Posted by Georgia on November 1, 2011 under Edinburgh Showcase | 
Calling all Bakers!!
There’s a new artisan coffee shop coming to the city and they are looking for that special someone(s) to make their cafe the most sought after spot in Edinburgh.
Here’s what the lovely folks have got to say…
“We’re opening a ground-breaking new concept coffee bar in Edinburgh’s Old Town and we need some local bakers to supply us daily with amazing freshly baked bread (roughly a dozen varied loaves including sough dough!) and the kind of pastries that take you back to a summers breakfast in Brittany (one to two dozen croissants, pan au chocolates etc).
Our coffee bar will be the first of its kind in Edinburgh and bring a kind of coffee that has long been overdue in Scotland’s capital.
We’re looking for some super star artisan bakers that pay meticulous attention to detail to their craft and who want to help us build something exciting and new in Edinburgh.”
Sound like you? Interested? Email info@bakenation.com for more details.
Doesn’t sound like you but keen to help? Spread the word by Liking or tweeting this post and help us find the superstar(s) they’re looking for!
Posted by Georgia on October 31, 2011 under Recipes |
Comfort Food and Baking go together hand in hand, so when this month’s Total Food Geeks’ Theme was “Finding Comfort” I knew baking that would be at the centre of my post.
After a lot of pondering I chose the recipe for the Smoked Salmon and Pak Choi Tart from August’s Afternoon Tea. Luxurious and simple, we found this lovely recipe from the mouthwatering TV sensation: The Great British Bake Off.
You can find all the details of this delicious quiche/tart over on Total Food Geeks… Enjoy!
Posted by Georgia on September 18, 2011 under Recipes |
Every week our office is lucky enough to receive boxes of delicious fresh fruit from Fruits in the City. The nectarines, bananas, apples, plums, cherries, grapes and strawberries (yes… strawberries!) go down a storm. However, the oranges, with their threat of sticky keyboards and impromptu juice explosions, often remain. So this week I grabbed the opportunity and saved six oranges from their inevitable journey to the bin.
After the success of the lemon drizzle cake, I’m feeling more confident handling citrus flavours and so scoured my recipe books and the internet for the perfect recipe.
Selection criteria
As I searched I had only two criteria; it had to be moist and light. The finished cake was going to have to travel for 6 hours on a train and would accompany an already indulgent meal, so something that was too dry or too heavy would be… fruitless. ;-)
The recipe I chose was Jill Dupleix, foodie extraordinaire and probably my new food idol. Originally from Australia, her foodie travels have resulted in receiving high acclaim for her food journalism/editorial skills, and she advocates a lighter way of cooking – perfect for my zesty cake.
Her original recipe was for a mammoth orange cake, which I will one day attempt, but below I’ve halved the ingredients to make something deliciously manageable (and transportable).
What you will need:
Standard cake tin with removable bottom/sides
250g butter
250g caster sugar
4 eggs
1/2 tbsp grated orange zest
250g self-raising flour
100ml freshly squeezed orange juice
For the light orange Icing:
250g icing sugar and 50ml orange juice
1/2 tsp orange zest
Extra icing sugar for sprinkling
What you need to do:
Heat the oven to 170C/Gas 3.
Line your cake tin with greaseproof paper and a little butter.
Cream the butter and sieved sugar until it is very pale and thick – this may take quite a while.
Add the eggs one by one, beating well after each addition.
Add the zest, ensuring that it has separated well across the mixture. Check out the mini grater I used!
Add the sieved flour all at once, and beat well, then slowly add the orange juice, until it is incorporated.
Pour the batter into the prepared cake tin, and bake for 45 to 50 mins or until an inserted skewer comes out clean.
Wise words from Jill:
Slow is best, so don’ t be afraid to cook it longer. If it starts to brown too much on the top, cover loosely with a sheet of buttered kitchen foil. (I did this and it worked perfectly)
Leave the cake in the tin on a wire rack to cool, then gently remove the sides of the tin. You have to be very careful when removing this as the edges of the cake are very soft and can crumble away.
The icing on the cake…
Stir the orange juice into the icing sugar until you have the right spreading consistency, and apply with a palette knife, allowing the icing to drip down the sides of the cake. Be very careful as the crumbly edging can get caught up in the icing.
The cake should still be on the wiring rack at this point so that the icing can neatly drip though. I found that it was useful to spin the cake slowly while icing, but if you can’t I’d recommend being able to access the cake from all sides.
Leave the icing to set and completely cool, sprinkle with zest and icing sugar.
And here it is…mine looks a little weather beaten as it had to suffer delayed and bumpy train rides, but the overall response was “yummmmmmmmmm”.
UPDATE: It seems the original recipe was called The Amazing Orange Cake for a reason, the group enjoyed it so much that even the crumbs were eaten! :-)
