Cranberry Lardy Cake #BreadBakers

Traditionally, this British afternoon teacake is made with raisins, sultanas and/or currants. My cranberry lardy cake is studded with dried cranberries, but fear not, it is amply filled with the requisite lard and sugar, for a properly respectable British teatime treat.

This month my Bread Bakers are baking up yeast cakes, a subject that required some research on my part. I came up with a list of possibilities, mostly from old English recipes, to be honest. Before the days of chemical rising agents, like baking powder, the most reliable ways to get a cake to rise was either to add eggs or yeast.

Lardy cake caught my fancy because, as previously mentioned here, I have a weakness for caramel. When baked up properly - that is with plenty of lard and sugar! - the bottom turns into a crunchy caramel. As the cake is flipped for serving, you end up with a gorgeous caramel top. Who can resist that?

Cranberry Lardy Cake

My recipe below is a combination of a couple I found on the internet from The Happy Foodie and Hobb House Bakery. Check out this YouTube video to watch one of the Baker Brothers make their version. That first link is actually the one that gave me the idea to add cranberries. The recipe called for crimson grapes, which I’d never heard of. Cranberries, on the other hand, I keep always on hand.

Ingredients
For the dough:
3/4 cup or 175ml warm water
1 teaspoon sugar
1/4 oz or 7g dried yeast
2 1/4 cups or 285g strong white bread flour plus extra for kneading
Scant 1/4 cup or 50g lard
Pinch flaky sea salt

For the lard and sugar filling:
1 cup or 225g caster (very fine) sugar, plus extra for the pan
1 cup or 200g lard, at room temperature
1/2 cup or 65g dried cranberries, plus extra for decorating, if desired

Method
Mix the yeast into the warm water with one teaspoon of the sugar. Set aside.

Measure the flour, salt and lard into a big bowl and use a pastry cutter to cut the lard into the flour.

When the yeast mixture has started to bubble up, pour it into the flour bowl and mix all the ingredients together.

If you are using an electric mixer with a bread hook, knead the dough for 10 minutes. If not, sprinkle a little flour onto a clean work surface and tip the dough out of the bowl onto it. Knead the dough for 15 minutes. Once you have a smooth and elastic dough, pop it back into the bowl and cover it with cling film.

Leave the bowl in a warm place for the dough to rise to twice its size or for 1 hour, whichever comes first.

Meanwhile make the lard and sugar mix by creaming them together in a mixer or with a wooden spoon.

Prepare your 8 in or 20cm round nonstick baking pan by coating it with 1/3 cup or 87g of the lard sugar mixture. Use a rubber spatula to spread it over the bottom and up the sides. Sprinkle an extra tablespoon of sugar over the bottom.

When it’s risen, gently press the air out of the dough and form it into a ball. Pop it on a well-floured work surface and use a rolling pin to roll it into a circle about 15 in or 38cm across.

Divide the remaining lard/sugar paste in half. Use a spoon to distribute one half over the dough circle. Use a rubber spatula to spread the paste over the dough, leaving a small margin of dough around the sides uncovered.

Starting on one side, fold the dough towards the middle. Continue until till all the sides are folded over. (See the first five photos below.) Again, this video shows the method so much better than words can explain.

Let the dough rest for a few minutes, then roll it out again to a 15 in or 38cm circle. Spoon the other half of the lard mixture over the dough circle. (Photo 6 above) Spread it with the rubber spatula. Now sprinkle on the cranberries.

Repeat the folding process till all of the sides have been folded in again. Place the dough in the prepared pan.

Cover loosely with cling film and leave the cranberry lardy cake to rest and rise for two hours. It doesn’t really rise very high but it does fill the pan.

When your two hours are almost up, preheat your oven to 375°F or 190°C.

Bake the lardy cake for 45 minutes, covering the top with foil if it starts to get too brown. Remove the pan from the oven and leave to cool for just a few minutes.

Leave it any longer and you may find that the caramel will stick to your pan, even it it’s nonstick. If this happens to you, use a blunt knife to ease it off the pan so the whole cake will come out in one piece.

If necessary, return any pieces that stayed in the pan to the top of the cake. Or just eat them. I cannot tell you how wonderful this crunchy caramel is! It's the perfect topping for the yeast cake underneath.

Sprinkle with tablespoon or two dried cranberries to decorate, if desired. Enjoy!

Many thanks to this month's Bread Bakers host, Archana from The Mad Scientist Kitchen. Check out the other recipes our fellow bakers made for the yeasted cake challenge:

• Almond Stollen from Baking Sense
• Baba-au-Rhum from Ambrosia
• Chocolate Babka from Sneha's Recipes
• Cranberry Lardy Cake from Food Lust People Love
• Drozdzowe from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Hartford Election Cake from All That's Left are the Crumbs
• Orange Yeast Cake from Cooking with Renu
• Yeasted Lemon Cake from Gayathri's Cookspot
• Yeasted Orange Cake from The Mad Scientist Kitchen
• Yeasted Pound Cake from Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Yeasted Transylvanian Cinnamon Sugar Cake from Sizzling Tastebuds

#BreadBakers is a group of bread loving bakers who get together once a month to bake bread with a common ingredient or theme. Follow our Pinterest board right here. Links are also updated each month on this home page.

We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient.

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Baked Cheese and Sausage Ziti #BakingBloggers

The perfect weeknight family meal or Sunday supper, this baked cheese and sausage ziti is quick to put together but full of flavor. Comfort food at its best.

For many years, nay, for my whole life, my mom has been singing the praises of cooking in cast iron. She has an enviable collection of cast iron pots of every size and shape, an amazing array.

When I was younger, she’d offer me a pot or two, but I couldn’t be bothered with what I thought were the difficulties of keeping cast iron clean. Plus, before I lived in Dubai, I simply didn’t have enough luggage allowance for all of my shopping, never mind bringing back a very heavy iron pot from Houston.

Finally, just a few years ago, Mom kindly offered again and I accepted the 13 1/4 inch (34cm) beauty you see in these photos. Let me tell you, friends, I use it All The Time. And I regret the years before when I didn’t say yes to the cast iron. It’s actually quite easy to keep clean and is more nonstick than my actual “nonstick” skillets. So just for the record, I want to say, my mother was right and I was wrong.

Baked Cheese and Sausage Ziti

And while I am admitting my errors, let me also say that this pasta is probably actually penne, not ziti. A little research after the fact revealed that while ziti can have ridges, most don’t. But who has ever heard of baked penne? So baked ziti it is. Either way, your family will be fighting over the crispy bits.

Ingredients
3 medium cloves garlic
1 medium onion, minced
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 1/2 lbs or 680g fresh hot Italian sausage, casings removed
2 (14.5 oz or 411g) cans diced tomatoes with basil, garlic and oregano
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 lb or 450g  uncooked penne or ziti
3/4 cup or 75g grated Parmesan cheese

For baking:
1/4 cup or 25g grated Parmesan
1 cup or 110g grated mozzarella

For garnish – finely chopped parsley (optional)

Method
Adjust oven rack to the center position and preheat the oven to 350°F or 180°C.

Cook the pasta according to the directions on the package, until just al dente. Scoop out a cup of the cooking water and set aside. Drain the pasta and return it to the warm pot you used for boiling it.

Mince the garlic and onions.

In a large iron skillet, add the olive oil, garlic and onion. Cook over a medium heat until the onion softens, being careful not to let the garlic burn.

Add the sausage meat and cook until it is browned, breaking the sausage into small pieces as you stir.

Add in the two cans of the seasoned diced tomatoes. Stir well and bring to a simmer. Cook for about 8-10 minutes.

Remove the pan from the stove and tip in the cooked pasta stirring well.

Stir in the Parmesan cheese and the cup of reserved pasta water. Taste the mixture and add salt if needed and a few generous grinds of black pepper from a pepper mill.

Sprinkle the mozzarella and additional Parmesan over the top and put the skillet in your preheated oven.

Bake for 30 minutes, covering the skillet with foil, if it begins to brown too quickly.

To serve, sprinkle with a little finely chopped parsley, if desired.

Enjoy!

This month my Baking Bloggers group is sharing cast iron pot recipes, both savory and sweet. Many thanks to our organizers, Sue of Palatable Pastime and Wendy of A Day in the Life on the Farm.

• Baked Cheese and Sausage Ziti by Food Lust People Love
• Blackberry Coffeecake Bites by Sid's Sea Palm Cooking
• Cast Iron Jalapeno & Honey Corn Bread by Hardly A Goddess
• Crunchy Dutch Oven Bread by Simply Inspired Meals
• Pull-Apart Garlic Rolls by Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Skillet Apple Pie by Palatable Pastime
• Skillet Cornbread with Bacon, Onion and Cheddar Cheese by Our Good Life
• Skillet Dinner Rolls by A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Skillet Rosemary & White Wine Chicken Legs by Sneha's Recipe

Baking Bloggers is a friendly group of food bloggers who vote on a shared theme and then post recipes to fit that theme one the second Monday of each month. If you are a food blogger interesting in joining in, inquire at our Baking Bloggers Facebook group. We'd be honored if you would join us in our baking adventures.

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Hot and Sour Chicken Soup #FoodieExtravaganza

Hot and sour chicken soup is a restaurant favorite that is quick and easy to make at home. With bits of chicken breast and cubes of tofu, it’s high in protein with a comforting spicy and flavorful broth that will cure whatever ails you.

Aside from its healing properties, hot and sour chicken soup also brings back fun and fond memories for me.

Many years ago, my sister lived near a Chinese buffet restaurant we adored. It had The Best pork ribs and Sichuan green beans, my favorite things to eat there, but everything else was pretty tasty as well.

When my eldest nephew was old enough to eat real food, my sister would scoop the little cubes of tofu out of the hot and sour soup for him, blow on them to cool them off, then set them on his plate. It was a lot of fun watching him trying to pincer grasp the tofu with his plump baby hands and get it to his mouth. Considering how soft and slippery tofu can be, he did a great job. Those were good times.

This month, my Foodie Extravaganza group is making chicken soup in honor of National Chicken Soup for the Soul Day on November 12th. Make sure to scroll down past my recipe to see the rest.

Hot and Sour Chicken Soup

This version of hot and sour soup is adapted from two separate recipes from Ken Hom’s Foolproof Chinese Cookery and Joanne Chang’s Flour, Too. Both of these wonderful recipes use pork. I have used boneless, skinless chicken breasts instead.

Ingredients
2 small boneless chicken breasts (about 9 oz or 250g by weight)
2 tablespoons canola or other light oil
1 garlic clove, smashed and minced
1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
1 chilli pepper, minced
2 tablespoons sliced onion tops (white part only – save green for garnish)
5 cups or 1.2L chicken stock
7 oz or 200 grams tofu (bean curd), medium firm
3 1/2 oz or 100g shiitake mushrooms
Salt

For the chicken marinade:
1 teaspoon light soy sauce
1 teaspoon Shaoxing rice wine or substitute dry sherry
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1/2 teaspoon cornstarch
Pinch each of salt and sugar

For the egg mixture:
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil
Pinch salt

Just before serving:
1/4 cup or 60ml Chinese black (mature) vinegar
1 tablespoon light soy sauce
1 tablespoon dark soy sauce
1 tablespoon chili bean sauce
2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil

For garnish:
Chopped cilantro
Sliced chilli peppers
Sliced green onion tops
Slivered ginger

Method
Combine your marinade ingredients in a small bowl.

Slice your chicken breasts very thinly and add them to the marinade. Mix well and set aside.

In a measuring cup with a spout, whisk the eggs with the sesame oil and the pinch of salt. You can use a bowl but the spout will making pouring the egg into the soup much easier. In another small bowl, mix together the vinegar, light soy, the dark soy, the chili bean sauce and the sesame oil. Set aside.

Clean and finely slice the shiitake mushrooms. Cut the tofu (aka bean curd) into 1/2 in or 1 cm cubes.

In a deep saucepan, heat the canola oil over medium-high heat until hot. Add the garlic, ginger and green onions and cook for a minute or two, stirring constantly. Be careful not the let the garlic color.

Add the chicken and cook, stirring occasionally, for about 2 more minutes.

Add the stock and bring the soup to a simmer.

Add the tofu and mushrooms and bring the soup back to a simmer over medium-high heat.

Now add the egg mixture in a very slow, thin and steady stream. Use a chopstick or a fork to pull the cooked egg slowly into strands.

Turn the fire off under the soup and stir in the vinegar mixture.

Serve each bowl garnished with cilantro, green onion tops, sliced red chili peppers and slivered ginger, as desired.

Enjoy! 

How will you celebrate National Chicken Soup for the Soul Day? Try one of our delicious recipes!

• Asian-Style Chicken Dumpling Soup from Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Chicken Ramen Soup from Sneha's Recipe
• Cranberry Chicken Noodle Soup from Palatable Pastime
• Creamy Chicken Asparagus Soup from Hardly A Goddess
• Creamy Cranberry Chicken Wild Rice Soup from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Hot and Sour Chicken Soup from Food Lust People Love

Foodie Extravaganza celebrates obscure food holidays by posting delicious recipes your family will love. Posting day is always the first Wednesday of each month. If you are a blogger and would like to join our group and blog along with us, come join our Facebook page Foodie Extravaganza. We would love to have you! If you're a home cook looking for tasty recipes, check out our Foodie Extravaganza Pinterest Board!

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