Blood Orange Coffee Cake

Blood orange might sound unappetising but they earned that name because of the vivid re colour of their flesh. The fruit is similar in taste and texture to a regular orange but unlike traditional  oranges, blood oranges aren't available all year round.

Ingredients:

For Streusel

• ½ cup packed light brown sugar
• ½ cup plain flour
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp cocoa powder
• 1 tsp instant espresso coffee powder
• ½ tsp salt
• 60g cold butter, cut into pieces

For cake

• 3 cups plain flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp baking soda
• ½ tsp salt
• 230g butter, softened at room temperature
• 1½ cup sugar
• 2 tbsp freshly grated orange zest
• 3 large eggs
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 cup plain yogurt

Blood orange glaze

• ¼ cup freshly squeeze blood orange juice
• ½ tsp vanilla extract
• ¾ icing sugar

Method:

Preheat oven to 175°C. Butter and flour a 10 inch bundt cake pan and set aside.

For Streusel: Whisk together the sugar, flour, cinnamon, cocoa, espresso powder and salt. Add the butter pieces and using finger tip, mix together the flour and butter until the flour is incorporated and in tiny pieces, looking like crumble.

For the cake: Take the and mix it with the orange zest. Rub in between your fingers to combine fully. 

In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Beat the butter with electric mixer on medium speed until creamy, then add the sugar and beat for 5 minutes on medium speed until fluffy, scrapping down the sides if needed. 

Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the vanilla extract and beat well. Beat in the yogurt, again scraping down the side if needed.

Gradually add in the dry ingredients with the mix on a low speed. Beat until they are just incorporated. Spoon half of the batter into the greased bundt tin. Sprinkle the batter with two thirds of the streusel. Add the remaining batter on top then swirl in the remaining streusel with a knife. Bake until the wooden pick inserted into the cake comes out clean, about 45 to 55 minutes.

Remove the cake from the oven and allow to cool for 10 minutes. Invert the pan on a wire rack and allow the cake to cool completely.

Once cool, drizzle the cake with blood orange glaze. let it set for about 30 minutes then slice and serve.

Blood orange glaze: Whisk together the ingredients until combined and smooth.

Nut Roast en croute

Cook this perfect festive nut roast recipe-it's not just for vegans and will make a great addition to your Christmas dinner. 

Ingredients:

• 1 tbsp groundnut oil
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 1 celery stick, finelly chopped
• 2 carrots, peeled and finelly chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, finelly chopped
• 250g chestnut mushroom, finelly chopped
• 150g mixed nuts
• 100g red lentils, rinsed
• 100g cooked chestnuts, crumbled
• 1 pack ready to roll light puff pastry
• 3 tbsp almond milk

Method:

Preheat oven to 200°C/180°C for fan oven.

Heat the oil in a large non-stick frying pan over medium-low heat and cook the onion, celery and carrots for about 5 minutes until softened. Add the garlic and cook for a further minute. Increase the heat to medium-high , add the mushrooms and cook for a further 5 minutes.

Toast the nuts in the oven for 7 minutes. Set aside to cool. Then whiz in the food processor until coarsely ground. 

Meanwhile, cook the red lentils according to the packet instructions. Drain well, then whizz in a food processor.

Combine the nuts, lentils, and crumbled cooked chestnuts with sautéed vegetables. Season to taste and leave to cool.

Once the mixture has cooled, roll out the puff pastry and leave on its paper. Form the mixture into a loaf that is about 3cm shorter than the width of the pastry. Lay the filling on the left-hand side, leaving a boarder of 1.5cm on top and bottom, then fold the other half of the pastry over the filling and press down to encase it completely.

Brush the pastry with the almond milk, then place on a baking sheet and bake in the oven for over 40-45 minutes, until the pastry is nice and golden.