Courgette & Fennel Tart

This is a very quick post as I am running round like the proverbial fly this morning trying to fit in 101 things before I go away with work shortly. So this is another recipe from my favourite Popina - I am going to move on to pastures new next week though and break out another recipe book.  It is a great summer tart - perfect for lunch outside or a picnic in the park.  Talking of parks I'm still drying out after spending last night watching The Killers in Hyde Park - come on heatwave - hurry up and arrive!


The recipe can be found in the Popina Book of Baking.

Gwyneth's Blueberry Muffins

This month Dom at Belleau Kitchen challenged us to cook something from our newest cookbook for his Random Recipe Challenge. I was recently given Gwyneth Paltrow's cookbook 'Notes from my Kitchen Table'. I decided to give this recipe a go as I was interested to try these muffins as she gives two versions of them in the book - her mother's original recipe and this 'healthier' version. I've been meaning to try cooking with Agave Nectar, which has a lower GI index than normal white sugar. Also the bikini countdown has started and lets face it every little helps! The recipe is so quick to make and results in very light muffins. You could literally knock these up for breakfast - well on a weekend anyway. If I was to make them again I would however put in less maple syrup as they are quite sweet with a dominant syrup flavour.

The Recipe

125ml vegetable oil (I used rape seed oil)

125ml soya milk

125 maple syrup

4 tbspns light agave nectar

100g white spelt flour

125g whole spelt flour

2 tspns baking powder

1/2 tspn salt

300g fresh blueberries

1. Preheat the oven to 190c/gas 5. Line a 12 hole muffin tin with paper cases.

2. Mix the wet ingredients together, stir in the dry ingredients and fold in the blueberries.  It is very runny mixture.

3. Divide between the cases and bake for 25-30 minutes or until they are golden brown and a cocktail stick inserted into the centre comes out clean.  Cool before eating. 

Chocolate Strawberry Shortcakes

I have always loved Strawberry Shortcake - it started with the doll I had as a child and then moved on to the food version. So for this month's We Should Cocoa Challenge I decided to make a chocolate version to meet their strawberry and chocolate theme. The rich cocoa biscuit works nicely with the strawberries.  I added a little rosewater to the cream too as like how it goes with the fruit. 


The Recipe


180g plain flour
60g cornflour
30g cocoa
180g unsalted butter
90g sugar
1 punnet of strawberries
100ml double cream
rosewater (optional)


1. Preheat the oven to 180c/gas mark 4.
2. Put all ingredients in the bowl of a processor and mix until the mixture forms a ball.
3. Wrap in clingfilm and chill in the fridge for half an hour.
4. Roll the mixture out thinly between 2 sheets of baking parchment/greaseproof paper. Use a 3 inch cutter to make rounds. Place on a baking sheet lined with greaseproof paper.
5. Prick all over with a fork (I forgot to do this but didn't seem to matter).
6. Bake for 10-12 minutes. Leave to cool on the tin. 
7. But a small amount of cream (whipped) on the centre of the biscuit then add sliced strawberries. Repeat until you have your stack.

Blondies

"Uh-huh make me tonight
Tonight
Make it right
Uh-huh make me tonight
Tonight
Tonight


Oh, uh-huh make it magnificent
Tonight
Right"

With these commanding lyrics from Blondie's Atomic I felt obliged to make these namesake bakes and make them the best I possibly could. I have to say that with their White chocolate, vanilla and pecan combination they were pretty magnificent. I found the recipe in The Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook which I've had for a few months but haven't really used. I've been meaning to try making Blondies for a while now - they are slightly less rich than the dark chocolate brownie version but as equally addictive!

The Recipe

150g white chocolate, broken up
125g unsalted butter
150g caster sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 tspn vanilla extract
200g plain flour
pinch of salt
120g pecan nuts, chopped


1. Preheat the oven to 170c. Line a 33 x 23 x 5cm baking tray with greaseproof paper.
2. Put the chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water. Leave until they have melted together.
3. Remove from heat. Add the sugar and stir until well incorporated. Add the eggs and vanilla extract, stirring briskly. The mixture may look like it is starting to split but it will be fine. Add the flour, salt and pecan nuts and stir until well incorporated.
4. Spoon the mixture into the baking tray and bake for 35-40 minutes, or until golden brown and the centre is still soft. Leave to cool completely.

Ginger, Oat & Sultana Cookies

This cookie recipe comes from the wonderful Popina Book of Baking. I have made them before and found they worked particularly well as a form of bribery when babysitting a 3 year old for a day.  It's amazing how you can get them to behave with the lure of a homemade biscuit.  I'm not sure that it would be one of Super Nanny's chosen methods but there you go!


They are a chewy cookie and the ginger sultana combo is delicious. I like to think the oats make them marginally more healthy too....


The recipe can be found in The Popina Book of Baking.

White Chocolate and Raspberry Roulade

This month's We Should Cocoa Challenge was set by Chele of the brilliant Chocolate Teapot blog. Chele challenged us to create a Swiss roll or a roulade, of course containing the obligatory chocolate element. I have previously made one roulade before which was a lemon sponge version and was basically pretty awful. Let's just say if I had dropped it on my foot it would have resulted in a trip to A&E. For this reason I was a bit dubious how this challenge would work out. I also decided to put a little extra pressure on myself by making it for pudding for friends who were coming round for lunch yesterday. Having completely slept in I didn't have much time to get this ready let alone the rest of the lunch!


I found the recipe for this White Chocolate roulade which is meringue based on a magazine website. So I got out my newly bought Swiss roll tin and got going. Yes the roulade cracked when I rolled it but according to Delia that's fine and let's face it what Delia says goes. I love this recipe and was also pleased as it was my first meringue attempt too. I made a raspberry coulis which I drizzled over the roulade when I served it. In hindsight I should have taken the photo after the addition of the coulis as my poor roulade does look a bit anaemic in this picture.  I had actually planned to take a photo of a leftover slice but it all went. I blame the 3 year old who came back for seconds!


The Recipe


4 egg whites
200g caster sugar
5ml each cornflour and lemon juice
100g white chocolate, broken into pieces (I used Lindt)
200ml double cream
5ml vanilla extract
1 punnet raspberries


Preheat oven to 160°C (140°C fan) mark 3. Line a 33cm x 23cm (13in x 9in) shallow baking tin with parchment paper.
Put the egg whites into a large bowl and whisk until stiff but not dry. Gradually add the caster sugar, whisking all the time, until the mixture is thick and glossy. Beat in the cornflour and lemon juice until well combined.
Spoon the meringue into the prepared tin and spread out evenly. Bake for 25min until a light golden crust forms. Leave to cool in tin for 5min. Lightly dust with icing sugar a rectangle of greaseproof paper a bit larger than the baking tin, then invert the meringue on to the paper. Remove tin, leaving paper on the meringue, and leave to cool completely.
Meanwhile, make the filling. Melt the white chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of barely simmering water, then remove from heat and leave to cool. Make the coulis by blending the raspberries and icing sugar until smooth. Sieve into a jug. In a medium bowl, whip the cream and vanilla until the cream just holds its shape, then fold in the cooled white chocolate.
Peel paper from the meringue, then evenly spread over the cream mixture. Sprinkle over hazelnuts and raspberries. Using the paper underneath it to help you, roll up the meringue from the short edge. Don't worry if cracks appear - they'll add to the log effect.
Transfer to a serving plate, drizzle over coulis, dust with icing sugar and serve.

Mini Chocolate Bundt Cakes

I have been in NYC for work this week and while it was mainly all work I did manage a little trip to the New York Cakes &  Baking Supply on W22nd Street. This shop is amazing! It has every kind of anything you need for baking - I just wish I had had a bigger case with me. I think the man on the photo may have been the owner - he was somewhat curious as to why I was taking photos of the shop - you can kind of get that from the photo.  He asked me what I was doing with that particular NY friendly charm. Anyway, when I explained that basically I thought his shop was brilliant and that I had bought some things he seemed a bit happier but still somewhat bemused.  Being limited on time and suitcase space I picked up a few things which included some very cute Crayola type candles which will look great on cupcakes, some pretty cupcake wrappers and a mini bundt cake silicone tray.   


I arrived back on red eye this morning and have been fighting instant sleep mode all day. So, to keep myself awake I thought I'd put the bundt tray purchase to good use and get baking.  I have slightly adapted a recipe I found on the lovely Alpineberry blog.  Mary from the blog uses melted chocolate in hers but I reduced the amount of flour and substituted with cocoa powder which has resulted in a really nice not too sweet cake.  Apologies for the cup measurements but too tired to convert and my friend has bought me some fab cup measurers (more on those later). Right, is 7pm to early to go to bed?!


The Recipe
1 cup plain flour & cocoa powder (I did about 70/30)
1/2 tspn baking powder
1/4 tspn salt
4 oz unsalted butter
1/2 cup caster sugar
1 egg
1/2 tspn vanilla extract
1/2 cup milk


1. Preheat the oven to 180c.  Butter a 6 mould mini bundt pan.
2. Sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt and set aside.
3. In a large bowl beat the sugar and butter together until smooth.  Add the egg and beat for a minute, then beat in the vanilla extract.
4. Add half the flour mixture and mix until just incorporated.  Add the milk and mix until blended.  Then add the remaining flour mixture and again mix until just incorporated.  
5. Divide the mixture evenly among the moulds. Bake for around 20 minutes until a skewer comes out clean.  Remove from silicone moulds when hot then leave to cool on a wire rack.