Almond Cake With Saffron And Honey Food

ALMOND CAKE WITH SAFFRON AND HONEY

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 10-inch diameter cake pan and line with parchment paper.
• In a large bowl, mix together the semolina, sugar, almonds, baking powder and salt. Whisk in eggs and melted butter. Add the orange and lemon zests and almond extract and beat well. Pour into prepared pan.
• Bake for about 45 minutes, until an inserted skewer comes out clean. Invert onto a wire rack and let cool.
• As cake cools, make the syrup: Put orange juice, sugar, honey, cloves, cardamom, cinnamon, saffron and apricots in a saucepan, and bring to a boil. Stir to dissolve sugar, and then simmer gently for about 5 minutes. Set aside. Transfer cake to a serving plate. Use a skewer to poke holes all over and slowly pour syrup evenly over cake. Once the syrup has cooled slightly, arrange the spices and apricots on top of the cake to your liking. Leave cake for at least an hour to fully absorb syrup, or, if possible, wrap and store in a cool place (don't refrigerate) for up to 5 days.

ALMOND SAFFRON CAKE

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly butter or spray two 8-inch round cake pans. In a small saucepan over medium heat, warm milk and add the saffron and zest. Bring to a low simmer, and remove from heat; set aside. Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl; set aside.
• Using an electric mixer at medium speed, beat together 1 cup butter and almond paste until creamy, about 3 minutes. Gradually add 1 cup confectioners' sugar, and beat until fluffy, scraping down the sides. Add eggs one at a time, beating until blended after each addition. Gradually add flour mixture alternately with sour cream, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Add saffron mixture, beating just until blended.
• Pour batter into prepared cake pans, and smooth tops. Bake until tester inserted in center comes out clean, 30 to 40 minutes. Cool 5 minutes, and remove from pans. Serve warm, dusted with confectioners' sugar, or drizzled with orange juice mixed with 2 to 3 tablespoons confectioners' sugar.

KING PRAWNS IN SAFFRON ALMOND SAUCE

Steps:

• Make the sauce. Tip the cashews and almonds into a saucepan and just cover with cold water. Boil gently for 20 minutes until slightly softened. Tip the nuts and water into a food processor and blend.
• Heat the ghee or butter in a heavy saucepan, add the bay leaf, cardamoms and onion and fry for 8-10 minutes until golden. Add the ginger and chilli and fry for a minute until fragrant. Add the turmeric and fry until the onion turns yellow, which should take another minute. Now stir in the nut purée and cook the paste carefully, stirring regularly until yellow. Pour in 150ml of the fish stock and simmer for 2-3 minutes. As the sauce turns glossy, add the infused saffron, sugar and cream, sprinkle in the garam masala and season with salt. Simmer for a few more minutes. The sauce should be too thick to pour, but thin enough to spoon, so you may need to dilute it with more fish stock. (The sauce can be made up to an hour ahead.)
• Tip the prawns into a bowl, and mix in a sprinkling of salt and all the ingredients for the first marinade. If this looks dry, add a drop of water. Set aside for 10 minutes. Heat the oil in a large pan and sear the prawns for 20 seconds so they curl up. Remove and set aside to cool.
• Mix ingredients together for the second marinade, toss prawns in it (they can be left for up to 1 hour).
• Preheat the oven to fan 180C/conventional 200C/gas 6. Pierce a long wooden skewer through the tail of each prawn and thread it through to the tip of the head. Prop the skewers on a roasting tray and roast for 6-8 minutes until lightly charred. Meanwhile, reheat the sauce and add more stock if it is too thick. Serve the prawns on a large plate in a pool of sauce for people to help themselves, with the extra sauce and pilau rice in bowls.

HONEY SAFFRON CHRISTMAS CAKE

Steps:

• Heat oven to 160C/fan 140C/gas 3. Butter and line a round, deep 20cm cake tin with two layers of baking parchment (see Knowhow, below). Tie a few sheets of newspaper around the outside of the tin, level with the top of the baking parchment.
• Heat the brandy in a small pan, then add the saffron and leave to infuse off the heat for a few mins. Put the butter, sugar, eggs, flour, ground almonds, baking powder and a pinch of salt into a bowl, then beat together until creamy and smooth. Mix the fruit, nuts and brandy saffron mix into the batter and stir well.
• Spoon into the prepared tin, smooth the top and make a slight dip in the middle. Bake for 1½ hrs, then cover loosely with foil to stop the top over-browning. Turn oven down to 140C/fan 120C/gas 1 and cook for 1 hr more until a skewer comes out clean. Leave to cool in the tin then, while it's still warm, prod the cake all over with a skewer.
• Mix the brandy and honey together and spoon over the cake. Wrap up well in foil and keep in an airtight container until Christmas, feeding with more honeyed brandy every so often.

HONEY ALMOND CAKE

Steps:

• Combine coffee and honey in saucepan; bring to boil. Set aside to cool.
• Place dates in brandy and set aside.
• Blend oil, brown sugar, and eggs thoroughly in a large bowl.
• Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, and nutmeg.
• Add flour mixture and coffee mixture alternately to egg mixture.
• Fold in sliced almonds, dates with brandy, and lemon peel.
• Grease two 9x5 inch loaf pans. Spread bottoms with Honey Smear.
• Pour in batter. Bake in a preheated 350* oven for 1 hour or until cake tests done.
• Cool on rack to room temperature.
• Honey Smear:.
• Combine all ingredients in mixing bowl. Cream until light and well blended. Makes about 1 1/4 cups.