Chocolate and Amaretto Fruit Cake

This is an easy to make, moist chocolate cake. As usual I've reduced the amount of sugar added which I believe doesn't impact on the flavour of the cake as most cakes are far too sweet. However, if you prefer a sweeter cake add an additional 20g of caster sugar.
Marinade the dried fruit in Amaretto for 24hrs before making the cake. You can use any combination of unsweetened dried fruit and if you want more 'bite' to the cake add 50g chopped walnuts when you add the fruit to the cake mix.
Put the mix into a lined, round 16cm springform cake tin and bake in a pre-heated oven for 35-45mins at 180C.

Ingredients
95g unsweetened dates
55g unsweetened dried cranberries
2 tblsp Amaretto 
170g unsalted butter (room temperature)
50g brown sugar
50g caster sugar
140g plain flour
1tsp baking powder
60g best quality unsweetened cocoa powder
3 medium eggs (beaten)


Method
Marinate the dried fruit in Amaretto for 24hrs.

Put the butter and both types of sugar in a mixing bowl and cream together until light and fluffy. Little by little add the beaten eggs, make sure you incorporate all the egg into the butter/sugar mix before adding more. Make sure every bit of egg is well mixed in, don't leave any visible egg in the mix. Using a metal spoon, sift and fold in the dry ingredients, flour, baking powder, cocoa powder.

Add the dried fruits and fold in. Put the mix into your pre-prepared cake tin and bake in the middle of the oven for 35-45 minutes. After 35 minutes test the cake with a skewer, if the cake is cooked the skewer can be inserted into the cake and then will come out clean. If there's cake mix on it you need to continue baking for up to 10 minutes more. The final time depends on your oven. 

Cool on a wire rack and when cold store in an airtight cake-tin. If you can resist it, the cake will stay fresh for up to 5 days. It's delicious if served with natural, Greek style yoghurt. This cuts through the sweetness of the Amaretto and compliments the flavours very well. It would also be good with vanilla or chocolate ice cream.

Parmesan Biscuits

These delicious snacks won't last long and you'll find yourself making them time and again. They make a great gift and are good any time of day. I particularly like them with cranberry sauce. That mix of sweet and savoury is yummy.
They are easy to make but the temperature of your kitchen will make a difference to how easy it is to work the dough. In a very warm kitchen the dough can be pretty sticky, try not to add too much flour when you're rolling the mix. Use all your ingredients at room temperature. Makes around 30 biscuits.
Pre-heat the oven to 170C, bake for 10 minutes.


Ingredients
2oz/60g plain flour
2oz/60g butter
2oz/60g strong cheddar, grated
2oz/60g parmesan, grated
1/2 - 1 tsp freshly ground pepper

 Method
Rub the butter into the flour until you get a breadcrumb consistency. Add the grated cheeses and ground pepper, stir then bring together into a dough.
I like to roll out half the mix at a time, it makes it easier to work and to use a 4cm pastry cutter. With this recipe you can re-use and roll every last bit of dough. Roll the dough as thinly as you can.
Use parchment paper on a baking tray to ensure the biscuits don't stick. Bake for 10 minutes at just above the middle of the oven and the biscuits should be golden brown. If you are using a fan assist oven you can do the whole batch in one go but you may need to reduce the cooking time by a minute or two so keep an eye on them. Cool on a wire rack and store in an airtight tin.

You can use other cheeses than parmesan and cheddar but those two work best. Also, because the fat content of cheese varies you may need to experiment with the cooking time and quantities if you use different cheese.

These are not a low cholesterol or low calorie snack but they are worth every mouthful if you want something different for a savoury treat.

Easy Vegetarian Samosas

Homemade samosas are much tastier than the shop bought variety and are more versatile as you can change the spice mix and/or filling to suit your tastes. 

Instead of folding the pastry into a traditional triangle I use a pastry cutter and make 'pasty' shaped samosas. This recipe makes 22 samosas with a little filling left over to turn into a lovely curry! You'll also need a little sunflower oil for shallow frying.

Filling Ingredients
1 carrot finely diced
1 medium sized potato peeled and diced
2 tblsp frozen peas

1 small onion finely diced

2 cloves garlic finely chopped

1 tsp aromatic salt (*sea salt, allspice, cinnamon)

1 tblsp sunflower oil
1tsp each cumin seed, coriander seed, garam masala
1 red chilli (de-seed if you don't want them as spicy)
Method
Put the oil in a heavy based frying pan and heat to a medium heat. Grind the cumin and coriander seeds, add the aromatic salt and garam masala, add to the oil and cook for a minute, add all the other ingredients and stir well, turn the heat down and leave everything to sautee until cooked through, turn off the heat, add the peas, stir and leave everything to go cold.

Pastry Ingredients225g plain flour
1/2 tsp table salt
1 tblsp sesame oil (if you don't have this use sunflower oil)
cold water to mix to a soft but not wet doughMethodput the flour and salt into a bowl, add the oil and mix with a knife, add the water and bring the mix together into a soft dough, cover with clingfilm and set aside for 1 hour.

On a lightly floured board roll out the pastry to 2 or 3mm, use a 10cm metal chef ring or pastry cutter to cut your samosas. Use a flour and water mix as 'glue' to seal the samosa. Using a pastry brush, lightly brush the 'glue' mix all around the edge of the pastry circle. Add a teaspoonful of cold filling to one side of the circle then fold the pastry over and press the edges down. If your kitchen is very warm only make 4 samosas before cooking them as the pastry can become slightly sticky and more difficult to work.



Shallow fry in vegetable oil, for 2 - 3 minutes per side until golden brown, cook a few at a time.

Delicious eaten hot or cold. These samosas freeze really well too and can be re-heated from frozen in the oven at 180C for 15-20 minutes. Two per person make a great starter with a little salad and mango chutney or lime pickle or a yoghurt dip.

* aromatic salt: 500g coarse sea salt, 1 heaped teaspoon allspice, 1 heaped teaspoon cinnamon powder. Mix everything together and store in an airtight jar and use as stated in the recipe.