White and dark chocolate jaffa swirl cake

My first recollection of chocolate and orange flavour as a combination was when I would go to the cinema to watch a movie. Of course buying popcorn rated highly on top of my list but also buying a box of Jaffa's (I'm sure I remember buying Jaffas in a box....does anyone remember that? Oh and for those overseas readers, Jaffa's are crunchy orange-flavoured candy coated balls of chocolate). I certainly wasn't one of those kids that would waste their little balls of yumminess by rolling them down the aisle and wasn't an angsty teenager throwing them at some poor persons head!! I was too busy eating them (story of my life?!). But I do remember on the odd occasion that I may have lost half a packet or box at the excitement of trying to open them so quickly.

I'm sure everyone has their own way of eating a Jaffa. For me its sucking the outer shell until the orange colour has totally disappeared and then the hard exterior begins to become soft and it may break and the burst of chocolate finally appears on those taste-buds making the chocolate all soft and gooey.....YUM!!! So I think my obsession for the combination of chocolate and orange flavoured cakes may have begun way back in these Jaffa days and this cake from my Belinda Jeffery "Mix & Bake" bible is gorgeous.

In this recipe Belinda uses the food processor to make the batter of the cake and I started that way until I was up to the part of adding the flours back into the egg, milk and butter mixture and found my processor not big enough to hold the entire mixture so I ended up tipping it all into a big bowl and folding the flours through which still worked out fine. So if you don't have a large processor I would suggest just using your normal electric cake mixer.

You will need:
55g good-quality white chocolate, chopped
55g good-quality dark chocolate, chopped
290g unsalted butter, chopped, at room temperature
2 1/2 cups (375g) plain flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon bicarbonate soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 eggs
2 cups (400g) caster sugar
1 cup (250ml) buttermilk
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 teaspoons finely grated orange zest
Ganache for the top

Preheat your oven to 180 degrees. Butter and flour a bundt tin, these tins are just like a round tin but with fluting and by rubbing butter and then dusting flour onto it this will ensure your cake will come out without sticking to the tin. I do this method with all my tins, even the ones where I can line it with baking paper.

Put the white chocolate into a small microwave-proof bowl, then tip the dark chocolate into another. Put 20g of the butter into each of the 2 bowls. Microwave the white chocolate and butter on high for about 35-40 seconds or until melted, stopping to stir it halfway through.

Remove it from the microwave and stir it again to make it as smooth as possible. Repeat this process with the dark chocolate mixture. Leave both bowls of chocolate to cool to room temperature.

Put the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt into a food processor. Whiz them together so they're well mixed, then tip them into a bowl.

Put the eggs and sugar into the processor and whiz them for 1 minute. Add the remaining butter chunks to the egg mixture and process everything for another minute. Pour in the buttermilk and vanilla extract and whiz together for about 10 seconds to mix them in.

Tip the flour mixture and blend it in with a few quick pulses so the batter is just combined. Remember to scrape stop and scrape down the sides at least once.
Transfer half the batter to a bowl, then stir in the dark chocolate mixture.

Add the white chocolate mixture and orange zest to the remaining batter. Blend it in so it's just combined.

Spread half the white chocolate batter into the bottom of the bundt tin to form an even layer.

Dollop half the dark chocolate batter on top and spread it out as evenly as you can.

Repeat this layering with the remaining batters. Run  a narrow knife blade right through the batter, moving it around the central tube in a petal or figure-of-eight pattern as you go (this swirls the two mixtures together, be careful not to get too carried away or they will just blend together).

Bake for  about 55 minutes or until a fine skewer inserted in the middle of the cake comes out clean. Cool the cake in the tin on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Carefully loosen the edges of the cake and invert it onto the rack. Leave it to cool completely.

This cake has a Chocolate ganache over it but you could put any form of chocolate icing even a white chocolate icing. I will give you the recipe that I used from Belinda's book.

Ganache (shiny chocolate icing) - I used half of what is listed below
250g good quality dark chocolate, cut into small chunks
125g unsalted butter, cut into chunks

Put the chocolate, butter into a medium-sized, heavy-based saucepan over low heat. Let the chocolate and butter melt, stirring the mixture frequently, until ganache is smooth. The most important thing to keep in mind when making your ganache is not to let the mixture get too hot. Once it's silky smooth , take it off the heat. let it cool until it's barely warm and of a thick pouring consistency before using it.

YUM! M x

Chicken Tikka

One of my favourite questions asked each day from my Miss 10 soon to be 11 is "What is for dinner?" (actually probably her favourite, my least favourite). This happens the moment she opens the car door each afternoon when I pick her up from school. Some days I have an immediate answer for her and other days I'd like to pull over on the side of the road and be a crazy lady screaming into the mythical cone of silence!! I now know exactly how my own mum would feel each afternoon arriving home from school and ringing her at work and asking the same question and either getting the answer I want to hear, deathly silence or she would say 'bread and spit'.

I often ask myself why do they bother asking if they know it's going to upset the chef, or if they aren't exactly going to like what they hear. There are a couple of meals that I hear all three kids groan at the mere mention of and they happen to be favourites of mine and ones that I learned from my own Mum. I'm sure B will agree the good old crumbed rissoles were a winner when we were growing up but my three haven't developed the same love for them as Mr M and I have. I will continue making them and continue hearing their cries of disgust each time! (I will win them over one day, make no mistake about that kids).

As most of you know the one particular cuisine that this whole family enjoys is Indian. I'm sure you have all seen and hopefully tried for yourself the "butter chicken" in a previous post. Another chicken dish that has become a regular is one I found in one of my favourite books from Janelle Bloom - "Fab Food for Family and Friends". It has similar flavours and spices and I think that's why kids 1, 2 & 3 all squeal with delight when I mention we are having it for dinner. It really is one of the easiest meals to prepare and the end results are delightfully tasty!

I did everything in the food processor and I have removed the chilli seeds once when I made it but have also left them in (well actually forgot to take them out for the little people but they still ate everything!).

You will need:   Serves 4
4 chicken breasts or 8 thigh fillets (I used chicken breasts)
2 tablespoons ghee (clarified butter)
steamed basmati rice and lime wedges to serve

Marinade
1 red chilli, chopped
1 green chilli, chopped
3 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
3cm piece fresh ginger, peeled, roughly chopped
1 teaspoon grpound coriander
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon tumeric
1/2 teaspoon garam masala
1 lime, rind finely grated, juiced
1 cup Greek yoghurt - Greek is best for cooking as it won't separate and curdle when heated.

Yoghurt sauce
3/4 cup Greek yoghurt
1 cup mint leaves, chopped
1/4 cup coriander leaves, chopped
2 green onions, thinly sliced
1cm piece fresh ginger, peeled, finely grated

For the marinade, combine the chilli, garlic and ginger in a small food processor and process until finely chopped.

Add all the spices, lime rind, 2 tablespoons of lime juice and the yoghurt and pulse until just combined.

Arrange the chicken in a single layer in a ceramic dish. Spoon over the marinade and turn to coat all the pieces evenly. Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours, or overnight if time permits.

Meanwhile, for the yoghurt sauce, combine all the ingredients in a bowl and season with salt and freshly ground pepper. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Remove the chicken from the fridge 15-20 minutes before cooking. Melt the ghee in a large, heavy based non-stick frying pan over medium-low heat. Don't be tempted to increase the heat, or the yoghurt and spices will burn and stick to the pan, Add the chicken and cook for 15 minutes (don't be tempted to turn it early). Turn the chicken for a further 5 - 10 minutes, or until it is cooked through.

Spoon rice onto serving plates, top with chicken and serve with yoghurt sauce and lime wedges.

M x