Month: November 2015

Applesauce Cake

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This cake was inspired by old drama series The Waltons. How many of you used to watch it in the good old days when Ireland had only two TV channels? The Mom, Olivia Walton always made Applesauce Cake and here is my version of it. You can omit the sliced apple if you like but it does add to the flavour of the cake. This cake also works well using Gluten Free flour. Enjoy!

250 grams/2 cups plain flour (all purpose flour)

1 teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon nutmeg

1 teaspoon cinnamon

½ teaspoon salt

113 grams /1 stick butter/ 4 ounces butter

225 grams /1 cup granulated sugar

100 grams/ ½ cup light brown sugar

4 large eggs at room temperature

375 grams/ 1 ½ cup homemade apple sauce unsweetened

1 small eating apple peeled and sliced

Applesauce

500 grams /1 pound Bramley apples peeled, cored and sliced

60 millilitres water 1/4 cup water

Place apples and water into  a large bowl and microwave on high for between 5 and 10 minutes until apples are soft and pulpy. Break up any stubborn pieces with a fork. you can also do this on the hob but take care that the apples do not burn.

 

Preheat oven to 180°C/350°F.

Spray your loaf pan with cooking spray.

Sift flour, salt, baking soda and spices into a bowl and set aside.

Cream butter and sugars in your mixing bowl until fluffy. Add the eggs one at time until incorporated. With the mixer on low, add all of the applesauce followed by the flour mixture.

Pour batter into your prepared loaf pan. Place the apple sliced on top tucking some into the batter.

Bake for 45-50 until an inserted skewer comes out cleanly.

Make this cake gluten free by substituting the flour and baking powder with a GF variety. I like Dove’s Farm brand. Remember to include ¼ teaspoon of Xanthan gum.

Italian Meatballs

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These were my next experiment in the slow cooker. All the ingredients were from our local Aldi, as was the slow cooker! We had dinner for under €10 which was a big success with everyone. I have included more traditional ways of cooking your meatballs which will be just as tasty.

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500 grams / 1 pound minced beef (ground beef)

500 grams/ 1 pound minced pork (ground pork)

½ cup grated parmesan cheese

4 tablespoons tomato ketchup or Ballymaloe Relish

45 grams /½ cup/ 1.6 ounces bread crumbs (optional)

½ teaspoon dried oregano

1 egg

Fresh Spaghetti to serve

Combine all the ingredients in a bowl and mix well. You can also include minced garlic and onion but I think these need to be cooked and cooled before adding them to your mince meat   I use a muffin scoop so that the meatballs are evenly sized but you can also use your hands. Wet them first so that the meat won’t stick to you. There are a couple of ways that you can cook these

  1. Brown the meatballs in a pan on your hob, add the tomato sauce and allow to simmer slowly until the meatballs are cooked through
  2. Cook off the meatballs in your oven and cook off the tomato sauce on the hob. Pour sauce over meatball when serving. I sometimes do this method as my youngest is fussy and wants just meatballs and pasta with no sauce!
  3. Slow cooker! We did this last week for the first time and it was a big success. I placed all the meatballs into the bottom of the slow cooker and added the tomato sauce ingredients on top without cooking it first. I cooked it on high for 5-6 hours and the result was delicious. Very tender meatballs in sauce that everyone ate!

My simple tomato sauce

2 packets of Aldi Passata

½ teaspoon dried basil

½ teaspoon dried oregano

1 teaspoon sugar

Combine all the ingredients in a saucepan and simmer over a low heat for 10 minutes. I sneak in puréed vegetables such as carrot or courgette (zucchini) too for a veggie hit.

If you want to make this dish gluten free, omit the breadcrumbs or use gluten free ones instead. I have made these without breadcrumbs and with gluten free crumbs and they are fine either way.