Ginger Lime Cupcakes

mmmm.... cupcakes!   delectable little morsels in their own little paper case with icing on top. They look so pretty and taste so good, with a lovely light texture that makes you want just one more.  So, for my Sunday Baking for something to take to school for my lunches during the week, I made Ginger Lime cupcakes.  Limes are in season at the moment, and are only $6 a kilo at the Mangere Markets (as opposed to $25 a kilo in the supermarket!). So, armed with a bag of limes and a packet of crystallised ginger (which I had to hide from my flatmate to make sure I had some  left for my cupcakes) I took over the kitchen for a few hours (I am not a very fast cook.  I enjoy it, and I enjoy doing things the old fashioned way - using a Crown Lynn beehive mixing bowl, a wooden spoon, and my arm, rather than an electric mixer.  I also don't have a microwave.  Or a TV.)

Ginger and Lime Cupcakes


3 eggs
200g butter
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup buttermilk (I didn't have this, so I just used milk)
2 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup crystallised ginger, finely chopped
juice of 1 lime
zest of 1 lime

Preheat oven to 160 degrees C.  Line a cupcake pan with cupcake papers.  This mix made about 16 normal sized cupcakes and 9 mini cupcakes.

Lightly beat the eggs, add butter and sugar, then mix until light and fluffy.

Add milk and flour, and stir to combine.  Beat with an electric mixer for 2 minutes, until light and creamy.  (At this point I did actually use an electric mixer, because my arm was getting sore and the butter wasn't very soft).

Add crystallised ginger, lime juice, and zest, and mix through until combined.

lime zest... mmmm smells so good!

 This is a wonderful little tool for squeezing limes... you open it up... 

put in half a lime face down...

 Then you close it and press down...

... and it squeezes all the lime juice out!  

Divide the mixture between your cupcake papers.  

Bake for 18-20 minutes until risen and firm to touch.  Allow to cool for a few minutes and then transfer to a wire rack.

ice when cooled.

lime and ginger icing

I just mix up a suitable amount of icing for how many cupcakes I have (well, that is my aim anyway), so I don't really measure my ingredients.  I just estimate how much I think I need.

1 spoon butter

1 cup icing sugar, sifted

juice of 1 lime

zest of 1 lime 

a little hot water
finely chopped crystallized ginger

mix first 5 ingredients all together until smooth; add the crystallized ginger; spread on your cupcakes.

Cupcake toppers are a very easy and cute way to decorate your cupcakes and make them look really pretty if you are having friends around for afternoon tea.  They are expensive to buy in the shop, but are fun and easy to make at home.  I will post instructions on how to make them on my next blog... watch this space!

Quick and Easy Apple Cake

I tried another apple cake recipe, again adding ginger to it along with all the other spices that were in the recipe.  This one comes from a cookbook that my sister Carolyn gave me for Christmas one year, called "The vegetarian adventure cookbook", by Rowan Bishop and  Sue Carruthers.  I really enjoy this cookbook, it has recipes from around the world, and it has been fun trying out lots of different vegetarian dishes from everywhere.

This particular recipe has the comment next to it, "This cake can be prepared so quickly and tastes so good, that it deserves some kind of recognition as a 'best' cake.  It makes a quick and delicious dessert, and the recipe - the origins of which are unknown as it has been passed down the family - is almost always requested by those who sample it".

So I thought that is a good comment, and I am always open to trying new recipes because I enjoy baking.  So here goes.

Quick and Easy Apple Cake

2 cooking apples (med to large Granny smiths are ideal) (I think I used about 4-5 small cooking apples, and I didn't peel them)
1 cup brown sugar
125g butter
1 egg
1/2 cup raisins or sultanas (I didn't have either, so just left them out)
1 1/4 cups wholemeal flour (once again, something I didn't have, so I just used plain flour)
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp allspice
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp ginger

Preheat oven to 180 degrees C.  Peel, core and slice apples thinly. (I didn't peel them, I just sliced them - it was much faster!) Place in a bowl and cover with the sugar.

 Melt the butter, then blend the egg in with a fork.  Add to the apples and sugar.

Stir in the raisins and the sifted dry ingredients until just mixed.

Line the bottom of a ring tin or 20cm round tin with butter or greaseproof paper.   

Pour in the cake mixture and spread evenly.

Bake at 180 degrees C for 35-45 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean.  (The timing can depend on how fresh/juicy your apples are).

Note: if you are using plain flour, the cake will take between 50-60 minutes to cook.
Turn out onto a cake rack and cool.  Serve at room temperature or warm, dusted with icing sugar and accompanied by whipped cream or yoghurt.

My cake turned out a lot bigger than it initially looked in the cake tin.  I was very pleased with how this cake turned out.  I got the cake tin for christmas from my mum, and it was the first time I had had a chance to use it.  I buttered it liberally, and the cake was really easy to remove and I love the fluted look - the cake looks like it says "Eat Me!"  I don't think it mattered at all that I hadn't peeled the apples - it wasn't noticeable.  Again, this cake didn't sit around for too long in my house!

I believe that food is made to be shared - I certainly enjoy making good food and sharing it with friends and family.  I hope you and your whanau enjoy this cake too.

hot apple cake with caramel sauce

My parents apple trees are laden with apples, and every time I visit them I come away with shopping bags full of apples. I have been making apple crumbles, because it is so easy and quick and delicious to make, but I have been browsing through my recipe books to find other things to make with apples. Hence I found this recipe in my beautiful "Home Made" cookbook, where fellow New Zealanders have sent in favourite family recipes and stories which were compiled into a gorgeous cookbook that I treasure.  

This recipe is called "Margaret's Hot Apple Cake with Caramel Sauce", sent in by her daughter Sandra Moore, who says "When mum baked a cake, it was an 'honouring process' for the recipient: "I've done this for you, you are special".  I added ginger to the recipe, and my flatmate and I certainly enjoyed the cake, and the caramel sauce added a decadent touch.

Margaret's Hot Apple Cake with Caramel Sauce

3 medium apples (about 450g) peeled and cored

250g butter, chopped

1 tsp vanilla essence

1 cup caster sugar

2 eggs, lightly beaten

1 1/2 cups plain flour

1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

1/4 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp ground ginger

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 cup finely chopped walnuts (I didn't have any, so just left them out)

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C.  Grease a 24cm springform cake tin and line the base with baking paper.  (I didn't have baking paper, so just greased it thoroughly with butter and dusted it with flour - it worked fine, the cake came out easily).

Finely slice the apples. 

 Beat the butter, vanilla essence and sugar until light and fluffy.

Add the spices.

Add the eggs one at a time and beat until just combined.  Sift in the flour and baking soda.  Lastly add the apple and nuts (if using).

Spread mixture into the cake tin and bake for 1 hour.  Stand for 10 minutes before removing from the tin.  Dust with icing sugar if eating as a cake, or make the caramel sauce to serve hot as a dessert.  (This cake is suitable for freezing).

Caramel Sauce

1 cup firmly packed brown sugar

300ml carton cream

1 Tbsp dark rum (optional)

Combine sugar and cream in a saucepan.  Stir over heat without boiling until sugar is dissolved.  Simmer, stirring, for about 5 minutes or until slightly thickened.  Stir in the rum if using.  

 This cake was delicious served fresh from the oven with hot caramel sauce, and it was just as wonderful served with leftover caramel sauce the next day.  This cake didn't sit around in my house for very long!  I hope you and your whanau enjoy it just as much.

Broccoli soup with ginger

I think I am very fortunate to have a wonderful flatmate who is a magician in the kitchen.  I am someone who needs a recipe in front of me, and I have to follow it otherwise I don't know what to do.  I do make alterations, especially if I don't have all the ingredients (which is very common).  I have been known to set out on a pavlova making venture, because I had eggs.  Luckily my flatmate was at the supermarket while I was in the middle of beating my egg whites, so I was able to send a few texts to ask him to get some cornflour too.  And vinegar.  And citric acid.  And caster sugar.  In fact, he had to get most of the ingredients I needed to continue making my pavlova.

Anyway, my flatmate is a magician in the kitchen, whipping up wonderful, nutritious, delicious meals in minutes.  On our last visit to the Mangere Markets, we picked up a HUGE broccoli for only $1.29.  "Broccoli Soup!" said Murray.  So we got it home and Murray taught me how to make a broccoli soup without a recipe.  And, of course, it had ginger in it!

Broccoli Soup

1 x Broccoli

1 x head of garlic

1 x bunch coriander, chopped

1/4 cup fresh grated ginger

2 x vege stock cubes

2 x large onions

1 tsp salt

oil 

chop up the onions and fry in oil until soft.  Add 1 tsp salt to help them sweat.

While onion is cooking, grate the ginger;

chop up the coriander;

chop up the broccoli;

crush/chop the garlic (Murray uses a big heavy block of steel to crush garlic with);

Put onions and all the ingredients into a large pot.  Mix the vege stock with a cup of water and pour into pot.  Add more water to cover (approx 3-4-5 cups, depending on size of broccoli and size of pot).
Leave to simmer 15 minutes until broccoli is cooked.  (Try not to overcook broccoli as it will go all mushy and lose its beautiful bright green colour).

Pour into bowls, add a swirl of cream to serve.

Extolling the health benefits of Ginger

Ginger.  What is so special about ginger that makes people excited when I mention I have started this blog.  I get responses like "Oh I LOVE ginger"; "I always cook with ginger" and "Ginger is fantastic".  Which got me thinking, Why?  What is so special about ginger?

Well, I have done a little bit of research (thanks very much, Wikipedia!) and I would like to take a few moments to extoll the greatness of the ginger.

As you may know, ginger is the root of the plant.  It doesn't look much, being a light brown and bulbous thing with knobs sticking out all over it.  But as we all know, it's not what you look like, but what is on the inside that counts.  To be honest, ginger could be considered the ugly duckling.  But cut it open or grate it, and mmmmm!  It smells wonderful.

Ginger is part of the same family as cardamom (another wonderful, versatile spice) and turmeric.  Cultivation began in South Asia and spread to East Africa and the Caribbean.

What are some ways I can use Ginger?
Ginger is very versatile.  It can be used in drinks:  you can steep it in hot water to make tea,  (ginger and lemon with a little honey is wonderful for colds) or it can be juiced.  It can also be made into ginger wine, ginger liquor, ginger beer, and ginger ale.  You can also make ginger syrup to add to drinks (either alcoholic or non-alcoholic).  Ginger can be used in both sweet and savoury dishes, and it comes in different forms - as whole, fresh root; or dried and powdered; pickled; ground into a paste; or crystallised (where it has been cooked in sugar until soft).

What is it good for?
Ginger is known for its therapeutic qualities, especially gastrointestinal distress.  It has a very long tradition of being used to treat nausea, sea-sickness, dizziness, vomiting and cold sweating.  It helps to relieve the nauseous effects of morning sickness during pregnancy (although some warn against taking ginger during pregnancy due to possibly containing a teratogen (causing deformities), and one study linked ginger to miscarriage within the first 12 weeks of pregnancy, but other studies have shown no adverse affects of ginger on the unborn fetus during pregnancy).

Ginger beer is often drunk to help settle the stomach.  Ginger helps to relieve colic, gas, diarrhea and constipation.

Ginger is also used as a pain relief for arthritis, muscle soreness, menstrual cramps, upper respiratory tract problems, coughing and bronchitis.    

Who knew that this little root could be used to treat so many ailments, and still taste so good?

What is the best way to store Ginger?
Ginger will last in the fridge for up to 3 weeks if it is unpeeled and tightly wrapped.  Or put it into a plastic bag in the freezer for up to 6 months.  Pull it out when required and grate it (no peeling required).

The equivalent of 1 tablespoon of fresh grated ginger is 1/8 teaspoon of ground ginger.

Ginger is a good friend and matches well with:
carrots; chocolate; fruit; ice cream; melon; onions; pumpkin; rice; tomatoes; pork; chicken; and ham.

Well, ginger has certainly proved it is versatile and can be used in many different ways in the kitchen.  I hope this inspires you to include a little bit of ginger in your day!

 

More adventures in the kitchen with ginger... Jewish Ginger Cake!

I once went to a cafe with a friend who ordered the Jewish Ginger Cake that was on display.  I ordered the apple tea cake, which was very nice, but my friend's Jewish Ginger Cake was sticky and sweet and oh so good!  He has since tried to make it (he is a great cook, but not much of a baker though) and it has collapsed every time.  He has since christened it "Collapsing Jewish Ginger Cake".  But don't let the name mislead you - this cake is not just for Jews.  Or for gingers either, for that matter.  This cake is for anyone who loves a good old fashioned sticky sweet ginger cake.

As part of my adventures in the kitchen with ginger, (and also because I haven't made a cake since making a massive christmas cake, and that was 2 months ago) I decided to have a go too.

Dutch Jewish Ginger Cake
2 eggs (although my eggs were small, so I used 3)
1 1/4 cup sugar   (I only used 1 cup sugar, because I figured it will be sweet enough as it is, especially with 1 cup of golden syrup in the recipe too)
1 cup vegetable oil
1 cup Golden Syrup
2 tsp powdered ginger
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda (I forgot to add the baking soda (actually I didn't even notice it in the recipe!), but it still turned out ok)
2 cups self rising flour (or use plain flour, and add 2 extra tsp baking powder, which is what I did)
1 cup warm water

Preheat the oven at 160 degrees C.

Beat eggs with sugar until creamy.
Beat oil and golden syrup into eggs.  I found that using the measuring jug for the oil first, before measuring the golden syrup in it, allowed the golden syrup to slide out easily and quickly without leaving behind a sticky mess.

Mix the dry ingredients in a separate bowl, and pour into the eggs/syrup mixture gradually, alternating with the warm water.

Beat until smooth.
(At this point I had been using a wooden spoon, but I found my batter had suddenly become lumpy and I couldn't beat it out with the wooden spoon, so out came the magical whizzy stick (a handheld electric mixer) and that did the job very quickly.

Grease a cake tin (preferably one with a removable base) or line with greaseproof paper.  My flatmate warned me at this point that it is a very sticky cake, and so try to put it into a cake tin that it is easy to get out of.  I didn't have greaseproof paper, so I just used a liberal amount of butter and dusted it with flour, and that worked perfectly fine.

Bake at 160 degrees C for 1 hour.

My cake didn't collapse, (although it did start leaking out of the bottom of the cake tin - I don't think I had secured the base properly) and it started burning on the bottom of the oven.  I just popped a baking tray underneath the cake tin to catch any more drips, but it had stopped by then.
I don't think my cake was as sticky as my flatmate's, so perhaps it did need the extra 1/4 cup sugar, but the cake is sweet and I don't think it needs to be any sweeter.  Or perhaps it was omitting the baking soda that made it less sticky.  I am not sure, so will need to practice again and make another one.  And I will need to make another one, as this one disappeared rather quickly.

It was delicious served warm with home made vanilla ice cream, but it is also good served with either cream or yoghurt (yoghurt being the healthier option!).