Famous Faces’ Favourite Fancies – Pineapple and chilli upside down cake

I have to confess, in most things, to being a fogey before my time, but particularly with music.  My radio is set to Absolute 80s where it shall stay until they set up Absolute 40s.  I’m more Andrews Sisters than Destiny’s Child, more Bing than Bieber...I’m sure you get the idea.

So, when a modern singer comes along who I really like it’s exciting for me – I get to buy CDs (sorry, I haven’t caught up with this new-found downloading of music yet) on the day they’re released; it reminds me of being young again.  (For the record, I am in my thirties...I know, I know, I sound about 70!)

Paloma Faith is such a talented woman –songwriter, singer, actress, style icon (with a nod to the vintage fashions of days gone by) and also incredibly witty and likable when interviewed.  And she’s from Hackney, just like Mr CC.  OK, I admit it – I totally have a girl crush on her!

Her debut album “Do You Want the Truth or SomethingBeautiful”  has been in my car stereo for so many months now that I think I could sing it in my sleep.  I can’t wait for the new album “Fall to Grace” which is out in May.

I’m also very excited that Paloma picked one of my favourite cakes – a pineapple upside down cake.  Then I hit a problem; I’ve made a pineapple upside down cake before and most pineapple upside cakes are pretty similar.  How could I make a cake different from the norm and worthy of Paloma?

This recipe was the perfect answer to my prayers.  I’ve been a slow and suspicious adopter of chilli into baked goods but this recipe tickled my taste buds.  The syrup that bakes on the bottom of the cake (and becomes the top on turning out) is spiked with chilli and lime meaning that the cake is infused with a sweet spiciness that is also fresh and light.

 The sweetness of the syrup takes all the sting from the chilli just leaving a sweet chilli taste; I think next time I might be tempted to leave a few chilli seeds in there as I do like my spice.  Apart from that, it was classic pineapple upside down cake all the way...i.e. extremely pleasant!

Ingredients

250g golden syrup
1 fresh red chilli – deseeded and chopped as finely as you can
Grated zest of 1 lime
430g tin of pineapple rings in juice (not syrup) – this is the weight of the whole tin, not the drained weight; keep the juice as it is used in the cake
225g unsalted butter, at room temperature
225g caster sugar
4 eggs
225g self raising flour

Method

Preheat the oven to 180°C/fan oven 160°C/350°F/gas mark 4.

Take a 20cm round springform tin and line the inside with foil, then a paper liner – if you have an all in one paper liner it will save you the stress of the syrup oozing out whilst baking.  I went for the belt-and-braces approach of foil and a liner and that worked fine.

Start by making the syrup: place the golden syrup, chilli and lime zest in a saucepan and heat, only for about2-3 minutes, until the syrup has loosened up.

Pour just over half the syrup into the prepared tin and swirl the tin around so the syrup is evenly distributed.

Place as many pineapple rings as you can in the syrup without overlapping them too much.  I got 6 in.

Now make the sponge: beat together the butter and sugar until light and whippy.  Don’t skimp on this stage.

Beat in the eggs, one at a time.

Stir in the flour and enough pineapple juice from the can to make a nice smooth dropping consistency.

Chop the remaining pineapple from the can and stir into the sponge batter.

Carefully spoon the batter into the tin taking care not to disturb the pineapple rings and syrup.

Spread the batter to the edges of the tin to try and seal in the syrup and stop it from bubbling up over the edges whilst cooking.

Stand the cake tin on a baking tray with lipped sides – just in case any syrup sneaks out during cooking!

Bake for approximately 45-55 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the cake comes out clean.  Mine actually took a bit longer – just over an hour.

Leave the cake to cool, in the tin, for 20 minutes then turn out i.e. invert onto a serving plate.  Tempting though it is to wait for the cake to cool completely before turning out, you run the risk of the syrup being glued onto the baking paper!

When you come to serve the cake, remember that you have just under half the syrup left – if you warm this gently it is very nice poured over the cake.

Serve the cake warm with ice cream or at room temperature with cream.

Bask in the glory of the wonderful thing you have created.

Eat.

Ginger and chilli biscuits

Now I’m going to start with a moan: I am fed up with the way chilli is being put into things it has no place being just to be trendy. Maybe it’s me, but I’m yet to taste any chocolate bar that benefits from teaming up with chilli - it always tastes like an unwanted add-on. I don’t like lots of spice with creamy things – it’s a personal choice – I can’t even eat creamy curries. These biscuits have proven to me that chilli in baking can work. I haven’t tried any chilli in cakes so if you have any recipes you think might educate me please share!

The first time I made these biscuits I wondered why they didn’t spread on baking. Then I realised that the idiot making them i.e. me, had left the golden syrup out – but they tasted delicious and looked like domed buttons:

Second time of making I made sure my brain was awake, and added the golden syrup. This created a softer dough that did spread on baking. Just as tasty, but a different look. The golden syrup does diminish the hit of chilli – so if you use it, I’d consider adding more chilli. Here they are made with the syrup:

This recipe appealed to me because I suspected the spice would work really well...and it does. You don’t get a burn of chilli; what you get is delicious enhancement to the gingery fire of the biscuit. This recipe is the way forward for me, as often in the past I’ve put loads of ginger into biscuits to get that burn of spice and it’s been a hit-and-miss affair. This is far simpler – you only put in a little ginger and the tiniest hint of cayenne yet achieve a warmer, rounder flavour.

The biscuits can be made two ways – larger for a soft, chewy cookie (don’t get me started on soft, chewy cookies. I’ll save that rant for another day!) or smaller for a crisp biscuit. I got 50 cherry-sized (they spread on baking) biscuits from the mix. Did someone say, “bargain”?

These biscuits couldn’t be easier to make. The one snag, which could hold you up if you don’t read the recipe in advance, is the chilling time required. It needs to chill for several hours (or overnight) before you roll your biscuits. You need a firm, chilled dough:

Incidentally, it’s National Baking Week this week; I only knew because Tanya from Cooking Fantastic told me! Was everyone else aware and it’s just me with my eyes and ears closed?

No update from me this weekend as I’m off to enjoy a long weekend with Mr CC.

Ingredients

125g unsalted butter, at room temperature
75g light muscovado sugar
3 tablespoons golden syrup – you can omit this if you wish and you’ll get a firmer, smaller biscuit
180g self raising flour
½ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
2 teaspoons ground ginger
Generous pinch of cayenne pepper – use two pinches if you include the golden syrup
50g stem ginger, cut into tiny pieces – I used the food processor

Method

Cream together the butter and sugar until it is light and well combined.

Add the golden syrup and beat well. (NB. you can omit the syrup for a smaller, firmer biscuit - just as delicious!)

Add the flour, bicarbonate of soda, ground ginger and cayenne pepper along with the chopped stem ginger and stir well.

Place the dough in a bowl, cover with clingfilm and refrigerate for several hours or overnight.

Preheat the oven to 200°C/ fan oven 180°C/ 390°F/ gas mark 6.

Line two baking sheets with baking paper.

Take cherry sized balls of dough and roll between your hands. This will give you crisp biscuits; if you want chewy cookies take a walnut sized piece of dough.

Place on a baking sheet leaving approx 2cm between the biscuits. Maybe leave more room if you put golden syrup into the mix.

Bake for 12-14 minutes or until the biscuits are golden.

Leave to cool, on their trays, as they will be soft at first.

When cool store in an airtight container. They will keep for several days.

Bask in the glory of the wonderful thing you have made.

Eat.