Occasionally,
I'll stumble upon some ingredient or technique that makes me completely
re-evaluate my approach to baking. At one point it was sourdoughs; before that,
coriander seeds – roasted or ground, and added to everything from cob loaves to
chocolate cakes.
Black pepper is my most recent epiphany. Of course, I was well used to adding
it to my savoury cooking – a few peppercorns in a milky sauce or the peppermill
in its regular spot at the heart of the dinner table – but using it in sweets
was a novel experience.
Although it's used predominantly in savoury cooking, there's a great deal to
be said for using black pepper as an accent or to emphasise other flavours in
cakes, puddings and biscuits. The sharpness and fiery heat of a fleck of
coarsely ground black pepper is enough to jolt even the richest bakes into life
– particularly against a mellow backdrop of vanilla or cream.
Black pepper is a good partner for more robust flavours, too, as in the lemon
drizzle cake below. There's no point muddying a good cake with the grey tinge of
the ready-ground stuff, though: always grind it fresh as you use it, and do so
with a generous hand.
Lemon, buttermilk and black pepper cake (above)
It might not have the national treasure status of the Victoria sponge or
engender the same gleeful lust as a chocolate fudge gateau, but a great lemon
drizzle cake is, I think, as close as Great British teatimes come to culinary
perfection. It's a finely tuned thing: the lemon should be bold enough to make
you pause between forkfuls, without sharpening to an eye-watering sourness. My
version isn't a traditional lemon drizzle, but it's my favourite. Buttermilk
dulls the hit of lemon, while leaving the flavour fresh and bright; black pepper
lends a gentle heat which lingers on the tongue after first the citrus, then the
sweetness, have come and gone.
Serves 6-8 150g unsalted butter, softened 100g
caster sugar 50g light brown soft
sugar Zest of 2 lemons 2 tsp coarsely
ground black pepper 2 large eggs 150g
plain flour 1½ tsp baking powder ¼ tsp
bicarbonate of soda A generous pinch of
salt 50ml buttermilk or soured cream
For finishing Juice of 2
lemons 50g caster sugar 150-200g lemon
curd Black pepper, coarsely ground 1-2
tsp lemon zest 1 Heat the oven to 180C/350F/gas mark 4. Grease and line a
20cm-diameter spring-form or loose-bottomed tin. 2 Cream the butter with the sugars until light and fluffy,
then stir in the lemon zest, pepper and eggs. In a separate bowl, combine the
flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt. Add half of this to the
butter and sugar, along with the buttermilk. Mix, then add the rest of the
flour. 3 Spoon the batter into the tin and bake for 30-35 mins,
until well-risen, golden brown and springy. A small knife inserted into the
centre of the cake should emerge with no more than a crumb or two sticking to
it. 4 Demould the cake and cool on a wire rack. Cut it in half
horizontally to give two thinner cake layers. Prepare the syrup by heating the
lemon juice and sugar in a small pan and simmering for a minute or two. Pour
over the cake layers while the syrup is still hot. 5 To assemble, spread one half with the lemon curd and
sandwich with the second half. You could pour on some zesty water icing to
finish it off if you like, but I prefer to keep it simple with just an extra
grind of pepper and a sprinkling of finely grated zest.
Black pepper and vanilla fig rolls
At their worst, fig rolls are soft, saccharin and dry. But things don't have
to be this way. Made at home, with good-quality dried figs – which have a
pleasingly toffee-like sweetness – humble fig rolls can outshine any showy,
oversized cookie or chocolate-flooded biscuit. Fig rolls are back in vogue.
It's rare to find three ingredients that work together in pairs, but don't
sit harmoniously as a trio. Black pepper, vanilla and fig only confirm the
trend: vanilla gives fig a floral depth; black pepper and fig balance fruitiness
with heat; black pepper sharpens the gentle tones of vanilla – all three
together is a match made in heaven.
Makes 15-20 rolls For the filling 150g dried figs,
chopped 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda 1 tsp
vanilla extract 2 tsp lemon juice 2 tbsp
light brown soft sugar ½ tsp coarsely ground black pepper
For the pastry 150g plain flour 50g wholemeal
flour 125g unsalted butter, firm but not too
cold ½ tsp baking powder 2 tbsp light
brown soft sugar 1 tsp coarsely ground black
pepper A pinch of salt 1-2 tbsp
milk 1 First, toss the figs with the bicarbonate of soda and pour
over just enough boiling water to cover. Leave to soak for 10 minutes, during
which time the alkaline bicarbonate of soda will soften the figs, then drain
thoroughly. Mash lightly under the back of a fork and leave to cool. When ready,
stir in the vanilla extract, lemon juice, sugar and pepper then set aside. 2 Combine the flours in a bowl. Cut the butter into small
chunks then rub into the flour using your fingertips, until no visible pieces
remain. Add the baking powder, sugar, pepper and salt, plus 1 tbsp of milk,
using a small knife to "cut" the liquid into the flour. Add the last of the milk
a few drops at a time, until the flour has been very lightly moistened, and is
beginning to come together in small clumps. Wrap the dough in clingfilm and
refrigerate for 20 minutes or so, just to firm it up. Set the oven to
180C/350F/gas mark 4. 3 Remove the pastry from the fridge and roll it out, on a
lightly floured work surface, to around 40cm x 15cm. Spoon the fig filling along
the middle of the pastry's long axis, to give a roughly 4cm-wide, 40cm-long heap
of filling. Fold one side of the pastry over this, followed by the other, and
pat down slightly. Roll the log over so the join is underneath. Cut into 15-20
slices. 4 Arrange the slices of fig roll on a baking tray lined with
baking parchment. Bake in the preheated oven for 15-20 minutes – until the
pastry is dry and sandy to the touch. Leave to cool on a wire rack before
tucking in.
