Honeybuns gluten free book recipe
Hallo,
Hope you’re not feeling too Snowy about the Ears-‘Tis exceedingly frosty here this morn & very beautiful.
We’re happy to share this wonderful recipe for chocolate & prune cake with you- perfect for baking as a traybake or, as in the photo, you can go the posh route & serve as rinky dink little pre puds-.The recipe & photo are straight from our Honeybuns gluten free baking book. To buy our book, and it would make a terrific little gift, you can pop onto our shop, www.honeybuns.co.uk/shop
Our featured recipe is part of an International recipe Advent Calendar. Do check the link for lovely recipes.
http://www.lexiophiles.com/english/international-recipe-advent-calendar-2012
Recipe Advent Calendar
Rinky Dink ‘pre- puds’
The recipe is a the end of this blog.
We are eagerly awaiting the arrival of our little baby donkey-.we’re thinking Cino as a name as he does indeed have the colouring of a Cappuccino. Once settled down we’ll post some pictures. Belle, Bee & Freddie form the rest of our menagerie & they are setting the festive scene, munching hay in the barn and giving of an aura of contentment. Feels so peaceful when you go to tuck them in on a starry wintry night.
I’m drifting right off cakes here. Righteyho- Sally is working like a dervish to get your parcels off up and away on time. Thank you all so very much for your custom. We truly are a very small, tight knit outfit run on typically slim artisanal margins. Your orders are greatly appreciated and keep us on the straight and narrow!
Sally keeping up with Demand of orders
Last orders are Tuesday 18th December. If you have any questions regarding Christmas gifts, please do not hesitate to give us a call. We’re happy and here to help.T 01963 23597 or th****@ho*******.uk. Sal will be flat out hectic next week but we’ll all be on stand by to answer the phones. All except to Matt who likes to stay mysterious-
If I don’t blog again before Christmas, I’d like to wish everyone a fabulous Christmas & New Year,
Thank you for all your support & hope to see you in March in person when we reopen the Bee Shack after winter hibernation.
Bee Shack reopens in March
Happy Christmas from us all at Honeybuns xxx
Chocolate and prune cakes
After a fantastic cycling and camping holiday in the Agen region of South-West France, I returned home keen to devise a recipe using the stunning pruneauxd’Agen that we had feasted on. These were sold at farm gates, alongside superlatively good Armagnacs. This cake is not too sweet and perfect served in thin slivers after supper.
150 g/5½ oz/generous ½ cup butter, plus extra, melted, for brushing
250 g/9 oz/1½ cups pitted prunes, quartered
4 tbsp Armagnac
600 g/1 lb 5 oz milk chocolate, chopped
6 eggs
1 tbsp espresso coffee granules, dissolved in 1 tbsp hot water
200 g/7 oz/2 cups ground almonds
100 g/3½ oz chestnut flour
1 tbsp orange oil
¼ tsp vanilla extract
topping
25 g/1 oz/2 tbsp butter
50 g/1¾ oz dark chocolate, chopped
12 pitted prunes
makes: 12 squares or rounds
health: gluten-free
cook: 35-40 minutes
store: 7 days in airtight container. Freeze well
compost: eggshells
Preheat the oven to 170°C/325°F/Gas 3. Brush a 30 x 23 x 4 cm/12 x 9 x 1½ in baking tin with melted butter.
Put the prunes in a small pan, pour the Armagnac over and heat gently for
a minute or 2 then set aside to cool.
Melt the butter with the chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over a saucepan
of gently simmering water, stirring until smooth (or in a microwave).
Crack the eggs into a large mixing bowl and add the prunes, Armagnac, coffee, ground almonds, chestnut flour, orange oil and vanilla. Add the melted butter-and-chocolate mixture. Using an electric mixer, beat at high speed until the mixture is creamy and you can see bubbles rising to the surface.
Spoon the mixture into the tin and spread out evenly. Bang the tin firmly on a work surface to get rid of air pockets. Bake for 35-40 minutes, until the surface springs back when pressed gently with your fingertips. A flat cake skewer will come out clean when the cake is ready. Leave to cool in the tin.
For the topping, melt the butter with the chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over
a saucepan of gently simmering water, stirring until smooth (or in a microwave). Dip each prune into the chocolate mixture and arrange on the cake. Drizzle the remaining chocolate mixture over the cake if you wish. Slide the cake out of the tin and cut into 12 squares or rounds.
Great for kids: To make a non-alcoholic version, add the chopped prunes without soaking them in Armagnac.
