#9 – Chocolate cake (two ways!)

Chocolate cakes are definitely one of life’s great joys, and pleasingly, there’s more than a few close-to-idiot-proof recipes for delicious ones out there. Circumstances have led to me making two in as many weeks, so instead of deciding just the one recipe to post, I’ve decided to share both. Unfortunately, neither of them makes a particularly beautiful cake – just delicious, and very different ones.

These are both cakes I’ve known how to make since I was a kid baking with my mother, and I’ve made them over and over again for birthdays/bake sales/just because. The first is my culinary hero Nigella Lawson’s recipe for chocolate cola cake (from the How to be a Domestic Goddess cookbook, essentially the book that I turn to whenever the world needs me to bake), the other a slightly tweaked version of a cake from Suzy Benghiat’s 1978 Suzy Cookstrip, traces of which are just barely detectable on the web and I have to refer to a scan my mum emailed me every time I make it, so you’re welcome for me sharing. This is a flourless one that’s ideal for a gluten-free option, or in my case because it’s Passover, so I’m living the gluten-free-except-matzo life briefly; it’s also easily adapted into a dairy-free (though still not vegan!) recipe. The cola cake is somewhat more trashy and unrefined, glorious in a John Waters sort of way; if you want to make something that feels classier or more virtuous while still totally indulgent, skip to the second recipe.

#8 – Pale Broth

Do you know how late this post is? You can tell how much by from the fact that Jerusalem artichokes, the star ingredient of this recipe, go out of season around March. This is a recipe I may do a take two for – the only ingredient in game is ‘white algae’, which seemed pretty hard to approximate, but my dad’s currently working in China and has mentioned that there’s a dried white seaweed available widely, so I’m hoping he can bring some back for me to experiment with. In the meantime though, this Jerusalem artichoke, turnip and leek soup does a great job of filling the game’s description of ‘a delicate broth with a hint of sulfur,’ as well as a delicious seasonal dish. For winter, which officially fully ended last week. Why not bookmark this recipe for next winter!

#7 – Salmon Dinner

As I hinted last time, this week I finally made one of the fish dishes from the game. The in-game description for the Salmon Dinner is “the lemon spritz makes it special,” – for this version, I’d say it’s the lemon-tarragon butter that makes it special. This recipe seemed like kind of a no-brainer for this week, as we had half a bag of kale lying around and some rapidly wilting tarragon (leftover from a roast chicken) that I’d promise I’d cook with fish, plus I have a bunch of amaranth that never seems to run out (the main thing I use it for is a breakfast porridge with banana and peanut butter, and you need an absurdly small amount for a single serving). Instead of a delicate baked lemony salmon en papillote on a bed of kale, which is kind of how I imagined this dish, I went with a crisp fried fillet and spicy kale and amaranth, on account of the cold snap we’ve had across the UK making me crave warming foods. Despite the diversity of flavour on the plate, they’re all tied together by the greatest of alliums, garlic, and tangy lemon juice. So maybe it is the lemon spritz that makes it special after all.

This was my first time making amaranth as a savoury dish, and honestly I think I kind of screwed it up! It has a very earthy flavour, so I wanted to play on that with smoked paprika and cumin, but I also added WAY too much vegetable bouillon – long story short, last time I bought the low sodium version and hadn’t factored in that this was the full salt kind – so it didn’t really taste of anything other than vegetable bouillon. Basically, I’m not 100% sure how this’ll taste even if made as intended (I’ve adjusted the quantities of seasoning in this recipe to account for my screwup) but on reflection, I think a milder version maybe seasoned with garlic, rosemary and truffle oil would work just as well.

#6 – Cookies

I’m back! Sorry for the hiatus, it’s been a pretty busy time lately and a well-needed break seeing my family at home in Newcastle. Of the recipes in-game there’s two main categories I haven’t tackled yet, those being the baked goods and fish dishes. I’m breaking into the former this week (and no prizes for guessing what kind of recipe I’m making next!). I was lucky enough to be included, along with Everett of Stardew Valley Recipes, in a really lovely article by Jay Castello over at PC Gamer recently – Jay makes Everett’s recipe for cookies in the piece, and I figured I should join in too!

All the game calls for is flour, egg and sugar and despite the in-game artwork looking tantalisingly like it has delicious chocolate chips in, I decided to stick closer to the ingredients and make spiced snickerdoodles – they’re a great choice for something you can make with ingredients you already have around, plus since my partner’s bringing some to the picket line for his striking university tutors a little hit of cinnamon probably won’t go amiss in the unseasonally cold weather. ALSO, since I love snickerdoodles so much, there’s a recipe for a vegan version from my archives included at the bottom of the post.

I’m anticipating this being the simplest baked recipe in the game (aside from maybe the chocolate cake – I have a couple almost-foolproof recipes that I’m looking forward to sharing) which is a good starting point, since I think baking can be intimidating without much prior experience. It requires a lot of specialised equipment compared to other methods of cooking, and expectations can be pretty high-stakes what with all the highly-Instagrammable macarons and Bake Off baked Alaska trauma out there. I definitely don’t make the prettiest baked goods but it is easy and satisfying to bake something you can enjoy, and enjoy sharing, at home – and this recipe doesn’t need anything more specialised than a baking sheet and paper.