Asian Pear Cake

Ingredients:

3 Asian pears
2 oranges
2 1/4 cups white sugar
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup canola oil
4 large eggs
1 tbsp. baking powder
2 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp. ground cloves
1/2 tsp. all spice powder
1/4 tsp. ground ginger

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 350F. Slice the pears and set aside.
In a large bowl or stand mixer, beat the eggs until they’ve lost their orange color and have become a bit paler, about 1 min. Add to the mix the juice of two oranges and the zest from one and whisk lightly. Now add the flour, spice mix, baking powder, sugar, vanilla and salt and mix completely. Once those ingredients are incorporated, slowly add the oil as you mix the batter. The result will be rather thick, sticky, and perfect for what is next.

Grease and flour a 10-inch tube pan. Take about a third of the batter mixture and lay down a nice coating on the bottom of the pan. This will actually be your top, so you want to make sure you’ve made a thick layer all the way around the base of the pan. Lay pear slices on top of your batter layer. Add another layer of batter and another layer of pear slices. You should get between 2-3 layers of pears. The final layer should be batter.

Place your pan in the oven and bake for approximately 90 min. To check for doneness, insert a toothpick in the middle and remove it. It should come out clean when the cake is done. Remove finished cake from the oven and leave it in its pan for at least 30 min. on a rack or other tray. Once sufficiently cool, you can turn it out onto a plate or simply leave it in its pan and cut slices from it. In either case, be sure to work slowly. Sprinkle slices with confectioners sugar and enjoy!

Cinnamon Biscuits
Makes 40

Ingredients:

¾ cup + 1 tablespoon (184g) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup + 1 ½ tablespoons (218g) caster sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 ½ cups + 2 ½ tablespoons (375g) all purpose flour
1 egg
1 egg yolk
1 egg white, lightly beaten with a fork
granulated sugar, for sprinkling

Directions:

Place butter, sugar and cinnamon in a food processor and process until smooth. Add the flour, egg and egg yolks and process until a smooth dough forms – my processor wasn’t strong enough to process the dough, so I prepared it on my Kitchen Aid using the paddle attachment. Lightly knead the dough, divide in two parts and wrap each one in plastic wrap; refrigerate for 30 minutes or until firm.

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F; line two large baking sheets with baking paper.
Roll 1 leveled tablespoon of the dough to form a log (roughly 10cm/4in long). Carefully bend the top to form a candy cane and place onto prepared sheets, 2.5cm (1in) apart. Repeat with the remaining dough. Brush the canes with the egg white and sprinkle over the sugar. Bake for 12 minutes or until golden. Allow to cool.
Store the cookies in an airtight container for 2-3 weeks.

Brazilian Honey Bread
(96 individual breads)

Ingredients:
(if you need, use a “oz” conversion calculator on the internet)

490 g brown sugar
400 ml water
5 eggs (separated)
700 g all purpose flour
5 g ground cloves
5 g ground cinnamon
25 g chocolate powder
20 g baking soda
10 g baking powder
250 ml milk
300 ml honey

Syrup:

200 ml water
10 g brown sugar
3 cinnamon sticks
10 g cloves

Icing:

1.5 kg milk chocolate
1 kg semi-sweetened chocolate

Dulce de leche for the filling

Directions:

For the syrup, put all the ingredients in a saucepan in low heat, for about 15min. Drain it and let it cool.

Beat egg whites until it forms stiff and firm peaks, reserve.

Preheat oven 350°C. Butter and flour a 12 X 16inch pan, or use individual pans.

Mix with a whisk, the cold syrup, with the sifted flour, ground cinnamon, ground cloves, chocolate powder. Add the baking soda dissolved into the milk and the sifted baking soda. Add the egg yolks one by one and whisk well. Gently fold the egg whites into the batter. Pour the batter in the pan and bake for approx. 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the cake come out clean. Let it cool. Pour the syrup over the cake. Cut the cake into squares.

For the icing, melt the chocolates in a microwave oven or in a double boiler and cover the breads. Use a fork to dip the bread. Place on aluminum foil to dry into the refrigerator.

Apple Cake with Skin

Ingredients:

2 cups all purpose flour
2 cups sugar
3 ovos
1 tbsp ground cinnamon
1 pinch of salt
3 apples
1 cup vegetable oil
1 tbsp baking powder

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9×13 inches pan. Peel, core and chop apples into chunks. Reserve the peel.
Stir together flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a large mixing bowl. In a blender, whisk together oil, eggs and the apple peel. With a spoon mix wet ingredients into the dry ones. Add the apples. Scrape down the bowl to ensure all ingredients are incorporated.
Pour the batter into prepared pan. Bake for about 40 to 50 minutes, or until a tester comes out clean. Then powder with sugar and grounded cinnamon.

Christmas Cupcake

Ingredients:
(± 12 cupcakes)

300g dry apricot, chopped
100g dry plum, chopped
100g raisin miscellaneous, chopped
80g crystallized fruits
100g nuts and brazilian nuts mixed, chopped
1/2 lemon zest
200g all-purpose flour
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground clove
150g butter
150g brown sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp baking powder

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350ºF. In a large bowl, beat together the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Gradually add the eggs, beating well after each addition. Add the lemon zest. Sift together the flour, the baking powder, ground clove and the ground cinnamon, and stir with the mixture. With a spoon add the fruits and nuts. Drop batter by spoonfuls into the greased muffin tin, filling each cup 2/3 full. Bake for 40 to 45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in center of cake comes out clean.

Apple Muffins

Ingredients:
6 muffins

75g self-raising flour
50g all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
2/3 tsp ground cinnamon
1/3 tsp ground nutmeg
4 tbsp sugar
50g melted unsalted butter
1 tbsp honey
1 small egg
55ml milk
1 small apple, cored, peeled, chopped

1/4 tsp ground cinnamon to sprinkle
1/2 tsp sugar para to sprinkle

Directions:

Preheat oven to 180°C. Prepare your ingredients. You will need 6 medium muffin pans. Silicone muffin pans are wonderful to use as they don’t need greasing. Alternatively, line the pans with paper muffin cases.
Sift the flour, baking powder, cinnamon and nutmeg together into a large bowl. The baking powder acts as a raising agent and will help give the muffins a light texture. Stir in the sugar, apples until well combined.
Whisk together the butter, honey, eggs and milk until well combined. Blending the wet ingredients before adding them to the flour mixture makes it easier to evenly combine the two.
Add the milk mixture and the apples to the flour mixture and stir with a large metal spoon until just combined. It is important that the ingredients are only just combined. If the mixture is over-mixed, the cooked muffins will have a tough texture. Spoon the mixture evenly into the muffin pans and sprinkle the sugar and cinnamon misture. Bake the muffins in preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes or until golden and cooked through. To test if they are cooked, insert a skewer into the centre of one – if it comes out clean, it is ready. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Strawberry Coffee Cake

Ingredients:

Crumble Topping:

1/2 cup flour
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup unsalted butter (stick form is necessary), cold from the fridge

To make crumble topping, sift the sugar and flour together in a large bowl. Place the margarine in the center of the bowl and sprinkle a little of the sugar and flour mixture over it. Place all 10 fingers on the stick and start crumbling it by making cat-kneading gestures with your fingers so the margarine turns into little pea sized bits. If you need a visual, refer to this little fella. Keep crumbling until the stick is completely whittled down.
Keep the bowl of crumbles in the fridge until you’re ready for it.

Strawberry Coffee Cake:

2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
2 tbsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
2 tsp. cinnamon
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup milk
2 eggs
1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
3 cups strawberries, sliced

-Sift the first four ingredients together in a bowl and set aside
-Whisk the milk, eggs, vanilla, and melted margarine together in a bowl.
-Add the mix of wet ingredients to the bowl of dry ingredients.
-Beat together with a handheld mixer until well incorporated.
Pour into a pre-greased 12×8 pan. Arrange the sliced strawberries on top of the batter. Sprinkle the crumble toppings.
Bake at 350F for 35-45 minutes.

Jool’s Pasta

Ingredients:

1 pound, 2-ounce good-quality fusilli or penne
1 small onion , peeled and finely chopped
1 garlic clove finely chopped
1 can good-quality whole peeled tomatoes chopped
2 cans (10 ounces) good-quality tuna in olive oil, drained and flaked
1 to 2 fresh red chilies , deseeded and finely chopped
1 level teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 bunch fresh basil , leaves picked, stalks chopped
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 lemon , zest and juice
Salt
Small handful freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Directions:

Heat a splash of olive oil in a heavy-bottomed pan and cook the onion, chili, cinnamon and basil stalks on a medium to low heat for 5 minutes until onion has softened and is slightly sweet. Turn up the heat and add your tomatoes, tuna and a good pinch of salt. Bring to a boil and simmer for about 5 minutes. Taste for seasoning.

Meanwhile, cook the rigatoni in a pan of salted boiling water according to the pack instructions. When al dente, drain the pasta in a colander, reserving some of the cooking water.

Toss the pasta into the tuna and tomato sauce with the roughly torn basil leaves, a glug of olive oil, the lemon zest and juice, and mix together well. Loosen the pasta with a little of the reserved cooking water if needed. Check the seasoning and serve immediately with Parmesan.