Baked Peaches
12 Feb 2012 Leave a Comment
in Uncategorized Tags: mascarpone, nectarines, peaches, vanilla
A simple summer dessert. It’s quite light and not very filling so it’s perfect for after big meals 
Six ripe peaches
Six ripe nectarines
Mascarpone
Vanilla sugar
Slice the peaches and nectarines and place them in a baking dish. Sprinkle some [to taste] vanilla sugar over the pieces and bake at 200 c until soft. Place the baked fruit and resulting syrup into small ramekins and allow to cool. Next, sweeten some mascarpone cheese with vanilla sugar and place on to of the cooled fruit. Serve.
Fruit Cake
21 Dec 2011 Leave a Comment
in Uncategorized Tags: butter, cherry, chocolate, Christmas cake, coconut, fruit cake, ground almonds, nuts, raisins, wheat free
I love fruit cake. This cake uses ground almonds instead of flour so it should be good for those that can’t eat wheat. Ground almonds give the cake a moist texture but it doesn’t become as cakey as flour so easily crumbles. It would work well with custard as a pudding.
200g ground almonds
200 g butter – melted
1 tablespoons peanut butter
½ cup sugar
2 teaspoon baking powder
100 g coconut
3 eggs
500 g mixed raisins
250 ml orange juice
200 g cherries
100 g mixed nuts – roughly chopped
100g milk chocolate – roughly chopped
Soak the mixed raisins in the orange juice for a few hours before mixing all the ingredients together. Place in a lined cake tin and bake at 180C until done, about 1 – 1.5 hours depending on the oven. The edges should be browned but the centre should still be gooey with the look of being uncooked. As the cake cools it will become firmer, wait until it is completely cool before removing from tin.
Chocolate Cherry Trifle
03 Dec 2011 Leave a Comment
in Uncategorized Tags: cherry, chocolate, cream, custard, trifle, vanilla
I made up this trifle as a farewell thing for my last day of work – it didn’t actually turn out to be my last day but colleagues still talk about the trifle. And make mention that I should perhaps leave again so there’ll be more cake.
Sponge:
4 eggs separated
1 cup sugar
1 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
6 tablespoons cold water
3 tablespoons cocoa
Whisk egg yokes, sugar and water until light and creamy. Add shifted flour, cocoa and baking powder. Beat the egg whites until stiff and fold into the flour mixture. Pour into 30cm x 25cm oven proof dish and bake for 30 – 45 minutes at 160C.
Custard:
560ml milk
55ml cream
4 egg yolks
2 teaspoons cornflour/potato flour
2 tablespoons cocoa
30ml sugar
60g dark chocolate
Whisk yolks, cornflour/potato flour, cocoa and sugar together. Add to warm milk cream mixture and simmer until thick – do not allow to boil. Turn off heat and add chocolate, whisk until chocolate has melted.
Trifle:
1 tin black cherries – keep syrup
10g gelatine
40ml water
250ml cream
40ml sugar / vanilla sugar*
Drain the cherries and set aside. Heat the syrup – not hot but warm – and add the gelatine, once dissolved add the water. Pour the jelly over the hot cake, fresh from the oven. Toss the cherries evenly over the cake. I like to press the cherries into the hot gooey cake, and allow to cool. Once cool, pour over custard. I usually leave the trifle like that for about 4-6 hours before adding the cream. Whip cream with sugar and spoon onto trifle. Top with grated chocolate and you are done.
*vanilla sugar – I keep a jar of sugar with two or three split vanilla pods inside for baking use. The sugar can be used for coffee as well.
Chocolate Cupcakes with Apricot Jam Glaze
06 Nov 2011 Leave a Comment
in Uncategorized Tags: apricot, chocolate, cupcakes, jam, vanilla
I’ve just made these – they are busy cooling in the kitchen as I type. They are very simple and can be made at any time as no special baking goods are required. The cocoa can be left out and replace with half a teaspoon of vanilla extract for simple little vanilla cupcakes – any topping can be used for these cupcakes.
130g flour
100g sugar
100g butter
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 tablespoons cocoa
2 eggs
about half a cup of milk
2 tablespoons apricot jam
Cream the butter and sugar, add the eggs and milk. Fold in flour, baking powder and cocoa until smooth – more milk may be added. Spoon the batter into a muffin tin and bake at 180 C for 20 – 25 minutes. Warm about two tablespoons of apricot jam and spoon a small amount onto the hot cupcakes as they come out the oven. Use the back of the spoon to spread the warm jam evenly over the cupcakes – leave to cool.
Muffins into Trifle
30 Oct 2011 Leave a Comment
in Uncategorized Tags: mistakes, muffins, trifle
Some baking mistakes are beyond saving but others can be turned into something else. Just take a moment to think before tossing – burn edges can be cut off, heavy cake can be smothered in custard or cream or both and turned into a trifle.
Yesterday I baked some rum and raisin muffins, however, the rum was more than a little over powering. [Basic muffin with a cup of rum soaked raisins - pour off excess rum before adding to batter.] I used the rum muffins to make a tropical trifle, I lined a dish with the muffins (sliced in half) and poured tropical flavoured jelly over them slowly. I added a tin of drained fruit cocktail and pressed the fruit into the damp muffins – left the jelly to set. Once set, poured custard into the dish and cover it all with whipped cream.
Vanilla Custard
30 Oct 2011 2 Comments
in Uncategorized Tags: chocolate, cream, custard, vanilla
I only enjoy custard if it’s in something else, such as a trifle – generally though, I don’t eat it all that much.
570ml milk
60ml cream
1 vanilla pod
4 egg yolks
30g sugar
2 teaspoons cornflour/potato flour
Slice the vanilla pod lengthwise and place in a heavy based saucepan with the milk and cream – bring to a simmer. Whisk the yolks, sugar and cornflour/potato flour in a bowl. Add half the hot milk mixture slowly to the egg mixture while whisking. Return the milk egg mixture to the saucepan and simmer until the custard thickens, whisk gently and continually to ensure no lumps form.
Chocolate custard can be made by adding two tablespoons of cocoa into the egg mixture – sometimes I add about 60g – 80g of milk chocolate to the custard as it is thickening but it is not necessary.
Lemon Meringue Cake
24 Oct 2011 Leave a Comment
in Uncategorized Tags: cake, curd, lemon, meringue, pie
I like lemon meringue pie but many recipes and just about all store bought pies have condensed milk in them. I really do not like condensed milk so I made up this cake – it is very tasty.
Cake:
125g flour
125g sugar
125g butter
1 large egg plus the two yokes from the meringue mix
1 teaspoon baking powder
Cream butter and sugar together, beat in eggs. Shift flour and baking powder, fold into mixture – the batter will be quite firm. Spoon into lined cake tin and bake for 15-20 minutes at 180 C. Turn out and allow to cool.
Lemon Curd:
3 large eggs
80ml lemon juice (not from bottle)
1 tablespoon lemon zest
¾ cup white sugar
4 tablespoon butter
Whisk eggs, sugar and lemon juice in a metal bowl over a pot of simmering water – do not let the water boil or the curd will crystallize. Whisk continually for about 10 minutes until curd thickens, remove from heat and add butter and lemon zest – keep whisking. Spread curd onto the cake (there will be left over curd). Cover with cling wrap and store in the fridge. Curd will thicken slightly as it stands.
Meringue:
2 large egg whites
½ cup white sugar
Whisk egg whites and sugar together in a metal bowl over a pot of simmering water until egg whites are silky looking and form soft peaks. Spoon meringue onto cake and grill until golden brown.
This recipe can also be used to make individual cupcakes as the batter divides into twelve nicely.
Peanut Butter Biscuits
20 Oct 2011 Leave a Comment
in Uncategorized Tags: biscuits, chocolate, peanut butter
I love peanut butter biscuits. I can never have one, I always end up munching five or six at a time.
1 ½ cups flour
125 g butter
3 tablespoons peanut butter
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 egg
Cream the sugar, butter and peanut butter until smooth. Add the egg followed by the flour and baking powder. Roll small amounts of mixture into balls and place on a baking sheet; flatten slightly with a fork and bake for 15 -20 minutes at 180C.
Sometimes I use crunchy peanut butter so there are bits of peanut in the biscuits but you can add a handful of chopped peanuts into the mix. I have on occasion added choc chips – just as tasty.
Basic Muffin Mix
19 Oct 2011 2 Comments
in Uncategorized Tags: cheese, chocolate, fruit, lemon, muffins, nuts
I’ve been using this muffin mix for so many years, I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve made them.
2 cups flour
½ cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
100g butter (melted)
1 cup milk
1 large egg
Mix the melted butter, milk and egg. Fold in sugar with shifted flour and baking powder until flour is cover but mixture is not smooth. Spoon muffin mix into muffin tin and bake for 12-15 minutes at 180C.
Variations:
Chocolate – add 3 tablespoons cocoa to flour mix.
Fruit – dried and fresh fruit can be added to butter milk mixture but fresh fruit muffins don’t keep as long.
Jam middle – spoon some batter into muffin tin followed by half a teaspoon of jam; spoon more batter on top and bake.
Lemon – add three tablespoons lemon juice [and perhaps a tablespoon of poppyseeds].
Nuts – add roughly chopped nuts when adding the flour.
Cheese and herb – grated strong cheese such as cheddar with fresh or dried herbs. Feta also works but does not keep as long.
Experiment – you never know what you might discover.
Chocolate Brownies
18 Oct 2011 Leave a Comment
in Uncategorized Tags: brownies, butter, chocolate, milk chocolate, walnuts, white chocolate
I am not a fan of chocolate brownies but people go mad for these – I tend to assume it means they’re good.
200g milk chocolate
200g butter
100g walnuts, broken into pieces
100g milk chocolate, cut into large chunks
100g white chocolate, cut into large chunks
175g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
4 large eggs, lightly beaten
300g sugar
Preheat the oven to 170C/325F/Gas3. Put the milk chocolate and butter in a large bowl, place over a pan of simmering water and allow to melt – do not stir until completely melted. Sieve the flour and baking powder into a bowl, add nuts and chocolate chunks, mix and set aside. Remove the melted chocolate from the heat and stir in the sugar. Add the eggs. Fold in the flour, nuts and chocolate. Be quick so that the chocolate pieces don’t melt. Pour the chocolate mixture into an oven proof dish. Place in the oven and bake for 20-25 minutes. The top should be firm but the inside should feel soft when cooked. Allow to cool in the dish (about 12 hours). Cut into squares and remove the brownies from dish.
