Valentine’s Day Baking

Piece by Kate Antoni, FG Central Correspondent

One of my favourite things to do is bake. Even when I have limited time, I still enjoy a wander around the kitchen. It’s a hobby I find really therapeutic and it culminates in cake. Which is always a good thing! Valentine’s Day Baking is such a wonderful treat – what better way to say I love you than home cooked and scratch made. I absolutely love sugary treats but not everyone in my household can eat them (looking at YOU Dad). This led me on a quest to find new low sugar recipes or those with a natural sugar alternative. 

Foodgoblin was gifted The Food Bible by Judith Wills and Baking Without Sugar by Sophie Michell. The latter is full of recipes both sweet and savoury. Michell’s book is a great starting point and I really enjoyed her take on classic recipes. I’d never heard of erythritol and used it as a sugar replacement for the first time this week. It was extremely easy to bake with and didn’t adversely affect blood sugar levels.

The Food Bible is a great resource for anyone exploring healthy eating and a balanced lifestyle and for those interested in learning more about the way in which food affects their body. I really enjoyed the break down – this is not simply a recipe book (although lots are included). The book delves deeper into the how and why certain foods are beneficial. With chapters focusing on vitamins and minerals, problems and solutions for common ailments and age specific chapters which explain how food can be adapted to your stage of life. Wonderful preliminary reading for anyone keen to learn more about nutrition. 

Our friends at www.buywholefoodsonline.com reached out to offer a box of healthy baking ingredients. We were lucky to receive coconut sugar, coconut oil, pistachios, ground flaxseed, ground almonds and course polenta. These ingredients helped create two gorgeous cakes. The first being my  take on the “Ottolenghi Love Cake” and the second an Orange Polenta cake.

Ottolenghi “Love” Cake

Ingredients

• Ground Cardamom (to taste)
• 1 cup (150g) pistachios 
• 1 cup (100g) ground almonds/almond meal
• 170g fine semolina
• 1 1/2 cups (330g) coconut sugar/caster sugar or erythritol
• 1 1/4tsp baking powder
• 300g unsalted butter – very soft but not melted (coconut oil) can be subbed too!)
• 4 eggs at room temp – lightly beaten into a separate bowl 
• 2 tbsp rose extract 

Method

Having made this cake a few times I have massively simplified the method, it tastes just as good but omits a lot of faffing around. 

1. Preheat the oven to 180 and butter a 9inch round baking tin.  I used mini baking tins and arranged them onto a baking tray. 
2. Blitz the pistachios with ground cardamom (You can use whole cardamom but I had ground to hand and find it easier to work with)
3. In a big bowl mix the ground pistachio, almond meal, semolina, caster sugar and baking power.
4. Pop the butter in the microwave till very soft but not melted and pour it over the dry ingredients. Using an electric whisk start mixing slowly and then add the eggs. Then add the rose extract or water. 
5. Spoon into tins and place in bottom shelf of over for 25 – 35 mins or until firm.

Ingredients – Syrup

I didn’t like the original syrup recipe – it contained far too much lemon juice for my liking and too little sugar. The recipe below is my own. 

• 2 tbsp rose extract 
• 125g caster sugar
• Lemon juice – 50ml lemon juice
• Water – 25ml
• Dried rose petals – approx 8-10g. 

Heat in a saucepan until a rolling boil is reached and then lower heat. Take off heat and let cool. Once the cake(s) are cooked, leave them to cool for approx. 20 mins then spoon over the syrup. Decorate with rose petals and crushed pistachios. 

Orange polenta cake

This is such an easy cake – it honestly requires ZERO technical skill and because it needn’t really rise, it’s completely impossible to ruin.

Ingredients

• 200 g unsalted butter, (at room temperature), plus extra for greasing 
• 200 g demerara sugar or coconut sugar
• 3 large free-range eggs 
• 1 teaspoon vanilla essence 
• 200 g ground almonds 
• 100 g coarse polenta (I have used this brand from Waitrose and it worked well!)
• 1 teaspoon orange blossom water 
• 1 teaspoon gluten-free baking powder

Ingredients – Syrup

• 250 ml orange juice (from 3-4 oranges) 
• 30 ml orange blossom water 
• 125 g golden caster sugar 

1. Preheat oven to 170 and butter a 9inch round baking tin. I used a spring form tin and a pre-cut grease proof paper liner. I also lined my tin with candied oranges – completely option and not necessary – I just had them on hand. 
2. Cream the butter (or coconut oil) with the sugar, eggs and vanilla essence and orange blossom water 
3. Fold in the ground almond and baking powder 
4. Fold in course polenta 
5. Using spatula pour into the prepared baking tin 
6. Remove after 35-45 mins or until a knife comes out clean 

A big thank you to buywholefoodsonline and pen-and-sword All the ingredients can be purchased from buywholefoodsonline and there are lots of tasty recipes in both books.