Pear & Almond Cake and Braun Multiquick Cordless Giveaway

I am not an inveterate kitchen tools shopper, I’d like to be, but I am not. I am the kind who might lust after a pasta machine or a machine that makes ice-cream or a KitchenAid, but just the thought of finding space in my little kitchen to fit all this stuff in stops me, most of the time. So that really makes me a do-everything-from-scratch, manual/menial sort of cook, who in spite of being a proud owner of one of those handheld mixers that can whip, and make dough, ends up using a large glass bowl and a wooden spoon most of the time.

Recently I was invited by Braun to try out one of their new products, called the Braun Multiquick Cordless. Here’s a quick review:
1. Its pretty light weight, and ya very suitable to handheld ergonomics.
2. I hate plugging things in, and while I have to use a blender for grinding it is one of the most hated activities for me, Braun’s multiquick is cordless and I found that it needs very little charging time and its readily available for the two most common kitchen chores – chopping finely and pureeing.
3. I have been using this everyday, as it definitely chops onions way more finely than I can ever hope to! and less messy. I have ground nuts, pureed tomato, chopped vegetables, like carrots and beans, and herbs, for dishes that require a fine chop – it really works. Plus the mess is greatly reduced and the stuff gets done in minutes.
4. I also really like the buzzer and lock attachment, so you can pulse only when the lock is pressed, it has really sharp blades so this is a good feature.

This product is available in Carrefour, in UAE, and is priced at 650 AED, would you like to own one? well… now you can WIN it!

The rules: You don’t have to be a blogger to enter this giveaway, anyone who is a reader can enter this giveaway. All you need to do is leave a comment with your e-mail address, and location. That’s 1 point for you. Leaving a comment is mandatory to enter this giveaway.

Extra points: If you like EatWriteThink on Facebook (click on my FB page which should appear on the right side of the page), I will count this as an extra point for you, + 1. If you promote this giveaway on your blog, or Tweet about it, you get + 2. But don’t forget to let me know that you did, just add the details/link in the comment you leave behind.

The fine print: This giveaway is open to anyone living in one of the GCC Countries (United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar and Kuwait), and in Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, or if you have an address in one of these countries.

Final word: when you leave a comment for the giveaway, you must include your full name, e-mail address, and location. Only these will be considered as entries to win the Braun Multiquick Cordless.

Giveaway ends on Thursday, 14 April 2011, 23:59:00 GST. I will select a winner through random selection, and announce on Monday, 18 April 2011.

Recipe for Pear & Almond Cake

This makes a delicious, soft cake, using an adapted and modified recipe from Women’s Weekly book on Cakes. I have used Coscia pears for this recipe. Coscia is a tiny pear from Italy, lovely green, full of flavour and crisp. And these had such a perfect shape that I wanted to bake the cake with these in it.

Ingredients

5 Coscia pears/or any crisp, blushing variety, small to medium size
2 1/2 cups water
1/2 teaspoon lemon rind
1 3/4 cup caster sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup oil
2 eggs
1/2 cup yoghurt (I used homemade yoghurt, which is active and lightly sour)
1/2 cup milk
2 cups AP flour/maida
4 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
10 Hershey’s kisses chopped, or any eating chocolate chopped coarsely
1 cup ground almond (I store almonds in the freezer, so its easy to grind to a powder)

Method

1. Peel the pears, leave the stems on.
2. Using a saucepan big enough to fit all the pears in, combine the water, rind and 1 cup of sugar. Stir over heat, without boiling, until all the sugar dissolves. Add the vanilla extract, and the pears. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat, simmer covered, until the pears are just tender, about 20 to 25 minutes. Transfer the pears to another bowl, bring the syrup to a boil, uncovered, until syrup reduces by half, leave to cool completely.
3. Preheat oven to 170 degree C, and grease the cake tin.
4. Sift the flour with the salt and baking powder.
6. Beat oil, and remaining sugar, until sugar is dissolved, beat in the eggs one at a time. Beat in the yoghurt, and half the milk. Stir in 2 tablespoons of the cooled syrup.
7. Add in the sifted flour, powdered almond, and the chocolate, and mix until combined. If the batter is too thick add the rest of the milk and mix again.
8. Spread mixture into greased tin, place the pears, upright, around the edges, gently pushing to the bottom.
9. Bake cake for about 50 minutes, to 1 hour until a skewer inserted comes out clean.
10. Let the cake stand in pan for 10 minutes, remove from tin. Generously brush the syrup all over the cake. Serve warm, brushed with more syrup if you like.

THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED. THE RESULTS WILL BE UP ON THE 18TH OF APRIL.

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