His results - Cranberry Sorbet

This is a delicious treat.

It came together in no time, especially since I could use my cheap, low tech, charity-shop-find ice cream maker. I think it cost me £4, still in it's box. I've churned out many a pint of delicious ice cream with it. The sorbet is tart, sweet and has a very intense flavour. It's yummy by itself but it seems a shame to not serve it alongside something. It wouldn't need to only go along with a desert either. I like hot and cold together in savoury meals too. On the side with a roast meat would be great. Floating icebergs in a rich soup would be magic too. I'll be thinking of what else to try it with!

Recipe 44 - Cranberry Sorbet

A few weeks back I picked up three big bags of cranberries for a pittance on last gasp clearance at the greengrocers. I put them in the freezer and warned Her to be keeping her eye out for some as a recipe involving cranberries was likely to pop up here soon.

I fancied sorbet and was very glad to see old faithful Mr Lebovitz have a recipe pop up near the top of the search results.

The recipe is here.

I have a cheap ice cream maker but She'll need to follow the advice for those without.

We'll need:

100g sugar
125ml, plus 60ml water
340g fresh or frozen cranberries (if frozen, thaw first)
pinch of salt
125ml orange juice, preferably freshly squeezed
optional: 1 tablespoon orange-flavored liqueur, such as Cointreau or Grand Marnier

His results - Heritage Red Velvet Cake

This was OK... It was a tasty cake but a bit dense. The vinegar and soda thing is weird and ineffective leavening technique. The frosting is insanely rich and sweet and the recipe makes double what you need. Fostings like these don't exist in british baking so I suppose that goes some way to explain why I don't really have a taste for them. My frosting was also very runny even with a a bit more than the suggested icing sugar.

It was a tasty enough cake but, with a few tweaks, could be a lot better. I'd look elsewhere for a red velvet recipe really...

His results - Brazilian Carrot Cake

This was insanely easy! It also worked just fine in a pair of loaf pans.

The texture was fantastic. Moist and tender.

It was a huge hit at work but I prefer my cakes a little sweeter. I'd agree with her and suggest using a little extra chocolate topping. It's a great cake though and I'm sure it would be versatile.

Try it!

Recipe 42 - Brazilian Carrot Cake

The criteria for this week's recipe were simple.

1) it should be quick. She has her family visiting her so would like to get the baking done ASAP.

2) it should allow Her to use the bundt pan I bought her on a recent anniversary

3) it should be delicious

4) it should be something not too similar to anything we've already done

I think I've done well in choosing this Brazilian Carrot Cake recipe from the Technicolor Kitchen. This isn't the first time I've chosen a recipe from there and I doubt it will be the last. I visit the blog daily. I like the little anecdotes that come with the recipes, I like the glimpse of life half a world away, and I love the incredible photography.

This sounds like a nice, interesting cake. We'll need:

250g carrots – approx. 3 small carrots
260g all purpose flour
320g sugar
4 eggs – if you use very large eggs cut down to 3
200ml vegetable oil
1 tablespoon baking powder
pinch of salt

Chocolate icing:
4 tablespoons hot chocolate powder or 2 tablespoons cocoa powder
4 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
2 tablespoons milk

His results- Grapefruit Pudding Cake

In the photo with the recipe it shows a square piece of this cake (inverted, so I followed their lead). They'd clearly baked it in a larger dish and trimmed it but the only instructions were for baking in a ramekin.

I'm happy to report it worked fine in the larger dish I used. I left it in the oven for the longer end of the guide time then, when it came out lifted it out of the hot water immediately and left it to cool on a rack.

When I cut it the centre was very slightly runny but the reason was I got a bit impatient and cut it before it was fully cool. Beware of that!

It was a yummy cake anyway. It was nice and tart from the zest with a lovely creamy pudding base. The 'cake' layer was, as always with egg white based fluffy fairly insubstantial. I was glad that it was a little thinner in mine than in the other folks. This was great for me although she had a little more of a struggle with it I think... It was the first recipe for a very long time where I kept the whole thing to myself! It was both pretty small and slightly impractical to transport. And delicious...