Fairy cakes

'These are the prettiest little cakes for a birthday party or just for a special treat; they are also known as butterfly buns' 

Rachel Allen, 'Bake', p39

Right then, part deux of Megan's party food (see previous post).  When I was planning her dedication party, I had grand plans to make fancy, girly pink cupcakes.  In the end I was pushed for time, and just had time to do these.  I also wanted to do fancy piped icing, but didnt have time to work out how to use a piping bag.  I ended up just spooning the icing on, and adding some lovely 'strawberry glimmer crunch' that I picked up in a supermarket.  They looked OK I think, and tasted lovely.  

Being totally truthful, they didn't actually make the party.  By 2am on the day, I'd just finished icing the main cake and was crawling into bed (at which point Megan woke for a feed... grrr!) Didn't have a spot of energy left for the cupcakes.  I ended up icing them the next evening, and they went to Megan's singing group and to pre-school for Evan's teachers.  They were much appreciated!

Well, if you're decidely more organised than me, these are definitely worth making alongside a celebration cake.  As they use all the same ingredients, I just whizzed the batter up in my KitchenAid straight after making the cake.  No need to wash the bowl out.  And I just made up a load of buttercream, which i shared between the cake and fairy cakes.  For that, I use a recipe from my Great British Bake Off cookbook... it adds a little melted white chocolate which makes it extra yummy (and extra naughty... but who cares when you're celebrating?!)  I won't include the fairy cake recipe here, as I'm sure most readers will have made them at some point.

Going back to the piping bag issue, it's something I do intend to master by the end of this challenge - and will need to when I come to making profiteroles.  It's got me thinking of which other skills I'll need to master. So after a flick through 'Bake',  here goes...

1. Rolling a Swiss roll or roulade
2. Making praline
3. Removing a biscuit based dessert from the tin (more about this next time!)
4. Making meringues
5. Making a steamed pudding
6. Making yeast bread
7. Using fresh yeast
8. Making a plaited loaf
9. Making sourdough bread
10. Jointing a chicken
11. Collaring a cake tin
12. Making shortcrust pastry (Hooray, tick, made Quiche Lorraine)
13. Making choux pastry
14. Making hot water crust pastry
15. Making puff pastry
16. Making flaky pastry
17. Piping, including making a piping bag
18. Making American-style frosting
19. Making creme patissiere
20. Making crystallised flowers
21. Making chocolate curls
22. Making marzipan
23. Making candied peel
24. Preserves, including jam; marmalade and curd, and sterilising jars.

Hope that's given you some insight into what's coming up.  It seems like a long list, but I'm looking forward to mastering (or maybe just attempting) all these new skills!

Party food!

OK, so I'm going to cheat a little here and blog 3 recipes in 1.  I have 9 recipes to write up, and thought this was the best way to catch up!

On 18th May this year, we had Megan's church dedication.  For anyone who doesn't know, this is a Baptist version of a christening.  We don't baptise babies - instead we have baptism by full immersion, as adults.  Here's me being 'dunked' in 2003...

The dedication is a sort of 'welcome to the church', and a bit less formal than a christening.  We had a lovely day - the sun shone brightly and many friends and family members came to celebrate with us.  And of course, there was plenty of food.  The week before truly was a 'baking frenzy', as I filled up the freezer with lots of make ahead treats.  From Rachel's 'Bake', I made the following:

• Chocolate and vanilla marble cake.  I forgot to photograph this, but you'll have to believe me!  It's such a simple, classic recipe that nonetheless tastes fantastic.  I froze it for about a week beforehand, and it came out well.  I've never frozen cake before, but certainly will again if we're expecting visitors or planning a party. *
• Banana and chocolate loaf.  Another really simple recipe, that froze beautifully.  Here is the evidence!  I've made banana loaf before, but the chocolate added another depth (and many more calories I guess, but who's counting?!) *

• Carrot and pecan squares.  These are similar to carrot cake, but use wholemeal flour to produce a denser bake.  The recipe is supposed to make 16 squares, but I cut them very small and made about double that.  We were worried that there wouldn't be enough food so I was trying to stretch it... needless worry, we were eating leftovers for a week!  Anyway, I digress.  I'll share the recipe here, if you fancy a go.  You will need...

175g (6oz) wholemeal self-raising flour

1/2 tsp salt

3 tsp baking powder

1 tsp mixed spice

1 tsp ground ginger

50g (2oz) raisins (optional)

150mls (1/4 pint) sunflower oil

150g (5oz) soft light brown sugar

3 eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

225g (8oz) carrot, finely grated

50g (2oz) shelled pecans, chopped, plus 25g (1oz) for sprinkling

For the cream cheese icing

75g (3oz) chilled cream cheese

25g (1oz) softened butter

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

75g (3oz) icing sugar, sifted

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

To make...

1. Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/GM4.  Butter the sides of the cake tin and line the base with greaseproof paper.
2. Sift the flour; salt; baking powder and spices into a large bowl.  Add the raisins (if using) and mix well.
3. Whisk the oil; brown sugar; eggs; vanilla extract; grated carrot and chopped pecans in a separate bowl, then mix in the flour and spice mixture.  Spoon into the prepared tin and bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes, or until springy to the touch and a skewer, when inserted in the centre, comes out clean.
4. Allow to cool, then remove from the tin and place on a serving plate. 
5. To make the icing, beat cream cheese and butter together until combined.  Add the vanilla extract and sifted icing sugar, and mix to combine.  Should be smooth and quite thick.  Using a palette knife, spread over the cooled cakes, dipping the knife in hot water if the icing is hard to spread.
6. Sprinkle the cake with chopped pecans, and cut into squares to serve.

Rachel says that these cakes would be equally good un-iced, but who could resist a good dollop of cream cheese icing?!

Here are my finished cakes, all ready for the party...

As Rachel would say, "yum!"

I also made Rachel's fairy cakes for the party, but they can wait for next time!  I'll close with a photo of the party girl, who had a great time and certainly enjoyed sampling some cake.  The dress was mine, made by my mum when I was about 2.  A real family heirloom!

Until next time!

* I've decided not to share all 3 recipes on here, for several reasons.  Firstly because it would make a really long blog!  Secondly, as they are recipes that most of you will be familiar with (or something very similar at least!)  Thirdly, I never intended to share every recipe as I'm not sure if that counts as plagarism.  Although you could probably Google any of them these days so maybe it doesn't matter.  But just to be on the safe side!

Apple & oat crumble, and Megan's new adventure!

'Adding oats to a good old fashioned crumble gives a lovely nutty flavour and crunchy texture'

Rachel Allen, 'Bake', p81

Firstly, many apologies for the long break in blogging.  It's been such a busy couple of months - in May we had Megan's dedication (Baptist version of a christening) which gave me plenty of excuses to bake, but no time to blog!  Once I'd caught my breath from that, it was time to prepare for our first family holiday abroad.  We had a wonderful time, just returning last Friday.  I'm now trying to ignore my huge stack of ironing and catch up here!

Well, this bake happened over 2 months ago.  For once, it was nothing really new for me.  I have a very similar crumble recipe, which I got from a 'healthy heart' leaflet that I picked up in a GP surgery once.  It really does add something to the classic crumble recipe.  For anyone who'd like to try it, Rachel's recipe is as follows...

• Place 100g (5oz) plain flour and 1tsp ground cinnamon (optional) into a large bowl.  Add 75g (3oz) chilled, cubed butter and rub in until it resembles very coarse breadcrumbs.  Don't overwork, or you'll lose that lovely crunch.  Add the oats and sugar, and mix to combine.
• Sprinkle over stewed apple and bake at 180C/350F/GM4, for 15 minutes (small crumbles) or 30-45 minutes (large crumble) until golden.

Easy peasy!  Rachel suggests serving it with whipped cream or ice cream, but I do enjoy a good dollop of custard with my crumble.

This was one of Megan's first weaning foods, and she loved it!  We're doing baby led weaning, as we did with her brother, so a word on that if you're not familiar with it.  Basically, it involves forgetting purees and just letting baby share your food.  That's it!  There are very few hard and fast rules, apart from that the baby should always be in control and choose how much they eat.  The theory is that the baby learns to control their own appetite, rather than being persuaded to have 'just one more spoonful'.  Some also say that it produces less fussy children.  Unfortunately this didn't work with Evan!  He'd eat anything and everything until about a year, and then found his stubborn little personality.  I'm sure this is common for a lot of children, baby led weaned or not!  So I'm making the most of Megan at the moment, while she'll try anything and everything.  We're having lots of fun!

Anything goes really, with baby led weaning.  There are a few things they can't have, such as added salt and honey (before a year).  It's best to start with 'sticks' of food that stick out from a closed hand, as intitially they can't open their fist to get food inside.  So carrots; broccoli; strips of melon; slices of apple; asparagus {if you're feeling posh!) are all good.  And lack of teeth doesn't seem to be an issue!  Evan didn't get a tooth until he was 9 months, but he could have a good munch on an apple.  Megan loves meat at the moment, and she still hasn't got any teeth.  Here's a photo of her enjoying that yummy crumble...

We did 'loaded spoons' for the custard, so filled the spoon and let her take it to her own mouth.  She did really well for not quite 6 months.  And she was able to pick up large lumps of crumble with her fingers and shovel it in!   Messy but lots of fun.

Here are some of her other first foods... 'Dippy egg'; stir fry with noodles; and calamari in Menorca.  The latter kept her amused for ages!

So there you are, a little digression this time, but I hope you've enjoyed it!  If anyone wants to find out more about baby led weaning, I can highly recommend the forum at www.babyledweaning.com/forum.

Back soon (I hope!) with some of the party recipes that we enjoyed at Megan's dedication.

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!

Basic cookie recipe

'This recipe is the basis for many combinations. Experiment with ingredients - flavourings, dried fruits, nuts, spices and even herbs such as lavender - to find your favourite'

Rachel Allen, 'Bake', p14

Well, If you saw my last post you'll know that our house has been full of cake and naughty leftovers since Evan's birthday. Added to this, Nigel has decided he's on a health kick, so I'm not supposed to be indulging his sweet tooth. So, it's time to share my baking with other people (which, after all, is supposed to be a big part of this blog)

Well, a very good friend of ours moved house this week so I decided to bake some house warming cookies. She's a big fan of ginger, so I added chopped crystallised ginger and lemon zest to the basic mix. The dough felt slightly dry, so instead of water, I added some lemon juice. Very pleased with this combination, it had a real 'zip'.  

Feeling quite inspired by cookie making now, lots of scope to be creative with flavour combinations! Rachel suggests poppy seed; lemon; orange; white chocolate and orange; spices; ginger; double chocolate chip or white chocolate and dried cranberry. Got me thinking... how about banoffee; salted caramel or even Mars bar cookies! What do you think? If that's got you inspired, let me know! Pop your flavour suggestions in the comment box and who knows, I might have a go!

Thought you might like to see my cookie making assistant, of sorts! He's a boy after my own heart - helped me for about 5 minutes then said "I'll come back and lick the bowl, that's the best bit isn't it Mummy?!'

And who can argue with that?!

Sticky toffee pudding

'Moist, sweet, moreish and very straightforward to make, this is a guaranteed crowd pleaser.  It can be prepared entirely in advance and will keep very well once cooked, lasting five or six days in an airtight box in the fridge, or up to three months in the freezer.  Before serving, just warm it up in a low oven for about 15 minutes covered (defrost first if it has been frozen) 

Rachel Allen, 'Bake', p84

Well, my apologies for the lack of blogging recently. It's been a busy couple of weeks! Evan turned 4 a fortnight ago, and we had a lovely weekend with a party at a local soft play cafe on the Saturday, followed by a family tea party on the Sunday.  Unfortunately, between preparing for visitors; cardmaking; present wrapping and birthday cake making (sorry Rachel, not one of yours!) there wasn't much time left for playing around. I even - shock horror - had to buy cake for the tea party! And ever since, we've been polishing off the naughty leftovers.  To add to that, I've been celebrating St David's Day this weekend by baking heaps of Welsh cakes! 

Right, excuses out of the way. Last Sunday, Nigel had a rare Sunday off work, so we cooked Sunday lunch for his parents and Grandma. Cue excuse for a naughty pudding! I love sticky toffee, but had never tried to make it. I didn't realise quite how easy it could be! It basically entails boiling some chopped dates in tea to soften. You then cream butter and sugar and gradually beat in eggs, followed by mixed spice; vanilla extract; the date mixture; flour and bicarbonate of soda. Pour into a tin and bake. Easy peasy!

The real star of this recipe is the toffee sauce. Now, my intention with this blog has never been to reproduce all the recipes. However, this is such a yummy and versatile sauce that i thought I'd share it here. You just mix 110g butter; 250g soft light brown sugar (or half brown & half caster); 275g golden syrup; 225mls double cream and 1/2 tsp vanilla extract. Whack it all in a saucepan, put over a high heat and boil for 4-5 minutes, until thickened.  Rachel says that this will keep for weeks, even months in the fridge, so worth making a big batch! I think this would make a great sauce for ice cream, or maybe for waffles or pancakes.  Ooh, pancake day on Tuesday and I've got sauce left. I'll let you know how it goes!  Rachel also has a boozy version of this sauce, made with brandy and sweet sherry. I'll try that next time.

Back to the pudding... It would definitely feed a crowd. Although Rachel says it serves 6,  we fed 5 adults and a child initially. There was plenty left over - Nigel and I have had 2 portions each over the week. And none of us went for dainty portions!  Definitely a good recipe to have in my repetoire, and I love the fact that it can be mostly be prepared the night before. 

Ok, signing off for now but hope to be back tomorrow to tell you about some cookie baking. Goodnight, or as we're in a Welsh frame of mind, nos da!

Grandpa's chunky Seville orange marmalade

Something a bit different this time - my first attempt at making preserves. It's something I've been meaning to try for a while, but never got round too. I suppose that's what this blog is all about!

My mission started with the purchase of a most ginormous bag of sugar. 5kg,  to be precise. It was about as big as Megan, and she's a little pudding! In fact, you hear about babies being born 'smaller than a bag of sugar'. Well, at 9lb 4oz, she was!

The technique was surprisingly easy. For those of you who haven't made marmalade before... Basically, you boil the oranges for a couple of hours. When they are cool, you scoop out the soft middles and squeeze through a muslin to strain the juice.  Chop up the zest, then put into a large pan with the juice and cooking water.  Then boil rapidly for about 20 minutes until it's set.  Finally, pour into sterilised jam jars.

I was really pleased with my efforts, and the row of jars sitting on the windowsill is giving me delusions of being a domestic goddess! Did make one error... I halved the original recipe, then cooked it in 2 batches as i didn't have a big enough pan. Still boiled it for 20 minutes, but I think this was much too long. The marmalade has set like glue! I've googled 'overset jam' and apparently, adding boiling water will soften it. Ah well, all part of the learning curve, I suppose.

Haven't been put off though, and I love the idea of giving homemade preserves as presents. Perhaps not this batch, though!

Easy gluten free bread

'You'll need a food processor for this one. The rice flour gives the bread a different consistency to that which you would expect from a traditional loaf, but this is an essential recipe to have to hand if you are feeding friends or family members with gluten intolerance'

Rachel Allen, 'Bake', p115

Well, as I said, my Mum is trying out a gluten free diet so it was an ideal opportunity to try this recipe while we were staying last week. Finding the ingredients was the hardest part - we looked in 3 major supermarkets but couldn't find any of the special flours required. Eventually we found rice flour; potato flour; cornmeal and soya flour in Holland & Barrett. 

That just left xanthan gum. 'What the heck is that?', I wondered. I'd seen it on food labels, and aiways imagined it to be some nasty artificial additive. However, as Rachel says it can be found in health food stores, I thought it couldn't be too bad. A little research on Wikipedia needed... It is a 'polysaccharide secreted by the bacterium Xanthomonas campestris'. Hmmm, sounds pleasant! It is produced from the fermentation of glucose; sucrose or lactose, grown in isopropyl alcohol and then ground to a fine powder. Xanthan  gum may contain traces of corn; soy or wheat so it's advisable to check the label carefully if you have allergies. Xanthan gum is often used to stabilise salad dressings and sauces; to improve the texture of ice cream and to bind toothpaste. Another use, as in this recipe, is to replace gluten in baking. It gives the dough a stickiness that gluten would otherwise provide. Oh, and we finally found it in Lakeland! 

It does seem a large initial outlay to make this bread. The flours and cornmeal were £1.89 for each 500g bag, the xanthan gum £4.49 for 100g. However, you only need small amounts of each - 225g rice flour; 25g potato flour; 50g cornmeal and 1 tsp xanthan gum. 

Making the bread was easy, basically just whizz together in a food processor. The dough is too wet to knead, so you simply pour it in to a tin; leave to rise and then bake. The taste and texture are, of course, very different to a traditional loaf and I can't say I'm a convert. However, if I was going gluten free I'd happily eat it.