Recipe: Slow Orange Poppy Seed Cake

Cake is never off the menu at The Simple Things, even post-Christmas. But this gluten-free cake is as healthy as they come – no refined sugar, and you can even pop it in a slow cooker and head out for a walk

Serves: 8
Preparation time: 10 mins
Cooking time: 3 1⁄2 hours (slow cooker) 1 1⁄4 hours (oven)

200g ground almonds
120g quinoa flour
2 1⁄2 tsp baking powder
4 tbsp poppy seeds
finely grated zest and juice of 2 oranges (approx 250ml)
125ml light olive oil
130g Greek yoghurt
185ml honey
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 eggs, lightly beaten
Candied oranges and syrup
juice of 1 large orange
4 tbsp honey
1 large orange, thinly sliced

In the slow cooker:
1 Grease slow cooker and line with baking paper. Cover the lid of the slow cooker with a clean tea towel, securing corners around the knob with string or an elastic band – this is to prevent condensation dripping onto the cake as it cooks. 
2 Combine ground almonds, flour, baking powder and poppy seeds in a large bowl. In another bowl, whisk the orange zest and juice, oil, yoghurt, honey, vanilla and eggs, then gradually whisk into the almond mixture to make a batter. 
3 Pour cake batter into the slow cooker and cook on low for 3 hrs until a skewer comes out of it clean. Turn off slow cooker but leave the cake in another 30 mins.
4 For the candied oranges and syrup, put juice and honey in a small, non-reactive pan. Bring to boil, then reduce heat. Add orange slices and cook for 5 mins each side until oranges caramelise.
5 Remove the cake and top with the candied oranges and syrup. 

In the oven:
1 Preheat oven to 180C/Fan 160/350F. Grease and line a 24cm cake tin. Follow step 2, above.
2 Pour batter into tin and bake for 55 mins until a skewer comes out clean. Cover cake with foil if browning too fast. Follow step 4, above.
3 Turn out the cake and top with the candied oranges and syrup.

Recipe from Whole Food Slow Cooked by Olivia Andrews (Murdoch Books)

* This cake was made in a 5.5 litre slow cooker. If yours is larger or smaller than this, the cooking time may vary, so keep an eye on your cake for the last hour or so.

This blog was originally published in January 2016. We still have at least one cake in every issue of the issue. Buy this month's The Simple Things - buy, download or subscribe

More cakes for your tin…

More slow things for slow days…

Leap day thought : try something for the first time

It’s leap year day today. How are you making the most of your ‘extra’ day in the year? Perhaps you’re just taking some time to yourself, to rest, read or enjoy making or doing your favourite thing. But with February 29th landing on a Saturday this year, we’re hoping to use the opportunity to try something for the first time, unencumbered by the daily routine.

A new thing can be as big or as small as you like, from a paddle-boarding lesson or an impromptu trip to a place you’ve never been to making a recipe you’ve never eaten before or picking up a book by an author you’ve not yet read.

If you’re also promising yourself to try something for the first time today, let us know how it went here. Happy extra day!

We first published this chalkboard in January 2016 but we thought it deserved another outing!

From our February issue…

More wisdom from our back page…

Nest: Hellebores

When there is little else to pick in the garden, the hellebore* steps up.

Or bows down, such is the coy nature of its earth- gazing blooms. You could snip a few flowers and float them in a bowl for coffee table showiness, but better to cut a longish stem and pop into a vase, like this splendid swan.

Sarah Raven advises ‘conditioning’ – lowering stem ends (about 2cm) into boiling water for 30 seconds – first, and if that keeps them flowering longer, we’re all for it.

* The hellebore is also known as ‘Christmas rose’ due to its early flowering. Still pretty good in the new year, though.

And look out for more welcome winter blooms in the form of snowdrops gracing our February cover - out Wednesday 27 January.

Read more:

From the January issue

More Nest posts

More gardening posts

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Make: A nest box for small birds

Why not give our feathered friends a helping hand by making them a nest box? An old boot can create a unique bird box, as well as being a good alternative to a hole found in trees.

1 Cut a length of weatherproof wood, 15mm thick and 400mm long (check your boot fits on the board with room for a roof). Don’t use CCA pressure-treated timber, as the leachates may harm birds.

2 Cut two 150mm lengths of the same wood at right angles to make the roof. Drill and nail the pieces together, then place the roof on the backboard and drill and nail into place.

3 Attach the boot to the backboard with glue, toe facing down, and tilted forward so rain falls off. Fix, two to four metres up a tree, or a wall. Try to face the boot north-east to avoid strong sunlight and wet winds. There should be a clear flight path to the nest.

4 Different species will be attracted to different sizes of hole. Tie the laces tightly, to 25mm for blue, coal and marsh tits; 28mm for great tits, tree sparrows and pied flycatchers; 32mm for house sparrows and nuthatches and 45mm for starlings.

5 Clean the boot with boiling water in August once the birds have stopped using it to get rid of any parasites.
 

Read more:

From the January issue

Making projects

Miscellany posts

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Escape: How to read your way around a new destination

Whether exploring somewhere new or simply looking beyond your regular patch, wander a little to get to know a city

Getting under the skin of a city, old or new is one of the greatest experiences. Says Erin Spens, “I’ve found over the years the best way to get to know a city is to spend real time in it exploring, listening and following the locals. My strategy has always been to arrive in a city with as little foreknowledge as possible, apart from the necessities, which I’ll get to in a second. Don’t get me wrong, I am endlessly reading travel stories and good travel magazines but (unless I’m working on an issue of Boat magazine) I don’t research a place beforeI go. 

"My reason for this is twofold. Firstly, my love for exploring cities grew out of my own time exploring New York City and reading the great travel writers, and neither involved smart phones preloaded with all the information in the world. Those were the days when getting lost really did mean getting lost and so I try to stay true to the way I found my first love: by exploring the streets and the far-flung neighbourhoods like a young, wide-eyed Midwestern girl who’s somehow landed in the city of her dreams.

"The second reason I don’t research the hell out of a place before I get there is because I’ve found that the only constant in a great city is change. Even if you go back to a city you’ve already visited multiple times, or to a neighbourhood in your own hometown that you don’t often frequent, it will be different. An open mind on every single trip helps you to see it fresh each time, noticing the new things rather than seeking out what you remember from last time, or what you’ve read about, or what you’ve seen getting hashtagged.”

Erin’s tips for reading without researching*  

THE LITTLE BOOKROOM BOOKS
If you need a bit more structure and you’ve got time to mosey around a city searching for a random vintage fabric shop or the perfect pain au chocolat, these books are ideal. I once built a whole trip to Paris around things I found in them. littlebookroom.com

GRAB A NOVEL that’s set in the city you’re headed to. At goodreads.com, you’ll find lists of travel books and you can search by location. The ‘Women Travelers’ series from Restless Books is fantastic, too. 

BRING A PHRASE BOOK to refer to when talking to locals. I don’t find it easy to pick up new languages, but I find that locals respond to me making an effort and I’ve had great (if choppy) conversations that lead to secret spots I would never have stumbled upon myself. Penguin’s are very pretty: penguin.co.uk. Lonely Planet’s are a classic: shop.lonelyplanet.com

MY FAVOURITE TRAVEL MAGAZINES are Boat magazine (obviously!); The Travel Almanac; Motherland, and Delayed Gratification.

* If you prefer to be slightly more prepared when you go exploring, turn to page 76 of January’s The Simple Things to read about Herb Lester, which publishes city guides with a difference

Erin Spens is founder and editor of Boat magazine - an independent travel and culture publication that focuses on a different, inspiring city for each issue. From Sarajevo to Reykjavik to Lima, Boat Magazine shines a different kind of light on cities with big stories to tell.
 

For more of this feature, turn to page 74 of January’s The Simple Things. 

Read more:

From the January issue

Escape posts

More reading posts

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Food from Afar: Som Tam

‘Salad’. It’s a wimpy word for such a vivacious dish. But that is what this Thai street- food staple usually becomes in translation – green papaya salad. Its native name is far more appropriate to a dish that assaults the lips and tongue with its combo of sweet-sour zing and fiery heat: ‘som’ and ‘tam’ could be the percussive thwacks of a comic-book hero, punching you in the mouth.

The true translation of Som Tam isn’t a million miles away: tam means ‘to pound’ (while som is ‘sour’). Traditionally it is made using a pestle and mortar, the green (unripe) papaya – which is mildly savoury and slightly crunchy – grated or hand-sliced into matchsticks* before being gently crushed with garlic, bird’s-eye chillies, toasted peanuts, dried shrimps, cherry tomatoes and green beans. It’s then dressed with lime juice, fish sauce, tamarind water and palm sugar – preferably enough to leave a slurpable puddle at the bottom of the dish to be soaked up by the sticky rice that’s usually served in a bowl alongside it.

Wouldn’t we all love to be scoffing this at a beach café right now? It’s a gap year in a bowl. And if you’re inspired to shine some south-east Asian sun over your own midwinter table, you don’t need to scour the exotic produce aisles for a green papaya. Som Tam dressing is so pungent that it works with any crunchy salad or edible raw root: kohlrabi, cabbage, peeled and deseeded cucumber, courgette, carrot, celariac, beetroot – even that unloved swede that’s loitering in your veg box. As a sinus- busting (and soul-enriching) winter cold remedy, it beats anything you could get out of a lemon-flavoured sachet.

TUCK IN: Som Tam is one of the signature dishes at Sukhothai, which has four branches in Leeds and Harrogate (sukhothai.co.uk).

* It’s what your spiralizer has been waiting for

Inspired to make your own? Head to our Food from afar Pinterest board for recipe ideas:


Follow The Simple Things's board Food from afar on Pinterest.

Read more:

From the January issue

Food from afar

How to combat a common cold

January's The Simple Things is out now - buy, download or subscribe.

How to debobble your jumpers

Banish bobbles and purge pills with these nifty knitwear tricks

• Lay your jumper on a flat surface and glide a single blade razor down it, following its contours. Go lightly and carefully to remove the bobbles (also known as ‘pills’).
• The blog, A Thrifty Mrs (athriftymrs.com) recommends velcro rollers as a less risky alternative. Pull the area taut and roll them outwards and upwards. 
• Or try rubbing a foot pumice stone down your jumper in a similar way.
• Mechanised de-bobblers are also available – the Philips Fabric Shaver (John Lewis, £9.95) rates highly in reviews.

AND TO PREVENT THE PILL: 

• Pull on your favourite pullovers less frequently, leaving at least 24 hours between wears. 
• Brush down regularly with a lint roller. 
• When washing, turn the knitwear inside out, wash on a gentle cycle and allow to dry naturally to keep them jumpering for joy.

Read more:

From the January issue

Miscellany posts

Make: Homemade salt scrubs

January's The Simple Things is out now - buy, download or subscribe.

Nest: Winter cabin style and a Swiss fondue recipe

You don't have to have a cosy snow-topped cabin to sample Alpine comfort food or enjoy candlelit rustic style. 

January's The Simple Things contains two features built for winter dreaming. Turn to page 24 for six winter cabin cooking recipes, or page 96 for a look around the cabin of our winter dreams, deep in the snow of a Norwegian mountainside - order your copy now.

Meanwhile, here's a classic recipe for traditional cheese fondue.

Traditional cheese fondue

What could be more comforting – or delicious – than a melange of warm, oozing Alpine cheeses? Traditionally they are melted with white wine and grappa or kirsch; this version, with beer, is a little more subtle. A true Swiss fondue is a mixture of Gruyère and Vacherin Fribourgeois – a semi-hard cheese with a lovely nutty flavour. A fondue pot* gives the best results, as it sits above a flame that keeps the cheese melted and gently bubbling. 

Serves 6–8
1 fat garlic clove, halved
2 tsp cornflour
400ml hoppy lager beer
800g grated mixture of Swiss or French Alpine cheeses, such as Gruyère or Comté, Vacherin Fribourgeois, good-quality Emmenthal and Beaufort (choose two or three)
1–2 tsp whisky, to taste
1 large loaf of slightly stale country white bread, cut into cubes
gherkins, pickled silverskin onions and charcuterie, to serve

1. Rub the garlic all over the inside of a fondue pot. Mix the cornflour with a little of the beer to make a smooth paste, then add this and the rest of the beer to the pot.
2. Put over a low heat, add the cheese and stir until it is melted and steaming but not boiling. If it is too thick you can add a little more beer. Add the whisky and then transfer to the fondue stand and light the burner.
3. Dip the slightly stale bread into the melting cheese and serve with lots of pickles and charcuterie.

*If you don’t have one, these are easy to pick up second-hand

Recipe taken from Winter Cabin Cooking by Lizzie Kamenetzky. Photography by Nassima Rothacker. Published by Ryland Peters & Small.
Readers of The Simple Things can buy Winter Cabin Cooking for the special price of £13.99 including postage and packaging (RRP £19.99) by calling 01256 302 699 and quoting the reference GLR EB6.

Want to set the scene? Eva Gill's snowy hillside home may be a world away from your own abode, but touches of rustic cabin chic are well within reach. Here are Eva's stylish tips for cabin fever:

Don't stint on candles

Because there is no electricity in the cabin, Eva keeps the lighting moody and atmospheric with plenty of candles, tea lights and oil lamps.

Smother furniture with sheepskin

Nothing is as cosy as sinking into fleecy warmth as the snow falls outside.

Fall in love with wood

There's no need to decorate a timber building when the colours and texture of wood are so lovely. Eva also chooses wooden kitchen accessories, mugs - even toothbrushes.

Keep fabrics neutral

Bright colours and patterns don't suit a cabin. Eva prefers natural fibres - linen, cotton - and simple stripes or subdued tartans.

Get inspired by beautiful wintry cabins on our Nest Pinterest board or head over to The Simple Things shop for a browse of our simple and stylish picks.

Follow The Simple Things's board Nest: Interiors and style on Pinterest.

Read more:

From the January issue

Nest posts

Winter recipes

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Home remedy: Vinegar socks

This Alpine remedy, familiar to most Austrian children, provides a natural way to lower fever* (and an alternative use for an abundance of Christmas socks)

500ml cool water
1-2 tbsp vinegar
1 pair of long, woolly socks one or two towels

1 The ill person should be in bed resting. Fill a bowl with cool water and add vinegar, which stimulates blood flow. 
2 Soak the socks in this solution, wring them out slightly, keeping them nice and wet, and slide them over the feet and calves. Put a dry towel around the socks to prevent the bed from getting wet. After 45 minutes, if the patient’s temperature hasn’t gone down, replace them with freshly-soaked socks.
3 Remove the socks if your patient’s feet or hands are cold or if the patient starts shivering.

From Vinegar Socks, Traditional Home Remedies for Modern Living by Karin Berndl and Nici Hofer (Hardie Grant Books)

* If the person is shivering this recipe is not appropriate, and you should seek medical advice.

Read more:

From the January issue

Take a soak in a spruce needle bath

How to combat a common cold

January's The Simple Things is out now - buy, download or subscribe.

Recipe: Soda ale bread

Still ploughing through the remains of your new-year bash? This loaf neatly absorbs those half-bottles of beer or cider you find hanging around after a party. The brew gives the bread a distinctive, deliciously yeasty character, great with soup or cheese

butter or oil, for greasing
350g plain flour, plus extra for dusting
250g wholemeal flour
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 tsp light brown sugar or honey
1 tsp salt
dash of rapeseed or olive oil
300ml buttermilk or thin yogurt
200ml beer or cider

1 Preheat the oven to 220C/Fan 200/425F. Lightly grease a baking sheet and dust with a little flour.
2 In a large mixing bowl, whisk together all the dry ingredients. Make a well in the middle and quickly stir in the oil, buttermilk or yoghurt and beer or cider with a knife, working just enough to bring the dough together into a rough ball. The quicker you work, the better the texture will be. If it seems dry, add a dash more beer or water – the dough should feel quite soft but not be too sticky.
3 With floured hands, turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead it very briefly – just enough to bring it together into a rough round, about 7cm high.
4 Transfer to a baking sheet, sprinkle generously with flour and use a sharp knife to cut a deep cross in the middle of the loaf.
5 Bake for 15 mins, then lower the oven setting to 200C/Fan 180/400F and bake the loaf for a further 20–25 mins, until it sounds hollow when tapped on the base. It’s best eaten warm, with plenty of butter, but it’s also good toasted the next day.

Recipe from Love Your Leftovers by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, photography by Simon Wheeler (Bloomsbury Publishing)
 

Read more:

From the January issue

Wisdom: Allegra McEvedy

Bread recipes

January's The Simple Things is out now - buy, download or subscribe.

Think: Whole year resolutions

How much more meaningful to commit to a project for a year, giving yourself time to learn and grow. It’s not about abstinence or breaking bad habits but rich new experiences and a re-shaping of your world view. It doesn’t even have to start in January...

Caroline Jones, aka ‘Knickers Model’s Own’ – pledged to wear only charity shop clothes each day for a year. Except for her underwear, that is. The idea was inspired by Caroline’s mother, who’d sadly died of cancer the previous year. She’d volunteered for 13 years at her local Cancer Research UK shop so Caroline wanted to fundraise for the charity in her memory and, in part, to give herself a focus.

She was up for a challenge but, truthfully, thought this one wouldn’t be too tough. “I’ve always worn secondhand clothes so I assumed it would be easy,” she says, “a giggle for my friends, and something Mum would have loved.”

Her focus shifted on day six, when a BBC journalist discovered her Facebook page – it meant more than 97,000 people saw Caroline’s pictures within the first week. Her fundraising target increased from £1,000 to £36,500. And she realised there was no going back. It became, she says, the “hardest thing I’ve ever done”.

Caroline admits she didn’t consider the practicalities, like who would take her photos, before starting (she had to rope passers-by into taking many of the shots). Or the necessity of taking 14 different outfits on holiday.

Harder still was the mental challenge. “I’m not naturally a completer/finisher,” Caroline admits, “but I had to see this through. And I wanted to do it well.” Her advice to anyone attempting a year-long resolution is to take it in small stages, a week or day at a time.

Although Caroline deliberately kept her posts positive (and wore nothing black the entire year), the pictures became a kind of diary of her first year without her mother. On what would have been her mum’s birthday she wore a sea green coat and pillbox hat. “It was actually lovely,” she says. “People saw me and smiled. Wear something great and people respond.”

Caroline’s huge number of social media followers loved her style as much as her sentiment. Although she’s naturally drawn to 1960s fashions, the challenge encouraged her to be more adventurous, resulting in an inspiring array of looks. Her now finely honed formula for charity shop success is to always try things on. Caroline ended the year determined to continue fundraising and resolved “never to spend £65 on a new cardi again.” However, there was one aspect of fashion that even Caroline struggled with. “Wearing other people’s old shoes is hard!” she says. “I kept thinking, ‘oooh, I can’t wait to get a new pair. That’ll be so lovely’.”

Fancy contributing to Caroline's cause? Head to her Justgiving page. 

This is just one of many Whole year resolutions on page 33 of January's The Simple Things. 

 

Read more:

From the January issue

More Think posts

Seasonal mindfulness tips

January's The Simple Things is out now - buy, download or subscribe.

Escape: January cover reveal

If ever there was a time for comfortable pleasures, it’s the new year. See old friends for tea, share plates of hearty food and afterwards, make plans. There are new neighbourhoods to explore and a project to throw yourself into. Need to escape the dark days? Seek out snow, hold a fondue or find sunshine in a fiery salad if the southern summer is too far away. Lose yourself in a play or poem and, if it all gets too much, sit down to supper on the sofa. The Simple Things will see you through. 

January's The Simple Things is out today - buy, download or subscribe now.

Competition: Win a week in the Swiss Alps! (closed 31 January 2016)

The prize includes seven nights’ B&B (for two people sharing a room), three dinners, British Airways or Swiss flights from London Heathrow to Zürich and connecting transfers (as detailed on The Glacier Express in Winter holiday on Inntravel’s website). 

The prize must be taken between February 2016 and March 2017 within the given season dates (excluding Bank Holidays) and subject to availability. Inntravel’s normal Booking Conditions apply. The prize winner and companion are responsible for all incidental expenses, for obtaining travel insurance and having a valid passport. The prize is non-exchangeable and not redeemable for cash or any other prize. 

Competition ends 31 January 2016

The prize includes seven nights’ B&B (for two people sharing a room), three dinners, British Airways or Swiss flights from London Heathrow to Zürich and connecting transfers (as detailed on The Glacier Express in Winter holiday on Inntravel’s website). 

The prize must be taken between February 2016 and March 2017 within the given season dates (excluding Bank Holidays) and subject to availability. Inntravel’s normal Booking Conditions apply. The prize winner and companion are responsible for all incidental expenses, for obtaining travel insurance and having a valid passport. The prize is non-exchangeable and not redeemable for cash or any other prize.