Cake 30, Not Cake, but Cookies

So it's been a while. I have made things, but I have also made the mistake of deleting everything on my camera not once, but twice.
Last night I made up two jokes because I couldn't sleep. They've probably been coined already (because they're a lot more normal than the vegetable jokes I went through a phase of making... that's another story), but I did come about them in my own way. 
What do you call an honest sausage? Frank
What do you call an honest sausage who likes to hit on the ladies? Frank flirter


Really quality way to spend my time. 


Anyway, I've made these biscuits a few times and only just found some photos (off the family Kodak - which is why they weren't deleted). 


Walnut and Chocolate Cookies (really very good)


100g butter
175g demerera (or soft brown) sugar
1 egg
a few drops of vanilla essence
175g sifted plain flour
1/4 tsp baking powder

100g coarsely chopped chocolate (I used some fancy 72% cocoa stuff as well as some milk chocolate, it was amazing)
25g chopped walnuts (or pecans, or both)


Preheat oven to about 190 C, and line a tray with baking paper.
Cream butter and demerera sugar, then beat in egg and vanilla essence. 
Add flour and baking powder. After this, stir in chocolate and walnuts (or pecans etc). 
Place heaped teaspoons onto baking paper and tray, bake for about 10-15 minutes, but keep an eye on them, I almost burn them everytime I make them. 

Cake 29, Saucy Pud, Very Mixed Very Cheap Getting Closer

Alison Holst's, once more. Maybe she's my hero?

Self-Saucing Chocolate Pudding

Lightly butter an ovenware dish, about 20cm across. Sift 1 1/2 cups self-raising flour (69 cents) and 2 Tb cocoa (36 cents) into the dish. Sprinkle with 1/2 cup sugar (19 cents), then add 1/2 cup milk (22.5 cents) and mix together (it's quite tough to mix, I've always wondered if it's meant to be more milk, but this is from a recipe book that's all about the budgeting...).
Spread fairly evenly over the base of the dish.
Mix together 1 Tb cocoa (18 cents) and 1/2 cup sugar (19 cents) in another bowl, then sprinkle evenly over the mixture in the dish. Pour 1 1/2 cups boiling water (don't know how much it costs to boil a jug...) gently over the surface, over the back of a spoon.

Bake for 35-45 minutes, or until the centre feels firm. Apparently this was 22cents per serve (serves 4) back in 1993.
After some careful maths, I've worked out how much it costs per serve (based on 4 servings per pud): 46 cents. That's very cheap. It seems Alison knows her stuff.
My prices are based on Homebrand products from the Foodtown website, so no special prices included.

Cake 28, Bagels?

The question mark is more about the bagel-as-cake thing than about the are-these-really-bagels thing.

Bagels (definitely) Cakes (maybe)

I used a breadmaker to mix the dough (I love anything that makes my life easier), so I just chucked everything in and set it to "dough".
3 tsp surebake (or equiv) yeast
1 1/4 cups warm water (blood temp is about perfect)
2 Tb honey
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 cup wholemeal flour
2 Tb gluten flour (not really needed, I've never used it in all my years of bagel-making)
2 cups high grade flour

Measure the first five ingredients into a large bowl and mix thoroughly. Cover and leave in a warm place (not hard at the moment...) and leave it for at least 15 mins. Stir in the other flour(s) to form a dough. Knead for 10 mins, then leave to rise for 30 mins in a covered oiled bowl, again in a warm spot.

Knock back the dough (aka briefly knead it to release any air bubbles) and cut into 8 or so equal pieces. Form into bagel shapes, and allow to rise for 10-15 mins. Meanwhile, turn the oven to 220C, and bring a pot of water to the boil (with about 5-10cm water). Lower the bagels in using a slotted spoon, in batches of 2 or 3, and cook for 30-45 seconds on each side. Drain on paper towels (at this point I recommend prodding them, they have such a strange texture) and arrange on a well-oiled baking tray (mine stuck anyway). Brush with egg or milk, and sprinkle with poppy or sesame seeds. If you used oil instead, then these would be vegan (if they were for a vegan who ate honey).

Bake for 10-15 minutes until browned on the top and bottom.

I had mine with cream cheese and pastrami, and it was good.

Cake 27, Rhubarb Upside-Down Cake

This is another recipe from "500 Cakes" (thanks Emma :D)

Rhubarb Upside-Down Cake

230g fresh rhubarb, cut into about 5mm thick pieces (I used 3 massive stalks from the plant in the garden - they weren't pink, but the cake still turned out fine)
3 Tb caster sugar
80g butter, at room temp
240g caster sugar (I only used about 2/3 of this amount, it seemed excessive...)
2 eggs
3 Tb ground almonds (I used this, then the rest of the 70g packet instead of some of the flour)
110g self-raising flour

Preheat oven to 180C and line a 20cm tin.
Toss the rhubarb in the first measure of sugar so that it's coated thoroughly. Arrange in the base of the tin.
Beat butter and sugar together, then beat in eggs one at a time. Stir in the almonds, then fold in the flour.
Spoon this onto the rhubarb, and spread evenly.
Bake for about 40 minutes until risen and golden.
Cool in tin for about 5mins, then cool on a wire rack.

Cake 26, All Aboard The Sago Train

So I used the train-shaped silicone mold I got for chrimbus... I think this is the strangest thing I've ever made.

Sago Pudding-Cakes Train

I was inspired by a recipe I found on a food blog by a Singaporean teacher living in Mauritius. Very nice, very strange. I love sago.

250g sago/tapioca pearls (I used really small ones, but big ones would be awesome)
water for soaking
3 cups water
1 cup-ish sugar
1/2 can sweetened condensed milk
1 can coconut cream (or water, or milk)
whole cloves and cinnamon quills, if you like
dessicated coconut

Soak the sago in water for 2 hours (I actually couldn't be bothered waiting, and since I was using very little pearls I figured they wouldn't take long to cook). Drain well.
Bring water and sugar to the boil in a large saucepan. In a separate bowl, combine coconut cream (if your're using it) and sweetened condensed milk. Pour this into the water/sugar pot once it begins to boil.
Pop the sago and whole spices in, and stir constantly and evenly until the sago becomes translucent, soft, and very sticky.
Pour the mix into silicone molds, or any kind of mold really. Silicone is great because the sago doesn't stick :) You could use a square pan, then slice the sago later. Allow to cool before transferring to the fridge. They're ready once they are solid (maybe 2 hours?). Remove from molds and roll the 'cakes' in dessicated coconut.

I tried to make tracks out of golden syrup...