GRILLED PINEAPPLE WITH RUM SAUCE

My husband loves being 'BBQ Man' on Saturday evenings in the summer and last weekend he knew from Metcheck.com that the weather forecast was for rain and gale force winds, but he still insisted the weather would turn out OK.

We go through this nearly every weekend in the summer and then the planned outdoor BBQ ends up being cooked indoors. Although, to be fair, we have had a handful of BBQ's so far this year.

Last year he put his foul weather gear on, put the garden parasol up and proceeded to BBQ!!! How's that for sheer determination. I have to admit though we did have visitors, and he thought he would put on a 'bit of a show'.

The pineapple cooked really well on the grill pan! The sauce was delicious and not too rich. The pineapple was a little difficult to eat, and I think after cooking, the pineapple should be cut across the width down to the skin, then you won't have to fight with it so much!

Delia Smith has a wonderful recipe for coconut ice cream which would go very well with the pineapple.

EASY SUMMER FOOD

ISBN 1841728233 - Page 192

Serves: 6

For the rum butter sauce:

100g soft brown sugar, 100g unsalted butter, 100ml dark rum, 1 medium pineapple with leafy top if possible, cut length ways into wedges and core removed.

1. Put the sugar, butter and rum in a small saucepan and heat until the sugar dissolves.
2. Brush a little of the mixture over the pineapple wedges, then cook them on a preheated barbecue or on a stove-top grill pan for 2 minutes on each side until charred and tender.
3. Serve with ice cream and remaining rum sauce.

PASSION CAKE

I have no idea why this is called passion cake - can anyone help on this one?

In my previous post, I made mini coconut loaves with fresh coconut and after wading through countless recipes that needed coconut decided on this recipe, perhaps in part because it only needs 28g of my precious coconut!

The cake will cut much better straight from the fridge and can then be brought up to room temperature for eating. If you like lots of topping then I would double up on the ingredients. You can see from the photograph it looks as though I've been mean with the topping. Unfortunately, I didn't have any mascarpone cheese left to make more.

I'll definitely be making this cake again, it was crumbly, moist and full of flavour and the unusual topping went perfectly with the cake.


I made this cake especially for my son who came home for the weekend and he said he thought it was amazing. In fact, we all thought it was amazing!

Sue Lawrence, the author of this book, won Masterchef in 1991 and was the President of the Guild of Food Writers from 2004 to 2007.

SUE LAWRENCE ON BAKING

ISBN 1856262669 - Page 70

You will need: 18cm loose-bottomed, base-lined cake tin.

For the cake: 170g butter, softened, 170g soft light brown sugar, 3 medium eggs, 198g wholemeal self-raising flour, ½ teaspoon baking powder, 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, 28g desiccated coconut, 57g raisins, 170g carrots (peeled weight) finely grated, 57g chopped walnuts.

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/Gas 4.
2. Cream the butter and sugar together with a mixer on low speed until light and fluffy. Then beat in the eggs, one at a time, until well mixed.
3. Sift the flour, baking powder and cinnamon into a bowl. Using a metal spoon, gently fold into the creamed mixture, followed by the coconut, raisins, carrots and walnuts. Mix gently but thoroughly.
4. Turn into the tin and level the top. Bake for about 1 hour, or until a fine skewer comes out clean when inserted into the centre of the cake.
5. Remove from the oven and allow to cool in the tin for at least 5 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

For the topping: 2 tablespoons mascarpone cheese, 2 tablespoons natural yoghurt, 2 teaspoons runny honey, 1 tablespoon chopped walnuts.

1. To make the topping, beat together the mascarpone cheese, yoghurt and honey until smooth.
2. Spread over the top of the cold cake and sprinkle with chopped nuts.

The cake can be frozen completely iced. Store in the refrigerator after defrosting.

MINI COCONUT CAKES WITH MALIBU ICING

I decided to make my own desiccated and shredded coconut, and after carrying out this laborious task, made these delightful little coconut cakes.

FRESH BAKED - LOUISE PICKFORD
ISBN 0600613569 - Page 56

Makes: 8 cakes

I have slightly adapted this recipe. The original recipe used passion fruit icing and the recipe for this is given below.

You will need: 125g softened unsalted butter, 150g caster sugar, 2 eggs, 125g self-raising flour, 1 teaspoon baking powder, 100g desiccated coconut, 2 tablespoons milk.

For the icing: 125g sifted icing sugar, 1-2 tablespoons passion fruit pulp.

1. Preheat the oven to 160°C/325°F/Gas 3.
2. Put all the ingredients in a food processor and process for 1 minutes or until evenly blended.
3. Oil and base-line an 8-hole mini-loaf tin. or 12 hole muffin tray. Divide the mixture equally into the tin and bake for 30-35 minutes until risen and firm to the touch. Remove from the oven, leave to cool in the tin for 5 minutes and then transfer the cakes to a wire rack to cool.

To make the passion fruit icing:

Beat the ingredients together until smooth. Put the cakes, still on the wire rack, over a large plate and pour over the passion fruit icing, allowing it to drizzle down the sides of the cakes. Leave to set.

For the alternative icing:

1.250g instant royal icing, 1-2 tablespoon Malibu and enough water to make a smooth, runny paste that will ice the top of the cakes well.
2.Coat the cakes with icing and decorate with fresh shredded coconut.

FRESH COCONUT


Delia Smith on her website gives instructions for this 'operation'. It's definitely a job to do on a rainy day. A word of warning here, don't smash the coconut to within an inch of its life, or you will end up with small shards of coconut that take forever to peel (like I did!).

You will also need a fairly hardy food processor to make the shredded coconut because the coconut is quite tough.

After you have either desiccated or shredded the coconut, place in a ziplock bag and pop into the freezer. It freezes beautifully and takes only moments to defrost.

Never again after tasting fresh coconut will you ever be tempted to buy something out of a bag.
Another plus is that the coconut isn't 'sweetened' - pure bliss.


The coconut essence in the photograph can be purchased from Jane Asher and I use this in cake batter, icings etc.

QUICK CHICKEN CURRY

"A chef called Ben, who used to work with Nick Nairn's good friend Phil Vickery, created this fab curry". The original recipe is apparently from Phil Vickery's book, Simply Food, and Nick Nairn tells us that he makes this recipe "when I'm in the mood for a quick curry fix".

I love home cooked curry and this recipe is full of amazing flavours without being too hot.

Instead of the canned coconut milk, I use powdered coconut milk by Maggi, and all you do is measure an amount out according to the packet instructions, then add warm water and stir to give coconut milk. I buy mine from the Asian stall in my local market unfortunately, I haven't seen it in a supermarket.

NICK NAIRN'S TOP 100 CHICKEN RECIPES


ISBN 0563487046 - Page 108

Serves: 8 (but can easily be scaled down).

You will need:

2 tablespoons vegetable oil
900g boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 3cm cubes
2 onions, roughly chopped
4 garlic cloves, crushed
1 tablespoon grated fresh root ginger
1 tablespoon plain flour
1 tablespoon ground turmeric
1 tablespoon garam masala
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon chilli powder
400g can chopped tomatoes
400g can coconut milk
450ml chicken stock
4 tablespoons mango chutney
250g baby spinach leaves, stalks removed
200g Greek-style yoghurt
freshly ground sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
boiled rice and naan bread, to serve

1. Heat 1 tablespoon of the vegetable oil in a large pan and add the chicken cubes. Quickly fry the cubes until lightly browned all over. Remove from the heat and drain on kitchen paper.
2. Add the remaining oil to the pan, together with the onions, garlic and ginger, and cook gently for a few minutes until softened and golden brown. Add the flour and spices and cook for a few more minutes.
3. Add the tomatoes and coconut milk and return the chicken cubes to the pan. Add just enough stock to cover them, scrape any bits from the bottom of the pan and stir well. Bring to the boil and then reduce the heat and simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
4. Lastly, stir in the chutney and add the spinach. Cook for a couple of minutes until the spinach has just wilted, and then stir in the yoghurt and season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve with some boiled rice and naan bread. Delicious.

BERRY MERINGUE

This time with leftover egg whites from another recipe, I have made Berry Meringues

I added a couple of teaspoons of Supercassis to each of the berry filled ramekins for the grownups!

A bag of frozen mixed berries always comes in very useful for rustling up some last minute muffins. Summer pudding and berry crumble are also very successful. Another quick favourite is a meringue nest filled with sweetened defrosted berries and topped with Greek yogurt. The list of possibilities from just one frozen bag of mixed berries is endless - definitely one of my freezer favourites.

MARIE CLAIRE SEASONAL KITCHEN BY MICHELE CRANSTON

ISBN 9781921259036 - Page 371


Serves: 6 people

You will need:

4 egg whites
230g caster sugar
1 teaspoon natural vanilla extract
500g frozen mixed berries
whipped cream or vanilla ice cream, to serve

1. Preheat the oven to 150°C/300°F/Gas2
2. Beat the egg whites using electric beaters until soft peaks form. Slowly add the sugar and beat until stiff and glossy. Beat in the vanilla.
3. Scatter the berries into a 25cm oval ovenproof dish or 150ml ramekins.
4. Spoon or pipe the meringue over the top. Bake the large meringue for 45 minutes and the ramekins for about 30 minutes, or until the meringue is golden and cooked through.
5. Serve warm with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.

CHILDRENS' BIRTHDAY CAKES

GOOD HOUSEKEEPING - STEP BY STEP BAKING

ISBN 0091865794 - PAGE 292

TRAIN CAKE

I made this cake for my grandsons third birthday and chose the design
because he loves everything about trains (although it has to be said Thomas The Tank Engine and friends are his favourites).
The cake was fairly simple to decorate and to make life easier I purchased ready made coloured icings. The liquorice sweet assortment was cut up into small pieces to make the wheels, windows, funnel etc.
This book has a couple more birthday cake designs for children, such as a snow cottage and birthday bear cake.
I thought the cake was really cute and I hope you do too.


CHILDRENS' BOOK OF BAKING BY SARA LEWIS

ISBN 9780753715505 - PAGE 90

MINI BIRTHDAY CAKE SQUARES


This cake was made a couple of weeks ago for my grandsons first birthday and as he would only be having a tiny piece of cake, I decorated it with my three year old grandson in mind.
I thought these mini cakes would make a change from the usual novelty cake. The cakes looked lovely with all brightly coloured icings, sprinkles, sugar strands, smarties and candles on.
This is a baking book with 60 recipes for children to make (and grownups too!).
I love this little book, but would be hesitant to say it was for mainly for children. I am not entirely sure, that small children would thank you for a slice of creamy kiwi meringue gateau or baked strawberry and lime cheesecake, or even iced ginger and date sandwich cake (all of which look delicious). Last year I made peach Melba cake from this book and it really was fabulous. Some of the recipes such as iced star biscuits, triple choc brownies or how about chocolate fudge squares would be ideal for children.

You will need:

A 18 x 28cm roasting tin 4cm deep, greased and base lined with greaseproof paper.

250g soft margarine, 250g caster sugar, 250g self-raising flour, 4 eggs, grated rind of 1 lemon or 1 small orange.

1. Set the oven to 180°C/350°F/Gas Mark 4.
2. Put all the cake ingredients in a food mixer and mix for 2 minutes.
3. Spoon into the tin and smooth flat.
4. Bake the cake for 25-30 minutes until it is well risen and golden brown.
5. Leave the cake to cool in the tin for about 10 minutes, then loosen the sides with a round bladed knife and turn out onto a wire rack. Remove the lining paper and leave the cake to cool completely.

For the icing and decoration:

100g unsalted butter at room temperature, 200g icing sugar, 2-4 teaspoons milk, a few drops of your chosen food colouring, 24 candles and candle holders, selection of sweets such as dolly mixtures, mini candy-coated chocolate sweets or mini marshmallows, sugar strands, hundreds and thousands and sprinkles, 24 cupcake cases.

1. To make the icing, beat the butter in a bowl with a little of the icing sugar, then gradually mix in the rest, a few spoonfuls at a time, along with enough milk to make a smooth spreadable icing.
2. Divide the icing into 3 and place two of the thirds in small bowls. Colour the icings with your chosen colours.
3. Put the cake onto a large board and cut into three pieces. Spread a different coloured icing over each piece of cake. Cut into small pieces with a sharp knife.
4. Put a candle holder and candle in the centre of each piece then arrange the sweets and sugar strands around it.
5. Store in an airtight tin for up to 2 days.

Please note: I made a smaller version of this cake by scaling down and using a 3 egg mixture.