APPLE AND CRANBERRY CAKE

Brisbane News 27Feb-04Mar, 2010, p18

2 cups plain flour (I used SR flour)

1 teas baking powder

1 teas salt

1 teas ground cinnamon

1 teas ground nutmeg

2 large royal gala or pink lady apples (I think any apple will be good in the recipe)

1 ¾ cups soft dark brown sugar

½ cup vegetable oil

2 eggs

1 teas vanilla

2 cups frozen cranberries (I used dried cranberries that I’d hydrated overnight in some tea. I think you could also use raisins or sultanas)

1 cup walnuts, roughly chopped (I used sunflower and pumpkin seeds)

Preheat oven to 175°C. I baked the mixture in two small bar tins but the recipe says one large cake.

Put flour, baking powder, salt and spices into a medium sized bowl. Stir well to combine.

Core, peel and dice apples (you need 2 cups).

Put sugar, oil, eggs and vanilla into a large bowl and whisk well. Use a wooden spoon to stir in the flour mixture. Add apples, cranberries and nuts. Stir well to avoid any unmixed flour coating the apples or nuts. The mixture should be stiff. (I prefer a lighter cake so I added a little of the drained liquid from when I soaked the cranberries)

Pour the mixture into a paper lined and greased tin and bake for about 110 minutes. (Mine took about 35-40 minutes). Test with a skewer. Cool in tin for 30 minutes before turning onto wire rack to cool completely. Dust with icing sugar

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Bettina’s Cinnamon Stars – German gluten free delights

QHS Recipe Book 2009, p63

4 egg whites

350g icing sugar

500g finely ground nuts (you can use almonds, hazelnuts or even LSA mix)

2 heaped teaspoons cinnamon powder

Raw sugar for rolling the dough in

Beat egg whites until stiff, sift icing sugar into them slowly then beat energetically for two minutes. Put 4 tablespoons aside. Add the ground nuts and cinnamon to the rest and combine well until a dough consistency. Roll out the dough onto a bench top covered with raw sugar. This might not work well so do it in small lots. Using a star shaped biscuit cutter make stars (or your favourite shape) and place a little of the ise snow mix you set aside on top. Bake in a preheated oven at 160°C for 20 minutes or until lightly golden. Cool on wire rack.

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Herb Butter

Ingredients

Handful of each of the following herbs:

curly parsley, handful

onion chives, handful

thyme, 5 sprigs

rosemary (smaller amount as it’s quite strong)

1 garlic clove (Australian grown is preferable)

250grams unsalted butter, softened

Method

Place all the herbs into a food processor until chopped finely. Then add the butter and blend all the ingredients together.

Place the butter mixture onto a sheet of glad wrap and make a rounded log out of the butter. Then roll the glad wrap around the butter and twist the ends of the wrap to seal it. Then put the log into the freezer and cut off small slices as you need to.

This recipe is from Rose Graham. Rose has been one of our Cafe Sage Co-ordinators for Herb Awareness for the past three years.

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Roast Pumpkin, Feta and Rosemary Quiche

Recipe from Executive Chef

1 quantity short crust pastry (see below) or 1 sheet prepared short crust pastry

500g pumpkin, cut into 2cm cubes and tossed in a little oil

5 eggs

1½ cups cream (I use 1 cup milk and ½ cup cream)

1 tablespoon chopped Rosemary

½ cup grated Parmesan cheese

Salt and pepper to taste

150 gm Feta cheese, crumbled

4 spring onions, finely chopped

Line a 24cm removable base deep sided quiche pan with the pastry and trim edges. Blind bake the pastry at 180C for 10-15 minutes. Cool.

Place the pumpkin onto a baking tray lined with baking paper and place in a moderate oven 180C for 20 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from the oven and cool (this can be done the day before).

In a bowl whisk together the eggs and cream and mix in the Rosemary, Parmesan and season to taste with salt and pepper.

Sprinkle the Feta evenly over the pastry base, add the spring onions and then evenly place over the cooked pumpkin cubes. Carefully pour in the egg mixture and fill to the top. Return the quiche to the oven and bake at 180C for a further 30 minutes or until set and lightly golden brown. Remove from the oven and serve warm or at room temperature with a salad.

(Note: This recipe can also be adapted using your favourite mixed roasted vegetables)

Stephanie Alexander’s Shortcrust Pastry:

This will line a 22cm to 26cm loose bottomed flan tin.

180g unsalted butter, chopped into small pieces

240g plain flour

Pinch of salt

3 tablespoons chilled water

Measure flour, salt and butter into food processor and pulse until butter has mixed well into the flour. Add the water and pulse until the dough comes together. Roll into a flattened ball, dust with a little flour and wrap in cling film. Refrigerate for half an hour. When ready roll pastry on floured surface and line tin.

Café Sage variation - Place back in refrigerator until ready to use, at least half an hour. It is not really necessary to bake blind as in the recipe above. That is up to the cook to decide which is best.

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Cheese and Herb Muffins

From the QHS Recipe Book 2009 p27

2 cups SR flour

Pinch of salt

2 tabs finely chopped parsley

¾ cup grated tasty cheese

2 tabs thyme leaves

½ teas baking powder

Put into large bowl and mix till combined

Beat together:

1 egg

3 tabs melted butter

1 cup milk

Combine with dry ingredients. Bake in muffin tins in a med/high temperature oven for 25/30 minutes or until risen and browned.

Serve warm with herb butter.

The basic muffin recipe can easily be altered using a variety of different ingredients to suit your tastes. These are examples of what was served at Café Sage.

• Add a mixture of your favourite herbs chopped and top with sunflower seeds

• Caramelise onions and add fetta and chopped fresh herbs of your choice and top with roasted capsicum

• Roast some cubed pumpkin until cooked. Add this with cubed fetta and rosemary.

Herb butter can also be made to your preferences. These are just a couple of examples:

250grams butter softened enough to mix in the food processor.

Handful of picked, washed and dried basil leaves or rocket leaves

6 cloves garlic, peeled and lightly crushed

¼ cup grated Parmesan

Blend first the basil or rocket leaves in the food processor, then add the garlic and process until well mixed and finally add the Parmesan and roughly chopped butter. Process until well mixed. Turn butter mix onto plastic wrap and roll into sausage shapes. Twist the ends to seal. These can be stored in the fridge or freezer. Cut into rounds when ready to serve.

Fresh herbs – basil, marjoram, chives, parsley

1 to 2 dessertspoons seeded mustard

Process as above

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