Cranberry Upside Down Cake

This recipe was accidentally removed from the blog, but due to popular demand, and with fresh cranberries appearing in the shops, we felt we should re post it. Laura’s on Cowbridge Road have been stocking fresh cranberries on a regular basis in recent weeks.

Cranberry Upside Down Cake. Serve with Christmas pudding ice cream

• 150g of butter, unsalted
• 100g brown sugar
• 225g fresh cranberries 
• 50ml fresh orange juice
• 2 eggs, room temperature
• 100ml whole milk, at room temperature
• 170g plain flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• ¼  tsp salt
• 100g granulated sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• You will need  20cm cake tin, too.

1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2.  Put 50g of butter and the brown sugar into a frying pan or saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until melted and bubbly andyou have a caramel.  Pour into a cake tin and spread evenly.

3.  Cook together the cranberries and orange juice on medium heat until the cranberries begin to pop.  Remove from heat and pour evenly over the cooled caramel.

4.  Separate the egg yolks from the whites.  Set aside.  Stir together flour, baking powder, and salt in a small mixing bowl.

5.  In a large mixing bowl beat  100g of softened butter to lighten.  Add the sugar and cream until light and fluffy.  Beat in the egg yolks one at a time.  Stir in vanilla extract.  Mix well.

6.  Add flour and milk, alternating and adding only ⅓  of each at a time starting and ending with the flour (like this, ⅓ of the flour, ½  the milk, ⅓  flour, ½  milk, ⅓  flour).  Stir until combined, but don’t overmix.

7.  In another bowl beat the egg whites until they hold soft peaks.  Fold in ⅓ of the egg whites into the batter then gently fold in the rest until all egg white is incorporated.  Pour the batter into the pan on top of the cranberries and caramel.  Smooth the top with a spatula.

8.  Bake for 30-35 minutes or until the top is golden brown (really golden, not light golden) and the cake pulls away from the edge of the pan.  If you still are not sure then make sure that a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 15 minutes.  Run a knife around the edges to loosen then place a plate right side down on top of the pan and flip the pan over to release the cake onto the plate.

Foodbank Collection@ Park View

We are delighted to announce that the Park View Cafe will now act as a collection point for  Cardiff Foodbank, joining the growing net work of venues which are supporting this excellent and much needed Cardiff resource.

 “We are delighted to be able to offer the residents of Canton and Victoria Park this opportunity to donate any surplus food which they might have in their cupboards,” said Park View catering manager, Rob Khoo.

“Cardiff Foodbank does a tremendous amount of work in combating the hidden hunger which afflicts certain sections of our Cardiff community.

“I am confident that by offering the Park View Cafe as a collection point for surplus food donations, the local community will support our commitment to this excellent scheme so we can play a small part in ensuring the ongoing success of Cardiff Foodbank and prevent families going hungry.”

How it works

The system could not be easier. We have set up a  food collection box inside the Park View Cafe and all you have to do is drop off any surplus food you may have, be it a few tins of beans or bag of rice, pasta etc.

Food is donated by individuals, schools, businesses and churches and is sorted and stored for future use in the Cardiff Foodbank warehouse in Ely.

The kind of food stuff we are looking for

Milk (UHT ), cereal and porridge oats, pudding (tinned), custard, tinned tomatoes, pasta / rice/ lentils, savoury rice, noodles, couscous, tinned Vegetables, instant mash / tinned potatoes, tinned meat, tinned fish, tinned fruit, sugar, biscuits / snack bars, vegetable oil, jam, tea bags and coffee, chocolate

Front line professional care workers such as health visitors, charities, church pastoral workers, social services, etc issue clients vouchers.

Clients collect food from our distribution centers across the City, where they find a safe place to chat over a hot drink and snack and receive signposting to a range of support services.

• The Cardiff Foodbank is a long-established  charities, setting up in Cardiff in 2009. In the past 12 months Cardiff Foodbank has been able to help more than 3,000 people who, due to financial pressure, have found it difficult to provide their family with enough food.

•  Nearly 50% (1,827) of those fed in Cardiff are as a result of benefit cuts and delays. Over 20% received (865) food due to low income. 

• A Christian Initiative enabling the whole community to fight hidden hunger in Cardiff, where upwards of 50,000 are deemed 'deprived' and in some areas 78.5% of children live in benefit reliant families.

http://www.cardifffoodbank.org.uk

PUMP UP THE PUDDING

Crown Prince squash

Lots of pumpkins about at the moment. If you can get your hands on a variety know as Crown Prince, then so much better as they have the better flavour, but the ubiquitous orange ones will serve this recipe, as will Butternut and Acorn squash.

You will need:

425g pumpkin puree

3 eggs

225ml single cream

2 teaspoons flour

65g Brown sugar

1 tablespoon sugar

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Quarter teaspoon ground cloves

Quarter teaspoon ground ginger

Half teaspoon salt

A pinch of black pepper

2 teaspoons of brandy (optional)

300g of shortcrust pastry

Roll out the pastry and line a 22cm pie dish. Chill for an hour.

Preheat the oven to 190C/375F gas mark5.

Prick the bottom of the pastry, line with baking parchment and fill with baking beans.

Bake blind for 15 minutes.

Remove the pie case from oven. Remove the beans and paper and return to the oven for another 5 to 7 minutes. Set aside to cool.

In a small saucepan whisk together 50ml of the single cream and the 2 tablespoons of flour over a low heat until it comes to the boil and starts to thicken. Slowly whisk in the rest of the cream.

Continue whisking until the mixture returns to the boil. Remove from the heat.

In a medium bowl whisk together the pumpkin puree and three eggs.

In another bowl combine the spices, sugars and seasoning, then add to the pumpkin mixture, followed by the cream.

Whisk in the brandy, if using.

Pour the spicy pumpkin mixture into the pie  shell and bake for 45 to 50 minutes until the centre is just set. If the pastry edge is browning to quickly, cover the edges with some foil.

Cool completely on a rack before cutting.

Serve with chocolate ice cream.
A nice little foodie touch is to toast a handful of pumpkin seeds, then blitz  them in a grinder. Sprinkle over the pie as a garnish.

News update

Due to changes which have taken place over the past month or so, Park View Cafe will not be opening on Saturdays for the foreseeable future.
I know that a PVC breakfast has been a special weekend treat for many of our customers, who maybe can't make it to see us during the week, so our apologise to you, and all our regular weekend customers, who have enjoyed a walk in Victoria Park then a cuppa with us.
Other news is that we have taken over the running of the St John's Church tea rooms from Monday to Thursday. If you are visiting Cardiff city centre, then please pop in and see us.

Taking the Bis

Fig & walnut biscotti

I was watching the Great British Bake-Off last night and the contestants’ challenge was to make crackers, which reminded me of this biscotti recipe. A savoury version of Italy’s favourite sweet biscuits. Perfect for accompanying an evening of wine and cheese. And who could fault an evening of wine and cheese. Give it a go and let us know how you get on.

Ingredients
400g plain flour, plus extra for dusting
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
150g butter
50g walnut pieces, roughly chopped
75g dried figs, roughly chopped
100ml milk
2 medium eggs, beaten
Freshly ground black pepper


Method
Preheat the oven to 180°C, gas mark 4.  Line a large baking sheet with baking parchment.  Place the flour, baking powder and salt into a large bowl.  Add the butter and rub with your finger tips until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.
Mix in the walnuts and figs.  Add the milk and beaten egg.  Mix together to form a soft dough.
Turn out on to a well-floured surface and with floured hands shape into 2 even-sized 25-30cm long logs.  Place onto the prepared baking sheet.  Sprinkle with freshly ground black pepper.  Bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes or until golden.  Remove from the oven and reduce the temperature to 150C, gas mark 2.
Leave the biscotti logs to cool for 10 minutes, then using a serrated bread knife cut into about 24 x 1-2cm wide slices.  Place these back onto the lined baking sheet in a single layer and return to the oven.  Bake for 40 minutes, then turn the oven off and leave the biscotti to cool in the oven.  Serve to accompany cheese at the end of a meal or as a starter or snack – they are particularly good with gooey cheeses such as Talleggio.
The biscotti will keep for a good couple of weeks in an airtight container.

Preparation time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 70 minutes (plus cooling time)
Serves 24

A spicy yellow split-pea soup

This very yummy soup builds on the techniques used in making the chickpea curry, especially in the cooking of the onions and the addition of lemon juice at the end. The flavours of this soup brings back memories of backpacking through Turkey and eating at roadside restaurants in Central Anatolia.

Ingredients

350g of yellow split-peas
1 large onion, finely chopped
4-6 tomatoes, skinned, deseeded and diced
2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1 teaspoon each of cumin seeds, ground coriander, fenugreek seeds, turmeric
Half a teaspoon of black onion seeds
Quarter of teaspoon of cayenne pepper
2 Bay leaves
Three tablespoons of vegetable oil
Salt and pepper
Lemon to taste

What you do next is....
Heat the oil, add the garlic and onions and cook until the onions start to brown around the edges.
Add the cumin seeds, ground coriander and fenugreek seeds. Cook for 30 seconds then add the split peas. Stir a couple of times to get everything nice and mixed up then add a litre of water or chicken or vegetable stock.
Bring to a boil, turn down the heat and add the Bay Leaves, turmeric, cayenne pepper and onion seeds. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes before adding the diced tomato and salt and pepper. Cover and cook on a gentle heat until the split peas are cooked. The peas will absorb the stock, so be prepared to add more liquid to maintain a soupy consistency. A minute or two before you are ready to serve, add a generous squeeze of lemon.

Curry Night at Park View

Unfortunately there will not be a Curry Night at the Park View Cafe this month. We host our very popular Curry Nights at the Park View on the first Thursday of each month, but due to a number of unforeseen events, July's CN has had to be cancelled.
Apologies to all those who had planned on attending tonight's feast, but we will be back in August. So make a date in your diaries for Thursday, August 2.
As a rule, three different curries, homemade on the premises, are available, one of which is vegetarian. Your curry comes with a choice of rice, chips (and 'arf'n'arf) nan, poppadoms and pickles. A cracking meal!
But you don't have to wait until August to enjoy good food and hospitality at the Park View Cafe. We are open six days a week and serve a variety of main meals, snacks, cakes, tea and coffee. And our full breakfast is awesome. No, it really is, but come and find out for yourselves. We are on Cowbridge Road East, Canton, Cardiff, opposite Victoria Park.

Here's a simple but fantastic tasting Chickpea dish. What makes it a little bit more interesting is the addition of the raw onion mixture before serving.

Serves 6

Two x 400g tins of chickpeas
300g finely chopped onions
400ml water or vegetable or chicken stock
3 teaspoons of salt
1 fresh, hot green chilli (if you are a chilli fiend add more)
1 tablespoon of finely grated fresh ginger
4 tablespoons of lemon juice
6 tablespoons of vegetable oil
1 400g tin of chopped tomatoes
1 tablespoon each of ground coriander and ground cumin
Half a teaspoon of turmeric
2 teaspoons of gram masala
quarter of a teaspoon of cayenne pepper

First take two tablespoons of the finely chopped onions and place in a bowl along with the green chilli, grated ginger, lemon juice and 1 teaspoon of salt. Put to one side.
Fry the remaining onions in the vegetable oil until the onions start to brown. Add the chopped tomatoes. Cook this mixture for five to six minutes.
Add the coriander, cumin and turmeric. Cook for 30 seconds. Add the drained chickpeas along with 400ml of water or stock.Add the rest of the salt, garam masala and cayenne pepper.
Cover and cook on a low heat for 20min. Mix in the onion mixture just before serving.


Let us know what you think of this recipe.

The grand champion of champions!

Joe Rankmore collecting his winners trophy, flanked by the esteemed panel of judges.

And the winner is....

Joe  Rankmore has been crowned Champion of Champions at the Great Canton Bake Off, which took place at the Park View Cafe on Saturday, April 21.
Joe's Victoria Sponge was judged best in show by a panel of eminent experts.
 On the judging panel were Rob Khoo, who manages the Park View Cafe, Jon, a Park View Cafe service user, Sarah, from The Cakehouse, Becca, from Crafty Cakes and Derek 'The Weatherman' Brockway.
In all, there were six categories, with entries into all but one category.
Nobody felt up to the challenge of baking an item for the Freebake category in the Savoury section, but in the same section there were entries in the Corned Beef Pie/Pasty category and the Quiche Lorraine category. Well done. In the Sweet section there was plenty for the judges to get their teeth into, with entries in all three categories; Victoria Sponge, Bara Brith and the Freebake category.
It was interesting to note while many promised to take part, when push came to shove, all that talking the talk didn't materialise into baking the cake, which is a shame. Come on! Just do. Baking is fun. The worse thing that can happen is that you have a nice afternoon out and you get to eat cake!
 But to those who did step up to the plate, congratulations on your efforts - it was a competition based on quality rather than quantity.
So therefor, a big thank you must go to all the entrants from everyone at Park View for supporting the first Great Canton Bake Off, and to the judges, who gave up their precious free time to share with us their knowledge and enthusiasm for bringing the community together through baking. In that respect, The Great Canton Bake Off was a resounding success.
 Another positive note is that people are already asking when we plan to hold the next one! There has been one suggestion that we should hold a bake off devoted to bread. I like this idea. Also a Christmas Bake Off. What do you think? It would be good to hear the thoughts of the Cardiff baking community. Don't be shy, post a comment. We would love to know what you are thinking. We would also like to thank a number of local businesses which put up posters to help promote The Great Canton Bake Off, they are: Jalo and Stitch, Chapter Arts, Fair Do's, Canton Community Centre, Brutons, Gusto Emporio, La Nouba and Bant A La Cart. Thank you for your support. And last, but by no means least, a massive thank you to Andy Smith at SmithHolland, who designed all the art work for the Great Canton Bake Off.  Fantastic design, Andy. It gave the event a distinctive and eye-catching look.
Below are the results of our first Great Canton Bake Off.

THE WINNERS

CHAMPION OF CHAMPIONS

Victoria Sponge baked by Joe Rankmore

BARA BRITH

baked by Stephen Johnson, Canton.

FREEBAKE (Sweet)

Lemon Crunch Cake baked by Llinos Huws, Victoria Park.

CORNED BEEF PASTY

baked by Stephen Johnson, Canton.

QUICHE LORRAINE

baked by Tracy Goode, Canton.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/30278929@N08/sets/72157629868029995/

The Great Canton Bake Off - April 21

The Park View Cafe is delighted to be hosting The Great Canton Bake Off, a baking competition which we hope will bring the local community together  in a fun way... and find out along the way the best Bara Brith baker in Cardiff and who can produce a super sponge.
Let's face it, there's nothing better than getting together with a cup of tea and a slice of cake! Yum!
The competition is open to all, not just residence of Canton so if you are an enthusiastic baker or have never baked a cake in your life, this is your chance to get involved and have a great day out to boot.
We have constructed The Great Canton Bake Off in a way which we hope will give everyone a chance to shine.
There are two sections, Sweet and Savoury, and those two sections are divided into three categories per section. Let's start with the Sweet section. The Sweet section is divided into Victoria Sponge, Bara Brith and a Free-bake. Free-bake is an open category where you can let your imagination run wild.
In the Savoury section the three categories are: Quiche Lorraine, Corned Beef pie or pasty and a Free-bake category.
Each section will be judged with the six winners going through to the grand final.
You can enter as many categories as you want, but only one item per category and the entry fee is £1 per item. There will be prizes. What kind of prizes? We have no idea as yet, but this being an Olympic year, it's the taking part which is important.
The Great Canton Bake Off will take place on Saturday, April 21. Registration will start at 12.30pm and will close at 1.30pm, but you can register beforehand. Registration forms will be available from the Park View Cafe from Tuesday, April 10 and hopefully from other outlets  in the Canton area. We'll let you know where and when as soon as possible.
We have organised a five-strong panel of experts to judge the competition, and they will judge each item on taste, texture and appearance. The judges' decision will be final.
You can follow and engage in The Great Canton Bake Off by following @parkviewcafe  on Twitter and use #cantonbakeoff
If you are thinking of taking part in The Great Cardiff Cake Off, which is being held in May in support of Ty Hafan, then The Great Canton Bake Off is the perfect way to get some competition practice in.

For further information, please leave a comment, or email us at: cantonbakeoff@gmx.co.uk

Canton Bake Off Form v1-2

A meal fit for superheroes

Every Friday at the Park View we have a rather tasty meal deal. For just ten of your English pounds you get two burgers, fries and all the other  stuff that makes a burger such a wonderful meal. To promote the night, which runs from 5pm until 7pm, we made, what we think, is a fun animation.

By the way, the curry night mentioned in the movie takes place on the first Thursday of each month.


Super hero burger deal
by: stephen58johnson

Muffin Baking at the PVC

Since the start of the year we at the The Park View Cafe have been baking our own muffins, which are proving to be a big hit with our customers. For the first few weeks we concentrated on apple and carrot muffins with a pumpkin and sunflower seed crumble topping.
These delicious muffins also contain a whole host of other ingredients, such as coconut and raisins, delivering bags of flavour.
In fact, they represent a meal in themselves. And what a meal. They make a fantastic start to the day.
More recently we have been baking blueberry muffins with a crumble topping.
The last batch of Blueberry muffins, which we produced for the weekend of  March 3, 2012, were without doubt the best batch yet, and all involved, Jon and Becky in particular, should be proud of their efforts, as the muffins would hold their own against the best.
This week we are going to change again and are looking to produce our very own chocolate muffins
So, if you like your muffins homemade, you must check out The Park View's tasty efforts.

Jon preps up the carrots for our Apple and Carrot Muffins

Then he gets cracking on grating the apples

The muffin mixture is now ready to go into the oven

A little bit out of focus this picture, oh alright then, it's way out of focus,. A picture of the  freshly baked muffins

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