ottolenghi apple and olive oil cake with maple icing

 

while writing this i am tucking into a slice of this very delicious ottolenghi apple and olive oil cake with maple icing.

this was one of the first recipes i made when i bought the ottolenghi book 18 months ago. sadly i was in a rush which meant that the cake didn’t have time to cool fully before icing so it wasn’t as good as it could have been. despite this it was demolished in very good time by claire and peter who were staying with us at the time.

it’s been on my “try again” list ever since and this weekend i finally got round to it. the cake is wonderfully moist – i do love cakes made with fresh fruit because of this – and the cream cheese and maple syrup icing works really well with the apple and cinnamon flavours in the cake.

i made a few changes to the recipe, swapping sour cherries cooked in pedro ximenez (i know it’s been a theme recently, i’ve been determinedly finishing off a bottle which was a bit too raisiny to drink!) for sultanas, and golden caster sugar for the usual white version. the px-cherries were such a fabulous addition i’d really recommend you try them in this, or any other cake which calls for studs of dried fruit. i think they would make a batch of scones particularly special.

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apple and quince crumble

we’ve been eating a lot of apples recently, thanks to the generosity of one of david’s colleagues who has several apple trees and more fruit than he knows what to do with. a lot have gone into our daily smoothies, some will go into a batch of apple and lemon curd and some have been made into puddings and cakes.

this crumble was a mix of apples, quince and prunes. quince takes much longer to cook than apples so, having peeled and sliced it (keep the slices in water to which you’ve added a squeeze of lemon juice so they don’t brown) i cooked it over a low heat with some water and a spoon of sugar. when the quince was tender i turned up the heat to get rid of the extra liquid, adding the apples for the last few minutes.

the prunes were added thanks to inspiration from pim. i only had a handful and dread to think how long they had been lurking in the cupboard. so, to bring them back to life i sliced them and simmered them over a low heat with a glug of px.

the crumble topping was courtesy of delia and we ate it with vanilla ice-cream (david) and cream (me).

roast partridge with pumpkin, pancetta and px

our pomegranate and parma ham salad was followed by roasted partridges with pumpkin, chorizo and pancetta. i used a nigel slater recipe from a recent edition of observer food monthly, making a few adaptations along the way.

sadly i can’t tell you anything about how delicious this was – which apparently it was – as i had food poisoning from the night before and eating that light salad starter was as far as i got.

i did get to use the leftover roasted pumpkin, chorizo and pancetta in a risotto though, which was very delish.

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a festive salad

pomegranates and walnuts – two delicious ingredients which, i think, make eating salad a good idea despite the chilly weather.

i’m sure i’ve done something like this before. or, if this exact combination is new to me, perhaps it’s just that the various ingredients are old favourites, which i regularly turn to.

the leaves are dressed simple with walnut oil and lemon juice. i topped these with pieces of parma ham, lightly toasted walnuts and fresh goats curd before sprinkling with pomegranate seeds and a drizzle of 12yo balsamic vinegar.

it took 5 minutes to make and a similar amount of time to eat but is a great way to start a meal which is going to place more onerous demands on you and your stomach. something to bear in mind as we approach the festive season, perhaps?

squash and chickpea soup

 

a couple of weeks ago i received a selection of different types of squash in my vegetable box. some were roasted with garlic and chilli but the onion squash was saved (or. more accurately, neglected and then embraced) for a skye gyngell recipe – onion squash and chickpea soup. 

skye sings the praises of the onion squash – its deep rich flavour, firm texture and particularly its skin, which doesn’t need to be removed. perfect for a lazy saturday lunch.

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