Creme Egg cookies

If you saw my 'basic cookie' post (3rd March 2014) you'll know that I felt inspired to try out new flavour combinations.  I asked for suggestions from my Facebook friends, and Creme Egg cookies were the brainchild of my good friend Sonia.

So, Evan and I had a play last week while Megan was napping (hooray, she's having a couple of hours in the afternoon again!)  We simply cut mini Creme Eggs in half, and pressed them in to the middle of each cookie before baking.  I thought they'd melt a bit more than they did, but they stayed pretty solid in the middle of the cookies.  If I was to try these again, I'd either break up the eggs or melt them, before mixing in to the cookie dough, so that the flavour mingles a bit more.  If you fancy having a go, we bought 2 bags of eggs and they were enough for 1 batch of Rachel's cookie dough, with a few left over to munch!

Not the prettiest cookies you've ever seen, but they made a tasty and different Easter treat and as you can see, Evan was very proud of his creation.  We'll try and make them again, while Creme Eggs are still in the shops. Maybe we'll get some on Co-op's bargain shelf ;-)

Easter chocolate tart

'This divine tart is a 'must have' for any self-respecting chocoholic.  It looks adorable decorated with little eggs on top'

Rachel  Allen, 'Bake', p208

Ok, you can see that my tart definitely didn't look 'adorable'.  In fact, I was a little embarassed to share this photo but, would this be a real baking blog without some disasters?  You see, Rachel didn't specify how to put the eggs on. I suspect that she just sprinkled them on loosely.  Well, I thought I'd be clever and stick them on with edible glue.  All was fine, but on the way to Granny & Grandpa's we had a trip to see CBeebies live.  Poor tart got left in the hot car, and the glue melted.  Hence the streaky mess!  Still tasted good though - it was our Easter Sunday pudding.  

To make the sweet shortcrust pastry, follow the recipe in my 'Quiche Lorraine' post, but replace the salt with 1 tbsp icing sugar.  I admit, I cheated and used a ready made shortcrust pastry then tried to knead in some icing sugar.  It wasn't a great result, the pastry shrunk quite a lot and didn't taste particularly sweet.  I definitely preferred my effort at making pastry from scratch.

To make the tart filling, heat 175mls (9fl oz) double cream and 125mls (4fl oz) milk in a saucepan, to boiling point (I used single cream as I had some in the fridge).  Take off the heat, and immediately stir in some chopped chocolate - 125g (4 1/2 oz) milk chocolate and 175g (6oz) good quality dark.  Stir to melt, and allow to cool for a few minutes.  Then stir in 2 beaten eggs.  Pour into the prepared pastry case, and bake at 180C/350F/GM4 for 15-20 minutes, until softly set.  Allow to cool in the tin for 20 minutes, before decorating with chocolate eggs.

Ooh, this filling was delicious, the 2 types of chocolate giving it a great depth of flavour.  I could have dived into the warm liquid mixture!  OK, I confess I did have a spoonful... or 2... or perhaps more!  As the pastry case had shrunk so much, there wasn't as much filling in it and plenty left over.  I made 4 mini tartlets for Nigel (who we've left at home earning the pennies this week).  There was still a fair amount left, so I've frozen it as an experiment, to see if it creates some sort of ice-creamy thing.  

Will definitely make this again, but with my own pastry.  I'd love to try it really deeply filled with the chocolate mixture!  Rachel suggests a variation made with chopped hazelnuts instead of mini eggs, so I won't have to wait until next Easter to try.  Watch this space!

Hot cross buns

'Homemade hot cross buns are a special Easter treat, but are really wonderful at any time of the year.  They go down extremely well (in all senses!) at the cookery school.  Eat fresh from the oven, split in half and spread with butter, or toasted and buttered a day or so later. They will also freeze very well'

Rachel Allen, 'Bake', p210

Happy Easter!  Hope you've had a wonderful, choctastic day!  Evan, Megan and I are enjoying a lovely Easter break in Wales with Granny & Grandpa.  Of course, it's been a great excuse to rustle up some baked treats!  Rachel has 3 Easter recipes in 'Bake' - Simnel cake; Easter chocolate tart and hot cross buns.  I made the latter 2 this year, Simnel cake is saved for Easter 2015!

I once heard a church minister talking about the significance of hot cross buns.  Apparently every ingredient has a significance - the cross of course; the spices represent those that were sprinkled on Jesus' body; and the currants that develop a red ring when cooking, to represent blood!  His point was that all these fancy variations, which add ingredients such as chocolate; cranberries and various other fruits, are missing the real meaning.  I looked to Google for an authentic recipe, but couldn't find one.  In fact, most of the articles point to it being a pagan idea (as many symbols seem to have been originally) with the cross dividing the bun into 4, to represent the seasons.  Whatever the real meaning, I'm very much in agreement with my Mum, who doesn't like to eat them before Good Friday.  Like mince pies and Christmas pudding, some things just belong in their season.  I hate to see hot cross buns for sale in January!  Ooh, sorry Rachel, I've just disagreed with your above quote!

Hot cross buns are quite time consuming as, like bread, they need time to rise and prove.  However, also like bread, much of this is just waiting time.  It's really a case of being organised, and ready to attend to the dough at the correct times.  Here's Rachel's recipe...

• 100g (3 1/2oz) caster sugar
• 225-300ml (8-10fl oz) warm milk
• 15g (1/2oz) dried yeast or 25g (1oz) fresh yeast or 2 x 7g sachets fast-acting yeast
• 450g (1lb) strong white flour
• 75g (3oz) chilled butter, cubed
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
• 2 tsp mixed spice
• Pinch of salt
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 75g (3oz) currants
• 50g (2oz) sultanas
• 25g (1oz) chopped mixed peel

• Egg wash made of 2tbsp milk; 1 tsp caster sugar and 1 egg yolk
• For the cross - 110g (4oz) shortcrust pastry, rolled out about 3mm thick and cut into strips about 5mm wide

1. In a measuring jug, mix 1 tbsp sugar with 60ml (2fl oz) milk and yeast.  Let stand in a warm place for 5 minutes until frothy.  If using fast-acting yeast, there is no need to leave to stand.
2. Sift the flour into a large bowl and rub in the butter.  Add the cinnamon; nutmeg; mixed spice; salt and remaining sugar.  Mix well.  Add the beaten eggs to remaining milk,  pour in the yeast mixture and mix together.  Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients, add most of the egg and milk and mix to a soft dough, adding more egg and milk if necessary.
3. Knead for 1 minute until smooth.  Add the currants, sultanas and mixed peel and continue to knead until the dough is shiny.  Alternatively,  knead in an electric food mixer using the dough hook.
4. Cover the bowl with cling film, then leave in a warm place for 1 1/2 - 2 hours, until it doubles in size.  Knock back by kneading for 2 minutes, then leave in the bowl (or covered with a clean tea towel on the work surface) to rest for 5 minutes.
5. Pinch off sections of the dough approximately 40g in weight and shape into buns.  Place on an oiled baking tray, gently brush with egg wash and, with a sharp knife, mark the top of each bun with a cross.  Place a cross of shortcrust pastry onto each bun, tucking the pastry loosely underneath.
6. Allow to rise for 30-45 minutes to double in size.  Egg wash again carefully.
7. Preheat the oven to 220C/425F/GM 7.  Bake the buns for 5 minutes, then reduce the heat to 200C/400F/GM 6.  Bake for a further 10 minutes, or until golden.  Remove from the oven, and cool on a wire rack.

Well, my attempt wasn't entirely successful.  At the last minute, I realised my yeast was 2 months out of date, but thought I'd give it a go anyway.  The buns didn't really rise, although they tasted OK.  The picture above shows the buns ready to go into the oven... I forgot to take a 'baked' photo before we munched them all.  So, they couldn't have been that bad!  But, lesson learned, check yeast before starting!  I'll have to try again next year.

Gone midnight now so I'll say goodnight, but hopefully write to you tomorrow about chocolate tart and Creme Egg cookies!

Quiche Lorraine

'Named after the Lorraine region of north-East France, this classic quiche is delicious served with a green salad and tangy relish.  It tastes great cold, too'

Rachel Allen, 'Bake', p145

One of my goals when starting this blog was to become more confident at making pastry, particularly shortcrust.  I did learn how to make it in school... memories of a scary teacher checking our hands to make sure we only had flour on our fingers, not our palms! But somehow I lost the confidence, or maybe I never had it to start with.  Lately I'd taken to buying ready made pastry, usually from Co-op's bargain shelf, and then freezing it until needed. But this always felt like a cop-out!

So, I decided to start with a quiche and was really chuffed with the result.  Here's what I think made the difference...

• My whizzy new Kitchen-Aid, which took the hard work out of mixing and did it thoroughly
• Treating myself to a good loose-bottomed quiche tin.
• And, of course, following Rachel's technique.  I'd seen it demonstrated on the TV series of 'Bake'.  Of course she made it look easy, but I wasn't sure it would work in practice.  It did!  Here's her method...

1. To make 400g (14oz) pastry, take 200g (7oz) sifted plain flour; a pinch of salt; and 100g (3 1/2oz) butter, chilled and cubed.  Whiz briefly in a food processor.  Add half a beaten egg, and continue to whiz.  Add a little more egg if necessary, but only until the mixture is just moist enough to come together.  If making by hand, rub the butter into the flour until it resembles coarse breadcrumbs, then add just enough egg to bring it together.
2. With your hands, flatten out the ball of dough until about 2cm (3/4") thick, then wrap in cling film or place in a plastic bag.  Chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes, or if you are pushed for time, in the freezer for 10-15 minutes.
3. Remove the pastry, then place between 2 sheets of cling film, larger than your tart tin. With a rolling pin, roll out to no thicker than 5mm (1/4") or thinner for tartlet tins.  If the tin is round, keep the pastry in a round shape and ensure you have enough to line the sides of the tin as well as the base.  (Using the cling film means you don't have to add flour to your worktop when rolling out, which can change the chemistry of the pastry.  This is somewhere I'd often come unstuck in the past)
4. Remove the top layer of cling-film, then turn over and place in the tin.  You can retain a layer of cling film to help shape the pastry in the tin.  Press the pastry into the edges then, using your thumb, 'cut' the pastry along the edge of the tin.  Remove the cling film, then prick over the base with a fork.  Chill again, in the fridge for 30 minutes or the freezer for 10 minutes (At this point, it can be frozen 'for weeks')
5. When ready to bake, line the pastry with foil; greaseproof paper or parchment paper,  leaving plenty to come up the sides.  Fill with baking beans or dried pulses.  Or, for a really smooth finish, line the pastry case with 2 sheets of cling film, add the beans and bring edges to the centre.  (Rachel must get through a lot of cling fim!)  Bake 'blind' at 180C/350F/GM4, for 15-20 minutes, or until the pastry feels dry.
6. Remove the paper/film and beans, brush with beaten egg, and return to the oven for 2 minutes.  If there are any cracks or holes in the pastry, patch them up with leftover raw pastry before returning to the oven.
7. Remove from the oven, and set aside while you make the filling.  The pastry can be baked a day in advance if necessary.

Hooray, pastry made with no soggy bottom and no shrinkage. It's definitely given me the confidence to do more.  Rachel also gives variations of sweet; sour cream and herby shortcrust pastry, which I hope to try at some point.

I was pleased with the filling as well - full of flavour, and it tasted really substantial, unlike some of the shop-bought quiches with can be little more than scrambled egg.  It's made as follows...

1. Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a frying pan.  Take 175g (6oz) streaky bacon, chopped into 1cm lardons.  Fry until crisp, remove and dry on kitchen paper.  Sweat 100g (4oz) peeled and chopped onions in the same oil for 10 minutes.
2. Whisk 2 eggs and 2 egg yolks in a medium sized bowl.  Add 250mls (9fl oz) double cream; 1 tbsp chopped parsley; 1 tbsp chopped chives; 50g (2oz) grated cheddar; 50g grated Gruyere cheese; cooled bacon and onions.  Season well.
3. Pour filling into the pastry case and bake for 30-40 minutes, or until the centre has set.

I used some really nice organic eggs, which I picked up reduced in Co-op.  They had lovely rich yellow yolks, and I'm sure this made a difference to both the finished look and flavour.

I had single cream to use up (Co-op's bargain shelf again!  You get the message, we visit it frequently.  We may have contributed to their recent huge drop in profits!) Used that instead of double, and it seemed to work.

I Googled 'freezing quiches', and the consensus seems to be that they freeze very well, unless they contain a lot of vegetables which tend to go soggy.  Planning for Megan's dedication party next month, so I might make a few in preparation!

Right, this has been a long and rambling blog tonight, but I was really pleased with my creation, and hope it inspires someone else to have a go.  Until next time!

Date bars

We used to make these sticky sweet bars when I worked in a food shop in Vancouver.  They're great for a little afternoon pick-me-up and much better than any bought variety.  They are perfect for lunchboxes, too, and will keep very fresh in an airtight box for up to a week.  They can also be frozen'

Rachel Allen, 'Bake', p26

I made these for a special, girly day out!  One of my great loves - apart from food of course -  is card making.  And one of the highlights on my calendar is the Hobbycrafts show at Birmingham NEC.  Mum and her sister, Aunty Peg, both love sewing so they go to the sewing section and we meet up every so often.  Of course, all that busy browsing takes some energy.  We usually take some cereal bars, so I thought I'd try out Rachel's recipe for this occasion.  

A really simple recipe, I was very pleased with the result.  I think I was expecting something crunchy, more akin to a cereal bar or flapjack.  They are actually quite soft, but none the worse for it.  They really work to give you a lift when energy levels dip.  Here's the recipe for you...

250mls (9fl oz) water

200g (7oz) dates (stoned weight), chopped

175g (6oz) plain flour

1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda

175g (6oz) soft light brown sugar

100g (3 1/2oz) porridge oats

Good pinch of salt

175g (6oz) butter, diced

20 x 20cm (8 x 8in) square cake tin

1.  Preheat the oven to 180c (350F), GM4.  Butter the sides of the cake tin and line the base with greaseproof paper.

2.  Place the water and chopped dates into a medium sized saucepan and bring up to a simmer.  Cook for about 10 minutes, uncovered, on a low-medium heat until the date mixture is very soft and thick, stirring occasionally.  Remove from the heat and allow to cool to room temperature. 

3.  Sift the flour and bicarbonate of soda into a large bowl.  Add the sugar, oats and salt and mix well.  Add the butter and, using your fingertips, rub it in until moist clumps form.

4.  Press half of the oat mixture evenly over this, then sprinkle with the remaining oat mixture.  Press gently with the palm of your hand to flatten it on top.

5.  Bake in the oven for approximately 40 minutes or until golden brown at the edges and set in the centre.

6.  Allow to cool completely in the tin, then cut into bars and serve.

Easy peasy!

I made these with gluten free flour as Mum was sharing them, not sure if it affected the finished result but they tasted fine to me!

I'm thinking this would be a good addition to packed lunches when my boy starts school in September (gulp!), especially if I can freeze a batch and take them out as I need them.

As a postscript to this story, we had a lovely day out,  Spent far too much money as usual, and now wish I had twice as many hours in the day to use my new things!  Megan enjoyed her first crafty experience.  Here we are having an encounter with Crafty Bob!

Alicia's easy cheese straws

'Alicia Wilkinson, a cookery school regular, made this recipe at the school during a visit from South Africa. Her cheese straws are so delicious that I had to include them here'

Rachel Allen, 'Bake', p130

Well, firstly apologies for the lack of blogging lately.  It's been a mad month - Nigel has been working pretty solidly, so my days have passed in a whirl of pre-school runs and baby feeding, then my evenings in catching up on what I should have achieved during the day. Plus, Little Miss Megan has gone through a phase of refusing to sleep during the day, so I really haven't had a minute. However, before you start feeling too sorry for me, I've been doing some fun things, and even squeezed in some baking time.  I owe you 4 blogs!

On 13th March, my big brother reached the grand old age of 40.  2 days later, my nephew Eddie turned 6.  So, Evan; Megan and I had a lovely long weekend in Wales, helping them celebrate. Here's Jon, blowing out the candles on his birthday cake!

Growing up, Jon was never the biggest fan of my cooking.  In fact, if I ever made a dish  in school and brought it home, he'd flatly refuse to eat it.  I don't think it was that bad!  However, one day I made some cheese straws and he wolfed them down.  They came top of his list when I asked what his favourite baked treat was.  So of course,  I had to try out Rachel's version for a birthday treat.

I'm pretty sure that the version I originally made was just a simple dough with some grated cheddar mixed in.  Rachel's version is a bit more involved, but very yummy and definitely worth a go.  It's made with a rectangle of puff pastry, which is brushed with egg white and sprinkled with Cheddar, Parmesan and cayenne pepper.  The rectangle is folded over, rolled back to its original size and once again brushed with egg white and sprinkled with cheese and pepper.  It's chilled in the fridge for 10 minutes, before being cut into strips and twisted into straws.  Finally, the straws are baked for 10-15 minutes, until puffed and golden.

My straws weren't the prettiest, to be honest.  I'm not sure if the pastry got a bit warm, but the straws kept breaking as I was twisting them.  However, they tasted good and Jon was delighted.  He's asked for "more, soon!", so perhaps I'll have a play and see if I can make them look better.

A word here on puff pastry... I've always said I'd never bother to make my own, since I heard Jamie Oliver say that 

"if you've got time to make puff pastry, you've got too much time on your hands!"

I've just been reading Mary Berry's autobiography,  and she also says she never makes her own puff pastry (or filo).  I've never heard Rachel say that - this recipe calls for 'good quality bought or homemade puff pastry'.  In this case I used ready made pastry (Does Jus-Rol count as good quality? Not sure!)  I do plan to make puff pastry from scratch, at least once during this challenge.  However, I think that can wait a while, probably until my baby is a bit bigger and less dependant.  Then I can get Daddy to babysit for a few hours while I have a play!