Potato & Courgette Flan

The Great Vegetarian Diet

The best vegetarian diets are diets where you don’t even realise meat is lacking from your diet.  I can go for months, even years without eating meat and not missing it because my vegetarian food is just so good and full of the nutrients I need to get by.  I find that meat eaters are worryingly obsessed with meat to the point that if there is no meat on the dinner table they literally freak out.  It is hilarious to watch, it’s like they are about to break out in hives or suffer serious palpitations if they are not allowed to exercise their canivorism.  It is okay to not eat meat.  Just try some of my delicious vegetarian recipes and see for yourself that you can have a lovely meal without meat.  So step out of your comfort zone and explore new ways of incorporating vegetables into your diet.  I used wholemeal flour to make the pastry from scratch, I really though it added a greater level of depth for my flan.  I used minimal seasoning and served this dish with a light salad.  It is excellent for a starter, lunch or a simple light meal.

This recipe was adapted from The Dairy Book of Family Cookery (Ebury Press, 1983).

Ingredients:

225g wholemeal flour, pinch of salt, 100g butter (chilled and cubed), 450g potatoes (peeled and diced), 225g courgettes (finely chopped), 1 small onion (skinned and sliced), freshly ground black pepper, 2 eggs, 300ml milk, 150g cheddar cheese (grated), a small handful of cherry tomatoes (quartered).

Method:

1. Mix the flour and salt together in a bowl.
2. Rub the butter into the flour until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.
3. Add 3 tbsps chilled water, mix until the the flour begins to stick together.
4. Collect the dough mixture together to form a ball.
5. Knead lightly for a few seconds to give a firm smooth dough.
6. Wrap in cling film and leave in refrigerator for 30 minutes.
7. Roll out on a lightly floured surface.
8. Line a 10 inch flan dish.
9. Bake blind in the oven for 20 minutes.
10. Cook the potato until tender in a saucepan of boiling water.
11. Drain.
12. In a frying pan gently fry the onion with the courgettes until soft.
13. Place the vegetables in the flan case.
14. Beat together the eggs, milk and cheese.
15. Pour over the filling and then scatter the tomatoes on the top.
16. Bake in the oven at 180 degrees C for 30 minutes.

Vegetable Cake/ Pudding Dulux

Possibilities

Cooking is a lot like dancing,  so many steps have already been done but the combination of steps you can do are infinite.  I was going to make a carrot cake but then I saw some courgettes and thought how cool would it be to make a low fat sugar cake mainly using vegetables.  I told a few people of my plans but the only person who approved was mummy.   What can I say… My mummy just has a better imagination than most.  The cake/ pudding ended up tasting wonderful,  I made so many alterations I wasn’t sure how it was going to come out. I don’t think I have ever made a cake with so many vegetables.  If you are going to make a vegetable cake then carrots and courgettes are usually the best way to go because carrots are sweet and courgettes contain a lot of moisture and do not taste of anything.  Therefore it allows you time to think of other ingredients that could be used to flavour the pudding. Take a walk on the wild side and try this exciting new cake.

This recipe was seriously adapted from The Hummingbird Bakery: Cake Days (Harper Collins Publishers, 2011).

Ingredients:

250g carrots (peeled and grated), 250g courgettes (grated), 140g sultanas, 2 tbsps mixed spice, 80ml buttermilk, 4 large eggs, 1 tsp vanilla essence, 250g butter (melted), 100g dark brown sugar, 450g plain flour, 2 tsps baking powder, 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda.

Method:

1. Pre heat the oven to 170 degrees C.
2. In a large bowl mix the vegetables, sultanas, buttermillk, eggs, vanilla and butter.
3. In another bowl sift in the plain flour and mix with the sugar, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda.
4. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and combine well.
5. Divide into 2 x 10 inch cake tins.
6. Bake for 1 hour until the pudding is firm to the touch.

Saffy’s Serving Tips:

As this is an odd recipe I have providing some serving tips if you are slightly apprehensive eating this delicious dessert/ pudding alone.

1. Custard! Try my home made vanilla custard!
2. Ice Cream! Try my home made rum and raisin ice cream it goes perfect with this!
3. Blitzed bananas and mango slices!  Trust me it’s awesome and complimentary to anyone on a diet.  That’s if your diet is cool and not super strict which doesn’t allow a few cakes every now and again.
4. A smile! This is necessary!  Fall in love with your food,  nourishment is to be enjoyed!

Cheat’s Christmas Cake

Early Bird

I like to start making my Christmas cakes early, traditional West Indian great cakes and fruit cakes can be made years in advance.  This Christmas cake is for people who want to make a Christmas cake a few months before and have enough booze to booze it up so Christmas guests will be too merry to realise it may not be the real deal!  Anyway it was provided by Levi Roots so I can guarantee it’s legit.  Everything from Kamaria’s Kitchen is tried, tested and most importantly eaten… Lol!

This recipe was taken from Levi Roots’ Reggae Reggae Cookbook ( Harper Collins Publishers, 2009).

Ingredients:

250g mixed dried fruit, finely grated zest of a lemon, 300ml dark rum, 250g butter (cut into small cubes and a bit left over for greasing, 225g molasses sugar, 1/2 tsp vanilla essence, 3 medium eggs, 250g self – raising flour, 1 tbsp ground mixed all spice, 1/2 tsp ground all spice, 4 tbsps brandy.

Method:

1. Put the dried fruit and lemon zest in a large jar.  Pour in some rum and leave the fruit to macerate for as long as you have.
2. Pre heat the oven to 180 degrees C.
3. Grease and line the base and sides of an 8 inch cake tin.
4. Put the butter, sugar and vanilla essence into a large bowl.
5. Beat well until light and fluffy.
6. Gradually add the eggs and tbsps of flour to stop the mixture from curdling.
7. Sift in the remaining flour and spice.
8. Gently fold the mixture.
9. Spoon the mixture into the tin.
10. Bake for 1 1/2 hours or until a cocktail stick inserted into the centre comes out clean.
11. Pour over the brandy and leave it to cool in the tin.
12. Turn the cake out of the tin and keep wrapped in foil.

Frangipane/ Bakewell Tart

Mummy wants / Mummy gets

Mummy is the queen of the castle and when she makes a food request it is best I honour it, otherwise I will never hear the end of it and will not be satisfied until she gets it.  So I surprised mummy dearest by making her my first ever bakewell tart.  After giving me the thumbs up I can now start back to experimenting.  It’s nice to do the classics.  Due to the addition of jam the tart is very sweet so if you are worried about the amount of sugar use less jam.

This recipe was taken from Mary Berry’s Baking Bible (BBC Books, 2009).

Ingredients:

100g plain flour, 100g softened butter, 100g caster sugar, 3 large eggs, strawberry jam, 65g ground almonds, almond extract, 50g chopped almonds.

Method:

1. In a bowl rub in 100g of plain flour and 50g of butter with your fingertips until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.
2. Stir in the sugar and then add two large egg yolks.
3. Mix until the ingredients come together to form a dough.
4. Knead the mixture until gently smooth.
5. Wrap the dough in clingfilm and leave to rest in the fridge for about 30 minutes.
6. While the dough is chilling make the frangipane.
7. Melt the remaining butter and beat in a medium bowl with the sugar.
8. Beat in the remaining egg and then stir in the ground almonds and almond extract.
9. Line a large pastry case with the sweet dough pastry after rolling it out.
10. Place a layer of strawberry jam at the bottom of it.
11. Fill the rest of the pastry case with the frangipane.
12. Scatter the chopped almonds over the top.
13. Bake at 180 degrees C.
14. When golden and firm remove from the oven and place on a wire rack to cool.

Quick Cookies

Practice Cookies 

Mummy wanted cookies,  I wanted to practice making cookies.  Cookies.  My reasons for baking were as simple as that.  La la la la cookies fairy princess day!

This recipe was taken from Mary Berry’s Baking Bible (BBC Books, 2009).

Ingredients:

100g softened butter, 50g caster sugar, 150g self – raising flour.

Method:

1. Beat the butter and sugar together into a bowl until creamy.
2. Add the flour and bring the mixture together to forma dough.
3. Lightly grease baking trays.
4. Pre heat the oven to 160 degrees C.
5. Form the dough into small balls and press into circles.
6. Place on the baking trays with over an inch in between of them.
7. Bake for 10 to 15 minutes in the oven.
8. Leave on a wire rack to cool.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Sweet You

I have been writing a lot of poetry lately and one poem was based on self empowerment and exploring the sweetness that transcends between performer to the audience.  Art is for sharing and we all know that sharing is caring.  I think that cooks are like performers in this respect by giving sweetness to their guests.  Nigella Lawson is definitely well known for her homely comforting sweet treats, so I didn’t need to think twice about choosing her chocolate chip cookies.  The cookies taste best warm so don’t take too long to eat them.

This recipe was taken from Nigella Lawson’s Nigella Kitchen: Recipes from the heart of the home (Chatto & Windus, 2014).

Ingredients:

150g soft unsalted butter, 125g soft light brown sugar, 100g caster sugar, 2 tsps vanilla extract, 1 egg, 300g flour, 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda, 326g chocolate chips.

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 170 degrees C.
2. Beat the sugars and butter together.
3. Beat in the vanilla and egg until the mixture is creamy.
4. Slowly mix in the flour and bicarbnate of soda and then fold in the chocolate chips.
5. Shape the cookies and place on a baking tray with a baking sheet.
6. Bake for 15 – 17 minutes.
7. Cool on a baking sheet for 5 minutes on a wire rack after baking.

Hot Chocolate Cupcakes

Cupcake Woes

Why is a decent cupcake so hard to find these days?  I find that I am being completely ripped off in coffee shops because the cakes are more icing than cake.  When I made these cupcakes it was a gloomy day,  I had been caught in a hailstorm and all I wanted to do when I returned home was eat comfort food and have a long hot bath.  Understandably when you have a bad day the last thing you want to do is spend your time cooking unless you love it but this recipe is super easy and because it tastes so good hot just like hot chocolate you don’t have to wait too long for the cakes to cool down.  Yaaay!

This recipe was taken from the hummingbird bakery: cake days (Harper Collins Publishers, 2011).

Ingredients:

240ml whole milk, 25g hot chocolate powder, 80g softened butter, 280g caster sugar, 240g plain flour, 1 tbsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp salt, 2 large eggs.

Method:

1. Pre heat the oven to 190 degrees C.
2. Fill a muffing tin with muffin cases.
3. Gently warm the milk without boiling it.
4. Add the powder, still until dissolved then set aside.
5. In a medium bowl beat the butter and sugar together until creamy.
6. Beat in the eggs then sift int he rest of the ingredients.
7. Mix the hot chocolate mixture with the cake batter and divide into the muffin tins.
8. Bake for 18 – 20 minutes until springy to the touch.

Apple, Carrot & Courgette Cake

Fully Loaded 

My mother was peckish for courgette cake but was not too keen about have icing drizzled over the top so I had to come up with a recipe that was sweet but still had the novelty of being full of vegetable goodness.  I invented this 1 part fruit 2 part vegetable recipe.  The apples and carrots provide a sweet element and the carrot also helps to brighten the colour of the cake.  The courgettes provide lots of moisture so there is no need to add a splash of milk or extra liquid after sifting in the flour and bicarbonate of soda.  Fully loaded with fruit and vegetables this cake is a wonderful treat and has a distinct taste that is mature, but sweet enough to be eaten as an after dinner meal.  Try this cake with a dollop of Greek yoghurt and a drizzle of honey to make this a seriously interesting adaptation of comfort food.

Ingredients:

90g unsalted butter (melted), 3 medium apples (peeled, deseeded, boiled to soften and chopped into bite-size pieces), 70g grated carrots, 70g grated courgettes, 2 eggs, 4 tbsps honey,  1 1/2 tsps vanilla extract, 300g plain flour, 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda, 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg, 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon, 1 pinch of salt.

Method:

1. Prepare a cake tin (I used a bunt tin) greased and floured.
2. Pre heat the oven to 180 degrees C.
3. Mix together the butter fruits and vegetables in a large bowl.
4. Beat in the eggs, honey and vanilla extract.
5. Sift in the flour, bicarbonate of soda, spices and salt.
6. Fold in until well mixed.
7. Place into the cake tin and even out.
8. Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes.
9. Check that the cake is firm to the touch before taking the cake out to cool.
10. Leave to rest on a wire rack for 15 minutes before serving.  The cake tastes just as good steamed as it does cooled.

Christmas Cake

My kinda Christmas

For the Christmas before last I wanted to create another memorable novelty cake which shouted Christmas but embraced the cultural diversity of the company I was in.  The African diaspora is extremely vast so black people cannot be identified by one cultural practice or one artistic interpretation.  So… I wanted to create a cake that: influenced by the colours of Ghana, the meaning of Christmas (as represented by the star), a black jolly Santa Claus (who was not only delivering Christmas cheer but playing the drums), because this Christmas was going to be full of African pride, laughter and completely unique to this celebration.  If you would like to try your very own novelty Christmas Cake then please use this tried and tested recipe by Levi Roots.  Not only is this a delicious cake but it is perfect for practicing decorations on with layers of icing that wont collapse it and be ridiculously overwhelming.

This recipe was taken from Levi Roots Caribbean Food Made Easy with Levi Roots (BBC Books, 2009).

Black Santa plays the drums

A Ghanaian Christmas

Ingredients:

250g currants, 250g raisins, 150g no – soak pitted prunes (quartered), 115g cut mixed peel, 300ml dark rum, 250g softened butter, 200g dark brown soft sugar, 5 eggs (lightly beaten), 250g self – raising flour, 50g blanched almonds (roughly chopped), 1/2 tsp mixed spice, 1 tsp vanilla extract.

Method:

1. Put the dried fruit and mixed peel in a saucepan and cover with rum.
2. Bring to the boil, stir, then immediately turn off the heat.
3. Cover and leave the fruit to macerate in the rum either overnight or up to 2 days, stirring from time to time.
4. Pre heat the oven to 160 degrees c.
5. Grease and with baking parchment line a 10 inch round cake tin or in another shape of your choice.  You can always cut the cake into a different shape if you do not have another shaped tin.
6. Cream together the butter and sugar in a large bowl until pale then beat in the eggs a little at the time adding 1 tbsp of flour after each addition until smooth and creamy.
7. Beat in the remaining flour.
8. Stir in the almonds, spice and vanilla extract followed by the fruit.
9. Mix well, adding a couple of spoonfuls of rum if the mixture is too stiff.
10. Spoon the mixture into the prepared tin, cover loosely with foil and bake for about 2 hours.
11. Remove the foil 30 minutes before the end of the cooking time.
12. The cake is ready when a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean.
13. While the cake is still warm make holes all over it with a skewer and pour over the 4 tbsps of rum.
14. Leave to cool in the tin overnight then turn the cake out.

Saffy’s Top Tip:

If you are not going to decorate the cake straight away you can wrap the cake in foil and store in a cool dry place for up to a week before decorating.

Great Cake/ Christmas Cake/ Fruit Cake

All is Cake & All is Rum

After taking some time away from blogging to travel and focus on my career goals I developed the concept of Kamaria’s Kitchen as a step up from being just a personal food blog encouraging others to try mew recipes which will not only benefit their health but nurture a better relationship with food.  In theory all food should be beneficial as long as you don’t take in too much of one thing and you adapt your food to specific dietary requirements.  However,  people are not just affected by food physically but emotionally too.  I have witnessed this first hand and I know that small steps and a little encouragement can go a long long way.  So with that said I wanted my first set of recipes to be based on a substance that is known as a medicine in the Caribbean.  Rum is an alcoholic beverage so if you are an alcoholic avoid this recipe at all costs but for those of you that aren’t, all is rum!  Rum is made from sugarcane byproducts, dark rum,  gold rum, spiced rum, elevating people’s spirits and the inspiring many fantastic soca songs rum is a beautiful thing when used well.

For Christmas I made a collection of great cakes and rum cakes as gifts to family members.  They went down a treat and firmly established my position as a head cook in the family.  I will proudly blow my own trumpet on this occasion because these cakes were the bees knees!  I made the great cakes 5 months in advance dousing them every few weeks with strong dark rum and for the other rum cake variations I soaked mixed fruits for months in advance as well.  It is very important to start the baking process of these cakes in the summer, it is all in the maturing.  ‘Tis the way of the Gran Gran I tell ye!

To decorate the cakes I used marzipan and fondant icing.  Great cakes are very good for decorating because they are dense and do not have that light fluffy texture so no need to worry about them collapsing on you.  I also recommend these cakes for other special occasions such as weddings, anniversary celebrations… basically when rum in drinks is just not enough.

There are several recipe books which aided me in baking my cakes.  All that I have provided I have tested and am happy with the results.  As for my Gran Gran’s recipe and the famous Bajan great cakes those will have to remain a secret.

Caribbean Cookery Secrets by David and Gwendolyn Daley (Right Way, 2013).

Caribbean Food Made Easy With Levi Roots by Levi Roots (Octopus Publishing Group Ltd, 2009).

Mary Berry’s Baking Bible by Mary Berry (BBC Books, 2009).

Ingredients:

175g natural glace cherries, 350g currants, 225g sultanas, 225g raisins, 175g chopped apricots (dried ready to eat), 75g chopped candied peel, 12 tbsps rum, 300g plain flour, 1/2 tsp nutmeg, 3 tsps ground mixed spice, 400g softened butter, 400g dark brown muscavado sugar, 5 large eggs, 65g chopped almonds, 2 tbsps black treacle, grated rind 1 lemon, grated rind 1 orange.

Method:

1. Put the cherries, currants, sultanas, raisins, apricots and chopped candied peel into a large bowl.
2. Add the rum and leave to soak overnight.
3. The next day measure the rest of the ingredients into a large bowl.
4. Fold in the soak fruits and spoon into a prepared cake tin a minimum of 9 inches.
5. Spread out the top of the cake with the back of the spoon.
6. Cover the top of the cake loosely with a double layer of baking parchment.
7. Pre heat the oven to 140 degrees C.
8. Bake for 4 hours and 30 minutes until the cake feels firm to the touch.
9. Leave to cool in the tin then when the cake is almost cold turn out, peel off the parchment and leave to finish cooling on a wire rack.
10. Pierce the base at intervals with a fine skewer and feed with a little brandy.
11. Once the cake is completely cold, wrap it in a double layer of parchment then in foil.
12. Store in a cool place for up to 3 months, feeding it at weekly to two week interviews with rum.

Saffy’s Top Tips:

1. Make it dark rum.  Very Dark Rum.
2. Do not substitute the sugar for caster sugar.
3. It is okay if you forget to feed the cake after a few weeks, the cake will not go off.