Blueberry Frangipane Tart

Over the weekend I was having a sort through my freezer and found some frozen blueberries and a block of pastry and decided to use them to make a tart for the Monday Munchers.

An almond frangipane was my tart of choice, for not only do blueberry and almonds go well together but the tart is also easy to make and does not need refrigerating meaning it could sit happily on the desk at work.

The tart came together in a very short time. I used the blueberries from frozen and loved how they created little pools of inky purple in the batter as they thawed, baked and bubbled. I added a layer of jam under the fruit and frangipane (I used the rhubarb and plum jam I made the day before but any jam would work well.) It has the duel purpose of adding flavour but also helps to seal the pastry and prevents it from going soggy. The frangipane was soft and moist with a wonderful almond flavour that worked well with the blueberries, themselves having intensified in flavour during baking.

The tart was well received at work and made a nice change from the usual cakes or cookies I take in. I am sure you could use any kind of fresh or frozen berry in place of the blueberries and even flavour the frangipane too, chocolate or orange springs to mind but have fun and experiment.

Blueberry Frangipane Tart
Ingredients
250g shortcrust pastry (homemade or shop bought)
100g frozen blueberries
100g butter
100g caster sugar
2 eggs
100g ground almonds
½ tsp almond essence
3 tbsp jam of your choice (I used my rhubarb and plum jam)

Method
Preheat the oven to 200C and place a baking tray into the oven to heat up.
Roll out the pastry until around 4 mm thick. Line a 23cm round tart tin with the pastry and set to one side.
Beat the butter and sugar together until smooth and fluffy. Then add the eggs, beating well until incorporated.
Stir in the ground almonds and the almond essence.
Spread your jam of choice over the base of the pastry case. Scatter over the frozen blueberries and drop spoonfuls of the frangipane mixture over the top and spread gently to form a smooth surface.
Place the tart tin onto the hot baking tray and bake for 10 minutes before reducing the oven temperature to 160C and continuing to bake for a further 20-25 minutes until the tart is slightly puffed and golden brown.
Brush the surface of the tart with a little warmed apricot jam and leave to cool before removing from the tin and serving.
Serves 8 - 12

Plum & Rhubarb Jam

What do you do when you have an excess of fruit? Make pies? Crumbles? Freeze it? Give it away? I make jam. I usually always make my own jam as I believe you simply cannot but as good a jam as homemade, no matter how expensive. I admit you can get some nicely flavoured ones, but on the whole I generally find they are too sweet and can start to crystalise a month after opening. I like to taste and see the fruit in my jam and be able to identify the fruits by its taste. Plus there is something satisfying about making your own jam, it’s very traditional and the aroma of a steaming pot of bubbling fruit is one I associate with my mum and grandmother.

Anywho, I came home on Friday with a mountain of plumbs and some seasonal rhubarb (it was local Yorkshire rhubarb too) that was left over from a project at work and set about jamming. I always like to add lemon juice when making jam as not only does it aid the gelling process but I think it helps enhance the flavour of the fruit. I also work on a ratio of two parts fruit to one part sugar, as I think using equal quantities of fruit and sugar is unnecessary unless you want a really thickly set jam. I also decided to add some brown sugar along with the usual white as brown sugar has a caramel taste to it that tastes sweeter than white sugar, meaning you need less of it to achieve the same level of sweetness.

I considered adding a bit of chopped stem ginger or vanilla into the mix, as these both go well with rhubarb, but in the end I decided to leave it simple. (Strawberry and rhubarb make a delicious combination in the summer.)

The jam was easy to make and I was able to potter around tidying up while it happily bubbled away. I love its pretty pink colour and how you can see the fine strands of rhubarb in the finished jam.

Plum & Rhubarb Jam
Ingredients
1.1kg plums
400g rhubarb
Juice of 1 lemon
150ml water
250g soft brown sugar
500g granulated sugar

Method
Wash the plums and rhubarb and cut into 2cm chunks. Place into a large pan along with the lemon juice and water.
Place the lid slightly ajar and bring the mixture to a boil. Allow to cook for 15minutes, stirring every so often to prevent the fruit from sticking to the base of the pan.
After 15minutes the fruit should be soft, broken down and pink in colour. Reduce the heat to a simmer and stir in the sugars. Continue to stir for 5 minutes to ensure the sugar is well incorporated and has not sunk to the bottom of the pan.
Leave to cook for 40-45 minutes stirring every so often.
Meanwhile place 6 jam jars and their lids onto a baking tray and place in a cold oven. Then heat the oven to 120C to sterilise the jars. The oven must be cold when you put them in otherwise you run the risk of them shattering.
When the jam begins to look thickened and glossy, place a spoonful onto a saucer and place in the fridge for a couple of minutes. Then run your finger through the jam on the saucer and if it crinkles then the jam is ready.
Remove from the heat and ladle into the hot jars. Immediately screw on the lids with the help of rubber gloves. As the hot jam cools in the sealed jar it will form a vacuum and seal the jar. You will often here a ‘pop’ as the seal indent in the top of the lids is sucked back in.
Store in a cool dark place and once opened, keep in the fridge.
Makes 5-6 jars.

Daring Bakers January Challenge – Lemon Meringue Pie(s)

This month’s culinary challenge was chosen by Jen from The Canadian Baker and I was thrilled when she announced it was to be lemon meringue pie. I love lemon meringue pie and but haven’t eaten one for a number of years. Just thinking of the tangy lemon filling topped with clouds of sweet fluffy meringue takes me right back to my childhood. After dinner on Sundays, my mother would always produce a special homemade dessert and lemon meringue pie was one of my favourites. Unfortunately we didn’t have it all that often as my siblings refused to eat any form of dessert that didn’t include the word ‘chocolate.’ So I was delighted at this months challenge yet also slightly daunted, would I be able to recreate a dish that lived up to my childhood memories?

The lemon pie involves three separate components that are all prepared and then assembled together and baked. A pastry crust, a lemon filling and a meringue topping. We were free to choose the size of the pies we made and I decided to make miniature ones using a muffin tin, rather than a traditional large pie.

The crust came together well and I was able to stamp out my 12 pastry rounds from the first rolling, which was good as it meant I didn’t overwork the dough by having to re-roll it. However, I only used about two-thirds of the pastry and so I rolled the excess into a ball and froze it for future use.

The lemon curd filling involved a little more work, but this was down to the work involved rather than it being difficult. The recipe called for 180ml of lemon juice but I ended up with just under 150ml after juicing my bag of 4 lemons and so had to go with that. It didn’t seem to affect the lemon flavour too much, which was still very prominent. A word of advice when it comes to grating/juicing lemons. If you wash them or have wet hands then remember to dry them before attempting to slice them, or you may suffer the consequences. I attempted to cut a wet lemon in half using a big sharp knife and…well lets just say I ended up cutting something else – ouch! As I made miniature pies I also ended up with too much lemon curd (can you see a pattern emerging?) but I was more than happy about this, as the curd was so wonderfully tangy and bursting with citrus twang that I could quite happily have stood there and eaten the lot on its own, but instead I chose to bottle it and I now have now have a lovely jar of homemade lemon curd in the fridge – yum!

The topping was quick and easy to prepare and I ended up with an absolute mountain of meringue. If you want to make little pies I suggest you halve the meringue recipe below.

I was delighted with how the pies turned out. They stuck slightly to the sides of the tin but I found running a greased knife around the edge before attempting to remove them from the tin helped. I think they look very cute and just the right size for sharing around easily. My pastry could probably have done with a little extra cooking as it wasn’t that crisp, but the meringue topping was lovely and fluffy, their airy bubbles dissolve on your tongue in a matter of moments. My favourite part of the pie, by far, was the lemon curd filling – oh it’s just dreamy! Silky smooth, yet thick so that it coats your tongue and tingles your taste buds with a burst of tangy lemoniness that made me swoon. I think next time I may forgo the meringue and just add extra filling, I can’t praise it enough, I’m salivating just thinking about it. All in all the pies lived up to my childhood memories, although my mum still holds the edge when it comes to pastry. Thanks Jen for choosing such a divine pie.

Check out the Daring Bakers Blog Roll to read about fellow Bakers pies.

Lemon Meringue Pie
Makes one 10inch pie or lots of mini ones

For the pastry crust
165g cold butter
275g plain flour
50g caster sugar
¼ tsp salt
80ml cold water

For the lemon curd filling
475ml water
150g caster sugar
40g cornflour
5 egg yolks
55g butter
180ml freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 tbsp lemon zest (around 1 lemon)
1 tsp vanilla extract

For the meringue topping
5 egg whites
½ tsp cream of tartar
¼ tsp salt
½ tsp vanilla extract
120g caster sugar

For the pastry
Make sure all ingredients are as cold as possible. Using a food processor or pastry cutter and a large bowl, combine the butter, flour, sugar and salt. Process or cut in until the mixture resembles coarse meal and begins to clump together. Sprinkle with water, let rest 30 seconds and then either process very briefly or cut in with about 15 strokes of the pastry cutter, just until the dough begins to stick together and come away from the sides of the bowl. Turn onto a lightly floured work surface and press together to form a disk. Wrap in plastic and chill for at least 20 minutes.
Allow the dough to warm slightly to room temperature if it is too hard to roll. On a lightly floured board (or countertop) roll the disk to a thickness of ⅛ inch (.3 cm). Cut a circle about 2 inches (5 cm) larger than the pie plate and transfer the pastry into the plate by folding it in half or by rolling it onto the rolling pin. Turn the pastry under, leaving an edge that hangs over the plate about ½ inch (1.2 cm). Flute decoratively. Chill for 30 minutes.
Preheat oven to 350ºF (180ºC). Line the crust with foil and fill with metal pie weights or dried beans. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes. Carefully remove the foil and continue baking for 10 to 15 minutes, until golden. Cool completely before filling.

For the lemon curd
Bring the water to a boil in a large, heavy saucepan. Remove from the heat and let rest 5 minutes. Whisk the sugar and cornstarch together. Add the mixture gradually to the hot water, whisking until completely incorporated.
Return to the heat and cook over medium heat, whisking constantly until the mixture comes to a boil. The mixture will be very thick. Add about 1 cup (240 mL) of the hot mixture to the beaten egg yolks, whisking until smooth. Whisking vigorously, add the warmed yolks to the pot and continue cooking, stirring constantly, until mixture comes to a boil. Remove from the heat and stir in butter until incorporated. Add the lemon juice, zest and vanilla, stirring until combined. Pour into the prepared crust. Cover with plastic wrap to prevent a skin from forming on the surface, and cool to room temperature.

For the meringuePreheat the oven to 375ºF (190ºC). Using an electric mixer beat the egg whites with the cream of tartar, salt and vanilla extract until soft peaks form. Add the sugar gradually, beating until it forms stiff, glossy peaks. Pile onto the cooled pie, bringing the meringue all the way over to the edge of the crust to seal it completely. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until golden. Cool on a rack.
Serve within 6 hours to avoid a soggy crust, although it’s still delicious eaten the following day too.

Pineapple & Coconut Cupcakes

Coconut and Pineapple is a flavour combination I have been meaning to try out ever since I saw it used in cupcakes on Gigi’s blog. It sounded so tropical and exciting.

Last week when I sat munching on some pineapple I suddenly remembered the cupcakes and the fact I still hadn’t tried them out. I decided there and then that I was going to bake them that weekend for the first work Monday Munchers of the year. What better way to banish the January blues?

I made a very slight alternation to Gigi’s recipe in that as I had the fresh pineapple on hand, I decided to add some to the cake batter to enhance the flavour. I was worried that it might make the cakes too wet and stodgy but it actually helped make them incredibly soft and moist.

I chose to add some toasted coconut on top of my cupcakes, which really took the flavour to another level. I have never used coconut milk in a cake before and it gave the most wonderfully creamy taste and fluffiness to the cake and the little chunks of pineapple added a lovely tropical note.

Over Christmas my grandmother gave me some daisy cutters for my sugar craft work and, being eager to try them out, I decided to decorate the tops of some of the cupcakes with sugar daisies. I used the end a cocktail stick to make the thin leaf veins and left them to dry on a plate before using. They were very simple to make but added a lovely sunny finish.

Thanks for the recipe Gigi, the cakes are yummy, I highly recommend them. I converted Gigi’s recipe, which was in cups, into grams as I went along, so now no one has an excuse not to try them.

Pineapple & Coconut Cupcakes
Ingredients
1¼ cups plain flour (180g)
1 tsp baking powder
7 tbsp butter (85g)
¾ cup caster sugar (150g)
2 eggs
2/3 cup coconut milk (130ml)
½ tsp vanilla
110g fresh pineapple

Method
Preheat the oven to 350F (180C) and line a muffin tin with 10 - 12 paper cases.
Chop the fresh pineapple into very small cubes, about 5mm square and set to one side.
In a large bowl beat together the butter and sugar until pale, light and fluffy.
Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well between each one. Stir in the vanilla.
Add half the coconut milk and beat well. Then add the baking powder and half the flour, repeat with the remaining coconut milk and then the second half of the flour.
Gently fold in the pineapple.
Divide the mixture between the muffin cases, filling about ¾ of the way.
Bake for 20-25 minutes until lightly golden brown, springy to the touch and a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean.
Leave to cool on a wire wrack before icing and decorating.

For the topping
150g icing sugar
Coconut milk
100g desiccated coconut
First, scatter the desiccated coconut into a dry frying pan and set over a low heat. Stir gently with a spatula at 10second intervals until the coconut has turned a very light brown. Don’t let it get too dark or it will taste burnt.
Spread the coconut over a cool plate to cool down quickly.
When you are ready to decorate your cakes, simply sieve the icing sugar into a small bowl and gradually add coconut milk until you have a thick, spreadable icing.
Spoon/spread a layer of the coconut icing over the cupcakes and then immediately scatter over a shower of toasted coconut so that it sticks to the icing.
Allow the icing to dry slightly before serving.
Makes 10-12 cupcakes.

Date & Banana Biscotti

I was in the mood for a crisp, crunchy biscuit to munch on and I soon realised that the obvious choice was biscotti. I hunted in my cupboards searching for flavour inspiration and found a bag of dried banana chips that I bought a few weeks back. I decided they would be perfect, as not only would they add a nice banana flavour but were also already dried meaning they would keep indefinitely. Hmmm what goes well with banana?.... ah yes of course, dates! And so my biscotti was made.

The shards of banana chips added a great crunch to the biscotti and a nice subtle banana flavour, while the dates resulted in little pockets of chewy treacleyness which I loved. The dough is quite soft and sticky to work with but results in a light and crunchy biscotti yet are still soft enough to eat on their own without fear of breaking your teeth. I found they were also delicious dipped into hot custard, what can I say, I wanted something to eat with my custard.

The nature of biscotti means they keep very well, making them ideal treats to send through the post to friends and relatives. I also love how adaptable they are, meaning you can make them to what you have on hand or to what suits the recipients taste. Be warned through, they can be quite addictive…munch munch.

Date & Banana Biscotti
Ingredients
50g butter
120g caster sugar
2 eggs
100g dates
50g dried banana chips
1 tsp vanilla extract
300g plain flour
1½ baking powder

Method
Preheat the oven to 180C. Line a large baking tray with greaseproof paper and set to one side.
Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each one.
Chop the dates into small pieces and roughly brake up the banana chips using your fingers. Mix into the butter mixture along with the vanilla.
Sift over the flour and baking powder and work together until well incorporated.
Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface (it will be quite soft and sticky). Dust your hands with flour and divide the dough in half and shape each half into a log shape.
Place onto the baking tray and bake for 25 minutes, until lightly golden brown and slightly puffed.
Remove the logs from the oven and reduce the temperature to 150C.
Spray the tops of the logs with a thin shower of water and allow them to cool for 10 minutes. (Spraying them with water helps keep the tops soft and gives a cleaner cut).
Cut the logs into 1cm slices, on a slight diagonal. Lay the slices onto the baking tray and return to the oven for 10 minutes.
Then flip the slices over and bake for a further 10 minutes.
Once lightly golden and crisp, transfer the biscotti to a wire wrack to cool. Repeat the process with any left over biscotti slices.
They will keep for several weeks if stored in an airtight container.
Makes around 40 biscotti.

Festive Mince Pies

Christmas is nearly here, the tree is up, the decorations are displayed and thick fluffy jumpers are making an appearance. The festive baking is well underway and along with it come mince pies. Those little pastry cases full of boozy fruits, sugar and spice that everyone seems to feel must always be on hand to feed unexpected guests and well wishers. They have become associated with the last few days before Christmas, in my family at least. This year I had the added bonus of being able to make mince pies using my own homemade mincemeat (fruitmince) that I made a few weeks previously.

Its had time to mature, the flavours have mingled and its sweet sticky fruitiness has developed. I found another bonus to making my own mincemeat, which was because my mixture was heated before being jarred, the suet had dissolved throughout the mixture meaning that when I baked with it, it didn’t bubble over the edges of the pastry, making the pies stick to the tin as I have found with other mixes. This is because when the suet is left raw, it creates extra ‘liquid’ when it melts and often bubbles over the top of the pies. Having the suet already melted also means you can fill the pastry cases with even more mincemeat without the fear of it bubbling over.

I decided to make a batch for this years last offering to the Monday Munchers. I decided to make them more festive by cutting out Christmassy shapes of pastry for the tops, rather than using a round disc of pastry like most store bought ones. I used a star, holly leaf and a Christmas tree cutter. I also dusted them with a snowy shower of icing sugar before serving which made them look extra festive.

They went down very well and were full of flavour. My only small disappointment was that the mincemeat was not that boozy. You could tell there was some there, but it wasn’t overly obvious, but then again this allowed the flavour of the fruits to shine through so I suppose it depends what flavour you want. I’m sure a blob of brandy butter would help enhance the boozy aspect.

These are a must have in my family at this time of year, even for people who don’t like mice pies, they still expect to see them on the table. It just wouldn’t be Christmas without the site and smell of baking mince pies.

Mince Pies
Ingredients
½ jar mincemeat
500g sweet shortcrust pastry
Milk, caster sugar and icing sugar to decorate

Method
Preheat the oven to 190C and place a baking tray in the oven to heat up. Make sure you have a bun tin to hand.
Flour a work surface and roll out two-thirds of the pastry until around 4mm thick.
Cut out circles of the pastry and place into the bun tin, ensuring the circles are wider that the top of the bun hole in order to fit properly.
Spoon heaped teaspoons of mincemeat into each pastry cup.
Roll out the remaining pastry and cut out festive shapes and add to the tops of the pies.
Brush the pies with milk, cream or egg wash and dust with a lightly sprinkling of caster sugar.
Place the mice pies into the oven onto the hot baking tray (this helps ensure the base of the pies get crisp too) and bake for 12-15 minutes until golden brown and crisp.
Remove from the oven and allow to cool slightly in the tin before transferring to a wire wrack.
Serve when still warm with a snowy dusting of icing sugar.
Makes around 14 mince pies

Poinsettia Christmas Cake

Some of you may remember that a couple of months ago I mentioned I had started attending a cake decorating and sugar flower class. The course ran for 4 months and the last 5 weeks of this was spent planning and completing our very own projects – a Christmas cake, iced and decorated using our new skills. The best part was we were free to choose whatever design we liked, meaning that everyone’s cakes turned out very differently. Some people went very modern with red and gold swirls, others made little penguin figurines or piped on Christmas tress. I decided to go quite traditional and make a classic Christmas flower – the poinsettia.

There is quite a lot of thought, planning and patients required to make a Christmas cake, but as the saying goes ‘good things comes to those who wait.’
We spent one week looking through books and designing how we wanted our cakes to look. Then we made the actually rich fruit cake at home and kept it for two weeks, feeding it with brandy. After this it was marzipaned, iced and then decorated over consecutive weeks. In-between these times we worked on our decorations. In total it took 6 weeks from idea to finished cake. The actuall cake itself is not that difficult and if you didn’t want to ice or decorate your cake you would be able to have made and be eating your Christmas cake in just two weeks, but it always tastes better if allowed to mature for a few weeks.

The following recipe is my favourite for a rich fruit cake. Its one I make every year for Christmas, but its also good for special celebration cakes or even as the bases of a wedding cake. It chock full of fruit, moist and full of rich spicy flavours. A rich fruit cake such as this one can be kept for several months, happily getting older and maturing gracefully before being consumed by a bunch of hungry happy people on Christmas day.

Rich Christmas Fruit Cake
Ingredients
175g raisins
175g sultanas
175g currants
80g dried apricots
100g glacé cherries
Zest of 1 lemon
Zest of 1 orange
225g plain flour
1½ tsp mixed spice
45g ground almonds
150g light soft brown sugar
150g butter or margarine
1 tbsp black treacle
3 eggs
2 tbsp brandy
45g blanched almonds
Extra brandy for feeding

Method
Grease and line the base and the sides of an 8inch/20cm tin.
Weight out the currants, raisins and sultanas and then gradually sort through them, a handful at a time, removing any stalks attached to the fruit before placing into a large bowl
Weigh out the apricots and cherries and cut into small pieces using a pair of scissors. Grate the zest from the lemon and the orange and add it all into the bowl along with the raisins.
Pour over the 2tbsp brandy, stir and then cover the bowl with clingfilm and leave for at least 12 hours or preferably overnight, to allow the fruit to soak up the brandy.
The following day, preheat the oven to 140C. Grease and line the base and the sides of an 8inch/20cm tin.
Chop the blanched almonds into small chunks and add to a clean large bowl along with the remaining ingredients. Beat for 3 minutes until mixture is smooth and well combined.
Add the soaked fruit to the batter mixture and stir together using a spatula until all the fruit is well coated and distributed.
Spoon the mixture into the prepared tin, level the surface and then create a dip about 2cm deep in the centre of the cake. (This compensates for the usual dome/rise when baking and results in a flatter cake) Place the cake in the oven and bake for 2 hours and 45 minutes. After the 2 hours you may want to quickly add a sheet of foil over the top of the tin to prevent it from over browning.
Ensure that a skewer inserted in the cake comes out clean before removing from the oven and allowing to cool in the tin.
Prick the top of the cake all over with a fine skewer and then slowly drizzle over another tablespoon of brandy.
Remove the cake from the tin and wrap in clingfilm, leaving the greaseproof paper attached to the cake. (This helps keep it moist).
Place the cake in an airtight container and lave in a cool dark place for a minimum of two weeks to mature. Unwrap it once a week to ‘feed’ with an extra tablespoon of brandy before re storing until required.
The cake can be made anything from 2 weeks to 6 months ahead of time. The brandy preserves it. (Although I have never kept a cake longer than 3 months myself).


To marzipan the cake – this must be done one week in advance of putting on the icing.
600g marzipan
2 tbsp apricot jam
Icing sugar

2-3 weeks ahead of wanting to eat the cake, it is time to cover it in marzipan.
To do this unwrap the cake, carefully peel off all the greaseproof paper and discard.
Turn the cake upside down and place it onto a sturdy cake board, 2inch wider than the cake. (If you cake rose into a very high peak, carefully cut the cake to a level surface before placing upside down).
Examine the cakes top and sides carefully. Fill any tiny holes or crumbled edges with small pieces of marzipan until all edges are flat and smooth, you don’t want any small gaps for the icing to sag into later.
Then dust a work surface with icing sugar and roll out the remaining marzipan into a large circle, ensuring it is quite a bit wider that your cake as it has to drape over the sides as well as cover the top.
When the circle is wide enough, heat the apricot jam with 2 teaspoons of water in the microwave until melted. Quickly brush the hot jam over the top and sides of the cake which acts as glue.
Pick up your circle of marzipan with the help of the rolling pin, centre it over the top of the cake and place it down, allowing the excess to drape over the sides of the cake.
Use your hands to smooth the draped marzipan neatly over the sides.
Cut off any excess marzipan from round the bottom edge, allowing a ½ cm rim with which to push back against the cake to ensure there are no air holes.
Place the cake in a container and allow the marzipan to firm up and dry out for at least a week before attempting to ice it.


To ice the cake using fondant icing
500g fondant icing
Icing sugar
White alcohol e.g. vodka

After allowing the marzipan to dry out you are now ready to ice the cake.
Roll out the fondant icing in the same way as the marzipan, ensuring once again that it is wider than the cake. A good tip is to make it once inch/2.5cm wider that the cake board, which is already wider than the cake.
When the icing is rolled out, brush the cake with the white alcohol and cover the cake with the icing as before, carefully smoothing down the sides and cutting away any excess.
You can then use a cake smoother to rub over the top and sides to remove any fingerprints or untidy folds, but this is not essential.
After icing, place the cake in a large cardboard box and leave for a further week before decorating.
The cake needs to breath, and the icing will sweat if kept in an airtight container. If you do not have a cardboard box large enough, place in your normal container but leave the lid offset to allow the air to circulate. However, if you wish to crimp the edge, as I have done with my cake, you will need to do this immediately after icing the cake while the icing is still soft.

One week after icing, your cake, you are free to decorate it as you please. I chose to crimp the top of edge of my cake to add an interesting border, which requires a crimping tool that you can buy from cake decorating shops.

During the times the cake was setting, I made my poinsettia sugar flower. This has to be done by cutting out each leaf from special sugar flower paste and attaching them onto florist’s wire before being twisted or draped into shape and allowing to dry out. The leaves and petals of the flower are then taped together, one by one, using florists tape until the complete flower is formed. The ends are cut and they are placed into a small plastic flower folding tube (called a flower pick) which is then pushed into the cake to display your flower.
For me, this was the most difficult and nerve wrecking part of the cake. Making the petals was fine, but when it came to taping them together, three of my petals broke off from their wires! Luckily I managed to reattach two of them so all was not lost. The petals were so fragile that I held my breath every time I accidentally knocked two of them together. I was so relieved when it was finished and displayed on my cake, but then my next challenge was driving it home. I winced every time I went over a bump in the road, imaging the leaves knocking together and breaking. I drove slowly (thankfully it was quite late and no one else around on the roads) and amazingly it made it home in one piece – phew!

I also cut out tiny holly leaves of sugar flower paste (although fondant would work just as well for flat decorations) and used them to decorate the edge of the cake. I then tied a thin red ribbon around the centre and piped shells in royal icing around the base and piped small red dots of royal icing in-between each shell.

I was absolutely thrilled with how the cake turned out. Despite making many Christmas cakes in the past, I have never attempted to decorate one properly before, but my cake decorating course has really given me the confidence and skills I needed. It took a lot of time, effort, nerves and planning but I really feel the end result was worth it. It will look so special displayed on Christmas day and will be my oven special contribution to the foodie festivities, which if I’m honest, are usually left to my parents. I had such a lot of fun at my cake class and met a lovely group of ladies. It has inspired me to keep on practising and trying out new designs for future celebrations.

Happy Christmas to you all!

Date & Ginger Flapjack

Sorry for not updating for a few days but I have spent the week working at another site in a different part of the country which means I have been without my computer for 5 days. I really enjoyed seeing how the different site operated and I got to stay in a nice hotel, travel around in taxies and order room service for the first time in my life which was quite fun and made me feel rather important, however I really missed reading my collection food blogs that I check daily. I have come home and feel so out of touch with what everyone’s been up to.

Anyway, back to flapjacks. These flapjacks were last weeks work treat. They only took 10 minutes preparation work and then they were in the oven and baked in under an hour, making them perfect for when you are short of time and want a sweet treat. Flapjacks are very versatile and take well to a wide assortment of additions, but are also great left au natural. I chose to add dates and ginger to mine, two flavours I always associate with this time of year. The ginger added a lovely warmth and the dates resulted in little pockets of sticky treacley fruitiness that worked really well. I chose to use a mixture of jumbo and regular oats as I like the more wholesome texture they give, but using just rolled oats is fine.

I like my flapjack with a crisp surface and a soft sticky centre, but if you prefer very crisp flapjack then just increase the baking time by 12-16 minutes. They went down very well at work and have the added bonus of being gluten free. They could also easily be made Vegan or dairy free, meaning they are ideal for almost everyone.

Date & Ginger Flapjack
Ingredients
110g light soft brown sugar
110g butter
1 tbsp golden syrup
75g jumbo porridge oats
100g rolled porridge oats
½ tsp ground ginger
60g dates

Method
Grease and line the base of an 8inch/20cm circular cake tin and set to one side. Preheat the oven to 150C.
Chop the dates into smallish pieces and place into a saucepan along with the sugar, butter, golden syrup and ground ginger.
Heat gently until the butter has melted, the sugar has dissolved and everything has become smooth and well combined.
Immediately tip the oats into the pan and stir so that the oats get evenly coated in the sticky mixture.
Quickly press the flapjack mixture into the prepared cake tin, pressing down so the surface is even.
Bake for 40-45 minutes until lightly golden.
The flapjack will be soft when you remove it from the oven but firms up on cooling.
Leave for 10 minutes before running a knife around the edge of the tin to prevent it from sticking to the sides and mark the flapjack into triangles.
Leave to cool completely before removing from the tin and cutting into the scored segments.
Makes 8 – 12 pieces depending on size.

Berry Good Jam

Last week I had been working on a project involving berries at work; when it came to the end of the week we had to clean out the fridges and the remaining berries were just going to be thrown away. I couldn’t let this happen, so I rescued them and brought them home with me. I munched a few but realised I still had too many to eat before they turned bad and so I did what I always do when I have too much fruit around – I turned it into yummy scrummy jam.

I love making my own jam, one because it lets you control the sugar level as I like to taste the fruit in my jam rather than just a sugary gel with a hint of fruit and two, because it lets you add whatever flavours take your fancy.

It’s always best to add a fruit containing a high amount of pectin when making jam, as it’s pectin which helps the jam form a gel and set. This is especially important when reducing the sugar content as the more sugar you use the easier it will set. You can also buy special ‘jam/preserving sugar’ which has added pectin but I don’t often bother. I usually like to add the zest and juice of a lemon to my jams, as I find not only does this add pectin but it also contributes a freshness and highlights the flavour of the fruit without being too obvious. However, as I reached for a lemon, my hand strayed and I picked up a lime instead. Hmmm… berries and lime, not a combination I had tried before but I decided to give it a whirl.

The resulting jam tastes amazing, I am so pleased I added lime instead of lemon. It really accentuates all the flavours of the berries and adds its own zestniness. Which isn’t obviously lime but really stands out as its own individual flavour rather than merging into the other flavours. I’ve never had a jam quite like it. Spread on top of a boring piece of morning toast, its zinginess and triple berry hit really packs a punch and helps wake me up in the mornings. It also makes wonderful peanut butter and jam sandwiches. I love its deep moody purple colour too, must be all those blueberries.

Triple Berry & Lime Jam
Ingredients
450g blueberries
380g raspberries
380g strawberries
500g granulated sugar
4 tbsp water
Zest and juice of 1 lime

Method
Remove the stalks from the strawberries and place all the ingredients, except the sugar, into a very large pan and place over a high heat.
Bring to the boil and allow to bubble so that the fruits break down and go mushy.
When the fruit are very soft, mash them roughly with a potato masher to aid the breaking down process. You still want some large lumps of fruit to remain though.
Allow to bubble for 5 minutes more and then pour over the sugar and stir until dissolved.
Reduce the heat until the jam is at a rapid simmer rather than bubbling furiously and leave to thicken and reduce for around an hour, stirring every 15 minutes or so to prevent the fruit from sticking to the bottom of the pan. Skim off any scum that may have formed whilst boiling.
Meanwhile, place some clean jam jars and lids into the oven and heat it until just over 100C to sterilise the jars.
Test if the jam has reached setting consistency by spooning a small amount onto a plate and placing into the fridge for 5 minutes to cool. Then run your finger through the jam and if it ripples, then it’s ready. If not, then allow to continue cooking for a further 15 minutes before testing again. Continue until your jam is ready.
Remove the jam from the heat and the jars from the oven. While both are still hot, ladle the jam into the jars and quickly screw on the lids using a tea-towel or rubber gloves to protect your fingers. (If jarred when still very hot the steam will be trapped inside the jar, creating a vacuum that seals the jar, the indented popper on the top of the lids will even pop out again as though the jar had never been opened.)
Label and store until required. Once opened, store in the refrigerator.

Makes 4 large jars.

Autumnal Lentil Soup

It’s been really cold and frosty here this week and I really wanted some comforting veg soup. I used some of my favourite autumn veg and it produced a lovely thick, creamy and flavoursome soup that really hit the spot.

I usually like to add beans to my soup to help thicken it, but this time I decided instead, to add lentils after pureeing it in order to add a bit more texture and interest. This worked really well and I liked how it added more body and substance to the soup without the need for bread. When adding the diced veg to the pot, I felt it still needed something more. I had a quick rummage around and decided to add an apple into the mix. This turned out to be a fantastic addition and gave the soup a wonderful sweetness (not dissimilar to butternut squash) which worked well with the thyme and complemented all the root veg so so well. I will definitely be adding more apples to my soup in future.

Autumnal Lentil Soup
Ingredients
1 large onion
1 small swede
1 large potato
3 large carrots
3 pints vegetable stock
1 large eating apple (I used Jonangold)
400g tin Puy lentils
Fresh thyme
Knob of butter
1 tbsp olive oil

Method
Put the butter and oil into a very large pan and heat gently so that the butter melts and begins to bubble.
Quickly peel and slice the onion and carrots and add to the pan along with lots of fresh thyme. Give it a quick stir and then cover the pan with a lid so that the onion sweat in the steam.
While they sweat, peel and dice the potato and onion, followed by the apple, but leave the skin on.
Add to the pan, stir to coat everything in the buttery juices and replace the lid and simmer for a further 10minutes.
Add the vegetable stock to the pan and stir well to ensure no veg is stuck to the base of the pan. Replace the lid and simmer for 30 minutes until the veg is soft.
Remove from the heat and allow to cool slightly before blending until smooth.
Drain the lentils from their can and add to the pureed soup. Return the soup to the heat and stir until the lentils are fully heated through.
Divide into bowls and enjoy.
Serves 6-8

Update: I have had people ask what a Swede is. A Swede is a large Brassica, a tubular root vegetable that is a bit like a turnip, but sweeter. Its other names include “Yellow Turnip” and “Rutabaga.”

Homemade Fruity Christmas Mincemeat

Whenever someone mentions the word ‘mincemeat’ to you I expect your first thought is of a spicy fruity concoction, closely followed by mince pies. Although this is correct, I expect few people imagine (or even know) that mincemeat used to contain real minced up meat – hence its name.

The recipe originated in England some 500 years ago as an alternative method of preserving meat rather than salting or smoking it. Mince pies made with real meat are less sweet and denser than the more modern fruit only version and were traditionally eaten as part of a main course with more meat than fruit being included into the recipe. In the 17th century as fruits and spices began to be more widely available, they began to be included more than the meat. As the dish got sweeter accordingly, the meat was lost altogether from the pies and they were transformed into the sweet treats we now recognise and love today. You can still buy traditional meat mincemeat, but more from specialist shops and delis than from supermarkets as there is not a high demand for it.

I chose to make the sweeter meat free alternative, so I suppose really I should rename them fruitmince pies. Hehe I quite like that. The recipe I used was from Delia Smith, although I made a few adjustments by replacing the mixed peel in the recipe with dried cranberries and apricots as I thought this would give a better more festive appearance and flavour. The recipe is also a little unique in its own right, as most recipes tell you to just mix the fruits and then pack them raw, into jars. However, this one instructs you to mix all the fruits together and leave over night to blend and develop before baking the mixture in a very low oven for a few hours to allow the suet to melt and everything to mix and mingle together. You then douse it in alcohol and seal into jars. Although this might sound a little odd, when you think about it, it actually makes a lot of sense. Think of when you make a rich fruit cake, you leave the fruit to soak overnight in alcohol, and it develops and smells good, but just think how wonderful it smells after being slowly baked for a few hours. The smells and flavour then develop to a whole new level, especially when left to mature for a few weeks before eating. I tasted a little of mine before jarring it and it tasted amazing, much better than shop bought with can often be overly sharp or bitter. This was bursting with fruity flavours, full of warming spices, sweet plump fruits, a great zestiness form the fresh lemons and oranges with a slight nutty flavour. The ruby red cranberries, apple and apricots were a lovely contrast to the darker more traditional fruits. I can’t wait to see what it tastes like in a few weeks time.

Homemade Christmas Fruitmince
Ingredients
450g Bramley apples
225g shredded suet (I used vegetable suet)
350g raisins
225g sultanas
225g currants
115g dried cranberries
115g dried apricots
350g light soft brown sugar
Zest and juice from 2 oranges
Zest and juice from 2 lemons
30g slivered almonds
30g hazelnuts
4 tsp mixed spice
1 tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp freshly ground nutmeg
6 tbsp Brandy

You will also need 5-6 jam jars.

Method
Peel, core and finely dice the apples. Add to a very large bowl with the rest of the fruits, chopping the apricots into small pieces using a pair of scissors.
Zest the lemons and oranges into the bowl and then cut in half and add all the juice too.
Sprinkle over the sugar, spices, almonds and suet. Chop the hazelnuts into coarse pieces and add to the bowl.
Give everything a good stir together, ensuring the juice and sugar are evenly distributed over the fruits.
Cover the bowl with clingfilm and leave to sit for 12-24 hours in a cool place.
The next day, preheat the oven to 120C and set your oven shelves to the lowest part fo the oven.
Transfer all fruit mix into a large ovenproof/casserole dish, cover with a lid and place into the oven for three hours.
Remove from the oven, and place your jam jars in the oven to sterilise.
Stir the fruitmince for a few minutes to cool slightly and to ensure the melted suet and sugar evenly coat all the fruit.
Add the Brandy and stir well.
Remove the jars from the oven, immediately fill them with the fruitmince and screw on the lids.
Allow to cool before storing in a cool dark place for several weeks before using.

Makes around 2.75kg or 6lb of fruitmince

Overload of Blueberries = Cake

This cake is absolutely delicious and is literally bursting with blueberries. The blueberries along with the addition of yoghurt in the batter produce an incredibly moist and tender cake. The cake also contains two types of nut, some in the form of almond marzipan, used in the batter, and the other as crush hazelnuts which are sprinkled over the surface of the cake to give a nutty crunchy topping. What more could you want from a cake?

Last weekend, as ever, the urge to bake got the better of me and as I had a whole tub of blueberries from work, I went in search of a recipe to accommodate them. I found (and used) a great sounding recipe from Chocolate & Zucchini which required plenty of blueberries. However, I also tweaked it a bit by adding marzipan and hazelnuts into the equation and reduced the sugar slightly to compensate for the added marzipan. The result is fantastic, moist cake, juicy blueberries, little pockets of marzipan and a nutty topping. It was perfect to share with the rest of my family for afternoon tea, as I had gone home for the weekend. It’s definitely one I will make over and over again.

Blueberry Overload Cake
Ingredient
200g plain flour
1½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
115g butter
150g caster sugar
3 eggs
240ml plain natural yoghurt
400g blueberries
65g natural marzipan

For the topping
1½ tbsp light soft brown sugar
2½ tbsp finely chopped hazelnuts

Method
Preheat the oven to 180C and grease and line a 22cm 9inch spring form tin.
Using an electric mixer, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
Add the eggs on at a time, beating well between each one. Chop the marzipan into small squares and fold into the batter along with the vanilla and yoghurt.
Sift over the flour, bicarb and baking powder and fold in well, turning the bowl as you go until just combined.
Place half of the batter into the cake tin and then cover the surface with half of the blueberries.
Spread the remaining half of batter evenly over the blueberries and top with the leftover berries.
Scatter over the chopped hazelnuts and sprinkle on the brown sugar.
Bake between 1hr – 1hr 15minutes until springy and a skewer inserted in the cake comes out clean. (It will be wet if you hit a blueberry).
Allow to cool in the tin for 15 minutes before removing from the in and allowing to cool before serving.
Tastes great eaten on its own, with crème fraiche or slightly warm with ice cream.