Apricot-Pistachio-Lemon coffee cake - THB

The past three weeks went very fast, so its time for our second baking job with The Home Bakers. The Home bakers are a new baking group that will bake from just one book only untill it's finished. Whe started out three weeks ago with the first recipe from Coffee cakes by Lou Seibert Pappas. Feel free to join in....

So this time Chris fom Yummy bakes got to pick a recipe; Apricot-pistachio-Lemon coffee cake.

I didn't feel like baking a hole cake for just the two of us so i made only a quart of the original recipe, that you can find here. I didn't have a small bund pan so i chose to pour the batter in to six smal souflle dishes/ ramekins that are about 2 inch wide and baked them for 20 minutes at 175C. 

My small individual cakes came out perfectly and tasted very nice. I think i really like apricot and pistachio together! Because it already are small round cakes i didn't need to cut the cake and that is where i got lucky with my choice of small cake pans.  The others baking this cake along with me had some difficulty with cutting the cake, because it gets crumbly because of all the apricot and pistachios in it.

There is a variation on this cake in the book: Cherry - hazelnut cake;

Follow the original recipe, substituting 1¼ cups dried cherries for the dried apricots and ¾ cup toasted and skinned hazelnuts, whole or chopped, for the pistachios.

I really liked to made the variation to but i could't find any dried cherries:-(

Come back here on the 18th of may then where baking a Blueberry streusel coffee cake.

Cabbage salad with oranges & lemons

Fight Scurvy - Eat More Citrus! Is this week s cooking theme over at I Heart Cooking Clubs.
They say'"I find it somewhat amazing that encased in thick, pebbly skins you can find such bright, juicy, glorious bursting fruit! It's like a hit of sunshine for those of us stuck in cold, blustery parts of the world this time of year."
And This salad really whas a hit of sunshine combined with the best of winter produce: cabbage. I bought this lovely Savoy cabbage as Tessa suggested. I added in some extra walnuts.I can't hardly wait for summer to come....
Last friday they also announced our new featured chef for the comming six months. It is Rick Bayless Who's comfort zone is MEXICAN. That surely isn't mine, but i'll just dive in with the rest of the club and maybe after six months i will love it.

Tessa Kiros says, " A soft cabbage like savoy is best here, as the dressing will happily cling to it. You can easily add other ingredients - sometimes i sprinkle in some crushed dried mint or freshly chopped parsley, ground coriander seeds or caraway seeds(although not for my childeren, who say they look like 'gogos'- a word we used in South Africa for something small and insecty). Finely sliced fennel and coarsely grated carrots are also good, and you could use some beautiful purple cabbage for extra colour. It is also lovely with a peeled, cored and chopped apple tossed trough.
Walnuts are great, too. I normally use blood oranges, but, when they are out of season, orange oranges are fine- just make sure that they are bright, sweet and at their very best."

Cabbage salad with oranges & Lemons
Tessa Kiros, Apples for jam

Serves 6

400G (14Oz) finely sliced cabbage
2 smallish leafy celery stalks, finely sliced
2 whole oranges
Ground chili, to serve

Dressing:
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar
½teaspoon dried oregano, crushed through your fingers

Put the cabbage in a large bowl, sprinkle with 1 teaspoon of salt and cover with cold water. Leave to soak for an hour or so. This will help draw away any acid from the cabbage. Drain, rinse and put it in your serving bowl with the celery. Cut the skin and all the pith from the oranges. Slice the oranges into fine wheels(picking out any seeds) and add to the cabbage.
For the dressing, lightly whisk the oil, lemon juice, balsamic vinegar and oregano together. Season with salt and pepper and pour over the cabbage. Mix trough well. Let it settle, then mix trough a few more times so that the cabbage is completely coated. Toss trough a sprinkling of groung chilli just before serving, or pass it around separately for those who want it.
Serve in winter(when cabbage is at its best) with roast pork or chicken, or in summer with barbecued meats.