Let it snow!

Merry belated Christmas everyone!

Before you comment on my previous promise of updating with holiday treats, let me tell you that my pre-festivity posting intentions were good. Sadly, a nasty cold has confined me to my couch for most of the last week, where I've been making friends with Kleenex and hot toddies. It's just as well really, considering this is what's happening outside.

 

Yes, that is snow piled on my garage roof. We've had quite the dump of the white stuff in the nation's capital over the past few days, so there has been lots of shovelling going on (though not by me, obviously, but by those who enjoy the pursuit, and by the service I employ).

 

All the more reason to tell you about something I did manage to make before I was struck down with the plague.

 

Clementine curd is a nice thing to have any time of the year, but especially so at Christmas, when the boxes are plentiful and if you're like me, you're looking for a way to use up the fruit before it goes bad.

So start by zesting six clementines and two lemons. Not that hard really.

Then juice away. Again, nothing too taxing so far.

Then all that juice is combined with the zest and some eggs and sugar in a pot over a low heat on the stove. As it warmed, in goes some butter to thicken it up. This step does take a while, but all that's required of you is to stand by the pot, stirring. It's fairly easy, compared some things, like working in a coal mine for instance.

At the end, all that hard work pays off in the form of some lovely citrusy curd that's perfect for spreading on toast, or scones, or anything else you might like. So go on, make yourself some while clementines are still around.

Clementine curd
From Jamie Magazine

Ingredients

• 6 clementines
• 2 lemons
• 350g caster sugar
• 4 eggs, beaten
• 2 egg yolks, beaten
• 100g unsalted butter, diced

Grate in the fruit zest and squeeze the juice into a saucepan with the sugar, eggs and yolks, and mix to combine. Add the butter and place over a very low heat. Cook, constantly stirring (you don’t want your eggs to scramble), until the curd is thick and coats the back of the spoon. Pour into sterilised jars, seal and refrigerate. Use within two weeks.

*I used only about 225 g of sugar and the result nicely tart curd. Recipe yielded three of the jars pictured above.

Walnut and coffee cake

Remember me? If you're wondering where I've been, I've been working, molding young minds, giving palliative care to my car, hanging out in the waiting rooms of Toronto General's cardiac unit. You know -- the usual.

Somewhere in there I had a birthday. I made this cake from a Jaime Oliver recipe to mark the occasion. I had high expectations, but it wasn't as moist as I wanted it to be. It does have a nice coffee flavour though, if that's your thing.

Back soon with more seasonal recipes.

The best coffee and walnut cake
From Jamie Magazine

175g unsalted butter, cubed and softened, plus extra to grease
• 75g walnuts, plus a few extra to go on top
• 175g sugar
• 3 eggs, beaten
• 150g self-raising flour
• ½ tsp baking powder
• 50ml cold espresso

Coffee filling
• 65g butter, cubed and softened
• 125g icing sugar
• 40ml strong espresso

Coffee icing
• 100g icing sugar
• 20ml strong espresso

1. Preheat the oven to 180C/gas 4. Grease and line the bases of 2 round 20cm cake tins. In a food processor, blitz two-thirds of the nuts to powder. Cream the butter in a bowl with the sugar until light and fluffy. Gradually beat in the eggs then add the blitzed walnuts and gently stir through.
2. Fold the flour, baking powder and a pinch of salt through with a large metal spoon until just incorporated.
3. Roughly chop the rest of the walnuts and stir through the cake mixture along with the espresso. Evenly divide the mixture between the cake tins and bake in the oven for 20–25 minutes, until lightly golden and cooked through when tested with a skewer. Cool the cakes in the tins for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
4. For the filling, put the butter in a bowl. Sift in the icing sugar, beat until fluffy, then beat in the coffee.
5. For the icing, sift the icing sugar into a bowl and beat in the coffee to make a thick, smooth icing.
6. Place one of the cakes on a plate or board and spread with the coffee filling. Top with the second cake and drizzle over the icing. Decorate the cake with the remaining walnuts as they are, or lightly caramelised. To do this, melt sugar over a medium heat, without stirring, then carefully toss the nuts in briefly to coat. Cool the nuts on a wire rack before using.