A Cake to Soothe.

Man, I can’t believe it’s finally the weekend.

This week felt like it had twenty days in it, with each passing day seemingly longer than the last. By the time Friday rolled around, I literally felt like a walking zombie, ready to collapse in a heap and in bad need of something homey and comforting to soothe my exhausted soul.

This apple and cinnamon tea cake was really just the thing I needed (well okay, that as well as sleeping in and vegging out in front of the tv).

Yielding to the warmth of the oven, the apples lose a bit of their crispness, making them the perfect accompaniment – both taste and texture wise- to the slightly sweet, cinnamon-kissed cake.  Much as I love eating apples and ice cream on their own, this was one dessert that was truly greater than the sum of its parts. One forkful of this delicous tea cake with a bit of ice cream on the side and my week at work was long forgotten.

Now, if only there was a way to make this cake last long enough to tide me through the next couple of weeks at work.

Apple and Cinnamon Tea Cake [adapted from Donna Hay's Modern Classics Book 2]

Ingredients
185g butter, softened
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
2/3 cup caster sugar
3 eggs, at room temperature
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups plain flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
Pinch of salt
1/3 cup milk

Topping
4 small green apples, peeled, halved and cored
1 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 cup apricot jam, warmed

1. Preheat the oven to 175C. Line the base of a round 9″ springform cake pan with baking paper and set aside. Sift the flour, baking powder and salt together into a bowl and set aside.
2. Using an electric mixer, beat the butter, cinnamon and sugar together till light and fluffy. Add the eggs in, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the vanilla extract in and mix well.
3. Alternating between the flour mixture and milk, add the flour mixture in 3 batches and milk in 2, starting and ending with the flour mixture, folding just until the ingredients are incorporated. Spoon the mixture into the prepared cake pan.
4. To make the topping Cut a row of deep slits in each apple half and arrange over the top of the cake mixture. Mix the sugar and cinnamon together and sprinkle it over the apples.
5. Bake the cake for 50 minutes. Brush the cake with the warmed jam and bake for another 10 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the middle of the cake comes out with crumbs clinging.

Of Mums and Breakfasts.

If there’s one thing my mum can’t say no to, freshly baked scones would have to be it. It was the one thing my parents had to have every time we drove up to a nursery or a little cafe in Melbourne- if they served it, we had to have it.

And as luck would have had it, the first time I’m in Singapore this time of the year in seven years, the day falls on a Sunday, making it perfect to spoil my mum (and dad) with some scones for breakfast.

With a lot of finger crossing on my part, the bouquet of flowers I ordered arrived thankfully on the early side rather than late- it was expected to be delivered any time between 9am and 6pm- just as I pulled the tray of scones out of the oven, making her indulgent breakfast as close to perfect as I could possibly hope for.

Despite being rudely roused by my grand entrance into the room with the tray in one hand and flowers in the other, my mum was pleasantly surprised by it all and gave the scones a thumbs up. Which was more than enough to make my day, even if our getting out of bed earlier than usual on the weekend meant we spent most of the afternoon in slumberland.

To all mums (and mums to be), here’s wishing you a very happy Mothers’ Day! May you always know how much you mean to us even when we drive you up the wall.

Buttermilk Scones [adapted from Belinda Jeffrey's Mix & Bake]

Ingredients
300g self raising flour
2 tbsp caster sugar
1/2 tsp salt
80g cold unsalted butter, chopped into cubes
250ml buttermilk †

1. Preheat the oven to 200C. Generously grease and flour an 8″ square baking pan and set aside.
2. In a large bowl, whisk the flour, sugar and salt together. Add the chunks of butter in and using your fingertips, rub the butter into the flour mixture until it resembles coarse breadcrumbs.
3. Make a well in the centre and pour the buttermilk in. Stir the buttermilk in just until the flour mixture is well moistened. Turn the mixture out onto a floured work surface, kneading it gently till it comes together. Pat it into 4-5 cm thick round. Dip a 3″ cookie cutter or glass into some flour and stamp out the scones. Gently knead any scraps together and cut them out again, placing the scones in the prepared baking pan.
4. Brush the tops of the scones with a bit of milk and bake them for about 20 minutes or till scones are golden. Let cool a little and serve with butter and jam. Makes 9 scones

† I combined 1 tbsp of lemon juice with equal parts of pouring cream and low fat milk to make 1 cup. Let it sit for about 5 minutes before using.

Fighting the Heat.

Is it just me or has it been getting increasingly warm and humid on this side of the world? These days, I swear I can’t even walk twenty steps without feeling like I’m gonna pass out from a heatstroke- and I haven’t even step foot outside my house!

So last weekend I’ve decided to take things into my hands and chill off the more eco-friendly way- with the help of some gelato sandwiches.

So while Coco basked in the strong sun, I was more than happy to retreat to the pavilion, leafed lazily through food magazines and sink my teeth into my glorious icy treat. And what a treat it was, a generous scoop of rich, smooth chocolate ice cream sandwiched between soft chocolate cookies, in the relentless heat.

This sure had me dreaming of whipping up a spread of frozen desserts. And judging by how the heat doesn’t seem like it’s gonna ease up around here, I highly doubt this is the last you’ll see of icy treats around here.

Chocolate Ice Cream Sandwiches [taken from Bruce Weinstein's The Ultimate Frozen Dessert Book]

Ingredients
2 1/4 cups plain flour
2/3 cup cocoa powder, sifted
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
180g unsalted butter
60g Crisco
1 large egg, at room temperature
1 tbsp vanilla extract

Chocolate gelato
90g unsweetened chocolate, chopped
3 large egg yolks, at room temperature
1 cup sugar
2 1/2 cups whole milk
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 tsp vanilla extract
Pinch of salt

1. Preheat the oven to 175C. Whisk the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt together and set aside.
2. Using an electric mixer, beat the butter and Crisco together until creamy. Add the sugar and beat till light and smooth. Mix the egg and vanilla in. Stir in the flour mixture until just incorporated.
3. Divide the dough into two portions. Roll each portion out between two sheets of baking paper. Chill the dough in the freezer for about ten minutes until firm. Cut 4 inch circles out of the cookie dough and transfer them to prepared baking trays. Bake the cookies for about 13 to 15 minutes or until firm to touch. Let the cookies cool on the tray for 5 minutes and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
4. To make chocolate gelato Whisk the egg yolks and sugar together till light and creamy. Add the cooled melted chocolate and whisk well.
5. In a saucepan and over medium heat, heat the cream and milk till small bubbles appear around the edges. Whisk the milk mixture gradually into the egg mixture, whisking constantly. Pour the mixture back into the saucepan and put it back on the heat.
6. Over medium heat, cook the custard till it’s thick enough to coat the back of a spoon, stirring constantly. Strain the custard into a bowl and stir the vanilla and salt in. Cool completely before refrigerating the custard for at least 4 hours.
7. Just before you’re ready to churn the custard, chill the custard in the freezer for 10 minutes. Churn the ice cream in your ice cream machine according to manufacturer’s instructions.

Frittatas On A Friday.

Like most people, Friday is the one day I look forward to each week. Especially so when a public holiday falls on a Friday.

It was pretty much a no-brainer what I was gonna do with the extra day off work (read- sleep in and pretty much laze the day away).

I didn’t do so well with sleeping in but lucky for me, lazing around is something I do really well. And this smoked salmon frittata salad, inspired by an old issue of delicious, was the perfect way to kick start it all.

Incredibly easy to whip up and tasty, this salad had me feeling comforted and satiated- something food hasn’t been able to do for me in a while.

And the best part of this salad? I didn’t even have to run out to the supermarket to get the ingredients- I just made it out of anything and well, practically everything, I have in the fridge- making it a truly lazy day on my part.

It’s too bad I can’t say the same for the rest of the weekend- judging by how empty my fridge is especially after this salad, I have a lot of stocking up to do at the supermarket.

Smoked Salmon Frittata Salad

Ingredients
A large handful of your favourite salad mix
Olive oil
Balsamic vinegar
6 eggs
3 slices of smoked salmon, torn into pieces
A generous pinch of paprika
Freshly ground black pepper
Sea salt

1. Preheat the oven to 175C. Lightly grease an 8″ square pan with oil and set aside.
2. In a bowl, whisk the eggs and paprika together. Season with sea salt and black pepper and combine well with the torn smoked salmon slices. Pour into prepared pan and bake for about 20 minutes until set.
3. In a small bowl, whisk together some oilve oil and balsamic vinegar until you like what you taste. Toss together with the salad leaves and serve with slices of the frittata.