The Weekend Kitchen

This weekend was a busy one for me but i still managed to get a lot done in the kitchen.

There was bread making.

Then I picked some Lemon Myrtle leaves to be dried and ground for baking and some were made into a a liquid.  I will post more about this later in the week.

I also baked a pear and almond cake with ginger syrup.  And it was delicious.

Pear and Almond Cake With Ginger Syrup

185 gm Soft Butter
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
2 Cups of Dark Brown Sugar
3 Eggs
1 Cup Ground Almonds
2 Cups of Self Raising Flour
1/2 Cup Milk
2 Ripe Pears, Peeled, cored and each cut into 12 segments
A 3 cm Piece of Ginger, Finely Grated

If you have a fan forced oven preheat it to 160 degrees other wise heat your oven to 180 degrees.
Line the base of a 22 cm spring form tin and grease the sides.
Use and electric mixer to cream the butter, half the sugar and the vanilla extract until light and creamy.  then add the eggs one at a time, mixing well between each one, until fully incorporated.
Then using a spatula fold in the ground almonds.  Once the almonds are fully combined fold in half the flour then the milk followed by the remaining flour until all are fully combined.
Scoop into the tin smoothing out the top then press your pear segments into the batter.
Bake for 1 hour or until springy to the touch in the centre.
Mean while add the remaining sugar, the ginger and 1 cup of water to a saucepan and heat over a low heat until the sugar has dissolved.  Then raise the heat and bring to a boil for 10 minutes until it is slightly syrupy then strain into a jug.
When the cake is cooked cool in the pan for 5 minutes then release the sides.  Brush a bit of the syrup over the top of the hot cake to give it a nice glaze and then let the cake cool completely.
Serve with a good dollop of thick natural yogurt and some of the remaining syrup to drizzle over each piece.

And finally I roasted up some of those lovely tomatoes we were given with zucchini, chorizo and lots of garlic.  It was lovely served with pasta for a simple supper.

What happened in you kitchen over the weekend?