Well, not in the traditional sense anyway, no creamy churned cow-juice here folks - today’s entry is dairy free! The type of butter I am in fact referring to is peach butter, a jam-like preserve made from peaches is deliciously viscous, sweet and can be enjoyed in any number of ways!
I’m not exactly an old hand when it comes to preserves, and there’s a good reason for it - unfortunately, its just not enjoyed much in our household, I’m pretty much the only person who eats jams, though my father is quite partial to the odd marmalade. My very first foray into the world of jamming was in fact only a few months ago when I made my first strawberry jam.
Well, that one batch of strawberry jam lasted me a few months, and I’ve made it twice again since then, but frankly, I was getting a bit sick of it and feeling rather desperate to try and expand my preserving repertoire. We are, after all, dead in the middle of summer now - the season of bountiful stone fruits and richly-coloured berries, all I needed was the chance to buy a kilo or two of anything to get me going. You could see how then coming across the $2.00 box of nectarines (2kg worth!) was pure fate, to me anyway. My mother raised an eyebrow as I hefted the box into our cart, but when she saw the cheek-splitting grin on my face thought better of saying anything and left me to my fruit.
Once I got my bounty home, it was straight to the internet where I found a recipe for peach butter that I thought sounded promising, so I decided to print it off and give it a try.
DID YOU KNOW:
Did you know that the nectarine is actually a variety of the peach? The fruit differs from the peach in skin texture, aroma, and flavor but closely resembles it in color and in size and shape of seed. Peach seeds occasionally give rise to trees that bear nectarines, and nectarine seeds may give rise to trees bearing either peaches or nectarines. Because it is impossible to know which type of tree will result from the planting of a nectarine seed, buds from branches on which nectarines have grown are grafted to peach trees.
There was, however, one problem - sugar. You see, once I read through the instructions and saw that my total liquid would have reduced to half by the time I was done, 4 cups of sugar seemed like far, far too much. Its actually a bit of a problem that I have with commercial jams, the sheer sweetness often puts me right off enjoying the fruit, which is the whole reason I’m eating it in the first place!
I think this is one of the best things about home-made preserves - not only can you control the sugar content, but you’re also 100% guaranteed to be getting a jam without any sort of colourings or preservatives (though there are many that tote that they have NATURAL additives, I dare you to read Eric Schlosser ‘Fast Food Nation‘ and look the same way at your pantry again), with nothing on the label that you can’t pronounce or understand.
As for the results, I have to admit that I am absolutely smitten. In fact, I was so smitten with the results of my first batch, that the next morning I went straight back to the greengrocer to grab another box of nectarines to make more of this preserve, to be stored in little bottles to be added to our Xmas gift baskets!
I don’t know if this is a selling point for you - but the fact that my non-jam-lovin’ mother has been attacking the currently open jar and eating it by the spoonful is, I think, a fairly decent indication that this marvellous stuff is hard to resist!
Spiced Nectarine butter
(based on this recipe)
Ingredients
2kg ripe nectarines
2 cups white sugar
1/2 cup water
1 stick cinnamon
2-3 cloves
1. Wash your nectarines, then halve them and remove the seeds and any dodgy bits - do NOT peel them or throw away any peel.
2. Put the peaches into a large pot with the 1/2 cup of water, cinnamon and cloves and cook over medium heat, simmering the mixture till the nectarines have almost liquefied (you should be able to pulverize them with a bit of pressure from a spoon), this will take about 15-20 minutes, depending on how ripe your fruit is.
3. Run the cooked fruit through a food mill (or a fine mesh strainer) till all you have left are the skins, which can now be discarded.
4. Return the nectarine pulp to a large pot, stir in the sugar and cook over low-medium heat till the colour has deepened, the texture has become quite thick and the amount of liquid roughly halved. This should take anywhere between 45-60 minutes, and you will need to stir it every 5-10 minutes to stop the mixture sticking to the bottom.
WARNING: As this mixture cooks down and water evaporates, it will begin to splatter quite violently. The best way to cook this is to use a wooden spoon to prop up the lid of the pot as it cooks - this way, you’re allowing steam to escape, but retaining enough heat to cook the jam down to the required consistency.
5. CAREFULLY pour into hot sterilized jars till it is filled about 1cm from the top. Place the lid on the jar, then place in simmering water for 10 minutes. Carefully remove from the water and place on a dishcloth on your counter top to cool completely.
This rich, gooey nectarine butter can be enjoyed in a variety of ways:
- Spread into little tartlette cases as jam tarts
- Swirled through a cake or muffin mix to achieve a marbled effect
- In thumbprint jam cookies
- To fill a cake…
- Whatever your imagination can come up with…!
Technorati Tags: preserves, jams, fruit, recipes, peaches, nectarines
Others who have tried this recipe:
- Anna from Sharing My Interests
 |
In 2006 food bloggers and their readers raised a phenomenal US$62,925.12 in support of the United Nations World Food Programme. In 2007 we hope to raise even more, so we’re asking for your help.For a $10 raffle ticket, you can enter the chance to win one of a fantastic range of prizes, as well as the knowledge that your purchase of a ticket has gone to help school lunch program in Lesotho, Africa, as part of the UN World Food Program.
To find out more about this year’s raffle and how to buy a ticket, you can do so here. |
There is a reason that you don’t see many salads on this blog. To be honest, my creativity with salads is limited, to say the least. My vegetable intake is usually raw as part of a dish (cucumber & carrot sticks, rice paper rolls, lettuce leaf wraps) or just a bunch of vegetables from the crisper of the fridge tossed together with a little home-made dressing tossed over the top.
It is for reasons like these that, whilst people are eager to have me be responsible for the entree, mains or dessert, I am never ever put on salad duty. Its not to say that I don’t eat salads - I love ‘em (mostly when prepared by others), its just that when *I* make them, they very obviously say “here’s the veggies I found in my fridge - enjoy!”
This even extends to the humble potato salad. Though you may think this is simple, I unfortunately grew up with my mother’s bastardized version made for Asian tastebuds (I’m sorry, but I cannot stomach Korean/Japanese mayo or ketchup. Absolutely wretched - blegh!) which had me forever thinking that potato salad was just a dish that I hated. This was until a few years ago, when I had the fortune to try a fantastic potato salad at a barbeque - when I tasted it, my eyes literally rolled back so much that my then boyfriend asked me if I was alright. All I could do was grab his arm and tell him that I needed to find the person who made this so I could get the recipe from them.
Unfortunately, I proceeded to get completely toasted that night, and barely managed to sit up straight, nevermind talk coherently about potato salad (though I think I did try), and never did find the recipe for this particular dish.
Anyway, it made me realize that a potato salad could be a damn fine thing if you just treated it with a bit of respect, and that was exactly the thought I had when I was browsing the aisles of my local supermarket to stumble across some adorable little kipfler potatoes.
Having a bit of a thing for all things cute (beware if you walk your dog anywhere near me, I will happily bound across the road and get on my knees to say hello to strange dogs, much to the bemusement of their owners), I immediately piled about half a kilo into a bag and tossed them into my trolley. Though I’d never cooked with them before, I’d enjoyed them many times while eating out, and I thought that this would be the perfect opportunity to try to make a potato salad!
After my shopping was done, I made it home and started to put away the groceries when my mother emerged from her room to help. She picked up the bag of potatoes and poked them quizzically, before turning to me and asking me what they were.
“Mother…they’re potatoes. Can’t you tell?”
“Well they don’t look like any potatoes I’ve ever seen!”
“What do you mean? They’re small, firm, tubers, with eyes and roots like potatoes have…”
“Yes, but what kind of potato is all small and weird-shaped like this??”
I took the potatoes off her and quickly shooed her out of the kitchen. Unfortunately, with the way my mother asks questions, if I didn’t get her out now then I’d be stuck for another half hour answering all manner of questions on their history (I don’t know), what country they’re from (I don’t know) and what cuisine used them the most (I DON’T FREAKING KNOW!).
Ahem.
With ingredients that are foreign to her, the best approach is to just present them to her in a dish that she can eat, which will just result in a yay or nay verdict.
Anyway, once I’d put away the rest of the groceries and was ready to start my potato salad journey, I hopped onto the ‘net to try and find a recipe for a potato salad that featured kipflers. After some searching I found one at Haalo’s site which sounded quite good, so I decided to give it a whirl (with a few additions that mostly had to do with what I had in the kitchen - I’d just gotten back from grocery shopping, I wasn’t too keen on going back out for one or two things!)
The end verdict? Quite delicious! I still find potato salad quite stodgy and am unable to have more than a few bites, but the lemony dressing here really helps to cut through the richness and yet its flavoursome enough that you don’t feel wanting for anything else.
Most importantly, this salad is so good that I think I just might volunteer myself for salad duty for the next group barbeque 
Warm Kipfler Potato Salad w/ Lemon Mustard Dressing
(Adapted from Haalo)
Ingredients
400g Kipfler potatoes
½ lemon, juiced
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
salt and freshly ground pepper
4 spring onions, finely chopped
50ml olive oil
3-4 cloves garlic, crushed
2 – 4 hard-boiled eggs, quartered
1-2 rashers bacon (lean, trimmed of skin and the white fatty bits), finely diced
1. Scrub the potatoes well and give them a good rinse to remove all the dirt. Chop off any particularly manky bits or large eyes, then prick them all over with a fork. Put them into the microwave for about 6-8 minutes, or till almost completely cooked. Cut the potatoes into bit-size pieces and set aside.
2. Heat a frying pan with just a smidge of oil, then toss in the diced bacon with the garlic and fry till the bacon pieces have crisped up. Add the potato, salt and pepper (you really shouldn’t need any salt thanks to the bacon) to taste and fry till the potato has cooked through and picked up a bit of colour, no more than a few minutes. Remove the potato/bacon mixture to a bowl, then toss the spring onion through.
3. In a small bowl, put the lemon juice and mustard, a grinding of pepper and salt. Whisk these together until amalgamated, then begin to slowly trickle in the oil (similar technique to making mayonnaise). You are looking for the dressing to emulsify and thicken.
4. Arrange the salad onto a plate, then carefully and somewhat evenly drizzle the dressing over the top. Serve warm.
Technorati Tags: potato salad, dressing, salads, recipes, kipfler, potatoes
Folks, I’ll be blunt. This is not a food related post.
To be honest, it’s about something that has me so angry that I’m almost literally spitting chips.
The iPond. A miniscule fish tank that has an inbuilt speaker that can be plugged into an mp3 player is being sold worldwide, and it needs to stop NOW.
This tank has a holding capacity of 650mL once rocks have been placed inside, and that is 15x SMALLER than the recommended tank size for a Betta (the fish they are being marketed with).
They are being sold across Australia in Pets Paradise and Pets Good Direct chain stores, and in Walmarts in the northern hemisphere.
You can read more about this issue here.
So, what is it exactly that I’m asking you to do?
If you happen to live near one of these stores, then write a letter of complaint to hand it into them in person. If you don’t, but you have a friend who does, then ask them to do it for you. Or, at the very least, write to the stores with a complaint against this device.
And if you don’t feel up to writing a letter? You can use the letter below that was written by a friend. That’s what I’ll be doing, and having just called my local Pets Paradise store and confirmed that YES, they HAVE stocked the ipond, I’ll be marching my arse there first thing tomorrow morning to hand over my copy of this letter (as well as multiple copies which I’ll be distributing outside their store if they refuse to remove this from the shelves).
And the the f*ckwit who invented this product: should you ever read this, my foot would like to meet your face. In the most painful f*cking way possible.
And now for the letter:
Pets Paradise
Store location
Address
dateDear Sir/Madam,
I am writing to in regard to an article which appeared in 16th December Sydney Morning Herald/Age concerning a product called the ‘iPond’ which your company has been stocking since September of this year.
I wish to register my disappointment and concern over the sale of such a patently cruel product. The size of this tank is fifteen times smaller than what is safely recommended for the humane captivity of such animals. It has also been shown by acoustics experts that noise and vibrations from the speakers would escape into the water causing unnecessary stress and harm to the fish.
I believe that the stocking of the iPond by Pets Paradise adds a greater impetus and justification for the policing of your industry to prevent further harm and the spreading of cruel practices towards animals such as this.
I would appreciate it if you were to pass my concerns onto your store manager or franchisee. I would presume that anyone who works in a pet shop would have an innate and sincere love of animals and a deep concern for their welfare. How such persons could then partake in the sale of a product like the iPond is very disconcerting.
Yours Sincerely,
xyz
I know everyone is busy with the fast-approaching holidays, but surely you can spare at least 5 minutes for an email?
Those soft, delicate curves, the rich ruby skin paired with the vibrant green corsage, the seductive scent that smells like warmth and sunlight, the very first bite that results in the almost indecent explosion of sweet juice and tender flesh, filling every corner of your mouth with the taste of summer.
Don’t worry, I’m not about to break into some embarrassingly explicit kiss-and-tell, this ardent description is just the only way I can accurately convey my love of the strawberry!
I gorge myself on these fruits during the summer, and in winter I pine for their presence so much that I am often driven to buy expensive punnets of Californian imports, my need is so great. Of course, after months of tasting the less than fresh berries that have made the trip halfway around the world, it is always with great anticipation that I await our own berry season.
And OH, what a season it is!
Anyone in Australia who is as much a strawberry lover as me will tell you that we are having an exceptionally good strawberry season this year. The fruit seem more fragrant, more potent in flavour, juicier and just exquisite in appearance. And while a beautiful strawberry is indeed marvellous on its own, when the fruit are this flavoursome, bountiful and cheap, they really do beg for you to do something with them that will make the most of their flavour and celebrate it in another form.
Now I, like most the people in the food blogging world, have seen Bea’s many gorgeous charlottes and drooled over each and every one of them. Cute little things topped with fresh berries - they appeal to me on every level possible, so they very quickly made it to the ‘things to try’ list (I operate on two lists - ‘things to try’ and ‘things to try IMMEDIATELY’). However, for some reason it continued to sit on that list, petulantly staring me and begging to be made while I very pointedly ignored it. To be honest, I’ve no idea why, I mean, once you break it down, this is one of those extraordinary-looking desserts which is stupidly easy to make, but nonetheless I remained wary.
It wasn’t till the past weekend that I actually mustered the resolve to head to the kitchen and make it. It was actually fate that pushed me through the door…
A bit of explanation - to put it bluntly, if I didn’t go grocery shopping, there would never be anything other than carrots, apples, rice and noodles in our pantry (kimchi is of course there - I’m talking about regular grocery shopping items!). The reason for this is that my father cannot be trusted with a shopping list (it happened ONCE…and will never happen again in his lifetime), and the only other person who can really do it is my mother, who absolutely abhors grocery shopping. I mean, she actually loathes it with a passion.
To qualify it for you - she hates grocery shopping as much as I hate Tom Cruise. As for how much I hate Tom Cruise - lets just say, if I had my way, Mr. Cruise would not have been allowed to procreate nor ever appear in public ever again. There, I’ve said it. I’m not one of the Cruise-lovin’ swooners, so sue me.
Anyway, since my mother hates grocery shopping, the duty often falls on my shoulders - either in the form of a shopping list left on the kitchen bench, or my mother nagging me to go in person/over the phone. Before I drove, this was a serious pain in the arse as it meant a half hour walk there and back, the return journey usually quite a strain as I had to carry the groceries back by hand. Because of this, my mother tried to limit her requests, but as I am now legally to get behind the wheel of a vehicle, I am now officially Errand B*tch.
SO - FINALLY getting to the crux of this rather directionless ramble - it was on a grocery shopping trip for my mother that I happened upon a wooden crate filled with punnets of berries, proudly declaring themselves on sale at $2.00 a punnet! Oh, be still my beating heart - I may or may not have drooled at this point, but what I definitely did was halt the shopping trolley and begin maniacally picking up punnet after punnet, lifting the lid of each to inspect the produce and give ‘em a good hard sniff.
(Yes, I’m aware that I looked like a crazy lady doing this - in fact, I actually startled a few middle-aged women who happened to be milling around the berries…but ah, how could I resist? They were strawberries!)
After I’d half loaded my cart with strawberries (I initially picked out 10 punnets…then looked at them sadly and put 4 back as the berries were ripe and ready for eating now…not in a few days time), I happily finished off the rest of the shopping list before practically floating to the check out counter with the world’s goofiest grin on my face. The lass behind the counter saw my grin, saw my strawberries and laughed aloud, winking at me before telling me “don’t worry, I bought some yesterday and I was just as happy as you!”
So, looks like I’m not the only berry-maniac out there…unless she was just saying it to make me feel better…but we won’t think about that now!
Once I managed to get back home, I quickly put away the shopping before diving into the berry-prep. I half-filled the sink with water and delicately dumped (is that an oxymoron?) all 6 punnets in, gently tumbling them through the water with my hands to rinse the dirt from under their green leaves. One more quick rinse, a light towel-dry with a clean dish cloth, and I was left staring out over a bench half covered with sparkling red jewels. My mother, following her nose in, perked at the sight and nudged me aside with her hip before grabbing one spectacular specimen and popping it into her mouth.
I scowled and batted at her hands. “MO-ther, keep your thieving digits off my bounty! I’m gonna make something with ‘em!”
She snorted. “All of them?? What on earth could you have to make that would need ALL the berries? Hand some over!”
I swatted at her hand again and replied without thinking “A charlotte! A strawberry charlotte! You’ll love it, trust me! Now, piss off!”
I managed to earn myself a bop over the head for that last bit, and as a compromise I gave her a bowl of berries to share with my father then shooed her out of the kitchen so I could have it to myself again.
So, I’d committed myself to a charlotte. I went back down to my room to peruse Bea’s recipe, but noticed that while I had assumed the base to be some sort of sponge, it turned out to be more ladyfingers. Drat it! I’d only bought just enough of the suckers to go round my tin, if I wanted more then I’d have to go back to the store.
Bugger that.
I decided to stick with my initial idea of a sponge base and find a nice light recipe for a strawberry mousse and go from there. And, to be completely honest, I really think I didn’t do too bad a job here 
Strawberry Charlotte
Cake Ingredients
3 eggs
3 egg yolks
2/3 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 egg whites
1/8 tsp cream of tartar
2 tbsp sugar
2/3 cup sifted cake flour
1/2 cup water
1/3 cups sugar
2-3 tbsp strawberry puree *
1. Preheat oven to 200 C. Butter and flour the sides of an 20cm x 30cm jelly roll pan (rimmed baking sheet). Line bottom of pan with a sheet of parchment paper cut to fit bottom pan exactly.
2. Beat eggs, egg yolks and 2/3 cup sugar together in a medium bowl until thick and light. Beat in the vanilla and strawberry puree.
3. In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites until foamy, ad cream of tartar and beat until whites begin to form peaks. Add the 2 tbsp sugar and beat until the whites hold stiff, glossy peaks (do not over beat).
4. Sift flour over the egg yolk mixture and fold in . Stir in one fourth of the whites. Then carefully fold in the remaining whites.
5. Spread batter evenly in pan. Bake until light brown and springy to touch (10-15 minutes). Cool in pan 5 minutes. Run a knife along edge to loosen. Place a 20cm pastry ring or closed springform cake tin over the sponge and use a knife to cut along the inside edge so the cut out will fit inside. Reserve the cut out, eat the rest
* - you can subtract this from the puree used for the mousse
Mousse Ingredients
500g fresh strawberries, washed and dried and stalks removed
1/2 cup pure icing sugar, plus extra to taste
1 tablespoon powdered gelatine
juice of 1/2 lemon
4 tablespoons of cold water (for soaking gelatine)
1/4 cup extra water
1 cup double cream (whipped)
1. Puree the strawberries in a blender with half the sugar. Taste, then add the rest of the sugar, 1 tbsp at a time and stirring well after each addition. You want it to be sweet, but not cloying or overwhelming the berries.
2. Put the water into a small bowl and sprinkle the gelatine over the top. Leave for 5-10 mins or till water has absorbed. Meanwhile, place the lemon juice and extra water into a saucepan and heat till it begins to simmer. Remove from the heat and stir in the soaked gelatine and continue stirring till it has completely dissolved.
3. Let the mixture cool a little, and once it is lukewarm, add the strawberry puree and mix well. Set over a bowl of ice water and stir occasionally, then once it begins to set, carefully fold in the whipped cream.
4. Puree strawberries with sugar in blender. Soak gelatine in water. Place lemon juice and the extra water in saucepan and heat, add soaked gelatine and stir off the heat until dissolved.
5. Let mixture cool a little, add strawberry puree and mix well. Fold whipped cream into mixture just before it sets and make sure it is evenly combined.
TO ASSEMBLE:
1x quantity of strawberry mousse
2x pks small sponge fingers/ladyfingers (2.5″ in length)
300g strawberries, washed, dried and hulled
1x 20cm sponge base
Icing suga, to dust
1. Place the sponge cut-out inside a 20c-diameter pastry ring or springform cake tin and carefully place the ladyfingers around the inside of the tin, wedging it between the sponge base and the tin so they stay in place. Be sure to pack them as close and tight as possible otherwise the mousse will leak out of the gaps..
2. Fill the centre with the mousse mixture then place into the fridge to firm up.
3. Before serving, soak a towel in boiling water and wring it out, then wrap around the cake tin/pastry ring. Leave for a few minutes, then carefully remove from the cake. Decorate the top with the remaining berries, dust liberally with icing sugar and present to your awed guests 
Technorati Tags: charlotte, French cakes, recipes, strawberries, berries, fruits, dessert
I think I’ve mentioned before on this blog that my kid sister is absolutely hopeless in the kitchen. In fact, my kid brother (who is younger than both of us) is far better at wielding a kitchen knife than she is - whenever I see her attempting to chop something up, my heart leaps into my mouth and I have to resist the urge to make any sudden movements in fear that she will hurt somebody, most likely herself. This probably has something to do with the fact that she has had to do very little fending for herself - she’s always had my mother and I around to take care of her, and there is always at least one of us at home and cooking when she is home and wanting a meal.
Worse comes to worse, there’s always leftovers in the fridge, a fact that she is most grateful for.
I do have to give her some credit, though. She has offered to make dinner for the family…once. And though the dinner actually consisted of an Old El Paso taco kit, she does get points for effort (mostly on the basis that even though my brother does know how to cook a little, he’s never done the same. Though he usually does help with dinner if we ask him to…)
Anyway, my sister’s lack of kitchen prowess isn’t entirely her fault - I do have to admit that some of the blame is on me. You see, as the member of the family who most enjoys pottering around the kitchen, I’m constantly looking for recipes that I think my brother and sister will be fond of and enjoy, and I am forever pestering them and asking them what they would like me to try. Which is how, incidentely, I ended up making a sticky date cake though I’ve never actually tried a sticky date anything before in my life…
As happens quite often, I was sitting at the kitchen table, feeling frustrated, bored and utterly idea-less. You see, I had a baking itch that was begging to be scratched, but alas, I had absolutely no idea what to try. I flipped mindlessly through cookbook after cookbook, before finally admitting defeat and letting out a loud sigh as I dropped my head onto the table.
Thud.
Ouch.
Yeah, lets not repeat that ever again *rubs sore head*
My sister, upon hearing the resounding thump from her room, pranced down the stairs and saw my depressed form sitting behind a mountain of scattered cookbooks. “Uhh,” she probed, “what’s wrong?”
“I want to bake!”
“Eh? Then bake - what’s the problem?”
“I don’t know WHAT to bake!”
I heard her burst into laughter, and I scowled as I looked up. “Why are you laughing?! I don’t think its funny at all! Hunh! I demand you give me an idea!”
The laughter abruptly stopped as her grin was replaced by a rather thoughtful look. “Actually…there’s this thing I tried at a restaurant awhile ago…sticky date…something? With a really nice sauce! Can you make that?”
Eyeballing her, I replied “sticky date something? Can you give me a better idea? Anything??”
“Nah…but sticky date…yeah, that tasted gooooooood!”
Hmph! Some help she was! Oh well - I did have to thank her for giving me some direction. Thankfully, I remembered reading a recipe for a sticky date cake in my Bill Granger cookbook, so the search wasn’t long, and I have to admit that I’m quite glad that my sister suggested this as though I had never actually had a sticky date pudding or cake myself, trying this cake has made me absolutely fall in love.
(the butterscotch sauce should be a lot more oozy..I accidentally cooked it for far too long while watching ‘Knocked Up’! Whoops!)
Sticky Date Cake w/ Butterscotch Sauce
(from “Every Day” by Bill Granger)
Ingredients
300g pitted dates, chopped (NOT medjool dates - they are too soft/moist and will disintegrate)
250mL (1 cup) water
1 tsp bicarb/baking soda
70g unsalted butter, diced
80g caster sugar
1 tsp natural vanilla extract
2 eggs, lightly beaten
185g self-raising flour, sifted
To serve
Butterscotch sauce (below)
Vanilla ice cream
1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C. Line the base of a 20cm round cake tin with non-stick baking paper.
2. Put the dates in a pan with the water and cook over low-medium heat for 5-6 mins, stirring occasionally, till the dates are soft and almost all the water has been absorbed. Remove the pot from the heat and stir in the bicarb/baking soda (not baking powder!) and butter and set aside for 10 mins to cool slightly.
3. Transfer mixture to a large mixing bowl, then add the sugar, vanilla extract and eggs and stir well to combine. Fold in the sifted flour till well combined, then spoon into your lined cake tin and bake for 50 mins, or till a skewer poked into the middle comes out clean.
4. Leave to cool in the tin for 5 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool. Serve while slightly warm, with some warm butterscotch sauce (below) and ice cream!
Butterscotch Sauce
185g soft brown sugar
200mL cream
150g unsalted butter
Heat the sugar, cream and butter in a saucepan over medium heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Bring to a simmer and cook over low heat for 3 mins. Pour over the sticky date cake and serve each slice with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
Technorati Tags: sticky date, cake, butterscotch, recipes, Bill Granger, desserts
And since it’s been awhile since Mr Woofy made an appearance on this blog, here’s a gratuitous cute photo!
He’s SUCH a typical little boy, whenever I kiss his nose he always pulls a face and licks his nose clean (I guess the doggy equivalent of trying to wipe it off), as if to say “Ewww, mom! Gross - don’t kiss me!”
I managed to capture this facial expression purely by chance - and I almost bust a gut laughing when I saw that I’d actually caught it on camera! Hopefully it’s given you a bit of a grin too
If you want to see more photos of Mr Woofy, you can find them in his Flickr album
