COOKBOOKS GALORE

  I love ginger in all its forms.  As with all ginger cakes, this one is better the day after you've baked it, as its flavours can then  develop. This version has dates in it, hence the title I've chosen! So you need:  75g unsalted butter 100g dark muscovado sugar 125g black treacle 125g golden syrup 2 eggs 225g self raising flour 2 teaspoons ground ginger 50g stem ginger, finely chopped 75g dates pitted and finely chopped For the icing: 100g icing sugar 1 tbspn stem ginger syrup (from the jar of stem ginger) Preheat the oven to 180C/gas 4                Line a 900g loaf tin with baking parchment or a liner Put the butter, sugar, treacle and syrup in a pan and melt together over a gentle heat. Cool for about 5 mins before beating in the eggs. Fold in the flour and the ground ginger, then stir in the dates and chopped ginger. Spoon into the tin and bake for about 50 mins. Cool in the tin for 10 mins then turn out onto a wire rac...

Another case of using up something at its ' Use By' date; this time some chopped dates. Wanted to make an easy cake, so made my Mum's Date cake with walnuts. It's a cake that keeps very well. Oven 180C/gas4                            Grease and base line a 20cm square cake tin. In a bowl put 210ml boiling water, 175g chopped dates and 3/4 level tspn bicarbonate of soda. Leave it for 5 mins. Cream together 175g soft brown sugar and 50g soft margarine, then beat in 1 beaten egg and the water and dates. Sieve 225g plain flour with 3/4 tspn baking powder and pinch salt, then fold into the date mixture. Add 40g of chopped walnuts and mix together. Spoon into the tin and bake for about 45-50 mins. Cool on a wire rack then remove the paper. This is just part of the cake, as I gave the rest to my lovely Polish neighbour! I sprinkled some sugar on the top  - not really sure why! It has a lovely flavour, alm...

A couple of years ago my lovely Dutch friend sent me some goodies, including some of my favourite speculoos [ or speculaas?] biscuits. I used them in a recipe I found in a French magazine, and decided to make the cake again. It doesn't need any cooking. 125g speculoos biscuits [or any spicy biscuit - the ones they sell in Lidl are good] 4 dried figs, finely chopped 4 dates, finely chopped 2 tbspns sultanas 60g melted butter 200g milk or plain chocolate - broken into small pieces 15cl single cream 2 packets of Werther's originals or other butterscotch sweets 22cm cake tin - preferably a silicone mould Crush the biscuits and mix them with the dried fruit and melted butter. Press the mixture into the bottom of the tin/mould and put it in the fridge to harden. Break the chocolate up into a bowl. Put the cream in a small saucepan and bring to the boil, then pour it over the chocolate. Stir well till the mixture is nice and smooth. Cool. Take the ...

"The Lumberjack Cake is so-called by Canadian lumberjacks because it helps keep the hunger pangs at bay till lunch." This is one of the reasons I found on the internet for the name of this cake. It's also claimed as an Australian and New Zealand recipe - so who knows? I wanted something to fill some hungry men who'd helped me by putting up my new side gate. They all love sweet cakes and pudds, so this recipe seemed just the thing. It's more of a dessert than a cake to have with with a cuppa - too sticky. 2 Granny Smith apples, peeled, and finely chopped - about 400g 200g chopped dates 1 tspn bicarb 250ml boiling water 125g butter 1 tspn vanilla extract 210g caster sugar 1 large egg 180g plain flour Topping: 60g Butter 8 tbspn milk 110g soft brown sugar 60g dessicated coconut Preheat the oven to 180C /gas 4. Grease and line a 23cm spring form cake tin. Mix together the apple, dates, bicarb and boiling water. Cover with cling film and le...

Sticky toffee pudding is one of my favourite desserts; I've made it as a cake so thought I'd have a try and make it as a traybake with a toffee sauce on top. My son was coming for a meal so he was the guinea pig; he loved it and took a large slice home. I miss baking for my children – they were always great critics, good and bad! Preheat oven 180C/gas4 Grease and line a 20cm square tin. Put 175g dates with 175ml boiling water and ½ tspn bicarbonate of soda in a pan and heat gently for 5 mins till the dates are soft. In a bowl cream together 85g butter and 140g caster sugar then add a lightly beaten large egg, ½ tspn vanilla extract and the date mixture. Add 175g sr flour and gently mix together. Spoon the batter into the tin and bake for about 40 mins.  Meanwhile make some toffee sauce – put 85g soft brown sugar, 40g butter and 2 tbspn milk or cream into a pan and heat over a low heat till the butter has melted and the sugar has dis...

My lovely Mum left a folder full of recipes she'd cut out from newspapers, magazines etc, and I was browsing through these and found this cake. It came from a series of recipes of cakes that were 'Old Fashioned'. It didn't say where the lumberjack comes into the picture!   I had some dates that needed using, so instead of the usual sticky toffee cake or pudding I thought I'd give this recipe a try. It's not a great heavy cake for beefy men chopping down trees, although I'm sure they'd love it, it's an old fashioned apple and date cake with a yummy caramelised coconut topping. Preheat oven 180C/gas4 and grease and line a 23cm springform tin. Peel and finely chop 2 eating apples  - about 400g [ I used Granny Smiths] and put them in a bowl with 200g chopped dates, 1 tspn bicarb. and 250ml boiling water. Stir, then cover with clingfilm and leave till cooled. Beat together 125g butter, 1 tspn vanilla extract and 210g caster sugar till thick, the...

Bought a bundle of cookery magazines from a charity shop the other day, and this recipe was in an Australian one. I like traybakes. The bake has lots of good things in it - dessicated coconut, lime zest, walnuts, dates, and it's easy to make. The biggest problem was changing the Aussie cups into grams. The cake turned out fine, so I must have my conversions fairly accurate! Preheat oven 180C/gas4 Grease and line a rectangular tin about 28 x 8 cm. For the cake: Put 150g flour, 110g caster sugar, 85g dessicated coconut, finely grated zest of 1 lime [you'll need another lime if you're going to make the candied lime peel, 150g chopped dates and 60g chopped walnuts into a bowl. Stir together. Add 180g melted butter and mix together; then add 1 egg [lightly beaten] and stir together. Press this mixture into your tin and bake for 20 mins till golden. Leave in tin for 5 mins then turn out onto wire rack. For the lime Icing: Put 225g icing sugar in a bowl with 15 melted...

These day, I only make puddings when we have friends or family for a meal - they seem to expect it! I wanted to make something tasty, but not stodgy.  Hunting through my cookery books, I found one I'd bought a few years ago from the famous 'Pudding Club' in 'Three Ways House' in Chipping Camden. If you've nor heard of this club, it was founded in 1985 to save our great British puddings. At the time, puddings were looked on with horror - much too fattening. So the club meets, eat their main course and then 7 different puddings are brought out and devoured. At the end of the evening, they vote for the best one. Looking through the book, many of the pudds are very filling ,but I found one that was marked as 'healthy', and it does contain fruit, nuts and honey and very little fat. I suppose with the latest bad press for sugar, 120g would be classed as a lot, so perhaps it wouldn't be classed as 'healthy'! Many of the puddings are steamed, but...

I love Sticky Toffee pudding, so having it in a cake form is my idea of heaven. The ingredients are virtually the same, just baked instead of steamed. Icing replaces the toffee sauce, but again you use almost the same ingredients. The recipe was given to me by a friend who runs a small cake shop, and this cake is one she makes regularly for her shop, and it's a best seller. So, first preheat your oven to 180C/gas4. Grease and line a 28x18cm tin. You need 225g of dates which you cut into pieces and put in a pan of water and bring to the boil. You boil them uncovered for about 10 mins till the dates are soft. Then take them off the heat and stir in 1 tspn of bicarbonate of soda, and leave to cool. Cream together 175g of soft brown sugar and 115g of butter of margarine; add a tspn of vanilla extract. gradually beat in 2 eggs and fold in the dates and 175g sr flour. Spoon this mixture into your tin and bake for about 35 mins till nicely risen. If you need to, cover the cake...

This month's challenge from Alpha Bakes is a hard one - baking something beginning with letter I . Lots of recipes begin with 'iced ....... ' but I wanted to find something different. I borrowed a book from the library called 'Cakes, Tortes and Gateaux'  - it has no author, and I found a recipe for an Israeli cake. I love cakes with nuts and I like dates, so had to give it a try. I changed a few things in the recipe, and had to convert it to grams. It worked out really well, and is full of good things. 2 eggs 180ml honey 150ml buttermilk 1 tspn vanilla essence 3 mashed bananas 300g sr flour 1 tspn baking powder 100g soft brown sugar 2 tbspn cocoa 1 tspn cinnamon 1 tspn allspice pinch salt 125g butter 150g chopped dates 125g chopped pecans 2 tbspns honey for top of cake Preheat oven 180C/gas4 grease a 23cm springform tin Beat together the eggs, honey, buttermilk and vanilla essence, then add the bananas. Keep 2 tbspn of the flour, then put th...

My lovely Dutch friend sent me some goodies recently, including some of my favourite speculoos biscuits. I wanted to use them in a cake of some sort, and found this recipe in a French magazine. No cooking is needed for the cake. 125g speculoos biscuits [or any spicy biscuit] 4 dried figs, finely chopped 4 dates, finely chopped 2 tbspns sultanas 60g melted butter 200g milk or plain chocolate - broken into small pieces 15cl single cream 2 packets of Werther's originals or other butterscotch sweets 22cm cake tin - preferably a silicone mould Crush the biscuits and mix them with the dried fruit. Press the mixture into the bottom of the tin/mould and put it in the fridge to harden. Break the chocolate up into a bowl. Put the cream in a small saucepan and bring to the boil, then pour it over the chocolate. Stir well till the mixture is nice and smooth. Cool. Take the base mixture out of the fridge and pour the chocolate over, then put it back in the fridge again to...