Rum and Raisin Cake

It's IHCC's first Potluck Week for 2018. I've made Rum and Raisin Cake from the cookbook Sweet by  Yotam Ottolenghi and Helen Goh. Ever since I bought the book, this is the recipe I've been wanting to make, I love cakes with rum, and this cake did not disappoint.

The only change I've made is to reduce the brown sugar slightly and omitted the glaze, as I prefer eating cakes without any glaze or frosting. As long as the cake is moist, buttery and delicious, the glaze or any frosting would not be missed, at least for me.

The raisins needed to be soaked in rum the day before. 

The batter is really thick, thicker than most bundt cakes I've made, and that got me worried that the cake would be heavily densed. I was tempted to add a few tablespoons of milk, but decided to follow the recipe instead. The filled bundt pan with the batter was a weight! 

During baking, the cake almost did not rise at all, the level of the batter when filled into the pan was almost exactly that as when the cake was done baking. It smells incredibly rum-delicious when the cake was baking.

When the cake has cooled for 15 minutes, I turned the cake out of the bundt pan, and that was when I knew that the cake would be OK, as it was quite soft and tender to the touch.

This cake smells incredibly fragrant from the rum, with moist, surprisingly soft tender crumbs, maybe due to the sour cream used for the batter, and not only it is rum-fragrant, you can taste the rum too, a definite plus in my books, delicious!  I really like this cake, and would love to make a yellow version of it by replacing the raisins with sultanas and using white sugar instead of brown. 

Recipe can be found from guardian.com here, or from Sweet , page 124.

kitchen flavour's notes;
reduced brown sugar to 200gm
omitted salt, as I've used salted butter

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

January 2018 Potluck

and

I'm linking this post with Cookbook Countdown #25 hosted by 

Kitchen Flavours and Emily's Cooking (Makan2) Foray

Mexican Hot Chocolate

"Get Cozy" is the theme for this week at I Heart Cooking Clubs. "This time of year it's nice to snuggle up on the sofa, GET COZY with something yummy to eat and bingewatch the next Netflix hit"  Well, I would love to snuggle up on the sofa, get cozy with something yummy and browsing thru a couple of my cookbooks!  I am not a TV person, but I would browse through my cookbooks every night.

Ina Garten's Mexican Hot Chocolate is very good, easy and quick to make. Milk and a tablespoon of brown sugar is simmered, then remove from heat, and whisk in chopped bittersweet chocolate, vanilla extract, ground cinnamon and a pinch of ground cayenne pepper. Let sit for a few minutes, then reheated until the mixture comes to almost a simmer. Serve immediately with a cinnamon stick as a stirrer.

Ina has included a recipe for Cinnamon Baked Doughnuts for dipping into the hot chocolate, but I have omitted that. All I need after a busy day when I was looking forward to relax with a couple of my cookbooks for company, is just a cup of comfy beverage, and Ina's Mexican Hot Chocolate does just that!

We love this! It is very chocolaty, "cinnamony-fragrant", with a slight spicy kick of the cayenne powder. This is the first time I'm using cayenne powder in a chocolate drink, and it definitely would not be the last time. Very yummy indeed! Both my son and daughter are already asking me to make this hot chocolate drink again!

Mexican Hot Chocolate
(source : barefootcontessa.com)

• 2 cups whole milk
• 1 tablespoon light brown sugar
• 4½ ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
• ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• ¹⁄8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• Small pinch of ground cayenne pepper
• Long cinnamon sticks for stirrers (optional)

Place the milk and brown sugar in a medium saucepan and bring just to a simmer. Off the heat, whisk in the chocolate, vanilla, cinnamon, and cayenne pepper. Allow to steep for 3 minutes. Reheat the mixture over low heat until it almost comes to a simmer.

Pour into mugs, add cinnamon stirrers, if using, and serve with cinnamon doughnuts for dipping.

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

Get Cozy!

Multigrain and Honey Loaf

A wholesome healthy loaf of bread, with oats, sunflower seeds, flax seeds, honey and both wholemeal flour and white bread flour. Another wonderful bread recipe from master baker, Dan Lepard. I like his method of "kneading" the dough, the fold and push method, repeated at 15 minute intervals, a few times. 

A few hours of advance planning is required, as the sponge is made at least 2 to 4 hours before the final dough is mixed. The sponge is made by mixing together, warm water, instant yeast and strong white flour, and left for at least 2-4 hours or even overnight. I left mine for close to 4 hours before mixing it with the rest of the dough ingredients. The porridge is made by mixing together, rolled oats, honey, flaxseed, sunflower seeds, and boiling water, then left to cool to room temperature. 

The dough is mixed by hand and it will be very sticky. But the stickiness will be reduced after three intervals of fold and push method. 

The recipe has the top sprinkled with some flour and then  slashed along the length. I have omitted both the flour and the slashing. The bread is baked in a preheated oven at 230C for the first 20 minutes, then reduce the temperature to 200C and bake for another 20-25 minutes. The top is browning by the end of the first 20 minutes, so I have tent the top with foil.

Bread is moist with soft chewy crumbs, with a touch of sweetness from the honey and added texture from the wholesome seeds. Lovely toasted and spread with cold salty butter and my favourite jam, with a mug of  hot coffee, for breakfast.

The recipe can be found in Dan Lepard's book, Short & Sweet, page 39, or from The Guardian, here.

I'm linking this post with Cookbook Countdown #25 hosted by 

Kitchen Flavours and Emily's Cooking (Makan2) Foray