Hummingbird Carrot Cake

Beautiful, delish and darn right naughty, but it tastes AMAZING!

Cake Ingredients

300g soft light brown sugar
3 eggs
300ml sunflower oil
300g plain flour
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp ground ginger
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp vanilla extract (I forgot this)
300g carrots, grated
Zest of half an orange
50g shelled walnuts, chopped, plus extra, to decorate
50g pecans, chopped, plus extra to decorate

Icing Ingredients

600g icing sugar (I only used 500g and it was fine)
100g butter, at room temperature
250g cream cheese, cold

Method

Preheat the oven to 170C. Prepare 3 x 20cm cake tins with loose bottoms by greasing then lining the bottoms with greaseproof paper.

Put the sugar, eggs and oil in a free-standing electric mixer with a paddle attachment and beat until all the ingredients are well mixed (don’t worry if it looks slightly split). Slowly add the flour, bicarbonate of soda, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, salt, orange zest and vanilla extract and continue to beat until well mixed.

Stir in the grated carrots and walnuts by hand. Pour into the prepared cake tins and smooth over. Bake in the preheated oven for 20–25 minutes (mine took 40 minutes, which seems to be the feedback from other cooks, too), or until golden brown and the sponge bounces back when touched. Leave the cakes to cool slightly in the tins before turning out onto a wire cooling rack to cool completely.

To make the icing, beat the butter and sugar with the paddle attachment again until well mixed. Add the cream cheese, then beat again until well mixed. Turn the speed to high and continue to beat until light and fluffy but stop when you reach this point; if you over beat it the mixture will turn runny.

When the cakes are cold, spread about one-quarter of the cream cheese icing over it with a palette knife (I used less). Place a second cake on top and spread another quarter of the icing over it (again, I used less). Top with the last cake and spread the remaining icing over the top and sides. Decorate with walnuts around the edges and chopped pecans on top – the cake is now delicious.

Words of Wisdom - Sean Connery

Love may not make the world go round, but I must admit that it makes the ride worthwhile - by Sean Connery

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Jamie's awesome spinach & ricotta cannelloni!

This is a super tasty meal that doesn't break the bank!

INGREDIENTS

• 400g spinach
• Extra-virgin olive oil
• ¼ tsp ground nutmeg 
• 1 onion, diced
• 2 garlic cloves, squashed
• 2 x 400g tins of tomatoes
• 1 bay leaf
• ½ bunch of basil, leaves picked
• Grated zest of ½ lemon
• 250g ricotta
• 1 egg, beaten
• 2 tsp grated parmesan 
• 150g cannelloni, about 14
• 2 x 125g mozzarella balls, sliced

main courses | serves 6

1. Preheat the oven to 180C/gas 4. Put the spinach and a drizzle of olive oil in a large pan over a low heat. Add the nutmeg, season with salt and pepper, cover and leave to sweat. Help the kids to stir it occasionally until the spinach has cooked down. Place in a bowl and set to one side to cool a little.
2. In the same pan, heat a drizzle of olive oil and gently sweat the onion until soft. Add the garlic, tomatoes, bay leaf, a few basil leaves and lemon zest and let it gently simmer for 20 minutes until the sauce has thickened. Season with salt and pepper.
3. Have the kids squeeze the moisture out of the spinach into the bowl. Place the spinach on a board so you can chop it up. Return the spinach to the liquid in the bowl and get the kids to stir in the ricotta, beaten egg and parmesan. Season to taste. Sit the piping bag in a jug, fold its edges over the rim, then spoon in the spinach mixture. Have the kids help pipe the mixture into the cannelloni tubes and lay them in a 20cm x 25cm oven dish.
4. Spread the tomato sauce over the cannelloni. Scatter over most of the basil, lay the mozzarella slices on top, drizzle with extra-virgin olive oil and season. Place in the oven and cook for 35–40 minutes or till the top is golden and the pasta tender (if the top browns too fast, cover the dish with foil). Remove from the oven and let stand for a few minutes before serving with the remaining basil.

Per serving 432 cals, 27.1g fat (11g saturated), 18.8g protein, 25.1g carbs, 6.7g sugars

Words of Wisdom - Frank Sinatra

People often remark that I'm pretty lucky. Luck is only important in so far as getting the chance to sell yourself at the right moment. After that, you've got to have talent and know how to use it - Frank Sinatra

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