Someone was looking for a "soft aubergine/eggplant spread with tomatoes" and I knew exactly what they were talking about. There's a dish in Russia, our Eastern neighbour, which is called IKRA or fake caviar. I got this recipe from Russian friend Galina back in Edinburgh sometimes around 2000. Still makes a regular appearance in our kitchen. It's lovely on a slice of toast, or as a condiment or spread on a mezze-table. Russian aubergine spread IKRA 1 large aubergine/eggplant 1 large onion 2 garlic cloves 2 tomatoes 1 Tbsp olive oil or vegetable oil 2 Tbsp white wine vinegar or lemon juice salt and freshly ground black pepper fresh parsley or dill Prick the aubergine with a fork here and there, then place into a preheated 200C/400F oven and bake for about 60 minutes, until fully cooked and slightly charred on the outside. Flip over once or twice during baking. Remove from the oven, let it cool. Then cul half lengthwise and scoop out the flesh. Place into a cutting b...
A coffee cake, defined:
Are you in camp No 1 or No 2? I tend to go with number two - I think that's also how coffee cake is usually defined in the UK (evidence: Mary Berry's coffee cake in The Telegraph has coffee in the batter and in the icing/frosting). However, about half of my readers hail from across the pond, and there definition No 1 seems to be more common (evidence: The Pioneer Woman's "the best coffee cake ever" has no coffee in it; you won't find any coffee in Martha Stewart's 12 favourite coffee cakes either). I'm not sure how coffee cake is defined in down under. Anyone?
In any case, here's a cake I've baked no less than four times during the last week - twice for my family and friends, and two cakes for the pop-up café on Saturday. Although modest in appearance, I love the strong cinnamon flavour and the moist crumb, and the just ever-so-crisp caramelised sugar topping.
I warn you - it's rather sweet, so my Estonian readers may actually want to reduce the amount of sugar a little. Also, as the cake contains yoghurt AND baking soda, it is important that you have your oven and cake pan ready before mixing the cake batter. If you wait too long with baking, the soda reacts with the yoghurt and you won't get a soft and lovely cake, but a flat dense one.
Cinnamon cake
(Kaneelikook)
Serves 12
150 g unsalted butter, softened
200 g caster sugar
2 large eggs
250 g plain yoghurt (regular, not thick)
270 g all-purpose flour
2 tsp vanilla sugar or extract
1 tsp baking powder
0.5 tsp bicarbonate soda/baking soda
0.5 tsp salt
Cinnamon sugar:
4 Tbsp caster sugar
1 Tbsp ground cinnamon
Preheat the oven to 175 C/350 F. Line a 24 cm/10 inch springform tin with a parchment paper.
Beat butter and sugar until pale and fluffy, either using your stand mixer or a regular electric mixer. Add eggs, one at a time, whisking after each addition. Fold in the yoghurt.
Measure the dry ingredients into another bowl, stir to combine, then fold gently into the egg and butter mixture.
Spoon half of the cake batter into the prepared cake tin, then sprinkle a generous 2/3 of the cinnamon mixture on top. Top with the rest of the cake batter and sprinkle the rest of the cinnamon sugar on top of the cake.
Bake in the middle of the preheated oven for 45-50 minutes, until the cake is lovely golden brown and pulls slightly away from the sides of the pan. Test for doneness - a toothpick inserted in the centre of the cake should come out clean.
Cool in the cake pan, then transfer onto a serving plate and cut into slices.
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