Daring Bakers January Challenge: Tuile Biscuits

This month's challenge is brought to us by Karen of Bake My Day and Zorra of 1x umruehren bitte aka Kochtopf. They have chosen Tuiles from The Chocolate Book by Angélique Schmeink and Nougatine and Chocolate Tuiles from Michel Roux.

I was very happy to see this months Daring Bakers challenge was tuiles – dainty and delicate wafer thin biscuits, often served as an accompaniment to desserts. They are quite an unusual biscuit as they are very thin, crisp and fragile, but when immediately out of the oven they are still soft and pliable, meaning they can be bent or shaped into pretty designs. The ‘dough’ (its really a paste) can also be piped or spread through a stencil onto baking trays as they keep their shape perfectly in the oven, meaning small designs and detail are possible.

I have make large curved shaped tuile biscuits in the past, so I was excited about trying a stenciled shape and a piped design with the paste this time. I decided to go with the suggested stencil design, of a butterfly, as the thinness of the biscuit makes for very dainty looking butterfly wings. I used a little thinned cocoa powder for the dots which I added before they went into the oven – which I think finishes them off nicely. It’s best to bake no more than 3 or 4 biscuits at any one time as they start to crisp up the minute you remove them from the oven and if you want to bend each one you have to do this while they are still hot or else they will brake.

After making a few butterflies I put the remaining paste into a piping bag and piped out small squiggles. Why? Well it just so happens that this challenge came at the perfect time. My mum celebrated a very special birthday this month and my sister and I were cooking her and her friends a special meal. I was in charge of dessert and I decided to make a trio of miniature desserts for each person – they had a choice of either a lemon or chocolate based dessert trio and the tuiles made perfect elegant accompaniments. The butterflies were balanced on the side of a lemon tart and the squiggles were the stream on a chocolate mousse I served in espresso cups to look like a coffee. So this challenge couldn’t have come at a better time and they were a hit with the guests!

Below is the recipe for the tuiles and I will be posting the dessert recipes shortly. Don’t forget to click here to see other Daring Bakers tuiles. Thanks Karen and Zorra for a great challenge choice.

Vanilla Tuiles
Recipe from The Chocolate Book by Angelique Schmeinck
Ingredients
65g softened butter
60g sifted icing sugar
½ tsp vanilla extract
2 egg whites
65g plain flour
1tbsp cocoa powder or food colouring for decoration

Method
Preheat the oven to 180C. Using a hand whisk or a stand mixer fitted with the paddle (low speed) cream butter, sugar and vanilla to a paste. Keep stirring while you gradually add the egg whites. Continue to add the flour in small batches and stir to achieve a homogeneous and smooth batter/paste. Be careful to not overmix.Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes to firm up. (This batter will keep in the fridge for up to a week, take it out 30 minutes before you plan to use it).

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or grease with butter and chill in the fridge for at least 15 minutes. This will help spread the batter more easily if using a stencil/cardboard template such as the butterfly. Press the stencil on the baking sheet and use an off sided spatula to spread batter. Only put 2-4 shapes on each baking tray as they crisp up extremely quickly and you need time to shape them while still hot. Leave some room in between your shapes. Mix a small part of the batter with the cocoa or food dye and a few drops of warm water until evenly colored. Use this colored batter in a paper piping bag and proceed to pipe decorations on the wings and body of the butterfly.

Bake butterflies for about 5-6 minutes or until the edges turn golden brown. Immediately transfer from baking sheet and proceed to shape/bend the cookies in the desired shape. These cookies have to be shaped when still hot so be quick.

If you don’t want to do stencil shapes, you can transfer the batter into a piping bag fitted with a small plain tip. Pipe the desired shapes and bake. Shape immediately after baking using for instance a rolling pin, a broom handle, folded paper etc.
Makes 40 small designs or 20 larger ones

Country Vegetable & Pearl Barley Soup

I had a rustic spelt and vegetable soup when out for lunch recently and loved it so much that I knew I had to try and recreate it. It contained the grain spelt, which I had never eaten in grain form before, only ground as flour in bread, but it had a lovely nutty flavour. I searched the supermarket shelves eagerly, looking for the elusive grain but to no avail. The closet match I could see was pearl barley which looked remarkably similar, and I decided that would have to do. I wanted to keep the rustic appearance of the soup and so diced all the veg to a similar size and then cooked it in vegetable stock with some thyme and chili for extra flavour.

I was curious to see how the pearl barley would turn out, as I admit to never having tasted it before, I’m not sure why. I think its just one of those grains that’s seen as being a bit old fashioned and dare I say it ‘poor’ and as a result it often get bypassed on the shelves in favour of the more fashionable grains such as Arborio rice. However, I tell you all, if you too have been skimming over this humble grain, you’ve been missing out. It had the same nutty flavour as spelt and had a wonderful texture, plump grains with slightly fluffy edges. There was a little bounce to each pearl that sort of popped when you bit into it (sounds odd but you’ll understand what I mean if you try it). Along with all the different veg and the flavoursome stock it really made for a warming and enjoyable lunch. Pearl barley you’re my find of the month – I’ll be using you again soon!

Country Vegetable & Pearl Barley Soup
Ingredients
2 onions
1 courgette
2 medium potatoes
1 leek
3 carrots
½ tin Sweetcorn
100g pearl barley
1 green chili
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1 litre vegetable stock
1 tsp dried thyme

Method
Peel and chop the onions, carrots and potatoes into a 2cm dice. Dice the courgette and wash and slice the leek into rounds.
Cut the chili in half, remove the seeds and finely chop.
Heat the vegetable oil in a large pan and then fry the onion until soft.
Add the rest of the diced veg (expect the Sweetcorn), thyme, chili and vegetable stock.
Stir in the pearl barley, bring to the boil, then reduce to a simmer. Cover with the lid and allow to cook for 45 minutes to 1hour until the veg is tender and the pearl barley plump.
Stir through the Sweetcorn for the final 15 minutes before serving in warmed bowls with crusty bread for dipping.
Serves 6 – 8

Afternoon Tea of Cocoa Chocolate Brownie and Lemon Drizzle Squares

As one of my Christmas presents I got a beautiful tiered cake stand from my aunt. I have always thought they make little cakes and pastries look so elegant when displayed this way. I couldn’t wait to use it and so immediately organised an afternoon tea party with some friends and made some dainty little cakes which I could use on the stand.

I decided to go for a chocolate and a fruity option in order to please all tastes and so made some cocoa chocolate brownies and a lemon drizzle cake which I cut into small bite sized squares. The lemon sponge looked a little plain on its own and so I simply piped a little star of buttercream on top of each one and placed a tiny purple sugar ball in the center which transformed them into pretty little flowers. We had a great afternoon gossiping, catching up on each others news and munching mini cakes. Being mini they have the added bonus that you don’t feel guilty about sampling one or two… ok three of each.

Lemon Drizzle Cake
This sponge is very quick and simple to make and the zingy lemon syrup transforms it from an ordinary sponge into something special.
Sponge
115g self raising flour
115g butter
115g caster sugar
2 eggs
½ tsp baking powder
Zest of 1 lemon

Syrup
Juice of 1 lemon
25g caster sugar
1 tbsp water

Icing
50g butter
100g icing sugar
Few drops food colouring
Colourful icing balls to decorate

Method
Preheat the oven to 175C. Grease an 8inch/20cm square cake tin and line the base with greaseproof paper.
Simply weigh out all the sponge ingredients into a bowl and beat together with an electric mixer until well combined, creamy and slightly paler in colour.
Spread the cake mix out evenly into the cake tin and bake in the oven for 25 minutes until risen, golden and springy to the touch. Leave the cake in the tin.
Immediately make the syrup. Place all the ingredients into a small saucepan and heat gently until the sugar has dissolved. Then bring to the boil and allow to bubble for 2 minutes until slightly syrupy.
Prick holes all over the top of the still warm cake and drizzle over the lemon syrup.
Leave for an hour to allow all the syrup to absorb before removing from the tin.
To make the icing, beat the butter until smooth, then sift over the icing sugar a tablespoon at a time, and beat until well combined.
Beat in a few drops of food colouring. Put the icing into a piping bag set with a star nozzle.
Cut the cake into 1inch/2.5cm squares and pipe a single blob of icing onto the top of each cake square. Top with a single coloured icing ball to make the icing blobs look like little flowers.
Makes 16 squares.


Cocoa Brownie Squares
(Recipe adapted from Weekend Food by Tamasin Day-Lewis)
These brownies are more of the cakey style brownie than the gooey fudgy kind, but it still has that slightly dense chewy texture and fine sugar crust. They are perfect for when you’re short of time or ingredients as they rely on cocoa powder for their dark chocolate flavour, meaning you don’t have to worry about melting any chocolate.
Ingredients
170g caster sugar
3 eggs
170g butter
50g cocoa powder
65g plain flour
80g chocolate chips or chopped nuts (optional)

Method
Preheat the oven to 180C. Grease an 8inch/20cm cake tin and line the base with greaseproof paper.
Beat the sugar and eggs together until the eggs have thickened and turned pale in colour.
Melt the butter and pour it over the sugar and egg mixture.
Sieve the cocoa and flour over the top and fold it in using a spatula.
Add chopped nuts or chocolate chips if you wish.
Pour the mixture into the cake tin and bake for about 22 minutes until risen and a shiny surface has formed on top. It should still feel slightly soft in the centre.
Leave to cool for 10 minutes before running a thin knife around the edge of tin to ensure the brownie doesn’t stick and turn out onto a wire rack.
Leave to cool completely before cutting into 1inch/20cm squares.
Makes 16 squares.

Festive Fruit and Orange Choc Chip Mini Panettones

Sorry for my absence over the last few days, what with winter flu and colds, family gatherings, uni work and general holiday hectic-ness I haven’t found the time to sit down and blog. However I have been keeping my camera at my side and so now have a little backlog of recipes to post about, so if you see a few festive recipes here in the next couple of weeks don’t be confused – I know its nearly the middle of January, but its still cold and icy outside and I’m trying to catch up.

Over the Christmas and New Year I baked a range of goodies for friends and family, both as gifts and as sweet treats to have on hand should any visitors call in. One of the festive treats I love over Christmas is panettone. A real Italian panettone is a baking masterpiece, light and buttery, and studded with fruits, nuts or chocolate and I’ve yet to meet someone who doesn’t like one variety or another.

This year I decided to try and make my own miniature panettones to give away as gifts as I had been given some pretty card muffin cases which reminded me of the small panettone cases I have seen in bakeries. I couldn’t decide on what flavour to do and so I made a plain dough with just a hint of orange zest and then divided it in half and made one batch dark chocolate chip and the other a mix of colourful festive fruits.

The dough is quite straightforward, although you need to plan in advance for making these as you have to make a biga, a sort of starter, which has to ferment overnight before you can begin work on the main dough. So it’s a slightly lengthy but fun process. The dough itself was a little sticky but smooth and supple and very easy to work with. I was so pleased when they came out of the oven with their golden tops and soft buttery interiors. I wrapped most of them in cellophane and attached little labels and gave them away as gifts, but I made sure to keep some back for myself. I found the texture to be slightly heavier and denser than a true Italian panettone (and how do they get it that wonderful golden colour inside?) but it was soft and buttery with a lovely flavour so I was by no means disappointed.

Festive Fruit and Orange Choc Chip Mini Panettones
(Recipe adapted from King Arthur Flour Company)

Biga
180g plain flour
115ml water
¼ tsp instant yeast

Dough
3 eggs
115g butter cut into chunks
300g plain flour
60g caster sugar
5 tsp instant yeast
1½ tsp salt
2 tsp vanilla
Zest of 1 orange

Extras
125g dried fruit (figs, raisins, apricots & cherries)
125g dark chocolate chips
40g butter for brushing

Method – for the biga
Sieve the flour into a bowl, mix with the yeast and pour over the water. Mix together with your hands until a dough is formed. Knead for a few minutes until soft and springy.
Lightly oil a large bowl, place the dough in the bowl, cover with clingfilm and leave to rise in a fairly cool place for 12 hours or overnight until light and bubbly.
To make the dough, simply place all the dough ingredients and the bubbly biga into a food mixer and mix with the dough hook until it forms a soft yet sticky dough. You can do this by hand, but it takes a lot longer.
Divide the dough into two equal portions place in greased bowls to prove for an hour until slightly risen.
Turn out onto a work surface and knead the chocolate chips into one half and the fruit (roughly chopped) into the other half.
Tear off chunks of the dough and roll into balls. Each ball should weigh around 100-120g in weight.
Place the balls into sturdy card muffin cases. (I got 6 balls of each variety from the mix). Place the muffin cases on a large tray and leave to rise in a warm place for a further 2hours until well risen.
Preheat the oven to 180C. Bake the panettones for 15 minutes until golden brown, then quickly cover with a sheet of foil and bake for a further 5 minutes.
Remove from the oven and transfer the panettones in their cases to a wire rack.
Brush a little melted butter over the top of each panettone and leave to cool before either serving or wrapping in clingfilm and storing in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.

Daring Bakers December Challenge: Frozen French Yule Log

This month's challenge is brought to us by the adventurous Hilda from Saffron and Blueberry and Marion from Il en Faut Peu Pour Etre Heureux.They have chosen a French Yule Log by Flore from Florilege Gourmand

What is a French Yule Log and how is it different from the Yule Log I made last December with the Daring Bakers? In France you can buy two kinds of Yule log, either a Genoise and Buttercream log shaped cake , or a frozen Yule Log containing many different layers including Dacquoise Biscuit, Chocolate Mousse, Ganache, Praline Crisp, Crème Brulee and Chocolate Icing. That’s right 6 components and the mousse and dacquoise biscuit can make more than one layer! I’m sure you can understand how I sank to the floor in a daunted state of disbelief upon reading the 18 page document that made up the recipe. Thankfully nearly half of that were options on flavour variations for the components but it still results in the most multi stage/component recipe I have ever made. That being said, once I had sorted out the recipe in my head I found each component to be relatively straight forward and apart from the chocolate icing (which is best made the day you serve it) I got the challenge completed in one day without any disasters. The log is frozen overnight before being turned out and covered in a glossy chocolate icing before being returned to the freezer for a few hours before serving.

We could choose what shape to make our ‘logs’ but I decided to go with a loaf tin instead of a cake tin to try and resemble the thinner shape of a log. We were given many options for flavours but I decided to keep things quite simple as I was serving the dessert on Christmas day and wanted to make something I knew everyone would eat. My dacquoise biscuit was made with ground almonds and is similar to a genoise you make for a swiss roll. Once baked, I then cut around the base and top of my loaf tin to get the correct sized layers. The mousse and ganache were half milk, half dark chocolate, the praline crisp hazelnut and the crème brulee vanilla and I love the resulting pale streak in the middle of the log. The chocolate icing and mousse both call for gelatin, but as I’m Vegetarian I left this out. We were told that we could use agar agar if we didn’t want to use gelatin, but I read the recipe and couldn’t see a reason why gelatin was needed in the first place, especially as the whole dessert is frozen so I skipped that part completely and my dessert didn’t suffer in the slightest. If anything I suspect it turned out smoother and creamier than if I had used gelatin as this would have given it a slight gelatinous consistency, which I don’t like.

The chocolate mousse component in its unfrozen state is just divine. I was initially a little concerned as my mousse was very thick and stiff but as I mixed, it suddenly transformed into a rich and creamy mousse that was velvety smooth. I couldn’t help eating a few spoonfuls before it even got near the tin. I plan to make this again and serve it in little espresso cups, it was so good.

I pleased to say it went down very well with everyone on Christmas day, the only thing I would change if I made it again is to try and flatten my praline crisp into a thinner layer as it was rather thick, but this wasn’t particularly a bad thing. Once again, I’m so pleased the Daring Bakers made me make something I wouldn’t normally have attempted, as the results were well worth the effort. Don’t forget to check out the other Bakers Yule Logs and click here for the recipe.

Christmas Cake Stage 5 – Icing and Decorating

Ingredients
500g – 1kg fondant icing
1 tbsp vodka, rum or gin
Ribbon
2 small pins
Food dye
Icing sugar for dusting

Christmas is nearly upon us and it’s now time to ice and decorate your Christmas cake. You can cover it in fondant or royal icing, but I much prefer fondant. Not only is it much easier to work with but I think it’s also nicer to eat than a hard layer of royal icing. You will only need 500g of fondant to cover your cake, but if you want to make extra decorations such as holly leaves or little figurines then you will need nearer to 1kg. You cover the cake in the same way as you do the marzipan, only this time use a clear alcohol instead of the jam to stick the fondant onto the cake. Working with 500g of fondant, roll it out into a large circle on a work surface dusted with icing sugar. Test if the circle is large enough to easily cover your cake by holding the cake board over the top like before.

Brush the top and sides of the cake with the alcohol and drape the icing over the top in one fluid movement. Use your rolling pin to help you pick up the icing from the work surface without tearing it. Smooth the icing down the sides of the cake using the side of a cupped hand until it looks like a hat with a frilly rim. You can now either trim off the excess to the edge of the cake or if you have lots of excess icing you can even flatten it down over the top of the cake board too, and trim off the excess at the very edge of the board. If you decide to cover the board too, then place the cake on top of a large can and use a large knife to carefully cut away the excess icing.

You are now free to decorate the cake in any way you wish. One of the simplest ways is to just wrap a length of ribbon around the bottom edge and secure it with a few embroidery pins (just remember to remove them before serving!!) This not only looks stylish but also covers up any jagged edges from any icing mishaps. You can then add ordainments, candles, stencils, wring, piping, fondant models, cut out shapes or flowers on top – it’s up to you to make your cake your own – make it as wild and wacky or simple and traditional as you like.

Last year I made a poinsettia and this year I wanted to try making a holly wreath with little red berries and pine cones out of fondant. To do this I made a long sausage shape out of white fondant and wrapped it around the edge of a large jar to form a circle and placed it onto a thin cake board that I first covered with cling film. I then dyed some more fondant green and cut out lots of holly shapes. I then draped these over the ring of white icing and left it to dry. I then made some tiny berries and dyed the last of my icing brown for the pine cones. I wasn’t sure these were going to work but I had an idea in my head of forming a cone shape out of fondant and then using small sharp scissors to made little cuts all over them. I gave it a go and I think it looks quite effective. I had a few scraps of coloured icing left over and decided to make a little cheerful robin too. Use a paint brush and a little glace icing or clear alcohol to stick the shapes in place. And…. finito!

That’s the end of my Christmas cake step by step guide. For all of you who had made your own cakes I hope you enjoy them and for everyone else, I hope you have enjoyed reading about the stages. Don’t panic if you accidently stab your finger into the icing, gently try to smooth it out with the palm of your hand or failing that, just cover it up with a decoration or some ribbon and no one will be any the wiser.
Happy holidays everyone.

The Cake Slice – Decembers Cake: Chocolate Hazelnut Nutcracker Cake

An intriguing sounding cake that is perfect for this festive season. Below are the author’s words as to how the cake got its name.

“This cake is delicious any time of year but it was specially designed for the Christmas holidays – The Nutcracker is a play on the hazelnuts which are a key ingredient and a play on the popular ballet associated with this season.The layers can be baked in advance but the cake is best served the day it is assembled, allow it is best to leave it 6-8 hours before serving to allow the flavours to meld together and the crème to set up. The cake can be stored in the fridge for 3 days but the recipe contains so little flour that it will start to turn pudding-like.”

Sounds delicious doesn’t it? I played around with the recipe a bit for this cake. I chose to bake cupcakes instead of the large cake and used walnuts in place of hazelnuts as I had some that needed using up. I also replaced the crushed biscuits crumbs with leftover gingerbread cookies, which I had great fun attacking with a rolling pin and I think added extra flavour to the batter. The recipe suggests blitzing the nuts in a food processor but while away at uni I don’t have access to one of these and so I chopped the nuts by hand as finely as I could but I still ended up with a few largish chunks. However, I loved the texture this gave the cupcakes and I think it helped keep them very moist and wonderfully light. I also topped the cupcakes with leftover royal icing that I stored away in the fridge after making the gingerbread cookies from the previous week – I can’t let anything go to waste! Baked into pretty liners and topping with a few chocolate sprinkles I think the cakes look quite festive. Due to such a small amount of flour used, the cakes have a springy soft texture and a wonderful nutty flavour. They certainly went down a treat with my flat mates.

Chocolate Hazelnut Nutcracker Cake
(Recipe from Shy High Irresistible Triple Layer Cakes by Alisa Huntsman & Peter Wynne)
Makes one 9inch triple layer cake
Ingredients – for the cake layers
140g skinned hazelnuts
150g whole graham crackers (or digestive biscuits), broken into pieces
175g caster sugar
50g plain chocolate, finely grated
10 eggs, separated
55ml vegetable oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
60g plain flour
1½ tsp mixed spice
1 tsp baking powder

Dark chocolate curls for decoration

Method – for the cake layers
Preheat the oven to 170C. Butter the bottom and sides of 3 x 9inch cake tins. Line the base with parchment paper and dust the sides with flour, tap out any excess.
Spread the nuts onto a baking tray and toast for 10-12 minutes until lightly browned. Leave to cool completely. Increase the oven temperature to 180C.
In a food processor, grind the graham crackers to crumbs. Transfer to a bowl and set aside. Add the toasted nuts to the processor (no need to wash) and add 30g of sugar. Pulse until the nuts are finely ground, but do not blitz too much or else it will form a paste. Add the nuts, graham cracker crumbs (crushed digestives) and grated chocolate together in the bowl and mix.
In a large bowl, whisk the egg yolks and 70g of sugar using an electric mixer until well blended. Add the oil and vanilla slowly, beating until ribbons begin to form on the surface of the mixture. Then, fold in the chocolate nut crumbs.
Place the egg whites in a clean bowl and beat until thick and foamy. Gradually add the remaining 75g of sugar, continuing to beat until the whites form stiff peaks. Fold a third of the egg whites into the yolk mixture and mix well to slacken the mix. Sift over the flour, spice and baking powder and fold in. Gently fold in the rest of the egg whites until no streaks remain but do not over mix.
Divide the batter between the three pans and bake for 25-30 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean. Let the layers cool in the pans for 10 minutes before turning out onto a wire wrack to cool completely.
To assemble the cake, place a layer on a cake stand, flat side up. Sprinkle it with a third of the rum syrup and let it all soak in for 1-2 minutes. Spread 1/5 of crème Chantilly over the top, right to the edge. Repeat with the remaining layers, letting the syrup soak in before adding the crème.
Use the rest of the crème to cover the sides of the cake. Decorate the top with dark chocolate curls.

Rum Syrup
55g sugar
55ml water
55ml dark rum

Combine the sugar and water in a small saucepan. Place over a medium heat, stirring until the sugar dissolves. Remove from the heat and add the rum. Allow to cool before using.

Crème Chantilly

450ml double cream

3 tbsp icing sugar

1½ tsp vanilla extract

Combine the cream, sugar and vanilla in a chilled bowl and whip until the cream is stiff but not too thick or buttery.

Christmas Cake Stage 4 – Covering with Marzipan

Ingredients
500g marzipan
1 tbsp apricot jam
1 tsp water
Icing sugar for rolling

Your Christmas cake should have matured nicely and be rich and moist thanks to its 3 or 4 weekly Brandy feeds. It is now time to cover it with a layer of marzipan. To do this unwrap your cake and carefully peel away the greaseproof paper – mmm doesn’t it smell wonderful! Remember to remove the greaseproof base too (I nearly forgot one year). Place the cake on a 9-10inch cake board. Take a bread knife and carefully trim off the top layer to level the surface – it doesn’t have to be completely flat, just ensure any lumps and bumps are removed. Don’t throw these scraps away – put them on a plate and eat them later as a sneaky preview taster of the kind of flavour you can expect from your cake. (If the top of your cake you’re a little too brown in the oven it might taste slightly bitter, but as you have just removed these bits it doesn’t matter). Once the top is fairly level, turn the cake over and use the base as the top from now on.

If you look closely you will notice that there will be a few tiny holes dotted over the surface. This is just where fruit has cooked down or been accidently pulled out by the greaseproof paper. You want to fill these to prevent the marzipan from sinking into them later. Simply use teeny tiny blobs of marzipan to fill in any of the holes. Don’t worry how many you have, they will not be noticeable once covered.

Next, roll our your remaining marzipan until 3-4mm thick and wide enough to completely cover the top and sides of your cake. To test if it is large enough, hold your cake on its cake board over the top of the marzipan and if you can see it about an inch all the way round the base of the board then it’s big enough.

Heat the apricot jam with a little water in the microwave until syrupy. Then brush the top and sides of the cake all over with warmed jam – this acts as your glue to stick the marzipan to the cake.

Lift the marzipan up with the help of your rolling pin and drape it over the cake (I think it looks like a ghost or a tablecloth). Smooth the marzipan down the sides of the cake using the side of a cupped hand. Trim off any excess using a small round-bladed butter knife – leave ½cm rim from the edge of the cake to allow the marzipan to lay flat against the cake once cut. And you’re done!

Place it in an airtight container or tin but leave one corner slightly ajar to allow the air to slightly dry the surface of the marzipan out. This won’t dry out the cake underneath. Leave to dry for 3-4 days before covering with fondant or royal icing and decorating. This time use a clear alcoholic spirit as your ‘glue.’ The idea behind leaving the marzipan to dry slightly is that if you add the icing on top straight away there is a slightly chance that the colour from the marzipan may leech into the icing and you could end up with a blotchy coloured icing, especially if you use golden marzipan. Final stage to come!

Tana Ramsay’s Cheerio Lemon Cheesecake

I was recently asked if I would like to test out a few recipes designed by Tana Ramsay for Nestle, which looked at ways of including more whole grains in your diet by cooking with their cereals. When I received the recipes, one particularly innovative idea stood out, a lemon cheesecake that used crushed Cheerios as the base.

The cheesecake is a no bake cheesecake and yet does not include gelatin like a lot of no bake cheesecakes, instead it relies on lemons to help thicken and set the creamy top layer. As both a Vegetarian and a lemon lover this was ideal for me.

I crushed the Cheerios with a bag and a rolling pin and this produced a mixture of crumbs and cereal pieces which I think gave a nice rocky appearance to the base. The lemon topping was very quick and simple to put together and within half an hour my cheesecake was chilling in the fridge. My only concern at this stage was that the filling was very soft and I had images of it oozing over the counter when I released it from the tin.

The next day, I cautiously removed the tin and found it had set firm enough to hold its shape, although was still nicely soft. I’m afraid cutting a clean slice was less easy. The Cheerio base had absorbed all the moisture form the creaming topping overnight and as a result, had become quite soft and just fell apart when I tried to remove the slice. This also made it have a spongy, slightly chewy texture of damp cereal which is not really desirable for a cheesecake. The topping however was utterly delicious. Creamy with a strong lemon flavour that helped keep it light. As an experiment I cut a slice and then put it in the freezer for 2 hours before tasting it again. This improved the base and resulted in a very pleasant semi frozen creamy lemon topping too. So if you feel the desire to use cereal as a base I suggest making it a semi frozen cheesecake to prevent it turning soft and chewy.

All in all a mixed result. That topping I would make again and maybe serve in glasses to eat on its own but I don’t think Cheerios are really cut out to be a cheesecake base, although the idea is certainly innovative. However, in terms of its ability to include more whole grains in your diet, I can’t help but wonder if the traditional digestive biscuit base doesn’t do as equally well. Some of the other recipes sound good and for more information on Tana Ramsay's recipes and Nestle's Whole Grain Initiative click here.

Tana Ramsay’s Cheerio Lemon Cheesecake
Ingredients
175g Nestle Cheerios
100g butter or low fat spread
400g light cream cheese
Grated zest of 4 lemons
200g fat free Greek yoghurt
100g caster sugar
2 tbsp lemon juice
184ml whipping cream

Method
Whiz or crush the Cheerios until they are broken down but still remain some texture.
Melt the butter or spread and stir in the crushed cheerios. Mix until well coated and then press into the base of a 9inch/23cm springform tin. Place in the fridge to firm up.
Meanwhile beat the cream cheese, yoghurt, sugar and lemon zest until smooth.
Whip the cream until it forms soft peaks and then stir into the lemon mix along with the lemon juice.
Pour over the chilled base and smooth the surface. Place in the fridge to set overnight.
Serves 10-12

Christmas Gingerbread Cookies

My flat mates decided to throw an early Christmas party and I thought it would be a good idea to have some festive cookies to nibble on and to decorate the Christmas tree and gingerbread seemed the perfect choice. I made gingerbread cookies last year too, but I found the recipe a bit temperamental and wanted to try something different. I remembered the recipe for my favourite vanilla cut out cookies and decided to try and adapt it to the festive season.

I added spices, black pepper and treacle and used light brown sugar instead of caster to give a more golden colour and depth of flavour. The dough came together very easily and after a short rest in the fridge it was a doddle to roll out. The cookies kept their shape well during baking and turned out crisp yet still tender. They filled the flat with their festive aroma and had a lovely lingering taste of spice. I ended up with over 50 cookies and spent a happy hour decorating them before the guests arrived. They were a big hit and even the ones from the Christmas tree got munched, apparently they “fell” into peoples mouths. I’ll be making another batch before the festivities are over.

Christmas Gingerbread Cookies
Ingredients
185g butter
200g soft brown sugar
350g plain flour
1 egg
2 tsp ground ginger
1½ tsp mixed spice
¼ tsp ground black pepper
1 tbsp black treacle

Method
Cream together the butter and sugar until smooth and creamy. Beat in the egg followed by the black treacle.
Add the spices and sift over the flour. Using a spatula, work the flour into the batter until a dough is formed. Use your hands towards the end to bring the mix into a dough.
Kneed it gently until smooth. Wrap the dough in clingfilm and flatten slightly into a disc. Place in the fridge for 30minutes to firm up.
After 30 minutes, preheat your oven to 180C and line two baking trays with greaseproof paper.
Cut the dough in half and working with one piece at a time, roll it out on a floured surface until 4mm thick. Cut out a variety of shapes using festive cutters and place on the baking trays. They don’t spread so you have fit them quite close together.
Bake in the oven for 8-9 minutes until golden and crisp.
Allow to cool for 2 minutes before transferring the cookies, still on the greaseproof paper, to a wire rack to cool.
Repeat with the remaining dough.
Once cooled, decorate with royal icing and sprinkles if desired.
Makes 45-55 cookies depending on size.

Note: If you want to hang some of the cookies on the Christmas tree, cut out a small hole at the top of each cookie using the tip of a small piping nozzle before baking. Tread through a piece of ribbon when cool.

This is also my entry to Food Blogga’s Christmas Cookie event. Click here the ongoing cookie roundup.