Friday Food

Chocolate Upside Down Cake

Prepare as follows:

Part 1

Mix together in a bowl:

1 tablespoon of cocoa

Scant 2 ozs (50g) chopped nuts (I use freshly chopped walnuts, but any nuts or nut mix will do)

Scant 1 oz (20g) Demerara sugar.

Part 2

Boil the kettle ready for Part 3. While it is boiling:

Heat the oven to 350 deg F (180 deg C)

Mix well together in another bowl the following ingredients:

4 ozs (125 g) soft margarine

4 ozs (125 g) sugar

2 eggs

4 ozs (125g) Self Raising (All Purpose) Flour

1 rounded tablespoon cocoa.

Part 3

Make up half a pint (0.3 L) of STRONG coffee (use approx 3 teaspoonsful if using instant) and 20g (scant 1 oz) sugar. Stir well.

Part 4 - Trust me!

Grease a 2 pint (1.5L) pudding bowl.

Add the well mixed Part 2

Sprinkle Part 1 on top.

Finally, and as quickly as possible, pour the coffee mix of Part 3 on top. Pop it into the oven before you have time to panic that you have done it wrongly and wait for 50 minutes before you are tempted to open the door.....

When it is cooked - turn it out onto a serving plate and serve hot or warm with either vanilla icecream or cream

Enjoy.

PS  For those of you that have asked about Demerara sugar there is a listing on Wikipedia, or you can read about it HERE

Friday Food

Are you feeling hungry?  Do you like pancakes/crepes?  This recipe is delicious, quick and easy.  Make sure you read the instructions to the end - it would be a shame to miss out on the last ingredient!

Make enough pancakes in advance so that there are two (or more) for each person.  Leave them to cool in a stack until you need them.  They can even be frozen and defrosted.

When you are ready to serve them make half a pint of STRONG coffee.  Sweeten it with approx 2 teaspoons of sugar, you can add more if you have a sweet tooth and add one measure of brandy.

Find a large sturdy frying pan or skillet.

Take the pancakes and fold each one in half, then in half again.  Lie them in the pan as evenly spaced as you can and pour the coffee mix over the top.  Gently poach until they are hot, you can always do them in two batches if you are quick.

Place a serving of pancakes on each plate.  (Allow the sauce to continue bubbling while you do this, it will intensify the flavour). 

As quickly as possible, and while the pancakes are still hot, gently open the fold to make a small pocket.  Into this insert a scoop of cold, creamy icecream....

Spoon the hot sauce on top and enjoy!

(Can you leave it at only two?)