We Should Cocoa ~ Rose Scented Indulgent Chocolate Cake

When Choclette announced that this month's We Should Cocoa Challenge was to use rose alongside chocolate, I will admit to being slightly perplexed.  Rose isn't an ingredient I am use to baking with and after quite a bit some consultation with my ever expanding stash of recipes nothing really came up trumps for me and inspiration was sparse to say the least!  I was an unhappy little teapot ;0(


Then Mr JS rode in to my rescue ... without even knowing it!  He has returned from Australia for a short stay and comes to at dinner with Hubby and I once a week.  It was during this weeks meal that he asked me if I could make a chocolate birthday cake for another one of our friend's (the birthday bash being last night ... slightly worse for wear today!)


It was a eureka moment for me.  I knew the exact cake to bake, and with a small amount of tweaking I could get it to fit in with this month's theme, resulting in a happy little teapot once more ;0)

Rose Scented Indulgent Chocolate Cake
175g SR flour, sifted
3 tbsp 70% cocoa powder
1 tsp rose water
175g butter, completely softened, plus extra for lining the tin
175g caster sugar
1 tsp baking powder
3 eggs
1-2 tbsp milk
100g 70% dark chocolate, melted and cooled
Icing
500ml double cream
500g milk chocolate, chopped
Rose Scented Mascarpone Filling
500g mascarpone
2 tsp icing sugar
1-2 tsp rose water, depending on taste


Make the icing first (it takes a while to cool and thicken).  Put the chocolate into a bowl.  Pour the cream into a pan and heat until simmering.  Take off the heat and pour it over the chocolate.  Stir until the mixture is smooth.  Cool, then chill until really thick but spreadable.


Heat the oven to 180C/fan 160C.  Butter and base line 2 x 20cm sandwich tins with baking parchment.  Take 3 tbsp flour from the full flour amount and put them back in the flour bag - the cocoa powder will make up the difference.


Put all the cake ingredients except the chocolate in a large bowl.  Beat them together with an electric whisk (or whizz in a food processor) until you have a creamy mixture, then fold in the melted chocolate.  Add a little more milk if the mix is too stiff - it should fall easily from a spoon.


Divide the mixture between the 2 tins and level.  Bake on the same shelf in the oven for 20-25 mins or until the sponge springs back when pressed.  Cool for 5 mins, turn out onto a wire rack, peel off the paper and cool completely.

While the cakes are cooling make the filling.  Mix together the mascarpone, icing sugar and rose water in a bowl until well combined and smooth.  When the cakes are cool sandwich the layers together with the rose scented mascarpone and then with some of the chocolate icing.  Use the rest of the chocolate icing to spread over the rest of the cake in a nice thick layer.


Serves 10
Adapted from a recipe in Olive Magazine, April 11

I should have decorated the cake some crystallised rose petals of course, but I didn't have any so white chocolate stars it had to be!  Its a very much a home-made looking cake but it didn't detract from the taste one little bit.  Purely indulgent with every mouthful!  If I had one criticism, its that the rose maybe wasn't as strong as I thought it would have been.  I did err on the side of caution with the amounts of rose water added because I didn't want the cake to end up tasting like a bar of soap!  I would add more next time, both to the cake and the mascarpone.  On the up side, after the small mishap of the chocolate icing not really firming up last time, I gave the mixture a good whip before letting it set in the fridge overnight which seems to be the trick, it was lovely and thick and smooth and everyone seemed to enjoy their slice!

Strawberries and Pimm’s with Vanilla Mascarpone

With summer just around the corner (although you would be forgiven for thinking otherwise on second glance!) here is a super easy but super tasty recipe to have up your sleeve!

Strawberries and Pimm’s
900g ripe strawberries, hulled and washed
3 tbsp caster sugar
100ml Pimm’s No1 Cup
Few sprigs fresh mint, leaves only

Place the strawberries in a large bowl and scatter over the sugar. Leave for a few mines, then drizzle over the pimm’s and tuck in the mint leaves. Leave them to marinate, covered, but not in the fridge, for an hour before serving. They’re delicious with lemon sorbet or half fat crème fraiche ... but I personally think they are at their best when served with Vanilla Mascarpone (see below).

Serves 8
Feel Good Food, Spring 11

I served this with Vanilla Mascarpone which was as simple as mixing half a tub of mascarpone with a good drizzle of vanilla bean paste, the seeds from half a vanilla pod also works really well.
 

 
PS - I'm quite proud of the mint in this recipe as I grew it myself!!!!  I know it is generally considered a 'weed' but there was a time when I thought I had managed to kill it only to find it springing back to life a few weeks ago and is now growing with vengeance!  I expect there will be a few more mint recipes appearing on this blog in the months to come ;0)

Snowflake Tart

I'm back!  We celebrated Christmas with Hubby's family at Sis in Law's place in Bathgate this year.  Bro in Law even managed to make it up from London, although Heathrow did its best the throw a spanner in the works, he at least managed to get a flight unlike so many others.  Poor people, such a rotten time of year to be stuck at an airport! 

This year I was in charge of dessert for the big day.  Bro in Law is a huge fan of pavs and had asked for one months before Christmas so for him I made Mum's Pav smothered in freshly whipped cream and thoroughly doused in the contents of about 6 passionfruit Nigella style!

I also made this White Chocolate Tart.  I had attempted to be artistic and make it look like a snowflake using a holly leaf cutter and some white chocolate modelling paste.  If you look at it from a distance and screw your eyes up a wee but you can kind of see the effect!  It tasted pretty good though.  And it keeps well which is a bonus seeing as we didn't really get to the desserts or sweet treats until Boxing Day, we had a late lunch on Christmas Day and nobody could fit another ounce of food in after that!

White Chocolate Tart
Pastry
225g plain flour
100g butter
25g caster sugar
1 egg yolk
2 tbsp cold water
Custard
3 eggs
300ml double cream
50g caster sugar
150g white chocolate
1 x 250g tub mascarpone cheese
Icing sugar to serve

You will need to 28cm loose bottomed flan tin. Preheat the oven to 200C/ fan 180C. To make the pastry, whizz the flour and butter in a processor until it becomes breadcrumbs. Add sugar, egg yolk and water and whizz again until combined into a ball.

Roll out the pastry on a lightly floured work surface to about 5cm bigger than the tart tin. Line the tin, trim the edge and prick the base with a fork. Set aside to rest in the fridge.

Break the chocolate into a bowl and melt gently over a bowl of barely simmering water, stir occasionally until melted. Measure the eggs, cream and sugar into a bowl and whisk together until blended. Whisk in the melted chocolate and mascarpone until smooth with no lumps.

Line the pastry tin with baking paper and baking beans. Cook in preheated oven for about 10 mins. Remove the beans and paper and return the pastry shell to the oven at the same temp for a further 5 mins or until the pastry shell has dried out.

Pour the custard into the tart tin. Bake in a preheated oven at 180C/fan 160C fro about 20 mins until the filling is set. Once cooked set aside to cool, remove from the tin, dust with icing sugar and serve cold.

Serves 8
Country Kitchen, March 08

• Tart can be made up to 2 days ahead and kept in the fridge. Freezes well cooked.

I didn't use the pastry recipe above, as I already had a healthy amount of sweet shortcrust resting in the fridge for some mince pies so I used some of that instead.  Once it was 'decorated' I sprinkled some little gold stars over and to serve with both the pav and the tart I made some Vanilla and Raspberry Sauce.  The tart really benefited from another flavour to help cut through the richness of that chocolate custard ... and Bro in Law even introduced me to the perks of some leftover sauce on toast!!!

Christmas Day Feast - Part One - Breakfasts and Buffets

My stomach still hurts from yesterdays over indulgence. Of course this hasn't stopped me from having chocolates, mixed nuts and sweeties for breakfast! Yes Mum, I am hanging my head in shame. Lunch and dinner for the next few days are taken care of in the shape of many leftovers. Half our guests were unable to attend 'the feast' because of the snow ... snow and broken ankles aren't the perfect combination for transport ... so we have quite a bit extra in the leftover department. I love leftovers ;0)

And even though the last thing I really want to be doing right now is thinking about all the food I managed to scoff yesterday, I know that if I don't write the recipes down somewhere right now then come next Christmas I'll have forgotten what we did have and what did or didn't work. Hold on to your stomachs ...

The Breakfast

Christmas morning breakfast is always the same in our house. Croissants warmed in the oven, split open and smeared with mascarpone and loads of sliced strawberries piled on top. Its a tradition that my Mum started about 6 or 7 years before I left for the UK. The strawberries don't taste as nice at this time of year and I know I should be buying seasonal produce but tradition is tradition! Last year I did sway from this ritual out of guilt (blast those strawberries!) and I made Nigella's Apple and Blackberry Kutchen. It was very nice, we really enjoyed it, but it just wasn't Christmas so I decided to live with the guilt of paying over the odds for tasteless imported Strawberries and went back to old faithful this year! And it always gets washed down with Buck's Fizz.

The Buffet

Hubby's Mum is diabetic and I find trying to plan a three course meal around blood sugar readings and injections a bit tricky. This year I thought it might be easier to have a buffet for a starter rather than a proper sit down course, that way if the need arose, food was ready at the drop of a hat. Unfortunately Mum-In-Law was one of the stranded party who never managed to make it through, good thing there are still some extras sitting int he fridge for when we all do manage to get together.

Smoked Salmon and Horseradish Rolls (ended up being Smoked Salmon and Horseradish Pate) - far left
2 tbsp hot horseradish sauce
350g mascarpone or creme fraiche (I used half and half)
2 tbsp finely snipped chives
Sea salt and coarsely ground black pepper
250g smoked salmon, best quality
Extra snipped chives for serving

Beat the horseradish, chives, salt and pepper into the mascarpone and refrigerate until needed.

Cut the salmon into strips about 15cm long bu 5cm wide. Place a small spoonful of the cream on one end, and roll up. It doesn't matter if the edges are a bit ragged. Sit each roll on its end, and scatter extra chives on the exposed cream at the top. (You can do this an hour or two beforehand and refrigerate until required). Serve with drinks or as a first course on a bed of green leaves.

Serves 4 to 6
Jill Dupleix recipe (I finally tracked it down here)

Try as I may, the smoked salmon just didn't want to bend to my will this time round! I ended up having to make it into a pate instead as I just couldn't get decent enough strips to turn into rolls. These look really stunning when the salmon does behave itself and is well worth the effort. The horseradish cream and smoked salmon work so well together that I could easily eat the whole lot to myself no problem at all!

Mum's Mushroom Pate (Middle)
8 slices white bread
75g butter, melted
1 tbsp olive oil
1 garlic clove, crushed
1/2 small onion, finely chopped
375g small button mushrooms, thinly sliced
Salt and pepper
1 tbsp dry sherry
2 tsp cornflour
75ml sour cream
1 tbsp finely chopped parsley
1 tsp finely chopped thyme
25g freshly grated Parmesan
Sprigs of basil to garnish

Preheat oven to 180C. Line a baking tray with foil. Cut the crusts from the bread. Brush both sides with melted butter. Cut each slice in half vertically, then cut each half into 3 horizontally. Place the bread croutes on the prepared tray and bake for 5 to 10 mins, or until they are golden and crisp.

Heat the oil in a large frying pan. Add the garlic and onion and cook, stirring constantly, over a low heat, until the onion is soft and translucent. Add the mushrooms and cook over a medium heat for 5 mins, or until tender. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Pour in the sherry. Mix the cornflour and sour cream to a smooth paste, add to the mushroom mixture and stir until the mixture boils and thickens. Remove from heat and stir in the parsley and thyme. Set aside to cool.

Spread the mushroom mixture on to each croute. Top with grated Parmesan. Place on baking tray and return croutes to the oven. Bake for 5 mins, or until croutes are heated through. Transfer to a warm serving dish, garnish with sprigs of basil and serve immediately.

* Storage time; make the bread croutes up to 4 days in advance and store in an airtight container. Make the mushroom topping and assemble just before serving.
* Variation; Puree the mushroom mixture, spoon into small dishes and chill. Serve as a pate with the bread croutes.

This is a recipe my Mum recommended to me so i made it with her variation of pureeing the mixture. It didn't look very attractive but it was very tasty. Next time I think I'll make it the way the recipe suggests for aesthetic reasons only ;0)

Hot Smoked Trout Pate (Right)
300g hot smoked trout (or mackerel or salmon) fillet, skinned
2 tsp English mustard
2 tbsp creme fraiche
1/2 tsp caster sugar
1 tbsp lemon juice, or to taste
1 tsp coarsely ground black pepper
2-3 tbsp chopped fresh dill or chives
1/2 tsp paprika, optional

Put half the smoked fish into a food processor or blender with the mustard, creme fraiche, sugar and lemon juice and blend until smooth. Transfer to a bowl.

Break the remaining fish into flakes and stir it into the blended mixture with the black pepper and dill or chives. Taste and add more lemon juice, if necessary. Ideally, leave to rest in a cool place for an hour or two before serving.

Serve the pate with a dusting of paprika, if you like, and with buttered bread or toast. A scaled down version of this, on small pieces of toast, makes a lovely canape.

Serves 4 as a starter
Delicious Magazine - Dec 09

This recipe is by Hugh Fernly Whittingstall. Hubby's Dad quite liked it but I have to admit that the smoked salmon won me over. It will forever be known as 'Trate' in our family as I never seem to quite be able to get my tongue around the full name.



Ruby Red Pomegranate, Blue Cheese, Parsley and Shallot Crostini


20 thin slices of French Stick
100g blue cheese (I used blue stilton)
100g pomegranate seeds
Small bunch of picked flat leaf parsley
2 shallots, finely sliced
2 tsp extra virgin olive oil
Salt and cracked black pepper



Preheat the oven to 180C. Arrange the sliced french stick slices on a baking tray. With a teaspoon, drizzle over one tablespoon of olive oil, transfer the bread to the oven, and bake until golden brown (about 5 mins).



Once toasted, allow the crostini to cool for a couple of mins. Then, using a small knife or the back of a spoon, spread the blue cheese over the top of the crostini.



In a small bowl, combine the pomegranate seeds, parsley, shallots and olive oil, seasoning the mixture well.



Place a teaspoon of the pomegranate mixture on top of each crostini and serve on a platter.



Makes 20 crostini
Cook Vegetarian Christmas Mag - Dec 09



This one was delish - shall most definitely be making again! I searched high and low for shallots in the lead up to Christmas and even though they are normally in plentiful supply I just couldn't find them anywhere. I replaced the shallots with half a small red onion which ended up working really well as a replacement.


Running out of room here - second post on its way with Christmas lunch in all its infamous glory!

Homemade Pizza ... Take Two

Making pizza is nothing new to me, back in my high school days I used to make it quite often after the one I brought home from Home Ec class went down a treat.  I posted a recipe for homemade pizza late last year and although it was good, it just didn't quite do it for me.  So quite a few weekends ago (I'm a bit behind with my posts!!!) I gave this recipe a whirl.

Simple Pizza Base
600g string white bread flour, plus plenty for rolling
1/2 tsp dried yeast
2 tbsp olive oil, plus extra for drizzling
Semolina, for dusting

Put the flour, yeast and 1 tsp salt into a large bowl.  Stir in 500ml of slightly warm water and the oil.  You should end up with a wettish dough that is rough and lumpy.  Scrape down the sides of the bowl, cover with a tea towel and if your kitchen is cool keep it out, but if it is warm put it in the bottom of the fridge.  Leave the dough to rise for at least 6 hours or until doubled in size.

When ready to cook, bring the dough to room temp.  heat the oven to 220C/fan 200C.  Dust 2-4 baking sheets with semolina.  Dust the work surface with flour, then divide the dough into 2 or 4 pieces.  Knead each piece on the floured surface, incorporating enough flour to stop the dough being sticky.

Roll each piece into a pizza shape and lift onto baking sheets.  Leave to rise for 10 mins while you sort toppings (see below).  Top the bases with your chosen ingredients, drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and bake for 18 mins for a large pizza or 12 mins of an individual pizza, or until the crust is crisp and the top is bubbling.

Makes 2 large or 4 individual pizzas
Good Food Magazine, March 11

* You can prove the dough overnight or during the day. 
* If the dough looks like it might climb out of the bowl, squash it down. 
* It will be sticky when you roll it out, but with a little kneading on a floured surface it will become smooth and pliable. 
* Cook two large pizzas at a time, swapping oven positions halfway through, or cook individual pizzas in two batches.

Wild Mushroom and Mascarpone Pizza Topping
Soak a large handful of dried wild mushrooms in boiling water until soft.  Meanwhile, mix 6 tbsp mascarpone with a crushed garlic clove and season well.

Heat 2 tsp olive oil and fry 6 sliced cap mushrooms until just starting to soften, then add the drained soaked mushrooms and 1 tsp thyme leaves.  Spread the mascarpone mix on the pizza base and top with the mushrooms.

Bake for 12 for individual pizzas or 18 mins for a large pizza, then remove from the oven and sprinkle with 4 tbsp grated Parmesan.  Return to the oven for 1 min and finish with extra thyme leaves.

Makes enough topping for 1 large pizza or two small pizzas
Good Food Mag, March 11

This is my all time favourite pizza topping now!  I love the creamy mascarpone sauce instead of the normal tomato one.  Heaven!!!

Hubby had a 'Meat Eaters Feast' complete with chicken, pepperoni and chorizo!!  Sis-In-Law was here to help us munch our way through the pizza's too, the overall winner was the Wild Mushroom ;0)

Stir-up Sunday

Stir-up Sunday is a Christmas tradition which dates back quite a few centuries (I really must do some more research on this tradition to find exactly how far back it dates) and always takes place on the last Sunday before Advent begins. This year that is today ;0)

In the true spirit of the day I have started my Christmas prep with vigour, making some mincemeat, gingerbread dough and a special treat for Hubby. The house is smelling very festive, can't wait for the big event now.

Apple, Cherry and Toasted Hazelnut Mincemeat

250g cooking apples

Zest and juice of 1 lemon

Zest and juice of 1 orange

250g dried apricots

125g dried dates (I prefer dried figs myself so will replace the dates with figs next time)

50g natural glace cherries

25g glace stem ginger

25g chopped candied lemon and orange peel

50g chopped toasted hazelnuts

110g vegetable suet

250g sultanas

110g raisins

175g soft dark brown sugar (or muscovado sugar)

1 tsp ground mixed spice

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp freshly grated nutmeg

100ml Grand Marnier

Peel, then finely grate the apples into a large bowl. Mix in the lemon and orange zest and juice.

With scissors, snip the dried apricots, dates and cherries into small pieces, then add to the apple. Add the ginger, chopped peel and the remaining ingredients and with two big spoons, mix everything together. Cover with a cloth and leave to stand overnight.

The following day, sterilise your jars and lids. Wash them with hot, soapy water, drain and place them on a baking tray in the oven for 30 mins at 140C/fan 120C.

Give the mincemeat a stir, then spoon into the jars. Cover with wax discs, then seal with the lids. Label and store for as long as possible before using (it should keep until next Christmas).

Makes approx 1.5kg (about 4 jars depending on size)

Adapted from Delicious Magazine, Dec 09

I slightly tweaked a recipe from the latest Delicious Magazine for this one and is the closest to 'real' mincemeat as I've ever made. Personally speaking I'm not a huge fan of ginger or candied peel but Hubby likes all these things so I thought I would give it a go. These jars are now safely stored alongside the jars of Vanilla and Rhubarb Mincemeat that Nigella's Christmas book got me hooked on last year! This year I made it while the rhubarb was in season and have kept it hidden in a dark cupboard until its time to start making the mince pies. I'll post about those babies later ....

Gingerbread Dough (For a Gingerbread House)

1 cup vegetable shortening (I used trex)

1 cup caster sugar

2 tsp baking powder

2 tsp ground ginger

2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1 cup dark treacle

2 large eggs

2 tbsp white vinegar

5 cups plain flour

In the bowl of a large stand mixer (I used my kitchen aide which stood up to the test well) fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the shortening and sugar with the mixer turned on medium-high speed until well combined.

Add the baking powder, ginger, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg and beat until incorporated.

Add the treacle, eggs and vinegar and beat until smooth, scraping down the sides of the bowl once or twice as necessary.

Add the flour, 1 cup at a time and mix on low until smooth. Scrape the dough onto a sheet of plastic wrap and press into a rough square. Wrap tightly and refrigerate for at least 3 hours and up to 3 days. Can be frozen for up to 3 months.

Makes enough for 1 gingerbread house and some trimmings

The Gingerbread Architect

After Christmas last year I spotted 'The Gingerbread Architect' in my local book store. I loved the idea of the recipes as 'blueprints' and pined after the book all year. A few weeks ago I went back and bought it, determined to make my first ever Gingerbread House this year. The dough is now sitting int he freezer waiting for a spare weekend to dedicate to my creation.

And now to Hubby's treat. Last year for one of our Christmas Day desserts (its Christmas - there are always at least two choices for dessert on Christmas Day plus all the nibbles of the day as well - I blame my family for bringing me up on a very generously laden Christmas table!) I made a White Chocolate and Raspberry Trifle. Hubby loves Trifle, its one of his all time favourite puddings but I have to confess that the traditional Sherry Trifle does little to float my boat! When I came across this recipe I knew we had found a happy medium ... except that Hubby found it very hard to share the Trifle with everyone else and this year he seems to think that he will be getting one all for himself. I can 100% guarantee that this will not be happening but in an effort to meet every one's needs, wants and desires I'm playing around with the idea of individual Trifles served in sundae glasses ... so Hubby doesn't have to share his Trifle!

White Chocolate and Raspberry Trifle

115g caster sugar

115g softened butter

2 large free range eggs

115g SR flour

200g white chocolate, chopped

450g fresh or frozen raspberries, plus extra for decorating

3 tbsp icing sugar

250ml double cream

300g mascarpone

100ml framboise (Raspberry liqueur)

500ml thick, ready made custard

100g plain chocolate

Preheat the oven to 190C/fan 170C. Cream together the caster sugar and butter until light and creamy. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, mixing well after each addition. Sift over the flour and fold in gently. Stir two thirds of the white chocolate into the batter along with a quarter of the raspberries. Place 12 fairy cake cases in a bun tin and half fill each with the batter. Bake for 12-15 mins, until golden brown.

Lightly crush half the remaining raspberries with 1 tbsp icing sugar in a bowl and set aside. In a bowl, briefly whisk the cream, mascarpone and the remaining icing sugar together until just combined and smooth.

Discard the fairy cake cases, halve the cakes horizontally and use to cover the bottom of a large glass dish, pressing each cake against the side so that there are no gaps (freeze any leftover cakes for up to 3 months). Pour the framboise over the cakes and tap with crushed and whole remaining raspberries and the remaining white chocolate. Top with the custard, then spoon over the mascarpone cream.

Melt the chocolate in a bowl over a pan of simmering water and use a clean paint brush to brush 2 coats of chocolate onto clean, flat holly leaves. Leave to set, then gently peel away the leaf. Use to decorate the trifle along with the extra raspberries.

This dessert can be made up to a day ahead.

Serves 6-8

Adapted from Delicious Magazine Jan 09

This recipe is for the large dessert, for the individual version I reduced the amount of cream and mascarpone for the topping etc, seeing as there is only two of us it seems a bit extreme to be going the whole hog already. I kept to the rest of the recipe though, the leftover cupcakes will now keep until Christmas Day in the freezer. I added a lot more raspberries to the mix though, at least 250g in total, I like raspberries! The end result means that my batter went a lot further than the recipe suggests. In fact I got 24 cupcakes out of it in all.

Mascarpone and Brown Sugar Scones

Regular readers will know that scones are not my forte.  Rock cakes I can produce in abundance, even with a light touch, but a nice fluffy, well risen scone has always been an elusive beast ... although I am a bit of a dab hand at a scone cake if I do say so myself, but not so sure that counts!  At the weekend Hubby and I decided to take a walk along to the harbour (I got a lovely tuna steak from Welch's which was promptly Soy Glazed and cooked on the barbie for dinner!) and then we ended up popping into a book shop!  This is generally a fatal mistake and Saturday was no different!  I ended up walking out with the River Cottage Preserves Handbook, The Hummingbird Bakery's Cake Days and Lorraine Pascale's Baking made Easy which I had been lusting after ever since seeing the series on TV.  Its not as  bad as it sounds though, two of them were half price and I had vouchers so I was a good girl really ... tis my excuse and I am sticking to it.

Anyhoo, lets move this story along! I was feeling a bit guilt ridden over yesterday's dessert, my Mother in Law has been in hospital for over 2 weeks now and originally we thought she would be out in time to join us for Sunday lunch.  When that didn't happen I thought I would make her up her own tiramisu and we could take it in for her at evening visiting hours.  Then I read the footnote that advised as it has raw egg it shouldn't be eaten by the young, elderly or those with an immune issue.  Bugger!

Then I remembered her saying that the tea trolley never had scones on it and my mind flicked to a recipe I had spotted in Lorraine's book so I took the plunge and gave them a go.  And they worked a treat, best scones I've ever made!  (You can tell my modesty went out the window at the success of these scones, my ego swelled as I sat on the kitchen floor and watched them rise through the oven door)!  The mixture is obviously very forgiving and they taste divine too, Hubby and I shared a couple of leftovers for supper. 

Mascarpone and Brown Sugar Scones
340g SR flour, plus extra for dusting
1 tsp baking powder
Pinch of salt
80g butter, cold and cubed
2 tbsp soft light brown sugar
80g mascarpone
about 90ml milk (I only needed about 80ml)
1 egg lightly beaten, for glazing

Preheat the oven to 210C.  Dust a large baking tray with flour.

Put the flour, baking powder, salt, butter and sugar in a food processor and pulse until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.  Add the mascarpone, then pulse again for 3 seconds.

Pour the mixture into a large bowl and make a well in the centre, then pour in enough milk to make a soft dough with a knife.  Use both hands to bring the mixture together, and squeeze, making sure any dry bits get picked up.  Keep squeezing the mixture, it will eventually come together.  Knead lightly for a few seconds just to make the dough smooth and then roll out quickly on a lightly floured surface to about 2cm thick.

Cut out rounds using a 6cm round cutter and place them on the prepared baking tray.  Don't twist the cutter when cutting the scone shapes otherwise they won;t rise evenly.  Re roll the leftover dough and cut out more scones.

Brush the tops with beaten egg and bake for 10-12 mins, or until the scones are nicely risen, firm and golden brown.  Remove from the oven and leave to cool a little on the tray. 

Makes 9 (I got 12 out of the mixture even when rolled to the generous side of 2cm!)
Taken from Baking Made Easy by Lorraine Pascale

Lorraine suggests serving these with lashings of clotted cream and strawberry jam but I suggest a bit more mascarpone and either some Rhubarb and Ginger Jam or my favourite Lime Curd.  What ever your preferred topping though, please give this recipe a try the next time you are in the mood for afternoon tea.  I can't recommend these highly enough!

Forever Nigella ~ Chocolate and Frangelico Tiramisu

For this month's Forever Nigella the them was Italian.  Originally I was toying with the idea of following Sarah's suggestion and making some gelato but while searching through the various books I stumbled across the recipe that was somewhat of my nemesis at Christmas time.  You see both Nigella and Nigel appeared on TV in the lead up to Christmas preparing recipes that included my most beloved Frangelico.  Ordinarily not a problem except that in this case it had the 'Delia effect' and stocks of Frangelico totally disappeared and my local supplier had a 6 week back order!!!!  You can imagine that finding out the week before Christmas that a batch of my Christmas Cream Liqueur was not going to be available on our table caused a wee bit of a strop.  Bl**dy Nigella!  (We never curse Sir Nigel in this house!)

Now that the Frangelico balance has been restored I felt I was able to forgive Nigella her fopar and graciously I thought I would give her recipe for Frangelico Tiramisu a try and have it for dessert after today's family lunch.  In keeping with the challenge I haven't included the recipe here but you can find it in 'Kitchen'.  The only real change I made to the recipe was to swap the coffee for hot chocolate and I reduced the quantities by half and preparing the tiramisu as individual desserts in glasses.

Sis In Law and I really liked it (she makes a mean tiramisu herself so I was a little worried what her verdict would be!) by Hubby didn't care for it quite so much, oddly enough because the coffee flavour was too strong for him even though there was no coffee in it.  I was surprised to find it did actually have a coffee tang to it, must be the frangelico but it was the lovely nutty side of the flavour rather than the strong bitter side that so often over powers.  Next time I make this I 'll stick to the original quantities and and make it as one large dessert to serve up, it was a bit tricky to make the individual ones look as pretty as they could have been.

Random Recipe Challenge ~ Basil, Mascarpone and Ricotta Tart

We had friends around for dinner last night, one is a veggie, the other is a 'freedom' eater (vegetarian although he eats meat as and when he chooses, which usually tends to strikearound about the time we are at the German Christmas Market and he's had a few gluhweins!) and then there are the fussy eating habits of Hubby and I.  No pressure when planning the menu there then!

Fearing this challenge wasn't fraught with enough danger already I also decided to up the ante by taking part in Dom's  Random Recipe Challenge, and find a recipe for our main meal from one of my neglected and seldom appreciated cookbooks.  Dom's idea is to randomly selected one of your books and then randomly select a recipe from the index which you then need to make, if you've made it before then you should turn to the recipe on the next page and make that instead. 

Forgive me Dom but I cheated!  While the book was randomly selected, it was actually shortlisted from a whole host of books that I've had in my collection but either haven't used at all or I've used quite sparingly.  Then given the constraints of my dinner guests I selected a recipe from the index that was not only vegetarian but would also suit the carnivores.  But I figure the point of the challenge is to encourage everyone to use books that are often neglected and to try recipes that maybe wouldn't be considered normally, in which case I didn't cheat at all ... at least that's my excuse and I am sticking to it ;0)

Basil, Mascarpone and Ricotta Tart

1 pre-baked 26cm tart shell (another cheat!  I used store bought shortcrust to make the tart shell as I was short on time)
Filling
250g mascarpone
350g creme fraiche
370g ricotta
4 eggs
1 1/2 tsp sea salt
3 big handfuls of basil leaves (or 3-4 tbsp pesto if stuck for fresh basil)
80g freshly grated parmesan

Preheat the oven to 180C.

Make the tart shell!

Then pile all the ingredients for the filling in to a food processor and whiz them until they're thoroughly mixed together, stopping to scrape down the sides once as you go.  Don't over mix or the texture can turn grainy.  Taste to see how strong the basil is and add more if required.

Pour the filling into the prepared tart shell and bake for 40-50 mins, or until the filling is wobbly set and a bit puffed.  Remove the tart from the oven and leave it to settle in the tin for a few mins.

When you are ready to serve, carefully remove the tart from the tin and slide it onto a serving plate.  Its best served warm rather than hot.

Serves 6-8
Belinda Jeffery's Tried and True Recipes

I confess to being slightly disappointed with this tart.  It was a bit luck luster really ... but now I've typed the recipe out I realise that I forgot to put the parmesan in!  Doh!  It did create some lively conversation around the dinner table though once I had stated that it seemed to be missing something.  The freedom eater thought maybe blue cheese would do the trick , I wondered if maybe parmesan would add the missing sparkle (20:20 hindsight!) ... possibly the addition of a very finely chopped semi dried tomato or two?  At lunch time I even tried it with a dollop of caramelised onion chutney, which was delicious but totally overpowered the basil in the tart.  Well ... now I know what was missing ... we'll just keep that one between us ;0)

We Should Cocoa ~ The Hazelnut Challenge

As soon as Choclette announced this months We Should Cocoa challenge I knew that I wanted candied hazelnuts to be the crowning glory.  Now I can fully appreciate that it is far more customary to actually have a dish in mind and perhaps even made before one begins to contemplate the finishing touches ... but I reckon you guys are getting pretty used to me by now and understand that my brain just doesn't function that way most of the time!

So then the challenge became what to use the candied hazelnuts on.  Cupcakes kept cropping up but then that would be too similar to last months event so were promptly dismissed each time.  A torte maybe?  Perhaps a Pav? What about a Mousse?  The options were endless but none of them seemed to tick the box for me.  Then last weekend Hubby requested his favourite cheesecake and the little light bulb went off above my head. 

Decision made ... or so I thought!  Now I needed to decide what kind of cheesecake to make.  This step proved to be just as difficult as deciding what to make in the first place!  After scouring the net and all my books I was still none the wiser so I plucked up the courage to make up something all my own (although the filling is adapted from a recipe that I found in Olive from May 10!)

White Chocolate Truffle Cheesecake with a Roasted Hazelnut Crust
For the Base
150g shortbread biscuits
25g hazelnuts
55-60 butter, melted
For the Filling
150g white chocolate, broken into small pieces
250g mascarpone
75ml double cream
For the Candied Hazelnuts
75g hazelnuts
175g caster sugar
Wooden skewers


Begin by roasting all the hazelnuts (for both the base and the candied hazelnuts) in a 180C oven until they are roasted and the warm nutty scent fills the house!  This takes about 10 mins but keep an eye on them as they burn quickly.  Remove from the oven and place the roasted hazelnuts in a tea towel and leave to cool for a few mins, then wrap them up in the cloth and rub vigorously to remove the skins.
 
Prepare 6 small fluted tart pans with melted butter.
 
To make the base, blitz the biscuits and hazelnuts in a food processor until they are fine crumbs.  Mix well with the melted butter and then place large spoonfuls of the mixture into the prepared pans.  Pat the mixture over the base and sides of the pans and then place them in the fridge while making the filling.
 
To make the filling, put the white chocolate and 65g of the mascarpone into a bowl. Put the bowl over a saucepan of simmering water and stir until the chocolate melts into a smooth sauce. Leave to cool slightly then, using an electric whisk, blend in the remaining mascarpone until smooth. Stir in the cream until thoroughly mixed. Leave for 5 mins or until the texture is smooth and reasonably firm, but not set.  Spoon the filling into the tart pans and then chill in the fridge for 2-3 hours until softly set.
 

 
Meanwhile make the candied hazelnuts.  Place a wooden skewer into each hazelnut so you have a handle for dipping them, be gentle with them otherwise the hazelnuts will split.  Cover your kitchen floor with newspaper and its a good idea to make sure you haven't got bare feet either! 
 

 
Place the sugar in a heavy based pan and place over a medium heat until melted (I didn't stir mine, although I did swirl the pan from time to time to make sure hot spots didn't form).  Have a bowl of ice cold water on hand that you can dip the pan in as soon as all the sugar is melted to stop the cooking process.  (Most recipes then suggest to leave the caramel to cool and thicken for a few mins before using but I found mine was starting to set so I skipped this part!)
 

 
Take a hazelnut and holding the skewer, dip the hazelnut into the caramel and ensure that the hazelnut gets a good covering.  Place the skewer under a heavy chopping board until the caramel has set.  Continue until all the hazelnuts are covered.  Use to decorate the cheesecakes when ready to eat.
 
Makes 6 individual cheesecakes
 

 
If I do say so myself these are pretty heavenly!  They are also decadent to the extreme so my recommendation would be to find someone to share with ... if you can bare it ;0)
 
Its not too late to take part in this month's challenge for We Should Cocoa.  The deadline is the 25th and then the round up will appear on the Chocolate Log Blog on the 26th.  Then all you have to do is to remember to head back here on the 1st November to find out what the next challenge involves ... can't wait to see your creations!

Mauritius Revisited

OK, so the setting for last nights dinner couldn't quite compete with the real thing. But, the food was as close as I could get it! Hubby and I spent 13 glorious days and nights on this beautiful island back in June / July last year for our honeymoon. I decided the most romantic thing I could make for last night's valentine's day meal was to try and recreate some of the dishes we most enjoyed while we were in Mauritius, including Hubby's favourite dish.

The menu for the evening was;

Gnocchi with Four Cheese Sauce

Foccacia Bread ~ even got a photo this time ;0)

Vanilla Pannacotta with Passionfruit Syrup

Blue Lagoon's

Hubby loved the gnocchi, said it was even better than the ones he had while we were away. I'm taking this as very high praise as he had it for lunch just about every day. Lunch was always served with freshly made bread rolls and a choice of three sauces on the side, they came served in little silver dishes with dinky little spoons and everyday the selection was different to the day before. I loved waiting for the bread to be served at our table, to see what that days flavours were. Sad I know! The Focaccia Bread with Pesto that we had a few weeks ago was quite similar in texture and flavour to the bread roll and condiments we were served so I opted to make that to serve alongside the gnocchi.

Four Cheese Gnocchi

115ml double cream

60g butter

2 tbsp dry white wine

100g parmesan cheese, grated

50g gorgonzola, crumbled

200g mascarpone cheese

100g grated mozzarella

1 tsp sea salt

Gnocchi

Bring a large saucepan of boiling water to the boil. Add the gnocchi and simmer until they float to the surface. Remove the gnocchi with a slotted spoon and place in a large bowl.

To make the sauce, place the cream and butter in a saucepan and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat to low, add the wine, cheeses and salt and whisk until smooth. Gently stir in the gnocchi to coat with the sauce. Serve immediately.

Serves 4-6 as a starter

Taken from 'Cooking for Christmas'

This dish was very rich. I couldn't eat a whole bowl, Hubby had to finish it off and even he was struggling. I understand now why the cook book had it as a starter! That said though, it was very yummy and Hubby has asked for it again sometime soon. I think I may need to limit his expectations somewhat though, this is not a meal for regular consumption least I'll be walking through doors sideways!!!

Fresh From The Oven - Stuffed Buns

This is my first time taking part in the monthly bread group Fresh From The Oven. The event was hosted by Ria this month and she choose Stuffed Buns. Having never had a stuffed bun in my life I wasn't quite sure what to expect from this but I'm pleased to say that the results were very yummy. These are going to be made again for a girl's day out to Haddington Farmer's Market at the end of October.

The dough for the buns was very different from anything I've ever made before and while I was making it I thought I had misread the recipe as it was very oily, I was too scared to tip it out for kneading for fear it was going to stick to the bench and be a complete disaster. To my surprise though I didn't even need to add any more flour to it, the oil just seemed to keep everything silky smooth, which defied logic for me. Next time though I think I will reduce the amount of sugar and oil int he recipe, the finished bun was a tad on the sweet side for a savory bun and there was a puddle of oil left in the bottom of the bowl after it had finished proving. But I can see that this is a very versatile recipe and can easily be adapted to sweet fillings as well (doesn't take much for me to see the dessert side to a recipe!) so I'm really pleased that Ria has introduced this to my baking repertoire.

Now ... its time for a slight admission. The original recipe called for a curry type filling but as Hubby is my chief taste tester and dislikes anything curry flavoured I decided to change the filling to something more aligned to both our palates and I adapted the Tomato, Mascarpone and Mozzarella Lasgane pasta sauce to use as a filling. This was very successful and the buns were taken to work the next day for Hubby's lunch.

Stuffed Bun Dough
1 tbsp dried yeast
2 tbsp warm water
1/2 cup milk
Salt to taste
1/2 cup oil
2 cups plain flour (I used strong bread flour as I didn't have enough plain flour to hand)
1/4 sugar
1 egg, beaten
1 egg white, for egg wash
White sesame seeds for sprinkling

Tomato, Mascarpone and Mozzarella Filling

1 onion, chopped

1 garlic clove, crushed

Oil spray

1 x 400g tin cherry tomatoes

A small handful basil, torn

1 ball of mozzarella, torn into pieces

3 heaped tbsp mascarpone

Make the dough; Dissolve the yeast in warm water with 1/2 tbsp sugar and 1/2 tbsp flour. Leave aside for 10 mins.

Boil the milk and allow to cool down till it is warm to touch. Add sugar, oil and salt.

Mix well with a wooden spoon till the sugar dissolves and add 1 cup flour and mix till it forms a smooth dough.

Knead well for 10 mins.

Let it rest till it doubles in volume (I left mine for a good hour or so and it did rise but not to the same extent that a normal bread dough would).

Punch down the dough lightly using your palm and divide them equally into 12 portions. Flatten them into small discs and fill them with 1 tbsp of the filling. Reshape them into a ball. Sprinkle the top with sesame seeds.

Let the buns prove for another 20 mins.

Bake them in a preheated oven at 200C for 10 mins. When it starts going brown, give them an egg wash using 1 slightly beaten egg white.

Makes 12 buns

Make the filling; Use oil spray to coat a pan and fry the onion and garlic until softened but not coloured. Stir in the tomatoes. Season and bubble for about 15-20 mins or until the sauce is thickened and glossy. Remove from the heat and stir in the basil. Let cool slightly then stir in the mascarpone and mozzarella.

This filling will make slightly more than the buns will need.

I did have some problems rolling the filled buns into a ball, they were more like very squished footballs! Only a couple of them oozed the cheesy mixture while cooking, I'm guessing this stage will get better with a bit more experience. Some of the other Fresh From The Oven guys also said they didn't need as long to cook, my range cooker is on the colder side of the temp range though so it took 12 mins for mine.

Check out the Fresh From the Oven website to see the rest of the gang's work's of art!

Limoncello 'Tiramisu'

Tonight we have friends coming around for dinner so of course I have been planning the menu all week! One of our guests is a dedicated vegetarian and two others are 'freedom' eaters. This is the name they give themselves, as a general rule they are veggies but if the urge takes them they will eat meat guilt free. Having once been a veggie catering for one (or three) doesn't phase me all that much. The main course (Tomato, Mascarpone and Mozzarella Lasagne) is one I used to make all the time when I had friends round for dinner during that stage of my life so I know it satisfies carnivores as well as leaf eaters. This really set me on my course for the rest of the menu ... an Italian Job!

Starter: Ruby Red Pomegranate, Blue Cheese, Parsley and Shallot Crostini

Main: Tomato, Mascarpone and Mozzarella Lasagne - I'm even making my own pasta sheets

for tonight's dinner.

Spinach Salad - not many meals go by in this house without this as a side dish!

Roast Tomato Salad - will blog about this just as soon as I've made it ;0)

Garlic and Rosemary Bread - again, not made it yet but will post as soon as I do!

Dessert: Limoncello 'Tiramisu' - not a real Tiramisu thanks to a few Chocolate Teapot

touches ;0)

Limoncello 'Tiramisu'

568ml double cream

250g mascarpone

75ml Limoncello

5 tbsp caster sugar

300ml Limoncello

Lemon Cupcakes (this would by the CT touch - recipe follows, otherwise use 16 sponge fingers)

Dark chocolate to decorate

Put the cream, mascarpone, sugar and 75ml of liqueur (Grand Marnier or Cointreau could also be used) in a large bowl and whisk together until the consistency of thickly whipped cream.

Get the serving dish ready. Slice the cupcakes in half and use 1/3 of them to line the bottom of the dish. Pour some of the 100ml of Limoncello over the top. Cover with 1/3 of the cream mixture. Repeat the layers until all the cupcakes, Limoncello and cream are used, ending with the cram layer. Grate dark chocolate over the top to decorate.

Cover and chill for a few hours. It can be kept for up to 2 days.

Serves 6

I found this recipe on the net but I'm not 100% sure where I found it!

Lemon Cupcakes

110g unsalted butter, at room temp

225g golden caster sugar

2 large eggs

150g SR flour, sifted

125g plain flour, sifted

90ml semi skimmed milk, at room temp

2 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice

1 tbsp sour cream

Grated zest of 1 lemon

Preheat the oven to 180C/ fan 160C and line a 12 hole muffin tray with cupcake cases.

In a large mixing bowl cream the butter and sugar until the mixture is pale and smooth, which should take 3-5 mins using an electric hand mixer. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing for a few mins after each addition.

Combine the two flours in a separate bowl and combine the milk, lemon juice and sour cream in a jug. Add one third of the flours to the creamed mixture and beat well. Pour in one third of the milk and beat again. Repeat these steps until all the flour and milk have been added, incorporating the lemon zest with the last third of flour. Don't worry if the mixture starts to curdle, simply add another spoonful of plain flour and beat well.

Carefully spoon the mixture into the cupcake cases, filling them to about two-thirds full. Bake in the oven for about 25 mins until slightly raised and golden brown. To check they are cooked, insert a skewer in the centre of one of the cakes - it should come out clean.

Remove from the oven and leave the cakes in their tins for about 10 mins before carefully placing on a wire rack to cool.

Makes 12 cupcakes although even after over filling my cases I still had enough mixture to make 15.

Cupcakes from the Primrose Bakery

This recipe makes really really good cupcakes, I'll be making these again for afternoon tea in the not too distant future.

Please excuse the lack and quality of photo's too. I'm hoping to get a nicer photo of the finished product tonight when it is served ... but knowing me I'll be so engrossed in conversation that I will completely forget!

Homemade Pasta Sauce

This freezing cold weather has me craving some comfort food, something that is easy to cook but hot and filling too. This pasta sauce is so quick and easy to make, in the time it takes to boil the pasta the sauce is made. Not only does it taste delicious but its actually pretty good for you too (WW will be pleased with me ... just avert your eyes when we get to the mascarpone bit!) and I like the added bonus of knowing exactly what I am eating.

Tomato and Basil Sauce

1 tbsp olive oil (I use fry lite)

1 garlic clove, crushed

400g can chopped tomatoes

1 tsp veg stock powder or 1/2 a crumbled stock cube

1 tbsp tomato puree

1 tsp sugar

Few basil leaves

Heat the oil in a pan, add the garlic, then gently fry for 1 min. Tip in all the other ingredients, except the basil and bring to the boil. Reduce heat, simmer, uncovered, for 5 mins, stirring occasionally. To finish, tear basil leaves, then stir into the sauce.

* This sauce freezes well, or you can keep a batch in the fridge for up to 3 days.

Serves 4 (makes 350ml)

Good Food Italian

This sauce is pretty good as it is but there are a few variations for when you fancy a change.

Tomato and Mascarpone (This one is our favourite!)

Stir 2 tbsp mascarpone into the sauce at the end of cooking time. Delicious poured over fresh tortellini, topped with a few more spoonfuls of cheese, then baked until bubbling at the edges.
Arrabiata

Use 2 garlic cloves and add a good pinch each chilli flakes and dried oregano. Stir in 1 tsp balsamic vinegar to serve.

Amatriciana

Fry 8 rashers streaky bacon until golden, then add 2 garlic cloves, as before. Add a splash of red wine with the tomatoes if you like, use a good pinch oregano and dried chilli then, to finish, stir through 25g grated parmesan.

Puttanesca

Stir through 1-2 tbsp drained capers, 4 anchovies, drained and chopped and a handful pitted black olives, chopped. when ready to serve, stir through a handful freshly chopped flat leaf parsley.

I always make a double batch of the sauce, means that there is an almost ready made meal waiting in the fridge for those days when making a meal from scratch is just a bit too much.

Tonight's dinner was the Tomato and Mascarpone Sauce which was stirred through some pasta. I also cooked off some leftover mushrooms and pan fried some chicken breasts with salt, pepper and mixed herbs and added these to the pasta and sauce. It was then all topped off with a sprinkling of freshly grated parmesan.