Pineapple Upside Down Cake

I know, I know. A nice glacé cherry would really cheer this cake up - but I say - wouldn't that be a bit Eighties? A bit cliché? Actually, it's just because I don't like glacé cherries, which is a damn shame - they always seem so cute and filled with all the very best E-numbers!

This recipe for Pineapple Upside Down is really one of my favourites. It's very easy, very quick and quite forgiving. I believe the proper ones can take a good hour or two to cook - so this might not have the perfect sponge - but actually, you're only eating this cake for 2 reasons, the pineapple and the sugar crust and don't pretend otherwise! I use a bigger tin than the one from the official recipe, because then I can use the whole tin of pineapples, but you do get quite a scant sponge. I doubled the sponge for these pictures, but I don't think it tasted as nice. Serve with some whipping cream with a bit of the pineapple syrup stirred in. Then invite me round please!

For the Topping:

50g softened butter

50g light soft brown sugar

7 pineapple rings, tinned in syrup

Glacé cherries (optional!)

Instructions:

In a large bowl, use a spoon, or hand held whisk to mix the butter and sugar together till creamy. Spread out onto the bottom of a 20cm+ cake tin, smearing a little bit up the sides too. Drain the pineapple rings, keeping the syrup, and arrange into the tin, along with your cherries. 

For the Sponge:

100g softened butter

100g golden caster sugar

100g self-raising flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 large eggs

 2 tbsp pineapple syrup

Instructions:

So simple - put all the ingredients in a bowl and whisk them all together!

 Spread out over your pineapple layer, put into an oven heated to 180°C for 30-35 minutes. Leave for a few minutes before you cross your fingers and flip upside-down! A great cake tin really helps with this. I use a spring form cake tin which makes this very simple.

Enjoy! If you do get any left over, it tastes just as lovely the next day with a cuppa.

Hint: I've been known to prepare the pineapple layer, and make the cake batter, a couple of hours before dinner. Then as I serve up our main course, I fix the two pudding layers together and slip into the oven. 

Beef Stew with Dumplings

You can make this recipe easier on yourself by just making the stew with 600ml of stock and 200ml red wine and just leaving it in the oven for 2 - 2½ hours, served with a potato side-dish, but my husband and I have quite a soft spot for a good dumpling! This makes a lovely thick and very warm-your-bones stew, and is a great way to use some cheap cuts of beef - the long slow cook makes it very tender. Recipe is slightly adapted from the British Food Bible.

Serves 4-6


Ingredients for the Stew
3 tbsps olive oil
2 medium-large onions, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1kg casserole steak (or braising steak), trimmed and cut into pieces
2 tbsps plain flour
Hefty sprinkle of seasoning
1 litre beef stock
300ml red wine
1 bouquet garni (I use a dried one from Tesco)

Ingredients for the Herb Dumplings
115g self raising flour
55g suet
1tsp mustard
1 tsp finely chopped fresh parsley
1 tsp finely chopped fresh sage
A little seasoning
4 tbsp cold water


Instructions

• Preheat oven to 150°C
• I use a flame-proof casserole dish, but if you don't have one of these, use a frying pan first, and transfer to an oven-proof casserole dish with a lid
• On a medium heat on the hob, heat 1 tbsp of the oil and fry the onion and garlic until soft and golden. Remove from the pan
• Turn the heat up, use the remaining 2 tbsps of oil and quickly brown the meat all over
• Sprinkle in the flour and stir well
• Turn the heat down to medium, pour in 300mls of stock, stirring well to blend it together
• (At this point, move all the cooked ingredients into the casserole dish if necessary)
• Add the cooked onions, bouquet garni, seasoning and and 200ml of red wine, mix together.
• Cover and put into the oven for an hour
• After an hour, take the casserole dish out and check liquid levels - I find the original recipe quite dry, so at this stage I have taken to adding a further 200-300ml of stock, and if necessary a dash more wine
• Cover and put into the oven for an additional hour, when the hour is up - leave the oven on, and leave the stew in whilst you start making your dumplings
• Place the dry dumpling ingredients into a bowl and mix well
• Add the water to the mix a bit at the time till you create a firm, but soft dough. Use a bit of flour and your hands to shape them into 10-12 dumplings
• Take the stew out of the oven, remove the bouquet garni, add a bit more liquid if you need (the dumplings will soak up some liquid)
• Add the dumplings and push down under the liquid. Cover, and return to the oven for a further 15 minutes till the dumplings double in size

Sausages with Caramelised Onion Gravy

I may have called this blog British Baking - but it's more than that. I spend a long time finding great recipes, and then wandering off to find more - and forgetting the ones I have made, and loved. I want this website to host Great British Food - whether it's cakes, bread - or some lovely stodge like this dinner :) It's a bit of a faff, in time more than cooking skill - but well worth it.

Ingredients:
2 medium - large onions, about 300g (I used 1 red and 1 white onion)
20g butter
1 tbsp sugar (I used demerara - but use what you have in your cupboard)
1 tbsp thyme, finely chopped
400ml beef stock
6 sausages (I used Tesco Finest Linconshire, yum!)
Handful of mushrooms

Instructions:

• Peel the onions and halve (from root to tip, not along the middle). Cut into thin, half moon slices
• Put a pan (with a lid) on medium heat; melt the butter and add the onions
• With the lid on, cook for 10-15 minutes till the onions have softened
• Remove lid, add sugar and cook for a further 15 minutes - stirring regularly
• In the meantime, start to cook your sausages and mushrooms in a separate pan until cooked
• To finish off the gravy - add the thyme and beef stock to the onions and bring to the boil
• Simmer for 5 minutes
• Plate up together and enjoy!
  

As you add the stock, you could add a little bit of red wine, or Worcestershire sauce just to change it up a little bit.