Sticky Orange Marmalade Cake, Plum Lamb, and a Savory Tart

Sticky Orange Marmalade Cake

This one is from The Great British Bake Off Cookbook, which our friend Fiona brought me from England back in November. The first recipe I made from there was the Blood Orange Cake I wrote about back then. This one is a real winner too!!

Marmalade

The original recipe calls for a jar of “chunky Seville marmalade” – rather hard to find on this side of the Pond. Make your own, the same way I did:

2 Oranges

Sugar

Chop the oranges into thumb-sized pieces, and throw everything (fruit, pith, skin, seeds, juice) in your food processor and take it for a whirrr until is sorta looks like chunky marmalade.

Measure into a microwave safe bowl and add the same measure of sugar (any kind). Stir to combine. Microwave on High for 5 minutes, stir, and microwave for 5 more minutes. Ladle into screw top jars and let them sit on the counter until cool before lidding and refrigerating.

The Sponge

3/4 cup Unsalted Butter, softened

3/4 cup Sugar

3/4 cup Self-Rising Flour, sifted (first time I ever used this)

pinch of Salt

1/2 tsp Baking Powder

3 large Eggs, at room temp, beaten

Marmalade -- see above

2 Tbsp Whole Milk

....

1/2 cup Confectioner's sugar

1-2 Tbsp warm water

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Put the butter in a mixing bowl and beat until creamy. Continue beating and slowly add the sugar and continue beating until light and fluffy. Continue beating and add the eggs, a bit at a time, and with the last addition toss in an extra tablespoon of flour. Fold in the rest of the flour, the salt and baking powder. When thoroughly combined, add the marmalade and fold until incorporated.

Line an 8” springform pan with parchment, and spray the sides with non-stick. Pour in the batter and spread it evenly. Bake 50-55 minutes until golden and a skewer comes out clean.

Putting it Together

Cool the cake on a wire rack for 1/2 hour, then remove the pan side.

Brush a layer of marmalade all over the top. 

 Later, when the cake is completely cool, mix up the confectioner's sugar and water to make a simple frosting, and brush the icing over the top of the marmalade and let it run down the sides.

Where I messed up was the icing. I made mine much too thin. Start with just         1 Tbsp of warm water, whisk thoroughly and test the thickness. Add extra water only if absolutely necessary...

Acorn Squash Quickie

Since you made that nice marmalade, use some in Sally's (the Closet Gourmet) version of baked Acorn Squash.

Halve the squash for pole to pole – microwave the whole squash for a couple minutes, to soften, if you don't have the strength to slice the raw squash. Remove the seeds, and fill the cavities with marmalade. Bake as you normally would – I microwave for however long it takes to get the flesh done -- 6-8 minutes.

Savory “Cheese Cake” – The Blood Sugar Diet

Fiona has had great luck with this diet (a Mediteranean style diet  under 1000 calories per day) so we thought we'd try a few of the dishes to see what they're like.  The original did not include the Italian seasoning, just the mint.  The added seasoning really makes this dish come alive!

This is a cheese cake because it has a ton of cheese and is sort of cake-y.

6 Mint leaves, cut chiffonade
8 oz Cream Cheese, softened
8 oz Feta Cheese, plain

1/2 lb Zucchini, cut 1/8” thin
3 Eggs

Italian Seasoning

Slice zucchini into rounds and lay out on a baking tray. Drizzle with a little EVOO and dust with Italian Seasoning.  Fire up the Broiler, and grill the zucchini 5-6 minutes until they start to brown. Remove to a bowl, toss with the mint, and cool.

 Turn the oven to Bake and set the temperature to 400F.

Put the cream cheese, feta and eggs in a food processor and whizzz until well combined. Add a splash of EVOO to a 9” oven-proof frying pan. Spoon the cheese/egg mixture into the pan and press the cooked zucchini into the top.

Cook the cheesecake for 5 minutes on the stovetop, on medium high heat. Then bake the skillet 15 minutes until the top is puffed, set, and browned. Serve warm.

According to the Blood Sugar diet, a quarter of this recipe is 450 calories and should be eaten as a complete meal. 

 So Sally and I had it for lunch, and we have to say, this is very rich and filling, and we were only hungry for dinner 6 hours later (not starving early, as we expected). Sally is having a quarter for her lunch today and tomorrow.

Persian Plum Lamb

For Easter luncheon, I used a double batch of last week's Plum Sauce test, plus 2+ pounds of trimmed boneless leg of lamb cut into bite sized pieces, and a peeled, sliced yam to replicate the Plum Lamb dish which I had at a Persian restaurant a couple weeks back.

I browned the lamb with the cumin and a bit of S&P, then removed it (leaving the lamb juices) from the pot.  I cooked the sauce ingredients and pureed them, then added everything back to the pot and simmered the dish for about an hour at
300 F. Tender and oh so tasty! One of the best dishes I've created in a loooong time!

Served with rosemary roasted potatoes and green beans with slivered almonds.

Zucchini-Goat Cheese Tomato Tart

My own version of this savory dinner tart, taking the best from several “out there” recipes.

1 Recipe No Fail Tart Crust (March 13^th blog)

1-2 large Beefsteak Tomato, sliced thin

2 medium Zucchini slice into 1/8” rounds

3 oz Goat cheese, softened

Italian Seasoning

1/4 cup Shredded Parmesan (not that canned stuff)

Make the crust and pre-bake it. Spread the softened goat cheese on the warm crust and then lay down a layer of tomato slices. Follow this with overlapping rings of zucchini rounds (see photo). Dust with Italian seasoning, then top with the shredded Parmesan. Bake at 450 F for 15 minutes or until the cheese is melted and the zucchini browning.