Cheese and Wine Night: Rosemary and Almond Crisp Bread & St. Clement's Cake

Last weekend I had some friends round for a cheese and wine night. I made a few things to go with the cheese and wine but didn't have to spend all night in the kitchen, which allowed some time to work on my table laying skills:

Rosemary and Almond Crisp Bread

These bakes are incredibly moreish and the whole batch were consumed at great speed. I came up with these after single handedly eating a whole bowl bought by someone for a party I went to.

I used almonds, currants and sunflower seeds, but you can use any combination of fruit and nuts you like. Pecan, pumpkin seed and cranberry or chopped dried figs and hazelnuts would work well.

Ingredients:

300g plain flour (can also use wholemeal or 50/50 plain/wholemeal)
2tsp bicarbonate of soda
1/2 tsp salt
500 mls buttermilk
2tsp brown sugar
2tsp honey
200g currants
200g skin on almonds (chopped)
50g sunflower seeds
1 1/2 tbsp chopped fresh rosemary
3tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Preheat the oven to 180°C/gas mark 4.

Sift the flour, bicarbonate of soda and salt into a large bowl. 

Add the buttermilk, sugar, honey and olive oil and mix until combined. Then stir through the dried fruit, nuts and rosemary until evenly distributed. 

Pour the batter into two lined and greased bread tins - the wider the tin, the thinner the biscuits will be. Bake for around 40 minutes, or until golden and springy to the touch. Leave to cool on a wire rack. Once cool, slice the loaves as thinly as possible.

Reduce the oven temperature to 150°C. Lay out the slices on a baking tray.

Bake for around 15 minutes. Turn over and bake for a further 10 or so minutes, or until crisp and browned. 

These went down particularly well dipped into garlicky, molten baked camembert.


I also made a big green salad with pumpkin seeds fried in a little olive oil, some shaved red cabbage and crumbled feta (in case there wasn't enough cheese already). 

The food went down a treat - except for with Dan, who unbeknownst to me doesn't like cheese...or cake. 

St. Clement's Cake


You know the song - 'Oranges and lemons, say the bells of St. Clement's' ... well for pudding, I wanted to make something relatively light to offset all the cheese. This cake is adapted from an Ottolenghi recipe. It is moist and citrussy and goes well with a dollop of creme fraiche. 

Ingredients:

For the caramelised orange top:

100g caster sugar
20g unsalted butter
3 oranges

For the sponge:

50g plain flour
1tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
200g unsalted butter
200g caster sugar
3 eggs
3tsp orange blossom water
200g ground almonds
120g ground polenta
zest of 2 lemons and 3 oranges

For the syrup:

Juice of 2 lemons (used for the zest in the cake) and 1 orange
3 tbsp caster sugar

Apricot Jam or marmalade to glaze

Preheat oven to 170°C. Grease and line a 20cm cake tin - it is best not to use a loose bottomed tin as it will leak.

First off prepare the caramel. Add the sugar into a heavy bottomed pan with 2 tbsp water, stir until combined. Turn on the heat and slowly dissolve the sugar syrup, do not stir the mixture - as caramel is notoriously temperamental and this may make it crystallize. Brush down any crystals that form on the side of the pan with a pastry brush dipped in some water. Bring the sugar to the boil and make sure you keep watching as it can burn very suddenly. As soon as the caramel is golden, add in the butter and swirl into the pan, but watch out as this can spit. 

Pour into the the cake tin. 






Next, zest the oranges and set aside. Slice the top and bottom off the oranges, and slice off the skin. 
Then finely slice them, removing any pips or pith. Lay out in the tin on top of the caramel.

I tend to do this with a hand whisk as it gives a bit more control than a food processor. Once light and fluffy, add the eggs one at a time and continue beating until incorporated. If the mixture starts to curdle, add in a bit of flour. Sift in the dry ingredients and mix well. Finally, stir in the citrus zest and orange blossom water, which adds an interesting floral dimension to the cake - but can be left out if you don't have any.

Dollop the batter onto the oranges and smooth out the top. Bake for around 40 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean. 

Meanwhile make the syrup by mixing the citrus juice with the sugar and bubbling until reduced slightly. Taste and adjust the sugar depending on how tart the lemons are. Once the cake is ready, whilst still hot and in the tin, poke it all over with a skewer and pour over the syrup. Leave to cool slightly and turn out onto a wire rack. Heat the jam or marmalade with a little water and brush over the top of the cake. 

We finished off the evening with my favourite game - Articulate.