inner pickle

Gluten-free orange and almond cake

It's rare for me to seek out a gluten-free recipe. I am a dedicated full wheat bread baker (and eater.) Pasta, too. And pizza. You could in fact call me Fiona Gluten Walmsley. 

I'm baking for a school cake stall this weekend though, and apparently the gluten-free options are big sellers.

I also coincidentally happened to flick past SBS's Food Safari last week and saw these fabulous Jewish ladies making orange and almond cake. A quick web search found the recipe. 6 EGGS?!!! That's way more than my baking budget allows per cake. Besides I just can't seem to follow instructions. 

Here's my version.

Orange and Almond Cake

based on this recipe by Batia Slater

Ingredients:

2 oranges

4 eggs

200g (1 cup) raw sugar (or use white - I ran out)

200g almond meal

1 tsp baking powder

 

Method:

Wash the oranges and cover them with water (skin and all) in a saucepan and boil for 1.5 hours. Set aside to cool. 

Preheat oven to 190°. 

Crack your eggs into a big bowl. Use a slender blender if you have one, and whizz. Or whisk. Add the sugar and whizz. Put the whole oranges into the bowl and whizz with the slender blender. If you don't have a hand blender, you'll need to process them in a food processor. Or normal blender. If you live in an Amish community and have no electric kitchen gizmos whatsoever, then bash up the oranges, taking out your frustration with these people who insist on posting recipes requiring equipment for heavens sake. Then chop as finely as you possibly can.

After the oranges and eggs and sugar are all beautifully combined, stir in the almond meal and baking powder.

That's it.

Too easy.

Pour into a 20cm round springform tin if you have one. Or not. It's not going to fail if you bake it in a ring tin. It might not work in cupcake tins but knock yourself out. 

Mine took 45 mins. 

Henry has decided it's his favourite cake in the known universe so I might have to knock out a 3-egg version, will let you know.

I don't think I've ever been as happy in my whole life as I am right now. And I'm not entirely referring to that empy plate. 

Hope you're feeling awesome today.

xxx

Vegetarian "Sausage" Rolls

Really.

So good. And no need for any animal to die for you to totally get the sense of a sausage roll! (Am I about to discover sausage rolls are really an Australian-ism?)

Anyway, I made these up initially for Henry's birthday party. They were OK - I made them creamier with sour cream and cheese in them - but I wasn't happy with the texture so tried again. And these are delicious. Really happy with them. Have to blog them so I don't lose/forget the recipe!

I served them with sweet chili sauce at the party, but for dinner will serve with steamed vegies. Or a spinach and haloumi salad would go perfectly too.

VEGETARIAN 'SAUSAGE' ROLLS

Ingredients:

3 sheets of puff pastry (I have yet to make my own. Coming soon. I used the frozen version.)

1½ cup wholemeal breadcrumbs

½ cup rolled oats

1 large zucchini, finely grated

2 carrots, finely grated

1 tablespoon tomato paste

2 eggs

1 cup chickpeas (cooked)

1 tablespoon tahini

salt and pepper

Method:

This recipe is easiest if you have a food processor, but you can easily do it without. If you have a processor, whizz your bread into breadcrumbs, and throw in your oats and process till fine. (Otherwise make up your breadcrumbs and bash up your oats in a mortar/pestle.)

Add your zucchini and carrot into the processor and whizz (or add to breadcrumbs and oats in a big bowl and mix well.)

Add the chick peas to the mix and process well until smoothish.

Add the eggs and tahini and process again.

(Or just stir up well in the bowl!)

Add seasoning to taste.

Lay out a sheet of puff pastry and cut in half (into 2 rectangles). Spoon some mix down one long side. Paint edges with milk (to help stick) and roll up into long sausage. Cut into 4 (so each sheet makes 8) and paint the top with milk. Sprinkle with sesame seeds.

I think I used a total of 3 sheets, making approx 24 rolls. I think. I'll make it again and update this if I've got that wrong.

Bake in a moderate oven (180°C) for about 20 mins or until golden.

Hide them from the kids unless you want them all eaten (note to self.) Also hide from Adam. In fact, make an extra batch because they freeze beautifully (uncooked) and you can take them out and cook from frozen for a snack.

Because it's all about satisfying snacks.

(I am a mad breastfeeding woman. You there, back away from the bakery item.)

Or any excuse, really.

xxx

smartie cookies

Smarties! What kid does not love a smartie, I ask you? I never thought I'd be the kind of parent rewarding kids with coloured chocolate buttons, but there you go. I do. Two smarties have big pull in this house. And you know what: they no longer have artificial colours or flavours in them!

I know. They're still Smarties, i.e. pure sugar. But if you're going to give kids a treat, it's great that at least it's not carcinogenic, right?

I was going to make these bikkies for Henry's party but we had visitor biscuits instead (which apparently I have not blogged in their nude form, note to self;) and gingerbread men (as well as cupcakes, chocolate birthday cake, vegetarian 'sausage' rolls, spinach and leek quiche and fresh popped popcorn. And watermelon. And kamut & puffed rice crackles. I admit it. I used the kids birthday party as an excuse to cook up a kitchen-full. Happiness in a cake tin. Then took the remainders to a friend's house on Tuesday before I ate it all.)

Anyway Henry's best friend was coming for afternoon tea and a play today. Cookie tray at the ready, I tried out something a little bit new.

SMARTIE COOKIES

(or biscuits if you're my Mum and hate the Americanisation of biscuits and patty cakes)

INGREDIENTS

125g butter, melted

2 tblsp raw sugar

1 egg

2 cups self raising flour

½ cup rice flour

2 tblsp milk

Smarties to decorate

METHOD

Mix melted butter and sugar then add egg. Stir through flours and add milk last. It'll be kind of crumbly so knead with your hands until it comes together. Wrap in cling film and put into fridge for 15 minutes.

Roll out to about ½ cm thickness and cut with cookie/biscuit cutter. Decorate with smarties and bake in moderate oven (180°C) for 10 mins or until golden. Makes 24.

 

The rice flour makes these light and a bit short. Soft and delicious.

Tip: This kind of biscuit mix freezes really well. If you don't need the whole batch, freeze half by rolling into a log and wrapping in cling film. Rather than defrost it when you're ready to bake the next batch, just slice ½ cm rounds and bake from frozen. Too easy.

And if you can look at that photo without sniggering you're more of a grownup than I am.

xxx

little black book

I have a little black book.

No, it's not a lascivious list of old flames. (More's the pity really.)

It's a dinner party book. One I started years ago, after I made my very good friends Jodie and Andrew (fabulous foodies) cheesecake for the third dinner party in a row and someone mentioned it and I realised I had no idea I'd made it for them before. A few times. Oops. So I started making a few notes. Date. Who. What we ate. 

The first entry is Friday 3 January 2003. Our place, Manly. Present were Jenny Walmsley, Rachel Walmsley, Julian Lyden, Naomi Weir (my sister) and Ad and I. This is before Jen became my mother in law, before Rach's partner Craig appeared, and there's a note at the bottom of the page that says it's Julian's last night in Australia after three weeks here over Christmas. I think he and Nomie must've been dating and this was before she moved to Singapore with him. (Now married with two divine children who have made special appearances here when they're in town.) It says Jen was staying with us on a break from cleaning out her Mum's house in Tumut.

So it says a lot really. 

It says I made garlic and lightly melted cheddar on toasted turkish bread to start, followed by chilled cucumber soup with garlic prawns. Main was chicken with mushrooms in cream and fresh herb sauce with roasted beetroot and dessert was vanilla icecream with River Cafe Chocolate Nemesis cake. And in small writing: (cake in sauce form!!! not set!!!) 

Oh yes. I remember this one. My crappy oven of the time blew out half way through baking. It looked set. I released the spring-form tin and the cake made a spectacular slow-moving waterfall over the side of the bench onto my shoes. Naomi, not being paralyzed by horror at the couverture hitting the floor, managed to grab a clean plate and intercept the chocolate waterfall - enough to salvage some kick arse sauce for the icecream. 

Lots and lots of good things in this little book. 

There are loose-leaf degustation menus:

Goodness, yes. The elaborate dinners I'd do for fun. Scrawled on the inside cover is a list of Adam's favourite foods. 

Then there's this one:

Adam's birthday dinner, six years ago, with a note about 'no fish' for one guest which unfortunately was imparted to me right before I served up snapper pie, and 'no oranges' right before I served up passionfruit flummery for dessert with orange juice in it. WINNER.

There's lists of medieval dinners and family dinner parties and people's favourite foods and notes about a dish here or there I wouldn't do again. 

There's this:

Not Dad's 60th but his 65th (I must've been drinking the cooking wine when I wrote that note.) A friend of ours did the wine matching. That was a good dinner. A degustation for 11, my book says. 

Anyway, it's fun to flick through it. 

And it means I won't accidentally cook you the same thing twice, unless there's a note to remind me you'll do all the washing up for one more piece of flourless chocolate cake. 

xxx

the humble sausage roll

  

 

Another quite unattractive food, really. 

But oh so yummy. Homemade sausage rolls. With tomato sauce. An Australian kids birthday party is incomplete without them. 

My divine godson Sebastian turned 6 a few weeks ago. 6!! Goodness me. He had a spectacular Star Wars themed party complete with R2D2 cupcakes (shoulda photographed them) and a Darth Vader pinata. 

Here's Henry in costume:

The kangaroo doesn't really go, but never mind. Yes, the outfit is a little last minute. It was the week pre-surgery and I was a tad pre-occupied.

So, Beef Sausage Rolls. If you've never made them you won't believe how easy they are particularly if you cheat (like me) and use store-bought puff pastry.

BEEF SAUSAGE ROLLS

adapted from original recipe here

Ingredients

500g beef mince

1 large onion, finely diced

1 large carrot, peeled and grated

2 eggs lightly beaten

big handful parsley, finely chopped

teaspoon dried mixed herbs

salt and pepper

4 sheets frozen puff pastry, partially thawed

1 tablespoon milk 

sesame seeds to sprinkle

Method

Preheat over to 220deg and line baking tray with paper.

Combine mince, onion, carrot, egg, parsley, dried herbs, salt and pepper in large bowl and mix well. 

Cut pastry sheets in half.

Shape a solid sausage of mince mix along one long edge of pastry. Roll up pastry to enclose mince, brush with milk and sprinkle with sesame seeds.  Cut roll into 4. Put onto baking tray.

Bake for 20-25 mins or until puffy, golden and deliciously oozing. Makes 32 if my maths are right and memory serves (I made about double this for the party!)

Serve with tomato sauce and Princess Leia ear-muff hairdo.

xxx

junk-free kids birthday party

So we did it. A birthday party for a five year old with no lollies or junk food, and no one even noticed. Awesome.

Tilly and I in preparation mode. Thanks to Jim Walmsley (Adam's Dad) for the photos today!

I'm afraid you'll have to just take my word for it though, sans photographic evidence of my catering! I ran to get my camera as I put the last platter out on the table and found I was out of batteries. DAMMIT! The doorbell rang at that moment, and that was that, really. 

18 children and more than twice that number of adults so the espresso machine ran hot, the organic apple juice went down a treat and there wasn't a whole lot left when the last friend went home!

Here's what we ate; the whole menu carefully created by Henry: 

* "Grown up cheese" (Brie and Camembert) and brown rice crackers

* Carrot sticks and hummus

* Mini cupcakes with piped icing smiley faces

* Frittata with bacon and cheese

* Lovely big fruit platter with melons, strawberries and apple

* Choc chip biscuits (yep, "visitor biscuits")

* Date muffins and choc chip muffins made by my darling pal Anita

* The only non-homemade thing: IKEA meatballs and tomato sauce

And of course, birthday cake:

Allowed to choose any cake he wanted for the occasion, Henry wanted round, tall, chocolate with sprinkles. So that's what he got. Two ring-tin simple chocolate cakes (butter cake + cocoa, I promise to blog this version soon), one on top of the other. 

It was so much fun. I think everyone had a good time, the kids certainly did, and we had a cracker day so hung out in the back courtyard drinking Buena Vista coffee (thanks, Dad) and watching the kids play on the trampoline and in the sandpit and in and out of the house. Everyone made their own party hat and took home a treat bag with my one concession to junk, a Freddo (hmm, any left?) Plus Marx brothers funny glasses, balloon, blowy whistle thingo and a little IKEA toy.

Henry wants to plan parties when he grows up. CHEERS TO THAT!!!

A reflective five year old/future event manager/promoter/party boy.

Hope you all had a cracker of a weekend.

xxx