Teen Baker

Roasted Pineapple, Coconut Meringue and Cointreau Cream

2012-01-22T20:59:00.001Z

January is always a tricky month. It’s that after Christmas feeling, the broken new year resolutions, the rain and the freezing cold, the return to work and school. Citrus bakes seem to dominate the blogosphere at the beginning of the year as people use fresh flavours and bright colours to forget about the grey outside. The vitamins and zing of fruit desserts also fit into the spirit of January detox that some crazy people undertake. Today I stuck with the fruit theme, but used tropical pineapple to transport me away from the London grey to a Caribbean island beach far away.This dish really did transport me far far away. The meringue was delicious with a marshamallowy centre and packed full of coconut flavour. The pineapple was sticky and caramelised, strongly spiced with cinnamon and mixed spice. The spices also added some warmth to the dish, which works really well for this time of year. The Cointreau cream added more tropical flavour and toned down the bite of the spice in the pineapple. The black sesame seeds added unexpected nutty crunch and contrasted with the colours of the rest of the dish. Perfect!The dish was also really easy to make, so I think it would make a really pretty summer dinner party dessert. I made the meringue and the pineapple the day before, then whipped the cream and assembled the meringue right before eating. I halved the recipe so it was just a two-egg white meringue (it worked perfectly) that made four meringues, but I kept the full quantities of pineapple and cream. I loved the roasted pineapple and that alone with its sweet caramel spiced sauce would be a gorgeous breakfast treat once the meringues are finished. If you’re feeling a January low, or even if not, I would truly recommend this sunny sweet dessert – find the recipe here. Trust me, it will make you smile. Enjoy :)

Galette des Rois

2012-01-17T17:10:00.001Z

When I was 11, I had to take an exam to get into the secondary school all my friends and I wanted to go to. There was one section about religion, including the question ‘What is the Christian holiday on January 6th?’ that neither my best friend or I knew. After the exam we were so upset as our parents told us straight away it was Epiphany and we thought we’d never be able to get into this school. Luckily we both did, but never again will either of us forget Epiphany! I’m especially pleased I found out about it as it gives me an opportunity to bake traditional Epiphany desserts, like this Galette des Rois.A Galette des Rois is made up of an almond frangipane filling encased in puff pastry. I saw a lot of variations on the original – some included sliced pears in the middle, some used chocolate puff pastry, some frangipanes had added flavours such as rose extract. I chose to stick to the original, despite how tasty the variations sounded, because it was the first time I’d ever made one. It’s traditional to hide a little trinket or bean in the filling which I duly did and found in my lunchbox slice the next day!Unfortunately I forgot to take photos of a slice of the galette, but the swirls on top look so pretty it hopefully doesn’t matter too much. I used a Raymond Blanc recipe, and it worked quite well although some of the almond filling exploded out one side of the galette. I’m not sure whether this was due to the texture of the filling (was it too liquid?) or just that I didn’t close the puff pastry edges enough, but the exploded filling still baked up nicely on the tray and just meant there was quite a thin layer in the centre. I also added extra ground almonds and almond extract to boost the flavour and firm it up a bit. Overall, it was a really lovely and relatively simple dish. It’s best straight out the oven as that is when the puff pastry is crispest and I think it would make a delicious and simple dinner party dessert any time of the year. Enjoy!

William Curley Chocolate Tarts

2012-01-08T18:13:00.001Z

I wanted to welcome in the new year on the blog in style, and what better way to do that than with a decadent chocolate feast? We’re talking chocolate sponge cake, chocolate orange ganache and quality chocolate glasage. All topped off with, wait for it, silver glitter. Who said January had to be the month of diets and detox? If this is how the rest of 2012 is going to be then I’m definitely looking forward to it!One of my favourite Christmas presents this year was undoubtedly chocolatier William Curley’s debut book, Couture Chocolate. William Curley has two chocolate shops in London, one of which I’ve been to, and all his work looks so perfect. One of my foodie new year resolutions this year was to stretch myself in my baking and I know this book will help me do that. It has so many new ideas and techniques for me, with the majority of recipes having multiple components and steps. They’re the kind of recipe that require at least one whole spare day to complete – especially if you’re me! – but it’s a challenge I’m looking forward to with several more recipes bookmarked. The only issue will be spreading out these chocolate adventures so my whole family does not balloon in weight!I had a difficult time choosing my first recipe. One problem with this book is that the recipes make large amounts – 80 truffles, a cake serving 16 – so I had to choose something more suitable for my family of 3-4. I was baking these for New Year, so there would be a few extra mouths to feed on this occasion, but also more likes and dislikes to be aware of. No coconut, no caramel, no toffee, no nuts – my options were drastically reducing. I was also wary of choosing one of the extremely complicated recipes as I wanted to start gently. In the end I went for the chocolate tarts – multi component but each one manageable. You can just about see the layers here – pastry, ganache, sponge disk, more ganache, glasage (like a thinner ganache, containing liquid glucose).

I used a different pastry recipe (there were ground almonds in the books recipe and I had a nut allergy to cater for) and that was actually where I had all my problems. The tarts took me most of the day and tons of washing up, but was finished just as my friends arrived. The results? Largely worth it. They aren’t anywhere near as beautiful as William’s, and my glasage sadly lacks shine but it was very satisfying to be finally finished. The tarts were rich, indulgent and a nice sparkly New Year treat. But…I’m not sure they were wildly better than this or this, especially considering the amount of work, and I’m not sure what the glasage added. It’s not the recipes fault, just my bad choosing and it certainly hasn’t put me off making more from this book, but it is something to bear in mind. The recipe is very long and complicated so I’d feel bad reproducing it here, but I’d definitely recommend the book or you could easily form your own with pastry, sponge and ganache recipes. Happy New Year!

2011

2011-12-29T16:23:00.001Z

I can’t believe 2011 is over already! It seems to have raced past, particularly towards the end in the run up to Christmas. It seems really not that long ago that I was writing up my 2010 round up. With 2012 just around the corner, I wanted to look back at my favourite bake from each month. I hope you all had a fabulous Christmas and I’m really looking forward to the coming year, I hope to really stretch my baking and this blog so keep reading! Happy New Year!

January – Celebratory Chocolate
This Chocolate & Salted Caramel Tart is one of my favourite things I’ve ever baked, not just in 2011. It wasn’t 100% perfect but it was such a decadent treat and the combination of textures and flavours were absolutely delicious.

February – Benedict Bars
These were a simple bake but really moreish – nutty, jammy, sticky goodness. And the best bit? The recipe makes a very large tray full. March – Mini Orange Drizzle Cakes
These zingy little cakes really cheer up a kitchen on a gloomy day – I think they’d be perfect when its been raining for several days, when you’re at a loss for inspiration or as a gift for somebody who is ill because they wake you up and make you smile. April – Passion Fruit Curd Tart
From one sunny recipe to the next, this tart was a perfect way to look forward to the not too far off summer. It was a lot of effort and not stress-free but the results were so very worth it.

May – Sticky Rhubarb and Ginger Cake
I always love baking with rhubarb – it’s such an intriguing and pretty fruit. This cake was what I made during rhubarb season this year and was a recipe I’d love to repeat.

June – Apple, Vanilla and Olive Oil Cake with Maple Cream Cheese Icing (from July…)
In June I was in the midst of twenty three (23!!) important exams and so my blog was sadly empty. However, I can’t choose a favourite July recipe so here’s the apple cake – a treat of a layer cake, with rich cream cheese icing and a moist, apple studded sponge.

July – White Chocolate and Raspberry Cookies
I don’t know why, but whenever I make a white chocolate cookie on this blog it immediately becomes one of my top hits. This was no exception and for good reason – rich, moreish, soft but with perfect crunchy edges, tart raspberries – what’s not to like?

August – Mini Pork Pies
The first savoury appearance in this list and its well deserved. This post involved a recipe for a delicious and adorable pie that involved lots of techniques new to me but was so much fun to make with my friend E., combined with a rant about pork pie jelly.

September – Plum Frangipane Tart
I love making tarts - hence this being the 3rd in this list – but this one was different due to not having to blind bake the pastry before adding the frangipane. It turned out perfectly and was a delicious Autumnal treat.

October – Parmesan Biscuits
These biscuits come from Simon Hopkinson and were such a hit. I say things are moreish a lot, but these really were – I had to photograph them very quickly before they were all eaten. And with the dough taking two minutes to make, I think I’ll need to repeat this recipe very soon…

November – Love Bakery Book Review
I was lucky enough to be sent a book to review and it made the most delicious Chocolate Orange Cupcakes – moist, rich and full of flavour. The book didn’t fail on the classic recipes either, the Lemon Cupcakes were packed with citrus zing and I regretted only making half a batch! December – Cherry Chocolate Snow Cookies
Ok, so there’s not the largest choice here, but these cookies would always deserve a mention. They were full of Christmas flavours, easy to whip up and made a cute festive gift.

Cherry Chocolate Snow Cookies

2011-12-23T15:40:00.001Z

I’m back! And just in time for Christmas – only two days to go! Cookies come in to their own at Christmas, I think, as part of cookie exchanges, gifts for party hostesses, decorations for the Christmas tree or simply as a last minute and simple festive bake. There are a never ending amount of recipe variations and cookies are a great way to incorporate many Christmassy flavours into one mouthful – such as in these cookies. With chocolate, sweet dried fruit, a snowy icing sugar covering and a little bit of virtue from oats, these make the perfect holiday treat. If you’ve left a present last minute, or have a unexpected visitor now coming for Christmas lunch, these cookies will make the perfect gift – everybody else will be jealous! The dough is really quick to make because you add the egg, butter and sugar all at once, saving you time in the busiest period of the year. The recipe comes from Dan Lepard who originally uses dried cranberries – obviously a very appropriate flavour for Christmas. However we didn’t have any so I used dried sour cherries instead which have the same chew and sour taste and so were just as delicious. The cherries worked nicely with the dark chocolate – all coming together to make a perfect Christmassy bite. Enjoy!

Apple Pie

2011-11-06T16:41:00.001Z

Now that it’s autumn and winter weather, it’s time to start making proper puddings. Biscuits and cupcakes are fabulous, but on a dark winter evening a hot pudding is just the thing. Warming dishes like steamed sponges, crumbles, self-saucing puddings, chocolate fondants and anything that can be served with custard really come in to their own. It’s the season of comfort food! For me pies are a perfect winter dish because, whilst they are tasty made with summer fruits, I think the classic Autumn double crust apple pie is very hard to beat.This bake was perfect to help me get through the apple overload, using 10 (they’re are quite small). I made this after having some baking block and not really knowing what to make – in times like this it’s always best to return to simple favourites. Also with a classic dish I wanted to use a reliable recipe so I turned to the ever trustworthy Mary Berry. The recipe comes from her book How to Cook which we’ve had for a while but I've shamefully only used once before for tomato soup! The recipe had complete step-by-step pictures and I only altered the recipe slightly by adding a tablespoon of cinnamon to the apples (because apples and cinnamon is always a winning flavour combination) and using butter instead of margarine for the pastry.I was a little wary as the pastry doesn’t have any sugar in, but when the pie is served you don’t notice – the apple filling and obligatory serving accompaniment of custard makes it sweet enough. The pastry was crisp, the apples were soft with just enough cinnamon spice and overall the pie was very welcomed on a cold and drizzly evening. You can find the recipe here – enjoy!

Love Bakery Book Review

2011-11-02T17:04:00.001Z

I was recently lucky enough to be sent another book by Ivy Press – this one was Love Bakery by Samantha Blears. Love Bakery is an actual bakery on the Kings Road, London so the book gives recipes for a few of their favourite top sellers and lots of other inventive ideas. It’s a beautifully laid out book – full page photos for each recipe, lots of colour, detail and a little background writing accompanying each recipe. I made the ‘It’s Not Terry’s But My Chocolate’ cupcakes and the lemon cupcakes and both recipes worked well. The chocolate orange ones were a huge hit and I’d definitely make them again – they were rich, dark and a great indulgence. I halved the lemon recipe as I was interested to try it because it’s a classic but wasn’t convinced my small family needed 12 cupcakes! Again the recipe worked well (although I only got five cupcakes) and the cakes were tender and full of lemony flavour – although I always get paranoid with lemon things that they’re going to lack the necessary zing so I added some extra zest and juice. I really liked the variety of ideas in the book – the Cuptails chapter of alcoholic cupcakes is original and there are recipes for a large donut cake and whoopie pies. I also liked the Cakes for Breakfast chapter which included recipes such as Mocha Cupcakes and Greek Yoghurt & Honey Cupcakes. The recipes are really detailed and easy to follow and when I baked the cakes the timings were spot on. There is lots of detail about decorating ideas and inspiration which doesn’t interest me so much but know might please other people. My issues with this book are probably quite minor but I still noticed them each time I read this book. Like I said in my last post, I have an issue with ingredients in the title of a dish not actually being in it. For example, the Oreo cake in the book is just a chocolate cake with Oreo icing and a few other cakes were vanilla with a jam filling or flavoured icing and I found that disappointing. Overall, I don’t this book would be right if you’re a confident baker and really want to experiment or get lots of ideas for new flavoured cupcakes. However, I think this book would make a really nice present (less than two months until Christmas now!) especially if you know someone who often visits the bakery, because its very pretty and has some original ideas.

Sticky Apple, Ginger and Maple Syrup Cake

2011-10-24T16:41:00.001+01:00

Come Autumn, I think I could easily bake apple cake every single weekend. We have three apple trees, all producing continuous fruit for several weeks. One counter in our kitchen is currently just a pile of apples in various bowls, baskets and bags – it’s like living in a farmers market. We have several types of apples – from small, sweet red ones to big green cooking apples. And this excess apple supply means getting a touch inventive with our fruit! Grated apple and yoghurt is my new favourite food. Sausage rolls with apple and onion make a perfect packed lunch. Baked apples stuffed with mincemeat or sultanas served with cream are best eaten slowly in front of Downton Abbey on a Sunday evening. But, sometimes, a good old hearty apple cake is just the thing.I’ve made apple cakes before but there seem to be so many variations out there I know this won’t be my last. This cake is different because of the two flavours that share the stage with the apple – the maple syrup and fresh ginger. The maple syrup adds a caramel flavour and richness to the cake, whilst the ginger adds spice and warmth.The recipe originally stated that the maple syrup should just be poured on top of the baked cake, but I have an issue with ingredients in the title of a dish not actually being in it. Also, the cake batter was really dry – practically a dough – so I wanted to loosen it, so I added around 2tbsp of maple syrup to the cake. This cake is versatile as it keeps well and is good warm out the oven with crème fraiche but also sturdy enough to be eaten cold in your hand the next day. Overall, I liked this cake as a sweet treat but would not say it was the best apple cake ever. Which means that I still need to bake more apple cakes to find that winner! Well, those apples won’t cook themselves…

Brandy Snaps

2011-10-15T18:07:00.001+01:00

One of my major weaknesses as a baker is baking times. As my Mum will happily tell you, I burn things. A fair bit. Mainly cookies. I like to blame it on my oven, but I’m not too sure what the reason really is. Generally I start by putting whatever it is in the oven for 5-10 minutes less than suggested, but then I just spend the last ten minutes putting the timer on for two minutes more, then two minutes more, then two minutes more etc etc. So I knew when I attempted brandy snaps it would be a good challenge for me because they rely so much on perfect timing. And yes, I did burn the first mini batch – but who’d want to break a tradition?Before last weekend, I’d seen but never eaten a brandy snap, let alone made them, so it was definitely a learning experience all round! I was inspired to make them after seeing them on the Great British Bake Off and then thoroughly explained on a follow up programme, the Masterclass. The idea of crisp, caramelly biscuit filled with softly whipped cream definitely appealed so it wasn’t long before I started baking.I was nervous about making them but once you’ve started the process is fairly simple and repetitive so you can get a little system on the go. My mixture went very strange and not at all like what it was meant to be like – you’re meant to drop it off a teaspooon in to the baking tray whereas mine was pretty solid and had to be rolled into balls. However, I don’t think this affected the final product and was probably down to inaccurate liquid measuring because I think digital scales are really important in this recipe and I don’t have any – yet! Overall, despite the mishaps, I was pleased with how these turned out for my first time. I flavoured my whipped cream with Cointreau which worked really well with the crisp biscuit. Definitely a bit of a fancy biscuit – perhaps for a treat with coffee after a dinner party – but the taste is well worth it! You can watch the masterclass and get the recipe here – enjoy :)

Parmesan Biscuits

2011-10-10T17:53:00.001+01:00

Before we get onto these exceedingly moreish bsicuits, I have to announce the winner of my 10,000 Cupcakes book competition. I used a random number generator to pick a comment…

which was Amee! Congratulations! Please email me with your address and that lovely little book will be finding its way to you very soon. Now, back to those biscuits…I first saw these on Simon Hopkinson’s television show a few weeks ago and was instantly struck by their simplicity. In just a few minutes and a few pulses of the food processor – the dough is made! My family loves anything cheesy – cheese scones, cheesy pasta or cheese soufflé (although that’s just my parents – I can’t stand it!) so I knew these would go down well. And they definitely did! Whilst I was photographing them we just kept wanting to eat more and more. It is categorically impossible to eat just one of these, I promise. The dough is full of parmesan and cheddar, then sprinkled with more parmesan, plus the dough has a pinch of cayenne pepper. The parmesan gives them a salty edge, the cayenne a touch of heat. The teaspoon of mustard powder that goes into the dough emphasises the flavour and I’m sure the mix would be very adaptable to whatever hard cheeses you have or like. The biscuits get crisp, lacy edges and slightly chewier tops where the cheese topping melts. They also make the house smell divine after their just six minutes of baking. Tempted yet? Here’s the recipe – enjoy!

10,000 Cupcakes

2011-09-29T18:16:00.003+01:00

No, don’t worry, I haven’t been on a huge baking spree. 10,000 Cupcakes is the name of a brand new baking book by Susanna Tee that I was recently sent by Ivy Press.
The book is a flip book, with the pages split into three separate sections – a cupcake recipe, an icing recipe and an idea for how to decorate the cupcake. These pages are interchangeable so you can mix and match different flavours and eventually choose a page from each different section that you most like. There’s 23 ideas in each section ranging from the classic to a bit different. For the cupcakes it ranges from Lemon to Doughnut cupcakes, for the icing from Vanilla to Pineapple butter flavours. I chose to make the Apple and Almond Cupcakes with Penuche Frosting, decorated with Sprinkles.I chose to halve the recipe which I later half regretted as the results were so delicious we could have easily eaten a full batch very quickly! The recipes were easy to follow and created very moreish results. The cupcake was very soft and tender, almost muffin like with the involvement of the fruit. The Penuche icing was not a flavour I’d heard of before which was why I wanted to try it. I learnt that penuche is a type of fudge, so this icing just involved melting together butter and brown sugar and then beating in icing sugar. It was thick and very sweet and I thought worked nicely with the apple base – the finished products were like toffee apple flavours in cake form! I chose simple sprinkles for decoration but there were lots of ideas in the book, from lavender sprigs to crushed cookies to crystallized rose petals.I think this book would be a great gift because it is fun and light hearted but the recipes are still interesting and actually work. I also think it’s good for inspiration, mixing new flavours or ideas and creating something unique. I think the book would benefit from real pictures of the food as there’s only one at the very start, but the cartoons are still fun. Plus, as the title suggests, there are 10,000 ways to combine all the different ideas so it’ll keep you busy for a while! Ivy Press have kindly agreed to give away another copy of this lovely little book – all you have to do is comment on this post by the 7th October saying you’d like a copy and I'll pick a winner with a random number generator! Good Luck everybody!
Book credits:
10,000 Cupcakes
Susanna Tee
ISBN: 978-1-907332-85-2
Price: £9.99
The Ivy Press
www.ivypress.co.uk
Also, do go and ‘like’ the Ivy Press Facebook page here for information and fun videos on the books they publish.

Disclaimer: Ivy Press sent me this book for free but all opinions and words are my own.

Plum Frangipane Tart

2011-09-20T19:59:00.001+01:00

I love making tarts. The whole system just seems to fit together well – the pastry making, the making of the filling whilst the pastry is in the fridge, the making of any topping whilst the first part is in the oven. Tarts take a while and often have lots of different stages and bowls needed, but I find it quite therapeutic. I also like baking pastry blind – one of the first things I learnt to make was Lemon Meringue Pie with my sister and the pastry was always my job. However, this tart was completely new to me in that it skipped that step altogether.I always presumed that you always needed to blind bake a pastry case before the filling went in. Logistically, I just figured that pouring a wet filling onto raw pastry would equal disaster and ‘soggy bottoms’. Whilst this is true for many tarts, not so with this one! The pastry is rolled out and shaped exactly to the tin (there’s also no need to leave excess pastry on in case of shrinkage with this recipe) and then on goes the frangipane filling. Top that with slices of raw plums, pop in the oven and thirty minutes later a delicious tart is cooling and awaiting plates and forks! The almond filling for this tart stays rather soft and does not fully set into a sponge. This contrasts nicely with the crisp pastry – the pastry was crisper then any I have made before, even without blind baking! Depending on which plum variety you use, the fruit can add extra sweetness or a bit of sharpness on top. The recipe is an Angela Hartnett, and she suggests making the recipe into mini tarts. Whilst I know these would look really pretty, I wanted to keep this one large tart so that I could cut a little sliver every time I went past ;) Hope you enjoy!

Cheese and Onion Tear and Share Bread

2011-09-09T19:32:00.002+01:00

I love a good foodie television show. There’s Masterchef – tears and shouty John and Gregg (who’s restaurant I did work experience at last year!). There’s Nigella’s series – fairy lights, dressing gowns and ‘cookie crumbs tumbling like Mexican mud’…There’s Nigel Slater and his gorgeous garden, Simon Hopkinson with slow-mo falling egg graphics or Sophie Dahl’s series where she cooks and reads poetry. Currently, there is The Great British Bake Off – which the week before last featured this delicious bread.Each week of the Bake Off is themed – and so this obviously came from Bread week, a challenging one that I know I would have found really hard. One of the contestants Jason, an 18 year old baker from Croydon, made this and after watching I couldn’t get it out of my mind. Melting cheese, soft bread and a crunchy top plus the onions in the mix – what’s not to like? Happily, the recipe is featured in the new book to go along with the show, and the next day another yeast adventure was going on in my kitchen. As I’m still very much a bread and yeast novice, this took me ages to make. It was an enjoyable process, just long because rolling, stuffing (with two fillings) and folding nineteen balls of bread dough is not going to be a quick process. Add in three sets of rising times and in turned into quite a days baking but the end result was worth it, and could have been even more so had I got it perfect. The problem was I placed all the nineteen dough balls too far apart before they went in the oven so they didn’t join together to properly make a tear and share bread. This meant they were a bit drier then would have been nice and so went stale faster. I had some straight out the oven when the cheese inside was still melting and warm and it was delicious! Sadly one person cannot eat 19 rolls very quickly :( Still, I would recommend the recipe as I think this could be irresistible if done properly! There are a couple more recipes from the Bake Off book that I want to make, so hopefully I’ll get a chance to do them soon. Enjoy :)

Apple Shortcake

2011-08-23T21:35:00.002+01:00

Sometimes the old ones are the best ones. Old friends. Old jumpers completely soft from so many washes. Old jokes and old memories. Old films. Old recipes!This apple shortcake is a recipe from my Granny, which she had printed in a WI cookery book years ago. It was one of my Dad’s favourites when he was little – he even had it instead of a birthday cake one year. It is super simple to make, and a very good way of getting rid of a glut of apples from an apple tree. The shortcake is made of two thick layers of shortbread – so they go almost cakey in the middle – with a layer of sliced apple in the middle. Easy!The cake is very moreish and perfect for afternoon tea because it isn’t really heavy or rich like a big slice of layered cake. My Mum and I considered adding a drizzle of icing on top but it really doesn’t need it because you don’t really ice shortbread and the simple caster sugar topping works just deliciously :) I’ve got the original instructions below, but for the shortbread you can just bung all the ingredients in a food processer and pulse until they begin to come together. Also, be generous with the apple because I only used one but I think it was more medium than large and I could have used more. Hope you enjoy!
Apple Shortcake, from my Granny
Ingredients: 6oz plain flour
3oz ground rice
6oz margarine
3oz caster sugar
1 large/2 medium cooking apples, peeled and cored
Method: 1. Sieve together the flour and ground rice. Rub in the margarine and add the sugar.
2. Knead and press the mixture until it forms a smooth ball leaving the bowl clean.
3. Roll out half to fit a lined 7in cake tin. Add thinly sliced apple. Add other half of the shortbread.
4. Cook for 30-40mins at 160’C. Remove from the oven and scatter generously with caster sugar when cooled.

Mini Pork Pies

2011-08-17T15:51:00.001+01:00

I just don't get the jelly in pork pies.

The pork sausagemeat: obviously, yes, delicious. The pastry: thick, crunchy, preferably in generous amounts.The hard boiled egg: technically we're talking a Gala pie now but still very much acceptable and welcomed. The jelly? No. Not a fan. A strange added layer squeezed between the pork and pastry which I find slimy and tasteless and annoyingly time consuming to remove. Hence why I got rather excited when I saw Lorraine Pascale’s Pork Pies with Cider recipe – due to its total lack of jelly.I’m sure that to a lot of people a jelly free pork pie seems like sacrilege (and a jelly-free pork pie with a quails egg in the middle even more so) but stick with it. These are delicious. I made these with my friend E. (my fellow foodie friend and a savoury cooking genius) on a bake day. We had an immense day and have another day planned – involving duck dumplings! We didn’t have any cider for the pork pies so we used apple juice which worked very well as you could taste the sweetness this brought and made the meat mixture extra juicy. These were mini pies, so they were a bit time consuming to make, but really enjoyable and strangely relaxing! It was our first time making hot water pastry and although we found the bright white lard a bit strange, the pastry was very easy to work with. I’d also never used or even tried a quails egg before – they are so adorable!The end results were delicious. Whilst the recipe states it makes 8 pies, we ended up with 12 – a happy bonus. They would be perfect for a picnic or a delicious summer lunch with salad. The pies got our imaginations going and we are looking forward to making more variations on pork pies – spiced ones, herby ones, a large one in a loaf tin with a whole line of full eggs. So, maybe I just haven't tried a good enough jelly-included-pork pie yet. Perhaps it is a taste that grows with age. Until then, I'm more than happy eating these little guys instead. Enjoy!

Strawberry and Passion Fruit Meringue Roulade

2011-08-14T16:44:00.002+01:00

So I’m back from my holiday! Whilst I recover from jet lag and organise my photos, here is a post I wrote earlier (Blue Peter styley). A few weeks ago, on a rare sunny London summers day, my Mum and I visited Books for Cooks in Portobello Market. Books for Cooks is – as the name just about suggests ;) – a bookshop containing pretty much every cookery book you could imagine. Sweet and savoury, old and new, American authors and English authors, books for every country’s cuisine. But not only is it a fabulous place to browse and discover new gorgeous books (whilst trying not to buy everything you see) the shop also has a tiny restaurant at the back. From Tuesday to Saturday the resident chef chooses a three course menu from different books in the shop. You don’t know what will be served until you get there and you have to turn up early in order to bag a highly coveted seat. The day I went, the menu was this… The trip really gave me a chance to try new things that from a bigger menu it is unlikely I would choose. The soup was amazing. I’d never tried prawns and still found their texture a bit strange for me, but the actual soup broth was so unbelievably full of flavour. There was garlic, lemongrass, chilli, tomato, kaffir lime leaves, all manner of different sauces – it was incredible! I’m gutted I was too busy eating to photograph it. Next came the chicken – again delicious, bursting with flavour and different to what I normally eat. Then, the puddings. There were four cakes to choose from: Chocolate Caramel Pecan Cake, Elderflower and Lemon Cake, Raspberry and Almond Cake or Mango and Passion fruit Roulade. I went for the roulade and, yet again, was not disappointed. The meringue was crisp on the outside and marshmallowy on the outside and there was plenty of bright fresh fruit tucked inside. The best lunch I have had and will have in a long time! Once home, I knew I wanted to recreate the pudding. I also want to attempt the fabulous soup – but am nervous it just won’t live up to the Books for Cooks version! I swapped the mango for strawberries because whilst I love mango I wanted to take advantage of some fresh English produce. On the way home from Portobello Market we passed a grocer selling large bowls of 12 passion fruit for just £1 – bargain! This meant I could be much more liberal with the number of passion fruit I used in the roulade which was great as I adore their sweet scent and tropical flavour (I think in the end I used 8-9). Meringue is so easy to make that I’ve vowed never to let a spare egg white go to waste again. Whilst the actual rolling of the roulade was a little tense, the finished product was delicious. I used this recipe, but used all cream (not cream and yoghurt) and added passion fruit. Enjoy!

Gone to the beach!

2011-08-07T23:21:00.000+01:00

I'm currently on holiday in America, hence why the blog has gone quiet. I'm having an amazing time - beautiful places, great weather, scrumptious food and lots of family time. America is so different to London - and England generally - so everything is really interesting for me here. I look forward to sharing the pictures and stories of my travels with you all when I get back! Until then - Happy summer holidays! :)

White Chocolate & Raspberry Cookies

2011-07-25T22:01:00.001+01:00

I wrote quite a deep, honest starting paragraph for this post. Then I looked at it and figured – this post is about a cookie. An almightily delicious and irresistible cookie yes, but a cookie nonetheless. So whilst there maybe a time for deep opening up, today I’m keeping it simple (I have a very delicious post coming up towards the end of the week) and just saying: you really must make these cookies.I don’t know how I originally came across this recipe as it is, rather embarrassingly, from the Carnation website. I have had the recipe saved for ages and every time I checked my ever growing list of links stored in my Recipes to Try file I’d remember them and remind myself to make them. Then I would promptly forget. Until one very rainy day last week when I got a huge craving for these – so much so that I was willing to go out in the rain to buy condensed milk, the key ingredient for these cookies as it ensures their really soft centres.These are rich – because of the sweet melting white chocolate and the rich dough – but that doesn’t stop them being moreish. Plus, the raspberries are nicely tart and if it’s pouring with rain in the middle of July then who doesn’t deserve a delicious cookie?! Or three. The actual dough was very quick to make but the repetitive process of making all the balls of dough, flattening them and adding the halved raspberries does take a little time. Beware – these cookie spread a lot. For my first batch (luckily only four or five) I made normal sized little balls of dough and the cookies turned out huge: over saucer sized. The recipe makes a lot but that really will not be a problem because like I say, they are very addictive. There will be fights over who gets the biggest one, trust me! Enjoy :)

Gooseberry Crumble Cake

2011-07-20T13:30:00.001+01:00

Yes, I know this is another cake. Which means that three out of my last four posts have been cakes. But hey, who turns down cake? Not me. Especially when it tastes so summery and pretty like this one… Before this cake I had never cooked with gooseberries, despite them being such a classic British summer fruit. They’re pretty much impossible to eat raw – they’re furry and super sour – but when baked they’re so pretty. I don’t often bake with fresh summer fruit (like strawberries) because they are so good fresh on their own (plus a little expensive) that it sometimes seems like a waste to bake them. Obviously with gooseberries, it’s a different story, and so this cake was made.I don’t think that I have made a crumble cake before but I love it. The moist dark layer of almond cake, the soft sweet-tart layer of gooseberries and the crisp and crunchy crumble? Everything is covered! This cake is best eaten on the first day because the crumble will have the nicest crisp texture. However, we saved this cake for a few days to take with us on a weekend trip and it was still perfectly delicious – just a little softer on top. The cake is a Nigel Slater recipe and he calls it a ‘cut and come again cake’ which is exactly right – it is very moreish! And as it contains fruit it really cannot be that bad for you...right?! Enjoy!

Apple, Vanilla and Olive Oil Cake with Maple Cream Cheese Icing

2011-07-13T13:00:00.001+01:00

Doesn’t the title say it all? Apples. Cream cheese. Maple syrup. Vanilla. Gorgeous. The flavours may sound quite autumnal, and I do have more summery dishes coming up, but I still highly recommend you give this a try (especially with London’s weather acting like it is October). My Mum and I bought a slice of this cake from the fabulous London bakery, Ottolenghi and once we tasted it knew that we had to have more of it – and soon! Luckily we have the Ottolenghi book at home and, double luckily, the recipe was featured in it. The cake is stodged full of big apple chunks, juicy sultanas and the sponge is deep with cinnamon and luxurious vanilla: already very good. But fill and top it with the rich, honey coloured, maple cream cheese icing – delicious! When I tried the raw cake mixture I was nervous as it had a really strong after taste of pure olive oil, not quite what you’re looking for in a decadent cake. But, once cooked, that harsh and obvious flavour is baked away and you wouldn’t even know it was there (in a good way! It adds depth of flavour rather than being a totally in your face savoury taste). This was my first time cutting a cake in half to make a layer cake, hence the smaller bottom half, but hey, it was stable. It was also my first time using a vanilla pod rather than extract or paste. Pods have a stronger flavour than extract and I think are more impressive in creamy vanilla desserts because you can see all the vanilla flecks. The book said to cook this cake for an hour and a half but I only did it for one hour and it was perfect, maybe even a little bit too done. So I would say start around that level and see how you go because obviously all ovens are different. Overall – enjoy this fabulous treat of a cake!

Apple and Olive Oil Cake With Maple Cream Cheese Icing, from Ottolenghi

Ingredients for cake:

280g plain flour
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda
120ml olive oil
160g caster sugar
2tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs
3 Bramley apples, peeled cored and chopped into 1cm dice
grated zest of 1 lemon
2 egg whites

Icing:

100g unsalted butter, at room temperature
100g light muscavado sugar
85ml maple syrup
220g cream cheese, at room temperature

Preheat the oven to 170C. Sift the flour, cinnamon, salt, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda into a bowl. Meanwhile, whisk the olive oil, vanilla and sugar together until voluminous and smooth. Next whisk in the eggs, one at a time. Stir in the apples and lemon zest and then the flour. Whisk the egg whites until stiff and fold carefully into the cake batter. Grease and line two sandwich tins and bake for 45 mins until a cake batter comes out clean. Once cooked, allow the cakes to cool completely before icing.

To make the icing, beat together the butter and maple syrup and sugar until light and airy. Next add in the cream cheese and beat until it’s totally smooth. Use half of the icing to the sandwich the cakes together, and smooth the remaining frosting over the top.

Chicken Tikka and Naan Bread

2011-07-11T17:27:00.001+01:00

So, it’s been a while. To put it simply, I had twenty-three big exams lasting for a month and once they finished I was off to Glastonbury festival to celebrate. I have missed this blog and have definitely missed reading all the other great blogs on a regular basis. I’m back now, on my summer holidays until September, and look forward to getting this blog busy again with lots of delicious things planned! Starting with…a savoury dish!I don’t often cook savoury food, and so the ideas of proper amounts of spicing and seasoning are not familiar to me. I thought a good place to start would be Indian food – giving me a chance to use new flavours and see the awesome combinations that make spicy food taste so good. I love curry (my Mum makes a fab chicken korma and Thai green curry that I really want to learn to make) but as we’re in July I wanted to make something a little more summery so I made chicken tikka, cucumber raita and naan bread. I can imagine making large batches of this chicken for summer barbeques or cold for a picnic: delicious. Both the chicken and the breads were surprisingly easy. I used a Mary Berry chicken tikka recipe (her recipes are always foolproof) and a naan bread recipe from Anjum Anand’s book, Indian Made Easy. The naan bread recipe doesn’t use yeast which makes it really simple and quick. I used caraway seeds and black onion seeds (also known as nigella seeds) from above to top the naan breads and they were delicious. The black onion seeds in particular are just perfect and give off a very tempting aroma. The chicken marinade was simple to make and I was surprised by the inclusion of ground nutmeg – not something I expected to see there. Once the three components were ready it was time for the all important taste test. Spicy chicken, cooling raita, crisp buttery naan bread. Eaten in my garden in the July sunshine, it was good. Very good. All in all, a delicious introduction to Indian cookery for me and I look forward to making more. If all savoury cooking gives results like today then expect to see a lot more of it around here!The recipe for the naan bread can be found here, although there is a typo: the bread needs to be left to rise for 1hour, not 10-15mins.

Chicken Tikka from Mary Berry’s Complete Cookbook

Ingredients: 750g skinless,boneless chicken breasts, cubed
Marinade: 2tbsp plain yoghurt
2tbsp tomato puree
1 small onion, finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, crushed
1tbsp tamarind paste
1tbsp paprika
1tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground cumin
large pinch of cayenne pepper
large pinch of grated nutmeg

1. In a bowl, combine all the marinade ingredients.
2. Toss the chicken in the marinade. Cover and marinate in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours.
3.Thread the chicken on to the skewers, put under a hot grill and cook for 3-5 minutes on each side. Serve at once, with a cucumber raita.

Sticky Rhubarb and Ginger Cake

2011-05-13T20:41:00.001+01:00

I may have left this post and recipe a little late in the rhubarb season now (not helped by Blogger’s breakdown the last few days), but this cake was so good and rhubarb itself is one of my favourite fruits so I could not let the whole season go by without a rhubarb post. Last year, it was this totally irresistible tart, this year it’s a totally irresistible cake.The cake came from the little book Jamie Oliver released to raise money for Red Nose Day and this recipe caught my eye immediately. Although we are now used to having raspberries, mangoes and strawberries available pretty much all year round as they are imported from abroad, rhubarb remains a fruit available just during its fairly short season – and even then it can be tricky to find. Personally, I love rhubarb. It’s got a gorgeous bright pink colour, it’s tart, its different and above all, it’s delicious!When we’re in Suffolk, the garden has a large rhubarb patch and so I was able to use our very own fruit for this cake. I wanted to make as much use of it as possible and so doubled the given amount in the recipe. I also stirred some through the cake mixture instead of just laying it over the top – and whilst these changes were good, I felt that the cake could still hold even more rhubarb! The cake turned out interesting though – I was not a fan straight out of the oven, but the day after baking it I loved it. Meanwhile, my Mum was the exact opposite – preferring it warm out the oven and not the next day. I’m not sure why this was, but basically if you don’t like this the first day then be patient.The cake contains dark brown sugar and golden syrup, so the sponge is deep and caramelly in flavour. The little specks of ginger dotted throughout add a welcome touch of heat ad change of texture to the cake without being overpowering. The rhubarb syrup saved from cooking the rhubarb is divine but worth pouring all over the cake to stock it full of flavour. All in all, a very interesting, tasty and perfect spring time bake. You can find the recipe (with the original amount of rhubarb) here.

Pineapple Tarts

2011-05-06T21:31:00.001+01:00

I wonder who first ever thought that pineapples should be eaten? When you see them – prickly sides, thick skin, tall spiky stalk – they don’t seem like the most inviting fruit. But, once in, pineapples are worth it. Sunny yellow flesh, soft and extremely juicy and turning just a little bit sharp on your tongue if you eat too much at once. But before you happily eat the whole fruit, raw and fresh, these tarts are definitely worth a try. The tarts are super easy and straightforward with just three basic ingredients: pineapple, puff pastry, apricot jam and an egg (based on a Lindsay Bareham recipe from the Times). The longest part of the recipe was carving up the fresh pineapple as I am not experienced, but if it was a real rush I don’t see why canned pineapple could not be used. Once you have cut your puff pastry circles you just pile on your pineapple and bake – simple! After baking you glaze the tarts with the jam to seal them and make them glossy. The pineapple goes tender and soft in the oven whilst the pastry goes crisp and crunchy. Very moreish.They’re a great way of bring a little sunshine into a grey day, accompanied by some crème fraiche and straight out of the oven: delicious. I would make these again but I would also make a few changes, just to tweak the few issues we found. Next time, I would add a layer or something under the pineapple, such as marzipan in the galette (although that may be too sweet here) to create more substance and keep the pastry base crisp. Also, whilst the basic recipe is perfect for a super simple dessert, in the future I would precook or flavour the pineapple to add another aspect to the tarts. For example, a quick caramelise in some sugar in a hot pan would emphasise the sweetness of the pineapple whilst adding some new flavour/texture. With these changes, I doubt these tarts would last very long in my kitchen!

Edinburgh

2011-04-22T20:52:00.001+01:00

A few weeks ago, my parents and I went up to Edinburgh – to see the sights and have a fabulous foodie time. I had my first ever Michelin-starred dining experience at Tom Kitchin’s The Kitchin, which certainly did not disappoint. We also had a great time wandering around Edinburgh Farmers’ Market…

The tablet stall (and tablet tasters) must have been my favourite stall.Tablet is a Scottish sweet – like a firmer fudge, mainly sugar and totally irresistible! I bought some and also look forward to attempting my own very soon. A stall selling a huge (and tempting) array of cakes and pies Oink, the business that made the perfect hog roast sandwich at lunchtime, complete with stuffing and apple sauce – delicious! Chutneys, relishes and jams The amazing chocolate stall selling more flavours of chocolate you could ever think of: Chilli, Black Forest, Mango, Salted Caramel, Raspberry, Red Pepper and Candied Orange to name just a few!

Just before catching the train home, we visited the magnificent The Dome. In the grandest of surroundings – complete with heavy chandeliers – we enjoyed a delicious afternoon tea…Middle Layer: fruit scones with strawberry jam and whipped cream.
Bottom layer: Sandwiches – Roast Beef & Horseradish Sauce, Ham & Mustard or Egg and Cress. Top Layer: Lemon French Fancy, Apple Pie, Chocolate Eclair and Strawberry Cream Tart.

All in all – a thoroughly delicious weekend and I can’t wait to visit again!

Passion Fruit Curd Tart

2011-04-10T19:19:00.001+01:00

Never let it be said that baking is a stress-free hobby. Passion fruit curd making is distinctly stressful. For nearly five minutes you stand whisking a bright orange watery liquid on an almost negligible heat, so you turn it up just a smidge, then all of a sudden the colour changes to sunny yellow, the curd thickens rapidly and you’re terrified your curd is curdled and your sore hand from 30+ minutes of squeezing and straining passion fruits will all have been in vain. Pheeew. Thankfully today I got the curd just at the right time. And oh, the results were good. I love passion fruits. As soon as you cut one in half their super sweet, fresh, summery aroma is released. The orange pulp is sweet yet sharp and the black seeds are a shot of crunch. Even the inedible skin is beautiful with its deep purpley/pink colour. They are the perfect fruit for welcoming in the summer sunshine and their name is well deserved. I wanted to make a passion fruit curd tart after sampling the individual ones with meringue from top London bakery Ottolenghi. Despite owning the Ottolenghi book the recipe was not to be found – its kept top secret because the tarts are so popular! After a little searching around, I found a Waitrose recipe that I felt would work. My tart doesn’t have meringue – to save both time and calories – and I made one large one to use a new tart pan. Also, the curd is not cooked again once being added to the tart so it stays delightfully creamy and soft. As I’ve mentioned – I did not enjoy juicing and straining 12 passion fruit. Mine were not hugely ripe so this may have been a factor but I found I spent a long time pushing every last drop of juice away from the pips and through the sieve, so as not to waste any and make as much juice as possible. If you are less concerned about waste you could use more passion fruit or perhaps riper ones would yield more juice easily. Overall, I very much enjoyed the end result of this tart. The lemon pastry adds an extra dimension of summery fruitiness and the passion fruit curd was smooth, buttery and full of that distinctive passion fruit zing. The best part? This tart needs no accompaniments. Armed with a (generous)slice, a fork and a chair in the sunshine I was extremely happy. Enjoy :)

Original Beans with Phillip Kauffmann

2011-03-22T22:27:00.001Z

Around a month ago now, I had one of the best mornings in a long time. My Dad and I headed to La Fromagerie, an utterly delicious foodie haven in London, and attended a breakfast class/chocolate tasting/lecture led by Original Beans founder Phillip Kauffmann. Original Beans is a small chocolate company that focuses on creating the purest, best chocolate whilst using chocolate production as a way of preserving the environment and rainforest, mainly in South America. I’d never truly understood the process of making chocolate or considered the idea of combining chocolate & conservation, so it made for a fascinating morning.I couldn’t ever explain the importance of good chocolate, the detail of chocolate production or all the messages that Original Beans stands for a) without making this post a million words long and b) as cleverly as Kauffmann (who used a digital photo frame full of wonderful photos of the rainforest and plenty of chocolate tasting to guide us through the process). I made a whole page of notes and learnt so much but the most important information can be found on the Original Beans website. My favourite piece of knowledge was that the chocolate we eat comes from the bitter pips of the cacao bean, but the cacao flesh can be eaten normally and tastes like a cross between a lychee or pear. I was also amazed to learn that the variety of cacao bean used affects the flavour of the final product, and yet there are hundreds of varieties of cacao bean yet to be tried! Now, for what we ate…The hot chocolate above was pretty much like drinking pure melted chocolate: divine! With a crisp brioche bun to accompany it, it was the perfect start to a morning full of chocolate.

Next came a mini Danish pastry: the juicy raisins were the closest health food we were getting this morning. After that delicious detour from chocolate, the chocolate returned with a bang: chocolate stuffed pancakes. Rich, thick, smooth chocolate and crispy pancake – it was a perfect send off. In between these foodie feasts, bowls of Original Beans chocolate had been circling the tables as we tasted each different chocolate the company makes. Again, I’m not a chocolate professional but all I can say is they all tasted divine and a world away from your standard Cadbury’s – much deeper and more intense. We left that morning extremely full and almost unable to look at anything more chocolatey, but also full of knowledge about the whole chocolate making process.

All in all it was a marvellous morning and I urge you all to check out Original Beans chocolate!

Mini Orange Drizzle Cakes

2011-03-13T21:33:00.001Z

Its currently that time of year when the weather can’t really make its mind up – should it let the sun shine or should it be gloomy and grey? Should it be getting dark at 4pm or 5pm? It’s also the time of year that inspires the spring clean. In my house the bedrooms are being reorganised, paperwork from all corners of the house is being filed, clothes are being sorted, drawers are being emptied and their contents examined. The last drawer to have the spring clean treatment was the kitchen drawer containing baking bits and bobs. Piping bags, cookie cutters, baking parchment, the heavy rolling pin – everything covered the table. Including a set of tiny loaf tins hidden at the back, bought excitedly but never used. Today that changed! Today was one of those gloomy, rainy days but I ignored it, put on an orange jumper and started baking zingy, fresh orange drizzle cakes. I whipped these up in about half an hour but their scent lingered happily in the kitchen: making it smell fresh, delicious and drawing me constantly back to the baking. Also, because they’re mini they only take 10-15minutes to cook so there’s not too long to wait before you can be enjoying these! The cake edges are crisp and golden, giving way to the soft and moist centre. The crème fraiche in the recipe ensures these stay soft whilst giving them a bit of extra tang which complements the tang of the orange. The orange glace icing on the top adds an extra burst of sweet and rounds everything off simply. I liked these because it’s more interesting than one large cake but makes a refreshing change to cupcakes. I hope you give these a try and that they brighten up a gloomy day in another kitchen. Enjoy :) Mini Orange Drizzle Cakes (makes 8)
Ingredients: 100g caster sugar
115g softened butter
2 large eggs
115g self raising flour
2tbsp crème fraiche
2 large oranges – the zest and juice
100g icing sugar

Preheat the oven to 180’C/350’F/Gas Mark 4 and line the cake tins.
Beat the butter and caster sugar until light, creamy and well combined. Add the eggs one by one, beating after each addition. Add the juice of one orange, and zest of both.
Add the flour and crème fraiche and fold the mixture gently until fully combined. Divide the mixture between the cake cases – filling them about 3/4 full.
Bake for 10-15 minutes until the cakes spring back and a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean. Let cool in their tins.
Mix the icing sugar and remaining orange juice until smooth and fairly thin so that it is easy to drizzle. If there is any orange juice left over, use the cake skewer to poke small holes in the cakes and pour over the juice.
Once the cakes are fully cooled, remove from the tins and paper and drizzle over the icing. Enjoy!

Triple Chocolate Oreo Fudge Cookies

2011-03-05T14:21:00.002Z

I’m not the best cookie maker. Sometimes they cook quicker than expected, occasionally they might spread out into each other, sometimes the eggs might look like they’ve curdled the mixture before you’ve added the flour. However, with a cookie title like this I doubt you can ever go too wrong. And the delicious results of this bake certainly proved me right.Green&Blacks dark Cocoa powder. Double chocolate stuffed Oreos. Butterscotch pieces. White chocolate chips. These cookies had them all. These may not be complicated, elegant or top notch gastronomy but they sure are good. There are moments for clean, healthy, simple foods and then there are days like this that call for pure treats!

The original recipe called for caster sugar, but at the friend’s kitchen we were baking in there was only dark muscovado sugar. We ran with it, despite the drastic difference between the two, and the cookies turned out great. The dark sugar added more of a deep caramel flavour and I think made the centre of the cookies softer and more brownie/cake like. The edges of the cookies were satisfyingly crunchy and each bite filled with a little nugget of chocolate goodness. Despite their richness, when paired with a tall glass of milk these just become rather addictive. So grab a film, curl up on the sofa, relax and….enjoy.

Benedict Bars

2011-02-23T18:14:00.001Z

The trouble with reading food blogs is they always make me hungry. I think it is impossible to look at pages of cakes, pies, tarts and all manner of other delicious things without feeling a little bit envious. And then it becomes all too tempting to reach for the biscuit tin. To avoid snacking endlessly, I have a few times I prefer to read blogs: 1) Last thing at night – having just brushed my teeth I’m not feeling the need to eat more or 2) First thing in the morning on my phone – its unlikely that early in the morning I will be motivated enough to move for food unless its proper breakfast. Of course, there are downsides to these as well. When I came across these Benedict bars last thing at night it became rather difficult to go to sleep as I craved some nutty, jammy, biscuity goodness…

When I finally got round to making these I was not disappointed. The recipe makes a generous tray full but I know that tray will be finished very soon. The bars are comprised of a layer of shortbread, a thin layer of jam (I chose cherry instead of the suggested raspberry) and a flaked almond topping. Boy, do these layers work well together. The time in the oven toasted the almonds and enhanced their nutty flavour, the jam was sweet and sticky and the shortbread base rounded everything off perfectly. Definitely a fan. I don’t think I would make any changes to the recipe. Before baking, I felt the bars looked like they needed extra almonds but I had no spare. However, after baking the layer was definitely thick enough. I did have to bake my bars for 10-15minutes extra than the recipe states to make my almonds golden/toasted but all ovens vary. I look forward to trying these again with different jams – its such an easy recipe and sure to be a hit at school fairs, coffee mornings, afternoon tea….whenever!You can find the recipe here and obviously, I highly recommend it. Now I’m off to catch up on some blogs…safely armed with my hefty square of Benedict bar :)

Sun-dried Tomato & Thyme Fougasse

2011-02-16T16:42:00.001Z

You’ll have to forgive the night time photo, but I made something savoury, I used yeast and attempted bread making! None of these things often happen so a slightly dodgy photo wasn’t going to stop this bread reaching my blog. The recipe came from Lorraine Pascale’s TV series – Baking Made Easy. Lorraine used to be a model before turning to cooking and baking and now owns a cake shop I am determined to visit extremely soon! This TV series was her first but I hope it won’t be the last – the recipes were original, easy and al looked irresistible.

It was difficult to choose just one recipe to try, and I hope to try out some more, but I felt it was time to go out my comfort zone. Fougasse is a fern shaped French bread, and this version had sun-dried tomato and dried thyme added. It was easy to make – I used the KitchenAid to do the kneading. This was the first time I had done this but I would do it again – it saves time and messy worktops and gives me a chance to do a spot of cleaning up! However, if making a dough with lots of add-ins I don’t think my dough hook is quite right as it doesn’t disperse these ingredients evenly. Somewhere along the way I think I went a little wrong as my dough didn’t seem to fully rise – but happily this didn’t affect the final taste! Chewy, studded with sweet spikes of tomato (I was using this instead of chorizo but would like to try this another time for a hint of spice) and rather moreish – dipped in good olive oil this was a winner. You can find the recipe and see Lorraine Pascale making it here: enjoy!

Tropical Cupcakes

2011-01-30T17:29:00.002Z

There is always a lot of citrus baking happening in January and February. There’s not a lot of fresh local fruit and vegetables around at this time of year, and after the excess of Christmas it’s time to turn away from chocolate (unless you’re making this, in which case I am rather envious). Also, when the weather is grey and cold the zing of citrus acts as a great pick-me-up. And when combined with rich buttercream and soft cupcake, citrus baking sounds pretty good to me.Depending on where you live, the flavours might not be tropical at all but pineapple, lime and cherries aren’t grown round London! I’ve only baked with pineapple once before but I loved the results here. The pineapple chunks are sweet and juicy and add fresh bursts of flavour as the cupcake is eaten. Lime is also not an ingredient I have regularly used but it’s sharpness stops the buttercream becoming sickly. This recipe was extremely easy to make – oil takes the place of butter in the cake so there is no creaming done and everything is simply stirred together in one bowl. The cake is also delicious without the buttercream, becoming more like a muffin and far less rich. I wanted these cupcakes to be bright and colourful so I used spotty cases and decorated them with Dr Oetker jelly beans and sprinkles, which made for a cheery kitchen! This vibrancy combined with the lime tang and juicy pineapple made these cupcakes a winner for me. Enjoy!Tropical Cupcakes
Makes 12-15, depending on your cupcake case size
Ingredients: 200g self raising flour
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
100g caster sugar
50g dried tropical fruit
3 medium eggs
100ml sunflower oil
75ml buttermilk (or 75ml milk and 1/2tsp white wine vinegar)
1 x 227g tin pineapple slices, chopped finely and fully drained
Buttercream: 200g icing sugar
100g butter
1 lime, the zest and juice
1. Preheat the oven to 190’C (170’C fan oven). Line a 12-hole muffin tin with cases, although you may need a few more if your cases are small like mine.
2. Sift the flour, bicarbonate of soda, caster sugar and dried fruit into a large bowl.
3. Put the eggs, oil and buttermilk into a jug and whisk until all combined.
4. Pour the egg mixture into the flour, and add the pineapple pieces. Stir everything together until combined and divide between the cupcakes cases – you can fill the cases quite high as the cakes do not rise hugely.
5. Bake for 15-20minutes until golden and risen slightly. Leave to cool completely on a wire rack.
6. For the buttercream: Whisk all the ingredients together until smooth and fully mixed. Either pipe or spoon the icing over the cupcakes, and decorate how you wish. :)

Celebratory Chocolate

2011-01-25T17:26:00.002Z

On Monday I finished my mock exams. Exams which caused my left hand (I'm a leftie and proud) to feel like it was going to fall off after all the writing its done. Exams that caused revision which did its best to ruin the Christmas holiday. Exams that made me miss the January sales. Exams that have caused a persistent aching back after being hunched over hours of exam papers. Exams that kept me out of the kitchen. Exams that buried my room under revision lists and guides and files and notes. Everybody knows there's only one way to celebrate the end of exams. Salted Caramel Chocolate Tart. Ok, maybe that was just me. But it’s a pretty good way to go! The recipe came from one of my top Christmas presents this year – a copy of Rachel Allen’s latest book, Entertaining at Home. I love Rachel Allen and our house has all her books, but this one was extra special because it was signed! I’m yet to meet the lady herself and the book was won from an auction, but its still exciting. I knew that I wanted to try something special to celebrate exams – something more complicated and different to what I normally make. This tart certainly went there for me! I practised pastry making, caramel making, and tried to improve my resistance around large bowls of melted chocolate. I’d never made caramel before and was extremely nervous but, although it wasn’t completely perfect, it turned out tasty and not at all burnt! The pastry provides the necessary crunch after all the soft sweetness of the tart fillings. The caramel is the strong sweet kick, with just a hint of salt at the end. The chocolate layer is thick and soft, like a mousse or truffle, but the use of dark chocolate prevents everything becoming too sickly. Perfect.  As you may be able to see from the above picture, I had a slight issue with my caramel layer. Although it tasted divine, my fear of burning it meant I removed it from the heat too early and it was not thick enough (the consistency should be almost like dulce de leche). This meant when the chocolate was poured on top, the caramel in the centre was pushed from underneath and spilled out. In the end this wasn’t too bad as it caramelised the pastry at the top which was delicious, but it’s something to bear in mind. Overall, I was more than pleased with this tart. It was my first baking challenge of 2011, and it was utterly irresistible! Having a slice in my lunchbox every day makes me feel like I’m eating at a fancy restaurant, and makes those exams seem a hundred years ago… You can find the recipe here – enjoy!

Back In The Kitchen

2011-01-18T17:52:00.001Z

Today was my first time back baking in the kitchen since long before Christmas. It felt good to be back: creaming butter and sugar, weighing out flour, fetching the eggs and scales. Tying up my apron strings, switching on the oven. Dusting off the KitchenAid and examining the recipe. Manically charging my little pink camera so I can grab a decent photo before the light goes. I've definitely missed this. The recipe today had to be quick and easy, and sweet – because its January and a pick me up at 4pm is always necessary. This cake was definitely a good choice! It is a Date, Orange and Almond cake and combines the sweet softness of the dates with citrus zing and nutty background. Very moreish!

The amounts of ingredients seemed worryingly large for this cake – 300g of butter anyone? – and I thought I would end up with a massive cake that my family wouldn’t be able to finish. However, whilst this cake is large, it isn’t as large as the mixture may originally seem, and stays incredibly moist for several days. The top and edges of this cake form a crunchy biscuit-style texture which makes a delicious contrast to the soft cake within. Oh, writing about this makes me feel I definitely need another slice….You can find the recipe here – enjoy!

Venice

2011-01-09T16:01:00.001Z

This New Year saw my family headed to work off the Christmas excess by exploring the streets of the beautiful city of Venice, Italy. Although we have been previously, a place like Venice never loses its charm and there were plenty of new places to discover as well as old favourites to visit… The tiny island of Burano in the Venetian lagoon, where all the houses are brightly painted.

The view over Venice from the top of the Campanile in St. Mark’s Square.

Sitting in the sun, eating amazing Italian pizza, watching the gondolas go by…

A view down the bustling Grand Canal from the top of the Rialto Bridge.

And now for some food…

Amazing works of pasta art!

More food art, in the form of marzipan fruits.

Nutty, sticky, chewy Torrone.

A whole host of delicious goods spied through a bakery window :)

Stollen Swirls

2011-01-03T21:54:00.002Z

I made these before Christmas, and the post I’d written about them was pre-Christmas themed. That post never got posted and so new words had to be written. Except, why not keep it simple? It is New Year, a period when everybody is meant to be eating healthy salads and vegetables in order to get over festive excess (although who really does?). So, my main stollen point is: the swirls were good, but I think could be a easily improved to make them so much better. I’ve never attempted making the classic stollen before so I was eager to give it a go this year. This recipe was a little bit different and as I can never resist anything involving marzipan the baking began. The end result was tasty, they made the house smell gorgeous and the recipe worked perfectly. My key adaptation would be instead of forming a marzpian log down the centre of the swirls, roll it out into a thin layer on top of the dough and then add the fruit. This way, just like here, the marzipan would melt and go toffee-ish and impart its flavour across the whole swirl. Yum. I’d also up the fruit levels, and cut the rolls thinner so its less plain doughy. Failing that, I’d flavour the dough with spices like cinnamon to give this extra punch. Double Yum. You can find the recipe here, enjoy :)

2010

2011-01-01T01:31:00.002Z

Although December and the end of 2010 was rather quiet on Teen Baker, 2010 had been a good year. And just before we get properly into the grand heights of 2011 and all the new, exciting things I hope it has to offer, I thought it was time for a reflection. Month by month, my highlights of 2010. Hope you all had a very Merry Christmas and have a brilliant New Year and I wish you the best for 2011!
January – Glazed Fruit Rolls
Sticky, irresistible, crunchy on the outside, melting and soft on the inside. 2010 opened with a classic and sometimes it just doesn’t get much better.
February – Cheese Straws
A rare savoury appearance on the blog, perfect for parties but pretty hard to stop yourself munching on any time.
March – Rhubarb Tart
This tart was the first delicious taste of summer, even though made when still in spring. The colours and flavours wake you out any winter stupor and truly brighten the day.
April – White Chocolate Cookies
A surprise top-blog hit, made with a great friend, celebrating the end of a No Chocolate month and dangerously moreish. Four months in to the year and a great cookie was found. And now, I think it is definitely time the cookie is repeated…Up for it, P?
May – Vanilla Pannacotta with Strawberries
Reaching the summer season and it is time to create something silky smooth, fruity, and make something I had previously thought I didn’t like. Turns out as a success!
June – Roasted Tomato&Thyme Soup with Twice Baked Potatoes
A mouthful of a title but a scrumptious savoury mouthful cooked up in June with my sister. It may have been the summer but a hearty soup always wins.
July – Brunch with Alice Hart at La Fromagerie
Not a recipe for July, but a chance to meet the author of a delicious cookbook, sample delicious food cooked by her and hear her tell my Dad about the wonders of food styling v. being a lawyer.
August – Blueberry Muffins
My Dad’s favourite, inspired by a great summer holiday and enjoyed back home really rather quickly…
September – Celebration Chocolate Log
I celebrated my blogoversary a little late but with something truly amazing, rich, decadent and above all – tasty. You cannot beat a chocolate overload. Fab.
October – Banana Cake
The controversial banana (in my house) was used in my baking for the first time with colourful and tasty results :)
November – Ricciarelli
Got to finish the year on a high, which for me means something addictive, delicious, perfectly flavoured and textured and just all round ‘mmm’.

December – Nutmeg Custard Creams
Perhaps there is not the largest selection here, but these were still a lovely bake and finishing the year on the Biscuit Challenge seemed like a yummy enough idea to me.

Nutmeg Custard Creams

2010-12-02T17:57:00.001Z

When I began my Biscuit Challenge here on the blog, a long time ago, I constantly refrained from attempting the infamous custard cream. Bourbons, digestives, snickerdoodles and most recently ricciarelli, amongst others, have all been made as part of the Biscuit Challenge and have all been tasty. They haven’t been exact replicas of the shop bought original, but when baked with regular ingredients and care – plus with delicious results – does this really matter? When I finally attempted custard creams, I decided to step a little bit further away from the original.Marcus Wareing, a Gordon Ramsay trained and Michelin-starred top chef, is renowned for his nutmeg custard tart, which has been served to the Queen. Taking this success and running with it, he’s adapted his recipe to create what he calls Nutmeg Custard Cream Yo-yo’s. The biscuits were easy to make, and the final product was ultra rewarding. The nutmeg makes the final cookies spicier and warmer than your standard custard cream and when I make these next (which I definitely shall do) I think I’ll add even more. The biscuit itself had the best texture – sandy yet crisp and very moreish. When I made bourbons I missed the firm square of chocolate cream filling – which I think now you can only properly get with shop bought biscuits which can use preservatives and E-numbers – but with these the soft and creamy custard filling was delicious and perfectly flavoured. Mmm. Just right to fill that 4pm biscuit craving :) The only change I made to the recipe was that instead of forming a log of cookie dough and slicing it up, I found the dough much easier to roll out and cut with a cookie cutter. I also added more custard powder to the biscuit dough, as I wanted to be sure the flavour would clearly some through which, happily, it did. You can find the recipe here, and I hope you do attempt the British biscuit tin favourite – and enjoy!

Ricciarelli

2010-11-21T22:34:00.001Z

In the Biscuit Challenge so far, I have tackled widely known biscuit tin favourites. This time, I wanted to try something different – just as irresistible, just as moreish, still something I have regularly bought from a supermarket, but just a little bit different. The most famous Italian biscuits would probably be amaretti, biscotti and cantuccini. Whilst all these are delicious, I think my favourite now has to be this – the ricciarelli. A soft and chewy macaroon, with a truly intense almond flavour and a tiny touch of lemon. Also slightly addictive. You have been warned! These are not particularly complicated, but you do need to start the day before so they have plenty of time to dry out which will lead to their scrumptious chewy texture later on. Whilst I am not a hugely patient person and the no instant gratification was different, I think the wait just makes the reward even more tasty. And you end up with freshly baked ricciarelli for breakfast through no effort! Splendid.

You can find the recipe here (scroll down!) – I hope you enjoy :)

Plum and Marzipan Galette

2010-11-15T17:58:00.001Z

I made this galette a good few weeks ago now – just as the weather changed from Summer to Autumn. Now, we are deep in Winter but the galette has still been made repeatedly. The first time, the galette was a chance to begin making good use of the fabulous Autumn produce that Britain does so well: plums, apples, pears – our climate is so much more suited to these than endless supplies of summer berries. Since then, I have made it simply because I loved it and it is so easy! Just 4 ingredients: puff pastry, plums, marzipan, sugar. Easy as pie…The key ingredient in the galette is the marzipan. Other than Christmas cake every year and the odd new recipe, marzipan’s presence in my kitchen is rare…mainly because I know I will just eat it all. :) The plums I used here aren’t very sweet – instead quite sharp and therefore the marzipan combination doesn’t become too sickly. The marzipan also soaks up the plum juices and ensures the pastry stays crisp. Plus, the demerara sugar sprinkled on top balances out the melting marzipan and soft juicy plums. Tempted yet? I didn’t use a specific recipe each time to make this, it can be easily scaled up or down depending on the ingredients you have to hand, the fruit you have and the amount of people you have to serve. For around 6-8 people, these amounts will do…

Ingredients: 500g plums
450g puff pastry
400g marzipan
2 tablespoons milk
4-5 tablespoons demerara sugar

1. Roll the puff pastry out until it is a large circle and around 3mm thick. Place onto a large baking tray that has been lined with parchment paper.
2. Roll the marzipan to a circle which is 5mm thick, or 1cm smaller than the pastry. Gently lay this on top of the pastry.
3. Halve and stone the plums. Cut each half into four slices, and carefully arrange on top of the marzipan.
4. Bring up the excess pastry from the edges and fold over the marzipan and plums. Sprinkle the plums with some of the demerara sugar. Brush the pastry with the milk, and sprinkle with the remaining sugar.
5. Bake in a 170’C/Gas Mark 3/325’F oven for 20 minutes until the pastry is risen and golden and the plums are soft. Enjoy whilst warm!

Granada!

2010-11-08T18:16:00.001Z

Towards the end of October, my Spanish class and I went on a week long trip to the beautiful city of Granada, in Andalucia, Spain. I have been here very briefly two years ago, but this was a proper chance to get to know the city. And it was great – gorgeous city, gorgeous food, gorgeous summer weather. Lovely.

A central street in GranadaA view over the city from the top of the Albaicin, Granada’s old district.A fountain pond in one of the Alhambra’s palaces A view of the Alhambra from the Albaicin

Inside the San Jeronimo monastery

Apple and Cranberry Flapjacks

2010-10-18T18:41:00.001+01:00

In London, we never seem to ‘suffer’ from seasonal gluts of strawberries and raspberries. My family is not presented with the problem of a complete summer overflow of nectarines, blueberries or peaches. We manage to grow the odd bunch of raspberries or loganberries – enough to be picked and eaten, there and then, warm in the sun. But certainly not enough produce to find that even after baking a cake, a crumble, eating gallons raw, and finishing off with some cookies that our stash is still languishing in the garden. This all changes round about this time of year. The English climate is much much better at producing Autumn gluts – apples, plums, pears. Lots and lots of apples. Our cottage in Suffolk has a massive apple tree in the centre of the garden, and its constantly full of fruit all season. Every time we visit, we fill bags and bags of fruit and cart them back to London. And once back in London, there’s two more (way smaller but still plentiful) trees to harvest. And so the baking must begin…I didn’t want to repeat another apple cake (fab as they are) and wanted to try something a little different. I hadn’t made flapjacks before but these weren’t the traditional version. The addition of a huge grated apple keeps the mixture moist and makes the flapjacks last, whilst the handfuls of dried cranberries gave the flapjacks a little extra tang which I definitely liked. I considered adding a chocolate drizzle to the top – and whilst this might be nice I decided to keep these as they were – fruity, oaty, delicious. The recipe is from Hannah’s book and is one which I highly recommend :)

Banana Cake

2010-10-12T17:28:00.002+01:00

Bananas are a divisive fruit in my family. My Mum and I like them, my Dad and my sister don’t. When my sister was little, my Dad told her bananas were horrible and so she’s grown up not liking it. Be careful what you tell 3 year olds! Even at school, bananas get strong reactions. They seem to be like Marmite: you either love them or hate them. For this reason, we don’t have bananas much at home. With only two ‘eaters’ it seems a bit excessive to buy lots even before we get to the idea of baking with them. But, with my Mum’s friends coming round and my Dad away (and therefore unable to moan about the bananas) – an exception was made. This banana cake is sort of a jazzed up banana bread – the addition of some dried fruit and bright glace cherries makes it a little more luxurious than a bread. This cake also has a sweet honey glaze, giving your kitchen a bit of shine on a dull October afternoon. The recipe is an old favourite of my Mums, and is easy to make up. The key factor with this cake is really careful baking: my oven is quite hot and so after only 1hour out of the 1.5hours specified the cake was already slightly overdone. I’d start at 50 minutes and check it accordingly – as when it is still moist and slightly sticky. If I were to bake it again, I might use slightly riper bananas and up the sultana content to give it a punch more flavour :) Banana Cake (makes one 9x5x2inch loaf )
Ingredients: 225g (8oz) self raising flour
1tsp salt
100g (4oz) butter, cubed
175g (6oz) caster sugar
100g (4oz) sultanas/dried berries
100g (4oz) glace cherries, halved
2 large eggs
500g ripe bananas
50g honey (optional)

Preheat the oven to 180’C/350’F/Gas Mark 4 and line your loaf tin with a strip of parchment paper.
Sift the flour and salt into a large bowl. Add the butter and rub into the flour until crumbly/pea-sized pieces. Add the sugar, sultanas/dried fruit and cherries and create a hollow in the centre of the mixture.
Crack the eggs into the hollow. In a separate bowl, mash the bananas with a fork, or whizz in a food processor, until fairly smooth. Add the banana to the flour hollow.
Fold the mixture all together into a smooth cake mix, and pour into the prepared tin.
Bake in the centre of the oven for 50mins, then check. The top should be golden and a skewer should come out mainly clean (provided you didn’t go through a sultana). It may need up to 1hour15mins, depending on your oven.
Melt your honey in a small bowl. Using a pastry brush, spread over the top of the cooled cake. Cut generous slices!

The Great Brownie Bake Off!

2010-10-10T17:07:00.001+01:00

The Great Brownie Bake Off was an event I went to in London yesterday. The Great Brownie Bake Off (GBBO) was organised by Louise Thomas who has the amazing job of a Chocolate Consultant! It was held at the cool cafe/bike-shop, Look Mum No Hands which was packed with chocolate fans! 25 foodies entered their own recipe for the best brownie, which were judged by 11 judges! The judges took the process very seriously – sniffing each brownie, examining texture, colour and taste and much more. Whilst this went on, there were demonstrations…The first demo I saw was by Edd Kimber. Edd is the winner of the BBC’s Great British Bake Off, a fab recent TV series that inspired the days Brownie Off. Edd demonstrated banana whoopie pies with chocolate ganache and was superb against the tricky audience (distracted by free brownies!) – plus it was his first demo. I wasn’t quick enough to try one but they looked gorgeous and the recipe is now on his lovely blog so I look forward to trying them! The other demo that I saw was by Stacie Stewart, a finalist from Masterchef. Since Masterchef, Stacie has set up The Beehive Bakery and her own cookery school. She demonstrated chocolate and mascarpone cupcakes and taught me two interesting baking tips:

1) the reason butter has to be soft for cupcakes is it allows the fat molecules to expand, making your cake soft and light instead of heavy and dry.
2) sugar should be added to a cupcake mix slowly, not all at once, again for a softer cupcake.

I entered the fun with my brownies – I knew were too vanilla-y (accidentally used vanilla sugar!) and didn’t dare pick up my score card but I liked how they looked… Congratulations to Louise M, the brownie champion, and a huge thank you to Louise Thomas for organising the whole day! It was so exciting seeing the people I’ve watched avidly on TV in the flesh, and tasting many fab brownies. Can’t wait to attend my next foodie event very soon…

Eccles Cakes

2010-09-24T18:01:00.001+01:00

One of the hardest parts I find in cooking at the moment is finding a good use for those odds and ends that hang around in the fridge and cupboards – lurking. The hard rind of cheese, a lemon with no zest, an end of cucumber or deserted half pot of pesto. It is a lot harder to find inspiration when things look a little but dreary or half-empty, as opposed to looking at shiny new ingredients and packets. But when the UK throws away 8.3 billion tonnes of food every year, costing the average family £680 a year – I definitely realise that using up odds and ends is important. Plus, when bakes as delicious as these come out of it, what’s the problem!? Today I avoided wastage by turning a leftover ‘wodge’ of puff pastry into a delicious batch of Eccles cakes. Eccles cakes are not a cake at all, but a dried fruit and sugar mixture wrapped in puff pastry and baked. Eccles cakes are also an old-fashioned British treat so I thought they would be an appropriate bake during British Food Fortnight! The Eccles cakes were delicious – consisting mainly of butter, sugar and dried fruit how could they not!? The filling was almost good enough to eat on its own, but when surrounded by crackly, slightly caramelised golden pastry it went to another level. Quite addictive! This Delia recipe here is very similar to the Rachel Allen one I used – the difference being I used some all-butter puff pastry instead of making some flaky pastry. Enjoy :)

Celebration Chocolate Log

2010-09-14T19:03:00.001+01:00

People who know me know that I’m not fussy with pudding. Crumble, pie, a cookie, a tart, fresh fruit – I’m with you. But there are certain occasions that just cry out for something a bit extra special. Occasions like, perhaps, a second blogoversary? Or, reaching 100 posts? Or…both? Yes, Teen Baker is in the midst of celebrating both these milestones! I realise I am slightly late with celebrating these on the blog, and am a little over 100 posts now – but hey, when there is a cake this good around, who is complaining? And this cake is definitely this good. With nearly half a litre of cream and half a kilogram of chocolate I had no doubts that this was the perfect cake for my 2nd and 100th celebrations ;)

This cake is from Orlando Murrin’s book called A Table in the Tarn which I have used before a while ago and now shall certainly be using again. Intended for Christmas or New Year, this cake is decadence on a plate. It consists of…
- chocolate cake layer
- chocolate/cointreau mousse layer
- chocolate cake layer
- chocolate/cointreau mousse covering
- chocolate ganache coating
- chocolate shavings and strawberry topping
Can you say YUM?

Now, this cake is a celebration one not just because of the calorie count but because of the time it takes. Each step is only 5-10minutes, but most steps end in ‘Now refrigerate for 2 hours until firm’. Perhaps some of these firming-up periods are unnecessary, but with the large scale ingredients involved I was determined not to ruin this cake and followed it to the T. My favourite part of this was the chocolate and Cointreau mousse because it was so silky smooth, rich and deep with flavour. I would definitely like to make just this component again for a dessert, although as it is so rich it would have to be in very small servings! The cake layers are very thin and have a brownie-like texture which is great for supporting those thick layers of mousse. All in all – a resounding success! Because the recipe is so long and special, I don’t feel I should post it here but do buy the book or I think it would be easy to create using your own log with your favourite recipes for a rich chocolate cake and mousse. Happy Baking!

Carrot and Coriander Soup

2010-09-10T19:41:00.001+01:00

Surprises. My Mum can’t stand them – from who’s left Strictly Come Dancing to a surprise birthday present, she just needs to be in the know. But I think there can be good surprises: finding £5 in your pocket, a day forecast to be rainy turning out sunny, a botched up recipe turning out well after all! My good surprise today was a gift in the post… This book was destined to give good results – the recipes are from the WI after all! As with all cookbooks, I flicked straight to the dessert/puddings/baking section (or in this case, all four of them – the book is organised by seasons!) and of course found plenty of gorgeous things I look forward to trying. But what also struck me about this book was the fabulous collections of soups that came at the start of each season. So many varieties of and new twists on tomato soup, but also dozens of vegetable, fish, bean and meat soups. Plus, with our summer weather slowly slipping away and the rain creeping in I thought I better get practising a truly delicious winter repertoire! I forgot that I had already made a carrot soup, but this version was different in every way: taste, appearance, texture, cooking style and the flavours involved. This soup also taught me the important message of seasoning, something I knew I need to learn more about. After taking the first spoonful, I was concerned that the soup was a bit bland and the carrot goodness wasn’t coming through. The trick? After pureeing, hit this soup with A LOT of black pepper. There is no point being shy here, just taste as you go along and slowly the flavours appear! Gorgeous. I was a big fan of this soup. Because of the true carrot flavour, you just know this soup is good for you. A large amount of coriander adds heat and the amount of work required from you is minimal. How could you not be a fan? This soup is from the Spring section of the book, which is a couple of seasons away for me, but I found it just perfect for a rainy Autumn afternoon. Enjoy!

Carrot and Coriander Soup from Best-kept Secrets of the Women’s Institute

Ingredients: 25g (1oz) butter
1 onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, crushed
25g (1oz) plain flour
1 litre (1.25pints) chicken or vegetable stock
450g (1lb) carrots, grated
2tsp chopped fresh coriander (I probably used double this)
salt and LOTS of freshly ground black pepper
cream or yoghurt, to serve

Method:
1. Melt the butter in a pan and soften the onion and garlic slowly.
2. Blend in the flour and then add the stock gradually, stirring all the time over a low heat.
3. Add the carrots and coriander. Bring the soup to the boil and then let it simmer for 15minutes.
4. Remove the pan from the heat and adjust seasoning. Pour into a food processor and blend until smooth.
5. Divide between four bowls and add a swirl of yoghurt/cream to serve.

Spinach and Feta Pastries

2010-08-31T16:49:00.002+01:00

When life gives you lemons, make lemonade. When life gives you spinach, make spinach and feta pastries!

I was recently fortunate enough to receive a gift of a large bag of home grown spinach from the garden of my Mum's close friend Jan. Fresh, vibrant, bursting with colour - I knew this gift would not be waiting long to be used. After a Bank Holiday trip to the Suffolk seaside inspiration had dutifully struck. Thanks to hot pastries bought from Lawsons Deli and eagerly consumed on the beach, this spinach had been found a use! Once home, the cooking began.

Mixed with salty, crumbly feta cheese (my current favourite thing: joining lunchtime salads every day.) and wrapped in flaky flaky puff pastry: these were ready. Well, after a speedy 15-minute trip to the oven - these were ready. The pastry rose, the feta melted and the spinach darkened. Just to warn you - these give a big hit of spinach flavour. As someone still learning to love spinach in forms other than cannelloni, they occasionally erred on the too-spinachy side. However, they were balanced nicely with sweet tomato salad and I know for anyone who likes spinach they are delish. So next time you find spinach lurking in your kitchen? You know what to do :)

Spinach and Feta Pastries
As these were based on Lawsons Deli pastries and a gift of spinach, I didn't use exact measurements, so these are rough approximations. These quantities made 6 pastries, with two per serving for a main meal. You can easily scale the numbers up or down for different amounts of people.

Ingredients:
1 onion, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, peeled and crushed
200g carefully washed (no one wants soil in a pasty), destalked and cooked spinach
1 egg
150g feta cheese
1tbsp mint, finely chopped
1tsp thyme leaves, finely chopped
250g puff pastry
1 more beaten egg

Preheat the oven to 190'C.
Saute the onion and garlic slowly in two large knobs of butter until the onion is softened and golden. Meanwhile, squeeze all excess water out of the spinach and chop into more bite-size pieces with a large pair of scissors.
Take the onion off the heat and add in all the remaining ingredients other than pastry. Season well and taste, then add more of whatever is lacking.
Roll out the pastry very thinly and cut into 10cm squares. Place a large tablespoon of the spinach mix into the centre of each pastry square. Brush the edges with beaten egg and bring up to the top, pinching together diagonal edges and twisting the corners. Brush the whole top with more egg.
Place on a baking tray and bake for 15-20minutes until the pastry is risen and golden and the feta is melted. Serve warm with a salad in the sunshine and enjoy!

The Blueberry Muffin

2010-08-24T19:50:00.000+01:00

The blueberry muffin is thought of by my family as a classically American treat - whenever we travel to the USA my Dad always eagerly anticipates fantastic breakfasts finished off with a moist and fruit-heavy muffin. Along with treacle tart and coffee cake, muffins rank amongst his favourite ever bakes. In our recent trip to America, the muffin adapted to become our perfect afternoon tea treat. Bought from a Wal-Mart and carefully packed and brought to the beach the huge, blue juice stained delacies filled the afternoon gap perfectly Once we returned to rainy England, we weren't quite ready to give up the muffin habit and so to the kitchen I was headed...

After a couple of baking flops recently, I wanted to be certain that these muffins would be a success. I have certain authors in the cookery book cupboard who I head to when looking for a reliable recipe for a true classic. These authors also tend to be the ones who have several books on the shelf, all with a particular favourite well-thumbed page. Examples include Rachel Allen, Delia Smith, Mary Berry, Nigel Slater and, in the case of todays recipe, Nigella Lawson. Just one look at the chocolate brownie page in our Nigella book FEAST shows the many many times it has been used (and the many many times brownies have been enjoyed in my household). Nigella's book How To Be A Domestic Goddess is full of delicious and irresisitible and so turning to it today I was certain there would be a decent blueberry muffin - and I was not to be disappointed.

Whilst perhaps not quite as large as their Wal-Mart relations, these muffins were good. Completely loaded with blueberry goodness (the more fruit involved = the more muffins acceptable to eat at one sitting!) and with crackly demerara sugared tops - I was happy. And with a recipe yielding 12 best-eaten-on-the-day-made muffins - I was settled!

Blueberry Muffins from How To Be A Domestic Goddess by Nigella Lawson
Ingredients: 75g unsalted butter, melted
200g plain flour
1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
75g caster sugar
pinch salt
200 ml buttermilk — (or 1/2 cup plain yogurt and 100 ml semi-skimmed milk, or 200ml milk and 1tsp vinegar)
1 large egg
200g blueberries ( I used 250g, which made them extra blueberry-y!)

Method:

Preheat the oven to 200'C. Melt the butter, and set it aside to cool.
Combine all the dry ingredients in a bowl
In a measuring cup beat together the buttermilk, (or yogurt and milk), egg, and melted butter
Using a wooded spoon and a light hand, pour the wet ingredients into the dry and mix gently to combine
Don’t worry about lumps; the important thing with muffins is that the mixture isn’t overworked
Fold in the blueberries, again keeping mixing to a minimum
Spoon into the muffin tin & bake for 20 minutes, by which time the muffins should be risen and golden and firm on top

America...

2010-08-15T17:45:00.001+01:00

Next on our Washington trip the food tourism momentarily took a backseat as we headed to the Washington Monument, built in memory of George Washington and standing at 555feet tall! We were a little nervous about reaching the top of this imposing building, but it was most definitely worth it in order to enjoy the views from the 'summit'...

In the middle here are the war memorials and the Lincoln Memorial: all beautiful, moving and interesting to wander around, even in 110'F heat. This holiday was my first ever time to Washington DC and the trip up the Washington Monument confirmed to me what an intriguing, diverse and beautiful city it really is. It was hard to pull ourservelves away from the views! After this cultural activity, it was time to return to the business of food. We headed to the fantastic Good Stuff Eatery run by Spike Mendelsohn (PS thank you to the charming couple who explained to us - some very confused Britons! - exactly how American self-service works!) where we enjoyed the most delicious and calorific milkshakes ever...

On the top we have a Dulce de Leche milkshake, with dulce de leche painted up the sides. Underneath is the Malteser milkshake with dulce de leche and chocolate stripes up the sides and a layer of maltesers at the base as well as throughout. I stress that we also ate savoury food - Obama Burgers - and were left completely stuffed by the end! A perfect day in Washington and wonderful memories to take with us as we moved on to new East Coast areas...

Where I’ve Been…

2010-08-08T16:59:00.001+01:00

Previously, I was ill. This time my absence is much more exciting: I was spending two gorgeous sunny weeks on the American East Coast! And it all started with four days in the blistering 100’F heat of Washington DC, where we stayed in the fabulous Eastern Market area. Of course, the farmers market was my first stop once we arrived and I adored seeing the huge range of exciting food and colourful fresh produce which was so different from the markets of England or France. Hope you enjoy the photos, and stay tuned for more holiday posts to come :)

Brunch with Alice Hart, at La Fromagerie

2010-07-18T22:38:00.005+01:00

The last week or so I have been ill, hence the absence. After not eating for four days, I was plunged back in at the deep end once recovered with an early Saturday morning wake up call. The parents and I were headed into London to the infamous La Fromagerie restaurant/cheese-shop/grocers/cafe (!) to watch a cookery demonstration by Alice Hart. A great cookery writer, her bio from the La Fromagerie is so impressive:
The youngest ever food editor at Waitrose Food Illustrated, a chef, and a food stylist. Her popup restaurant Shoreditch in February sold out in less than a day. Later this year she plans to launch a Vietnamese restaurant. And whenever she has the time, she is cooking and travelling in her pride and joy: Myrtle the Hurtle, a bay window, 1972 VW camper van, fully decked-out with kitchen.

Here making aioli from scratch in a pestle and mortar with Patricia Michelson, owner of La Fromagerie, Alice Hart provided the audience of 20or so with great tips and entertaining talk as she coked up delicious food. Firstly, we enjoyed blackberry granola muffins – something I look forward to making and sharing with you fully later this year. They were gorgeous and the use of wholemeal flour, hazelnuts and granola made them feel positively healthy. Next on the menu were courgette flowers stuffed with fresh goat cheese alongside a summer squash agrodolce. Whilst I am normally into my sweet food, being ill had left me craving savoury and the food here was exciting and new to me – I enjoyed it all! The squash agrodulce was like a summer salad of roasted squash and courgette with a fresh dressing, perfect under the soft richness of the goat-cheese flowers. Unfortunately I forgot to take pictures so these are the few from my Dad’s phone. Alice made an interesting point that people often hear of battered and fried courgette flowers and think this is the only way to eat them. Whilst yummy, that is such a faff and the flowers are very versatile – can be eaten raw, shredded in salads or baked. Next up was beetroot cured salmon with a fennel salad and the aformentioned aioli. I haven’t tried much fish before but the beetroot cure made this totally beautiful and the whole audience seemed to love it. The aioli was a wonderful yellow and tasted just as vibrant, it was also new to see it being done in a pestle and mortar with no whisk to be seen. Also saving on washing up because the garlic and salt can be crushed in here first before you go on to create the emulsion. The fish was served with a glass of prosecco with a stunning purple borage flower which tastes of cucumber! (Don’t worry, my prosecco was passed along!) We finished with mocha affogatos (chocolate ice cream with hot coffee poured on top) which were an indulgent end. Overall, I had a wonderful time and enjoyed trying fresh new food and great produce. Alice Hart is lovely and I have noticed many more delicious recipes to try from her new book which I highly recommend. In particular I am looking forward to trying salted caramel mousse cups with scooping biscuits - sounds totally divine.
PS head to the lovely Culinary Travels blog here which has a full review of Alice Hart's book here.

Crunchies

2010-07-02T18:06:00.001+01:00

Gift: The WI Book of Biscuits

Recipes: Crunchies

Verdict? Addictive! This gift was a big surprise and it is precious as well – it was my Granny’s for many years and I feel guilty for receiving such a delicious book of hers! Dotted through the book were bright pink post-it notes from my Granny, telling me which cookies she had tried, which worked, what amendments to make etc. I am excited to get through her list of recommendations and trying some of the more unusual biscuits from this book – Curly Peter anyone? Napoleon Hat? In the mean time, I’m sure these will be made again!Arguably all cookies are simple – but these really are. After simply melting the golden syrup and butter, all the dry ingredients are just poured in. At first the ratio of ingredients seems far too dry, but a good old mix and everything is good. Another positive on this recipe? It makes a lot a cookies! Although the dough is pretty good so this number does go down a little ;) Straight out of the oven these are delightfully soft and chewy. The next day they will be crunchier round the edges but still have a soft and sweet middle. Tempted enough? Here’s the recipe…

Roasted Tomato and Thyme Soup with Twice Baked Potatoes

2010-06-20T20:50:00.001+01:00

For my birthday, I received some fabulous foodie gifts. So much so, I thought I would make a mini-series as I revealed each one and made something using each one. So, today is the day I start!

Gift: Sophie Dahl’s book “Miss Dahl’s Voluptuous Delights”

Recipe: Roasted Tomato and Thyme Soup with Twice Baked PotatoesNow strictly speaking, these recipes aren’t in the book. Which is a travesty because they were in the TV series that accompanied the book and are both fabulous dishes! The book, like you might expect from a former model, is beautifully laid out, full of pretty pictures and glamorous stories but most importantly to me – good food! Like this deep, rich, hearty-yet-summery, velvety soup. My sister and I have been meaning to make this soup for ages and today regretted waiting so long as it filled the house with the best smell of slowly roasting tomatoes. Sophie Dahl’s recipe is super easy because it cuts down on any fussy chopping, peeling, boiling etc. Everything is just halved and put in a roasting tin, left to cook in the oven and release all their gorgeous juices, then whizzed up in a blender and enjoyed. That was the basic plan, but this leaves a very thick soup – more like a tomato puree or sauce for pasta. After years of extremely smooth Heinz tomato soup, I do look for a smoother soup so after a quick boil and slosh of cream the soup was perfect. And all made by my sister who originally found the recipe. So on to the side dish, made by me…Twice Baked Potatoes. Which essentially means you bake potatoes, cut them in half, scoop out all potatoey goodness and then mix with cheese, chives, and a dollop of yoghurt, replace in the potato and bake for a tiny bit more to crisp up the top. Gorgeous and quite filling by themselves, let alone with a big bowl of soup! These are something I would like to repeat because they make a refreshing change to ordinary jackets and could make good use of odds and ends from the fridge. Individually – delicious. Together, curled up in front of the Doctor Who finale as it rains in the middle of June – perfect. Find the recipe and video of Sophie Dahl making both recipes here, and I do also recommend the charming book! More recipes from that and other birthday gifts to come soon :)

Rosemary and Olive Oil Focaccia

2010-06-13T13:48:00.001+01:00

Recently, my message was opinions can change. Today, my message is much more basic but just as important: Always Read The Recipe Thoroughly.Unlike when I first made cinnamon rolls and thought the dough was so lovely and easy to work with. Turned out I’d forgotten the egg. Or when my friend E made gingerbread men and simply forgot to add the flour. And definitely not like today, when I didn’t read to add most of the water to my dough and simply poured it all in nicely, before adding an extra two tablespoons of olive oil. Smooth. This not-so-clever mistake then led to fifteen minutes of kneading and liberal additions of flour every now and then. Gradually, slowly, my sticky determined-to-get-everywhere dough morphed into a smooth, calm and elastic dough ball. Then it was ready to get to a warm place, rise, be taken out, stretched out onto a tray, doused liberally in olive oil and salt and set back to its warm place. After a sprinkle of chopped rosemary and twenty minutes in the oven, everything was ready. The family settled down to watch Great British Menu, everybody with a generous square of bread on their plate. Crunchy on top, soft and chewy within. Scented and flavoured with olive oil, salt and rosemary – simple but classic. I think this may be one of my favourite things I have made, simply because I couldn’t stop eating it! Find the recipe here, (the dough recipe is linked to on the page as Classic White Loaf) and my only adaption of course was to leave out the red onions. Enjoy!

BBBB: A Blogger’s Birthday Brunch On a Boat

2010-06-06T22:02:00.001+01:00

Scarily eagle-eyed readers may have noticed my sidebar changing from “I am a 14 year old baker…” to “I am a 15 year old baker…” ! This past week I celebrated my birthday in a rather wonderful way… On the last day of our weeks’ family holiday in Suffolk, on my birthday, we got up early (I say early, I mean 9…) and strolled down the main street to Orford Quay. Here we were greeted with the pretty boat Lady Florence, below.This was to be our transport for the morning. The planned route along the river and up to the next town Aldeburgh was explained to us and off we set! My family set up camp at the back of the boat where we enjoyed fresh orange juice in the sunshine and opened presents (of which more another time…) before the time came to head into the saloon for a rather delicious birthday brunch. Why such a “birthday” brunch? Because…I had a candle in my breakfast! It was unexpected but definitely appreciated. And the brunch itself totally delicious and undeniably filling. But after we finished this mammoth breakfast, there was more time out on deck, enjoying the sunshine and the countryside view… …followed by yet more good food – apple pie and chocolate muffins! We had a lovely morning, sailing and eating and laughing. The boat took us all around the local area, and it was interesting to see places we had previously only noticed from a car from the river perspective. And the sunshine certainly wasn’t a hindrance! All in all, a lovely birthday treat and one I would definitely recommend. Find out more here at the website!

Yoghurt and Vanilla Pannacotta with Strawberries

2010-05-31T23:20:00.001+01:00

Opinions can change. That’s my message today. For example, when Matt Smith started as Dr Who I was determined to hate him (long live Tennant). Now, half way through the series, I very much love him. When I was little, I hated pineapple. Not sure why, not sure how, but that hate is long gone. And until recently, I thought I hated pannacotta. But then I made this one… When I imagined pannacotta, it was always firm and solid on the spoon like a peculiar white jelly. Probably tasting quite milky, perhaps a bit bland. Oh, was I wrong. This version of pannacotta was creamy and soft – set, yes, but to a gentle wobble rather than bounce-it-off-the-walls set. Definitely not bland either, but prettily speckled with vanilla. Also a great part of this dessert was the fact it feels good for you, due to the tiny amount of sugar. Of course, that’s only because its full of double cream but hey ho

Normally, I’m a very strict recipe follower but this time I made a couple of changes. I used a couple of teaspoonfuls of vanilla paste to flavour, as shown below, because it offers a much richer flavour than vanilla extract but is much less expensive than vanilla pods! Also, I made this pannacotta in a slightly unorthodox way. Instead of boiling the cream mixture over the stove – I microwaved the mixture in a Pyrex jug! Although unusual, this makes the whole process SO much easier and also makes it a one pot pud, minimising washing up. In my hating days, I always visualised pannacotta turned out onto a big plate, but I served these in the ramekins for pretty effect. The glaze on the strawberries was simply done by tossing the sliced strawberries in quince jelly before placing them on the chilled pannacottas, making them shine and giving a bit of extra honey flavour. And after all of that, they were enjoyed happily by the family and we were left wishing we hadn’t halved the recipe! You can find it here and I hope you enjoy making something you once disliked this week!

Blueberry Lemon Loaf

2010-05-23T20:38:00.002+01:00

When summer gets in full swing, and the sunshine comes out in full force, I find that the way people bake changes. There is more variety of delicious fruits calling to be eaten – strawberries, raspberries, passion-fruits, cherries – offering with them colour and vibrancy and juice. Then when it heats up outside, people want to have less hot ovens heating up the kitchen and more time outside soaking up the rays. Especially here in England, where its not rare to have one week of boiling heat-wave sun in the summer and then cooler grey days the rest. Me, I love baking too much to forget about it for the whole summer season. Sure, I want to start embracing more summery dishes on here soon (read – ice cream!) but today, its cake. Who doesn’t like a cake? Especially this cake. Taking advantage of fresh summer blueberries, with a backdrop of lemon to add zing. Super sweet lemon icing drizzled over the top, the crackly sugar topping peaking through. Gorgeous! Making this cake feels like making one huge blueberry muffin because its the same technique – mixing the wet ingredients (buttermilk, butter, eggs, lemon) into the dry (flour, sugar, berries) and then taking huge-nervous care not to over mix. It was super easy to make and the only hard part is waiting whilst it cooks and cools. This cake ended up being a family effort: I mixed, my sister poured it into the tin, my Mum cut us all hearty slices and my Dad unknowingly ate the slice that had fallen on the floor… :) A slice of this purple-studded beauty was just the ticket after spending too long in the sun and coming in just a tad too pink rather than the intended glowing tan… Find the recipe here, make one of the last big cakes for a while, and eat with pleasure!

Cheese, Onion and Potato Pies

2010-05-16T21:18:00.001+01:00

As summer creeps back in, my thoughts inevitably turn to picnics. As soon as we have three consecutive days of strong sunshine, out come the summer dresses and meet-ups in the parks. Picnics vary from just sunbathing on the common with a friend, to a full blown Marks and Spencer’s feast…A picnic from last summer…
So as you can easily tell, I love picnics. Relaxing, laughing, tanning, eating – what’s better? But nowadays my friends and I need our money spent elsewhere, so its time to make our own picnic food. Next time, I’ll be bringing these pies. Move over sandwiches, these are so much better. A tiny bit of a faff to make, but each step is extremely simple and the recipe works so that whilst something is chilling, something else needs grating, whilst something is cooking, something else needs chopping. Always busy! The potato filling for these pies (diced potato, spring onion and a myriad of different cheeses) is delicious and, happily, the recipe makes much more than you will be able to make pies from but is just as lovely on its own as simple potato filling. But back to the pies… Sturdy and savoury (always a shocker around here!) the pies are perfect picnic food. Having said that, I ate a pie for three meals over two days just at home, as the weather proves itself not quite ready for picnics. I think these are best warm – melty cheese, hot pastry – but a treat anywhere. I did really like Nigella’s recipe but if I made it again would make a few minor changes – more cheese, cut the potato smaller, few more herbs – basic stuff. Otherwise, enjoy the summer picnic goodness!

Marmalade Ginger Cream Cookies

2010-05-09T16:03:00.001+01:00

I love sandwich cookies. My sister states that they are useless but I strongly disagree. Instead of taking one cookie, you get two at once. It gives you a cheeky chance to eat far more cookies than it looks like plus you get the bonus of a silky sweet filling the middle. What’s not to love?I recently made some disappointing ginger cookies using a sub-standard recipe. They turned out strangely smooth and powdery, lacking in flavour. But I hate it when something goes wrong so was determined to improve on the situation. Thankfully, these cookies provided the perfect solution. They’re chewy and textured from the oats and chunky marmalade, softened only slightly from the creamy filling speckled with stem ginger. A proper mouthful, a proper cookie, properly delicious. If I were to make these again, I would further enhance their chunky, chewy goodness – adding sultanas or coconut. However they were scrumptious as they were, and the absence of those other flavours let the ginger shine through. The buttercream was unusual to me, as it had cream added to the regular butter and icing sugar. This definitely showed in the end result and was good for added silky smoothness to finish off all that crunch of cookie. I love stem ginger, and the spiciness of the ginger chunks in the icing were perfect sparks of flavour. The final good thing about these cookies – a totally simple recipe. Enjoy!

Marmalade and Ginger Cream Cookies, from Sainsbury’s Magazine

Makes about 14

Ingredients: 50g soft unsalted butter
50g caster sugar
50g light brown soft sugar
finely grated zest of one orange
1 large egg yolk
50g thick-cut marmalade
50g plain flour
1/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda
150g rolled oats
For the ginger cream filling: 250g icing sugar, sifted
75ml double cream
50g soft unsalted butter
75g stem ginger in syrup, drained and shredded

1. Preheat the oven to 170’C/fan 150’C, gas 3. Beat the butter, caster sugar, brown sugar, orange zest and egg yolk until smooth then beat in the marmalade. Mix in the flour and bicarbonate of soda, then stir in the oats.

2. Place rounded teaspoon-sized balls of dough onto three lined baking sheets, spaced 5cm apart, then flatten slightly. Bake for 12-15minutes until just coloured at the edges. Remove from the oven and transfer to a wire rack until cold.

3. Beat the icing sugar, cream and butter until smooth then stir in the stem ginger. With a knife, spread a generous amount on the base of a biscuit then stick the bottom half of another biscuit to form a sandwich. Repeat with all biscuits.

Lemon Cream Fruit Tarts

2010-05-03T22:30:00.001+01:00

The English May Bank Holiday has just been and, true to form, it rained. Although the day is truly meant to symbolise the coming of summer, the day just caused cravings for the sticky winter food I was just beginning to leave behind. So with my Granny coming for the day the first idea was to make a simple cake. But having just made the carrot cake I really wanted to welcome summer by making something light, zingy, fresh and bright. Which is just what I got from these delectable little tarts. These are so simple because they are basically just an assembly job. You take a little shortbread cup…Add a dollop of whipped cream… Spoon on some lemon curd… Swirl the two together with a thin cake skewer…Top with slices of fresh strawberry!A bit of a fiddle to eat but totally gorgeous. The pastry was crumbly, the cream silky soft, the lemon curd sharp and the strawberries sweet. Perfect combination and perfect eaten warm in the sun. I used a Mary Berry recipe, but there’s not much too it really! The only true baking is the shortbread…

100g plain flour
50g caster sugar
100g butter
50g semolina or cornflour

1. Set the oven to 160C/gas 2.
2. Place all the ingredients together in a food processor and whizz until the mixture forms a smooth dough (if preferred this can be done by hand in a bowl using soft butter).
3. Roll out the dough to 5mm thickness and cut circles out with a cutter. Place gently in a bun tin. 4. Prick gently over the bottom with a fork. Bake for 10-15 minutes until firm and golden.
5. Set aside to cool a little and slide out of tin onto a wire rack to cool before filling. Only fill when you are ready to eat!

Carrot Cake

2010-04-30T23:02:00.001+01:00

Everybody’s tastes are slightly different. When you Google “chocolate chip cookie” you will get hundreds of thousands of results. Everyone has their own recipe for what they call the best chocolate chip cookie or ultimate brownie, and spend a life time tweaking it to perfection. But its not only chocolate cookies and brownies – the perfect carrot cake is a recipe I’ve been searching for for a long time. I’ve previously tried ‘perfect’ recipes which turned out too eggy, too oily, cakes where the sultanas/ cinnamon/ pineapple overpower the decent carrot flavour. But now, I feel I’m maybe getting closer. The recipe came from Nigel Slater’s new vegetable book, Tender and is apparently a recipe he is constantly asked for. Even in a book based purely around vegetables I will find a sweet recipe! The layers of cake baked up quite small and crunchy round the edges, so the icing complemented it perfectly. Although Nigel Slaters’ recipe was a mix of mascarpone and cream cheese I went full cream cheese and pumped it full of orange flavour. I’m not going to say that this is the best carrot cake you will ever find because I’m sure it can be improved. But it is soft and decadent, it is full of different flavours that benefit each other and it is a good all-round treat. Give it a go!

Pitta Crisps

2010-04-25T16:11:00.001+01:00

My Mum made these for a party the other day, and let us try them straight out of the oven beforehand. Bad idea. Very quickly, a large proportion had disappeared and more had to be rustled up – with the order to Eat. No. More. Tricky stuff. There’s just something about the sharp crunch and the salty olive oil coating that makes these irresistible. Plus, they are a snap to make so perfect for a last-minute canapé or pre-dinner nibble. Personally, we enjoyed these in front of the Friday night television – they make a great change from Kettle Chips!

First, take one pitta bread. Then, cut all the way around the edge of the pitta, leaving you with two halves – one thicker and doughy and the other thinner.

Take one pitta half and cut in half again. Using two cuts, take one of these halves to form three triangles of pitta bread. Repeat this with all the pitta breads, preferably keeping the thinner pitta crisps separate from the doughy ones (they cook at different rates). Spread a bunch of either thick or thin triangles on a baking tray sprinkled with olive oil and toss them to be covered on both sides. Sprinkle with a zatar seasoning, and place high in a hot oven for 4-6 minutes.Remove from the oven, pile high on a plate and enjoy!

White Chocolate Cookies

2010-04-19T21:14:00.001+01:00

Sometimes in life, it is the simple things which are the best. A decent book, a sunny day, a single flower, a cosy hoodie. Its the same with food: a perfectly boiled egg, crunchy toast, a simple bowl of yoghurt and honey, a warm cookie. A warm white chocolate cookie, to be specific.And often, what seems so simple turns out so much more. I figured these would be a decent white chocolate cookie – sweet, satisfying and moreish. My friend P and I gave up chocolate for Lent, and decided to bake these after Lent as a celebration of the chocolate return. Along with Chocolate Honeycomb cupcakes, we had a marvellous day baking.The golden syrup in these cookies gives them a caramel flavour, as well as making these fudgy and chewy inside – when warm the larger ones verge into blondie territory! I was worried that once cool they would harden up and become all crunch no fudge, but happily the fudginess was there to stay :) The perfect sweet treat, much more than just a plain cookie and yet have that vital cookie characteristic – dangerously addictive. Enjoy!

White Chocolate Cookies
4oz (120g) Butter
4oz (120g) Sugar
2oz (60g) Golden Syrup
8oz(240g) Self Raising Flour
4oz (120g) White Chocolate Chips
A few drops of Vanilla Essence
1 egg, lightly beaten

1. Preheat the oven to 350F/Gas Mark 4/180’C and butter baking sheets - or line with baking parchment.
2. Cream together the butter, sugar and golden syrup.
3. Add the vanilla essence, chocolate chips and the beaten egg.
4. Mix in the flour until all the ingredients are combined to form a firm dough.
5. Form small balls of mixture (about a rounded teaspoonful) onto the prepared baking sheets, allowing a little room for the biscuit to spread out, and press it down.
6. Bake in or near the centre of your pre-heated oven for about 20 minutes, or until golden brown.
7. Leave to cool on the trays.

Jam Doughnut Muffins

2010-04-14T15:38:00.002+01:00

Its been a while! 2 weeks, the Easter period. I have been spending it in sunny(-ish) Cornwall, enjoying the seaside and cream teas. It was a very nice holiday and after giving up chocolate for Lent it was gorgeous to enjoy my eggs :) I hope everyone else had a lovely Easter too and it is good to be back blogging once more.
Whilst enjoying the Cornish cream teas, I was re-introduced to jam. This sounds weird, I realise, but true. For a long time I didn’t like jam of any sort and refused to enjoy it. Then I became the sort of person who only likes jam in certain situations – in jam tarts yes, spread on toast no. Now, I am a full jam fan and these muffins are the perfect way to show this new found love.I still don’t touch blackcurrant jam. But these were made with delicious raspberry – by far my favourite flavour. From the outside, these muffins look sort of plain, not very exciting. But open it up… and you are met by a juicy raspberry swirl. Plus from the top… the sweet sugar-dipped crown of each muffin is revealed. Suddenly these are a whole lot more delish. Gorgeous! Made especially for my sister’s 18th as she loves doughnuts and every birthday girl deserves a little bit of what they love. You can find the recipe here and then quickly get baking!

Kentish Apple Cake

2010-03-30T17:48:00.001+01:00

A lot of the time these days, emphasis is put on how bad the need for speed is. There are two sides to the story: people who want things done super quickly, and those who just want everyone to slow down and relax. This cake happily bridges the gap between both ideas. This cake is a pure snap to make – just mix all the ingredients in one bowl and bake. I normally get nervous when something gets the label ‘idiot proof’ (if I muck it up, what does that make me?!) but this cake really does deserve this title. So that’s the part that makes need-for-speed people happy. Once its baked, that’s when you take your time. Slowly enjoy each bite of a generous slice served with another generous ‘dollop’ of Greek yoghurt. Sit, breathe, eat, enjoy. And that’s the slow-down-and-relax people happy. This cinnamon-apple cake will fill your house with the most tempting of smells whilst it bakes – so this is worth it for the smell alone. This cake is one of those that is perfect to make for “when people ring and announce they are coming over”. It uses general ingredients that are pretty much always at home, is quick and as above looks, smells and tastes gorgeous (and also has no butter involved). It has a very soft and moist texture, dotted with the sweet bursts of sultanas and finished with the crunchy demerara topping. Yum. Kentish Apple Cake, my Mum’s recipe (originally from The Telegraph)

Ingredients: 225g self-raising flour
pinch of salt
2tsp ground mixed spice or cinnamon
255g light brown soft sugar
4 eggs, lightly beaten
200ml sunflower oil
310g apples, cored and diced (roughly 3 apples)
100g sultanas
Demerara sugar

Method: 1. Sieve the flour, salt and spices into a bowl and then stir in the sugar.

2. Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients and add the eggs and the oil.

3. Mix until completely smooth and then add the apple and sultanas. Spoon into a lightly greased 30x20cm tin and sprinkle with sugar.

4. Bake at 180’C (Gas Mark 4) for 25-30 minutes until risen and golden.

Quiche Lorraine

2010-03-20T10:41:00.002Z

Living in London, it’s not all that often that you get to make use of local ingredients. We have a garden where we can grow tomatoes and there’s an apple tree – but getting produce from nearby farms or orchards or something, not really! Therefore an extra reason we enjoy going to our house in Suffolk is the chance to embrace cooking with fresh and local food. For example, this quiche. The bacon – from the butcher up the road, from the pig farm we always drive past as we approach our house. The eggs – from Eddie the Egg Man (note: names have been changed :D) and his Honesty Box table outside his house. (An Honesty Box is where he leaves his eggs and a jam jar outside his house, trusting everyone to leave the right amount of money in the jar.) Both the eggs and bacon, I think, helped make this quiche extra special.I hadn’t made a quiche ever before, and don’t often eat it. But the time had rolled back round for a savoury bake and as I enjoy working with pastry I thought that it would be an interesting classic to cover. I was surprised with the simplicity – the filling takes seconds to make so the main time is spent on the pastry and final cooking. Although I had a few kerfuffles with making this recipe fit my tin, in the end I enjoyed the result. The filling was velvety soft, spiked with the salty lardons and sharp Cheddar. Accompanied by cherry tomatoes and enjoyed in the sun – pretty perfect.

Rhubarb Tart

2010-03-14T12:58:00.002Z

Happy Mothers Day! Today I am celebrating everything brilliant about my Mum, and that certainly takes much celebrating.I have so much to thank my Mum for. This blog, in particular, would be a very different place if it wasn’t for her. When I’m stuck for inspiration on what to bake, or my mind cannot find an “angle” for each post, she’s always there with an idea, a book, an article to show me. Even today’s recipe was her find, and boy am I thankful. My email inbox is full of emails from her, even if we are just one room apart, with links to gorgeous recipes and “This looks nice” , “Make this!” or “Isn’t this pretty…". Without those recipes and ideas I would never have broadened what I cook and the periods in between posts would be much longer! Of course it isn’t just because of this blog that I am thankful towards my Mum. As I grow up I constantly realise little ways I’m like her, little habits I’ve inherited. There’s a little tune we both hum after we hang up the phone. There’s the shared sense of humour, shared love and dislike for different people. She’s a sensible one my Mum and always has the best advice and encouragement for me when I feel down or doubtful. Funny, kind, loving, beautiful: a worthy recipient of this pretty pink tart. This tart, even if I say so myself, was gorgeous. Light cream cheese pastry, fabulously smooth Cointreau-cream cheese filling and the stunning topping of bright rhubarb. The rhubarb was bought from Greg Wallace’s new restaurant, Wallace and Co. , and was delicious. After stewing the rhubarb, you boil up the rhubarb juices to a thick syrup. This method creates more syrup than you need for the tart, but is so perfect spread over yoghurt or drizzled extra over your own slice of tart. You can find the recipe here, to save me typing it, and although this author did not enjoy it please do not be put off! I subbed in Cointreau for the Muscat as orange and rhubarb is a marvellous combination and it honestly was scrumptious. So, Happy Mother’s Day Mum, I love you! X

Baked Pineapple with Almonds

2010-03-07T20:42:00.002Z

Look at that blue sky. When you see a clear sky like that, how hot do you think it is out there? 15’C? 20’C? Wrong. Out there, it was a bone-chilling 4’C. Yup – deceiving weather. The time between winter and spring is often a funny one to cook in. Some days its freezing cold and you want December/January style food – comfort food at its best. Other days its warm and sunny and you want June/July food – salads and fresh fruit/flavours. That is precisely why Dan Lepard created this pineapple dish – perfect for the switch between seasons. Even, if like the sky photo above, its a sunny day but freezing, this pudding will hit the spot. The tropical juicy pineapple feels right for the sunshine, but the sponge on top adds the comfort needed to block out the cold. Genius idea. Shamefully before this pudding I had not cooked using fresh pineapple before and, unsurprisingly, it was so much more full of flavour than the tinned stuff. Definitely a fruit I will be returning too – perhaps with this pudding minus the sponge plus a big pile of yoghurt for breakfast. I varied the recipe a little because I had no brandy, and thought that the orange flavours of Cointreau would partner the pineapple nicely. Happily, it did and the pudding was as delish as hoped. Like Dan Lepard says, it is definitely best on day one straight after it comes after the oven – the next day it tends to go a little stodgy as the sponge soaks up those pineappley juices. So whether its hot, cold or impossible to tell from your computer screen, head over here to grab the recipe and get cooking. :)

Profiteroles

2010-03-01T17:13:00.001Z

Profiterole Story 1: At my parents wedding one of the puddings served up was profiteroles. However, as my Dad was busy greeting guests/celebrating/thinking about his speech/generally chatting away he never got one. All the guests were happily enjoying their “little bites of deliciousness”, filled with cream and covered in chocolate, but not one got to my Dad. And ever since then he has been making up for it by grabbing the profiterole chance whenever possible.Profiterole Story 2: I went on a week long cookery course a couple of years ago now, and one afternoon we made profiteroles. The lesson over-ran a little, and profiteroles tend to go soggy and flat when filled with their cream and left ahead of time. Therefore on the way home my friend and I were carrying three boxes: one of the delicate choux buns, one of lightly whipped cream and one of silky chocolate ganache – all waiting to be put together once safely home (aka safely near my Dad). Getting the tube home at the height of rush hour, standing in a packed London tube with wobbly boxes of rapidly melting cream, squashed between stressed office workers – quite an experience. Happily – the profiteroles were worth it. Yum.SO with these two profiterole memories with me I felt it was high time they were welcomed back to my kitchen. Choux pastry is a slight conundrum of pastry really – different to everything else. A light bun mixture made in a saucepan that puffs up to be fairly hollow and airy with a crisp outside, just waiting to be filled with all kinds of delicious things. I stuck with whipped cream, but for even more decadence these can be filled with pastry cream or ice cream. Of course choux pastry is not only made for profiteroles – it makes long eclairs, choux “swans”, choux rings, and savoury cheese gougeres. At big events and parties, profiteroles are traditionally served in beautiful towering stacks…but by the time I came to photograph these there simply weren’t that many left!

These profiteroles are good. Extremely good. Considering they are cream+chocolate+pastry it is no surprise they are very addictive. The pastry has to be done carefully and exactly right (this is the kind of recipe where baking becomes a real science) but is fairly simple when you get the idea and is so quick to put together. What are you waiting for? My recipe was from the classic Delia, which you can find here. You can also find all her tips on choux pastry here. Make. Eat. (Eat Another). Enjoy. Smile :)

Semifreddo

2010-02-22T18:24:00.002Z

It may seem peculiar to be making a frozen, ice cream dish in winter. Except that, for half the world, its currently summer and ice cream is totally apt. You people – I envy you. From September to December I love winter. I’m not much of a Halloween person so for pretty much this whole period I’m excited for Christmas: loving cosy nights in, Sunday night television and fires, hot water bottles and hot chocolate with far too many marshmallows. Then January hits. I’m not a January person. Not particularly a February one either. It’s back to school. Christmas is gone for another whole 12 months. It rains. The morning bus seems to take forever to arrive. I long for summer.
I long for May, June, July and August. My birthday! Picnics on the green, trips to the park after school on a Friday. That after-summer-exam feeling of pure relaxing. Exciting opportunities, the end of the school year. Six long weeks of summer holiday stretching ahead of me waiting to be filled in, booked up, travelled through. Ice cream. So, here’s to summer hurrying itself up and arriving soon. Please?

When my sister saw this, she said it looked like a giant fluffy pillow. And that’s just what it taste like – a soft spoonful of vanilla creaminess. What exactly is not to like? The vanilla creaminess is layered with crunchy hits of chocolate, all softened by a decadent chocolate sauce. Mmm. Once again the recipe comes from the classic Rachel Allen – although you could mix it up a bit by flavouring the vanilla more, I was thinking with amaretto, ginger, or citrus….

Cheese Straws

2010-02-18T17:36:00.001Z

I love baking and spending time in the kitchen, but like so many people – I don’t spend as much time there as I would like. I enjoy baking not just for my family, but also to keep the blog up-to-date and interesting. Whilst this would be much easier (and possibly more relaxing) if I could spend all day, every day with my oven: this unsurprisingly isn’t an option. When I know I have the spare time, I like to make more complicated in-depth bakes whilst I have the chance. More often than not, however, bakes need to be relatively quick and easy. And whilst I’m prepared to sacrifice the time I spend in the kitchen I am definitely not prepared to sacrifice the tastiness of the end result. So, quick and easy, but very delicious – pretty much sums these Cheese Straws up! Perfect.

I warn you, these straws are dangerously moreish. Just one is never going to be enough. Plus they’re versatile – just as nice warm from the oven, as cold a few hours later, as reheated later to be served very hot with soup. Each “straw” is crisp and crunchy yet melt in the mouth, and full of delicious cheesy goodness. And to make them? About 10minutes hands on time, max. What could be better?

I used a Delia Smith recipe that is, annoyingly, not online. However this recipe is almost identical: just after you have your cheese dough, brush with an egg or milk and sprinkle over grated parmesan (doing this before cutting into strips makes the job easier). These are perfect for parties because they are so simple – when we had them out at our New Kitchenwarming (Yes. A Kitchen-warming.) they disappeared super quickly! Enjoy :)

Happy Valentine’s Day

2010-02-14T16:30:00.002Z

Happy Valentines Day! These are Morrocan Orange and Rosewater cupcakes, with Violet or Pink Icing. I have entered these into English Mum’s Great Cupcake Challenge, so hop on over to English Mum to see lots of gorgeous Valentine cupcakes. Also, the Home Baked Challenge theme this month is Love and these are entered. Have a brilliant day everyone :)

Apple Crumble Cake

2010-02-13T17:32:00.001Z

I won’t bake things with ingredients I don’t like. It may seem silly – but I don’t see the point in wasting my time with bakes that, ultimately, I’m not going to be able to enjoy. Hence why you have never seen pistachios on the blog (or walnuts, hazelnuts or peanuts…). You won’t see mushrooms/lasagne/cheese soufflé. Great changes will happen before prawns or blue cheese make an appearance. I’m not a fussy eater and I like to try new things, of course, but I know what I do and don’t like.

On the other hand, as I have created this little piece of the blogosphere, I have come to realise my three favourite ingredients. When stuck with no inspiration, it is all too often a dish containing one of these favourites that I turn to. After several failures or disappointments, I turn to these ingredients to get my confidence back. I love them, and they will never be absent from my kitchen for long.

Chocolate. Lemon. Almond.

Together, bakes containing these three stars make 29 out of my 77 posts so far – quite a hefty proportion. All very different ingredients, but my favourites nonetheless. Whether the star ingredient, or sharing the spotlight, these ingredients always make me hungry. When my sister first started cooking ground almonds went into almost everything. It’s no different with me, and I have more almondy treats still coming up! But today, almond is indeed sharing the spotlight. Glorious pink apples take the stage (ahem, plate) to fill this pretty, juicy cake.

Inspiration can come from the randomest places, in this case a little Waitrose leaflet. This cake takes minutes to knock up but is absolutely scrumptious when cooked so it is perfect for those short-notice guests. The shortbread-style base is full of crisp and crunch, whilst the apples slowly soften down and release their delicate pink flavour. Then the flaky almond sweet crumble just tops it all off…I’m now craving some more and it’s all gone.

Apple Crumble Cake, from Waitrose NEW

Serves 6-8

Ingredients: 200g plain flour
150g butter
80g caster sugar
3 chopped apples
1tbsp demerara sugar
75g flaked almonds.

Preheat oven to 200’C, gas mark 6. Place flour, butter and sugar in a processor and blitz until it resembles breadcrumbs.
Remove 1/3 of the mixture, continue blitzing the remainder until the mixture forms a dough. Press into a 20cm loose-bottom cake tin. Top with the three chopped apples.
To the crumble, add the demerara sugar and almonds. Sprinkle this over the apples and bake for 40-45 minutes. Enjoy the crumbly goodness :)

Ode to Delia – Squidgy Chocolate Log

2010-02-07T12:19:00.002Z

Names. You can love your name or hate it. You can have a long name, short name, have a middle name or no middle name. It could be double barrelled, single barrelled, unique or traditional. My full name is Lucinda, but I’ve always been a Lucy. I have two middle names, one inspired by my Mum’s maiden name. For the first six weeks of my life, I was simply Baby Sunshine. But my parents almost opted for a completely different name. Delia.
Delia Smith is the celebrity chef who, it wouldn’t be unfair to say, has changed the way the British cook. Spanning four decades now, Delia has “informed, entertained and educated” with her shows, books and articles. She’s targeted every aspect of cooking: having Summer and Winter recipe collections, creating her back-to-basics How to Cook series teaching everyone everything and her controversial How to Cheat series using pre-peeled garlic and frozen mash. When she used cranberries in an episode of her show, they sold out across the UK. Gelatin in many supermarkets here are sold in the quantity you need for a Delia chocolate cake. See the power of this woman? This is why I wonder, if I had been called Delia, what would life be like?
Imagine trying to become a footballer when your name was John Beckham. It would be impossible for me to “make it big” in the food world if my parents had eventually plumped for Delia. Anytime the name’s mentioned, Delia Smith would enter peoples minds. I’m happy I’m Lucy, and I’m especially happy that Delia makes such gorgeous food. This is her chocolate log recipe, and this post is my Ode to Delia.

I’ve been meaning to make a chocolate roll for a while but the truth is that it scared me. I had visions of a gorgeous log becoming a regular sponge cake as it totally snapped in two. But, with Delia, I knew I was in safe hands. And I was right! Cracking doesn’t actually really matter in chocolate rolls – cake wasn’t meant to roll after all and the cracks (I think) just makes it look even more delicious. Delia’s recipe is a fat-free chocolate cake, layered with chocolate mousse and whipped cream. Not an everyday pud – but gorgeous! Perfect for a treat, all rich and dark and, yes, squidgy. Don’t delay making it, and discovering the true joys of Delia!

Yeast Adventures – Part Two!

2010-02-01T22:00:00.001Z

Oh yes, I told you that the yeast would be back. Plus, with its sell-by date on January 31st, I had no excuse. I know supermarkets set sell-by dates way in advance of the real thing – but with an ingredient that I am still slightly wary of, I wanted to be sure!

A while ago, I did a biscuit challenge. I tried to re-create some of the shop-bought goodies we know and love, because making them at home means you know exactly what’s in there and you lose nasty additives and flavourings. After all, I don’t know any baker who keeps a nice jar of E-numbers in their kitchen! Now, I am trying to do more savoury things. Savoury inspiration doesn’t come naturally, especially savoury photography (sorry!). So I just thought to what I enjoy eating, at restaurants or at home. Pizza!

Pizza, for me, is something I don’t really think about making totally from scratch. Yet shop-bought versions are expensive and really not the best you can get. Before this creation, the most I’ve done is make tomato sauce and decorate a naan bread (delicious and quick, by the way!). I hadn’t yet tried a proper yeasty pizza dough. There are other savoury dishes like this (always shop-bought) and I’m looking forward to attempting some new savoury ideas…as and when yummy inspiration hits! For now, I’m happy munching on this!

This pizza dough was (happily) easy and delicious. It smelt strongly of olive oil – I was temporarily transported to Italy, the home of true good pizzas! My focus was on the dough, but I made a simple tomato sauce to top and then went crazy with toppings. When I go to pizza restaurants, I’m generally fussy and stick with the classic Margherita. At home I could have what I wanted and so on went the pineapple, bacon, mozzarella, tomatoes and mushrooms (for my sister, I cannot stand mushrooms.).

The recipe came from the gorgeous Supper for a Song book by Tamasin Day-Lewis. My Mum got it for Christmas and when she read it she said “I could cook my way right through this book”. SO true! I have just included the dough recipe as it has some helpful tips. Then just add sauce and toppings!

(Makes two large pizzas)
Ingredients (Pizza dough) : 500g strong white bread flour
7g sachet fast-action dry yeast
2tsp sea salt
1tbsp olive oil
about 350ml nearly hot water

1. Tip the flour onto a work surface, and add yeast and salt. Make a well in the middle and pour in the olive oil followed by about two-thirds of the warm water.

2. Begin to knead by tipping the inside wall of flour into the middle and gathering flour as you go. When it gets difficult to knead, add more warm water. Continue until you have a dough.

3. Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead for about 10 minutes, stretching it away from you with the heel of you hand every so often, then furling it back towards you with your fingers.

4. Divide in two, shape into balls and place on an oiled baking sheet. Cover with a plastic bag and leave to rise in a warm place until they have doubled in size, about 1.5hours.

5. Preheat the oven to its highest setting, at least 230’C. Scatter semolina flour over 2 baking trays. Working with one ball at a time, knock down the dough, stretch it and then roll it out until about 5mm thick. Don’t worry, it will shrink and spring back to begin with but eventually it will obey your command. Keep the rim a little thicker. Repeat with other dough ball.

6. Spread over tomato sauce and add toppings. Bake for 15minutes before checking. Enjoy!

Pear and Butterscotch Frangipane Tartlets

2010-01-26T22:38:00.002Z

Never mind Prada and Gucci. Move over, Chanel and Valentino. Sure, they have gorgeous and desirable things, but no clothes shop can get can my Mum half as excited as a certain kitchen shop. I wonder if the words, “Williams Sonoma” mean anything to anyone? I thought so. (For anyone who doesn’t know, Williams Sonoma is a kitchen shop chain in America. It sells the most beautiful things.)
This August, my family is going to America for our holidays. As we are spending a few days in Washington DC my Mum has already been online to find the nearest Williams Sonoma to where we are staying. And this is nothing new! My Mum has bought home cake stands, china platters and fruit bowls on international flights many times before – leaving a space in the suitcase for exciting new things on the way home has become the norm. But what’s this got to do with these tarts? Every keen cook wants their kitchen full of gadgets and gizmos, or even just new pan after new tray after new dish. Half of it never gets used, but is always wanted. My Mum bought these tartlet pans a year or so ago and this weekend I found them, still neatly tucked in their box. Their time had most certainly come!
They were used to make these scrumptious Pear and Butterscotch Frangipane Tartlets. You’ve got your crisp pastry layer, the gloriously sticky sauce, soft frangipane and juicy pears. What’s not to like? Even if you’re not in the mood for the whole tartlet shebang, the butterscotch sauce is a definite Must Make. It is almost drinkable, it is that good. You can all too easily slurp spoon after spoon. Amazing! Or, on the other hand, if you’re not feeling for the sauce – you could put a small layer of apricot jam on the base of the pastry – extra fruit intake :)
Although they are multi-component, these tartlets are fairly simple to make because no step is complicated. Plus, when you bring them to the table they look like something out of a patisserie! The recipe is from the latest issue of BBC olive magazine, so don’t delay buying it! The tartlet pans are not going back into hiding because I want to experiment with more mini tarts – ideas, anyone?
Until next time! X

“Petit Fours aux Amandes”

2010-01-22T17:15:00.001Z

aka gorgeous almond “macaroon” style biscuits that are completely impossible to ignore when you walk past their tray. To me, it feels like there are so many skills to learn when you start baking – and especially baking for a baking blog. Obviously, there are simple things to master first, simple things to be able to build on. Sponge cakes, roll-out cookies. But then I gradually find there are more things – candy making, fancy-buttercream making, complicated-cakes, puff pastry, elaborate sugar craft. Of course most of these things are completely unnecessary and few but the professional do them – but they are so much more noticeable when you look at the “big blogs”. One small technique I had yet to master properly was piping.

Which is why these biscuits appealed to me and were on my new To Bake list. They were unusual, from a new book, looked darn tasty – and could give me a chance to improve on that old piping.
For Christmas, I was lucky enough to receive Mary Berry’s Complete Cake Bible. Readers abroad may not recognize the name – but Mary Berry is a classic – a little like a British Dorie Greenspan. This book (as the title may give away) holds every recipe you’re going to need, for every occasion, every ingredient, every time. As I read through it, almost every page had me thinking “Ooh”, “I should make that”, “That sounds nice”, “How clever!” or “That’s so pretty!”. Definitely a book I would recommend.

Happily, these cookies turned out delicious. They are moist and slightly sticky, bursting with almond flavour. The book says you would probably only make these as a gift as they are slightly fiddly. Well…ahem… my family enjoyed them very much and not one was shared! They are so delicate and small it becomes dangerously easy to munch on a couple at a time. I got the hang of the piping, and feel much more confident with that now.
Notes: I had three trays of cookies and each turned out differently. Tray 1 – had about 9 minutes and turned out perfectly. Tray 2 – same time, but for some unknown reason the piping detail disappeared whilst baking. Tray 3 – had 12 minutes, a little too dark. Just something to bear in mind! You can see the three different batches in the bottom picture.

Petit Fours Aux Amandes from Mary Berry’s Ultimate Cake Bible, by Mary Berry

Ingredients: 2 egg whites
4oz (100g) ground almonds
3oz (75g) caster sugar
a little almond essence

To Decorate: glace cherries or angelica (these do NOT have to be chopped into heart shapes like mine, but I was baking with my arty sister and well…they are so cute!)

To Finish: 1tbsp caster sugar
2tbsps milk

1. Preheat the oven to 180’C/350’F/Gas 4. Line two baking trays with non-stick paper.

2. Whisk the egg whites until stiff. Fold in the ground almonds, sugar and almond essence.

3. Spoon the mixture into a piping bag fitted with a large star nozzle, and pipe into small rosettes. Decorate each rosette with a small piece of glace cherry or angelica.

4. Bake in the preheated oven for 15 minutes or until golden. Lift onto a wire rack.

5. To finish, mix the caster sugar and milk together and lightly brush over the cooked petit fours.

From left to right, Tray 1, Tray 2, Tray 3.

Glazed Fruit Rolls

2010-01-18T20:29:00.002Z

I read somewhere once that things are only scary if you are told they are. For instance, many people find pastry making scary – but if you grow up believing its simple then you are oblivious to the fear. It’s the same with making a sponge or meringue – feared processes, but if you tell yourself they are simple then they are likely to be much easier. My baking fear is yeast.
About a year ago, I attempted hot cross buns. They didn’t work, and there was much wasted dough – not fun times. Since that, I occasionally saw a recipe I liked, considered making it, saw it involved yeast, and put straight back down. The kneading, the knocking back, the rising, the “tepid” water, the whole shebang scared me. But then time and time again on Tastespotting, Foodgawker and on so many blogs I would see cinnamon rolls. And they looked so very good. SO very good. So I gave in, and yeast was once again introduced to my mixing bowl.
These aren’t actually cinnamon rolls – they are mincemeat rolls. After Christmas there are always a few jars left over and whilst mincemeat lasts, its nice to use it up a bit. A free day was found and the baking begun. And it worked! This recipe was from the Waitrose magazine, so from the beginning I felt in safe “hands”. The dough came together nicely, wasn’t too sticky, rose when it was meant to – it was on its best behaviour! And happily, I managed to cut 10 rather than 8 rolls out of the dough.These may be one of the best-smelling things you could bake. They fill your house with their rich, fruity “aromas” and the softly baking dough. As you pull them apart, they open stickily and icing cracks and falls (I cut a final corner by making glace rather than cream cheese icing), your fingers immersed in each bite. Such a treat. They are perfect on a Sunday night in front of the television and our family demolished as many as we could fast. I’m happy to say this has set me back on the yeasty-route and massively helped with my confidence. Do not be surprised to see Hot Cross Bun Attempt 2 in this space at Easter time! You can find the fruit scroll recipe here. Enjoy!