon for a minute with the last chicken wing and add that to the saucepot with all the wings and my homemade chicken stock. So there's really minimum amount of oil. I simmer the wings for 30 minutes instead of 45 minutes (I was hungry! haha!), add the wheat vermicelli, chives, season with salt and lots of black pepper, letting it simmer for about 3 minutes, until the noodles are have softened and cooked.

 

Ladle into a bowl, and eat it while still hot. 

My notes : Really nice! I ate this with some chillies from my potted garden, sliced and mixed with some soy sauce. The broth is really nice, especially since I've used my homemade chicken stock instead of water, and I like the light lemony taste of the broth. I did not squeeze over anymore lemon juice over the noodles, as it is already good as it is. Having the chives whole as it is in a soup is really a very Chinese way of eating it, as chives are usually left whole when it is cooked with Chinese wheat vermicelli, which is usually cooked when celebrating a birthday for the elderly, as it represents long life with many more birthdays to come! 

Angel Hair Noodles, Chicken Broth and Chives
(adapted from "The Kitchen Diaries II", Nigel Slater)
1 tablespoon groundnut oil
600gm (about 8) chicken wings
1 lemon
100gm angel hair noodles
15gm chives

Warm the oil in a large, deep pot. Add the chicken wings and brown lightly on both sides. Halve the lemon, add half to the pan and cook till the cut side colours. Pour in 1.5 litres of water, bring to the boil, then skim and discard any froth that appears on the surface. Simmer for 45 minutes. Skim once again thoroughly. Season with salt and, generously, with black pepper.

Drop the angle hair noodles into the pan with the chicken, push them down into the liquid, then add the whole chives and cover with a lid. Switch off the heat and leave for four or five minutes.

Divide the chicken wings between four shallow bowls, add the noodles and chives and ladle over the broth. Squeeze in the rest of the lemon.

Enough for 4.

This post is linked to I Heart Cooking Clubs (IHCC).

 Cook-Your-Books #13 @ kitchen flavours

Souper Sundays @ Kahakai Kitchen