dulcis in fundo

Although I never was a big fan of bananas as a fruit on its own, there's something about the combination of banana and cinnamon that just says "yuuummmm..." to me. My partner also loves banana bread and banana cake, so much that if I ever ask him "I'll make cake, what kind do you want?" the only thing he will say is "banaaaaaaaaaana cake". I've tried many recipes in the past, both my own inventions and other people's with varying levels of success. Usually it either doesn't taste enough like banana, or stops being moist after a couple of days, or becomes really stodgy and not so light (depending on the density of the banana pulp and the amount used).

From previous posts you will have noticed my recent obsession with Harry Eastwood's Red Velvet Chocolate Heartache, and this is one more recipe from this inventive book, this time using courgette as the vegetable of choice. The cake came out great, very light and fluffy, and of course (as with all the other vegetable-based cakes in the book) it didn't taste at all like courgette! And it also stayed moist for quite a while (although it disappeared so quickly I can't really say how long it would have potentially stayed moist for...).

Preheat the oven to 180°C. Brush the inside of a 19cm x 12cm x 8 cm loaf tin with a little vegetable oil or butter.

Mash the banana thoroughly with a fork or potato masher.

In a large mixing bowl whisk the eggs and sugar for a full 3 minutes until pale and light. Whisk in the mashed-up banana until completely incorporated and then add the grated courgette and beat again. Add the flour, baking powder, salt, vanilla extract, cinnamon and mixed spice, and whisk again until completely blended.

Finally, mix in most of the brazil nuts and pecans with a spatula and pour the mixture into the prepared tin. Sprinkle the remaining nuts over the top and bake in the middle of the oven for 45 minutes.

Remove the cake from the oven and leave it to cool in the tin for 10 minutes.

Butternut squash risotto
Source: delicious magazine (May 2010)

Serves 4-6

• 4 tbsp olive oil
• 2 onions, finely chopped (I used 1 tsp of onion powder)
• 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped (I used 1 tsp of garlic powder)
• 1 small butternut squash, peeled and chopped into 2cm cubes
• 1 litre vegetable stock (I used chicken stock)
• 350g risotto rice (I used arborio)
• 200ml dry white wine
• 4 tbsp grated Parmesan (I buy the best parmesan in London from Elliott of the Ham and Cheese Co. stand at the Borough market*, it's even better than many I've tried in Italy)
• Extra parmesan to serve (If you're like me, count another half a block in shavings, I like my parmiggiano!)
• 20g butter
• 1 tbsp hazelnut or walnut oil

As I have mentioned in a previous post, I have been recently introduced to the world of butterless cake-making, via some photocopies from a borrowed copy of Harry Eastwood's much-blogged Red Velvet Chocolate Heartache. Being a butter and flour hardcore traditionalist (and not much of a vegetable fan), I have been slowly converted to the dark side of vegetable cakemaking, finding that not only you can not taste the veggies contained within, but also being charmed by that most obvious law of physics that Eastwood explains in her book, and which could be summarised thus: Butter when cold=solid. Butter melts while cake is baking, cake cools down, butter becomes solid again. Hence rock cake after a couple of days.

Now these cakes, apart from being pretty yummy, actually stay moist (I could say for a week, but none of the ones I've tried have lasted that long!) for much longer than your usual kind of cake. After my initial success with the Lemon and lavender drizzle cake, the next one I ventured into was the famous titular Chocolate heartache cake. While I've made flourless chocolate creations before, one of my favourites being Allegra McEvedy's Flourless chocolate brownies, I had never made anything flourless AND butterless in my life. Although this cake was nice, it turned out a bit too bitter for my taste, and I'm guessing this was either due to me not weighing my aubergines carefully, or maybe the bitterness levels of the specific aubergines I used were uncommonly high. To play it on the safe side, I would suggest to err on the side of caution, and use rather less than more aubergine if you're in doubt. The cake was moist and chocolatey, but for me couldn't be eaten without being warmed up, and accompanied with some nice vanilla ice-cream. My boyfriend and his sister, however, devoured it in all ways, hot, cold, with or without ice-cream, and couldn't have praised it more. So one not so much for those with a huge sweet tooth, but nevertheless one for chocaholics.

Source: Red Velvet Chocolate Heartache

Cook the aubergines by puncturing their skins here and there with a skewer, then placing them in a bowl covered with cling film. Microwave on high for 8 minutes until the vegetables are cooked and limp. Discard any water at the bottom. Leave the aubergines to stand in the bowl until they are cool enough to handle.

Next, skin the aubergines with the tip of a knife and purée them in a blender. Once the warm aubergine is puréed and smooth, add the chocolate, which will mingle and melt slowly. Set aside, covered once again in cling film, until all the chocolate has melted.

In a large bowl, whisk up all the other ingredients for a minute until well introduced to each other and slightly bubbly. Fold the melted chocolate and aubergine mixture into the bowl with all the other ingredients.

Pour the mixture into the prepared tin and place it in the bottom of the oven for 30 minutes. Remove the cake from the oven and let it cool in its tin for 15 minutes before turning it out to to a wire rack and peeling off the parchment. Quickly turn it the right way up again and put it on a plate. Decorate with cocoa powder.

A month ago, my friend Natalia started having a coffee stall at a relatively new London art market, Stour Space, in Hackney Wick. The market promotes unknown and upcoming designers' work and is a really great initiative for young artists who are just starting out and can display their work in the exhibition areas. It takes place on the last Saturday of every month, and it’s well worth a look if you happen to be around East London.

This Saturday, 24th April, Natalia will be again selling her coffee, and when she asked me to make her some truffles so she could trial them out at the stall, I jumped at the opportunity! The coffee is a delicious single origin from Bolivian farm Colonia San Juan, and the beans are sourced from the independent East End roasters Square Mile, who trade directly with the growers, resulting in excellent-quality coffee (the owner, James Hoffman, won the World Barista Championship in 2007).

Some of my favourite chocolates in Britain are made by Paul A. Young, and his book Adventures with Chocolate is one of the very few cookbooks that I own and treasure (and actually regularly cook from, which I guess is the most important function of a cookbook!). Since Natalia explained that the coffee she had bought had caramel and toffee undertones, I decided to make some simple but delicious Muscovado truffles from Paul A. Young's book (you can also find the recipe and a helpful video online).

First, break the chocolate into small, even-sized pieces and place in a medium-size mixing bowl. Place the cream and sugar in a small saucepan.

Bring to the boil and simmer for 1 minute. This will fully dissolve the sugar and kill any bacteria that may be present in the cream.

Turn off the heat and allow the cream to cool for 1 minute. (Pouring the cream on to the chocolate while boiling will scorch it and cause the cocoa butter in the chocolate to separate, resulting in a split ganache.) Now pour your rested cream on to the chocolate pieces and mix well with a spatula or whisk until smooth and very glossy.

Allow the ganache to cool to room temperature, then place it, covered, in the fridge for at least 2 hours or until fully set.

Rolling the truffles

Remove the set ganache from the fridge. Using a teaspoon, scoop even-sized pieces of the chocolate and place on to a sheet of parchment paper.

Powder your hands with cocoa powder, and then, using your fingers, begin to roll the ganache into evenly shaped spheres. Take care not to take too long over this as the ganache will begin to melt and become impossible to roll.

Place the rolled truffles back on to the parchment paper. (If you are not eating the dusted truffles, place them in the fridge until needed.)

While I was browsing for party food ideas during my lunchtime in Tesco, I came across these new tiny pastry tart cases, which looked really cute, so I got inspired to fill them with the same mixture that I use for some of my favourite chocolate truffles.

I was planning a big party to celebrate the end of my PhD, and I had a lot of food to cook and very little time, so dessert had to be something quick and easy. Apart from tiramisú, which is always a quick favourite that disappears in seconds (therefore no photo!) the only thing I managed to take pictures of was these tartlets, which I made on the day before and put in the fridge to cool until just before serving. And since I made enough filling and had leftovers, I rolled some truffles with the rest of the mixture, very simply shaping them into balls and rolling them in a mix of cocoa powder and sugar.

Place the pastry cases on a tray and carefully fill them with a small spoon while the chocolate mix is still liquid, as the more solid it gets, the more difficult it will become for them to have even surfaces. Leave to cool in room temperature and then put in the fridge for a couple of hours, until set. Take them out of the fridge half an hour before serving (or less if you prefer them cold) and dust with cocoa powder. I love them with some good quality vanilla ice cream.

If you have any leftover chocolate that you haven’t licked already while you’re filling the tarts, you can roll some truffles with it. Just put in the fridge until totally set, and then take small spoonfuls of the mix, quickly roll into round shapes in the tips of your fingers and then roll in a mix of cocoa powder and sugar. Put them on a plate and in the fridge again to cool, and don’t forget to take them out of the fridge at least half an hour before serving, there’s no worse waste than a cold truffle!