Pear Upside-down Cake from Hummingbird Bakery: Life is Sweet

Life is Sweet is the fourth book by Tarek Malouf, founder of The Hummingbird Bakery.  The Hummingbird Bakery was instrumental in popularising the sort of high quality bakes, loved by Americans, first  to London through the bakeries and then to the rest of the UK, through the books.  I already have a baking book from The Hummingbird Bakery, Cake Days,  but I am particularly pleased with this one, let me tell you a little about it.



Life is Sweet is organised into 10  chapters

Cakes, simple and more complex includes Gooey Butter Cake, 7Up Pound Cake, Molasses Pecan Crumb Cake, Chocolate Bundt Cake, Tunnel of Fudge Cake and Upside Down Pear Cake

Cupcakes both familiar and unusual including Banana Foster Cupcakes, Tomato Soup Cupcakes, Toasted Marshmallow Cupcakes, Honey Cornbread Cupcakes and Mint Julep Cupcakes.

Layer Cakes includes an indulgent Peanut Butter and Jelly Cake, Gingerbread Icebox Cake, Alabama Little Layer Cake, Red Velvet Crepe Cake and Appalachian Stack Cake.

Pies is full of very American Pies including, Lemon Chiffon Pie, Deep-fried Apple Pies, Blueberry Cream Cheese Pie, Vinegar Pie and New Orleans Prune Pie.

Cookies and Candies provides bite sized treats such as Soft Molasses Cookies, Black Pepper Cookies (on my list), Vanilla filled Chocolate Cookies, Lemon Drops, Turtle Cookies and Creamy Pecan Pralines.

Traybakes are one of my favourite bakes, how about Coconut Dream Bars, Red Velvet Brownies, Blackberry Limeade Bars and Texas Tassie Bars.

Pancakes are so easy to make and these lovely flavours are very tempting Black Bottom Pancakes, Pumpkin Pancakes, Cinnamon Pancake Cake and Sally Lunn French Toast.

Top your pies and pancakes with some lovely Ice Cream, Grasshopper Ice Cream, Earl Grey Tea and Chocolate Ice Cream, Fresh Peach Ice Cream and Lemon Custard Ice Cream.

Puddings to delight your sweet tooth include Praline Bread Pudding with Pecan Caramel Sauce, Brownie Pudding and White Chocolate Bread Pudding.

The final chapter features Bread and Savouries, Skillet Cornbread, Crawfish Pie, Cinnamon Raisin Swirl Loaf and Graham Crackers.

The book finishes up with some Baking Essentials about Ingredients, Equipment, Methods and Techniques.

Who is it for?
Pretty much anyone who likes baking and is looking for some different ideas to try.  It's not aimed at beginner bakers, but if you follow the instructions there is no reason why a novice could not achieve good results.

Pros
A wide range of different bakes, each on a little out of the ordinary.  Good photographs which let you see what you are aiming for.
Cons
I can't really think of any cons with this book, it is full of such good things.

The Verdict
I really was beginning to think I had enough baking books, that they were just full of the same sort of recipes, but this one really does have some exciting bakes in it, ones that I really want to bake.  So I give a hearty thumbs up to Life is Sweet and would urge you to go out and buy it.



I decided to make the Pear Upside Down Cake, the cake is a soft gingerbread with works so well with the caramelised pears, it works well as a cake and as a dessert.

Upside-Down Pear Cake
Makes one 23 x 32 cm (9 x 13 in) cake, to slice as desired

For the caramelised pears
6 large, ripe pears, peeled, cored ad quartered lengthways
3 tbsp fresh lemon juice
40g (1 1/2 oz) unsalted butter
80g (3 oz) caster sugar
130ml (4 1/2 fl oz) Kentucky bourbon or whisky

For Cake
195g (7oz) plain flour
1 1/2 tbsp ground ginger
1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp grated nutmeg
1/2 tsp salt
160g (5 1/2 oz) unsalted butter
75g (2 1/2 oz) dark muscovado sugar
4 large eggs
170g (6 oz) pure cane molasses, such as Meridian
3 tbsp boiling water
1 q/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda

1. Preheat the oven to 175C (350C), Gas mark 4. Line the tin with non-stick baking parchment.
2. To make the caramelised pears, mix the pears with the lemon juice.  In a large frying pan, melt the butter and sprinkle with half the caster sugar. Put the pear quarters into the pan.  Cook for about 5 minutes until brown on one side.  Turn and cook for a further 5 minutes until the other side is brown.  With a slotted spoon, carefully remove the pear quarters and set aside to cool slightly.
3. Add the bourbon and the rest of the caster sugar to the pan and cook and stir frequently for about 5 minutes until the mixture becomes syrupy.  Pour this syrup into the baking tin and tip the tin to spread evenly over the bottom of the tin.
4. Start to arrange the pears from one corner so that they cover the bottom of the tin and are facing the same direction. Set aside.
5. To make the cake, sift together the flour, spices and salt in a bowl.
6. Using a freestanding electric mixer with paddle attachment or hand-held electric whisk, cream the butter and sugar together for around 5 minutes on a medium-high speed until light and fluffy.  Add the eggs one at a time on a lower speed, scraping down the sides of the bowl after each addition.  Only beat until just Incorporated.  Add the molasses and beat for a few moments longer to mix.
7. In a small bowl, add the boiling water to the bicarbonate of soda and set aside.  Add half the flour mixture to the creamed mixture on low speed.  then add the water and bicarbonate of soda and the rest of the flour mixture and mix until well Incorporated  It will look like the mixture has split, but that i correct.
8. Scrape the mixture into the tin on top of the arranged pears and bake for 25 minutes.  Reduce the oven temperature to 165C (325F) Gas mark 3 and bake for 10-15 minutes longer.  The top should bounce bake when lightly touched.  Cool in the tin for 1 hour, then run a knife around the edges of the cake. Place a tray over the top of the tin and carefully(but quickly) turn upside down.

The resulting cake is rich and treacley but not too dense, the pears  add a lovely texture to the cake and are not too sweet.  A really delightful bake and I was thrilled with comments that my version looks just like the one in the book.

The Hummingbird Bakery - Life is Sweet
100 original recipes for happy home baking
Published by 4th Estate,  Harper Collins
RRP £20


I have one copy of Life is Sweet to giveaway, you can enter by following the instructions on the Rafflecopter Widget below (UK only)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Labels: cake, Cook book review, Gingerbread, giveaway, Harper Collins, Hummingbird Bakery, Life is Sweet, Pears, win

posted by Janice @ 07:18 115 Comments

Chocolate Gingerbread Cake

It's my younger son's birthday next week, he will be a very grown up 24 years old, which is far too old for my little boy!  Anyway as he lives in Glasgow, we made the trip up there today to take him and his girlfriend out for lunch and deliver his birthday cake.

I took this opportunity to make a chocolate gingerbread a la Nigella but not as a traybake type cake rather a proper birthday cake.  The mixture made two 20cm sandwich tin cakes and, as a bonus, a little loaf tin which we kept for ourselves!

This cake is for those who like their chocolate cakes dark, rich and spicy but I didn't fancy the icing recommended in the recipe.  I asked my twitter friends whether I should make a ganache or buttercream and got  a mixed response.  In the end I decided to go with a basic buttercream flavoured with cinnamon extract and decorated the top with pieces of crystalised ginger and shavings of dark chocolate. 

There wasn't an opportunity to taste the cake when we visited (just as well I have my bonus cake) but my son was impressed by the idea of a chocolate gingerbread cake and loved the look of the cake.



I'm entering this cake for We Should Cocoa, the theme for this month is chocolate and ginger.  The challenge is run by Choclette at Chocolate Log Blog and Chele at Chocolate Teapot.  This month it is being hosted by Jen at Blue Kitchen Bakes

The cake was made using Food Thoughts Fair Trade Cocoa for Fairtrade Fortnight.

Fairtrade Fortnight (25 February – 10 March) will call on the British public to Go Further for Fairtrade in 2013 to look after the food we love and the people who grow it. Without our support now, farmers in developing countries face a difficult and uncertain future.
The two-week long campaign will highlight the need to think about where our food comes from, and through an interactive petition will call on the government to take action before the 2013 G8 Summit. The petition will signal the start of a three-year long campaign by Fairtrade Foundation – ‘Make Food Fair’.

Go further this Fairtrade Fortnight at www.fairtrade.org.uk/gofurther

Smallholders in developing countries are increasingly hit by fluctuating commodity prices affecting their income and the prices they pay for the food they buy themselves, rising global food prices, rising production costs, and climate change.

Fairtrade Fortnight is the nationwide effort to promote awareness of Fairtrade and urge people to buy products carrying the FAIRTRADE Mark. It unites all Fairtrade supporters, bringing together retailers, manufacturers, producers and consumers.

This year thousands of people up and down the country will get creative with their Fairtrade campaigning to highlight the importance of small holder farmers in agriculture and their role in food security. Fabulous sculptures made from Fairtrade product packaging will form the centrepiece of this year’s local campaign -  towns, villages, churches, colleges and schools across the nation have already begun creating installations, collages and even tea cosies as protest petitions to deliver to MPs and commercial organisations to ask for change. Their creativity will be uploaded to www.fairtrade.org.uk/gofurther to form a visual online petition.

Michael Gidney, chief executive of the Fairtrade Foundation, says: ‘Companies and governments need to make a stand to ensure small farmers can achieve sustainable livelihoods and play their full role in building fairer, better food systems for the future. Choosing Fairtrade is one way to help secure a better deal for millions of people in developing countries, so we want people to try a new Fairtrade product or create a work of art to ask for change. From the 25 February, they will also be able to pledge their support in a new, exciting way, so watch this space.’

Farmers and co-operative members from Malawi, Costa Rica, Uganda and St Lucia will visit various locations around the UK during Fairtrade Fortnight, giving talks and hosting discussions on what Fairtrade means to their livelihoods, and the need to Go Further.

Businesses are also doing their bit to go further this Fairtrade Fortnight, from pop-up Fairtrade shops to new Fairtrade certified products. From Fairtrade Fortnight 2013, every single KIT KAT 2 Finger sold in the UK will be Fairtrade certified, while Divine Chocolate will be opening the doors to its first ever POP UP shop. The organic and Fairtrade chocolate company will also be unveiling two brand new flavours – Divine Dark 70% Chocolate with Chilli & Orange, and Milk Chocolate with Toffee & Salt. Tate & Lyle have unveiled their new Golden Syrup Fairtrade cane sugar, while Liberation is going further by supporting a new peanut processing plant in Malawi.

Labels: Blue Kitchen Bakes, chocolate, chocolate gingerbread, Chocolate Log Blog, Chocolate Teapot, Gingerbread, Nigella Lawson

posted by Janice @ 19:37 10 Comments

Farmersgirl Recipe Round Up 2011

Labels: 2011 round up, Beef Wellington, blondies, chickpea, chilli, chocolate pavlova, Christmas Cake, crumble, Gingerbread, jam, lasagne, marmlade, New Year, pepper steak, shortbread, smoked paprika, Soup, tomato

posted by Janice @ 11:00 11 Comments

Gingerbread Cupcake Sparklers!

I have adapted the recipe a little as I didn't have any stem ginger, also the GBBO version is not iced, but I wanted to try a little piping.  Depsite having been cooking and baking for around 40 years I've never really mastered piping, I think this isn't bad for a first attempt but I need to get a bigger piping nozzle to make the squishy sort of toppings that go with cupcakes, any recommendations for which nozzles to get and where to get them, gratefully accepted.

Gingerbread Cupcake Sparklers

Labels: bonfire night, Bookmarked Recipes, butter icing, cupcakes, Ginger, Gingerbread, Great British Bake Off, Lavender and Lovage, spice, syrup, Tea Time Treats, Tinned Tomatoes, treacle

posted by Janice @ 12:14 18 Comments

Hotel Chocolat and Christmas - made for each other!

I was so excited to be chosen by Beth at Jam and Cream to review some lovely Hotel Chocolat goodies. I think Hotel Chocolat do Christmas so well and this Classic Sleekster Christmas Selection Luxe box of Chocolates epitomises just how good their chocs are and how beautifully they are presented.


Forget your dodgy selection box, this is what you want to select to go in your Christmas Stocking.  All this week Mr Farmer and I have been tasting these chocolates on your behalf...it's a hard job but somebody has got to do it!  I've been making tasting notes and choosing my faves.  Of course you may have different ideas, but there are so many delicious chocolates in here that you are bound to find quite a few that become your favourites too.

There are a whole host of spicy Christmas flavours, gingerbread, florentine, mulled wine, cinnamon, star anise, marzipan and champagne, as well as some simpler chocolate truffles and pralines.

See the Christmas Hampers, Chocolate Hampers HERE

Labels: champagne, chilli, chocolate, Christmas, Cinnamon, florentines, Gingerbread, Hotel Chocolat, marzipan, mulled wine, pralines., selection box, star anise, truffles

posted by Janice @ 19:56 10 Comments

Gingerbread Slab

I made the gingerbread and some Peanut Butter and Chocolate Chip Cookies last weekend.  I had to hide the gingerbread to stop my husband, Brian, from eating it!  I also stashed some cookies so there were still plenty for the second wave of visitors.  You learn a few things by the time you become a grandmother, especially when you have had two sons!

Gingerbread is always better when it has been 'matured' anyway and this one was moist, gingery and nicely sticky.  The recipe comes from the Good Housekeeping Complete Book of Home Baking.

Gingerbread Slab
Makes 20 - 24 slices


125g (4oz) black treacle
125g (4oz) golden syrup
50g (2oz) butter or margarine (I used 100g butter and no lard)
50g (2oz) lard
225g (8oz) plain white flour
1.25ml (1/4 tsp) bicarbonate of soda
5ml (1 level tsp) mixed spice
5ml (1 level tsp) ground ginger
100g (4oz) dark brown soft sugar
150ml (1/4 pint) milk


1. Grease a deep 18cm (7 in) square cake tin.  Line with greaseproof paper and then grease the paper.
2. Put the black treacle, golden syrup, butter and lard into a saucepan and heat gently until melted.
3. Sift the flour, bicarbonate of soda and spices into a bowl and stir in the sugar.  Make a well in the centre and pour in the milk and treacle mixture.  Beat well until smooth and of a thick pouring consistency.
4. Pour into the prepared tin and bake in the oven at 170c (325F) mark 3 for 1 - 1 1/4 hours or until a fine warmed skewer inserted in the centre of the cake comes out clean.  Cool in the tin for 1 hour then turn out and cool completely on a wire rack.
5. Wrap in greaseproof paper and foil and store in an airtight tin for 2 days before eating.

Labels: baking, Gingerbread

posted by Janice @ 19:16 14 Comments

Sugar and Spice and everything nice...

I love spices and they are very much a part of the winter season bringing warmth to your cooking and baking. So when my DH requested a cake, I thought I would make a Gingerbread. Also it doesn't require any eggs and I only had two left!
The recipe is the Gingerbread Slab from The Good Housekeeping Complete Book of Home Baking.


I also made some mincemeat for Christmas consumption. I used a great recipe from Uma Wylde's blog . Although I did make some changes to the mixture of dried fruits. I used a 300g bag of Testco Island Mix which has dried apricots and pineapple in it as well as raisins. I used a couple of Pink Lady apples rather than the Bramleys, glace cherries instead of cranberries and chopped pecan nuts instead of flaked almonds. I also substituted Cherry Brandy for the cointreau or grand marnier, just because I already had it for my Christmas cake. I had a little lick of the spoon and I have to say it was absolutely delicious and very, very easy to make.

Labels: Gingerbread, Good Housekeeping, mincemeat, Uma Wylde

posted by Janice @ 18:14 13 Comments