As with most people, I see Christmas as a time of opulence, of giving gifts beyond our means and buying more food than we could ever feasibly manage. With this in mind, I've been thinking of neat ways to recycle food that's been forgotten, allowing it to go past its best and indeed, rejuvenating it by turning it into something completely new. Something we can all bare in mind I'm sure, when we're left perplexed by a mountain of Christmas Turkey....
I know this is a completely unoriginal idea, but I'm simply sick of being wasteful. Some people see a stale cake as something to be thrown away with the rubbish, but I see it as an ample opportunity to flex my creativity, and turn a cake-tastrophe into a masterpiece.
A prime example of this- my fiance and I live together, and although we both enjoy eating the cakes and desserts I make, we often find ourselves throwing the last scraps away.
I made a carrot cake the week before last, and it had been sitting, un-iced and looking un-interesting for about a week. (Can I just point out now- the cake was actually very nice, we just kinda forgot about it).
Then I had an idea, stale cake=trifle! I've never tried it with carrot cake before, but it actually worked! The recipe I followed called for nuts, citrus rind, carrots, butter, sugar, flour and eggs (I'll dig out the recipe if anyone's interested). I purchased 2 tins of peach slices (in juice) and cut up the cake and place it in a large dish.
Then I soaked the cake with some of the peach juice drained from the can. Next, I made up a batch of custard (according to the instructions), you can, of course use tinned or fresh custard- or even make your own if you're feeling inspired. I set the custard aside to cool and poured the peaches on top of the sponge.
When the custard cooled, on it went. Then came the cream- I whipped a small pot of double cream with some icing sugar and spread it thickly on top of the custard and finished with lashings of hundreds and thousands..... simple!
I know this is a bit of an essay, but I'm trying to drive home a point- it doesn't take a lot to be resourceful, I mean, most people would've slung the cake out and that would've be that... but for the last few days, I've had a lovely trifle for my pudding, and I don't feel guilty, as I've wasted nothing, so there!
Think twice before you throw things away! Visit Love Food Hate Waste for ideas on how to utulise your freezer, extend the life of fresh fruit and veg, and recipe ideas for leftovers.
I know this is a completely unoriginal idea, but I'm simply sick of being wasteful. Some people see a stale cake as something to be thrown away with the rubbish, but I see it as an ample opportunity to flex my creativity, and turn a cake-tastrophe into a masterpiece.
A prime example of this- my fiance and I live together, and although we both enjoy eating the cakes and desserts I make, we often find ourselves throwing the last scraps away.
I made a carrot cake the week before last, and it had been sitting, un-iced and looking un-interesting for about a week. (Can I just point out now- the cake was actually very nice, we just kinda forgot about it).
Then I had an idea, stale cake=trifle! I've never tried it with carrot cake before, but it actually worked! The recipe I followed called for nuts, citrus rind, carrots, butter, sugar, flour and eggs (I'll dig out the recipe if anyone's interested). I purchased 2 tins of peach slices (in juice) and cut up the cake and place it in a large dish.
Then I soaked the cake with some of the peach juice drained from the can. Next, I made up a batch of custard (according to the instructions), you can, of course use tinned or fresh custard- or even make your own if you're feeling inspired. I set the custard aside to cool and poured the peaches on top of the sponge.
When the custard cooled, on it went. Then came the cream- I whipped a small pot of double cream with some icing sugar and spread it thickly on top of the custard and finished with lashings of hundreds and thousands..... simple!
I know this is a bit of an essay, but I'm trying to drive home a point- it doesn't take a lot to be resourceful, I mean, most people would've slung the cake out and that would've be that... but for the last few days, I've had a lovely trifle for my pudding, and I don't feel guilty, as I've wasted nothing, so there!
Think twice before you throw things away! Visit Love Food Hate Waste for ideas on how to utulise your freezer, extend the life of fresh fruit and veg, and recipe ideas for leftovers.
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