Apple & Spice

Warburton’s: Wheat & Gluten Free

2012-02-02T14:52:00.000Z

Warburtons has long been know for its bread, and at the beginning of 2011 it took the momentous step to open a brand new dedicated wheat & gluten free bakery in Newcastle. Here they create their own free-from fresh bread and bakery products specially for people with coeliac disease and those having to follow a gluten free diet, without any risk of cross contamination.

First onto the market was their white and brown sliced bread and rolls. Leading on from the success of this, last month they launched 3 new tasty products aimed more at the sweets, treats and snacks market. Lemon & poppy seed muffins, cranberry & blueberry muffins and a spiced fruit loaf.

I can now let you in on a little secret. Back in October I, along with a few other selected gluten free bloggers (Fiona, Lucy & Annie) and some members of Coeliac UK got a special sneak preview at these products. We were all invited to Newcastle to visit their specialist bakery, taste some samples and give feedback on their current and proposed ranges as well as getting in a few requests for new product ideas and issues with obtaining gluten free foods.

It was an eye opening and very enjoyable experience. We got a grand tour of the bakery and saw the bread being made: dough, proofing, baking and packaging. The room where they proof the loaves of bread is like a giant walk in sauna.

We then got to try the products. The muffin loaves look very stylish and I love how they are baked in their own little cardboard cases. This gives them a better quality appearance and means they won’t get quite so squished if you have one in your handbag for a while. I found them to be very moist with a tender yet quite close texture. There is a generous amount of fruit in each one, although I found there was a slightly chemical aftertaste. I suspect this is due to a large amount of raising agent to help it rise, as I’ve found similar things in other GF products.

The fruit loaf, for me, was the star of the show. It’s a soft, springy loaf that’s studded with a generous amount of raisins and sultanas and nicely spiced with cinnamon. As you know, I adore anything cinnamony, but the loaf itself was also excellent. It wasn’t at all dry or crumbly and I enjoyed several slices on their own without the need to add any butter. I’ve also found its delicious toasted and topped with jam. It tastes like a hot cross bun in loaf form and is certainly going to be a regular on my shopping list from now on.

Back in October, the mini muffin loaves were destined to be sold in coffee shops but I have since spotted them in Asda, along with the spiced fruit loaf, so they may be available on a wider scale. If you are already a fan of their fresh bread and rolls the good news is that they are now also available to order on prescription! I tried their sliced bread and rolls when they were first launched and was disappointed to find they were dry and fell apart very easily. However Warburton’s have since rectified this problem and I can now happily say, for me, their sliced bread is the best on the market (still not crazy about the rolls though). I like how its not full of added bulkers, starches, fat and sugar like some GF breads. I used to prefer Genius, but the last few times I’ve had it is has been very dry, overly sweet and full of holes, so I’m afraid that’s now been crossed off my list.

I really appreciate all the hard work and dedication Warburton’s are putting into getting their gluten and wheat free products to taste good. The fact they have opened a purely gluten free bakery shows they are in it for the long haul and really seem to care about making a genuinely good quality product for people with coeliac disease, rather than just jumping on the gluten free bandwagon as some companies seem to be doing.
I also just wanted to say I have not been paid for this review and I do not blog about things I don't truly believe are good. If I don't like a product, it doesn't get blog space.

Happy Birthday Mum

2012-01-31T08:39:00.000Z

It was my Mum’s birthday at the weekend and we did the usual family gathering of cards, presents and cake.

Both my Mum and I love rich fruit cake (homemade naturally) and this year over Christmas I made our fruit Christmas cake gluten free so that I could eat it too. However, this meant that I rather greedily polished off most of it before Mum had more than a slice or two. I decided to rectify this by making her a birthday fruit cake using regular wheat flour so that she could enjoy it without fear of me munching on it too. I used this recipe here, replacing plain flour for the buckwheat and rice flours.

I covered it in marzipan and fondant and decided to try and do some fancy piping work around the edge. I’d never attempted anything like this before and I’m quite pleased with how it turned out. The contrast of shocking pink and black really makes it stand out.

Thank you Mum for all your help, support and guidance, especially over these last few years. I couldn’t have done it without you xxx

Oysters & Champagne Hotel Chocolat Winner!

2012-01-29T11:49:00.000Z

Wow what a lot of entries to the Valentines Oysters & Champagne Hotel Chocolat giveaway! It seems everyone would love to receive some tasty chocolates this Valentines – all spouses/partners/dates take note!

I loved reading all your comments on what your ideal Valentines would be. Some made me laugh, others smile and some even made me *blush*

The random lucky winner of the giveaway is comment number 118 – Polotoo who said her ideal Valentines Day would be:
“A lovely romantic night in with my man, good food, nice company, a bottle of bubbly and maybe some nice chocs too ;)”

Congratulations! I can now guarantee your chocolates, and hope the rest of your evening goes as planned too.

Daring Bakers January 2012 Challenge: Gluten Free Lemon & Almond Scones

2012-01-27T12:10:00.000Z

Audax Artifex was our January 2012 Daring Bakers’ host. Aud worked tirelessly to master light and fluffy scones (a/k/a biscuits) to help us create delicious and perfect batches in our own kitchens!

I was delighted when this months Daring Bakers challenge was revealed to be scones. I have always loved scones and eaten and baked them many times in recent years. However, since going gluten free over a year ago I had yet to try attempting to make gluten free scones. I have eaten gluten free scones a couple of times when they have been bought for me by well wishing friends from supermarkets and they have all been revolting. Most have been dry and hard, with the texture of cardboard and flavour not much better. One particular batch must have used so much baking powder to try and achieve a rise to the scone that it stripped the skin off the roof of my mouth, leaving it feeling sore and tender – yuk!

So it was with slight trepidation that I set about this challenge. I decided to base my recipe on one I’d seen in The Gluten Free Baker book by Hannah Miles. I liked the fact that they included some ground almonds and buttermilk which I was sure would help with the texture and flavour of the scone. I decided to add in some lemon zest as I think lemon and almond compliment each other wonderfully.

When shaping the dough I simply formed it into a round and cut this into triangles rather than cutting out circles. I always feel this gives a cleaner cut, resulting in a better rise.

Once baked, they looked and smelt very promising. A little craggy in appearance, but I like to think this gives them homemade appeal. They smelt so inviting that I couldn’t resist eating one warm, straight out the oven.

The scone was warm, soft and tender. Slightly crumbly, but light and delicate. Not dense or tough like some bought gluten free scones I’ve tried. As it was warm, the flavour of the almond and lemon really shone through and when eaten with a big blob of raspberry jam, it made the whole thing taste deliciously like a Bakewell tart. The scones light and soft texture taking place of the frangipane topping. Mmm so good!

Thanks Audax for choosing this months challenge and giving me the push to bake my own gluten free scones. Click here to see the Daring Bakers blogroll.

Gluten Free Lemon & Almond Scones
(Recipe adapted from The Gluten Free Baker by Hannah Miles)

Ingredients
100g white teff flour*
75g brown rice flour*
40g ground almonds
50g butter
125ml buttermilk
½ tsp xanthan gum
20g caster sugar
½ tsp almond extract
Zest of ½ lemon
2 tsp gluten free baking powder
Milk and caster sugar for glazing

Method
Preheat the oven to 190C and have a baking tray to hand.
Place all the ingredients, except the buttermilk and butter into a large bowl and mix to combine.
Cut the butter into small cubes and add to the flour mixture. Rub the butter through the flour using the tips of your fingers until it resembles fine crumbs.
Pour over most of the buttermilk and use a round bladed knife to work the milk into the flour to create a dough. When a dough is starting to form, tip the mixture out onto a work surface and use your hands to bring it together into a soft dough. It shouldn’t be too sticky. Add a little more buttermilk if needed.
Knead gently for a few seconds and then form into a round ball. Pat this down to create a thick circle, about 2.5cm/1inch thick.
Cut the dough round into 6 triangles and arrange on the baking tray.
Brush the tops (not the sides) with a little milk or buttermilk and scatter over a little caster sugar.
Bake for 17-20minutes until just lightly golden around the edges.
Leave to cool for one minute before transferring to a rack to cool slightly.
Serve while still warm with plenty of different jams (and cream if you like) for spreading.
Best eaten or frozen on day of baking.
Makes 6 scones

Note
*If you can’t find brown rice or teff flours, you can use 175g of a plain gluten free flour mix, such as Doves Flour.

Oysters & Champagne Hotel Chocolat Giveaway

2012-01-23T11:41:00.001Z

Valentines Day is only a few weeks away, and certain luxurious treats such as oysters, champagne and pearls have become synonymous with shows of love and celebration. These are all very well, but for a girl such as me, who is vegetarian, doesn’t really drink and can’t afford pearls such offerings are unlikely to get me excited. However, transform all those things into chocolate praline oysters with champagne truffle pearls and you’ve certainly sparked my attention.

This is one of the many ideal Valentines gifts being offered by Hotel Chocolat this year. This way you can give all the romantic treats in one, with the added luxury of some fabulous chocolate too! Much better (in my opinion) than being presented with a plate of cold and slimy oysters! Where’s the romance in that?

The oyster shells are filled with a smooth milk chocolate praline for extra indulgence and the accompanying ‘pearls’ are actually champagne ganache truffles in a thick chocolate shell. You can taste the champagne but it isn’t overpowering or too bitter as can be the case with some boozy truffles and as always, the Hotel Chocolat chocolate just melts in the mouth.

I am delighted to be able to offer one lucky person the chance to win their own box of Hotel Chocolat’s Oysters and Champagne. To win simply leave a comment telling me what you’re ideal Valentines Day treat would be (make sure to let me know how to get in touch with you if you win!)
You have until Saturday 28th to enter. Open to UK residents only. Good luck.

The Cake Slice January 2012: Tiramisu Cake

2012-01-20T08:08:00.000Z

Tiramisu means ‘pick me up’ in Italian which is just what The Cake Slice Bakers and I needed after all the heavy food over the Christmas period. This cake looks creamy, and it is, but it’s also surprisingly light. A hit of strong espresso syrup and a dash of rum help give it a wake-up boost that’s very welcome during this cold and dreary January.

Tiramisu is usually served in a large serving dish with diners being given a scoop, but here it has been made just that little bit daintier by layering light and fluffy genoise sponge with coffee syrup and a velvety smooth mascarpone cream to create a sliceable cake.

It’s a little sweet, a little bitter and a little boozy, making for one satisfying dessert. There are quite a few steps involved but they are all relatively easy and once the components are made, it came be put together in a matter of moments. It also benefits from being made in advance which can be a bonus when you’re trying to organise a meal or get-together and don’t want too much to do last minute.

My only criticism is that I didn’t soak my top layer of sponge in enough espresso syrup, so it stayed pale rather than coffee brown. However, that’s my own fault and it did make the cake a little easier to slice as it wasn’t so soft. It still tasted delicious, so no harm done.

Click here to see The Cake Slice blogroll

Tiramisu Cake
(Recipe adapted from The Cake Book by Tish Boyle)

Genoise Sponge
100g plain flour (I used Doves GF flour)
6 eggs
150g caster sugar
½ tsp grated lemon zest
1½ tsp vanilla extract
85g butter, melted and cooled

Espresso Syrup
240ml hot espresso or strong syrup
50g caster sugar
½ tsp vanilla extract
½ tbsp dark rum (my addition)

Mascarpone Cream
6 egg yolks
1 tbsp water
450g mascarpone cheese
3 tbsp dark rum (I only used 1½)
1½ tsp powdered gelatine (I didn’t use this)
180ml double cream
1 tsp vanilla extract

Genoise Sponge
Preheat the oven to 180C. Grease the base and sides of two 9inch tins. (I used one tin and cut the cake in half after it was cooked)
In a glass bowl, whisk together the eggs and sugar to combine, then set the bowl over a saucepan of simmering water and whisk constantly until the eggs are warm. Remove from the heat and beat with an electric mixer until the eggs are thick, foaming and tripled in volume, about 8 minutes. Beat in the vanilla and lemon zest.
Sift a third of the flour over the eggs and fold in gently using a spatula or metal spoon. Sift in the remaining flour, in two batches, folding in gently between each addition.
Drizzle the melted butter around the edge of the bowl and fold in gently.
Divide the batter between the two tins and bake for 12 to 15 minutes, until lightly golden and springy to the touch. (Bake for 25 minutes if using only 1 tin)
Allow to cool for 2-3 minutes before removing from the tins and leaving to cool completely.
While the cakes are baking, prepare the cream and syrup.

Espresso Syrup
In a small bowl, combine all the ingredients and stir together until the sugar has dissolved. Set aside to cool.

Mascarpone Cheese
In a glass bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, sugar and water. Place the bowl over a saucepan of gently simmering water and whisk constantly until the mixture thickens and becomes hot to the touch, around 5-7 minutes. Immediately remove from the heat, scrape into a small clean bowl and leave to cool.
Beat the mascarpone cheese until creamy and smooth, using an electric whisk. Gradually beat in the cooled egg yolk mixture, mixing until combined.
Place the rum in a small bowl, sprinkle over the gelatine and leave for 5 minutes. Place the bowl in hot water and stir constantly until the gelatine has dissolved. Whisk this mixture into the mascarpone. (I just added the rum without the gelatine and it worked fine).
In a separate bowl, whisk the cream and vanilla together until just starting to form soft peaks. Fold this through the mascarpone mixture and place in the fridge until required.

Assembly

Trim the cake layers until you have removed all the outer rim of the darker crust from the sides. Brush the top side well with the espresso syrup and place, top side down, inside a 9 inch cake ring that has been placed on a serving plate. Brush the other side with more espresso syrup.
Use half the cream to over the top of the soaked cake, allowing it to go down the sides too until completely coated.
Brush the second cake layer with more syrup, place in the ring mould and brush with any remaining syrup.
Cover the cake with the remainder of the cream. Place in the fridge to chill for 4 hours or overnight.

To Serve
Run a knife that has been dipped in hot water around the rim of the cake and carefully remove the ring mould.
Dust the top with cocoa powder and a little grated chocolate before serving.
Store any leftover cake in the fridge.

Chocolate Chip Banana Cake with Cinnamon Streusel Topping

2012-01-17T14:19:00.000Z

Overripe bananas are a common occurrence in my house. We always buy lots as everyone likes to eat them at varying degrees of ripeness. I personally prefer them on the slightly firm side, and also when they are fridge cold, added on top of my morning cereal or porridge. However, the inevitable often happens where the odd banana goes too ripe for anyone and rather than be thrown away they get cut up and stashed in the freezer to be used in baking later. Overripe bananas may not be nice to eat but as many of us know, they make for wonderfully sweet banana cake.

Plain banana cake is good, but I’m very much a flavours and textures kind of girl. I like to have each bite tasting a little bit different, which adds excitement and interest. In this instance I added a handful of dark chocolate chips and some cinnamon. Spices really complement the flavour of bananas and I love how using chips of chocolate, rather than simply cocoa powder, result in little pockets of intense chocolate bitterness, the perfect contrast to the sweet cake.

In place of a standard icing or glaze I instead decided on a cinnamon streusel topping. Crisp, crunchy and a little bit crumbly it adds another texture to the cake without being overly sweet.

The cake itself is moist and closely textured from all the banana. The use of the bananas also adds structure to the cake meaning tasters had no idea it was actually gluten free. It would be very easy to make it dairy free too if that was required.

I love it eaten slightly warmed, so they chocolate chips just start to melt and the aroma from the cinnamon and banana becomes more apparent. A great way of using up those over ripe bananas.

Chocolate Chip Banana Cake with Cinnamon Streusel Topping

Chocolate Chip Banana Cake
180g butter
40ml sunflower oil
220g light soft brown sugar
3 eggs
275g very ripe banana, mashed (about 3 large)
280g gluten free plain flour (I used Doves Farm)
1½ tsp gluten free baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
60g dark chocolate chips

Cinnamon Streusel
50g gluten free plain flour
40g caster sugar
20g butter
½ tsp cinnamon

Cinnamon Streusel Topping
Make sure the butter is soft but not melted. Rub all the ingredients together using the tips to your fingers to form crumbs. Add ½ tbsp water and mix to form a few larger clumps, but you want it mostly fine. Set aside while you make the cake.

Chocolate Chip Banana Cake
Preheat the oven to 180C. Grease and line an 8inch round springform cake tin.
Beat the butter, oil and sugar together until fluffy and pale in colour.
Beat in the eggs and cinnamon.
Add the banana and chocolate chips and mix to combine.
Fold the flour and baking powder gently into the banana mixture using a spatula. Do not over mix.
Transfer the mixture into the prepared tin and sprinkle the top with the streusel topping. Bake for 55mins until lightly golden.
Transfer to a wire rack to cool for 15 minutes before removing from the tin and leaving to cool.
Tastes delicious served warm with custard for a quick dessert.

Cranberry, Almond & Sticky Date Granola

2012-01-11T06:00:00.001Z

Breakfast is my favourite meal of the day and is something I always look forward to. I have always loved cereal but being coeliac means there is a limited number to choose from, although I must admit, there are starting to be a few more appear on the scene, but very few muesli’s or granola’s and even fewer without oats (pure or otherwise) which I also have to avoid. The simple solution to this is to concoct my own.

There are quite a vast range of gluten free flakes, puffs, ground crispy things available, that on their own can be quite bland and boring, but when mixed together, tossed with a few nuts, fruits and sprinkled with a little spice can become a breakfast muesli mix fit for a champion. For the past couple of weeks I have been craving something with a bit more of a granola style crunch and this morning I finally got round to baking some.

You can easily make your own granola by mixing a few flakes, puffs (or oats) with a little oil and honey before giving them a toast in the oven which helps makes them extra crisp and wonderfully toasty, while adding a little sweetness. I decided to spice things up a bit by adding a generous sprinkling of cinnamon, my favourite spice, along with some date syrup in place of the honey. The date syrup was sticky and mysterious, providing its own unique flavour and aroma much like molasses or black treacle. It smelt divine when baking in the oven, almost like gingerbread.

I used whole natural almonds for crunch and ground flax for fibre as some gluten free grains can be rather over processed. I also added a little flaked coconut halfway through baking, which become lovely and toasty in the oven and went so well with the date syrup. A scatter of dried cranberries stirred though at the end brought chew and their wonderful sweet yet tart flavour to the mix.

The buckwheat puffs let off the aroma of toasting popcorn while baking which mingled with the sweet spices was a lovely combination. All of the different flakes and ingredients took on their own unique texture. Some were crunchy, others crisp, nutty or chewy. Subtly sweet, slightly tart, lightly spiced and toasted, together this made for one yummy granola, just what I’d been craving.

The beauty of making your own means you can add whatever ingredients you like, so I urge you to give it a go! Served with milk, fruit, yoghurt or simply eaten out the container by the handful, it makes for a great start to the day.

Cranberry, Almond & Sticky Date Granola

Ingredients

60g gluten free cornflakes
30g buckwheat flakes
30g brown rice flakes
30g buckwheat puffs
25g flax/linseeds
40g skin on almonds
25g flaked coconut
1 tsp cinnamon
60g dried cranberries
2 tbsp neutral oil (I used rapeseed)
2 tbsp date syrup

Method

Preheat the oven to 170C.
Chop the almonds in half and place them into a large bowl along with the flakes and puffs.
Pulse the flax seeds in a small processor until crushed and broken, but do not blitz for too long or they will start to turn to mush. (You need to crack them to release their goodness as the body can’t break down their skin if left whole). Add them to the bowl and scatter over the cinnamon.
Mix the oil and date syrup together in a glass and then pour over the dry ingredients. Mix and toss everything together well, ensuring that all the ingredients are lightly coated in the syrup.
Pour the mixture onto a large baking tray with sides. Shake gently to spread the mixture into an even layer and bake for 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, weigh out the coconut and cranberries and keep to one side.
When the 10 minutes are up, remove the tray from the oven, scatter over the coconut and mix everything together to ensure an even browning.
Return the tray to the oven and bake for 8 minutes more. Keep an eye on it as you don’t want the coconut to burn.
Remove the pan from the oven, scatter over the cranberries and mix well. Leave the granola to cool on the tray before storing in an airtight container until required.
Delicious eaten ever so slightly warm when just out the oven, or for breakfast with fresh fruit and yoghurt.

Cranberry & Pistachio Biscotti with a hint of Clementine

2012-01-03T10:57:00.001Z

I love baking a small selection of goodies to give as gifts to friends and family over Christmas. Biscotti are one of my favourite things to bake and give as they are very versatile and keep longer than most other types of cookie. This is good as it means you can bake them a few days in advance so don’t have to run around in a panic on Christmas Eve. Also, as they are crisp and dry they keep well for several weeks meaning the recipient doesn’t have to worry about eating them straight away. I have found in the past that if you give short life products as gifts over Christmas they often get past their best before being eaten as there is always so much other food on offer that they can get overlooked. With biscotti, they will still be happily waiting patiently when rediscovered in January after all the trifles, puddings and chocolates have been devoured and you are in need of something a little simpler and yet just as tasty. It’s biscotti to the rescue!

I used a mix of dried cranberries and shelled pistachios in my biscotti as I love the contrasting scattering of Christmas colours these add to the dough. To make them extra festive I flavoured the dough with the zest of a clementine and some ginger which added just subtle zesty overtones.

You only need 4 or 5 biscotti tied in a little cellophane bag with a ribbon to make a lovely handmade gift. It makes for a very enjoyable way to spend an afternoon. Much better than fighting through the crowds over Christmas or the New Year sales.

Biscotti are of course perfect any time of year, not just for Christmas and recently I’ve taken to always having some on hand for when the munchies strike. Crisp and crunchy yet studded with a whole assortment of different nuts, fruits, spices, chocolates etc. The possibilities are endless!

Cranberry & Pistachio Biscotti with a hint of Clementine
Recipe loosely based on a recipe from Leiths Baking Bible

Ingredients
200-230g gluten free flour (I used Doves brand, a mix of rice, maize, potato, buckwheat and tapioca flours)
55g fine ground cornmeal/polenta
100g caster sugar
2 eggs
40g dried cranberries
30g shelled pistachios
Zest of 1 clementine
2 tsp ground ginger
½ tsp bicarbonate of soda

Method
Heat the oven to 180C. Line a large baking tray with baking parchment or a silicone sheet.
In a large bowl, beat the eggs, sugar, ginger and zest of the clementine together until well combined.
Add the cranberries and shelled pistachios and stir briefly.
Scatter 200g flour, cornmeal and bicarbonate of soda over the top and mix it all together using a spatula. It should be quite soft and sticky, add the remaining 30g of flour if you think its too sticky to work with.
Wet your hands before transferring the dough to the lined baking tray and shaping into a thick long log shape.
Bake in the oven for 20 minutes until puffed and lightly golden brown.
Remove from the oven, dampen a tea towel or jay cloth (it should not be too wet) and drape over the top of the biscotti and leave for 10 minutes (this keeps the top soft and makes slicing easier)
After 10 minutes, remove the towel and slice the biscotti into 1cm slices on the diagonal.
Arrange the slices back on the baking tray, laying them flat.
Bake in the oven for a further 10 minutes before filling them over and baking for a further 5 minutes until crisp. Transfer the slices to a wire rack to cool.
Store in an airtight container or wrap in bags as gifts. Keeps well for around 3 weeks.
Makes around 25 biscotti

Apple & Spice featured in Love Baking Magazine

2012-01-01T11:06:00.000Z

Happy New Year everyone! Hope it’s a happy and healthy one.

A few days ago I received a copy of a fairly new magazine – Love Baking, with a focus on cupcakes and & sweet treats. Imagine my delight when I opened it to discover that my blog and I had been featured in the bloggers’ cupcake creations part of the magazine!!

How exciting. This is the first time I’ve been mentioned in a magazine and it was great to see it there amongst so many other talented baking bloggers.

The other bloggers were The other bloggers on the page are The Caked Crusader, I Heart Cupcakes, Cupcake Crazy Gem, American Cupcake in London, The More Than Occasional Baker, American Chop Suey, and The Nom Bakery.

Thank you Love Baking! The rest of the magazine is full of lots of other tasty treats so I’d recommend keeping an eye out for it.

Gluten Free Mince Pies

2011-12-27T14:04:00.001Z

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas. I can’t believe its over for another year. I have no idea where December when – whooosh – it’s gone! I’m so behind on my blogging but as its still winter I’m sure a few extra festive posts are still permitted. Mince pies are a case in point. It wouldn’t be Christmas without mince pies. I only learnt to like them a few years back, but even before I enjoyed eating them, their gorgeous spicy aroma and very appearance always made it feel much more festive having them around.

This year I made my mince pies extra festive by using a snowflake cutter for the pastry top as I like the way this allows some of the filling to peak through the gaps as well as letting some of the sweet spicy smell waft up to waiting guests. I used a jar of shop bought mincemeat (check its gluten free) but I did add my own twist on it by adding some extra cinnamon and a generous slosh of Amaretto liqueur. This helped perk up the mincemeat and no doubt perked up the eaters too!

I made a sweet version of my gluten free shortcrust pastry recipe. It’s short, but not so much that it crumbles into a thousand pieces the minute your try to take a bite. The rice flour adds a faint grittiness, in a good way, so that it reminded me a little of shortbread.

Soon the house was full of the warming aroma of spices, citrus and alcohol which really enhanced the Christmas mood and drew people into the kitchen as they followed their noses to the oven. I made normal sized ones and then a few minis with the scraps of leftover pastry.

I couldn’t resist pinching one just out the oven. It was a little too hot and I burnt my mouth, but it tasted so yummy. My only complaint would be that I didn’t put enough mincemeat in. I made them again later on and made sure to fill them better. So make sure you’re generous with the mincemeat filling.

Did you know that it is considered good luck to eat a mince pie on every day of each of the 12 days of Christmas, 26th December and ending with Epiphany on 6th January, so there is still plenty of time to enjoy them!

Gluten Free Mince Pies

Ingredients - Pastry
100g brown rice flour
60g potato flour
70g white teff flour
30g icing sugar
1 tsp xanthan gum
110g butter
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 tbsp cold water

Filling
GF Mincemeat to fill (around 300g)
5 tsp Amaretto (almond) liqueur
½ tsp cinnamon

Method
Mix the mincemeat in a bowl along with the Amaretto and cinnamon. Set aside.
Preheat the oven to 180C and have ready 18 bun tins.
Mix all the flours and the xanthan gum together in a bowl to combine.
Make sure you butter is soft, if not blast it in the microwave for a few seconds. Add to another mixing bowl along with half the flour mixture, icing sugar, egg and water. Beat with a spoon or spatula to form a paste. (Yes I know this goes against all traditional pastry making!) Add the rest of the flour and bring the mixture together to form a dough, switching to your hands at the end. Knead the dough gently for 1 minute to ensure everything is well combined.
Lay a large sheet of cling film on your work surface, place just over half the pastry in the centre and over with another large sheet of clingfilm. Roll the pastry out between the sheets until 3-4mm thick.
Remove the top sheet of clingfilm and use a pastry cutter, a little larger than the size of your bun tins, to cut out circles and use to line the hollows of the bun tins.
Fill each with a heaped teaspoon of mincemeat.
Roll out the leftover pastry and use a star or snowflake cutter to cut out shapes for the top. Press the tips of the star into the sides of the pastry bases to seal.
Brush with a little milk and bake in the oven for 17-20 minutes until golden.
Allow to cool in the tin for 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack. Dust with icing sugar just before serving.
Makes around 18 mince pies (I made 14 normal and 12 mini’s)

The Cake Slice December 2011: Chocolate Hazelnut Buche de Noel

2011-12-20T10:53:00.003Z

Wow I can’t believe its only 4 days until Christmas. Where has the time gone? I’m so behind on my Christmas baking and posting. At least with the Cake Slice I have an actual deadline which makes me post it on time. This months winning cake was perfect for this time of year – a Buche de Noel otherwise known as a Yule Log, roulade or swiss roll. A Buche de Noel or Yule log is made extra festive than other roulades or rolls as they are covered in chocolate buttercream and shaped to look like a fallen branch of a tree.

It used to be traditional to go into the forest and gather logs to burn in the hearth on Christmas day. This was meant to bring good luck and warmth to the family for the upcoming year. No important occasion would be complete without a cake and so this dessert was created.

The sponge used to make the log has to be soft and flexible in order for it to roll up without cracking. This is done by the use of lots of whisked eggs and very little flour which is great for me as it means it was a doddle to adapt to be gluten free. There are meant to be two differently flavoured buttercreams, one for filling and the other for frosting, but as we can’t get the specified hazelnut praline paste here in the UK (to my knowledge) I kept things simple by using the chocolate buttercream inside and out. This was a win for my brother who is home for the holidays and believes nothing goes better with chocolate than more chocolate!

I used a hazelnut liqueur syrup to lightly soak the sponge before it is filled and rolled. This helps keep it moist and adds a slight sophisticated flavour. You wouldn’t really be able to tell what it is, but it does make it taste that little bit more special. It made me smile that the rolled but unfrosted cake looked a bit like a submarine.

As I was short of time I went for a simple decoration of just a few fondant holly leaves and some dried cranberry ‘berries’ as decoration. I also only made half the recipe given below as we weren’t in need of a large cake at the time. Snow was actually falling outside as I baked this cake and I was singing along to Michael Buble’s Christmas on the radio which really helped put me in the festive mood.

The finished cake was tasty, but in my opinion if you want a roulade then nothing beats the chocolate roulade my mum bakes every year for dessert on Christmas day for the non Christmas pud eaters. In case I don’t get round to posting again, have a wonderful Christmas everyone! Click to see the Cake Slice blogroll

Chocolate Hazelnut Buche de Noel
(Recipe adapted from The Cake Book by Tish Boyle)

Chocolate Chiffon Cake
65g plain flour (I used Doves GF flour – maize, tapioca, rice, potato & buckwheat)
130g caster sugar
30g cocoa powder
1¼ tsp gluten free baking powder
2 eggs
90ml sunflower oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 egg whites
¼ tsp cream of tartar

Hazelnut Syrup
80ml water
25g caster sugar
1 tbsp Frangelico – Hazelnut liqueur

Chocolate Hazelnut Buttercream
150g caster sugar
4 egg whites
45ml water
385g unsalted butter, soft
1 tsp vanilla extract
110g dark chocolate, melted and cooled
2 tbsp hazelnut praline paste (if you can get it!)

Chocolate Chiffon Cake

Heat the oven to 180C. Grease and line the base and sides of a 11½ x 17½ inch swiss roll tin with greaseproof paper.
In a large bowl whisk the egg whites and cream to tartar together until foamy. Weigh out half the caster sugar and slowly add to the egg whites, whisking constantly until thick and glossy. Set aside.
In a clean bowl, whisk the whole eggs, oil and vanilla together until combined. Scatter the remaining half of the sugar over the top, along with the flour, cocoa powder and baking powder. Mix until just blended into a thick batter.
Take one third of the meringue mix and fold it through the chocolate mixture using a spatula to slacken it. Add the rest of the meringue and fold in gently until just mixed in.
Pour the chocolate mix into the prepared tin and spread it out into an even layer. It will be quite thin.
Bake in the oven for 12-15 minutes until slightly puffed and springy to the touch.
Lay another piece of greaseproof paper over a cooling rack and lightly dust with caster sugar.
Flip the cake layer out onto the sugar dusted paper and carefully peel off the parchment attached to the cake. Leave to cool before brushing with syrup and filling.

Syrup
In a small saucepan combine the water and sugar and heat, stirring constantly, until the sugar has dissolved. Stop stirring and increase the heat to a rolling boil. Remove from the heat and allow to cool for 10 minutes before stirring in the liqueur. Set aside until required.

Chocolate Hazelnut Buttercream

Place a large heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water. In the bowl, whisk together the sugar, egg whites and water. Keep whisking until the mixture reached 160F on a sugar thermometer, it should turn white and glossy. Then remove from the heat and whisk with an electric mixer until the meringue thickens, becomes stiff and cool, about 5 minutes.
Reduce the speed of the mixer and gradually beat in the butter, small chunks at a time, until incorporated. Then beat in the vanilla.
Melt the chocolate and stir it through the half the buttercream, and fold hazelnut paste through the remaining half. (We can’t easily get nut pastes in the UK so I simply doubled the amount of chocolate and used that for everything)

Assembly

Lay the cooled cake, still on the paper, on a clean flat surface and spread with the hazelnut buttercream (or half the chocolate mix if only made one buttercream) nearly to the edge of the cake.
Starting at the long edge, fold over a thin strip of the sponge to start off your roll. Then confidently roll up the rest of the sponge to form a log. Use the paper underneath to help you lift and roll the cake.
Trim off one end of the cake at a diagonal and place it on top of the cake to create a ‘stump.’ You can cut off another smaller piece to attach to the side too if you wish.
Transfer the cake to a large serving plate and use the chocolate buttercream to cover the cake.
Decorate with leaves, holly, meringue mushrooms or however you choose.
Place in the fridge to chill for half an hour before serving. Store any leftovers in the fridge.

Fresh Cranberry & Orange Cake

2011-12-13T06:00:00.001Z

Last weekend was my local coeliac group’s Christmas meal. It’s only the second time I’ve been but I’ve discovered any meeting is always a fun and festive affair. After a three course meal there is a short interlude where we listen to guest speakers and then it’s onto the wonderful English tradition of afternoon tea, which can mean only one thing – CAKE!

I’m very lucky in that my local group seem to be great food lovers (like myself) and whenever we all get together there is always a vast array of cakes, biscuits and buns all baked by fellow members for everyone to share around and enjoy. Not only is it a sugar rush experience of being able to eat everything on the table, but it’s a fantastic way of picking up some new recipes.

I kept changing my mind of what to bake for the occasion but in the end decided on a cranberry and orange cake. Fresh cranberries are finally available in the shops again – hurrah! – so I wanted to make the most of them. Cranberry and orange is a classic and very festive flavour combination so seemed ideal for the event.

I roughly blitzed the cranberries before stirring them through the cake mix as I wanted little speckles of cranberry studded throughout the cake rather than whole berries. This made it look very pretty when sliced, the cranberries all glossy and red like little gems. Topped with a drizzle of orange glaze and a ring of dried cranberries this makes for one simple yet very tasty cake.

There is no photo of a slice as I didn’t want to cut into the cake before I took it to share, but I’m pleased to say it went down well with the munchers. I actually made it dairy free as well as gluten free as I know some members have to avoid both and I wanted to ensure it would be safe for everyone to eat. I’ve come away with a delicious recipe for a super moist carrot drizzle cake, which I’m sure will be making an appearance on this blog at some point in the future.

Fresh Cranberry & Orange Cake

Ingredients
195g gluten free self raising flour
180g unsalted butter or dairy free margarine
180g caster sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp gluten free baking powder
75g fresh cranberries, blitzed into small chunks
Zest of 1 orange
1 tsp ground ginger

Orange Glaze
100g royal icing sugar
2 tbsp fresh orange juice
A few dried cranberries to decorate

Method
Preheat oven to 180C and grease and line the base of an 8inch/20cm springform tin.
Make sure the butter is very soft. Place the butter, flour, sugar, baking powder, ginger and eggs into a bowl. Beat with an electric mixer until smooth and fluffy.
Add the orange and crushed cranberries and mix again to combine.
Spread into the tin and bake for 45 minutes.
Leave to cool for 20 minutes in tin before transferring to a cooling rack to cool completely.
To make the glaze, mix the icing sugar and orange juice together gradually until you have a smooth thick paste.
Spread on top of the cooled cake and decorate with a ring of dried cranberries.

Upside-Down Pear, Chocolate & Ginger Cheesecake

2011-12-06T06:18:00.000Z

It was my Dad’s birthday last week and what’s a birthday without a birthday cake? We’ve been eating lots of cake in our household recently and so I wanted something different to the traditional sponge and decided instead to bake a cheesecake! It still has cake in the title after all.

My Dad, like me, is a huge foodie and after tasting dishes he always like to discuss the good and bad points about it and what could be done to improve upon it next time, so I knew that this cheesecake couldn’t be any old cheesecake, it would have to be an extra special cheesecake.

Cheesecake is one of my favourite desserts, but I usually hate the bases. They are often damp and soft and I dislike the taste of mushy biscuits. I hit upon the idea of baking the base separately to the cheesecake layer and then putting the two together just before serving. I then moved onto thinking about the cheesecake itself. I knew I wanted to incorporate stem ginger somehow, as my Dad is a big fan of this, and decided to combine it with slices of pear and chocolate chunks as these three flavours always work well together.

I wanted the slices of pear to be arranged on top but thought I would have to simply place them on top after baking as I realised they would sink to the bottom of the pan if I’d put them on top of the unbaked cheesecake mix. However, I then had the most brilliant idea of making an upside down cheesecake! Arrange the pear on the base of the pan before pouring over the cheesecake mix. Once baked I would invert the cheesecake right side up, with the fruit now baked into the top of the cheesecake – just like a pineapple upside down cake! I’ve never seen this done before and I was so excited by the idea.

I was a little nervous turning my baked cheesecake out, unsure what I would find underneath. Thankfully the pear slices stayed in their ring formation and a few of the chunks of chocolate and stem ginger strips had gathered in the centre, creating a rather unusual yet quite attractive mosaic effect. All that was left to do was to place it on the pre baked (gluten free) biscuit base, chocolate for a nice contrast, and the cheesecake was complete!

All the family loved the birthday cheesecake and its quirkiness. To me it was almost perfect. The base had stayed wonderfully crisp and slightly nutty from baking, while the cheesecake top was rich, silky smooth and creamy. Each bite revealed something different, bitter chunks of dark chocolate, warming zingy strips of ginger or soft sweet pear.

I’ve never seen an upside-down cheesecake before, so I’m claiming this recipe as my own invention, and I’ll definitely be baking one again!

Upside-Down Pear, Chocolate & Ginger Cheesecake
(My own invention!)

Chocolate Base
200g digestive biscuits (I used GF ones)
10g cocoa powder
50g butter

Cheesecake
1 tin pear halves
500g cream cheese
2 tsp cornflour
3 eggs
150g caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla
3 balls of stem ginger in syrup (approx 50g)
50g dark chocolate

Method

Line a tray with foil and place an 8inch/20cm ring mould on top. (If you don’t have a ring mould use a round springform tin without the base. Preheat the oven to 175C.
Blitz the biscuits in a food processor until the biscuits are broken down and resemble fine crumbs. Add the cocoa powder and blitz again briefly.
Melt the butter in the microwave, add to the biscuit crumbs and blitz again to incorporate.
Tip the crumbs into the base of the ring mould and press down firmly to form an even layer. Place in the oven and bake for 10 minutes.
Remove from the oven and carefully lift off the ring mould, leaving the base behind on the foil tray. Leave the base to cool before covering with clingfilm and storing until required.

For the Cheesecake

Leave the oven at 175C. Clean the ring mould used for the biscuits base and place on another foil lined tray. This time, gather up the excess foil, wrapping it around the edge of the ring mould to prevent any leaks.
Drain the pear halves and cut them into long slices. Arrange them in the base of the ring mould, in an even layer, fanning them out around the edge.
Beat the cream cheese and sugar together until no lumps remain and the cream cheese is soft and fluffy.
Add the vanilla and the eggs one at a time, beating well between each addition. Scatter over the flour and beat again to incorporate.
Roughly chop the chocolate into small chunks and slice the stem ginger into thick matchstick shaped pieces.
Fold the chocolate and stem ginger into the cheesecake mix.
Pour the cheesecake mixture over the layer of pears in the mould.
Place in the oven and bake for 45-50 minutes. The cheesecake should be puffed up and slightly cracked around the edges, but still wobbly in the centre.
Remove the cheesecake from the oven and leave to cool for 1½ hours before refrigerating for at least 4 hours, although ideally overnight. (Don’t worry if it cracks as this will be the base later on.)
When ready to serve, run a hot knife in-between the edge of the cheesecake and the tin and carefully lift off the ring mould. Place the cooled chocolate biscuit base on top of the cheesecake.
Carefully place a serving plate, right side down, over the top of the whole cheesecake and invert the whole thing right side up. Use the tray the cheesecake is on to help you.
Remove the baking tray (from the now top) and carefully peel away the foil to reveal the arrangement of pear slices that has now become the top of the cheesecake.
Refrigerate until required and serve in generous slices.

The Daring Bakers November 2011 Challenge: Chocolate Hazelnut Sans Rival

2011-11-27T06:45:00.000Z

On reading this title I expect you are thinking ‘what on earth is a Sans Rival?’ If so, then rest assured I was thinking the exact same thing when I first heard about this challenge. It turns out that Sans Rival is a delicious layered meringue cake comprising of four nutty layers of meringue, sandwiched together with a French buttercream. ‘Sans’ means ‘without’ in French, so I assume this dessert is so good that it is to be considered without rivals – as in it beats all others!

Catherine of Munchie Musings was our November Daring Bakers’ host and she challenged us to make a traditional Filipino dessert – the delicious Sans Rival cake! And for those of us who wanted to try an additional Filipino dessert, Catherine also gave us a bonus recipe for Bibingka which comes from her friend Jun of Jun-blog. This month I stuck to just the Sans Rival cake.

We were having some relatives round for dinner and so I thought this cake would make the ideal dessert. It’s traditionally made with ground cashew nuts, but I chose to use hazelnuts instead and to add melted dark chocolate to by French buttercream as I adore the combination of chocolate and hazelnuts together. On assembling the dessert I also added a little raspberry jam between each layer, which made for a delicious trinity of flavours. I was especially delighted as this dessert was also naturally gluten free – hurrah.

I had high hopes for this dessert and it sounded simple enough. However, for some reason my meringue layers just refused to go crisp in the oven. They were meant to be baked for 30minutes, after which time they were nicely golden on top, but when I gave them a prod they were still sticky and gooey. I gave them another 20 minutes by which time they had developed a crisp outer crust. ‘Good’ I thought and took them out to cool. As they cooled they turned back to being soft and a little gooey. Back into the oven they went. This continued for 2 hours by which time I had had enough and decided they would just have to stay as they were.

Thankfully the French buttercream came together quickly and easily and resulted in a gorgeously silky dark chocolate cream that tasted divine. I could have (and did) eaten it by the spoonful. I really should make the effort to make this more often for other cakes as it’s just incredible, so smooth and creamy.

When it came to serving the dessert later that evening, my meringue layers had turned into something resembling more nougat than meringue. It was soft, gooey and chewy and actually made for a lovely tasting dessert with the chocolate and raspberry filling, but was definitely not the crisp layers it should have been.

Although my meringue layers were a disappointment the flavours of the desert itself more than made up for it. There was even one dinner guest who stole a forkful off someone else’s plate after she had finished her own! In summary, it tasted good, but after the stress of the meringue layers I probably wouldn’t make it again (well not this particular meringue recipe anyway). I was also disappointed in my presentation but the meringue just wasn’t playing ball. I halved the recipe below and baked a 6.5inch cake.

Click here to see the blogroll of other Daring Bakers Sans Rival Cakes

Sans Rival

Ingredients
10 large egg whites, room temperature
225g caster sugar
1 tsp cream of tartar
20g cocoa powder (optional and not traditional – I left this out)
240g roughly ground, toasted cashews (I used hazelnuts)

Method
Note: You will need four layers which will mean that you might have to bake in two batches. Be sure to use fresh parchment paper and cooled pans for each batch.
1. Preheat oven to 160C.
2. Line cake pan bottoms (9inch/23cm) with parchment paper and butter and flour the sides really well.
3. In a large clean, dry glass or metal mixing bowl, beat egg whites on medium until foamy (2 mins). Sprinkle with cream of tartar. Gradually add sugar, a couple of tablespoons at a time, continuing to beat now at high speed until stiff shiny peaks form. (about 7-10 mins.)
4. Fold in nuts, reserving enough to use for decoration.
(Note the more finely ground for folding into meringue. The coarsely ground for is decoration of finished cake.)
5. Divide meringue into four equal parts. Spread in pans, evenly to edges. If doing batches, use fresh parchment paper and cooled pans for each batch.
6. Bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove the meringue from the baking pans while still hot; allow to cool slightly. Peel off the parchment paper while it is still warm, it is difficult to remove sometimes when they have completely cooled.
7. When cool, trim edges so that all 4 meringue layers are uniformly shaped. Set aside.

French Buttercream
5 large egg yolks, room temperature
225g caster sugar
60ml water
285g unsalted butter, room temperature
55g dark chocolate, melted
1 tbsp hazelnut liqueur (my addition)

Method
1. Put the egg yolks in a mixing bowl. Beat at high speed until the yolks have doubled in volume and are a lemon yellow.
2. Put the sugar and water in a heavy pan and cook over medium heat, stirring the sides down only until all the sugar is dissolved and the syrup reaches 112C (or thread stage).
3. With the mixer on high, very slowly pour the syrup down the sides of the bowl, until all has been added. Be careful as the very hot syrup could burn you if it splashes from the beaters. Add the hazelnut liqueur. Continue beating on high until the mixture is ROOM TEMPERATURE (about 15 mins). Still on high, beat in the soft, room temperature butter a tablespoon at a time. Add the melted chocolate and beat well. Refrigerate the buttercream for at least an hour, and whip it smooth just before you use it.

Assembly
4 tbsp raspberry Jam (my addition)

Set bottom meringue on cake board with a dab of butter cream to hold it in place. Spread a thin layer of buttercream and then place another meringue on top. Repeat with a thin layer of buttercream, meringue, thin layer of buttercream, meringue, and finally buttercream the top and sides. Decorate with reserved nuts. Refrigerate until ready to serve. I also added a thin spreading of raspberry jam between each layer.

Butternut Squash & Red Lentil Soup

2011-11-23T08:30:00.000Z

Winter certainly seems to be closing in. It’s not been overly cold, but the days have been dark, damp and dreamy. Filled with three endless days of mist and drizzle that seems to seep into your clothes and skin making you feel cold and miserable. On waking up to yet another day of swirling mist I decided there was only one thing for it – a nice big bowl of steaming hot soup!

Ahh soup. Is there anything more warming and satisfying on a cold dreary day than a bowl/mug/ladle/bucket full of piping hot soup?! It seems to warm you up from the inside out, from the tips of your fingers down to your very soul. Ideally it must be thick soup too, rich and satisfying, not those horrible watery packet mixes. But a soup packed full of winter veg and goodness.

One of my favourite soups is red lentil soup. It’s thick and creamy with a bit of texture and bite from the lentils. Lentils, being rich in protein and fibre also help transform the soup into a filling meal that keeps the winter chills away.

I had a hunt through my fridge and basically comprised the soup from whatever I had to hand or that needed using up. That’s one of the perks of soup, it can transform even the most tired or gnarled shaped vegetables into something delicious. This time the main flavour component of my soup was a whole baby butternut squash. I simply scooped out the seeds and membrane from the middle and diced it up, leaving the skin on. As it all gets blitzed into a puree you can’t detect the skin so it’s not worth the hassle. Plus, there’s a lot of extra goodness hidden in those skins, the same applies to the parsnip, although I would recommend peeling the papery skin off the garlic.

The vegetable base is cooked and pureed first, before the lentils are added and cooked in the soup for a further few minutes. This means they add texture while being suspended in a creamy velvety smooth soup. The soup base looks a little thin when puréed, but once the lentils are added, they swell up, absorbing some of the liquid and releasing their starch, creating one glorious thick and satisfying soup.

Creamy, comforting and warming to the soul. There’s nothing better on a day like today.

Butternut Squash & Red Lentil Soup

Ingredients

1 onion

4 spring onions

1 parsnip, skin left on

2 cloves garlic

2 tbsp olive oil

1 small butternut squash, 600-700g whole

2 sticks celery

3 sprigs fresh thyme

3 pints vegetable stock, hot

150g red lentils

1 tsp salt

Freshly ground pepper

Method

Chop the onion, spring onion, parsnip, celery and butternut squash into a chunky dice. You can leave the skin on the parsnip and butternut squash, although remove the seeds and membrane from the centre of the squash.

Heat the oil in a large saucepan pan, add the veg and the thyme and stir together. Place the lid on the saucepan and allow the veg to cook over a low heat for 15 minutes, stirring once or twice, until the edges of the veg is starting to take on a little colour.

Roughly chop the garlic, add to the pan and cook for a further 5 minutes.

Pour over the vegetable stock, stirring right to the bottom to ensure you get up any stuck on bits. Replace the lid and allow to simmer for 20-25 minutes until all the veg is soft and tender.

Remove from the heat and puree the soup in a liquidizer until smooth. It should be quite runny/thin at this stage.

Return the soup to the pan and add the salt and pepper to taste. Pour in the red lentils, turn the heat to low and bring the mixture to a gentle bubble. Stir constantly for the first few minutes to prevent the lentils from sinking to the bottom of the pan and sticking.

Half cover the pan with the lid and allow to bubble gently for 15-20 minutes until the lentils are cooked. Stir every 5 minutes to prevent the lentils from clumping together. The soup will thicken up considerably as the lentils cook and swell.

Once the lentils are tender, remove from the heat and serve steaming hot.

Serves 6

Roasted Banana & Pecan Bundt Cake with Maple Glaze

2011-11-15T14:58:00.000Z

Today is National Bundt Cake day! Any baked good with a day dedicated to it is a winner in my books. Mary of the Food Librarian blog loves Bundt cakes so much that she has done a 30 day count-down to today, baking and blogging a different Bundt cake recipe each day! Wow what an undertaking. Incredibly this is also the 3rd year she has done this.

Spurred on by her many delicious looking Bundt cake recipes I wanted to join in the fun and bake my own. I first tasted this cake recipe a couple of weeks back, when it was baked by a coeliac friend of mine for a get-together. It was the moistest, most intensely banana flavoured cake I had ever had. I begged her for the recipe and have been looking for an occasion to bake it ever since. The cake is meant to be baked in a large loaf tin, but I felt sure it would be equally as good baked in a Bundt tin instead.

I think the secret behind this cake is that it uses a lot of bananas which are first roasted in the oven, in their skins, in order to intensify their wonderful banana-iness (if that’s not a word, it should be). I have never encountered this in a recipe before and was a little sceptical about how much flavour this would actually impart to the cake, but the end results speak for themselves. It’s fantastic.

The cake is also studded with a few crushed nuts for added texture and flavour and I also added just a smidgen of mixed spice. The cake is kept extra moist by the use of oil and sour cream in place of butter in the recipe. The cake is quite dense but in a good way, similar to a pound cake rather than feeling heavy and solid.

I love the look of each slice; the speckles of banana make it look so pretty and appealing. As if the cake itself wasn’t delicious enough, it is also topped with a drizzle of maple glaze to add just that extra touch of sweetness. I’m not usually a fan of maple flavoured things, but it really complimented the banana flavour well.

The great thing about Bundt cakes is that they look impressive with very little effort. They are also generally studded with exciting flavours or chunks of chocolate or nuts, relaying on these for flavour rather than mountains of frosting. This was a divine cake and one that the rest of family couldn’t believe was also gluten free. I think its going to be my new ‘go-to’ banana cake recipe. Even if you already have a favourite banana recipe, I urge you to try roasted them for a few minutes first, it really makes a difference!

Mary wants everyone to share her love of Bundt cakes and so is encouraging everyone to bake and blog a Bundt cake recipe from now until 24th November. If you submit a photo to her before this date then she’ll send you a Bundt badge for baking along. Click here for details. This is of course my entry.

Roasted Banana & Pecan Bundt Cake with Maple Glaze
(Recipe adapted from Gluten Free Baking by Phil Vickery)

Ingredients
450g ripe bananas with skin on (about 3½)
150g light soft brown sugar
125ml sunflower oil
1 tsp glycerine (I used golden syrup)
3 eggs
225g gluten free flour (I used Doves flour mix)
½ tsp xanthan gum
½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
½ tsp gluten free baking powder
2 tbsp crème fraiche (I used sour cream)
50g roughly chopped walnuts (I used pecans)
½ tsp mixed spice (My own addition)

Maple Glaze
3 tbsp maple syrup (I only used 2tbsp)
75g icing sugar

Method

Preheat the oven to 200C.
Make a couple of slits in the skins of the bananas and lay them on a baking tray. Bake the bananas, in their skins, for 10 minutes (they will go black). Then remove them from the oven and leave them to cool slightly. Reduce the oven to 180C.
Oil a 9-10inch wide Bundt tin and set to one side.
Whisk the sugar, oil and glycerine together, adding the eggs one by one, until well combined.
Sift over the flour, bicarbonate of soda, baking powder, xanthan gum and spice. Peel the skin off the bananas and weigh out 250g of the flesh. Add the mushy banana to the rest of the mix along with the crème fraiche.
Beat everything together until combined and no large chunks of banana remain.
Stir through the chopped nuts and pour the mixture into the prepared Bundt tin.
Bake for 45 minutes until risen, golden brown and a skewer inserted in the top comes out clean.
Allow to cool for 30minutes in the tin before inverting onto a serving plate. It should release from the tin if you give it a firm shake.
Leave to cool completely before icing with the glaze.

Maple Glaze

Sift the icing sugar into a small bowl. Add the maple syrup to the strength you like it, mixing it into the sugar with a small spoon. Add a smidgen of water if you need in order to create a pourable yet thick glaze.
Spoon/drizzle the glaze over the top of the cool cake and leave to set for 20 minutes before serving.

Book Giveaway Winner!

2011-11-15T07:05:00.000Z

Congratulations to Anna Maria - comment number 2 on my Gluten Free Book Giveaway!

You win a copy of The Gluten Free Baker by Hannah Miles. Please email me your postage details and I'll arrange for you to get the book ASAP. Thank you to everyone who entered.

Gluten Free Rosemary, Tomato & Red Onion Focaccia! A Review and A Giveaway

2011-11-08T06:17:00.001Z

I used to love focaccia bread. Its soft and springy texture with the thin golden crisp salty crust, studded with herbs. Since having to go gluten free I never thought I would eat it again, but all that changed when I tried this recipe from The Gluten-Free Baker by Hannah Miles.

I was recently sent a copy of this book and enjoyed looking through its pages, bookmarking recipes to try. Hannah Miles herself does not need to follow a gluten free diet, but does have an interest in baking of all kinds. Some people might remember Hannah from the final of Masterchef back in 2007. She also writes her own blog. The book is split into sections including cakes, cookies, breads, pastry and desserts, with many delicious sounding recipes to choose from. I don’t really know why I settled on the focaccia as my first recipe to try, especially as my own experiments with gluten free bread baking have been a bit hit and miss. The photo of the focaccia looked so inviting and ‘normal’ (see below) that I yearned to be able to create something equally as good.

I followed the recipe to the letter, with the only slight variation I made was to use red onion instead of olives and natural yoghurt in place of buttermilk, but as it was only a spoonful, I didn’t think this would matter. The dough was more like a thick cake batter than bread dough, but this is a consistency I am learning is most suited to gluten free bread baking.

My dough looked promising and once I studded the top with some tomatoes, red onion and little sprigs of rosemary I was beginning to feel quite excited by it. One point I learnt is don’t prod your fingers into the surface to create little dips like you do with a normal focaccia, or else you’ll just make a deflated hole in your dough as there is no gluten to make it spring back! I only did this once and a handy tomato covered the hole so no one was any the wiser.

Once baked the bread looked and smelt amazing. It didn’t rise quite as tall as the one in the photo but it wasn’t far off! It had a thin crispy golden crust and an airy springy underneath. I love how studded with little holes it is. It was even a little flexible without crumbling or falling apart at all! I think using eggs and a little vinegar seemed to help stabilise the dough.

The taste was amazing! It was just like regular focaccia. Light and springy with a wonderful flavour from the sweet roasted tomatoes and onion and a slight saltiness from the little sprinkling of rock salt. The best focaccia I’ve ever made – gluten free or not and definitely the most successful and delicious gluten free bread I’ve ever produced!

It was fabulous the first two days, after which it got a little drier, but using it to make a toasted cheese sandwich soon transformed it back to deliciousness once more. It was so good. I’ve already made another one and frozen it in wedges to dig out when I need. I’m thrilled to have a recipe for a more artisan type bread that really works. I can’t wait to try out some of the other recipes.

All of the recipes in the book use ingredients that are readily available which helps make them feel approachable to all bakers. For the purposes of a fair review, I will also add a slight negative comment that I’ve noticed with the book. A lot of the cake, cookie and savoury recipes use ground almonds as a substitute for flour. Although I know this often works quite well, it can result in a heavier, denser, moister end product which is not always desired. Plus, not everyone likes the taste of ground almonds, so I felt they were a little too relied upon. However, I’m sure you could replace some with gluten free flour if you liked. Don’t let this minor point put you off the book, as all of the recipes I have so far tried have been wonderful.

Now onto the exciting part. I am delighted to be able to offer a copy of the book to one lucky person. With Christmas coming up it would make the ideal gift for a friend or family member who might have recently been diagnosed with coeliac disease, or even if you’ve just got an interest in gluten free baking.

To be in with a chance to win, simply leave a comment telling me a bit about your own experiences of gluten free food. Do you or anyone you know have coealic disease? Do you have a go-to gluten free recipe you produce should the need arise or are you daunted by the idea of it and want to learn more?

Open to UK residents only. Competition closes at midnight on Monday 14^th November 2011.

Gluten Free Rosemary, Tomato & Red Onion Focaccia

(Recipe from The Gluten-Free Baker by Hannah Miles)

Ingredients

450g gluten free white bread flour (I used a mix of maize, rice, potato & buckwheat)

1½ tsp xanthan gum

2 tsp fresh yeast (I used fast action dry)

2 tsp honey

2 tbsp warm water

300ml warm milk

2 eggs, beaten

1 tsp white wine vinegar

3 tbsp buttermilk (I used natural yoghurt)

1 tsp fine sea salt

20 cherry tomatoes, halved

20 pitted black olives (I used sliced red onion)

Few sprigs fresh rosemary

Olive oil for drizzling

Sea salt flakes for sprinkling

Method

Generously grease a deep sided 33x23cm/13x9inch oven tray.

Put the yeast, warm water and honey in a small bowl. Stir and leave for 10-15 minutes to become foamy.

Sift the flour into a mixing bowl, add the proofed yeast, xanthan gum, warm milk, eggs, vinegar, buttermilk and fine salt. Beat everything together using a spoon or spatula to form a thick dough.

Spread the dough into the greased tray and spread it out into an even layer.

Cover the top with clingfilm or a clean towel and place in a warm place to proof for 1 hour or until risen and puffy.

Preheat the oven top 190C.

Dot the halved cherry tomatoes, slices of olive (or onion) and small sprigs of rosemary over the surface of the dough. Don’t stick your fingers into it though!

Drizzle the surface with olive oil and scatter the top with sea salt crystals.

Bake in the oven for 35-40 minutes until golden brown and crisp on top.

Allow to cool in the tin to room temperature before cutting into large squares and serving.

Tastes delicious on its own or served with soups, chutneys, cheese or split in half and toasted to make sandwiches.

Eat within 2 days or freeze in portions on day of baking.

Hotel Chocolat Giveaway Winner!

2011-11-07T10:18:00.000Z

There were 18 comments on the post about the Hotel Chocolat Luxury Advent Calendar giveaway and so I used a random number generator to pick the winner.

The winner is…

Comment number 18! Congratulations The Caked Crusader who said if she won:

“I would share it with Mr CC - there's nothing I wouldn't share with him...even chocolate!"
Aww a worthy winner. I’ll be emailing you soon for your address info.

Keep an eye out for another chance to win something – coming soon!

Hotel Chocolat Luxury Advent Calendar & A Giveaway!

2011-11-01T11:59:00.001Z

As the days are getting shorter, the leaves on the trees are turning from green to vibrant shades of red and gold, collecting in drifts by the roadside and crunching underfoot. There is a chill in the air and these are all signs that autumn if firmly here with winter and Christmas on the way.

Growing up, Christmas was always a magical time, full of excitement and anticipation. My siblings and I used to love waking up each morning in December and being allowed to open the door of our advent calendar and eat the little chocolate shape behind – chocolate at breakfast time! I stopped buying advent calendars when I went off to university, as that seemed to be the marker of leaving childhood behind, however I missed the tradition. So imagine my delight when Hotel Chocolat offered to send me their new Luxury Advent Calendar for Two.

Specifically design for adults, it’s a huge, double layer advent calendar with two chocolate truffles behind each door! How fantastic is that!!! All the excitement and fun of childhood, only much more indulgent! The idea is you get to eat one truffle yourself and share the second one with a loved one, friend, work colleague or even just eat the second one yourself as an after dinner treat – I won’t tell!

The truffles themselves come in a delicious variety of different flavours, cocoa percentages and fillings. There are the classics like chocolate truffle and salted caramel but also a few festive specials including mulled wine and gingerbread! I love the striking colours of silver and purple against the Hotel Chocolat classic black background, so sleek and stylish. (It’s also my Christmas tree colour scheme!)

Of course for the sake of quality control I had to open one or two of the doors, just to sample the chocolates, for… review purposes. What’s behind door number one?...Mulled Wine truffle!

The filling was thick and creamy, with a faint fruity booziness and a strong flavour of Christmas clove. It didn’t taste overly wine-like to me, although very fruity. On checking the ingredient list I could see no sign of wine, but there is Port listed, so I think this has been used to give a stronger, sweeter flavour which worked really well and I’m more than happy about.

I couldn’t resist opening another door…Salted Caramel! This one was gorgeous. The chocolate was slightly dark and bitter, a lovely contrast against the gooey runny salted caramel centre. Look how delicious soft and glossy it is!

I’ve managed to hold off opening any more doors until December itself, but I’m delighted to be able to offer one of you lucky readers the chance to win one of Hotel Chocolat’s Luxury Advent Calendars yourself! (They're gluten free btw) All you have to do is leave a comment telling me who you would share your advent calendar with and why and for a second chance to win, leave another comment telling me which gift from the Hotel Chocolat Christmas collection you would buy for a loved one. Open to UK residents only I’m afraid. Comments close Midnight on Sunday 6th November. Good luck!

Daring Bakers October 2011 Challenge: Povitica!

2011-10-27T14:54:00.000+01:00

The Daring Baker’s October 2011 challenge was Povitica, hosted by Jenni of The Gingered Whisk. Povitica is a traditional Eastern European Dessert Bread that is as lovely to look at as it is to eat!

Povitica, pronounced ‘po-va-teet-sa’ is traditional Eastern European dessert bread that is traditionally served during the holiday season. It is also known as Nutroll, Potica, Kalachi or Strudia. It is a heavy sweet bread that requires quite a bit of time, skill and patience to make, meaning they often sell for extortionate amounts. Povitica is quite unique and unlike any other kind of bread I’ve ever come across. It looks a little rustic on the outside, but once sliced, reveals the most amazing swirls of thin dough interlaced with sweet sticky filling. I love how its not even just one swirl, but two or three individual swirls in each slice. It really is quite extraordinary, a real show stopper!

The traditional filling for this bread is an English walnut filling, but we were allowed to choose our own flavours. Keeping with the nutty theme I decided to use ground pecans and chestnut puree. As the swirls created inside the bread reminded me of cinnamon rolls, I also added raisins and cinnamon which together with the nuts gave it a wonderfully flavoursome and festive flavour.

The bread itself is quite heavy, by which I mean by weight rather than texture. On average a loaf weighs an amazing 2.5 pounds, over 1.2kg! Despite this, it wasn’t dense, chewy or hard going, but surprisingly soft, moist and springy.

The gooey sticky filling was divine, faintly coarse from the nuts, creamy from the divine chestnut puree (I adore this stuff) and the cinnamon and sultanas adding little burst of fruity stickiness when bitten into. It tasted a bit like the filling for a praline chocolate, just fabulous! The small amount of cocoa didn’t add much to the flavour, but ensured a dark filling, helping to create the striking swirl effect within each slice.

I so nearly didn’t attempt this loaf, unsure how it would reproduce gluten free, as so far my bread based gluten free baking has been a bit hit and miss. I’m so pleased I decided to take the plunge and make this bread. It was absolutely fabulous and that moment of slicing into the loaf and revealing the swirls tucked away inside was one of pure delight. I was dancing round the kitchen in such a good mood – It worked!

Bing gluten free the dough was a little fragile to work with and probably a bit thicker than gluten-containing dough, but I’m more than happy with my results. I had a little bit of a scary moment thinking about getting it into the tin in one piece, but in the end I went for the classic, quick scoop and plonk method using my hands and it worked fine.

I enjoyed the bread so much than I’m planning on using the recipe again, only this time slicing the roll into rounds and baking them as sticky buns or cinnamon rolls. It was so good! Thanks so much Jenni for introducing me to this bread and pushing me out of my comfort zone!

Click here to see other Daring Bakers Povitica’s

Povitica with Pecan, Chestnut, Cinnamon, Raisin Filling

To Activate the Yeast
½ tsp caster sugar
½ tsp buckwheat flour
2 tbsp warm water
1½ tsp dry active yeast

Povitica Dough
120 ml whole milk
40g caster sugar
½ tsp salt
1 egg
25g unsalted Butter, melted
260g gluten free flour (100g buckwheat, 80g white teff, 80g brown rice flour)
2 tsp xanthan gum

Pecan, Chestnut, Cinnamon, Raisin Filling
50g pecans
40g sultanas
3 tbsp sweetened chestnut puree
50ml milk
50g butter
1 egg yolk
55g caster sugar
1 tsp cocoa powder
½ tsp cinnamon

To Activate the Yeast
In a small bowl, stir together the sugar, yeast and flour. Add the water and stir well. Leave to one side for 5 minutes until thick and foamy.

To Make the Dough

In a medium saucepan, heat the milk and sugar together until the milk is hot, but not boiling, and the butter melted. Set to one side and allow to cool for 5 minutes.
In a large bowl, mix the milk, egg, sugar and the salt until combined.
Add the flour mixture and xanthan gum and pour over the yeast mixture. Use a spatula to work the dough together into a thick paste. It may be slightly sticky. Beat the batter until smooth using the spatula, adding a little more flour if it seems particularly sticky, although it should still be soft.
Cover the bowl with the dough loosely with a layer of clingfilm and place somewhere warmish to rise for one and a half hours until risen and slightly puffed looking.

To Make the Filling

Grind the pecans with half the sugar in a food processor or spice grinder until very fine.
In a bowl, mix together the ground nuts, sugar, cinnamon, cocoa powder, raisins and chestnut puree. Heat the butter and milk together until the butter has melted and then pour over the filling mix and stir together well. Finally, beat in the egg yolk. It will be quite liquid.
Transfer to the fridge to cool and thicken slightly while the dough is proving.

Assembling the Dough

Thoroughly grease a 1lb (8 x 4.5") loaf tin well and line the base and up two sides with a long strip of greaseproof paper.
Spread a clean sheet over your entire work surface so that it is covered (I used two large overlapping sheets of clingfilm).
Sprinkle a couple of tablespoons of flour over the top and place the dough on the sheet and roll the dough out with a rolling pin, starting in the middle and working your way out, until you can’t get it any thinner. It should be very thin, as thin as you dare without breaking it.
Spoon the prepared filling evenly over dough and use a spatula or clean hands to spread it out into an even layer, covering the dough – it will still be very soft.
Lift the edge of the cloth/clingfilm and gently roll the dough up as if making a swiss roll. Try and keep it quite tight, using the clingfilm or sheet to help you lift and roll the dough.
Once the dough is rolled up into a rope, gently, curve one end up alongside the dough, while curving the other end down to create an ‘S’ shape of dough. This will give the dough its characteristic look when sliced.
Quickly scoop up the dough and place it into the loaf tin. Don’t worry too much about how it falls, as long as you keep it in its ‘S’ shape.
Brush the top of the loaf with any scrapes of leftover filling mixture (or a little milk and sugar if you prefer).
Allow the dough to rest for 15 minutes while you preheat the oven to 180C.
Once the oven is up to temperature, bake for 15 minutes before reducing the heat to 150C and baking for 45 minutes more. Cover the loaf with a sheet of foil for the last 15 minutes if it’s looking too brown.
Remove the bread from oven and leave to cool almost completely in the tin, before running a knife around the edge and turning out.
Serve in thick slices and marvel at the intricate swirled design of the bread and filling.
Eat within 3 days or store in the fridge and eat within a week – 10days.
Makes one Povitica loaf

Fresh Fig & Almond Steamed Puddings

2011-10-24T17:04:00.000+01:00

(The pudding in the photo was a leftover that I ate the following day. I think the fig juices had made the sponge go a little gooey and fall apart, not great for photos, but just as delicious!)

Fresh figs are in season right now and so when I saw them on offer in my local shop I snapped up about eight! I’ve enjoyed eating them in various ways, but a girl can only eat so many before they start to look past their best. I decided to incorporate my remaining 3 figs into little steamed puddings.

The idea of steaming puddings can put some people off. They don’t like the idea of playing around with saucepans, steamers, boiling water and their lovingly prepared puddings! However, you can also steam a pudding quite successfully in the oven with the minimum of effort or fuss. You simply put your dish(s) into a deep baking tray and pour boiling water half way up the side – just like you would a cheesecake. This is known as cooking in a water bath, or to give it its proper name, a bain marie.

Using a bain marie ensures a moist and fluffy cooked sponge as the sides of the dish are never exposed to dry hot heat, protected by the outer layer of water. The water also creates steam, preventing the top from overbrowning and again ensuring a moist pudding that won’t dry out even if you over bake it.

When I sliced into the figs they looked stunning with their ruby red centres and little clusters of seeds. They were so attractive that I decided to place a thin slice of fig in the base of each of my moulds, which then formed the top when they were turned out. This worked well, although I was a little disappointed that their ruby red colour faded slightly on baking.

I flavoured the puddings with a little ground almonds and almond extract, which together with the sweet juicy figs and moist sponge made for one gorgeous pudding! Serve warm with lashings of piping hot custard (courtesy of Birds custard powder, just like mum always made!) Nothing nicer on a cold blustery day.

Fresh Fig & Almond Steamed Puddings

Ingredients
3 fresh ripe figs
80g Doves self raising gluten free flour mix
40g ground almonds
70g butter
60g caster sugar
¾ tsp baking powder
½ tsp almond extract

Method
Preheat the oven to 180C. Grease the base and sides of 6 dariole moulds (or ramekins) and set to one side.
Slice the figs so that you get two thin whole slices from the middle/tallest part of each fig. Place one slice in the base of each of the moulds.
Chop up the remaining fig pieces into 1cm pieces and set to one side.
Make sure your butter is soft, if not give it a quick blast in the microwave, before adding the rest of the cake ingredients, expect the figs, and beating together with an electric mixer until smooth and creamy.
Gently fold in the chopped figs so as not to break them up to much.
Divide the cake batter between the moulds, covering the fig slice in the base.
Place the moulds into a deep baking dish and carefully pour just boiled water into the tin until it reaches about half way up the sides of the moulds. Cover the top with a sheet of foil.
Transfer the dish to the oven and bake for 30 minutes until springy to the touch and ever so slightly golden on top (they won’t raise much).
Remove from the oven and the water bath. Run a thin sharp knife around the edge of each mould and boldly invert it onto the centre of a serving plate. It should release from the mould easily.
Serve straight away, hot from the oven with lashing of piping hot custard
Makes 6

The Cake Slice October 2011: Apple Cake with Spiced Cream Cheese Frosting

2011-10-20T11:56:00.000+01:00

It’s been an exciting month for the Cake Slice Bakers. We’ve chosen a new cake book, welcomed new members and baked our first cake from the new book. I can now reveal that our new cake book for the next 12 months is… The Cake Book by Tish Boyle and our debut cake was Apple Cake with Maple Frosting. I’m thrilled to say this cake was fabulous and if it’s a marker of cakes to come, then this book looks like being a winner!

Each month the Cake Slice Bakers all vote on which cake they want to bake next month – we’re very diplomatic like that :) The recipes in The Cake Book are set out into 8 chapters, with the first 4 being more of your traditional style cake – Angel & Sponge cakes, Pound & Coffee cakes, Butter & Oil cakes and Fruit Based cakes. The last 4 chapters are more dessert styles cakes – Flourless cakes, Cheesecakes, Mousse & Ice Cream cakes and Meringue cakes. In order to get a good mix of all different styles of cake throughout the year one month we will bake a cake from one of the 4 traditional style cakes and then the following month one of the 4 dessert style cakes. This months apple cake came from the traditional cakes, fruit based cakes selection.

This cake looks a little plain and dare I say, ordinary on first glance, but don’t let its humble appearance fool you. It’s packed full of baked apple chunks and bursting with spices with a scattering of walnuts thrown in for good measure. It’s then served with a creamy spiced cream cheese frosting, the perfect autumnal cake.

Cinnamon, cloves, ginger and brown sugar are added to the cake batter to give it its spicy warming flavour which goes perfectly with the soft sweet apple chunks, baked inside. I also added a little ground star anise, as I love its liquorice aniseed flavour. I used buckwheat flour to make it gluten free and found its nutty grassy overtones to be the ideal base for this spiced fruity nutty cake.

The accompanying cream cheese frosting was meant to be flavoured with maple, but I’m not a big fan of maple and find it often overpowers other flavours. I wanted the spices to be the star of the show and so left out the maple and added a little extra spice instead. I also chose to serve the frosting on the side of each slice, so cake eaters could add their own amount of frosting - everyone in my house like different amounts of icing on their cake.

The frosting itself was divine and I even spread the leftovers on some crackers after we’d polished off the cake. It was rich and creamy, wonderfully spiced and not too sweet. It also kept its smooth spreadable consistency rather than turning sloppy as I’ve had happen to me in the past. It’s now my go-to cream cheese frosting recipe.

Apple and spices are two of my favourite flavours (see blog title!) so this cake definitely got the thumbs up from me. I loved its unfussy appearance, keeping secret its wonderful flavours until you’ve taken that first bite. It kept moist for several days too. I can’t wait to see what next month dessert style cake is!

Click here to the Cake Slice Blogroll

Apple Cake with Spiced Cream Cheese Frosting

(Recipe adapted from The Cake Book by Tish Boyle)

Apple Cake

180g buckwheat flour (or plain flour)

1 tsp baking powder

½ tsp xanthan gum (if making GF)

1 tsp cinnamon

¼ tsp ground cloves

¼ tsp ground star anise (optional)

½ tsp ground ginger

¼ tsp bicarbonate of soda

100g butter, softened

150g light soft brown sugar (recipe stated 215g)

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 eggs

160ml buttermilk

120g peeled and chopped cooking apple or sharp eating apple

50g walnuts, chopped

Spiced Cream Cheese Frosting

170g full fat cream cheese

40g butter, softened

½ tsp vanilla extract

¼ tsp cinnamon

1/8 tsp ground ginger

Pinch of nutmeg

115g icing sugar

1/8 tsp maple flavouring (I left this out)

Apple Cake

Preheat the oven to 180C and grease the base and sides of a 9inch square baking tin. Dust with flour and set aside.

In a bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, spices and xanthan gum (if using) and set aside.

Peel, core and chop the apple into 1-2cm chunks and roughly chop the walnuts.

In a separate bowl, beat the butter until soft and creamy. Add the sugar, a little at a time, beating well to combine.

Add the vanilla and the eggs, one at a time, beating well between each one.

Scatter over a third of the flour mixture, followed by half the buttermilk and mix well. Add another third of the flour, the rest of the buttermilk and mix again, finally adding the remaining flour mixture.

Fold in the apple and walnuts.

Pour the mixture into the prepared tin and smooth out the top until level.

Bake for 25-30 minutes until lightly golden and springy. It won’t rise that much due to all the apple.

Leave to cool in the tin before spreading with the cream cheese frosting and serving in generous squares.

Store any leftover frosted cake in the fridge. Alternatively, simply frost each square of cake before you eat it – leaving the cake at room temperature in an airtight container and the frosting in the fridge.

Spiced Cream Cheese Frosting

Beat butter and cream cheese together until well combined and smooth. Add the vanilla, spiced and maple flavouring (if using) and beat again.

Slowly add the icing sugar, mixing as you go.

Beat until fluffy, then store in the fridge until required.

Amazing Peanut Butter Choc Chip Cookies

2011-10-16T11:55:00.000+01:00

Flourless peanut butter cookies are one of those seemingly magical recipes that in my mind shouldn’t work. There is no flour, grain or starch of any kind and no butter or oil and yet by simply mixing together peanut butter, sugar, an egg and a smidgen of raising agent you end up with fabulous chewy, crispy, creamy cookies. Huh? I don’t stop too long trying to explain it. It works, its good and that’s all I need to know.

I already have a recipe for peanut butter cookies on this blog and it’s the one I make when I’ve got a peanut butter craving. However, earlier this week I was browsing online and came across a slightly different recipe that included chocolate chips too! I adore peanut butter and chocolate together and so it took my literally 20 minutes from seeing the recipe to baking them.

These cookies are AMAZING! They are thicker and creamier than my previous peanut butter cookies, with a slightly crisp outer surface which yields to soft, chewy, peanut intensity middles. They are sweet, deliciously creamy and nutty. When you bite into a little chunk of dark bitter chocolate it’s just the perfect pairing, especially when the chocolate is still slightly melty from the oven. Insanely good!

I took the cookies to share with some friends and we polished off the lot. No one would ever guess they were gluten and dairy free! (check your dark chocolate) I’m going to try them with crunchy peanut butter next time, but these will take some beating! I urge you to drop what you’re doing and go bake some now!!!

Amazing Peanut Butter Choc Chip Cookies

Ingredients

240g smooth peanut butter

160g caster sugar

1 egg

½ tsp bicarbonate of soda

100g dark chocolate chips/chunks

Method

Preheat the oven to 180C. Line a tray with a silicone baking sheet.

Mix the peanut butter, sugar, egg and bicarbonate of soda together in a bowl using an electric whisk until well combined. (It will be very thick)

Add the chocolate chips and beat in.

Scoop up tablespoonfuls of the mixture and roll them into balls using your hands. Place them on the baking tray, leaving a 1-2inch gap. (Leave them as balls if you want extra thick, yet smaller sized cookies or flatten the tops slightly to create very thick discs if you want slightly larger, yet still thick cookies)

Bake in the oven for 12 minutes.

Remove from the oven and leave to cool for 3 minutes. Carefully transfer the cookies to a cooling wire using a palette knife – they will still be quite soft.

Leave to cool to room temperature before devouring.

Store in an airtight container.

Makes 12 cookies

Gooey Chocolate Raspberry Brownies

2011-10-11T06:30:00.001+01:00

My sister came for a visit at the weekend and I wanted to bake something for us to munch on while we caught up on each others news. She is a huge chocoholic and the most rich, indulgent chocolate treat I could think of was chocolate brownies!

I couldn’t decide which brownie recipe to make and so ended up combining a mix of two different recipes. This worked, although I feel the brownies could still do with some tweaking. I used rice flour in place of the regular flour in order to make them gluten free. This worked, although the brownies ended up being very soft and gooey, more like a flourless chocolate cake, not that I’m complaining as it made them taste wonderfully indulgent! However, I think I’ll try using a combination of flours next time in the hope that they bake with a little more crumb texture.

I used a mix of melted dark chocolate and cocoa powder to ensure the brownies were extra chocolaty and also added some chopped white chocolate chunks too – as there is no such thing as ‘too much chocolate’ where my sister is concerned. I love having chunks or chips of things in my brownies, I like the different textures and flavours they add against the gooey deep dark chocolate.

To jazz the brownies up even further I also stirred in a few frozen raspberries as I love the combination of dark chocolate and fresh berries. I added them at the melted chocolate stage, but in future I think I’ll just fold them in at the end as they broke up rather a lot and I think it would be nice to have more obvious blobs of raspberry scattered throughout. I was quite amazing at how much fruity flavour they added to the brownies, it gave them a very sophisticated flavour.

We had some brownies left over and I thought they were actually better the following day, once they had mellowed and gone fudgier. I often enjoy brownies mixed through vanilla ice cream but it was so cold on Sunday that I ate one smothered in hot custard – mmmmm it was divine! It was all soft and gooey and the chocolate went all melty, you must try it!

Did you know that 10th - 16th October is also National Chocolate Week! The perfect reason to indulge

Gooey Chocolate Raspberry Brownies

Ingredients
150g butter
140g dark chocolate
180g caster sugar
2 eggs
20g cocoa powder
80g brown rice flour
60g fresh or frozen raspberries
50g white chocolate
¼ tsp gluten free baking powder

Method
Preheat the oven to 170C. Grease and line the base of an 8-9inch/20-22cm square tin and set to one side.
Break the dark chocolate into pieces and place into a large bowl along with the butter. Melt gently over a pan of simmering water until smooth. (The water should not touch the base of the bowl)
Remove the bowl from the heat and beat in the sugar. The mixture will be slightly grainy at this stage.
Beat the eggs in one at a time until thick and glossy.
Add the flour and baking powder and beat until no flour streaks remain.
Chop the white chocolate into small chunks and fold in the brownie batter along with the fresh or frozen raspberries.
Pour the batter into the tin and bake in the oven for 30 – 35 minutes until slightly risen and a skewer inserted in the middle comes out with sticky crumbs, rather than wet batter, sticking to it.
Allow to cool almost completely in the tin. The brownie will loose its puffed up look and become level.
Remove from the tin and cut into 12 squares.
Store in an airtight container lined with clingfilm for up to three days, or wrap individual squares freeze until required.
Note: My brownies were very soft, so you may want to bake them for a little longer if you prefer less gooey brownies.

Raspberry Hazelnut Tart with Triple Hazelnut Ice Cream

2011-09-28T15:27:00.001+01:00

Today’s date will always hold a great meaning for me. It was on this date (28th September) last year that a pivotal life changing event occurred – I was told I had coeliac disease and could therefore no longer eat wheat, gluten, rye, barley and oats in all its weird wonderful and often delicious forms. I remember vividly sitting there as mixed emotions flooded through my mind. Relief, that they had finally found out what was wrong, devastation at the loss of some of my favourite foods, excitement about what this could all mean and bewilderment about where to start.

One year on I am feeling happier and healthier and have only had one big meltdown, rather embarrassing in the cereal isle of my local supermarket. I adore cereal and used to snack on it straight from the box and weirdly enough have found this much harder to give up than bread. I happened to go down the cereal isle one day and was looking at all the different, new and yummy cereals on offer and just broke down in tears. Thankfully it was early in the morning and no one saw me as I cried over a box of cranberry granola. Aside from that, life is good. I currently have a few other health issues brought on by my late diagnosis of coeliac disease, but over time I should be back to fighting fit. Onwards and Upwards is my motto!

To celebrate my one year gluten free I decided to make a delicious gluten free dessert and serve it to friends and family without them knowing it was gluten free. I wanted something impressive and indulgent to show that missing gluten in no way means missing out!

I decided on a variation of a frangipane tart, replacing the ground almonds with hazelnuts, using fresh raspberries instead of jam and baking it in chocolate gluten free pastry. As I was on a roll I also made some triple hazelnut ice cream by using ground toasted hazelnuts, hazelnut spread and hazelnut liqueur. I presented this in a dark chocolate tear drop shell and also made a few chocolate pastry batons with the scraps of leftover pastry.

The photo of the dish is a little fuzzy as it was dark by the time we sat down to eat, but I was pleased with the results. My favourite part was the hazelnut ice cream which was divine! It had an intense hazelnut flavour with a thick texture from the ground hazelnuts. The hazelnut liqueur added an extra dimension and also meant it stayed wonderful smooth and creamy. Enjoyed by all, gluten free or not!

Raspberry Hazelnut Tart with Triple Hazelnut Ice Cream

Raspberry Hazelnut Tart
250g Gluten free chocolate shortcrust pastry (below)*
60g butter
60g caster sugar
60g ground hazelnuts
1 egg
100g fresh raspberries

Method
Preheat the oven to 190C and place a baking tray into the oven to heat up.
Roll out pastry and line 8inch/20cm fluted tart tin. Cut off any excess and place in the fridge until required. Keep any scraps to make the pastry batons (below)
Make sure the butter is soft, then cream it together with the sugar until well combined.
Beat in the egg, followed by the ground hazelnuts.
Pour the hazelnut mixture into the tart case and arrange the raspberries on top, pushing them into the frangipane.
Place the tart on the hot baking tray and bake for 20-25 minutes until lightly golden and set.
Serve warm or at room temperature with the hazelnut ice cream and batons.
Serves 8
*Note: If you don’t want to make your own pastry, use standard pre made sweet shortcrust pastry.

Hazelnut Batons

Reroll any scrapes of chocolate pastry and cut them into thin strips. Place on a baking tray and scatter the top with a little extra caster sugar and ground hazelnuts. Bake for 15 minutes until crisp.

Gluten Free Chocolate Shortcrust Pastry

225g gluten free flour mix (I used 100g white rice flour, 80g potato flour, 50g white teff flour)
20g cocoa powder
1 tsp xanthan gum
120g butter
1 egg
50g icing sugar
1 tbsp cold water

Method
Have an 8inch/20cm tart tin ready.
Mix all the flours, icing sugar, cocoa powder and the xanthan gum together in a bowl to combine.
Make sure you butter is soft, if not blast it in the microwave for a few seconds. Add to a separate mixing bowl along with half the flour mixture, the egg and water. Beat with a spoon or spatula to form a paste. (Yes I know this goes against all traditional pastry making!) Add the rest of the flour and bring the mixture together to form a dough, switching to your hands at the end. Knead the dough gently for 1 minute to ensure everything is well combined.
Roll out the pastry between two large sheets of clingfilm to the size and shape of your tart tin, plus an extra 1-2 inches for the sides.
Peel off the top sheet of clingfilm, and use the base sheet to help you flip the pastry into the tin and press it down gently. Trim off the excess. Patch up any cracks with the off-cuts of pastry.
Place in the fridge while you prepare the filling.

Triple Hazelnut Ice Cream

4 egg yolks
100g caster sugar
300ml double cream
300ml milk
2 tbsp Nutella
75g freshly ground hazelnuts
1 tbsp Frangelico (hazelnut liqueur)
1 chocolate transfer sheet & 50g dark chocolate (optional)

Method
Lightly toast some skinned hazelnuts in a dry frying pan until lightly toasted. Use a spice ginger or small food processor to grind the nuts and 20g of the caster sugar until they resemble very fine crumbs. Be carful not to overdo it or it will start to form a paste.
Place the milk, cream and Nutella together in a saucepan and heat until hot but not boiling. Meanwhile, lightly whisk the egg yolks and remaining 80g sugar together until combined. Mix in the ground hazelnuts.
Carefully pour a little of the hot cream mixture over the top of the egg yolks and whisk well. Add the rest of the cream, whisking constantly.
Pour the mixture back into the saucepan and stir over a low heat with a spoon or spatula for around 5-6 minutes until the mixture thickens enough to coat the back of the spoon. Do not let the mixture boil as this will cause it to split and curdle.
Once ready, pour into a clean bowl and stir in the hazelnut liqueur. Leave to cool before transferring to the fridge to chill for at least 4 hours until very cold.
When chilled, churn in an ice cream machine until thick and set, or transfer to the freezer until required.
Serves 6-8

How to made a chocolate tear drop shaped ice cream mould

Cut a plastic strip from a special chocolate transfer sheet, about 3-4cm high. Coat the side imprinted with the design with melted dark chocolate and form into a tear drop shape, with the chocolate coating facing inwards. Secure with a paper clip and place in the fridge to set for 5 minutes. Once set fill the mould with the still softly frozen hazelnut ice cream and place in the freezer to firm up until required.
Just before serving peel away the plastic outer sheeting, leaving the chocolate shell and imprint surrounding the ice cream. Top with a few extra fresh raspberries

Sweet Apple Pips – Where The Apples Bite Back!

2011-09-24T16:28:00.000+01:00

A few days ago I received an email that said “we are launching a new sweet for Halloween that’s both apple and spicy…interested?” Well with a statement like and considering my blog name, I was intrigued and so wrote back “tell me more!”

It turns out that A Quarter Of, an online sweetshop selling old fashioned sweets has created a new fun flavour of fruit pips – apple pips to be more precise. Does anyone else remember those from their childhood?! Little multicoloured and flavoured chips/pips of fruity sugar drops. My sister and I used to love them.

These new apple pips sound sweet and simple enough, but mixed in amongst the batch are a selection of chilli flavoured pips that look almost identical to the normal ones! The idea is you take one not knowing if you’re in for a sweet treat of a fiery trick. The slogan stamped on the lid of the box I was sent summed it up perfectly ‘Apple Bobbing Where The Apples Bite Back!’ I laughed so much when I read that.

I first tried an apple pip which was sweet with a fresh green apple flavour. I then hunted out a faintly suspicious looking chilli pip and sucked it cautiously. At first I couldn’t taste much but after a few seconds a gentle heat started to spread across the tip of my tongue which developed into a chilli heat with quite a kick, bringing a big grin to my face.

You could have so much fun with these, sharing them around with friends in the run up to Halloween. Dare your friends and family to take one and find out if they’re in for a Trick or a Sweet!

The Cake Slice September 2011: Chocolate Gingerbread

2011-09-20T08:53:00.000+01:00

This month was extra special for the Cake Slice Bakers as it marks the end of our year baking from Cake Keeper Cakes by Lauren Chattman. As of next month, we will now be baking from a new cake book for the upcoming year! Each month the cakes are chosen by a member vote, but as this was to be our last cake from our current book, we were all allowed to select which cake we would like to bake. As the weather had been dull, cold and wet I felt in the need for something spicy and warming and settled on a recipe for Chocolate Gingerbread.

I’d never tried a chocolate gingerbread before, but was intrigued by the idea of adding a chocolaty note to this spicy cake. It sounded wonderfully warming and autumnal.

The cake was also a little different to other gingerbreads I’ve made as along with the usual spices it also contained chocolate chips, ground black pepper and espresso powder. I decided to leave the espresso out but loved the addition of the chocolate chips. I forgot to add mine into the batter and so ended up sprinkling them on top instead which created little pools of molted chocolate which were delicious.

The cake had a very strong flavour of molasses and that paired with the cocoa powder made for one very dark, rich smelling cake. I loved the colour but found the flavour of the molasses to be too overpowering. I didn’t really get much of a cocoa flavour, apart from when I hit a chunk of chocolate, and found the spices were sort of lost against the strong treacle molasses flavour. It was definitely a spicy tasting cake, but I would have trouble knowing it was a ginger cake. Next time I’d reduce the black treacle and increase the amount of ginger I used.

The cake itself was light and moist with a lovely sticky surface. It had a soft, slightly damp texture which gave it a pudding feel. It tasted fabulous warmed with a little custard, the perfect thing to tuck into on a cold evening.

Strangely enough, after a couple of days the cake went a little dry instead of going even sticker like traditional gingerbread. All in all it was a very nice cake, but I feel with a few alternations it could become something really special

Click here to see what other cakes the Cake Slice Bakers selected.

Now for some exciting news! As this was our last cake from our current cake book, we are now opening up group to fellow cake baking enthusiasts who wish to bake with us for the upcoming year. Places are limited and you will need to buy a copy of the new cake book to participate, so dedicated bakers only please.
Anyone wishing to join us can email me at (appleandspice[AT]hotmail.co.uk) along with their name, blog name, blog URL and email address for details. Please put ‘New Cake Slice Member’ in the subject box.

Chocolate Gingerbread
(Recipe from Cake Keeper Cakes by Lauren Chattman)

Ingredients
120g black treacle or molasses
120g plain flour (I used 100g white teff flour & 20g brown rice flour)
170ml hot water
30g cocoa powder
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1½ tsp ground ginger
½ tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp ground cloves
¼ tsp freshly ground black pepper
50g butter
110g light soft brown sugar
1 egg yolk
50g dark chocolate chips
½ tsp espresso powder (I left this out)

Method
Preheat the oven to 180C. Grease and flour an 8inch/20cm square baking tin.
Stir together the hot water and black treacle and set aside to cool.
Sift together the flour, cocoa powder, espresso and all the spices into a bowl and set aside.
Combine the butter and sugar in a separate large mixing bowl and beat together until fluffy, about 3 minutes.
Add the egg yolk and beat until incorporated. Pour in half the molasses mixture and carefully whisk until combined. Scatter over half the flour mixture and whisk again, followed by the rest of the molasses mixture and finishing with the rest of the flour.
Fold in the dark chocolate chips and pour the mixture into the tin.
Bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes until firm and springy to the touch. Allow to cool in the tin for 15 minutes before turning out onto a rack and leaving to cool.
Cut into squares and serve.
Makes one 8inch/20cm cake. Best eaten within 2 days.

Notes:
I baked my cake in a 9inch tin and got a thinner cake. It took 20 minutes to bake.
I would reduce the molasses to 80g, as I found the flavour very overpowering
I would double the ground ginger stated in the recipe as it was quite subtle.
I’d also line the tin as well as greasing it, as some of my cake stuck to the base when I tried to turn it out.

Film Cupcakes for a Friend

2011-09-18T09:34:00.000+01:00

Yesterday was a day of mixed feelings. One of best and closest friends is moving to LA in a matter of days to study film at the LA Film School! I am terribly excited and happy for her as this is something she has dreamed about doing for years. But I am also feeling sad as it will mean we won’t get to see each other for a year or more. We have always been quite an unlikely paring, thrown together at school at the age of nine and have been firm friends ever since.

She’s the kind of friend you can phone when feeling down with the knowledge that 10 minutes later you will probably be smiling. The kind of friend you arrange to meet, simply to go for a walk on a nice day, or who invites me round to watch her latest DVD purchase. She’s loyal, supportive and I’m going to miss her. On the plus side it gives me the perfect excuse to plan a visit to America and I’m sure after a few weeks there she will be able to show me around like a native. Her new address even includes ‘Hollywood’ how incredible is that!

Yesterday was her farewell party with all her friends and family. Everyone was encouraged to bring something to share, and as this week has been National Cupcake Week, I decided to bake some cupcakes.

I kept it simple with a vanilla sponge with a mix of either vanilla or chocolate icing with the hope that this would please everyone (I also made a few gluten free ones). I then made black and gold fondant stars for the decoration, which I embossed with her initials and finished with a little edible glitter to add some LA sparkle. Good luck J, I’m sure you’ll get on famously!

Zesty Red Grapefruit, Cranberry & Walnut Biscotti

2011-09-08T06:03:00.000+01:00

A few days ago I was hunting in the cupboards for something crunchy to nibble on for my mid morning snack, but nothing really appealed. I suddenly got the image of biscotti drifting into my head and I realised that was exactly what I’d been craving. Biscotti! I hadn’t made or eaten those for ages. They used to appear on blogs almost on a weekly basis and yet I’ve not seen them around for a while. I checked my blog and realised that the last time I baked biscotti was December 2009!!! Yikes! It was certainly time for a biscotti revival.

I decided to try a new recipe, and the one that most appealed to me was from Prue Leiths Baking Bible, a wonderful book that I really don’t use often enough. The reason it caught my attention was that it used some cornmeal/polenta as well as the flour in the dough. As biscotti and polenta are both Italian this seemed quite fitting. I used the base of this recipe but changed the flavour of the dough and add-ins to be my own.

I had open bags of both dried cranberries and walnuts sitting on the counter and so they seemed the ideal additions to my biscotti dough. My hand was reaching for an orange to zest into it too, when I spotted a red grapefruit lurking at the back and decided to use this instead. Red grapefruit has a stronger, sharper citrus flavour than orange, but I loved the idea of it with the sweet cranberries.

The cornmeal gave the dough a very sunny yellow colour that made the glossy red cranberries shine out. I used a gluten free flour mix in place of wheat flour and realised that biscotti are the perfect gluten free cookies. Biscotti’s very characterises call for it to be crispy and crunchy rather than soft and chewy, the latter can often be hard to achieve with gluten free baking.

After baking, slicing and baking again I was rewarded with a tray of delicious biscotti. The cranberries and walnuts looked so pretty scattered throughout the dough and the cornmeal had retained some of its golden colour and lent a pleasant light texture to the biscotti along with a slight grittiness. This was a good sort of grittiness though, similar to the grains you get in shortbread, rather than nasty “I’m eating sand” grittiness!

The cranberries stayed wonderfully chewy and the chunks of walnut were soft and nutty, providing a great contrast in textures and flavours.

The aspect of the biscotti that most surprised and pleased me was how strongly the red grapefruit flavour came through. At first there was just a hint of zestiness, but once you were more than two nibbles in this developed into a really intense zingy grapefruit flavour that danced across the tip of my tongue, lingering on for several minutes even after I’d finished munching. Woooh it was definitely zingy!

Biscotti are so addictive; I’ve been finding myself nibbling at them at all times of the day. The great thing about them is that they keep for several weeks in an airtight container meaning they make great gifts for friends and even survive trips through the post. Come on everyone, its time for biscotti revival!

Zesty Red Grapefruit, Cranberry & Walnut Biscotti
(Recipe loosely based on a recipe from Leiths Baking Bible)

Ingredients
200g gluten free flour* (I used Doves brand, a mix of rice, maize, potato, buckwheat and tapioca flours)
55g fine ground cornmeal/polenta
100g caster sugar
2 eggs
40g dried cranberries
40g walnuts
Zest of ½ red grapefruit
½ tsp vanilla extract
½ tsp bicarbonate of soda

Method
Heat the oven to 180C. Line a large baking tray with baking parchment or a silicone sheet.
In a large bowl, beat the eggs, sugar, vanilla extract and zest of the red grapefruit together until well combined.
Roughly chop or break up the walnuts into large chunks and add to the bowl along with the cranberries. Stir briefly.
Scatter the flour, cornmeal and bicarbonate of soda over the top and mix it all together using a spatula. It should be quite soft and sticky.
Wet your hands before transferring the dough to the lined baking tray and shaping into a thick long log shape.
Bake in the oven for 20 minutes until puffed and lightly golden brown.
Remove from the oven, dampen a tea towel (it should not be too wet) and drape over the top of the biscotti and leave for 10 minutes (this keeps the top soft and makes slicing easier – my own discovered tip!)
After 10 mins, remove the towel and slice the biscotti into 1cm slices on the diagonal.
Arrange the slices back on the baking tray, laying them flat.
Bake in the oven for a further 15 minutes before removing from the oven and transferring to a wire rack to cool.
Store in an airtight container. Keeps well for around 3 weeks!
Make great gifts, packed in little boxes or bags.
Makes around 25 biscotti

*If not making gluten free then replace with an 170g of plain flour

Avon Bake for Breast Cancer Set

2011-09-06T12:32:00.001+01:00

Its Breast Cancer Awareness month in October and Avon, are urging people to get baking for breast cancer. They have teamed up with Breakthrough Breast Cancer to release an Avon Breast Cancer Crusade Baking Set. The aim is to encourage people to host afternoon parties or bake sales to help raise money and awareness for people fighting the illness and for research into it.

The set costs only £5 of which 25% is donated directly to Breakthrough Breast Cancer. It includes 6 silicone cupcake holders, a large heart cutter and a pink ribbon cutter, all in the ‘think pink’ colour scheme. It’s available via Avon catalogues or on their website.

Breast cancer affects nearly 48,000 people in the UK every year, meaning we probably all know someone, be it friend or family, who has been effected by this illness in some way. I feel it’s important to help raise awareness and holding a cake or cookie sale; sharing a few home baked treats with friends and family seems a great way to go about it. I find even the most serious of things easier to discuss over a coffee, cake and a chat.

I was not paid in any way for writing this

Tomato Ricotta Tart

2011-09-02T06:15:00.000+01:00

This is a variation on the yummy spinach and ricotta tart I made a few months back. At the time, I cut it into slices and froze it, which made a great standby lunch or dinner. I went to retrieve a slice recently and found it was all gone. I’d enjoyed it so much that I decided to bake another one, only adapting it slightly to incorporate some of my other favourite flavours.

I’ve always enjoyed making my own pastry but it used to hold a slight fear that it would shrink on baking. However, since having to go gluten free, this is no longer a problem. As there is no gluten in gluten free flour (how surprising) to overwork, this means no fear of shrinkage when baked. Gluten free pastry is very easy to work with and actually benefits from a gentle kneading like you would a bread dough. The resulting pastry is silky smooth and results in a crisp pastry that is light in both colour and texture and one I actually prefer to the old regular pastry.

Anyway, back to the tart. I think of ricotta as a very Italian cheese, with green, white and red being the colours of the Italian flag. As I went down a green spinach route last time, I decided to go red by incorporating tomatoes, which resulted in a beautifully blushing red coloured tart.

Ricotta is very light, soft and milky which results in a wonderfully light and fresh tasting tart. I used tinned tomatoes and a generous spoonful of sun dried tomato paste (not to be confused with tomato puree) for a bright bold tomato flavour. I also added some mushrooms which I lightly fried with garlic and thyme along with a few asparagus spears that I had left over the previous nights dinner.

Once baked all the flavours tasted wonderfully together, tomato, garlic, mushroom, thyme, asparagus, balsamic vinegar and the softly set ricotta held in a crisp pastry crust. Delicious. You could use whatever filling you liked for the tart. It’s a sort of lighter version of a quiche.

After making the tart I had a little leftover pastry and so make a few jam and berry tarts, which bought back fond memories of my childhood, when I used to help my mother and grandmother make apple pies. Making jam tarts with the scraps of leftover pastry were always a treat.

Tomato Ricotta Tart
Gluten Free Pastry
225g gluten free flour mix (I used 100g white rice flour, 80g potato flour, 50g white teff flour)
1 tsp xanthan gum
110g butter
1 egg
1 tbsp cold water

Tomato Ricotta Filling
4 spring onion, chopped
2 cloves of garlic (crushed)
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
6 chestnut mushrooms
8 asparagus spears
100g (½ small tin) chopped tomatoes
1 tbsp sundried tomato paste (not tomato puree)
250g ricotta cheese
2 eggs
3-4 sprigs fresh thyme
Salt and pepper

Method - Pastry

Have an 8inch/20cm tart tin ready.
Mix all the flours and the xanthan gum together in a bowl to combine.
Make sure you butter is soft, if not blast it in the microwave for a few seconds. Add to a seperate mixing bowl along with half the flour mixture, the egg and water. Beat with a spoon or spatula to form a paste. (Yes I know this goes against all traditional pastry making!) Add the rest of the flour and bring the mixture together to form a dough, switching to your hands at the end. Knead the dough gently for 1 minute to ensure everything is well combined.
Roll out the pastry between two large sheets of clingfilm to the size and shape of your tart tin, plus an extra 1-2 inches for the sides.
Peel off the top sheet of clingfilm, and use the base sheet to help you flip the pastry into the tin and press it down gently. Trim off the excess. Patch up any cracks with the off-cuts of pastry.
Place in the fridge while you prepare the filling.

Tomato Ricotta Filling

Preheat the oven to 190C.
Slice the mushrooms, heat the oil in a frying pan, and gently fry the mushrooms until beginning to brown. Crush the garlic and add it to the mushrooms along with the spring onions and the leaves from the fresh thyme. Cook until the mushrooms are golden brown. Slice the asparagus in half and add to the pan at the last minute.
Add the chopped tomatoes, tomato paste and balsamic vinegar to the pan and allow to bubble away until any excess liquid has evaporated and you have quite a thick intense tomato mixture left. Taste and season with salt and pepper.
Remove from the heat and stir through the ricotta cheese. Lightly beat the eggs and beat them in too.
Spread the filling into the chilled pastry case and bake for 30 minutes until set, slightly puffed and the pastry is lightly golden brown.
Allow to cool for 15 minutes before removing from the tin and serving.
Tastes great warm or cold the next day when it goes more quiche-like. Also freezes well in slices.
Makes 1 x 8inch/20cm tart

Daring Baker August 2011 Challenge: Chocolate Candies

2011-08-27T06:06:00.000+01:00

The August 2011 Daring Bakers’ Challenge was hosted by Lisa of Parsley, Sage, Desserts and Line Drive and Mandy of What the Fruitcake?!. These two sugar mavens challenged us to make sinfully delicious candies! This was a special challenge for the Daring Bakers because the good folks at http://www.chocoley.com offered an amazing prize for the winner of the most creative and delicious candy!

This month’s challenge was fun. We were instructed to make two sorts of sweets/chocolates/candies of our own choosing. The only requirement was that one of them had to incorporate chocolate to make a truffle or bonbon, either in the outer shell or in the filling. The other sweet/candy was up to us.

I decided to incorporate chocolate into both my sweets, but using different varieties and in different forms. My first chocolate comprised of using white chocolate to form the outer shell of a filled bonbon. The filling of the bonbon was sweetened black bean paste that I snapped up a few weeks ago from an oriental supermarket. I’ve had red bean paste in Chinese pastries before and loved it, but I’d never seen the black bean variety. It comes in a can and was jet black in colour. It was rich and thick, with a slightly granular texture from the beans, yet sweet with a hint of rosewater that gave it a very delicate flavour. It resulted in a wonderful smooth sweet centre to the crisp white chocolate shell and I loved the black and white colour contrast too.

I used a silicone chocolate mould which helped create the shape and smooth glossy exterior to the chocolates. Plus, it meant they popped out easily when set.

My second sweetie was a thin dark chocolate disc topped with a whole pecan, some dried cranberries and slivers of crystallised ginger. I used a very bitter 85% dark chocolate which gave a wonderful rich chocolate flavour, delicious against the sweet tangy cranberries and the spicy ginger. The nut on top added another texture contrast and worked well with all the other flavours. They were so easy and quick to put together and looked quite stylish. I’ve seen similar things selling for extortionate amounts in shops, so it’s good to know I can produce similar results at home. They’d be great to serve to guests after dinner.

I really enjoyed the freedom we were given with this challenge and it was perfect for me this month as I have been so busy that I wouldn’t have been able to manage anything too time consuming. I love both the chocolates, both very different but equally delicious.

Click to see what tasty chocolate creations the other Daring Bakers made this month.

White Chocolate & Black Bean Truffles

Ingredients
100g white chocolate
10 tsp sweetened black bean paste (from oriental supermarkets)

Method
Melt 80g of the white chocolate and use a small pastry brush to coat the base and sides of small chocolate moulds. Make sure they are generously coated.
Place in the fridge for 5 minutes to chill and set.
Spoon a little of the black bean paste into the centre of the moulds, leaving a tiny gap at the top to allow you to seal them with extra chocolate.
Melt the remaining white chocolate and use to seal/cover the filling to create a white chocolate base to your chocolates.
Place back in the fridge for 10-15 minutes before turning out.
Store in the fridge until ready to serve.

Pecan, Cranberry & Ginger Dark Chocolate Discs

Ingredients
50g dark bitter chocolate (I used 85%)
10 pecan nuts
3 chunks of crystallised ginger, shredded
20g dried cranberries

Method
Draw small circle onto a sheet of paper. Place the paper on a baking tray and cover with clingfilm, so the circles show through underneath.
Melt the dark chocolate and spoon a little into the centre of each of the circles. Use the back of a teaspoon to spread the chocolate into the circle shapes.
While the chocolate is still soft, scatter over your choice of dried fruit and nuts.
Place in the fridge to set for 10 minutes.
Once set, carefully peel the chocolate discs off the clingfilm and store in the fridge until ready to serve.

Kulfi Inspired Pistachio, Saffron & Cardamom Rice Pudding Ice Cream

2011-08-24T07:25:00.000+01:00

Kulfi is a milk based frozen desert of Indian origin that is similar to ice cream, only a little denser and richer. It often comes in gorgeous exotic flavours including mango, rose, saffron and cardamom. I have been fortunate enough to sample traditional kulfi a couple of times and always loved its rich creaminess and exciting flavours.

Indian rice pudding (I don’t know the proper name) is another one of my favourites. Often served cold, flavoured with cardamom and topped with slivers of pistachios. Last weekend I was trying to think of new ice cream flavours and decided to see what would happen if I used rice pudding as my base along with saffron, cardamom and a few chopped pistachios to create a kufli inspired ice cream.

I’m not ashamed (too much) to admit that I used a canned rice pudding. You could of course make your own but this would have taken more time than I had allocated myself and so I cheated/improvised. To get the best flavour and colour out of the saffron I steeped it first in a little warm milk. This created a lovely sunny yellow colour which gave the ice cream a rich creamy golden hue and helped the flavour develop.

The chopped pistachios added little nuggets of buttery texture along with their pretty green colour. They stayed quite soft in the ice cream, not going too hard or brittle which was nice. Cardamom is one of my favourite, yet often underused spices. It’s so distinctive and aromatic and worked brilliantly with all the other flavours.

Once churned all the flavours were apparent, with the earthy complex saffron and cardamom being most prominent. I loved how you could still clearly see the streaks of golden saffron scattered throughout. Saffron is quite distinctive (and expensive) so a little goes a long way.

The rice pudding itself got a little pulverised during churning, lending a thicker, creamier texture to the finished ice cream, but not quite as much ‘rice texture’ as I’d originally hoped.

I adored the finished ice cream, it was so different to anything else I’ve had before while having definite Kulfi overtones. It was quite rich and aromatic so small single serve scoopfuls were enough to satisfy the taste buds. It’s probably not at all authentic and I apologise to anyone who is horrified at my ice cream creation, but it tasted delicious to me.

Kulfi Inspired Pistachio, Saffron & Cardamom Rice Pudding Ice Cream

Ingredients
2 x 400g tins rice pudding
100ml milk
½ tsp ground cardamom
50g shelled pistachio nuts
40g caster sugar
Pinch saffron strands

Method
Place the saffron strands in a small bowl and pour over the milk. Place in the microwave and heat on defrost for 30-60 seconds until the milk is just warm. Stir and leave the saffron to steep in the milk for 15 minutes.
Meanwhile, pour the rice pudding into a bowl and stir in the cardamom and sugar.
Roughly chop the pistachios and add to the rice mix along with the saffron milk, including the strands of saffron, which will be a vibrant sunny yellow colour.
Stir to combine and place in the fridge to chill for 30 minutes before churning in an ice cream maker until thick. Alternatively, transfer it into a large container and place in the freezer; stir the mix every hour until set.
When thick and almost frozen, serve at once or freeze until required.

The Cake Slice August 2011: Hungarian Coffee Cake a.k.a Monkey Bread

2011-08-20T06:39:00.000+01:00

I was really excited when this cake won this months vote. I’d never heard of Hungarian Coffee Cake before, but apparently it is also known as Monkey Bread which I have been seeing for years popping up on various blogs. Its something I’ve always longed to try, yet never got round to, so now was my chance.

The idea behind the strange name of Monkey Bread is that the cake is made up of balls of dough, which are rolled in cinnamon sugar, before being stacked into a Bundt tin and baked. The rounds of cinnamon crusted dough can then be pulled off in their ball shapes, like a sort of tear and share bread. I assume the logic behind the name is that you can pick at it with your fingers, like a monkey. Click here, here and here to see some great examples.

I had high hopes for this cake but I ended up being quite disappointed. I’m not sure if it was a bad recipe or if I did a bad job at adapting it to be gluten free but it ended up more scone-like in texture than doughy balls of cake/bread. Looking at the recipe, I strongly suspect it’s the recipes fault. The cake part itself contains no eggs and no sugar. The dough is rolled in a cinnamon sugar and topped with a sugar/butter sauce, but the balls of dough were a little bland, making them appear even more scone-like. I’m sure its meant to also contain yeast.

Once baked, the cake was very crumbly, causing it to break and collapse slightly when I released it from the tin. It also disintegrated when I tried to take a bite, meaning I had to eat it with a fork and spoon rather than my fingers. The ball shaped pieces of dough also expanded and merged together, meaning it was impossible for me to break off a clean piece, it sort of fell how it wanted, crumbling away like an old ruined castle.

Despite its crumbly texture and poor appearance, the actual flavour of the cake was delicious. I used dried cranberries and sultanas in place of the raisins which added bright little dots of ruby colour throughout the dough and provided a lovely tangy bite against the sweet caramel topping. By mistake I also used salted butter instead of unsalted in the caramel topping, which meant every bite was a mix of sweet and salty, which worked brilliantly. I think this was one of the best bits about the cake.

The cake itself had a dense textured crumb, but was very moist with a slightly grassy flavour due to my use of Teff flour. I enjoyed it and its scone-like texture which made a change to the usual soft and light cakes. I actually ended up devouring over half of it myself in only 2 days! It was just so easy to keep picking at it, especially as chunks kept falling off, just waiting to be picked up.

So this months cake had mixed success. In terms of Monkey Bread it was a complete failure, but it did however produce a….mountainous giant scone thingy…that I enjoyed eating so all was not lost. I wouldn’t recommend this recipe as it stand though.

Click here to see what the other Cake Slice Bakers thought.

Hungarian Coffee Cake – a.k.a Monkey Bread
(Recipe from KeeCakeper Cakes by Lauren Chattman)

Topping
100g butter, melted and cooled
170g light brown sugar

Cinnamon Dusting
110g caster sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon

Cake
100g butter, cold
360g plain flour (I used 200g white teff flour & 160g brown rice flour)
1 tbsp gluten free baking powder
¾ tsp baking soda
(1 tsp xanthan gum – if GF)
255ml buttermilk
50g walnuts (I used pecans)
70g raisins (I used mix of cranberries & sultanas)

Method – Topping
Whisk together the melted butter and light brown sugar. Set aside.

Method – Cinnamon Dusting
Preheat the oven to 180C. Grease a nonstick 12cup/8inch Bundt pan and dust with flour.
Combine the caster sugar and cinnamon in a zipper top bag or small bowl and set aside.

Method – Cake
Cut the butter into 1/2cm dice. Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large mixing bowl. Add the chilled butter pieces and, with an electric mixer mix on low speed until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Stir in the buttermilk until the mixture just comes together, adding an extra tablespoon or two if the mixture is too dry.
Use a small ice cream scoop or spoon to scoop up balls of dough and transfer them to the zipper top bag. Shake the bag to coat the balls with the cinnamon sugar.
Place the coated balls of dough in the prepared pan, sprinkling the walnuts and raisins over them as you go. Pour the melted butter brown sugar mixture over the cake. Bake until the cake is firm and well risen and the caramel is melted, about 35-40 minutes. Let the cake cool in the pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Invert onto a serving platter and serve immediately.
Store uneaten cake in a cake keeper or wrap in plastic and store at room temperature for 1 day.
Makes one 12 cup/8 inch Bundt cake

Breakfast Scone for One

2011-08-15T16:05:00.000+01:00

Breakfast is my favourite meal of the day. There are such a lot of interesting and exciting options open for breakfast and it makes me sad that so many people overlook them. I cannot understand why some people (other members of my family included) eat the same thing every single morning. I don’t just mean they always have cereal, it’s the fact they always have exactly the same cereal, day in day out! That would be so dull and boring to me. You wouldn’t eat exactly the same thing for dinner every night would you?

Cereal, yoghurt, fruit, scones, muffins, bagels, eggs, porridge, toast, smoothies, wraps, pancakes etc. Even if you just pick one of these categories, at least add some variety with different variations – e.g. porridge. It may sound boring but consider you could make it sweet or salty, topped with a little sugar or drizzled with chocolate chips, banana and walnuts, or how about stirring in some natural yoghurt and fresh berries at the end? I’ve even made it using smoothie instead of half the milk/water for a very delicious and fruity tasting alternative. I’m all for being a bit adventurous with my breakfast fodder, especially since being diagnoised as coeliac, as a lot of my favourite breakfast items are now off limits. The only thing I insist on is that it does include some kind of fruit somewhere.

One of my favourite things to make for breakfast is a breakfast scone. Before you roll your eyes thinking this sounds like far too much work, it’s actually very quick and easy. The breakfast scone is a single serve, one person portion scone and resembles more of free form rock cake, than a dainty little afternoon scone. Its simply made by mixing together a small amount of flour, milk, butter and a pinch of sugar with any additional ingredients you have on hand to form a thick dough which you then scoop out onto a baking tray and bake for a few minutes. No rolling out, cutting or egg washing, it bakes simply in a heap that cracks and puffs into a lumpy looking mountain as it bakes. It’s not the most attractive breakfast, but it is very tasty, quick and makes me feel like I’m having a treat despite its humble appearance.

I had some cold stewed apple leftover from the night before which I decided would be the perfect accompaniment to my breakfast scone. I kept to the cream and jam train of thought by used thick natural yoghurt in place of cream and the freshly cooked fruit instead of the jam. This kept it lighter, fresher and healthier for breakfast. As I planned to use the apple as a topping, the scone itself was studded with chewy sultanas and a pinch of cinnamon. It smelt wonderful as it baked, almost like a cinnamon sultana cookie.

The outer crust was cracked and slightly crusty while it stayed soft and tender inside. They are not as dainty and sophisticated as afternoon tea scones, but eaten hot straight out the oven with the chilled fruit and yoghurt it made a delicious start to my day. It doesn’t really take any extra time than a standard breakfast as it takes moments to put together and while it’s baking you can be getting ready for work or making packed lunches etc.

I love how adding just a few different add-ins or using only one or a mix of flours can create such different tasting results. Judging by the wafts of overripe banana smell that are being emitted from the fruit bowl I think some sort of mashed banana, chocolate chip combo will be called for tomorrow. It might not be in scone form, maybe stirred into my porridge or mixed into a pancake batter – I’ll see how I feel in the morning.

Ok, rant over. They say breakfast is the most important meal of the day, so whatever you eat make sure you enjoy it and remember that variety is the spice of life!

Breakfast Scone for One

Ingredients
1 tbsp fine ground corn meal
1 tbsp brown rice flour
2 tbsp gluten free flour mix (or 2tbsp buckwheat flour)
½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp cinnamon
Small handful sultanas
Small blob (approx 10g) butter (very soft or melted)
40-50ml milk
½ tsp caster sugar

To serve
Stewed apple or fruit compote
Natural yoghurt

Method
Heat the oven to 180C. Have a small baking tray lined with silicone paper ready.
Mix the flours, baking powder, cinnamon, sultanas and sugar together in a small bowl.
Add the very soft or melted butter and mix it into the flour along with the milk, using a small spoon, until you have a very soft dough/thick batter. It should be too wet to handle.
Scoop the dough onto the baking tray and place in the oven for 12 minutes.
Once baked, remove from the oven and enjoy while still warm, accompanied by a spoonful of stewed or fresh fruit and a generous dollop of natural yoghurt.

Note: Works well with other flavours and flours too, so be creative or simply use what you have on hand. Try adding a little mashed banana or a few fresh berries to the batter along with some dark chocolate chips, nuts or spices for a delicious alternative. Try flavouring the yoghurt too. Stirring through a little honey or peanut butter creates a great tasting yoghurty dip

Spiced Zucchini Cake

2011-08-06T09:31:00.000+01:00

Do you call them courgettes or zucchinis? In our house they are courgettes, but I’ve decided to call this a zucchini cake as I think that makes it sound much more exciting and exotic.

Before making this cake I had never tried nor baked a zucchini cake. I have seen them popping up on blogs for years, and every summer tell myself ‘I will bake one this year’ but somehow I never achieved it. However, this year I finally managed it and am now kicking myself for not trying one sooner, I can’t believe what I’ve been missing all these years!

I was prompted to finally attempt this cake after Monica of Lick The Bowl Good recently talked about her favourite recipe for a chocolate zucchini cake. I’ve had another plain zucchini cake recipe saved in my ‘to bake’ file for years, but Monica’s recipe looked so good that I was torn between them. In the end I decided to use Monica’s recipe as the base, but remove the chocolate from it and use the other recipes additions of nuts and spices for flavour.

I decided against making a chocolate zucchini cake as I wanted to see the grated shreds of dark green courgette scattered throughout the cake and taste its subtle flavour. I was worried adding cocoa would overpower this. This turned out to be a good call as I loved the appearance and flavour of the finished cake.

The cake was incredibly light with a fine tender crumb and very moist from both the zucchini and use of oil instead of butter in the cake. I used a mix of ground cinnamon and a little freshly grated nutmeg in the cake which gave it a wonderfully spicy after note that went so well with the pecans I also added. My first slice crumbled slightly, this was partly because I used gluten free flour, but also because the cake was still a little warm – I couldn’t wait any longer! The following slices cut more cleanly.

Once baked and cooled it was topped with a simple drizzle of lemon glace icing. You could add a thicker frosting or cream if you like, but I think the zingy tang from the lemon helped enhance the other flavours in the cake, rather than overpower them and helped keep everything light and fresh tasting. Sometimes simple is the way to go.

The cake reminded me strongly of carrot cake (one of my all time favourites), only slightly more sophisticated with its streaks of emerald green. It’s the perfect summer cake and the ideal way of using up a glut of courgettes. I bet this would be a hit even with courgette/zucchini haters.

Don’t do as I did for so many years and let this cake pass you by – go make it now!!

Spiced Zucchini Cake

Ingredients
100ml vegetable oil
200g Doves gluten free self raising flour
1 tsp gluten free baking powder
2 eggs
230g caster sugar
270-300g zucchini/courgette
½ tsp vanilla extract
½ tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp freshly grated nutmeg
50g pecans

Lemon Glace Icing
80g icing sugar
Juice of ½ lemon (approx)

Method
Preheat oven to 180C. Grease the sides and line the base of an 8inch/20cm deep springform tin.
Grate the zucchini and set aside. In a large mixing bowl, beat the eggs, sugar and vanilla together until lighter in colour and increased in volume.
With the mixer still going, drizzle in the oil until all combined. Add the grated zucchini and spices. Roughly chop the nuts into chunks and stir them in too.
Sift over the flour and baking powder before folding it in using a spatula, turning the bowl as you go. Do not over mix, stop once the flour is all incorporated.
Pour the mix into tin and bake for 45 minutes until golden brown and a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean.
Allow to cool in the tin for 10 minutes before running a thin knife around the edge and releasing the cake from the tin. Leave to cool completely.
Mix the lemon juice into the icing sugar, a little at a time, until you have a thick smooth glaze. Use a fork or tip of a spoon to drizzle the icing over the top of the cooled cake.
Makes one 8inch/20cm cake.

Note: If not making this cake gluten free then use plain flour and increase the baking powder to 1½ tsp

Plum & Apple Jelly

2011-08-01T14:48:00.000+01:00

The fruit season has arrived early this year probably due to our mixed up weather of a hot spring and cold wet start to the summer. We have a couple of old gnarled apple trees in the garden which every year produce the most gorgeous tasting apples. The only problem is that they are tiny apples (compare it to the size of the daisy nearby!). An apple measuring an inch wide is to be considered ‘a whopper.’

Due to their tiny size this makes the apples quite tricky and time consuming to do anything with, as once peeled and cored there is not much left. After a bountiful fruit gathering session at the weekend I decided to combine the apples with some equally tiny plums I’d picked growing wild in the hedgerows, and turn them into plum and apple jelly.

Making a jelly is the perfect way to use tiny fiddlesome fruit as you boil the fruit, including all its peel, skin, pips and seeds, before straining off the pulp and collecting the sweet rosy coloured fruit juices from which you make the jelly out of. The skin gives colour and flavour while the pips add natural pectin which helps the jelly set meaning no peeling or coring required!

The aroma wafting from the fruit as it bubbled away was intoxicating, sweet, fruity and the essence of summer. Once strained the resulting juices were a fabulous blushed rosy pink colour which had seeped from the fruits peel and skin.

The finished jelly was clear and vibrantly glossy with almost mirror-like qualities, just beautiful, and packed full of apple and plum flavour. I love it on toast or used in sweet dishes but my family enjoy it with meat dishes too, in place of the more traditional red currant jelly. Little jars of bottled summer orchard.

Plum & Apple Jelly

Ingredients

1kg plums

2kg apples

3 pints water

450g granulated sugar per pint of juice you create

Method

Wash and roughly chop the plums and apples and place them into a very large saucepan. Don’t peel or core them, you want the skin, pips, stones and all as these add a gorgeous colour and natural pectin to the jelly which is needed to help it set..

Add the water and bring the mixture to a simmer. Leave to bubble for 30 minutes, giving it the odd stir or prod until the fruit is cooked and everything has gone soft and mushy. Remove from the heat.

Set a large bowl underneath a jelly bag (or large sieve lined with muslin) and carefully pour the mushy fruit into the bag, letting the clear pink juice run through. Do not squeeze or press on the pulpy fruit let behind too much, as this can turn the clear juice cloudy.

Rinse off your large saucepan. Place 8-10 jam jars and their lids into a cold oven and heat to 160 for at least 10 minutes to sterilise them. Leave them in the oven until required.

Measure how many pints of juice you have and pour it back into the cleaned pan. Add 450g of granulated sugar per 1 pint of juice you have collected. (Mine was 3pints so used 1.350kg sugar).

Heat the sugar and juice together, stirring until the sugar has dissolved. Bring the mixture to the boil and allow to bubble for 35-45 minutes until it has reached its setting point. Test for setting by placing a small spoonful of the jam onto a saucer and placing in the fridge for 3 minutes. Once cool, run your finger through the jam and if it ripples and leaves a clear path, then it is ready. If not, then allow to boil for a further 5 minutes before testing again.

Once ready, remove the jelly from the heat and the jars from the oven. Carefully ladle the hot jam into the hot jars and screw on the lids tightly. Wear rubber gloves to protect your hands from the heat and to give you a good grip.

Allow to cool at room temperature before storing in a cool dark place until required. The seal button in the lids will suddenly pop back down as the jam cools, as a sterile vacuum is created within the jar. They will give a loud ‘pop’ when this happens, so don’t be alarmed.

Once open, store in the fridge
Makes 8 – 10 jars

Daring Bakers July 2011 Challenge: Strawberry, Blackcurrant & Almond Frasier

2011-07-27T11:21:00.000+01:00

Jana of Cherry Tea Cakes was our July Daring Bakers’ host and she challenges us to make Fresh Frasiers inspired by recipes written by Elisabeth M. Prueitt and Chad Robertson in the beautiful cookbook Tartine.

This months challenge, a French fresh frasier was my kind dessert. A light chiffon cake, soaked in a light syrup, layered with fresh fruit, filled with crème patisserie and topped with a layer of marzipan. A combination of all my favourite things!

As long as we made all the main components ourselves, the style and flavour was completely up to us. My grandmother had just given me some fresh blackcurrants from her garden and so I decided to include these in the cake layers to make it extra fruity. Blackcurrants can be a little sharp, but baked into the cake they tasted perfectly sweet and I loved how they popped, creating little pools of moody purple juice dotted throughout the cake. To tie in with the almond marzipan on top I also included a little almond extract as I think almond and fruit make a delicious combo.

The crème patisserie was meant to include gelatin to help stabilize it, but being vegetarian I left this out and decided against adding a veggie alternative, as I’ve found in the past that a crème including whipped double cream is usually firm enough to hold up if given time in the fridge to chill and set. I kept my crème patisserie quite plain and simple, allowing its natural rich creamy flavour to shine through.

I made the cake and components in the morning, assembled it in the afternoon and then chilled it overnight before cutting it the following day. It’s not a dessert to make if you need something in a hurry, but it was well worth the wait. Allowing it to chill overnight gave time for the crème to thicken and set, the flavours to develop and the fruit juices to seep into the cake, making them soft and moist. It ended up tasting a bit like a sophisticated trifle.

Chiffon cake is quite a fragile delicate cake, and I also made it gluten free meaning it was even more in danger of falling apart. Thankfully I was able to cut and assemble the cake quite easily, but when it came to cutting the first slice, it sort of toppled over slightly. This didn’t effect my overall enjoyment of the cake though, if anything it meant I could dig in with gusto without feeling I had to be too dainty about it.

The cake was divine! I adored the thin layer of marzipan on top, which stayed soft and gooey and complemented the strawberry and blackcurrant flavours wonderfully. The sponge had soaked up all the juices and flavours and was so moist it was almost like a drizzle cake. Crème patisserie takes a little time to make, but is completely worth the extra effort. Thick and lusciously creamy it really gave the dessert that professional patisserie flavour. It’s so good I could eat it by the bucket load!

Serve in small dainty slices if you wish, but its so good people will be asking for seconds. So my advice is to serve it in large generous slices and watch peoples faces light up as they eat it. I even licked my plate clean! This cake is firmly on the ‘make again’ list.

Click to see the Fresh Frasier creations of the other Daring Bakers.

Strawberry, Blackcurrant & Almond Frasier

Gluten Free Blackcurrant Chiffon Cake
150g plain flour (I used GF white teff flour)
1 tsp gluten free baking powder
170g caster sugar
60ml vegetable oil
3 large egg yolks
95ml water
1 tsp vanilla extract (I used almond)
¾ tsp lemon zest, grated
5 large egg whites
¼ tsp cream of tartar
50g blackcurrants (my own addition)

Method
Preheat the oven to 160C.
Line the bottom of an 8 inch/20cm spring form pan with parchment paper. Do not grease the sides of the pan.
In a large mixing bowl, stir together the flour and baking powder. Add in all but 3 tablespoons of sugar. Stir to combine.
In a small bowl combine the oil, egg yolks, water, vanilla (I used almond) and lemon zest. Whisk thoroughly. Combine with the dry ingredients and mix thoroughly for about one minute, or until very smooth.
Put the egg whites into a large bowl and beat on medium speed until frothy. Add cream of tartar and beat again until the whites hold soft peaks. Slowly add the remaining 3 spoonfuls of reserved sugar and beat until the whites hold firm and form shiny peaks.
Scoop about a third of the whites into the yolk mixture and fold in gently before folding in the remaining whites just until combined. (I folded in the blackcurrants at this stage).
Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 45 to 55 minutes or until toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
Removed the cake from the oven and allow to cool in the pan on a wire rack.
To unmold, run a knife around the sides to loosen the cake from the pan and remove the spring form sides. Invert the cake and peel off the parchment paper.

Crème Patisserie

Ingredients
250ml whole milk
½ tsp vanilla extract
10g cornflour
55g caster sugar
2 large egg yolks
30g unsalted butter
250ml double cream
¾ tsp gelatin and ½ tbsp water (I didn’t use this)

Method
Pour the milk and vanilla into a heavy sauce pan. Place over medium-high heat and scald, bringing it to a near boiling point. Stir occasionally.
Meanwhile, in a clean bowl, whisk the egg yolks, sugar and cornflour together. When the milk is ready, gently and slowly pour the heated milk down the side of the bowl into the egg mixture, whisking all the time.
Pour the mixture back into the saucepan and continue to cook over a medium heat until the custard is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Do not let it boil.
Remove from heat and pass through a fine mesh sieve into a large mixing bowl. Allow to cool for ten minutes stirring occasionally.
Cut the butter into four pieces and whisk into the pastry cream a piece at a time until smooth.
Cover the cream with plastic wrap, pressing the plastic wrap onto the top of the cream to prevent a skin from forming. Chill in the refrigerator until completely cold.
(I didn’t use the gelatin, so when the chilled mix was cold, I simply whisked the cream until it formed stiff peaks and folded it into the pastry cream. This made it a little soft, but it did firm up on chilling of the finished assembled cake. See below for gelatin instructions).

If using gelatin:
In a small dish, sprinkle the gelatin over the water and let stand for a few minutes to soften. Put two inches of water into a small sauce pan and bring to a simmer over a medium heat.
Measure 60g of the chilled pastry cream into a small stainless steel bowl that will sit across the sauce pan with the simmering water, without touching the water.
Heat the cream until it is 48.8C. Add the gelatin and whisk until smooth. Remove from the water bath, and whisk the remaining cold pastry cream in to incorporate in two batches. Whip the cream until it holds medium-stiff peaks. Immediately fold the whipped cream into the pastry cream with a rubber spatula.

Simple Syrup
75g caster sugar
75ml water

Method
Combine the water and sugar in a medium saucepan.
Bring the mixture to a boil and let the sugar dissolve. Stirring is not necessary, but will not harm the syrup.
Remove the syrup from the heat and cool until required.

Assembly

Ingredients
400g strawberries
125g marzipan

Method
Line the sides of your 8inch/20cm spring form pan with clingfilm. Do not attach the base, simply use the outer ring. Place the ring on your serving plate.
Cut the cake in half horizontally to form two layers.
Fit the bottom layer into the prepared spring form pan. Moisten the layer evenly with a little of the simple syrup. Hull and slice in half enough strawberries to arrange around the sides of the cake pan. Place the cut side of the strawberry against the sides of the pan, point side up forming a ring. Use the leftover bits of strawberry to cover the top of the cake layer in the pan.
Carefully pour the crème patisserie over the top, spreading up to the edges in an even layer, reserving two tablespoons for the top of the cake.
Place the second cake layer on top, press down lightly and moisten with a little more of the syrup.
Roll out the marzipan into a large disc, only about 3mm thick. Use the base of the spring form pan to cut out a disc the size of the top of the cake.
Use the reserved crème patisserie to spread a thin layer over the top of the cake before placing on the marzipan disc. Cover the ring and cake with clingfilm and refrigerate for at least 4 hours, or overnight.
To serve release the sides of the spring form pan and peel away the clingfilm.
Dust the top with icing sugar and decorate with a fanned out strawberry.
Serves 10-12

Espresso Ice Cream with Coffee Caramel Ripple

2011-07-25T15:22:00.000+01:00

My mother is not a great ice cream lover, but one ice cream flavour she would never say no to is coffee. She likes her coffee dark and strong, with just the tip of a spoonful of sugar. I decided to make her her ideal coffee ice cream, an ultra strong coffee base with a ripple of coffee infused caramel streaked through the middle for that hint of sweetness.

When making the ice cream at the weekend, I didn’t have a lot of time to spare and so decided to do a slight cheat by using a tub of premade custard rather than making my own custard base. This way there was no extra custard chilling time required. Freezing foods can lessen their flavour, so I made sure to make the ice cream base extra strong to ensure the flavour shone through. It actually ended up being too strong for my liking, not to mention caffeine packed (one spoonful and I was buzzing for hours!) but my mum adored it and that’s what mattered.

To add a little sweet relief from the intense bitter coffee flavour, I concocted a coffee caramel which I drizzled in at the end to create a ripple effect. I wasn’t sure this would work but it tasted great, sweet and intense all at the same time. I bet it would be fantastic drizzled over a slice of cake. I added it right at the last moment during freezing, as I wanted the ripple effect to remain. Well that was the idea, but it didn’t really work that well.

My caramel was still a little warm when I added it, meaning the ice cream started to melt and ended up being softer than I would have liked (hence the rather melted appearance in the photos) but it still tasted gorgeous!

There was no mistaking the flavour of this ice cream. It was rich and intense. Quite bitter with the odd contrasting streak of sweet sticky caramel. The ice cream itself was wonderfully smooth and creamy.

Mere spoonfuls are all that’s required to achieve an instant caffeine buzz. On a hot day I think it would make a great end to a meal served in small espresso cups rather than cups of actual hot coffee. Just make sure it’s for adults only unless you want the children bouncing off the walls for three days straight! It really packs a coffee kick!

Espresso Ice Cream with Coffee Caramel Ripple

Espresso Ice Cream
400g bought fresh custard
300ml double cream
15g instant coffee or espresso powder
100g caster sugar

Coffee Caramel Ripple
70g caster sugar
10g instant coffee or espresso powder
1 tbsp water
1 tbsp milk

Method – Ice cream
Heat 100ml of the double cream in a small bowl in the microwave. Add the coffee and stir until dissolved, followed by the sugar.
Mix the custard, remaining cream and coffee mixture together and place in the fridge for 30 minutes while you prepare the caramel.

Coffee Caramel

To make the espresso caramel, warm the milk in the microwave and stir in the coffee. Leave to rent and dissolve completely.
Meanwhile, mix the sugar and water together in a small pan. Heat gently, until the sugar has dissolved into a clear liquid. Swirl the pan a couple of times if needed, but do not stir it.
Once you have a syrup, increase the heat slightly and allow the syrup to bubble slightly and turn golden brown in colour. When it has reached your desired colour, remove from the heat, add the milky coffee mixture. Be careful as it will spit and splutter slightly.
Stir together and leave to cool into a thick caramel while you churn the ice cream.

Churn the coffee ice cream until very thick, before drizzling in the caramel at the last moment in order to create a ripple effect (my caramel was still a little warm and melted the ice cream at bit).
Serve at once or transfer to a container and freeze until required.

The Cake Slice July 2011: Zebra Cake

2011-07-20T06:14:00.000+01:00

I was so happy when Zebra Cake won the Cake Slice Bakers vote to be this months challenge cake. It is so called, rather obviously, due to the wavy brown and cream zebra like strips that are revealed when the cake is cut. It is a cake I have been meaning to try for years, but somehow never got round to baking, so this was the ideal opportunity.

The zebra strips are created by spooning alternating flavours of batter into the centre of the cake tin, one on top of the other in a bulls eye formation. This slowly forces the batter underneath out towards the edges and ends up creating the rippled wavy effect when baked.

I was a little nervous about this procedure as the batter seemed quite runny and I was unsure how it would bake up, particularly as I had used gluten free flour. I had visions of a gummy unbaked flat pancake. My fears were unfounded though as it baked into a fabulous cake. Light and springy with a gorgeous taste and texture.

It was also very moist, in the good way. I think this was due to the use of oil in the batter which helped keep it moist and fresh tasting even a few days after baking. My family who can normally spot a gluten free baked good a mile off, were shocked when I told them it was gluten free. They loved it. I think whisking the eggs and sugar together for a few minutes before adding the other ingredients gave the cake a better structure, meaning it was springy rather than crumby which can sometimes happen in gluten free baking.

It may sound a little plain having no additional cream or fillings, but it tasted fabulous and was wonderful to munch on in the afternoons. The zebra like wavy strips were also a real talking point. People got very excited when they were revealed after cutting a slice. It would make a really impressive party cake.

Click here to see my fellow Cake Slice Bakers cakes.

Zebra Cake
(Recipe from Cake Keeper Cakes by Lauren Chattman)

Ingredients
240g plain flour (I used gluten free white teff flour)
1 tbsp baking powder
4 eggs
225g caster sugar
220ml whole milk
100g butter, melted and cooled
100ml vegetable oil
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 tbsp cocoa powder

Method
Preheat the oven to 180C. Grease a 9 inch pan, line with a circle of parchment paper, grease the parchment and dust with flour. Combine the flour and baking powder in a medium bowl.
Combine the eggs and sugar in a large mixing bowl and beat with an electric mixer on high speed until thick and pale, about 5 minutes. With the mixer on low speed, stir in the milk, butter, oil and vanilla, scraping down the sides of the bowl once or twice as necessary. Stir in the flour mixture, a quarter at a time.
Transfer a third of the batter into another bowl and whisk in the cocoa powder.
Place 3 tablespoons of the vanilla batter into the centre of the pan and let it stand for a few seconds so it spreads out slightly. Place 2 tablespoons of the chocolate batter right on top of the vanilla and wait another few seconds until it spreads. Continue alternating vanilla and chocolate until you have used up all the batter and it has spread to the edges of the pan.
Bake until the cake is set and a toothpick comes out clean, about 40 minutes. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Run a sharp knife around the edge of the pan and invert the cake onto a cutting board. Peel away the parchment paper. Re-invert onto a wire rack and cool completely. Slice and serve.
Makes one 9 inch round cake

Heston Inspired Popcorn Ice Cream!

2011-07-12T15:04:00.000+01:00

I read recently that Heston Blumenthal is going to release three new and exciting ice cream flavours for Waitrose. Being Heston, these are not your run of the mill ice cream flavours. They’re going to feature Chocolate & Rosemary ice cream, Salted Caramel Popcorn ice cream and…Savoury Mustard ice cream….ermm??

The one that sounded most exciting and appealing to me was the popcorn ice cream. Popcorn ice cream – what a brilliant idea! I was trying to figure out in my head how it would taste and I soon decided the best way to find out would be try making some myself.

I thought the easiest way of achieving the popcorn flavour would be to infused the milk and cream mixture with the popcorn, strain this off and then use it to make the ice cream. I used a bag of sweet microwave popcorn for ease and then added it to the milk while it was still steaming hot. As I poured the milk over the top of the popcorn it sort of shrivelled and collapsed down on itself with a sizzling cracking sound. It was rather amusing to watch. If you’ve ever poured hot milk over sugar puffs as a child you’ll know what I mean!

I heated everything together and left it to infuse for a few hours. After this I blitzed the two together and then strained the mix to remove all the husks, pips and coarse bits from the popcorn. I tried eating a little of the soggy popcorn and it was not pleasant, so sieving is a must! It was then a simple process of making the normal ice cream using the popcorn flavoured cream.

I was so excited to taste the finished ice cream and I wasn’t sure what to expect. It was deliciously smooth and creamy with a definite ‘something recognisable’ flavour to it, but it wasn’t immediately obviously popcorn flavoured. Once I told people what it was there was an ‘ahhh yes’ of recognition, but I think the flavour was probably a little subtle. This didn’t stop it being utterly delicious though!

No doubt Heston does some kitchen wizardry to extract the intense essence of popcorn for his ice cream, but I feel for a first attempt, my popcorn infused ice cream was pretty good too. More popcorn required next time though.

Served with a little extra helping of popcorn it would make a fun end to a meal and certainly get the conversation going. If you’re one of those people who can’t choose between popcorn and ice cream when watching a film, well this way you can have both!

Popcorn Ice Cream

Ingredients

1 x 100g bag sweet microwavable popcorn

350ml whole milk

200ml double cream

3 egg yolks

50g caster sugar

½ tsp caramel or butterscotch flavouring

Method

Cook the popcorn according to pack instructions. Place three quarters of the hot popcorn into a large saucepan and pour over the milk and cream. (It was crackle and deflate drastically).

Leave to infuse for 1½ hours.

After infusing, blitz and popcorn into the cream mixture using a hand blender. Then heat the pulpy popcorn mixture until hot but not boiling.

Meanwhile, lightly beat together the egg yolks, sugar and flavouring if using.

When the cream is hot, sieve the mix to remove all the pips, husks and popcorn pulp before pouring a little over the eggs to temper them. Whisk well, and slowly add the rest of the cream mixture.

Pour the custard base back into the pan and heat gently, stirring constantly until the custard thicken just enough to coat the back of a spoon, about 3-4minutes. Do not let it boil.

Remove from the heat and allow to cool to room temperature before chilling until cold.

Then churn in your ice cream maker until thick or transfer to a container and place in the freezer until set.

Makes 1 pint ice cream

Smoky Chilli & Lime Houmous

2011-07-05T11:35:00.000+01:00

Yesterday I was really fancying some houmous to go with some nice crunchy salad and crackers for lunch. I love houmous and often (I’m ashamed to say) buy it from supermarkets, but its so quick and easy to make at home that I decided to have a little fun and jazz up some homemade houmous.

Simple clean flavours are all well and good, but I also love things with a bit of spice and after a browse though the fridge and spice cupboard I decided to make houmous with a little lime and cumin for aromatics and paprika and cayenne for a smoky kick.

I’m not a great fan of tahini, even though I love sesame and sesame oil, so instead I used peanut butter to add that creamy nutty note. This may sound a little odd, but it really works.

The houmous took literally 10 minutes from start to finish and I ended up with a lovely big pot for only a few pence, a bargain compared to shop bought. It reminded me that I really should make my own more often.

It smelt amazing and quite Moroccan so I dipped a cracker in and took a bite. At first I just got a creamy texture and a fresh zesty flavour from the lime. Then the smokiness from the paprika came in and started to develop into a gentle heat from the cayenne pepper, leaving my mouth with a warming tingle.

I loved its terracotta orange colour from the paprika, very Middle Eastern. It’s quite addictive and perfect summer lunchtime munching.

Smoky Chilli & Lime Houmous

Ingredients
1 x 400g tin chickpeas
½ tsp ground cumin
¼ tsp cayenne pepper
½ tsp sweet paprika
1 tbsp peanut butter or tahini
Juice of ½ lime
4-6 tsp vegetable oil

Method
Place all the ingredients, expect the oil, into a small blender and blitz until chunky. Scrape down the sides and briefly blitz again.
Add 4tsp of oil and blend until smooth or at your desired consistency (I like it coarse). Add a little more oil or a touch of water if it’s too thick.
Transfer to an airtight container and store in the fridge.
Eat within 5 days.

Very Berry Frozen Yoghurt

2011-06-28T09:52:00.000+01:00

Wow has it been HOT these past few days. You know the feeling when you open the oven door after its been on high, only to be blasted by a wall of hot air, well its felt a bit like that at times these past few days. I’m not complaining through as I love warm weather, plus its perfect ice cream eating conditions!

Sunday was particularly hot and I fancied something cool and refreshing. Ice cream is all well and good but it can be a little rich and over creamy when you’re melting in the heat. Something fresher and lighter was required and as I’d been meaning to try making frozen yoghurt, I decided now would be the ideal time to try it out.

This recipe couldn’t be simpler. It takes a matter of moments to put together and no heating or custard making is required, plus it uses only 3 simple ingredients (I also added a little blackcurrant liqueur, but this is optional). I had a bag of mixed frozen berries in the freezer which I allowed to thaw a little before using. I wanted to keep them partially frozen so they wouldn’t get completely broken down during churning, but I wanted them to defrost just enough to release some of their gorgeously vibrant juices.

A little sugar to sweeten and a tub of natural yoghurt and you’re all set. The softer blackberries broke down quite a lot, while the little blackcurrants remained relatively whole. This made them taste like little balls of sorbet suspended in the frozen yoghurt, giving an intense burst of flavour when one was bit into. They were quite sharp, but against the sweeter, creamier yoghurt base this was highly refreshing and perfect for a hot day.

The yoghurt itself was soft and creamy, yet a lot lighter and more refreshing than an ice cream. All the berry juice made it a sort of cross between an ice cream and a sorbet. Delicious, and I adore its moody purple colour. The crème de cassis wasn’t obvious (I only added a smidgen) but it seemed to give a depth of flavour to the fruitiness of the berries and meant it didn’t set quite so solid, great for scooping out ‘just one more spoonful’

Very Berry Frozen Yoghurt

Ingredients
400g mixed frozen berries (mine was a mixed bag of strawberries, blackberries, red & black currants)
500g thick natural yoghurt (not low fat or sweetened)
100g caster sugar
1 tbsp crème de cassis (blackcurrant liqueur – optional)

Method
Place the frozen berries in a large bowl and sprinkle over the caster sugar. Leave to stand for 1 hour to allow the berries to thaw slightly, releasing their juices and mixing with the sugar. Give them a stir ever so often. Don’t allow them to defrost completely, as you want them to remain some structure during freezing.
When the berries are slightly thawed, stir in the yoghurt and liqueur, if using.
Freeze the mixture in an ice cream maker until thick and almost frozen, about 30 minutes.
The partially thawed berries should break down slightly, releasing their fabulous purple juices, while still allowing some berry texture to remain.
Scoop out and enjoy straight away or transfer to a tupperware box and freeze until required.
Makes about 1 litre frozen yoghurt

Carrot Cake Inspired Ice Cream

2011-06-23T14:47:00.000+01:00

I adore carrot cake, it’s possibly my favourite cake. I just love its spicy flavour, chewy raisins, little chunks of nut and how it’s all topped off with a creamy frosting – yum. I was dreaming about carrot cake and decided to see if I could make carrot cake ice cream!

“Hmmm carrot cake ice cream, I bet she crumbled up some carrot cake into her ice cream…” NOPE! I actually added all the major flavour components, separately into the ice cream base. Cinnamon, mixed spice, sultanas, pecans, lemon zest, date syrup for sweetness and… 200g of freshly grated carrot! I lightly blanched the grated carrot first to soften it and release some of its natural sweetness, no one wants to be chewing on raw carrot in their ice cream.

Now before you think I’ve gone do-lally, trust me it works. It works really well. I was so excited creating this ice cream and then seeing into come together. That first softly set spoonful was amazing. OMG best ice cream ever!

The ice cream base was just sweet enough while still retaining some of its creamy freshness which emulated the cool creamy frosting often found on carrot cake. The nuts added the occasional crunch while the sultanas went fantastically chewy and sweet, like little chips of toffee hiding in the ice cream.

The spices came through well without being overpowering and the date syrup helped give that characteristic spicy orangey-brown colour to the ice cream as well as a lovely naturally fruity sweetness. The strands of carrot themselves were soft enough not to cause a problem yet still whole enough to be detectable. They weren’t crunchy in any way, but they had retained their shape which I loved.

I just couldn’t get over how much it tasted like real carrot cake. It completely satisfied my carrot cake craving and I’m now plotting even more concoctions. Move over Ben & Jerry’s!

Carrot Cake Inspired Ice Cream

Ingredients
250g sweetened custard base (homemade or shop bought)
200ml double cream
200g carrot, peeled and grated
50g sultanas
40g pecans
75ml date syrup
2 tsp mixed spice
½ tsp cinnamon
Zest of ½ lemon

Method
Start by peeling and roughly grating your carrots. Place them in a small bowl, add 1 tablespoon of water, cover the top with clingfilm and cook in the microwave for 1½ minutes. Leave the clingfilm on the bowl and set aside to cool to room temperature before placing in the fridge until cold.
When reading to start, mix your custard base, double cream, date syrup, lemon zest and spices together in a bowl. Whisk gently until combined.
Roughly chop the pecans and add to the bowl along with the sultanas and blanched and chilled carrot. Add any carrot liquid to the mix too as this will contain lots of intense carrot flavour.
Stir until well incorporated before churning in your ice cream machine until thick and softly set.
Scoop out and enjoy straight away or transfer to a Tupperware box and freeze until required.
Makes about 700ml ice cream

Vanilla Bean Ice Cream

2011-06-20T15:38:00.000+01:00

Keeping to the ice cream theme, I’m excited to say that the Gelateria ice cream maker on loan for a few weeks from Gaggia (after their coffee & ice cream event) arrived last week! I have been having so much fun and eating far too much ice cream! It’s almost become one of my new foods groups – protein, carbs, fruit & veg and ice cream!

I was longing to get creating wacky flavours straight away but in a moment of clarity decided it was probably wise to start at the beginning with a simple vanilla ice cream. Vanilla ice cream is apparently the nations favourite ice cream flavour, which seems a little boring in my view, but then I suppose it all comes down to the quality of the ice cream. You can get really good vanilla ice creams made with eggs, cream and real vanilla or really bad vanilla ice cream.

This vanilla ice cream is firmly in the ‘good’ category – it’s so smooth and creamy and absolutely bursting with real vanilla flavour. Just look at all those little black speckles – that’s not dirt – its vanilla!

When I came to use my vanilla pods I discovered I didn’t have any fresh squishy ones and only the brittle dry pieces that I store in my sugar. I had a brain wave and blitzed the vanilla, seeds, pod and all, in a spice grinder along with a little sugar. This transformed the dry vanilla into the most amazing vanilla pod powder. Still packed full of flavour and no wastage – hurrah.

The thing I am most impressed about with this ice cream maker is that you can lift off the entire lid covering the bowl where the ice cream is churned, even during freezing. This means you can easily pour in your ice cream mix, throw in some add-ins or sauces without having to try and drizzle it through a small spout at the top like other ice cream machines I’ve seen. This makes it far easier to check how your ice cream is progressing and actually get the mix in there in the first place without pouring it down the sides.

The resulting ice cream was amazing. Using the ground up whole vanilla pod really gave an intense vanilla flavour and I love how the little seeds were noticeably speckled throughout. It was rich, smooth and creamy thanks to the fast freeze and churn action which prevents large ice crystals from forming. Yum!

There is going to be a whole series of ice creams creations appearing shortly. I’ve already made another ice cream this weekend, inspired by one of my favourite cake flavours. Check back later in the week to see which one!

Vanilla Bean Ice Cream
(Recipe adapted from David Lebovitz)

Ingredients
150g caster sugar
350ml milk
3 egg yolks
200ml double cream
½ vanilla pod (fresh or dry – see note below)

Method
Cut the vanilla in half and scrape out the seeds. Combine the seeds and pod to the milk and cream and heat together in a small saucepan until very hot but not bubbling.
Meanwhile, whisk the egg yolks and sugar together until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
Pour a little of the hot milk over the egg yolks and quickly whisk to temper the mixture and prevent it from scrambling. Add more of the milk to the egg yolks whisking all the time.
Then pour the eggy milky mixture back into the saucepan and place over a low heat. Use a silicone spatula to gently stir the mixture until it begins to thicken. This may take up to 5 minutes. Do not allow it to bubble or boil or else it will split.
The ice cream mix is ready once it coats the back of a spoon.
Remove from the heat and pour into a clean bowl.
Allow to cool slightly before refrigerating for at least 2 hours or until chilled.
Pour the chilled ice cream into your ice cream maker (remove the vanilla pod first) and blend until frozen to the desired consistency, around 20-30minutes.
Eat straight away or transfer to a container and keep for later.

Note: After making your ice cream base, it can be poured into a Tupperware container and frozen in a regular freezer. Just remove it from the freezer every 1-2hours and give it a whisk, to ensure it freezes evenly.

Note: I found all my vanilla pods were very dry and hard as I’d stored them in some sugar. I simply broke a piece off and blitzed it in a spice grinder with a little of the sugar to create my own vanilla bean powder. This was really intense and gave a wonderful speckled vanilla appearance to the finished ice cream.

Hotel Chocolat: Knickerbocker Glory Mint Choc Chip Truffles Review

2011-06-14T16:05:00.001+01:00

I was recently asked if I would like to try something from Hotel Chocolat’s new birthday range. I love their chocolates and so was more than happy to accept. I was sent the Mint Choc Chip Truffles from their new Knickerbocker Glory range. A set of 10 creamy mint filled chocolates, encased in a thick dark chocolate shell and topped with the cutest mini chocolate chips I’ve ever seen!

The truffles come presented in a paper cone decorated with fun candy striped colours. On first appearance they may look a bit child orientated compared to some of Hotel Chocolat’s sleek dark boxes, and I’m sure children would love them, but that’s not to say they won’t be thoroughly enjoyed by adults too!

There are a few truffles assortments in the Knickerbocker Glory range, each one designed to bring back memories of childhood ice creams. Mint choc chip ice cream always makes me think of holidays and eating ice creams on the beach. I used to love mint Cornettos or mint Feasts you could get, so the truffles brought back quite nostalgic memories for me.

I loved the contrast between the soft and creamy minty filling and the thick dark chocolate shell. The filling was tinted the palest of mint greens, a nod towards its childhood ice cream flavour without being too artificial. A lovely fun gift to take to a friends for a dinner party or BBQ although I’m sure they’d appeal to all ages, they certainly did in my house.

GF Soda Bread

2011-06-09T08:23:00.000+01:00

I realised this morning that I was out of bread and wanted some in time to enjoy with lunch. I have been meaning for some months to try making a gluten free soda bread, as I reasoned that the lack of proofing time and not having to reply on yeast for rising might produce a better gluten free loaf than I have so far managed. Being short of time I decided that today was the right time to give it a shot.

I used an assortment of different flours in my loaf, using up what I had on hand, but I’m sure using a flour blend or just one or two different flours would work just as well. A combination of different flours seem to produce the best gluten free results as they all have slightly different textures, flavours, thickness capabilities so combining them usually gives better results. Some are slightly coarse, other soft and powdery etc.

My mix came together in a matter of moments, almost too quick for the oven to heat up. As soon as I added the milk I could see the bicarbonate of soda starting to get to work and producing little air pockets in the soft spongy dough.

The dough was quite soft and sticky, but this is again preferable for a gluten free dough as the lighter texture allows it to rise more easily as there is no gluten to add elasticity.

I placed it in the oven and hoped for the best. The resulting loaf was fantastic! The best looking loaf of gluten free bread I have so far produced. It rose well and developed a lovely rustic crack along the top. The crust was wonderfully thick while the interior crumb had a close texture but was deliciously light and moist. It had a definite grainy, savoury note thanks to the buckwheat and chickpea flour, which I loved.

I think soda bread, like scones, is best enjoyed when still slightly warm from the oven. My favourite way to eat it is topped with some strong cheese which goes a little soft and melty on the still warm bread, or topped with some sour cherry jam for a sweet treat. Delicious!

I’m still going to continue my experiments with gluten free yeasted bread, but I might try adding a little bicarb in the mix too, just to give it a bit of head start.

GF Soda Bread

Ingredients
150g brown rice flour
100g buckwheat flour
100g gram/chickpea flour
50g brown teff flour
1 tsp xanthan gum
1 tsp salt
2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
325ml milk
2 tsp honey

Method
Preheat the oven to 220C. Grease a deep 11x20cm loaf tin and line the base and up two sides with a long strip of greaseproof paper. (I didn’t do this and my bread stuck to the base, so I will next time!)
Weigh out all the flours and place into a large bowl along with the xanthan gum, salt and bicarbonate of soda. Mix all the dry ingredients together until combined.
Drizzle over the honey and then pour in the milk. Use a round bladed butter knife to mix the milk into the flour. Fold it gently and don’t over mix. It doesn’t want to be smooth and a few little lumps here and there are fine. It should be quite soft and sticky.
Spread the bread mix into the loaf tin and bake for 5 minutes. Then reduce the oven temperature to 200C and bake for 30-35 minutes longer, until risen, crusty and golden.
Allow to cool in the tin for 5 minutes before running a knife around the edge and removing from the pan. Use the greaseproof strip to help you.
Allow to cool almost to room temperature before cutting in thick slices and serving. Great with a savoury assortment of cheese, pickles and soups or sweet with jam, cream cheese or nutella.
Makes 1 loaf.

Note: You can also bake this loaf free-form on a flat baking tray. Just shape it into a large round blob and bake!

An Evening of Coffee & Ice Cream

2011-06-06T11:24:00.000+01:00

I have spoken recently of my longing for an automatic ice cream maker and it seems as though the ice cream gods have been listening as last week I was invited to attend an evening of coffee and ice cream run by Gaggia – an Italian company who make great coffee machines and also…a professional automatic ice cream maker!

Feeling very excited I turned up at a secret location in London (La Cucina Caldesi Cookery School) where I met up with two other bloggers – Dom from Chocoblog and Kevay from Kevay Eats, who I’ve had the pleasure of meeting before.

We were introduced to a top barrister, Paul, who took us through the finer points of coffee growing, the importance of grinding and how to make the perfect cup of coffee. This was really interesting and I picked up lots of hints and tips. What Paul doesn’t know about coffee isn’t worth knowing!

Did you know that despite popular belief that keeping coffee in the fridge will keep it better this is actually not true – not in terms of brewing the perfect coffee anyway. It’s the oils in the coffee that contain the flavour and so keeping them in a cold place will make them harden and not release their flavour so effectively when used – imagine what would happen if you tried to keep your olive oil in the fridge. Also, taking the coffee in and out of the fridge every time you use it will keep altering the humidity and temperature within the bag, creating moisture, which will probably actually speed up the rate of deterioration. It’s best to just squeeze the air out of your bag of coffee and keep it in a cool dark cupboard instead.

Paul also explained how when using freshly ground coffee its important to only use the first shot, around 30ml to get the best purest flavour. An espresso shot amount. If you want a larger or weaker cup of coffee than an espresso, don’t simply leave the water running through the machine for longer, as this draws the bitterness out of the coffee resulting in a poor tasting coffee. Instead, just dilute your espresso shot with clean hot water or milk. To prove this to us he made an espresso shot of coffee, which produced a rich darkly coloured liquid with a thick crème head that smelt rich, slightly sweet and smoky. He then took another shotfull, which turned out much weaker in colour, with no crème head and smelt strongly like stale ashtrays – not pleasant. If you had used a large cup and left the water running you would ruin your first run of fabulous coffee by adding the stale ashtray into it. Try making a cup yourself both ways and you’ll see what I mean (sorry the photos a bit blurry).

We then got to experiment with the machines ourselves making espresso’s and cappuccinos.

Buzzing with caffeine we then moved onto ice cream. This was run by Jo Pratt who is a food stylist, writer and presenter. She was lovely and very easy to talk to. She showed us how to make two different batches of ice cream using the new automatic Gaggia Gelateria which doesn’t need any pre-freezing. One was a divine salted caramel ice cream and the other a delicious fresh strawberry and marshmallow ice cream.

The salted caramel one was divine – unbelievably smooth and so creamy. Just like the gelato I remember eating in Italy a few years ago. I’m not normally a caramel fan, as it often tastes just of sugar, but this one had such a depth of caramel flavour, sweet yet with a salty note. Jo also showed us how to make some cinnamon roasted pecans to accompany the ice cream. These were divine and I couldn’t stop munching them, were fabulous with the ice cream.

The strawberry ice cream was made with fresh pureed strawberries. This resulted in a pale, yet naturally pink tinted ice cream and the flavour…WOW! It was so fresh and summery and obviously strawberry flavoured. Goodness knows what shops put into their strawberry ice cream, but they never taste like this.

Then oh joy of joys, we were presented with an ice cream machine and a table of ingredients from which to create our own ice cream flavour – eeeeeeee!

I created a cinnamon (obviously) ice cream with fresh blueberries and crumbled pecan nuts. It was so much fun watching it churn in the ice cream machine and as I hadn’t added any additional liquid ingredients to the ice cream base, my ice cream was ready in about 20 minutes! You can’t beat that for speed. It ended up wonderfully thick and creamy. The cinnamon flavour was really pronounced, but I think next time I would cook the blueberries a bit of sugar as they stayed restively whole and went a bit hard. My ice cream was also lacking a bit of sweetness, I’ve learnt you have to over sweetened the mix as the sweetness flavour lessens after it’s frozen. I’ll know for next time.

Kevay created a delicious, yet incredibly alcoholic ice cream using chocolate liqueur, kahula coffee liqueur, chocolate chunks & toasted pecans. Whoa! This tasted almost of pure alcohol, but would be fantastic served in shot glasses with a dessert at a dinner party. Not one for children or the afternoons though.

Dom made a caramel ice cream with chocolate chunks, pecans and Grand Marnier liqueur. I really liked the combination of the chocolate and orange liqueur.

Everyone gabbed spoons and went round tasting all the different ice creams. Ooff I ate so much! I couldn’t decide which was my favourite and kept having ‘just one more spoonful’ of each just to check. I think in the end Jo’s strawberry ice cream (minus the marshmallows) was my favourite. It was so fresh and fruity.

The evening ended with Paul making some coffee cocktails and some amazing coffee art on the tops of some frothy coffees. Much more impressive than the usual cocoa dusting.

It was a fabulous evening and I went home buzzing thanks to a concoction of coffee, alcohol and copious amounts of ice cream. I was so overly stimulated, and different ice cream flavours kept floating into my head, that I didn’t sleep a wink that night but it was so worth it! I am longing to have my own ice cream maker even more now. The extra exciting news, that had me jumping up and down in delight, is that Gaggia are going to loan me the Gelateria for a couple of weeks to see if I can create some new ice cream flavours!!! How cool is that?!

Below are the recipes for Jo’s caramel and strawberry ice creams, with (hopefully) some of my own to follow shortly.

Strawberry Mallow Ice Cream

150ml milk
2 large egg yolks
½ tsp vanilla extract
125g caster sugar
150ml double cream
250g fresh ripe strawberries
75g mini marshmallows, or larger ones, chopped

Pour the milk into a saucepan gently bring to the boil.
Beat together the egg yolks, vanilla extract and roughly half of the sugar until they are pale and creamy. Stir in the hot milk, return the liquid to the saucepan and stir continuously over a low heat until it thickens and just starts to coat the back of your spoon (it should be the consistency of double cream). Make sure you don’t boil the custard because it may separate and curdle. If you feel it is getting too hot, remove from the heat and just continue stirring until it thickens.
Remove the pan from the heat, stir in the cream and leave to cool slightly.
Meanwhile, place the strawberries and remaining half of caster sugar in a food processor or liquidiser and blend until smooth. Push through a sieve to remove any seeds. Stir into the cooled custard along with the marshmallows.
Place in the ice-cream machine and churn for 30 minutes, until thick and frozen.
Note: If you don’t have time to make your own custard, then simply use 250ml of bought ready-made custard and stir in 200ml double cream before adding the pureed strawberries and marshmallows.

Caramel Ice Cream with Cinnamon Pecans
The pecans are a delicious serving suggestion, but are equally good eaten on their own.

Caramel Ice Cream
150g caster sugar
200ml milk
4 large egg yolks
200ml double cream
large pinch of salt

Pecans
200g pecans
½ egg white
½ tsp ground cinnamon
pinch of salt
75g caster sugar

To make the ice-cream, place half of the sugar in a saucepan over a low heat, and gently heat until the sugar dissolves and turns to a deep golden colour. To ensure even colouring, swirl the pan a couple of times throughout. Once the sugar has caramelised, leave to cool for about 5 minutes before adding the milk. Return the pan to the heat and bring to the boil, stirring until the caramel dissolves into the milk.
Meanwhile, beat together the egg yolks, salt and remaining half of sugar until pale in colour. Stir in the caramel milk, then add the cream. Leave to cool completely before pouring into the ice-cream machine and churning for 30 minutes, until thick and frozen.

To make the pecans, pre-heat the oven to 200C/180C fan ovens/gas 6.
Lightly whisk the egg white until it is frothy. Add the pecans, cinnamon, salt and sugar. Mix until the nuts are evenly coated before transferring to a baking tray lined with baking paper. Spread into a single layer, and bake for 8-10 minutes until they are crunchy. Cool for a few minutes before breaking any that have stuck together.
The pecans are now ready to scatter over the top of the finished ice-cream.

Pea Pod & Mint Soup. Plus a visit from the Fairy Hobmother!

2011-05-31T16:16:00.000+01:00

The humble pea is one of my favourite vegetables. There is just something irresistible about its vibrant green colour and sweet flavour. I love how each tiny pea is encased in its own outer jacket, each one a mini vegetable in its own right. A bag of frozen peas is one of my staple freezer ingredients. There is nothing wrong with frozen peas, if fact in most cases they are actually tastier and more nutritious this way than fresh, as peas very quickly loose all sweetness and nutritional quality from the minute they are picked. Frozen peas are usually picked and frozen within 4 hours, meaning you get them almost as fresh as can be. Packets of so called ‘fresh peas’ in supermarkets have probably been sitting around for at least 4-5 days, meaning those once sweet peas will be hard cardboard bullets by the time you eat them.

However, if you can get your hands on some fresh peas, home grown, picked and eaten within a few hours, they are sublime! I am fortunate enough to know someone who has a farm growing veg and last weekend she was selling bags of freshly picked peas – still in their pods – at a farmers market. I snapped a bag up instantly and sat their happily devouring the peas like sweeties. Gently popping open the pods and scooping up the delicate row of peas inside. So sweet and tender.

After munching all the peas I was left with quite a pile of empty pea pods. I hate throwing anything away and so tried eating one – not really a good idea – very tough and stringy and it didn’t beak down no matter how long I chewed. Despite its unappetising texture, it contained a wonderful pea flavour and so I decided to try and turn them into soup.

Lightly cooked with simply an onion, a potato and some pea loving mint my soupy broth mixture was ready in a matter of minutes. After blitzing I sieved the soup which removed all the tough fibres from the pea pods and resulted in a rich velvety soup with a thick creamy texture.

The taste was amazing. Pure essence of pea and so fresh and summery. The mint wasn’t overpowering and gave just a slight lingering aftertaste which complemented the pea. I loved its beautiful pea green colour and pure pea aroma.

Amazing to thick I got such a pea packed soup for practically nothing as the main ingredients are water and empty pods which I’d normally discard. So remember, after munching those fresh peas – don’t throw the pods away, make pea pod soup!

Pea Pod & Mint Soup

Ingredients
500g empty pea pods – eat the peas first!
1¾ pints hot water
1 large onion
1 large or 2 small potatoes
15 leaves of fresh mint
1 clove garlic
1 tbsp olive oil
Salt and pepper

Method
Peel and roughly chop the onion. Heat the oil in a large saucepan, add the onion, stir and then place the lid on to allow the onion to sweat and soften gently.
Meanwhile, dice the potato (no need to peel) and roughly chop the garlic.
Once the onion has started to soften, add the potato and garlic and cook for 2-3 minutes more.
Boil the kettle and measure out the water. Add the mint leaves and pea pods (no need to chop) to the pan and stir briefly.
Pour over the water, add some freshly ground salt and pepper and bring the mixture to the boil. Then reduce to a simmer, place the lid on with just a small gap to allow some steam to escape and allow to bubble for 15-20 minutes.
Check that the potatoes are cooked by sticking the tip of a sharp knife into them. If they are then remove the pan from the heat, if not then allow to cook for 3-4 minutes longer.
Once ready, blitz the soup in a liquidiser until restively smooth. Best to do this in batches. Strain the soup through a fine sieve into a large clean bowl or pan. Use the back of a spoon to help work the soup through the sieve, leaving behind all the stringy pith from the pea pods.
You should end up with a bright green and velvety smooth soup.
Taste and add more seasoning if required.
Serves 3-4

After leaving a comment on Cherrapeno’s blog stating my dream kitchen gadget (an automatic ice cream maker – the kind you don’t need to pre-freeze) I was lucky enough to be visited by the Fairy Hobmother, in the form of Ian from Appliances Online, who sell cookers and other white goods; who has been visiting blogs, granting kitchen wishes.

Unfortunately he wasn’t able to give me the ice cream maker (unsurprisingly considering they cost £200+) but I was gifted a £25 Amazon gift card to put towards my ice cream fund – yay!

To be in with a chance of a visit from the Fairy Hobmother yourself, simply leave a comment on this post, stating your dream kitchen gadget, before June 5th and who knows he may be visiting you too!

Daring Bakers May 2011: Chocolate Marquise with Coconut, Rum & Lime

2011-05-27T06:09:00.000+01:00

The May 2011 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Emma of Cook Craft Grown and Jenny of Purple House Dirt. They chose to challenge everyone to make a Chocolate Marquise. The inspiration for this recipe comes from a dessert they prepared at a restaurant in Seattle.

I was incredibly excited when this month’s challenge was announced. It involved making a frozen chocolate dessert known as a marquise, accompanied by a meringue, served with a syrup and decorated with nuts. The method is quite complex, using a host of tricky and technically challenging techniques, something which always excites me – I love a challenge and the chance to learn some new kitchen skills!

Another aspect of the challenge that had me jumping up and down for joy was the fact is was naturally gluten free! Hurrah!

The recipe provided was for a peppery tequila chocolate dessert, but we were free to adapt the flavours to our own choosing. I decided to head down a more tropical route and ended up with Chocolate, Coconut, Rum & Lime!

All four flavours work together when combined in pairs, so I could see no reason why they wouldn’t all work together as a group. It turned out better than I’d hoped, the results were AMAZING! I know that sounds a bit big headed, but it was one of the best taste sensations I’ve had in a very long time. I’m longing to try and convert it into a cake combination.

Coconut was the first flavour to hit me when I took my first bite. As the frozen dessert melted in the mouth the coconut flavour mellowed out and the rich chocolate came swooping in, closely followed by a delicious combination of rum and citrusy lime. Wow. No one component overpowered the others with each one coming in layers, waiting patiently until the previous flavour had had its time in the spotlight. The rum was not too apparent, giving the dessert a ‘grown up’ sensation rather than being obviously alcoholic.

I think part of the success of the dessert was due to its incredibly smooth, soft creamy texture thanks to the large amounts of cream and egg yolks involved. It was like frozen custard in texture, even when straight out the freezer - just divine!

I also think the fact it was frozen helped keep all the flavours from jumping in at once. The chocolate and rum didn’t develop until the dessert had had time to melt a bit in the mouth, preserved in their frozen state. It softened quite quickly into an almost mousse like consistency.

The dessert was meant to be set in a large square pan and then cut into squares. I decided to also make some in a baton shaped flexible silicone ice cube mould, which I think made for a stylish presentation. I served the marquise on a blob of toasted meringue after drizzling the plate with some date syrup I found in a health food shop which lent another sweet tropical flavour. I then served it with some crush pistachios which added a little crunch and a lovely green colour which seemed fitting to tie in with the lime.

I’m not much of a meringue fan and don’t think it added much to the dish, so I probably wouldn’t make this component part again. Overall (as you can tell) my family and I adored this dessert. Yes it’s a little time consuming, but not overly difficult. The results are spectacular meaning it would be ideal for a special occasion or for when you are wanting to impress guests with your effortless domestic goddess persona.

Click to see the blogroll for other Daring Bakers take on chocolate marquise.

Chocolate Marquise with Coconut, Rum & Lime

Chocolate Base(this is half of the base of the chocolate marquise, not a component to be used on its own)
Ingredients
170g dark chocolate (70% cocoa)
180ml double cream
30ml rum
30ml golden syrup
½ tsp coconut extract
15g cocoa powder
zest of 1 lime
15g unsalted butter, softened

Directions

Roughly chop the chocolate and place into a small mixing bowl.

In a double-boiler, warm the cream until it is hot to the touch, but is not boiling. Remove from the heat and pour over the chocolate.

Allow it to sit for one minute before stirring gently to melt and combine.

Add the remaining ingredients and stir to combine.

Set aside until cooled to room temperature while you make the other part of the marquise base. Do not refrigerate, as the base needs to be soft when added to the marquise mixture (below).

Chocolate Marquise

6 large egg yolks at room temperature
2 large eggs
75g caster sugar
40ml water
Chocolate base, barely warm (recipe above)
250ml double cream

Directions

In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the egg yolks and whole eggs. Whip on high speed until very thick and pale, about 10 - 15 minutes. (I don’t have one so used an ordinary bowl and a hand mixer!)

When the eggs are getting close to finishing, make a sugar syrup by combining the sugar and water in a small saucepan. Bring the syrup to a boil and then cook to softball stage (235F/115C).

With the mixer running on low speed, drizzle the sugar syrup into the fluffy eggs, trying to hit that magic spot between the mixing bowl and the whisk, not the whisk itself or the sides of the bowl.

When all of the syrup has been added, turn the mixer back to high and whip until the bowl is cool to the touch. This will take at least 10 minutes.

In a separate mixing bowl, whip the heavy cream to soft peaks. Set aside.
When the egg mixture has cooled, add the previously prepared chocolate base to the egg mixture and whisk to combine. Try to get it as consistent as possible without losing all of the air you've whipped into the eggs.

Fold a third of the reserved whipped cream into the chocolate mixture to loosen it, and then fold in the remaining cream.

Pour into the prepared pan or individual serving moulds and cover with clingfilm, pressing it down directly onto the mixture.

Freeze until very firm, at least 4 hours (preferably 6 – 8 hours).

Torched Meringue

(If you aren't planning on serving all of the marquise at once, you can make just half or even a third of the recipe)
6 large egg whites
200g caster sugar
Splash of apple cider vinegar
¼ tsp vanilla extract

Directions

Combine the egg whites, sugar and vinegar in a heatproof bowl. Whisk together lightly until all the ingredients have combined, but don’t try and make the egg foam up.

Place the bowl over a saucepan of simmering water. Use a spatula to stir the mixture continuously, dipping a finger in ever so often to feel for grains of sugar in the egg whites. As the liquid heats up, the sugar will slowly dissolve and the egg whites will thicken. This step is complete when you don't feel any more sugar crystals in the liquid and it is uniformly warm, nearly hot.

Remove the mixing bowl from the saucepan and pour into a stand mixer with the whisk attachment (I don’t have one so used an ordinary bowl and a hand mixer). Whisk until you reach soft peaks. In the last 10 seconds of mixing, add the vanilla to the meringue and mix thoroughly. Set aside until ready to use. Can be done 1-2hours in advance.

To Serve

Chopped pistachio nuts

Cocoa powder for dusting

Date syrup for drizzling

Assembly

Drizzle your serving plates with some of the date syrup. Arrange a blob of meringue onto the plate and toast lightly with a blowtorch to form a lightly golden top crust (optional).

Remove the marquise from the freezer, (do this 15 minutes before serving if cutting up a big one, or not at all if you’ve made individual servings). While it's still hard, remove it from the pan by pulling on the parchment 'handles' or by flipping it over onto another piece of parchment.

Cut it into cubes and dust them in cocoa powder. These will start to melt almost immediately, so don't do this step until all of your other plating components (meringue, syrup, nuts) are ready.

Arrange the dessert on the plate and scatter over the chopped nuts.

Serve immediately.