Pear and ginger cake with ginger glaze

Ginger - guaranteed to cure colds and keep you young. It also protects you from radiation if eaten daily. Apparently. (I wonder if they know that in Fukushima). Yet again, I seemed to have a glut of nearly-rotten pears which I just couldn't bear to throw away, so this recipe which used 2 (or 3, by the time I'd cut out the brown bits) was ideal.

Pear and ginger loaf cake

Pear and Ginger loaf cake

200g butter (unsalted preferable but not essential)
100g soft brown sugar
100g caster sugar
2 large eggs, beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Half a teaspoon ground ginger
200g self raising flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 pears, peeled and chopped
2 balls of stem ginger in syrup, finely chopped

Glaze: 3 tablespoons syrup from the ginger and 3 tablespoons light brown sugar

Heat oven to 160/gas 3. Cream the butter and sugar together, then add the eggs and vanilla gradually. Fold in the flour and baking powder and then the pears and ginger. Place the mixture in a lined 2lb loaf tin and bake for 60-70 minutes. Make the glaze by mixing together the syrup and the sugar, adding a half a teaspoon of water. Tip it over the cake and allow it to cool in the tin.

I had run out of self-raising flour so added an extra 3 teaspoons of baking powder to the recipe; and I used only half the amount of sugar - unintentionally - but you wouldn't know.

Talking of gluts, I have a few apples to use up...

... all suggestions gratefully received

No sweat soup

Most soup recipes will tell you of the importance of sweating your vegetables to develop a deep, rich taste. But - shh, don't tell the children - rules are made to be broken and you can save precious minutes of prep time by simply putting some roughly chopped raw veg in a pan, adding water and a stock cube or 2 and boiling until everything is soft. Then blend and add something fattening like cream, cheese, bits of bacon etc.

From sad...

I have just made soup this way, using an old cauliflower, two onions, a clove of garlic, a potato, two stock cubes, and 50g Stilton - added at the end.

...to glad

This was eaten with yesterday's baguette.  To revive old bread (not sliced), run the loaf very quickly under cold water and put it in a hot oven for about 10 minutes.  Eat straight away.

Last night I spotted 4 pears in the fruit bowl that were 'on the turn'.  I peeled and sliced them, put them in an ovenproof dish, covered them with chocolate sponge mixture and baked for about 30 minutes at 170/ gas 4 until 'set' (see note below). Result - chocolate pear pudding, served hot with cream or cold in slices.  

Note: Don't wait for the middle bit to set or the sponge around the edges will be dry. The middle is therefore the best bit, kind of chocolate-saucy and rich.

Chocolate sponge:
100g caster sugar
100g butter
2 eggs
75g self raising flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
25g cocoa powder

Cream the butter and sugar together and fold in the dry ingredients (you may need to sieve the cocoa powder).

Nature's microwave meal

Baked potatoes

Stick them in the microwave (or oven, or a combination of both).  We like ours with lashings of beans and grated cheese.  What's your favourite filling?

Leftovers: Cool them and scoop out the flesh.  Mix it with a combination of grated cheese, and either a blob of cream cheese, cream or butter and some black pepper.  Squish the cheesy-creamy mixture back into the skins, put them in the fridge and bake for about 30 minutes in a hottish oven when you are ready to eat them.

Ingredients for a quick pear crumble

Pear Crumble

Pudding tonight is pear crumble.  Crumble mix can be made in a food processor in about 2 minutes and stored in an airtight container in the fridge for 3 weeks or so.  You can then create a delicious pudding in no time at all from any sad-looking fruit that happens to be hanging around.  Just chop it up, add a splash or two of water, some sugar if you think it needs it, top with crumble mixture and bake for about 40 minutes until the fruit juice is bubbling over the edges of the crumble.  These can be made in miniature in ramekins - good for children and those unable to exercise portion control!  Serve with something cold and creamy - the children like Ambrosia custard straight from the carton.

Crumble:
Mix together 175g plain flour and 140g butter until they resemble fine breadcrumbs.  Add 75g any sugar and 100g oats and stir together.