Coconut Burfi

I go to a monthly travel writing book club at the wonderful Charlie Byrne's (if you ever find yourself in Galway it is a must visit). And like any good book club our serious literary discussions are accompanied with a decent selection of wine and nibbles to help along proceedings. All of the regulars bring along sweet treats or a select tipple from the equally wonderful Woodberry's. Depending on the location of the tales we are reading we often attempt to match the food and drink to the region in the monthly book we select.

Last month we were reading The Great Railway Bazaar by Paul Theroux, a travelogue of Paul's railway journey through Asia. This journey took him through multiple countries including India so I chose to make a sweet treat from this country to fuel our book chat.

INGREDIENTS

100g desiccated coconut
150ml condensed milk (or 1 small tin)
120ml full fat milk
1/2 teaspoon ground cardamon
1/4 cup of crushed pistachios

Line a 8 inch cake tin with grease-proof paper

Place the coconut, condensed milk, milk and cardamon powder into a large heavy based pan. Place over a mediun heat and stir until the mixture thickens (taking care not to let the mixture stick to the bottom of the pan and burn). This process should take about 8 to 10 minutes.

Transfer the mix to the lined tin and spread out evenly. Sprinkle with pistachios, and allow to cool before slicing into small squares to serve.

Mackerel, sweet potato and pesto cakes

It had been a while since I posted anything.

I have no decent excuses.

But hey here’s what I had for dinner!!

INGREDIENTS (makes 4)

3 medium sweet potatoes (cooked, peeled and mashed)

3 smoked mackerel fillets (flaked)

1 tablespoon red pesto

1 tablespoon plain flour

Salt and pepper for seasoning

I begin by cooking the sweet potatoes in the microwave by piercing the skin and zapping on full power for 3 minutes before flipping over for another 3 minutes on the other side. Allow to cool fully before peeling off the skin and then mashing with a good pinch of salt and pepper.

In a large bowl mix all of the ingredients together.

Split the mixture into 4 and form 4 little patties with your hands.

Heat some oil in a pan and transfer the little fish cakes into the pan with a spatula. After a couple of minutes flip over and cook for a further 2-3 minutes.

Remove, serve and enjoy.

Ready iced carrot cake

So again I have failed to keep up with my promise of monthly blogging but this year just seems to be zooming by! I do have a couple of recipes in the bag that I will get around to posting soon, including my new personal favourite ‘French buttercream’.

But until I get around to compiling all of my top buttercream making tips here is another firm favourite of mine…carrot cake. Thanks to a secret family recipe passed down from generation to generation (well passed down from my mum to me) I think I make a pretty mean carrot cake. The problem I find is that I am ridiculously impatient when it comes to letting the cake fully cool before lathering on the lightly whipped up cream cheese icing. This results in the icing warming up, beginning to melt and generally slipping off of the cake as I attempt to scoop it up from the sides and pile it back on top. Now this problem could be solved with me just waiting a little bit longer before icing the cake…or alternatively bake the carrot cake with the cream cheese topping already applied!!

So here is a recipe for a mascarpone topped carrot cake bar. My recipe was inspired by this recipe over at le crème de la crumb. I, possibly controversially, added raisins, which I don’t think any good carrot cake should be without, as well as adding a few nuts. Unlike Tiffany, who on the original recipe managed to produce a lovely cream cheese swirl effect on her carrot cake, I just ended up with a layer of the mascarpone mix covering the whole of the cake surface. But is looks nice sliced up still and adds a different texture to the top of the cake.

So what are you waiting for…give this a go!

INGREDIENTS

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon cinnamon

180g plain flour

1 cup of grated carrot (I used 3 carrots to get this)

75g raisins

50g walnuts (roughly chopped)

225g caster sugar

50g melted butter

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla essence

120g mascarpone cheese

60g caster sugar

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla essence

25g flour

Preheat the oven to 180°C and grease a 12”x9” baking tray (or similar)

Sift together the flour, cinnamon and baking powder and set aside.

In a separate bowl mix the carrots, raisins, walnuts, sugar, melted butter, eggs and vanilla essence and mix together. Then gradually fold in the flour mix until fully combined. Transfer the batter to the greased pan and spread out evenly.

In a clean bowl mix the mascarpone, sugar, egg, vanilla and flour together before dolloping on top of the carrot cake mix. At this point you can either use the tip of a knife to create a swirl effect, or as I did just smooth a layer of the cheese mix over the whole baking tray.

Bake for 25 minutes until a skewer inserted into the cake comes out clean. Remove from the oven and allow to cool (a little) before tucking in!!

Strawberry and nectarine swirl ice cream

Last weekend summer hit the west coast of Ireland. I braved the sea for my first swim of the year, white pasty legs were on display everywhere and beach space was at a premium. I also successfully managed to consume my body weight in ice cream The full on continental temperatures may have receded a little but signs that summer is here are all about. Whilst on a little work trip to Cork I managed to find a few spare minutes to venture to the English Market where I bought an incredibly large quantity of sweet smelling Irish strawberries as well as what can only be described as a large sack of nectarines. And so on my return home, where the sun was trying to break through the clouds again, I set about making a strawberry and nectarine swirl ice cream.

This is following my trusted swiss meringue ice cream base which uses just egg whites to create a no churn ice cream mix, great for anyone that doesn’t have an ice cream maker or the time to whisk up a custard based ice cream mix every hour to stop those pesky large ice crystals forming in the mix!!This mixture contains a strawberry and nectarine syrup the you swirl through the final mixture to create a fruity, summery delight. The syrup does contain two slightly unusual ingredients but trust me it works. First off balsamic vinegar (just a little bit) is added and this really brings out the gorgeous sweetness of the strawberries and nectarines as well as providing a slightly sharp contrast to the sugary ice cream base. Then a little vodka is added to prevent the mixture freezing completely solid once added to the ice cream. I used Black Cow vodka in this recipe, which is an amazingly creamily smooth tasting vodka that is made using the whey from milk….so it seemed to be appropriate to add to this dairy delight…if you can’t get your hands on Black Cow (although it you like your vodka I recommend you try) any other vodka will work too.

INGREDIENTS

For the syrup:

3 nectarines, diced

200g strawberries, diced

2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar

1 tablespoon caster sugar

1 tablespoon vodka (I used Black Cow vodka, but any other vodka will be fine)

For the ice cream:

3 egg whites

¼ teaspoon cream of tartar

310g caster sugar

100ml water

1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste

320ml double cream

You will also need a sugar thermometer for this.

Begin by placing all of the ingredients for the syrup apart from the vodka into a medium saucepan, place over a medium heat until the mixture begins to bubble and then reduce the heat and allow the mixture to reduce to a sticky syrupy consistency. Once reduced remove from the heat and allow to cool then add the vodka to the mix.

While the fruit syrup in reducing but eh egg whites into a large clean cowl and whisk using an electric whisk until the egg whites start to look foamy. At this point add the cream of tartar and then continue to whisk until stiff peaks are formed…this is the point when you take the whisk out of the mixture and a peak of egg whites is left that doesn’t collapse.

Set the egg whites aside and place the sugar and water into a large saucepan. Swirl the mixture slightly to allow the sugar to dissolve into the water, but don’t stir the mixture. Place the pan over a medium heat and once the sugar has dissolved and the liquid is clear stick the thermometer into the mixture, raise the heat and allow the mixture to bubble quite rapidly until it reaches 112°C/234°F is reached.

Remove the sugar syrup from the heat and begin whisking the egg mixture again at a slow speed.

Very carefully begin to pour the sugar syrup into the egg white mix, continuing to beat the mixture the whole time. Once all of the syrup is added the mixture will look glossy and smooth but continue to beat the mixture for another 10 minutes until the meringue has cooled down to room temperature.

Now in a separate bowl place the cream and vanilla bean paste and whisk until the cream is thick and has doubled in size.

Add a third of the cream into the meringue mixture and gently fold in until combined. Continue adding the rest of the cream bit by bit until well combined by try not to over beat the mixture as some of the air will be lost from the mixture.

Transfer the ice cream mixture to a freezer proof container and place in the freezer for a couple of hours until it starts to firm up.

After a couple of hours remove the ice cream from the freezer and swirl through the cooled fruit syrup. I find it best to dollop big blobs of the syrup on top of the ice cream and then draw a swirly pattern across the ice cream with a fork to distribute the syrup throughout.

Return the mixture to the freezer for another couple of hours until fully set then tuck in and enjoy!

Wild Garlic Pesto

So my plan of trying to write at least one blog post a month this year seems to be slipping but I’m getting this one in quick before April disappears! And I had better get this out there quick as I partook in a little foraging recently, collecting handfuls of sweetly pungent bundles of wild garlic during a stroll in a local woodland. But wild garlic season doesn’t last forever so you may have to be a little more proactive than myself if you also want to foray into the world of foraging. Wild garlic is a great place to start though, as although this green leafy plant can sometimes be mistaken for lily of the valley (a toxic plant) on looks alone, it is pretty distinctive when it comes to aroma. Just walking through the local woods my nostrils realised I was surrounded by the stuff before I had spotted the garlic plants. So the best way to identify this plant is to pick a leaf and rub it between your fingers to release the smell of garlic, although a slightly more thorough guide on identification can be found here.

Now onto how to use it. There are lots of things you can use wild garlic for, including in salads, omelettes, risottos, savoury muffins, pasta dishes, oils (more on that here)…the options really are endless. I decided to go for the slightly more classic wild garlic pesto, as the garlic leaves make a great substitute for basil. Although I didn’t stop there on the substitutions and instead of pine nuts I used pumpkin seeds in this recipe. This recipe is so simple to whizz up and will keep in the fridge for about a week. I just made a small little tub but quantities can be adjusted depending on how much wild garlic you managed to gather whilst out foraging.

INGREDIENTS

60g wild garlic leaves (it is best to use the small, younger leaves, and try to pick them away from areas of frequent human or animal traffic, but regardless wash thoroughly before use)

30g pumpkin seeds

30g parmesan cheese

80ml good quality olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste

Shred the garlic and then place all of the ingredients into a blender.

Whizz up until a smooth paste is formed.

Store in an air tight container in the fridge and use in any recipe that calls for traditional pesto.

Apple juice and butter milk hot cross buns

I’ve mentioned my family’s competitive spirit and our Good Friday hot cross bun bake off in previous years and have blogged about my tropical and my no added sugar hot cross buns. This year I’m staying on the Emerald Isle for the Easter weekend and not heading home to join the family for all of the food based celebrations but this won’t stop me baking this seasonal treat and competing with myself!! In fact this year the thought of eating my body weight in hot cross buns motivated me through a 10 mile run this morning….I’m definitely entitled to eat at least 2 now, maybe 3!

So I wanted to try a slightly different recipe and turned to one of my favourite bakers Dan Lepard. This recipe was originally posted in the Guardian and you can find the original here. In this recipe cider is used as one of the main liquids but I replaced this with apple juice (an oversight when out shopping and missing the alcohol aisle!!). I then went on to make a couple of further replacements including using buttermilk instead of cream and spelt flour instead of wholemeal but the result was delicious and I think if I had been at home I would have trounced the competition!!

Makes 12

INGREDIENTS

150ml apple juice

7g fast-action yeast

75g spelt flour

150ml buttermilk

2tsp mixed spice

1tsp ground ginger

1tsp cinnamon

2 eggs

50g honey

300g mixed dried fruit

400g white flour

25g cornflour

1 tsp salt

FOR THE CROSS

 150g plain flour

50ml sunflower oil

125ml water

SPICE GLAZE

 25ml water

25ml sugar

1/2tsp mixed spice

 Makes 12

Mix the apple juice (which you want to be at room temperature), yeast and spelt flour in a bowl and set aside. Then place the buttermilk, spices, eggs and honey into a saucepan and place over a low heat, stirring until just warmed. Add the warm buttermilk mixture to the yeast mixture, add the dried fruit and stir until well combined.

Add the flour, cornflour and salt to a large mixing bowl, make a well in the centre and pour in the yeast mixture. Stir together to form quite a sticky dough and set aside for 10 minutes.

After 10 minutes oil a work surface, tip the dough out and knead for about a minute (Dan reckons you only need to knead this for 10 seconds but I normally stretch it to a minute!). Then return the mixture to the bowl, cover with a clean cloth and set aside for an hour until the dough has risen. Then divide the mixture into 12 pieces, shape into balls and put them onto a baking tray lined with non-stick paper. 

Again cover with a cloth and leave to double in size, which should take between 1 and 2 hours (or the time it takes me to run 10 miles!!!)

Finally pre-heat the oven to 220°C/425°F/GM7.

Mix the flour, oil and water for the crosses together and either transfer to a piping bag, or a sandwich bag and then cut the corner of the bag off and then pipe crosses onto the buns before transferring to the oven. Bake for 15-18 minutes until golden in colour.

While the buns are in the oven put the water, sugar and spice into a small saucepan and gently heat until the sugar has melted. When you remove the bins from the oven baste the buns with the sugar syrup and then allow to cool a little before consuming 1 or 2…or 3!!

Vegan Banana Malt Loaf Recipe

After my long awaited return (well I’m not sure how many people have been waiting with baited breath but if you missed be or not I’m back) to blogging this month, and whilst it is still January I thought I would post another vegan recipe for anyone still on for completing veganuary! This time a sweet treat in the form of a sticky banana malt loaf. After spotting a jar of malt extract in my local greengrocers I had a sudden craving for a malt loaf so added the jar to my basket and when I got home started rooting around for my trusted banana malt loaf recipe. But alas I couldn’t find it! Now it may not be one of my absolute regular turn to bakes but it was a recipe that was always a success. So I turned to the trusted interweb for help instead and came across this recipe over at the Guardian. A few little alterations later, including the addition of banana, as well as a lot of flour as my mixture seemed very wet, and voila I had malt loaf.

The real challenge with this bake is to not tuck in as soon as the loaf is out of the oven. This is a teatime treat that gets better with age so wrap it up in baking parchment and pop in an airtight box and leave it for a few day. If, as me, you only have tinfoil in your cupboard grease this a little before wrapping up your loaf otherwise you will spend considerable amounts of time picking little bits of foil out of your malt loaf before you can actually eat the bloomin thing!

So there’s my second blog for January, I’m on a roll (gives self a premature pat on back…will look back on this at the end of April when I haven’t blogged since January and sigh!!). But until then hope you enjoy this sticky, stodgy and vegan delight.

INGREDIENTS

350g malt syrup

75g treacle

200g dates, roughly chopped

150ml strong black tea (I used earl grey)

50g caster sugar

1 large ripe banana, mashed

200g plain flour

150g rye flour

3 teaspoons baking powder

pinch of salt

Pre-heat the oven to 180°C/350°F/GM4

Put the dates into a heatproof bowl and add the malt extract, treacle, sugar and tea. Allow to sit for about 15 minutes so the fruit can soak up some of the liquid. 

After 15 minutes add the banana and mix together thoroughly before adding the flours, baking powder and salt. Fold all of the ingredients until well combined and transfer to a lined loaf tin. 

Bake for an hour until firm to the touch. And don't panic if the mixture looks like it has sunk a little.

Once the loaf has cooled remove from the tin, wrap it up in greaseproof paper and leave for at least 3 days to allow the loaf to mature and become a little more stodgy and sticky before tucking in!

Vegan sweet potato and soya burgers

It's been a long time since I lasted posted anything on the blog, a really long time, 9 months in fact. The only excuse I have is life got in the way a bit. In that time I finished a PhD, spent a while job hunting, moved to a foreign country and started a new job (in said foreign country). And although life hasn't stopped me being busy in the kitchen it has got in the way of me actually documenting what it is I have been baking up. I thought the excuse of life getting in the way a bit was a fairly good one but at least one of my blog reading regulars disagreed (you know who you are!!!!). So here I am back blogging and I am going to try a blog a bit more this year, although after my hiatus from the blogging-sphere last year I don't think I could do an awful lot worse....but maybe I shouldn't tempt fate. But for now I'm back blogging and I will try (I promise) to keep this up.

As I make this resolution to blog a little more (although don't hold me to it) lots of other people are trying to stick to their New Years Resolutions. Whilst quite a lot of people are trying to keep off the booze for January other people are giving up meant and Veganuary has become a thing. Whilst I haven't given up my carnivorous ways just yet I thought I would kick off my blogging year with a vegan burger to help those that may be sticking to their resolutions a little more successfully than me!

Serves 2 (very generously)

2 medium sweet potatoes
100g dried soya mince
50ml boiling water
1 teaspoon marmite
1 teaspoon tomato puree
1/2 teaspoon paprika
salt and pepper
50g wholemeal flour
a splash of olive  oil for frying

Begin by pricking the sweet potatoes with a fork and placing in a microwave for 2 minutes on high. After 2 minutes give the potatoes a squeeze and if they still feel firm zap for another minute.

Remove the potatoes from the microwave and set aside to cool.

Place the soy mince in a heatproof bowl, add the hot water, marmite, tomato puree and seasoning, stir so well combined and set aside until the soy mince has absorbed all of the water.

Meanwhile (once the sweet potatoes are cool enough to handle) remove the skin from the potatoes and mash. Then add to the soy mix and mix until fully combined. Then add the flour and use your hands to bring the mixture together. NOTE - I have made these burgers twice and the second time the mixture was much wetter so required a bit more flour, but add more flour as needed until you can shape the mixture into a burger shape.

Divide the mixture in 2 and shape into 2 burgers, either free style of as I like to by squishing the mixture into a large biscuit cutter to create perfect rounds.

Place a frying pan over a medium heat with a splash of oil. Once the oil is hot transfer the burgers to the pan and cook for about 5 minutes on each side until golden in colour.

I ruined the veganess of the dish by serving my burger in bun with gherkins and a big slice of melted cheese on top but without the extra dairy this recipe is perfect for a veganuary treat!

Hot-Cross Bun Cupcakes

Every year I post my hot cross bun recipe as is to be used to bake my entry into my family’s annual, tightly fought, hot-cross bake off challenge. As usual I have been trialling out a number of different recipes so that I am fully prepared for the traditional Good Friday antics. But from a blogging point of view I thought I would try something a little different for an additional Easter based baking adventures. Luckily inspiration came in the form of this cup-cake recipe from BBC Good Food. With a little tweaking (the addition of buttermilk instead of the thickened milk used by GF and a bucket load more spice than suggested) these little cakes with cream cheese icing crosses turned out really well. The subtle (or not so subtle) spiciness of the cakes really was reminiscent of the cousin to these treats…proper hot cross buns! But these make a great Easter substitution especially if you have a little bit of a sweet tooth.

INGREDIENTS

100ml buttermilk

175g butter

175g plain flour

1 ½ tspns baking powder

175g golden caster sugar

2tsp mixed spice

1tsp cinnamon

1tsp ginger

100g ground almonds

3 eggs

Zest ½ orange

100g raisins

1 medium eating apple, grated

FOR THE ICING

Zest ½ orange

50g cream cheese

75g icing sugar

25g softened butter

½ tspn mixed spice

                                                             

Makes approx. 16

Pre-heat the oven to 180°C / GM4 and line a muffin tin with paper cake cases.

Mix the flour, baking powder, spices, sugar and almonds together in a large bowl.

Melt the butter and once cooled slightly towards room temperature beat the eggs, orange zest and buttermilk and butter all together.

Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and beat together until combined. Then fold in the raisins and grated apple.

Spoon the mixture into the prepared cake tins, distributing the mixture evenly between each of the cupcake cases.

Transfer to the oven and bake for 20 minutes until the cakes are golden and firm to the touch.

Allow the cakes to cool and in the meantime make the icing by beating together the cream cheese, icing sugar, butter, zest and spice. And then pipe the icing across the buns in the traditional cross shape.

No Churn Birthday Cake Ice Cream

So cake batter ice cream is a thing!! I first discovered this nearly a decade ago now when I was lucky enough to spend a little bit of time in San Francisco. I generally find it very difficult to walk past an ice cream parlour…if encountered I am more than likely to wander inside to sample some delicious frozen treats. This occurred during one sunny San Franciscan day, and on that occasion I was drawn towards the birthday cake ice cream. A base of cake batter ice cream (resembling the uncooked cake mix that clings to the wooden spoon following a baking session and that is always fought over in my household) with sprinkles and chocolate chips smooshed in for that extra ‘birthday’ flare. And so a decade later I decided to make my own, using cake mix powder to add that all important flavour again with the addition of chocolate and sprinkles to save them having to be added later. And this delicious, childhood memory inducing treat, packed with chocolate chips fits perfectly with the Bloggers Scream for Ice Cream theme this month where Kavey Eats have teamed up with Choclette for some chocolaty frozen goodness!

INGREDIENTS

100g egg whites (approx. 3 egg whites)

¼ teaspoon cream of tartar

310g caster sugar

100ml water

Seeds scraped from ½ vanilla pod

300ml double cream

100g vanilla cake mix

50g white choc chips

50g dark choc chips

A generous shake of hundreds and thousands.

A sugar thermometer is also needed

To make the meringue;

Using an electric hand mixer or a stand mixer whisk the egg whites in a large, clean bowl until they start to look foamy. At this point add the cream of tartar and continue to whisk until the egg whites form stiff peaks (this means that if you lift the mixer out of the mixture a peak should form and it won’t collapse or ‘wilt’ once the mixer/whisk is removed….check out Delia for more info!)

Place the sugar and water into a large saucepan and place over a medium heat. Swirl the saucepan gently (but don’t actually stir the mixture) until the sugar is dissolved and the liquid is clear.

Stick your thermometer into the mixture, raise the heat and allow the mixture bubble rapidly until 112 °C / 234 °F is reached.

Remove the sugar syrup from the heat.

Begin beating the egg white mixture again and slowly (and very carefully) begin to pour the sugar syrup into the egg white mix, beating all of the time. Once all of the syrup is added continue to beat the mixture for another 10 minutes or so until the mixture has cooled and has a nice glossy finish.

Stop beating and set to one side (this is the Italian meringue done)

For the birthday cake element;

Scrape the seed from the vanilla pod and transfer to another large bowl along with the cream.

Beat the mixture with an electric hand mix until it has doubled in volume and is light and fluffy. Stir in the cake mixture until fully combined with the cream (if it becomes a little too thick to stir at this point just add a dash of milk to loosen slightly). Then fold in the chocolate chips and hundreds and thousands (or other ice cream type sprinkle).

Add about a third of the cream to the Italian meringue and gently fold in until well combined. Continue adding the rest of the cream to the meringue bit by bit until well combined (but try not to overmix the mixture at the point). Transfer to a freezer proof container and bung in the freezer overnight (there is no need to churn or mix the ice cream once in the freezer).

Pomegranate pulled aubergines

It’s been a little while since I blogged a savoury recipe. In fact it has just been a while since I blogged about anything, but I thought my first post for the New Year would be a vegetarian treat. Back in October (really shows how far behind I am at blogging) I had a pre-Halloween dinner party and for most of my guests served up a slow cooked ‘pulled’ lamb and pomegranate dish alongside roasted feta and pumpkin. I did, however, have one vegetarian guest so needed a lamb alternative. Pulled pork and lamb are pretty popular at the moment. But is it possible to ‘pull’ a vegetable? Well I decided to give it a go! First of all which vegetable to choose…well it needed to be something pretty sturdy  that could put up with a long slow cooking process. An aubergine seemed the perfect candidate for this and so slow cooked pomegranate ‘pulled’ aubergine was born.

P.S. It is very difficult to take a flattering photo of a sweet and sticky heap of pulled aubergine, but don’t let the below photo put you off trying this recipe, it is delicious honest!!

Serves 2

INGREDIENTS

1 large aubergine

120ml pomegranate juice

½ tablespoon honey

1 lemon

2 cloves garlic

½ teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon dried oregano

½ teaspoon dried cumin

Salt and pepper to season

Start by charring your aubergine. If you have a gas burner place the aubergine over a medium gas flame, turning regularly until all of the skin is blistered and charred. Alternatively place the aubergine under a grill, again turning regularly until the skin is charred all over. This process can take a while but be patient as this produces a great smokey flavour in the aubergine.

Allow the aubergine to cool a little before peeling off the skin. Then pull the aubergine into thick strips.

Place the aubergine strips in an oven proof dish and add the cinnamon, oregano, cumin and salt and pepper and ensure the aubergine is evenly covered in the spice mix.

Mix together the pomegranate juice, honey, zest and juice from the lemon and the crushed garlic. Pour over the aubergine and place in an oven at 180°. Bake for 40 minutes, basting the aubergine half way through the cooking to ensure it is evenly coasted in the sticky pomegranate sauce.

After the cooking the sauce should be thorough reduced and be a thick sticky sauce.

This is great served with pomegranate couscous and roasted pumpkin and feta.

Mince pie and custard cupcakes

Christmas really is fast approaching and I am already in residence on my parents’ sofa, drinking copious amounts of tea/mulled cider/champagne and scoffing chocolates/biscuits/mince pies. And lets face it Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas without a good mince pie. I actually indulged in my first of the season back at the beginning of December after a visit to Betty’s in York, and it was deliciously light and full of festive flavour. Feeling that it may be hard to beat I decided to follow in the tradition of previous years (when I used mincemeat in Danish pastries and cookies) and came up with a slightly alternative Christmas treat. When deciding on what to do with the stash of mincemeat in the cupboards I was inspired by the obvious accompaniment of custard….and so the mince pie and custard cupcake was born.

INGREDIENTS

For the cake

200g caster sugar

225g butter

200g plain flour

3 tablespoons custard powder

Seeds from half a vanilla pod

2 teaspoons baking powder

4 eggs

2 tablespoons milk

½ jar (approx. 200g) mincemeat (or you could make your own!!)

For the icing

 200g icing sugar

3 tablespoons custard powder

1 tablespoon skimmed milk powder

200ml double cream

300 ml milk

Seeds from half a vanilla pod

50g butter

For the cakes set the oven to 180°C / 350°F / GM4. Line a cup cake tin with cupcake cases (this recipe makes approx. 15 medium sized cupcakes).

Beat the caster sugar and butter together until light and fluffy. Then add the eggs and the vanilla seeds. Finally gradually fold in all of the dry ingredients until well combined. If the mixture seems a little dry and stiff at this point stir in the milk.

Divide half of the mixture between the prepared cake cases. Then take the mincemeat and dollop a teaspoon full into the cake cases, on top of the sponge mixture already in the tins. 

Finally top the mincemeat with the remaining cake mixture so that the mincemeat is covered by cake mixture.

Transfer the cakes to the oven for twenty minutes until lightly golden in colour and firm to the touch.

Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely before icing.

In the mean time you can make the icing…mix half of the icing sugar with the custard powder, milk powder, vanilla seeds and 2 tablespoons of the milk in a heatproof jug. Stir together to make a smooth, thick paste.

Meanwhile heat the remaining milk and cream together in a large saucepan and place over a gentle heat until the mixture begins to simmer. Remove from the heat and pour the warm milk mixture into the jug, whisking as you do so until the custard paste in fully mixed into the milk.

Then pour the custard back into the pan and return to the heat. Continue whisking until the custard becomes thick and glossy. Remove from the heat, transfer to a plastic tub and cover the top with a layer on cling film. Transfer to the fridge and allow to cool completely.

Once cool remove the custard mix from the fridge. Transfer to a bowl, add the remaining icing sugar and butter and whisk until thick and creamy. And now the custard icing is ready to use to decorate your cakes.

Once the cakes have been piped/smothered in icing tuck in and enjoy as an alternative to your usual mince pie.

This recipe was inspired by this cake from Nigella Lawson and this cake from BBC Good Food.

Earl Grey Chocolate Torte and Spooky Poached Pears

I really enjoy getting creative in the kitchen at Halloween and have been churning out endless quantities of bat and pumpkin shaped gingerbread biscuits this year. I also love a good blood splattered cupcake or eyeball cocktail. Earlier this week, however, I produced a slightly more grown-up autumnal feast for a few friends and after serving up some delicious roasted pumpkin and feta alongside slow roasted lamb I rounded things off with this lovely chocolate torte.

By using ground almonds instead of flour this deliciously moist chocolate cake is naturally gluten free and a little injection of earl grey prevents the cake from getting too sickly. The original torte recipe came courtesy of BBC Good Food and I only tweaked it very slightly to make it dairy free too (but go check out the original too). I was then inspired by the latest in-store Tesco magazine to decorate this delectable treat with a few spooky poached pears to add to the Halloween spirit. And it proved to be a delectable desert for some semi-sophisticated adults….although I’m sure it would go down with your common spooks and ghouls pretty well too!!

TORTE

2 Earl Grey tea bags

100ml almond milk

250g dark chocolate

200g dairy free margarine

140g ground almonds

6 eggs (separated)

200g caster sugar

Heat the oven to 180°C / 360°F.

Line the bottom and sides of a 22cm diameter, loose-bottomed, cake tin with greaseproof paper ensuring the paper rises above the rim of the tin to allow the cake to rise right up.

Heat the almond milk in a heat proof jug in the microwave for approximately 30 seconds until warm. 

Split the teabags and empty the tea leaves into the milk. Set aside to infuse.

Place the chocolate and margarine in a heat proof bowl set over a pan of simmering water (ensuring the bottom of the bowl doesn’t come in contact with the water). Once melted and fully combined remove the bowl from the heat and add the almonds, egg yolks and cooled milky tea (along with the tea leaves. Stir until combined and set aside.

In a separate, clean bowl beat the egg whites using a hand blender until soft peaks begin to form. Then add the caster sugar and continue to beat until the mixture is thick and glossy and peaks of the mixture stand on end when you remove the mixer.

Add a large spoonful of the egg white mixture into the chocolate mixture and gently fold together. Repeat until all of the egg whites are combined with the chocolate mix, begin careful not to overwork the mixture.

Transfer to the cake tin and bake in the oven for 35 to 40 minutes until just firm (although there can still be a slight wobble in the middle of the cake). Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely before removing from the tin. This can easily be made the day before you want to eat this cake...although probably best to decorate it just prior to serving!

POACHED PEARS & DECORATION

5 Pears (I used conference)

400ml apple juice

200g caster sugar

150g dark chocolate

On the day you are planning to eat your torte place the apple juice and sugar in a pan and place over a medium to low heat, stirring occasionally until the sugar has dissolved.

Peel the pears and place into the simmering apple juice mixture, allow the pan to bubble away for 15 minutes before removing from the heat. All the pears to cool completely in the syrupy apple juice before you fish them out.

Meanwhile melt the chocolate in a bowl set over a pan of simmering water. Once melted spread the chocolate out on a greaseproof piece of paper laid out in a baking tray. With a little bit of the melted chocolate shape it into disks and small blobs for the scary pear eyes and mouths. Place somewhere cool and allow to set.

CONSTRUCTION

Place the torte on a plate.

Carefully pat the pears dry on a bit of kitchen roll to remove excess moisture. Using a little melted chocolate if necessary, decorate the pears with the discs of chocolate made for their mouths and eyes after removing these from the greaseproof paper.

Arrange the pears in the centre of the torte (using them all to support each other).

Using a large sharp knife slice the remaining chocolate into shards and arrange around the outside of the torte (again securing with a little melted chocolate is needed)…and voila, you are ready to impress your guests!

Ginger and Blackberry Swirl Ice Cream

This blog post is going to follow a trend of recent (or as the case may be not so recent) posts, with me apologising for not blogging for months, listing excuses centred around life getting in the way of things, then presenting an ice cream recipe. Perhaps I should just change this to an ice cream blog, it is very apparent that I have more than a slight obsession with the frozen delightful creaminess.

This time around I have modified a basic recipe from the Guardian website injecting a little warming ginger punch and swirl of blackberries to the original recipe. And what is missing from this recipe you may ask…..well there is no cream in this ice cream recipe! A custard base is made just with milk and a little additional milk powder to apparently give ‘volume without weight’.

This ice cream is great served up with a warm autumnal apple crumble, or a fig tarte tatin as I did. You never know I might even get around to posting that recipe sooner rather than later….as long as life doesn’t get in the way too much!!

Oh and I’ve submitted this to Kavey over at Kavey Eats for her Bloggers Scream for Ice Cream challenge too.

INGREDIENTS

1 pint whole milk

50g skimmed milk powder

4 egg yolks

90 g caster sugar

Thumb sized piece fresh ginger

250g blackberries (I used fresh, picked from local hedgerows, but frozen will be fine)

50g sugar

1 tablespoon water

1 tablespoon vodka

For the ice cream base add the milk, milk powder and 2 teaspoons of the sugar to a large saucepan. Peel the ginger, slice into a couple of chunks and add to the milk. Place the saucepan over a medium heat and bring to the boil. Once bubbling reduce the heat and allow to simmer gently for 5 minutes before removing from the heat. Set the mixture aside for 30 minutes to allow the ginger to infuse.

Place the egg yolks (you can freeze the left over egg whites for later use or could try out one of these recipes straight away to use them up; choc chunk cookies, English muffins, chocolate hazelnut ice cream) and the rest of the sugar into a large mixing bowl, and using a hand mixer, whisk for about 10 minutes until the mixture if light and airy and has increased in volume.

Reheat the milk mixture until simmering and then slowly pour into the mixing bowl with the egg mixture, continually stirring as you do so. Then return all of the mixture to the saucepan and place over a low heat, again stirring continually until the mixture begins to thicken slightly.

Transfer the custard to an ice cream tub, cover the surface with cling film (this is to help prevent a skin forming) and allow to cool completely before transferring to the freezer.

After about half an hour remove from the freezer and whizz the mixture up with a hand blender, then return to the freezer. Repeat this process three more times at 30 minute intervals.

Whilst undertaking this freeze-whizz-freeze-whizz process place the blackberries, water and sugar into a small saucepan, place over a medium heat and simmer for about 15 minutes until the berries start to cook down. Remove from the heat and allow to cool before stirring through the vodka.

After the final ice cream churning swirl through the blackberry mix. Return to the freezer for a further hour before tucking in.

Tart au citron frozen yoghurt

I can't believe how quickly June has been whizzing by, July is already encroaching and this is the first blog post of the month....oops! Well I will blame a lot of birthday celebrations getting in my way. I have been celebrating one of those birthdays where the age ends in a big fat zero and to be honest I have been milking it as much as possible. As well as many lovely bubble filled celebrations shared with lots of amazingly brilliant friends I also had a great little holiday in Paris with family. And it seems I brought a little bit of Parisian sunshine back to my little corner of Norther Ireland on my return so I have been distracted from blogging in the mean time by a lot of sitting on the patio time! But whilst the sun is still shining it seems appropriate to post (yet another) frozen pudding recipe.

As a warm up to my Paris trip I had a Parisian themed dinner party with friends and to finish off the meal I cooked up a big Tart Au Citron. Another of my friends made some delicious raspberry and strawberry tarts to add to the amazing spread so despite the general deliciousness of the puddings on offer there were a few leftovers. I hate anything going to waste and as I was about to dash off on my holidays I couldn't just leave the tarts in the fridge and continue to graze on them over the coming days so thought I had best bung them in the freezer for a later date. But then I decided to get a little more creative and turn my dessert into another form of dessert...and so was born the tart au citron frozen yoghurt. If you don't have a large quantity of left over tart to bung into this dessert the delicate lemon flavour of the yoghurt mix on its own is pretty delicious. Alternatively swap the lemon curd for maple syrup and stick in apple crumble, or add biscuit or cake crumbs instead....really the possibilities are endless for left over frozen yoghurt varieties.

And Kavey over at Kavey Eats is once again running her Bloggers Scream for Ice Cream this month with a fruity theme so this recipe fits in perfectly over there too.

INGREDIENTS

700g thick Greek yoghurt

100g lemon curd

50g icing sugar

250g tart au citron (chopped into small chunks) - I made mine following Michel Roux's recipe in this lovely book 

Beat the yoghurt, lemon curd and icing sugar together until fully combined. 

Transfer to a freezer proof container and freeze for 2 hours. After 2 hours remove from the freezer and beat the mixture again to brake up any ice crystals forming in the mix. Repeat this, freezing the mixture again for another 2 hours before beating to create a smooth mixture. (alternatively you can just bung the mixture into an ice cream maker).

After 2 rounds of freezing and beating fold the chinks of the lemon tart into the mixture until evenly distributed. Stick the mixture back int the freezer over night and then tuck in and enjoy.

Dairy Free Malted Milk Ice Cream

The sun made an appearance earlier this week and for a brief fleeting moment it felt like summer had arrived and so I dug out my sandals and started eating copious amounts of ice cream (not that I really need the sun to shine to start tucking into ice cream!). The sun has now done a runner and the sandal wearing has been put on hold...the ice cream eating however continues! And after finishing off my beyond delicious Easter egg chocolate sorbet I needed to stock the freezer back up with something as equally yummy. Luckily at this moment I spotted that Kavey over at Kavey Eats has another round of Bloggers Scream for Ice Cream on the go. This month the theme is Hot Drink inspired frozen treats. Now it just also happens that last week while having a mega Master Chef catch up session I had seen a dish containing a rather delectable looking malted milk ice cream. And although I have never been a massive Horlicks drinker I am a bit of a fan of a malted milk (a.k.a moo cow) biscuit.

And so I set out to make a dairy free malted milk ice cream of my very own. Now this isn't as easy as it may sound as you can't simply mix some Horlicks powder with a dairy free milk alternative as the drinks powder contains dairy. So I had to get a little more creative and used malt extract along with a little cocoa powder to make this ice cream resulting in more of an Ovaltine-inspired concoction. I have to say I was rather pleased with the comfortingly malty end result....and now I have a great excuse to eat ice cream just before bedtime!!!

INGREDIENTS

500 ml almond milk
4 tablespoons malt extract
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
75 g caster sugar
4 egg yolks
1 tablespoon of corn flour

Place the almond milk, malt extract and cocoa powder into a saucepan, place over a medium heat and gradually bring the mixture up to the boil.

In the meantime mix together the sugar, egg yolks and corn flour in a heat proof jug.

Once the milk mixture has begun to bubble remove from the heat and allow to cool slightly. Then pour about a quarter of the mixture into the jug with the egg mixture beating thoroughly until a smooth mixture is formed. Then pour the egg mixture back into the saucepan, place over a medium heat and continue to whisk until the mixture begins to thicken, then remove from the heat.

Pour the ice cream into a freezer proof container, cover the surface with cling film to prevent a skin from forming and allow the mixture to cool to room temperature.

Once cooled down transfer the mixture to an ice cream maker...or if like me you don't own such fancy kitchen equipment transfer the container to the freezer. Remove the ice cream from the freezer every couple of hours and blitz with a hand blender to break down any ice crystals that might form and you end up with a scoopable end product. Repeat this three or four times and then leave in the freezer until you require a pre-bedtime ice cream treat.