Gingerbread

This month at The Cake Slice Bakers, the four selected recipes from the book which we are currently baking from, World Class Cakes by Roger Pizey, are :

Coffee and Walnut Cake

Paul A. Young's Torta Gianduja

Caribbean Coconut Cake with Rum

Gingerbread

Members can choose any one of these recipes to bake. My choice is Gingerbread.

This is a simple and easy bake. I've made half a recipe, bake in a 8-1/2x4-1/2 inch loaf pan. The only changes I made was to use Lyle's Golden Syrup instead of dark corn syrup, and brown sugar instead of superfine sugar, as indicated in the recipe. 

From the photo in the book, the cake is beautifully decorated with a lace pattern using royal icing. Of course, the frosting can be spread over the cake instead, but I've decided to omit the frosting.

The gingerbread turns out moist, soft and tender, though the colour is not as dark as other gingerbread. And the taste of the ginger is rather mild. I was thinking that some chopped crystallized ginger mixed into the batter would be nice.

Overall this is a nice moist, soft cake. Great with a cup of warm tea.

An InLinkz Link-up

Cranberry-Almond-Chocolate Clusters

This week at I Heart Cooking Clubs (IHCC), it is December's Monthly Featured Dish/Ingredient Challenge : Sweet Treats!.  I've made Ellie Krieger's sweet treat, Cranberry-Almond-Chocolate Clusters. Easy, simple and delightful. 

These chocolaty nutty sweet treat needs no baking at all. Simply toast the almonds and coarsely chop. Place in a bowl and mix with dried cranberries. Ellie's recipe uses dried cherries, but they are not available and even if I can find them, they are very costly. Dark chocolate is then melted, then mix the almond-cranberry into the melted chocolate, mix till well combine. Scoop heaping tablespoonfuls of the chocolaty mixture and place on baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Refrigerate for about 20 minutes until set. 

These are delightful to eat! 

Place each cluster on cupcake liners, would make a pretty plate on your dessert or snack table for the festive season. If I were to serve to guests, I would make them a little smaller, maybe a heaping teaspoon instead. These little sweet treats are a definite repeat!

Cherry-Almond-Chocolate Clusters
(So Easy by Ellie Krieger)
1 cup whole roasted almonds, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup dried cherries, coarsely chopped
6 ounces dark or bittersweet chocolate (60% to 70% cocoa solids), finely chopped

In a medium bowl, toss together the almonds and cherries. Line a baking sheet with wax paper.

Melt half of the chocolate in the top of a double boiler over slightly simmering water, over the lowest possible heat, stirring frequently, make sure the water is not touching the top pan. Remove the double boiler from the heat, and stir in the rest of the chocolate until melted. Remove the top pan with the chocolate in it, gently wipe the bottom of it, and set it aside for a moment. Replace the simmering water in the bottom pan with warm tap water. Put the pan of melted chocolate on top of the warm water. This will keep the chocolate at the right temperature while you make the clusters. 

(My note : I melted the chocolate in the microwave oven, and skip the step on placing the bowl of melted chocolate over a pan of warm water).

Stir in the fruit/nut mixture into the chocolate. Spoon out heaping tablepsoon-size clusters of the chocolate mixture onto the baking sheet about 1 inch apart. Put them in the refrigerator to cool and set for about 20 minutes. Store and serve at room temperature.

I'm linking this post with I Heart Cooking Clubs, theme for this week

Sweet Treats!

Onion Tart

Cook The Book Fridays, a group of lovely foodie bloggers are cooking their way through David Lebovitz's cookbook, My Paris Kitchen. The selected recipe for this week is Onion Tart (Pissaladiere).

I've only made Pissaladiere once before. And remember that my kids were asking where is the cheese! My kids' idea that as long as it is some kind of pizza, or looks like it, it must have their favourite ingredient, Mozzarella cheese, and lots of it, the more the better! So this time, when I make David Lebovitz's Pissaladiere, I reminded them that I am making Pissaladiere, and traditionally it is made with NO cheese!

The caramelized onions took about 50 minutes to cook till dark golden brown. A few whole sprigs of thyme are cooked together with the onions. Remove the thyme sprigs before assembling the pissaladiere. 

I've made only two thirds of the recipe, to fit the size of the baking sheet I had. The dough was easy to handle. Pull and spread the dough to fill the base of the baking sheet. Spread the caramelized onions on the dough and arrange some olives and anchovies on the onions.

The pissaladiere is baked for about 20 minutes, though I baked mine for 25 minutes, until the crust is lightly browned. 

Delicious especially when eaten warm.

According to David, Pissaladiere should be crisp and very thin, not thick and bready. This is thin and crisp, and very delicious! Especially good eaten while still warm. My favourite part are the sides where you get to bite into the crispy edges and the crispy bottom of the crust. The caramelized onions are delicious and sweet,  match perfectly with the salty anchovies. 

This is a delicious onion tart. I love the crust, it would make a fabulous pizza base, and would be great with other pizza toppings, and of course, with lots of cheese too! 

Stop by Cook the Book Fridays to see what everyone thought about this Onion Tart.