Roast Potatoes

This may be very obvious, but I’m going to say it anyway. The quality of the ingredients makes all the difference. So if you’re going to make roast potatoes, or any other food, use fresh good quality ingredients. There, I said it.

Early summer is a brilliant time for eating roast potatoes, as the new potatoes from the early varieties are appearing. I bought some baby new Jersey Royals this weekend, and I couldn’t wait to cook them and bite into their creamy tasty flesh. I baked them in the oven with some butter, salt & pepper and some fresh herbs, and had them with a salad. 

Amount of potatoes according to how many people will be eating

A knob of butter

A generous sprinkling of freshly ground sea salt and black pepper

A generous sprinkling of chopped fresh herbs (can be dill, thyme, parsley, sage, or any other hers that you like / have at hand)

Pre-heat your oven to 190^oC.

Dice the potatoes into bite-size chunks. Place them in a baking tray with the rest of the ingredients, and bake for about an hour. Check them after about half the time, to gently turn them and make sure every bit is covered in butter and herbs.

Hummus

Hummus is one of those things that can be used for all sorts of things. It can be a dip, filling for jacket potatoes, salad-ingredient, garnish for a dinner, sandwich-filling …. the list goes on. It’s delicious, and even good for you. The chickpeas contain proteins, and the lemon juice and garlic are also full of goodness. I mainly eat it for the taste though; the fact that it’s healthy is just an added bonus.

1 tin of chickpeas (240g)

3 small to medium sized cloves of garlic

2 tablespoons tahini (sesame paste)

3 tablespoons lemon juice

½ tablespoon olive oil

2 tablespoons chickpea liquid

a pinch each of freshly ground sea salt & black pepper

½ teaspoon smoked paprika powder

½ teaspoon dried mixed herbs

4 feta cheese stuffed olives

Drain the tinned chickpeas. Save the liquid in a jug, as you’ll use it later. If you soaked and boiled dried chickpeas instead of using tinned ones, save some of the water they were boiled in.

Place the chickpeas, garlic and tahini in a kitchen mixer with a chopping blade installed. Blend until it is a smooth-ish thick paste. Add the lemon juice and oil, blend, and then gradually add the chickpea liquid until the paste has the right consistency.

Some like their hummus quite firm, while others like it rather sloppy, so adjust it until it is right for you. I like mine somewhere in the middle between sloppy and firm, so that’s what I gave the amounts for here. It also depends on the chickpeas; some are more moist than others, while some require surprisingly large amounts of liquid.

Now add your flavourings. You can add all sorts of things, depending on what you have got in your pantry, the suggestions I have given gives a mild, slightly smoky flavour. Mix well and adjust the taste until it is how you want it.

To store the hummus, place it in an airtight container, and pour a thin layer of olive oil over it. This stops air from attacking the hummus, and helps preserve it for longer. Keep in a fridge for up to a week.

Sticky Triple Chocolate Cake

When I was asked to make a cake for a friend’s parents’ ruby wedding I was both honoured and terrified. Honoured because they actually wanted me (me!) to make a cake for such a special day. Terrified because it would have to be a very special cake for such a special day.

I sat down and looked through my cookbooks for inspiration, and after a lot of reading eventually decided to make a triple cake with a dark, a milk, and a white chocolate cake layer. It would be a tall cake, and wide enough that the bride’s original cake decoration would fit onto it. Once I had decided on the cake I started getting quite excited about the project, and couldn’t wait for the day of baking to come along. Finally the day arrived, and I baked cake after cake in my tiny little kitchen, before sitting down to decorate it.

The cake was handed over to my friend the evening before the party, and it was with great trepidation that I awaited comments. Thankfully the cake was a success, and the feedback I got was: 

“Just thought I'd let you know that the cake was a big hit and looked and tasted fantastic. Mum was thrilled.”

I’m giving the recipes here separately so you can chose if you want to make one, two or all three. The recipe for the glazing is for all three cakes, so if making only one or two cakes, you’ll need to reduce the amount. 

Serves 20 people

The dark chocolate cake

500g dark chocolate

6 eggs

30ml strong coffee

150g flour (I used Dove’s farm plain bread flour)

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 teaspoon xantham gum

250ml whipping cream

Pre-heat your oven to 190^oC. Grease a 25cm round baking tin.

Melt the chocolate over low heat in a thick-bottomed saucepan. When most of the chocolate has melted, take it off the heat and stir until it is smooth and fully melted.

Whisk the eggs until they are light and fluffy, and add the coffee. Mix the dry ingredients into a bowl, sift them into the eggs, and whish until well mixed. Whisk the cream in a separate bowl and fold into the eggs. Finally add the melted chocolate to the mixture and stir well.

Pour into a greased baking tin and bake in the middle of the oven for 45 to 50 minutes until the cake is done and a skewer comes out clean when doing the skewer test.

The milk chocolate cake

200g butter

200g milk chocolate

150g caster sugar

4 eggs

150g flour (I used Dove’s farm plain bread flour)

1 tablespoon baking powder

½ teaspoon xantham gum

Pre-heat your oven to 190^oC. Grease a 25cm round baking tin.

Melt the butter and chocolate over low heat in a thick-bottomed saucepan. When most of the chocolate has melted, take it off the heat and stir until it is smooth and fully melted.

Whisk the sugar and eggs until they are light yellow and fluffy. Mix the flour, baking powder and xantham gum and sift into the eggs. Pour in the melted chocolate and mix well.

Pour into a greased baking tin and bake in the middle of the oven for 45 to 50 minutes until the cake is done and a skewer comes out clean when doing the skewer test.

The white chocolate cake

200g white chocolate

100 g butter

4 eggs

150g caster sugar

50g flour (I used Dove’s farm plain bread flour)

1 teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon vanilla sugar

Pre-heat your oven to 190^oC. Grease a 25cm round baking tin.

Melt the chocolate and butter over low heat in a thick-bottomed saucepan. When most of the chocolate has melted, take it off the heat and stir until it is smooth and fully melted.

Whisk the egg yolks and half the sugar. In a separate bowl, whisk the egg whites and the other half of the sugar. Mix the flour, baking powder and vanilla sugar, and sift this into the egg yolks. Mix well, and add the melted chocolate to the egg yolk mixture. Fold the egg whites into the mixture, and carefully stir well.

Pour into a greased baking tin and bake in the middle of the oven for 35 to 40 minutes until the cake is done and a skewer comes out clean when doing the skewer test.

The glazing

500g dark chocolate

300g milk chocolate

8 tablespoons double cream

4 tablespoons butter

1 teaspoon coffee

Melt all the ingredients over low heat in a thick-bottomed saucepan. Stir carefully, and when it is all melted, take it off the heat.

Frosting

2 egg whites

450g caster sugar

200ml water

Place the egg whites in a heat resistant glass bowl over a pan of boiling water, and whisk until stiff. Heat the water and sugar and boil for 1 ½ minutes until melted and stringy. Pour this slowly into the eggs while whisking. Keep whisking until the mixture is a glossy white colour. This frosting has to be used at once before it sets, and you have to spread it on the cake very quickly, or it will set before you get an even layer.

Icing

A packet of white ready to roll icing

Red ready to roll icing for the decoration (or any other colour that you may prefer)

Assembly of the cake

Slice the dark and the milk chocolate cakes in two horizontally. Place one of the dark cake layers on a serving plate, and spread a layer of glazing on top. Add the other layer of dark cake, and repeat. Then do the same with the two layers of milk chocolate cake and then finally place the white chocolate cake on top. The top layer should not have glazing on it.

Roll the icing to a thin sheet that is big enough to cover the cake. Put this to one side ready to use after you have frosted the cake.

Add the frosting to the assembled cake, both on top and the sides. You have to work quickly to spread it all evenly before the frosting sets.  

Carefully place the icing on the cake, smooth the edges and cut off any leftover bits along the bottom of the sides.

Make shapes out of the coloured icing and place on the cake. 

Patisserie Valerie

Today is 17^th of May (The Norwegian National Day), and as I had failed to do any sort of baking I decided to go past PatisserieValerie while I was in town this morning. They have the most amazingly tempting shop window, with each cake on display more tempting than the last one. The patisserie opened in York earlier this spring, and so far I had managed not to go in (trying to watch the waist-line) but today seemed like a perfect reason to finally try it out.

As I stepped into the shop I was cheerfully greeted by one of the shop assistants. I eventually, after a lot of dithering, made my choice and watched as my cake selection was carefully placed in pretty cardboard boxes. It was with great anticipation of a feast that I cycled home with my catch carefully placed in my front basket. Somehow I managed to get home without the cakes collapsing or falling apart, quite an achievement on a bumpy road. And what a feast it was. I had to try one of the cakes there and then; a cream filled doughnut. It was nothing like what you buy in the shops, there was no grease or dry corners, no feeling of my arteries clogging up. Instead it was a moist and delicate bun, with a delicious creamy custard cream filling, and with icing on top. Perfection.

Sadly I couldn’t eat all the cakes myself, so I have saved the rest to be shared with friends later. And I have to say that I am very much looking forward to it.  

Strawbery Jam

I love strawberry jam. Actually I love jam in general, but there is something particularly yummy about strawberry jam – sweet, fresh, slightly sticky… need I say more. There are lots of exciting variations that can be made, but some times, the plain and simple straightforward option is the best. I use honey instead of processed sugar, and agar flakes to make the jam set.

Makes 2 small jars

400g strawberries

2 teaspoons honey

1 tablespoon agar flakes

Hull the strawberries and chop them into bite sized pieces. Place them in a wide pan, and slowly bring them to the boil. Using a wide pan ensures a wider distribution of heat, and so makes the process of boiling the jam quicker. This makes for a fresher-tasting jam.

Add the honey and agar flakes, stir until the agar flakes are dissolved, and boil for 3 to 5 minutes. When the jam is almost ready, use a potato masher or fork to mash some of the berries, but leave some berries whole, for a more interesting textured jam.

Add the jam to warm sterilised jars. 

Roasted Red Pepper Mousse Pâté

I found myself with a bit of a red pepper glut the other day, having done my weekly shopping and coming home to find that I already had a few peppers in the fridge. So I decided to do something that I had been thinking about for a while; make a pâté. And the result was very pleasant, a light and fluffy pâté that works well both as an accompaniment to a salad and on sandwiches.  

Makes 2 small pâtés

2 large red peppers

10 pitted green olives

1 mild red chilli (or adjust according to taste)

1 tablespoon fresh thyme

1 tablespoon fresh basil

150g cream cheese

salt and pepper to taste

1 egg

Pre-heat your oven to 200^oC, and grease 2 small ovenproof ramekins, about 10cm diameter and 10cm deep.

Roast and skin your peppers, and remove the seeds. Place them in a blender, and add the pitted olives, chilli and herbs. Blend until you have a smooth mixture. Add the cream cheese, and again blend until the mixture is smooth. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Whisk the egg, and carefully add this to the other ingredients. Pour the mixture into the ramekins, cover them with foil, and place these in a bain-marie. Place in the oven and leave for about an hour, until the pâtés have risen and are cooked.

Bain-Marie

The French term Bain-Marie refers to cooking food in a water bath. You can buy expensive specialist equipment, or you can quite simply use a bread tin or baking tray along with a heatproof dish.

What to do is to put you food into a dish, and cover it either with a lid or some foil. Place this in a baking tray or bread tin, depending on the size of your dish. Boil some water, and pour this carefully into the baking tray around the dish containing the food.

Be careful not to splash any of the water, and only fill up with water halfway up the side of the dish containing the food. This is because you don’t want it to accidentally splash into your food while cooking.

Place the whole thing into your oven, and cook for the required time on the temperature stated in your recipe.  

Cauliflower Cheese

Cauliflower cheese is one of those dishes that ‘everyone’ in England makes, and every family has its own take on it. This particular one is how my boyfriend’s mum always used to make it, simple yet delicious. It can be served as a main course on its own or with a salad, or as a side dish. I find it’s a perfect comfort food on a rainy day.

Serves 2 as a main course or 4 as a side dish

1 small cauliflower

2 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons cornflower

500ml whole milk

salt and pepper to taste

150g cheddar cheese (grated)

Cut the cauliflower into florets, and steam it until it’s soft.

While the cauliflower is steaming, make a béchamel sauce from the butter, corn flour and milk. Start by melting the butter and then adding the flour. Once you have whisked these two to a smooth mixture you add the milk a little at a time, stirring continuously. Add salt and pepper to taste, and finally 50g of the cheese. Leave this to simmer for a couple of minutes.

When the cauliflower is soft, place the florets in an ovenproof dish, pour over the sauce, and sprinkle the remaining cheese over it. Place under a warm grill for 5 minutes until the cheese is melted and slightly coloured. 

 

Banana & Cinnamon Fairy Cakes

I recently wanted to make some fairy cakes to bring to a picnic, and while I was looking in cookbooks to find inspiration I came across this recipe. It was in “the hummingbird bakery cookbook” by Tarek Malouf & The Hummingbird Bakers. As always happens when I intend to follow a recipe I change it slightly as I go along, this time to make it gluten free.

Makes 18 fairy cakes

For the cake:

350g plain flour (I used Doves farm plain gluten free white bread flour)

¼ teaspoon salt

1 ½ teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

160g caster sugar

250ml natural yogurt

125ml whole milk

1 medium size egg

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

70g butter

400g peeled banana

For the icing:

4 tablespoons icing sugar

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

2 teaspoons water

3 drops banana flavouring

sugar pearls for decorating

Pre-heat your oven to 170^oC.

Sift and mix the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Combine the yogurt, milk and vanilla extract, add the egg and mix well, and add this mixture to the dry ingredients. Melt the butter and gradually add to the dough while stirring. Finally mash the bananas and add these to the dough. Stir well until you have an even mixture, and then spoon into paper muffin cases until they are two thirds full.

Bake in the pre-heated oven for 20 to 30 minutes, until a skewer comes out clean. Leave the fairy cakes to cool on a wire rack.

To make the icing, sift the icing sugar and cinnamon into a small bowl. Add the banana flavouring, and carefully add the water a little at a time until you get the right consistency, you may not need all of it. The icing should be runny like a thick sauce, but thick enough that it will stay on the fairy cakes without falling off at the sides.

Use a teaspoon to pour the icing over the fairy cakes, one at a time. Finally sprinkle some sugar pearls over the cakes for decoration. 

Chocolate Fudge Cake

This bank holiday Monday was my friend’s birthday, and she had planned a picnic, so I thought I’d make a cake and bring to the party. I wasn’t quite sure what to make, I wanted something that would be solid enough to take the travel to the park, but something that was yummy enough for a birthday party. I found the answer in this simple recipe taken from the programme ‘The Great British Bake Off’ found the BBC’s web pages. As usual I couldn’t help amending it slightly, and the result was a moist and rich cake (which disappeared very quickly once people arrived at the picnic).

For the cake:

200g dark chocolate

200g butter

100ml water

200g plain flour (I used Dove’s farm plain gluten free bread flour)

50g brown rice flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 teaspoon xantham gum

25g cocoa powder

250g golden caster sugar

150g light muscovado sugar

3 medium eggs

75ml crème fraîche

For the icing:

150ml double cream

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon butter

150g dark chocolate

For decoration/serving (optional):

Sugar pearls

Ice cream

To make the cake:

Preheat the oven to 170^oC, then grease and line a 20cm x 30cm baking tray.

Melt the chocolate, butter and water in a thick-bottomed pan over low heat. Stir occasionally to prevent the chocolate from sticking to the bottom. Make sure it doesn’t get too warm, and remove from the heat as soon as the chocolate has melted.

Sift together the dry ingredients into a large bowl, and mix them well.

Beat together the eggs and crème fraîche, and pour these into the chocolate mixture while stirring. Pour all the liquid mixture into the dry ingredients while stirring well, and fold until the cake mixture is smooth.

Pour the cake mixture into the greased baking tray, and bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until the top is firm to the touch and a skewer comes out clean after being inserted into the cake.  

Leave the cake to cool on a wire rack.

To make the ganache icing:

Melt all the ingredients in a tick-bottomed pan over low heat. Stir occasionally to prevent it sticking to the bottom of the pan. Do not allow the mixture to get too warm. This is to prevent the chocolate from curdling. Once it is all melted and mixed well together, leave it to cool slightly before pouring it over the cake. Use a palette knife to spread the ganache evenly over the cake.

The cake can be served as it is, or decorated with sugar pearls, or maybe even served with ice cream.