Ren Behan - Author Wild Honey and Rye

Food Writer

Pomegranate

Guest Recipe: Orange and Pomegranate Cake by Diana Henry

This is Diana Henry’s recipe for her Orange and Pomegranate Cake, shared with permission, from her latest book A Change of Appetite. The cake itself is wonderfully simple to make and extremely moist.

Orange Pomegranate Cake
Photo Credit: Laura Edwards – A Change of Appetitie

Incredibly easy. Not sugar-free I know but, as cakes go, not bad. And it is for dessert. Serve thin slices with Greek yogurt. It’s very, very moist (almost pudding-like) so be careful when you’re moving it off the base of the cake tin and on to a plate – Diana Henry

Orange Pomegranate Cake

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Orange and Pomegranate Cake

Prep

Cook

Total

Yield 8

Ingredients

  • For the cake
  • 50g (13⁄4oz) wholemeal breadcrumbs
  • 100g (31⁄2oz) ground almonds
  • 175g (6oz) soft light brown sugar
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • finely grated zest of 1½ oranges
  • 215ml (71⁄2fl oz) olive oil, plus more for the tin
  • 4 eggs, lightly beaten
  • seeds from 1⁄2 pomegranate
  • For the syrup
  • juice of 1 orange
  • 100ml (31⁄2fl oz) pomegranate juice (pure juice, not ‘pomegranate juice drink’)
  • 1 tbsp pomegranate molasses
  • 2 tbsp runny honey

Instructions

  1. In a bowl, mix together the breadcrumbs, almonds, sugar and baking powder. Add the orange zest, olive oil and eggs and stir well until everything is amalgamated.
  2. Pour the batter into an oiled 20cm (8in) springform cake tin. Put it into a cold oven and set the heat to 190°C/375°F/gas mark 5. Bake for 45–50 minutes, or until the cake is browned and a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean.
  3. Meanwhile, make the syrup by gently heating all the ingredients together. Stir a little until the honey has dissolved, then increase the heat and simmer for five minutes. You should end up with about 100ml (31⁄2fl oz) of syrup.
  4. When the cake is cooked, pierce holes all over the surface and slowly pour the syrup all over it, allowing it to sink in. Leave the cake to cool completely in the tin. It will sink a little in the middle but don’t worry, this makes a lovely dip for the pomegranate seeds to lie in. Scatter the pomegranate seeds on top just before serving.

 

You can read more about my adventures cooking from the book on Monday and there are some equally stunning recipes by Diana Henry to be found on her column for Stella Magazine in The telegraph or on her own website.

With thanks to Mitchel Beazley/Octopus Publishing Group for my review copy and permission to share this recipe. A Change of Appetite was published on 3rd March 2014, RRP £25. 

Keep or Give: Pomegranate and Vanilla Vodka

I’ve got the bug – the preserving, gift making, home brewing, bottling bug. It began when I made the Purple Fig and Pomegranate Jam from Salt Sugar Smoke. I realised then, with a few simple instructions, how easy it was to preserve – the process was no longer shrouded in mystery. I was also lucky enough to get some expert tips from Vanessa Kimbell whilst making greengage jam, which I’ll be posting about soon. Next came the Rumtopf, or the spiced rum soaked fruit and now, influenced by my Polish roots and partiality to vodka, I’ve been making these gorgeous little bottles of Pomegranate and Vanilla Vodka. Having followed Vanessa’s adventures and recent trip to Uganda, I now always look out for and use Fairtrade Ndalli vanilla. By complete coincidence (although you won’t believe me) when I placed the bottle, pomegranate and ribbon on the table, they arranged themselves exactly like this – two heart shapes. The kink in the ribbon was entirely natural, it must have been the way it was wrapped.

Pomegranate Vodka
This vodka is so easy to make, I promise you. I’ve seen a few pomegranate vodka recipes, in particular this one in Woman and Home, but I haven’t seen the combination of pomegranate and vanilla and I thought it would work well. A little bit of ribbon and a homemade gift tag, and you’re well on your way to making your own Christmas gifts.

Pomegranate Vodka

There is one really important thing to remember when preserving or making bottled gifts – you must sterilize your jars or bottles (and funnels, if using) but this is easy.

How to sterilize your equipment/bottles and jars

  • Boil them in plain water
  • Wash them in hot soapy water then put them in the oven (lids, too) at 170 degrees Celsius
  • Put them through a dishwasher cycle

NB The Kilner bottles I used had plastic or rubber stoppers, so I put mine through a dishwasher cycle rather than in the oven. Jam lids are usually fine in the oven. Fill your bottles or jars when they are still hot.

The alcohol preserves the fruit, but I also always use spirits which are 40% ABV.

Pomegranate Vodka

Pomegranate and Vanilla Vodka

This makes enough for 3 x 250ml  bottles or a large 1 litre preserving bottle

Ingredients

  • 120g or 2/3 cup fresh pomegranate seeds (roughly the amount from one large pomegranate or a packet)
  • 3 Fairtrade vanilla pods (I used Ndalli pods)
  • 75cl bottle vodka (40%ABV)
  • 220g or one cup sugar
  • 240ml or one cup water

Method

  1. Sterilize your bottles and funnel, if using (see above for How to Sterilize tips)
  2. Put the pomegranate seeds and vanilla pods into sterilized bottles or one large litre Kilner jar. Carefully pour in the vodka.
  3. Put the sugar and water in a pan, boil for a few minutes until the sugar dissolves. Leave to cool slightly.
  4. Pour the cooled sugar syrup into the vodka and shake well. Store in a cool, dark place and shake every few days.
  5. Before drinking or giving as a gift, strain the vodka into a newly sterilized bottle or container, removing the pomegranate seeds.
  6. Pour the strained vodka into three smaller sterilized bottles, adding a pod to each one and a few fresh pomegranate seeds.

Pomegranate Vodka

After just a couple of days, the vodka has turned a beautiful translucent peachy colour. When you shake it, you see pretty specks of vanilla.

Pomegranate Vanilla Vodka

Exciting – my first photo taken with a macro lens!

I’m sending this across to Laura and Nazima’s One Ingredient Challenge, this month hosted by Laura at How to Cook Good Food with the challenge of using The Pomegranate.

Have you been getting a head start on making any Christmas gifts yet?

Other Christmas gift posts you may like –

 

 

Late Summer Fruit Salad with Pomegranate and Pistachio

A beautifully bright Saturday morning! If you are on a health kick, or as in my case, feel like you need to be, then this salad is the perfect prescription – my late Summer Fruit Salad with Pomegranate and Pistachio.

Late summer fruits are always the most delicious. They’ve had lots of time to soak up the sunshine. My nectarines and purple plums here were honey-sweet. So fresh, so pure, I ate two of them whole while I was chopping the rest. The raspberries, at this time of year, absent of any sharpness. Tiny pomegranate pearls capturing crimson essence. A little bit more crunch from finely chopped pistachio. A drizzle of plain yoghurt was a last minute thing, just because it was breakfast. Pretty violas, organic and edible, because I was just in that kind of mood.

 

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Late Summer Fruit Salad with Pomegranate and Pistachio

Ingredients

  • 2 ripe plums
  • 2 ripe nectrines or peaches
  • A handful of seasonal raspberries
  • A handful of pomegranate seeds
  • 1/4 cup or 25g shelled pistachio nuts, finely chopped
  • 1/2 cup or 125ml plain, natural yoghurt
  • A drizzle runny honey
  • 1 tablespoon milk

Instructions

  1. Slice the plums and the nectarines, removing the stones and scatter on a large plate.
  2. Sprinkle over a handful of raspberries, the pomegranate seeds and the finely chopped pistachio nuts.
  3. In a small bowl, whisk together the natural yoghurt, runny honey and a tablespoon of milk to loosen. Drizzle over the fruit and decorate with edible violas. Serve immediately.

Notes

You can add any fruit of your choice, figs would work, fresh apricots, ripe pears etc. Substitute a flavoured yoghurt if you prefer.

Nutrition Facts

Serving Size 2

Amount Per Serving

% Daily Value

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.

Fuss Free Helen’s Breakfast Club is being hosted by Urvashi over the The Botanical Baker this month with a theme of fruit…do join in if fruit is your thing in the morning. And if it’s not, perhaps this salad will convince you to try.

Fuss free flavours breakfast club

This whole plate screams of Simple and in Season so I will be linking up to Katie at Feeding Boys and a Firefighter who is hosting for me this month.

I’m looking forward to seeing all the seasonal offerings around this month as well as all the fruitiness of Urvashi’s Breakfast Club.

If you’re lucky enough to find some fresh pomegranate fruit and want to know how to get the seeds out take a look at Sally’s beautiful Pomegranate Season post here.

Have a lovely weekend – and thank you for all your kind comments about my refreshed blog!

 

 

Baked Aubergine (Yotam Ottolenghi Recipe)

I have to say that when I popped into my local Morrisons store this week, I did not expect to be met by such an amazing array of seasonal fruit and vegetables. I almost started taking photographs, but held back, in case someone thought I was mad. They did recently refurbish the store and so now it has a true ‘market’ feel but the produce was really far beyond anything I’ve ever seen at a supermarket in Britain before. Much of it was organic, there was also a section of locally grown produce as well as more unusual varieties of fruits and vegetables, such as the graffiti aubergines and the candy striped beetroot below, as well as fresh pomegranates. There must have been at least twenty different varieties of chili, fresh herbs and salad leaves kept watered and fresh, British heritage varieties of apples, pears as well as bang-in-season fresh spinach, artichokes, salsify, wild mushrooms, really everything you could imagine or look for. I am converted. It is so encouraging to see supermarkets really starting to support and push British seasonal produce and offer it at a reasonable cost.

Find the recipe here:

When I came home I immediately dived into one of my favourite cook books, Plenty, by Yotam Ottolenghi  to find a recipe for Aubergines with Buttermilk Sauce. I didn’t have lemon thyme, so I just used grated lemon zest and that seemed to work fine. Everything else was as Yotam suggests.

I will say without hesitation that this dish is simple to prepare – watch the lovely Yotam make it on You Tube here – (I could just keep this playing and listen to it all day!) When cooked, it looks visually beautiful (perfect for a dinner party) and tastes delicious. I was happy to be able to use some of my Steenbergs Za’atar  (Steenbergs make organic and Fairtrade herbs and spices) which was screaming to be used since being found inside my goodie bag from Food Blogger Connect over the summer. All in all, a fun and inspiring trip to the shops and a simple but tasty lunch!  I will be linking this up with Simple and in Season where already the entries are coming in thick and fast!

 

This week I also got to meet Karen from Lavender and Lovage for lunch. Karen is based in South West France and has immersed herself this year into food blogging, having been already made a career out of professional food writing, photography and food styling, writing features and columns for Country Kitchen magazine as well as other British publications. Karen and I easily spent almost three hours chatting about food, blogging and how much we both enjoy being part of such a friendly online community.  We both said how much we enjoyed finally meeting one another, it’s always lovely to be able to meet in person, in addition to enthusiastically tweeting and commenting on posts! Karen was very sweet to my children and bought me some lovely French chocolat au Citron Noir (delicious) and also these beautiful cabbage plants. In the time that we spent together I also became slightly addicted to the Oreo Cookie Hot Chocolate I was drinking ay the Secret Garden Cafe in St Albans! Thank you Karen for my gifts and for coming to meet us.

So that’s it for now, the end of another busy half-term week. A burst pipe in my kitchen is being fixed as I type, Halloween is looming, I have to work on my macaron making skills as I have been sent a lovely gift set to try by Lakeland and next week will mark my first year of blogging milestone! I’ve also been challenged to take part in a video blogging competition, which I’m very nervous about but will do my best! 

Later today I’ll also be announcing the winner of the Leon Baking & Puddings cook book giveaway which has been very popular. There’s still time to enter if you haven’t already. 

What are your plans for the weekend? Have you been inspired by any produce or cookbooks this week?