(or, Death By Chocolate) (happily)
Ingredients
1x184ml carton whipping cream
225ml milk
7 large egg yolks (save 4 of the whites and make meringues!)
110g caster sugar
40g cocoa powder
200g plain chocolate chopped into chunks
Method
Pour the milk, cream, sugar and cocoa into a saucepan. Whisk really well and bring to the boil, stirring frequently to ensure the sugar and cocoa dissolves.
Meanwhile, put the yolks in a large bowl and whisk to combine. Once the milk and cream has boiled, pour it slowly over the yolks, whisking continuously.
Pour the mixture back in the pan and heat over a gentle heat for 3-4mins, scraping a wooden spoon over the bottom of the pan until the custard has thickened enough to coat the back of a spoon, and you can draw a line in it (on the spoon) with your finger (beware it is HOT!).
Turn off the heat and whisk in 125g of the chopped chocolate, and continue whisking until it's all melted.
Leave to cool! Overnight will do it, or about 2-3 hours in the fridge. Once it's completely cooled, transfer to a 1litre plastic container and put it in the freezer, vigorously stirring every 30 minutes for the first 2 hours. Then stir in the remaining chocolate chunks and freeze overnight.
If you have an icecream maker, churn the icecream and, once it starts to freeze, add the chunks of chocolate.
Wednesday, 4 June 2008
Rock Buns
Ingredients
200g (8oz) self-raising flour, plus a pinch of salt
100g (4oz) margerine
100g (4oz) caster or brown or granulated sugar... sugar, you get the idea
2-3 tsp spices - nutmeg, cardamom, tiny bit of ginger, cinnamon perhaps
raisins or dried cranberries / mixed peel / cherries / whatever takes your fancy
1 egg
tiny drop of milk
Method
Oven to 190C.
Mix the flour and salt together, rub in the margerine.
Add the sugar, spices and dried fruit.
Add the egg and mix to a stiff dough, adding a tiny (TINY) bit of milk if it's just not binding.
Grease a baking tray. Put rough lumps of dough onto the tray, bake for 15-20 minutes. Makes 8 generous rock buns, or up to 12 diet size ones.
They should be chewy in the middle but crunchy on the outside.
I added more than a drop of milk, and hence my rock buns have spread out rather than keep their rock shape :( but at least they taste good!
By my 4th attempt I tried adding 2tbsp cocoa powder, 2tsp ginger, 2tsp nutmeg and a packet of rehydrated dried cherries, and a drop of vanilla and 2tbsp milk with the egg. They were good, but a little too gingery...
200g (8oz) self-raising flour, plus a pinch of salt
100g (4oz) margerine
100g (4oz) caster or brown or granulated sugar... sugar, you get the idea
2-3 tsp spices - nutmeg, cardamom, tiny bit of ginger, cinnamon perhaps
raisins or dried cranberries / mixed peel / cherries / whatever takes your fancy
1 egg
tiny drop of milk
Method
Oven to 190C.
Mix the flour and salt together, rub in the margerine.
Add the sugar, spices and dried fruit.
Add the egg and mix to a stiff dough, adding a tiny (TINY) bit of milk if it's just not binding.
Grease a baking tray. Put rough lumps of dough onto the tray, bake for 15-20 minutes. Makes 8 generous rock buns, or up to 12 diet size ones.
They should be chewy in the middle but crunchy on the outside.
I added more than a drop of milk, and hence my rock buns have spread out rather than keep their rock shape :( but at least they taste good!
By my 4th attempt I tried adding 2tbsp cocoa powder, 2tsp ginger, 2tsp nutmeg and a packet of rehydrated dried cherries, and a drop of vanilla and 2tbsp milk with the egg. They were good, but a little too gingery...
Sloe Whisky
(or gin) (or vodka) (or anything really)
I went sloe picking one morning in November, the aim being to collect enough to make sloe whisky. As the only bottle of whisky that I was allowed to touch was a half finished plastic bottle of the stuff which we bought on the ferry crossing from Finland to Sweden (and even that's a 12 year old single malt) I was pleased that I managed to gather enough sloes. Seems I was a little late though - the trees were bare where I was able to reach, and even with my trusty walking stick I only managed to get about 300g of sloes. Just enough though - I had about 250ml of whisky left in that bottle!
The recipe
The recipe I found says to get a 2 litre bottle of gin, drink half of it, and then for the remaining litre (assuming you are not so pickled already as to carry on following the recipe) you will need 700g sloes and 350g sugar.
Here's the rest of the recipe, if you can really call it that!
I went sloe picking one morning in November, the aim being to collect enough to make sloe whisky. As the only bottle of whisky that I was allowed to touch was a half finished plastic bottle of the stuff which we bought on the ferry crossing from Finland to Sweden (and even that's a 12 year old single malt) I was pleased that I managed to gather enough sloes. Seems I was a little late though - the trees were bare where I was able to reach, and even with my trusty walking stick I only managed to get about 300g of sloes. Just enough though - I had about 250ml of whisky left in that bottle!
The recipe
The recipe I found says to get a 2 litre bottle of gin, drink half of it, and then for the remaining litre (assuming you are not so pickled already as to carry on following the recipe) you will need 700g sloes and 350g sugar.
Here's the rest of the recipe, if you can really call it that!
Gingerbread
Makes many many gingerbread stars, trees, men and whatever else you can cut out.
Ingredients
350g plain flour
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
3 tsp ground ginger
100g butter (softened)
175g muscovado sugar
4 tbsp black treacle
1 egg
(Note: kids might not like the flavour that the musovado and treacle give this gingerbread, so you can substitute it for light soft brown sugar and golden syrup.)
Method
Sieve the flour, ginger and bicarbonate of soda into a bowl. Rub in the butter.
Mix the sugar, treacle and egg together to get all the lumps out of the sugar, and add this to the flour and butter. Mix to a pastry dough. Knead gently. Roll out onto a floured surface to about 5mm think (you might need to split the dough into 2 sections for this unless you have a particularly large work surface) and cut shapes out using pastry cutters or a knife. Gather up all the leftovers and knead gently again, roll out and cut more shapes out. Swap the dough for the other half at this point and do the same. Use all the dough up!
Place onto lined baking sheets and bake for about 10 mins at 180C (my oven's fan assisted, adjust times to suit your oven). Transfer to a wire rack to cool.
For the icing
225g icing sugar and 2-3 tbsps water should make a suitably thick glace icing. Use a piping bag and tiny nozzle. If adding food colouring make the white icing just not thick enough 'cause the colouring (if it's liquid) will make it runnier.
Ingredients
350g plain flour
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
3 tsp ground ginger
100g butter (softened)
175g muscovado sugar
4 tbsp black treacle
1 egg
(Note: kids might not like the flavour that the musovado and treacle give this gingerbread, so you can substitute it for light soft brown sugar and golden syrup.)
Method
Sieve the flour, ginger and bicarbonate of soda into a bowl. Rub in the butter.
Mix the sugar, treacle and egg together to get all the lumps out of the sugar, and add this to the flour and butter. Mix to a pastry dough. Knead gently. Roll out onto a floured surface to about 5mm think (you might need to split the dough into 2 sections for this unless you have a particularly large work surface) and cut shapes out using pastry cutters or a knife. Gather up all the leftovers and knead gently again, roll out and cut more shapes out. Swap the dough for the other half at this point and do the same. Use all the dough up!
Place onto lined baking sheets and bake for about 10 mins at 180C (my oven's fan assisted, adjust times to suit your oven). Transfer to a wire rack to cool.
For the icing
225g icing sugar and 2-3 tbsps water should make a suitably thick glace icing. Use a piping bag and tiny nozzle. If adding food colouring make the white icing just not thick enough 'cause the colouring (if it's liquid) will make it runnier.
Carrot and Coriander Soup
Ingredients
2 oz butter
2 leeks (sliced)
450g carrots (sliced)
1 tbsp ground coriander
2 pints chicken stock
salt and pepper
greek yoghurt
fresh coriander to garnish
Method
Melt the butter in a large lidded saucepan and add the carrots and leeks. Stir well to coat the vegetables with the butter, cover, and cook gently for 10 minutes until softening but not colouring. Add the coriander, stir well and cook for another minute.
Add the chicken stock (I use 3 stock cubes for my 2 pints of stock, but make it however you want), season to taste (I use salt, white pepper and black pepper), bring to the boil, cover and simmer for 20 minutes.
Remove from the heat and allow to cool slightly. Purée the soup in a blender and return to the pan. Add about 2 tbsp greek yoghurt, mix well, and reheat gently. Don't allow the soup to boil.
Ladle into bowls, add another dollop of yoghurt to the centre of each bowl, and sprinkle with fresh coriander to serve.
Variations:
Butternut Squash & Coconut Soup
Substitute the carrots for 2 butternut squash, peeled, de-seeded and diced; and add a blend of tumeric, cumin, coriander and chilli powder or cayenne pepper. Season with salt and white pepper. Add a 400ml can of coconut milk, and only use 600ml stock.
Broccoli and Stilton Soup
Use 2 heads of broccoli, cut into florets, instead of the carrots and coriander. Once you've puréed the soup, add up to 400g chopped up stilton - to taste - puréeing as you go.
Spicy Parsnip and Sweet Potato Soup
Use about 4 chunky parsnips, peeled and diced, and 2 or 3 sweet potatoes, instead of the carrots. (Use your own judgement!) Add between a quarter to a half teaspoon chilli powder, or experiment with little red chillies. I added coriander as well to my attempt.
2 oz butter
2 leeks (sliced)
450g carrots (sliced)
1 tbsp ground coriander
2 pints chicken stock
salt and pepper
greek yoghurt
fresh coriander to garnish
Method
Melt the butter in a large lidded saucepan and add the carrots and leeks. Stir well to coat the vegetables with the butter, cover, and cook gently for 10 minutes until softening but not colouring. Add the coriander, stir well and cook for another minute.
Add the chicken stock (I use 3 stock cubes for my 2 pints of stock, but make it however you want), season to taste (I use salt, white pepper and black pepper), bring to the boil, cover and simmer for 20 minutes.
Remove from the heat and allow to cool slightly. Purée the soup in a blender and return to the pan. Add about 2 tbsp greek yoghurt, mix well, and reheat gently. Don't allow the soup to boil.
Ladle into bowls, add another dollop of yoghurt to the centre of each bowl, and sprinkle with fresh coriander to serve.
Variations:
Butternut Squash & Coconut Soup
Substitute the carrots for 2 butternut squash, peeled, de-seeded and diced; and add a blend of tumeric, cumin, coriander and chilli powder or cayenne pepper. Season with salt and white pepper. Add a 400ml can of coconut milk, and only use 600ml stock.
Broccoli and Stilton Soup
Use 2 heads of broccoli, cut into florets, instead of the carrots and coriander. Once you've puréed the soup, add up to 400g chopped up stilton - to taste - puréeing as you go.
Spicy Parsnip and Sweet Potato Soup
Use about 4 chunky parsnips, peeled and diced, and 2 or 3 sweet potatoes, instead of the carrots. (Use your own judgement!) Add between a quarter to a half teaspoon chilli powder, or experiment with little red chillies. I added coriander as well to my attempt.
Chocolate Banana Bread
courtesy of Tim Baker, from CLP's blog
Ingredients
250g plain flour (can use gluten-free flour)
2 tsp baking powder
pinch salt
250g caster sugar
125g unsalted butter, softened
4 ripe bananas, mashed
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 tsp vanilla extract
175g good quality dark or milk chocolate, chopped into pieces
Method Preheat the oven to 180C (350F/Gas 4). Sift the flour, salt and baking powder into a large bowl.
Mix the butter, sugar, banana, eggs, vanilla extract and chocolate chips in a separate bowl. Add to the dry ingredients and stir to combine, being careful not to overmix.
Pour the batter into a non stick, or lightly greased and floured, 19 x 11 cm loaf tin and bake for 1 hour 15 minutes, or until the bread is cooked when tested with a skewer. Leave to cool in the tin for 5 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool. Serve in thick slices with butter. Makes 8 to 10 slices.
I added a small packet of dried cranberries to the loaf I made recently (soak them in hot water for about an hour before using them) and it's a rather good addition!
Ingredients
250g plain flour (can use gluten-free flour)
2 tsp baking powder
pinch salt
250g caster sugar
125g unsalted butter, softened
4 ripe bananas, mashed
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 tsp vanilla extract
175g good quality dark or milk chocolate, chopped into pieces
Method Preheat the oven to 180C (350F/Gas 4). Sift the flour, salt and baking powder into a large bowl.
Mix the butter, sugar, banana, eggs, vanilla extract and chocolate chips in a separate bowl. Add to the dry ingredients and stir to combine, being careful not to overmix.
Pour the batter into a non stick, or lightly greased and floured, 19 x 11 cm loaf tin and bake for 1 hour 15 minutes, or until the bread is cooked when tested with a skewer. Leave to cool in the tin for 5 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool. Serve in thick slices with butter. Makes 8 to 10 slices.
I added a small packet of dried cranberries to the loaf I made recently (soak them in hot water for about an hour before using them) and it's a rather good addition!
Pizza
Ingredients
1 cup warm water (about half and half boiling and chilled)
1 sachet dried yeast
1/2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
400g plain flour
1 tbsp olive oil
Method
In a smallish bowl, stir the salt and sugar into the water, and add the yeast, slowly, stirring to dissolve. Leave about 5 minutes while you weigh out the flour into a mixing bowl. Make a well in the middle of the flour and pour the yeast mixture into the centre. Add a good dollop of olive oil and start mixing slowly until all the flour is incorporated - you may need to tip it out onto a work surface and knead it together until it's smooth.
Put the dough back in the mixing bowl and drizzle a bit of oil on, smoothing it over with your fingers. Cover the bowl and leave somewhere warm to proove for about half an hour. I find if I warm the oven up to about 100C then turn it off it's a nice temperature to proove dough at.
Tip the prooved dough out onto a floured surface and stretch out into a round. Place onto a baking sheet, top as desired and bake for about 15 minutes or until nicely cooked!
My topping here was creamed tomatoes mixed with oregano and sage, chopped up sliced pieces of peperoni and roughly chopped pieces of mozzarella. Mmmmm.
1 cup warm water (about half and half boiling and chilled)
1 sachet dried yeast
1/2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
400g plain flour
1 tbsp olive oil
Method
In a smallish bowl, stir the salt and sugar into the water, and add the yeast, slowly, stirring to dissolve. Leave about 5 minutes while you weigh out the flour into a mixing bowl. Make a well in the middle of the flour and pour the yeast mixture into the centre. Add a good dollop of olive oil and start mixing slowly until all the flour is incorporated - you may need to tip it out onto a work surface and knead it together until it's smooth.
Put the dough back in the mixing bowl and drizzle a bit of oil on, smoothing it over with your fingers. Cover the bowl and leave somewhere warm to proove for about half an hour. I find if I warm the oven up to about 100C then turn it off it's a nice temperature to proove dough at.
Tip the prooved dough out onto a floured surface and stretch out into a round. Place onto a baking sheet, top as desired and bake for about 15 minutes or until nicely cooked!
My topping here was creamed tomatoes mixed with oregano and sage, chopped up sliced pieces of peperoni and roughly chopped pieces of mozzarella. Mmmmm.
Raspberry Ripple Icecream
Can be made either by hand or with an icecream maker.
Ingredients:
500g raspberries (fresh)
250g caster sugar
1 x 500g tub fromage frais
Method:
Put the raspberries into a medium saucepan with the sugar and 3 tablespoons water. Bring to the boil slowly and simmer for 2 minutes. Purée the raspberries in a blender, clean the pan, and strain the resulting goo back into the pan to remove the pips. Bring to the boil and cook for 8-10 minutes to reduce by half, stirring continuously. Leave to cool but do not refrigerate as the mixture will harden.
Spoon the fromage frais into a 1 litre plastic tub and whisk in 2/3 of the cold raspberry mixture. Cover and freeze, vigorously stirring the mixture every 30 minutes for the first 2 hours. Then stir in the remaining puree, stirring just enough to make streaks through the mixture, and freeze overnight.
If you have an icecream maker, simply churn the ice-cream with 2/3 of the puree and, once it is ready, add the remaining puree and churn once or twice until it streaks through the mixture.
Ingredients:
500g raspberries (fresh)
250g caster sugar
1 x 500g tub fromage frais
Method:
Put the raspberries into a medium saucepan with the sugar and 3 tablespoons water. Bring to the boil slowly and simmer for 2 minutes. Purée the raspberries in a blender, clean the pan, and strain the resulting goo back into the pan to remove the pips. Bring to the boil and cook for 8-10 minutes to reduce by half, stirring continuously. Leave to cool but do not refrigerate as the mixture will harden.
Spoon the fromage frais into a 1 litre plastic tub and whisk in 2/3 of the cold raspberry mixture. Cover and freeze, vigorously stirring the mixture every 30 minutes for the first 2 hours. Then stir in the remaining puree, stirring just enough to make streaks through the mixture, and freeze overnight.
If you have an icecream maker, simply churn the ice-cream with 2/3 of the puree and, once it is ready, add the remaining puree and churn once or twice until it streaks through the mixture.
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