Easy Strawberry Jam

This is take two for this recipe.  Remember all that over-set jam I've been using up?  That was take one!  I'm pleased to say that the second time worked out much better ... just please excuse the presentation!

Easy Strawberry Jam
800g fresh or frozen prepared strawberries, equivalent to 900g unprepared fruit
4 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
1kg jam sugar

Hull and squash the strawberries, place in a large, heavy based saucepan with the lemon juice and simmer gently for approx 20 mins.  (Do not boil at this stage).

Add the jam sugar and continue to cook gently until the sugar has dissolved.  Bring to the boil rapidly until the setting point is reached (approx 10 mins should do it!)

Remove the pan from the heat and skim off the skin from the surface.  Leave to stand for 10 mins, then stir thoroughly to distribute the fruit evenly.

Pour into prepared sterilised jars, cover and label.

Makes approx 1.5kg
Taken from the Whitworths jam sugar packet!

Summerberry Jam

What do you do when realisation hits that you have too many punnets of summer fruit? Make jam ;0)

Speedy Summerberry Jam

750g mixed summer berries - my mixture included a punnet each of raspberries, strawberries and blueberries and 2 punnets of blackberries

100ml water

400g caster sugar - I used vanilla sugar

Wash and remove any stalks from the fruits. Place in a pan with water and bring to the boil. Leave to simmer for 10-15 mins, stirring frequently. Add the sugar, stir until it has dissolved and boil for a further 15-20 mins.

Transfer to sterilised, airtight jars to cool. Once cooled, cover and chill in the fridge where it will become more jam like. It will keep for up to 2 months.

Makes 750ml

BBC Food Website

I was a bit worried about this jam setting because it only has caster sugar in it instead of preserving sugar but its actually set really well. And the colour looks fantastic too, a rich shade of mulberry - the evidence is splattered all over my now ruined white tee shirt! That will teach me not to wear an apron.

Toblerone Cheesecake

Tomorrow is Miss KS's birthday - 21 again! We're having a barbie around at her house in the evening and she requested the S'mores she had in her Christmas Hamper last year for dessert. Of course I'm more than happy to oblige, will be making them tomorrow morning so they are nice and fresh, the cookies need to be crunchy on the outside but soft and deliciously gooey on the inside ... I digress! More about S'mores tomorrow!

KS has gone to so much effort getting food and drink in for everyone that when she mentioned buying a cheesecake to help feed the crowd I immediately offered a taste of my youth in this Toblerone Cheesecake. I've not met a person yet who doesn't like it, even SD who is a notorious Toblerone disliker (strange girl!) likes this. The Toblerone is a very subtle flavour, its definitely more cheesecakey in taste than chocolatey, which can sometimes be a good thing I guess.

As already mentioned, this is a taste of my more "formative" years growing up in Tasmania, so the recipe is in cup measurements - sorry! I had intended to translate it into grams and tbsp's but that just seemed like I was messing with the laws of Toblerone Cheesecake so I've left it as is. If memory serves me correctly the recipe came off the side of the Philly Cream Cheese box - those were the days, cream cheese in a box with a thick foil wrapping!

Toblerone Cheesecake

1 cup plain chocolate biscuit crumbs (back in the day that meant choc ripple biscuits but I can't seem to find a UK alternative so I either use chocolate coated Hob Nobs or Nice biscuits with some cocoa powder added)

1/3 cup butter, melted

2 x 250g cream cheese, softened at room temp

3 tsp gelatine dissolved in 1/2 cup boiling water

3/4 cup caster sugar

100g Toblerone Swiss milk or dark chocolate, melted

1/2 cup cream (double)

Mix biscuit crumbs and butter and press into the base of a 20cm springform tin. Chill.

Beat the cream cheese with an electric mixer until soft. Add gelatine mixture, caster sugar, melted toblerone and cream, blend until smooth.

Pour into crumb base and chill in refrigerator for 2-3 hours or overnight. Garnish with chocolate shavings and strawberries.

Not sure how many people this serves, or should I say how many slices you get from the cheesecake, as the number of servings and the number of people aren't necessarily the same thing! Generally speaking though, small slices would be recommended as it is quite rich. Strawberries are great served on the side, think I'll do the Pimm's Strawberries to take to the barbie, just for something a bit more grown up.

There was also some spare Lemon Tart filling still in the fridge from the Martin Wishart Cook School day earlier in the week. I decided to use up the mixture by making some mini tarts, finished with a creme brulee topping as the chef's did at the school. My blow torch seems to have given up the ghost though (a pity seeing as this was the first time I've been brave enough to try and use it!) so I gave the creme brulee topping a whirl under the grill. This technique is obviously not for the faint hearted! I'm afraid I chickened out before the sugar went fully creme brulee like, but it was a toss up between that and a burnt crust ...

These little beauties will be served with the Macerated Raspberries we learnt to make at the Cook School too.

The Breakfast Club

Through the week Hubby and I decided that we were going to start having a 'civilised' breakfast at the weekend ... set the table ... peculate the coffee ... brew the tea. Monday to Friday our breakfast regime consists of cereal thrown in a bowl and wolfed down as we dash about the flat getting ready for work but we want to make our weekends leisurely and enjoyable, starting with breakfast.

On this morning's menu we had French Toast with Strawberries and Banana's and as we had sis in law staying with us as well, Roasted Strawberry Scones served with Peach and Apricot Jam. If something is worth doing you may as well push the boat right out! I came across the recipe for the scones on the British Larder blog and couldn't wait to give them a try. We've had a surplus of strawberries in the fridge this week so now seemed the perfect time to give the recipe a try.

Confession time ~ I can't bake scones! Don't know why, they just never seem to rise no matter which recipe I try and I'm afraid to say that this one was no different. Very disappointing on that score but the flavour was very fresh and summery and if it wasn't for my complete inability to make scones in any way shape or form I would be tempted to make them again.

French Toast with Strawberries and Banana's

1 whole egg

150ml skim milk

1 tsp vanilla extract

4 large slices sourdough bread, crusts removed

1 spray oil spray

2 small bananas

250g fresh strawberries, stalks removed

2 tsp icing sugar

1 tbsp honey or maple syrup

Combine egg, milk and vanilla essence in a shallow bowl.

Cut slices of bread in half. Dip bread into egg and milk mixture, allowing it to soak for a few seconds so that the liquid is absorbed.

Heat a large non stick frying pan over medium heat. Spray with oil. Add soaked bread and cook on both sides until browned. Transfer to warmed plates.

Slice strawberries and banana's and add to a bowl with the icing sugar and honey (I often use maple syrup in its place) and stir to coat. Any combo of fruit can be used, just depends on what you have in the fridge.

Serves 4

Adapted from WW

Roasted Strawberry Scones
250g fresh strawberries

250g strong bread flour

250g plain flour

20g baking powder

100g caster sugar

100g unsalted butter

Pinch of salt

230ml milk (depending on how jammy the strawberries are more milk may be needed)

Preheat the oven to 200C and line a baking tray with parchment paper.

Wash and hull the strawberries. Cut them in quarters and spread the strawberries on the lined baking tray. Roast the strawberries for 15-20 mins, until they are dry and all the juices become jammy. If they start to colour too much turn the oven down to 180C. Let the strawberries cool completely before using in the scone dough.

Sift both flours and baking powder into a mixing bowl and add a pinch of salt, the sugar and butter. Rub the butter in with your fingertips until it represents fine breadcrumbs. Add the cooled roasted strawberries, mix lightly in the flour mixture to coat the strawberries. If the dough is a bit dry then add a little bit more milk. Let the dough rest for 30 mins in the fridge.

Roll the dough out to 2cm thick on a lightly floured work surface. Use a 6cm diameter cutter and place the scones on a lined baking tray and brush the tops twice with egg wash made from 1 egg yolk nixed with 1 tbsp caster sugar. Let the scones rest for 15 mins, after they have been glazed before you bake the scones at 180C for 20-25 mins.

Transfer the baked scones to a cooling rack to cool completely before dusting with icing sugar and serving with homemade jam and clotted cream.

Makes 18 scones

Taken from the British Larder

White Chocolate and Strawberry Mousse

The words from my grade 6 report were left ringing in my ears today "... tries hard but could do better." (It would be fair to say that Mr House and I didn't really see eye to eye all that often). Today was weigh in day and I'm pleased to report that I did loose weight, not much, but enough to register as a reduction from last week. But I know that if I had "applied" myself (according to the self same report I wasn't very adept at that either) I could have lost a lot more. Oh well, slow and steady wins the race!

So Mr House, should you be reading these words, I would like to let you know that she who laughs last, laughs the longest. This week you will finally eat your words - starting with White Chocolate and Strawberry Mousse ;0)

Strawberry and White Chocolate Mousse

150g strawberries

110g white chocolate, broken into pieces

1 tbsp skimmed milk

3 egg whites

Reserve 2 strawberries for decoration and puree the rest with a hand blender or in a liquidiser. Divide between 4 x 150ml ramekins.

Place the chocolate in a bowl and melt over a pan over simmering water. Add the milk and stir to combine. Cool slightly.

Whisk the egg whites in a separate bowl until they form soft peaks. Add a spoonful of the egg whites to the chocolate and stir to slacken the mixture. Carefully fold the remaining egg whites into the chocolate mixture.

Spoon the egg and chocolate mixture carefully on top of the strawberry puree and place int he fridge for at least 2 hours or until set.

Slice the remaining strawberries and use to decorate before serving.

Serves 4

Recipe taken from WW Website

I've made this recipe quite a few times now and nobody would ever guess that it is a WW recipe. The first time I made this I was tempted to add icing sugar to the strawberry puree, the white chocolate mousse is really sweet so the strawberries don't really need anything added to them.

CBC 18 - White Chocolate Passionfruit Truffles ... A Lesson in Cheering One's Self Up!

"Hallo, Pooh", said Piglet.

"Hallo, Piglet. This is Tigger."

"Oh, is it?" said Piglet, and he edged round to the other side of the table. "I thought Tiggers were smaller than that."

"Not the big ones," said Tigger.

- Tigger from Winnie the Pooh

You may be wondering just what this quote has to do with this post!  I'm a bit of a Winnie the Pooh fan, always have been, always will be!  Tigger and Eeyore are my two all time favourite characters, by nature I think I lean more towards the Eeyore 'outlook' on life, a bit gloomy and 'woe is me' when the chips are down.  But in reality there is an inner Tigger within me just itching to be let loose.  I know I've mentioned before about my adventures in America and my various friends nicknames at camp, can't recall if I have ever shared mine though?  I'll err on the side of caution and assume not (see, that comment is a prime example of that little Eeyore on my shoulder!).  My nickname was 'Tig'.  It wasn't uncommon to hear me utter "My name is Tig.  T. I. G.  That's short for Tigger because everyone knows the most wonderful thing about Tigger is that he is the only one!"  Apparently just saying "Hi.  My name is Tig" with an Australian accent in America leads to confusion!  Who knew?

So, back to the quote!  I've been feeling a bit gloomy lately.  I've been a bit under the weather and after several visits to the doctor and various prescriptions later I am at the point where I am sick to death of myself!  Some cheering up is in order, which is where Tigger (the quote above is one of my favourites and always makes me smile!) and these very scrummy Passionfruit Truffles come into the equation.

I've waxed lyrical about my love of passionfruit on countless occasions now.  By now there probably isn't a person on earth who doesn't know how much I love passionfruit.  So when this love is combined with two of my other loves, white chocolate and truffles, and we have a creation of such splendiferous proportions that it just has to be tried to be believed.

I started by making a passionfruit puree;

Passionfruit Puree

Puree the fruit in a food processor or blend until completely smooth (I did this for the strawberry puree,  also pictured, but for the passionfruit puree I just pressed the pulp through a fine sieve so I got the juice but none of the black pips, I was worried a blender would result in little black flecks) and use a scale to ensure an accurate weight on your puree.  Weigh out enough icing sugar to equal 10% of the total weight of the puree (the example the book gives is for every 10 ounces of puree add 1 ounce of sugar).  Return the puree and the icing sugar to the food processor or blender, and mix until smooth and well combined.  Strain the puree through a fine mesh sieve before using to remove seeds or impurities.

Taken from 'Making Artisan Chocolates' by Andrew Garrison Shotts

I've stored my purees in the fridge but they can also be frozen so you have the flavour of fresh fruit even in the darkest depths of winter.

Then yesterday, I should have meet up with a group of Scottish based food bloggers at the Foodie Festival.  But owing to the fact that the sun still seems to be tattooing the backs of my eye balls with the light I had to cancel at the last minute.  I was very disappointed.  So to cheer myself up I headed to the kitchen to put that puree to good use.

White Chocolate Passionfruit Truffles

175ml double cream

230g white chocolate, finely chopped

3 tbsp passionfruit puree

Place the cream in a medium saucepan over a medium heat until it just comes to a simmer.  Remove from the heat and immediately sprinkle the chocolate into the cream.  Cover and allow to sit for 5 mins; the heat should melt the chocolate.  Stir very gently until smooth.

Whisk in the passionfruit puree.  Pour the mixture into a shallow bowl.  Cool to room temp, cover with plastic wrap, then allow to sit, preferably overnight, until firm enough to roll.  (Or you may refrigerate ganache until firm, about 4 hours).

Use a small scoop or melon baller to form the ganache into balls.  Place them in a single layer on a baking sheet and refrigerate until very firm.

Temper another 230g white chocolate.  Dip the truffles into the tempered chocolate, making as thin and even coating as possible.  Place the dipped truffles on a baking tray that has been lined with a piece of acetate.  Place some tempered chocolate in a small zipper top plastic bag; snip off a bottom corner and pipe zigzags on each truffle.  Refrigerate until firm.  Place in fluted paper cups, if desired, and serve at room temp.

Makes between 25 and 30 truffles

Adapted from 'Truffles'

I made a couple of changes to the original recipe.  Firstly I used white chocolate instead of milk, but I'd like to try it with milk chocolate to see what it does to the flavour of the passionfruit.  Not sure I would have ever combined milk chocolate and passionfruit normally but I will soldier on in the name of experimentation lol.

The little buggers even disappear while getting their photo's taken!

My other change was unplanned.  The ganache tasted so good that before I knew it Hubby and I had managed to eat half the batch before I had even thought about tempering the chocolate.  Over the course of last night and today the truffles have slowly disappeared of the tray until it got to the point that there was no need to temper any chocolate because there weren't any truffles left for dipping!  Oops!

But I can 100% positively promote both Tigger and these truffles as a sure fire way for cheering yourself up when you are feeling a little on the 'Eeyore' side ;0)

To Tanzania ~ With Love

Our little Miss KH will be heading off for a year or two in Tanzania this time next week. Continuing in the tradition of sending her off around the world with a full tum (when she went to Australia we gave her a full Scottish meal of Veggie Haggis, Neeps, Tatties and Rhubarb Crumble) we had a surprise barbie for her tonight, the weather even played along with us which is always a bonus.

To round off the meal was a Chocolate Tart which had proved very problematic the first time I tried to make it, the pastry just never wanted to be made into a tart, if it didn't solidify to the tart tin base then it stuck to the bottom of the greaseproof paper when I tried to blind bake it - disaster! The filling, however, can be saved and turned into a rather nice fondue, just in case you ever need to know! This time round I ditched the shortcrust pastry as described in the recipe and stuck with the tried and tested Rachel Allen Shortcrust Pastry (please excuse the quality of the photos - Pimms had been consumed!)

Rachel's Sweet Shortcrust Pastry
200g plain flour, sifted
1 tbsp icing sugar
100g chilled butter, cubed
1/2 - 1 medium egg, beaten

Place the flour, icing sugar and butter in a food processor and whiz briefly. Add half the beaten egg and continue to whiz. I find I need to add nearly all the egg before its just moist enough to come together in a ball.

With your hands, flatten out the ball of dough until it is about 2cm thick then wrap in clingfilm and leave in the fridge for at least 30 mins or, if you are pushed for time, in the freezer for 10-15 mins.

Makes 400g
Taken from Rachel Allen's 'Bake'

Milk Chocolate Tart

400g shortcrust pastry
Double cream or ice cream, to serve
Filling
250g milk chocolate, broken into pieces
1 cup double cream
1/2 cup caster sugar
2 eggs, lightly beaten
Pimms Strawberries
Strawberries, hulled (I used a punnet for 4 of us and have lots left over)
2 tbsp icing sugar
2 tbsp Pimms

Roll pastry between 2 sheets of cling film to a 35cm round. Use to line the base and sides of a 3cm deep, 25cm (base) loose based flan pan. Refrigerate for 30 mins (I was a bit pressed for time and skipped this step but the pastry didn't seem to be any the worse for it). Preheat oven to 180C.

Make filling; place chocolate, cream and sugar into a heatproof bowl. Sit over a pan of simmering water (make sure the bowl doesn't touch the water) and stir until melted and smooth. Allow to cool. Stir in the eggs.

Line pastry with baking paper. Cover base with raw rice. Bake for 15 mins. Remove rice and paper. Cook pastry for a further 10 mins, or until golden and cooked through. Reduce oven to 170C.

Remove pastry from oven. Pour filling into pastry case. Bake for 30 mins, or until just set. Set aside to cool.

Make Strawberries; place strawberries, icing sugar and Pimms in a bowl. Toss gently to combine. Stand for 15 mins. Serve tart with strawberries and cream for adults or with plain strawberries and ice cream for kids.

Serves 8

Not 100% sure where I got the original recipe from, have a feeling it could have been http://www.taste.com.au/

Unfortunately I didn't manage to get a photo of the tart all nicely sliced and covered with strawberries and softly whipped cream (probably wouldn't have done it justice even I have had though) but it was goooooooooooooooooood!

Soft Set Strawberry and Pimms Jam

I made this jam at the beginning of 'summer' ... or maybe it was just a brief sunny period one June day!  Summer has hardly been a spectacular success weather wise but with this jam you'd hardly notice the rain pounding against the window.

Soft Set Strawberry and Pimm's Jam
1.5kg strawberries, hulled and halved if large
1kg bag jam sugar (it has added pectin)
Juice 2 lemons
Juice 1 orange
3 tbsp Pimm's No 1

Put a few saucers into the freezer for later. Put the strawberries into a preserving pan (or your very largest saucepan), then mash roughly with a potato masher, or crush slightly between your fingers and thumbs to make them a little juicy. Stir in the sugar, then put the pan over a very low heat. Stir occasionally until the sugar has dissolved and the berries are surrounded with red syrup. Don't let it boil. Once the sugar crystals have gone, stir in the lemon and orange juice.

Turn up the heat. Once the jam reaches a foaming fast boil (this will read 105C on a preserving thermometer), set a timer for 10 mins. After 10 mins, put 1 tsp of jam onto one of the frozen saucers, put into the fridge for 1 mins, then push your finger through the jam. If the jam wrinkles, it is ready. If not, boil for another 2 mins and test again. As soon as the jam is ready, remove from the heat. Leave to cool for 30 mins, skim away any scum, then stir in the Pimm's. Ladle into steralised jars.  Will keep in a cool, dark place for up to 1 year.

Makes 5 x 450g jars
Good Food Mag, June 11

Stay tuned to discover the 'bestest' way ever to enjoy this jam ...

Jammy Doughnut Muffins

I'm back to work tomorrow - not sure if that is a good thing or not!  I've not missed the office politics one little bit but then day time TV is so poor it makes me think I could tolerate the politics again!  Returning to work means that there will need be some treats to either take in with me (to get me through the day!) or to have waiting for me to snack on once I get home. 

These muffins were the first recipe I ever made with the Sweet and Simple Bakes gang, except I didn't make mine jammy style, opting instead for Iced Doughnut Muffins that were filled with Dulce de Leche.  Mmmmmmmmm.  I am pleased to note that they are just as yummy when filled with some of that pesky over set strawberry jam that I am still trying to get rid of!

Jammy Doughnut Muffins
275g plain flour
3 tsp baking powder
Pinch salt
100g caster sugar
2 eggs
200ml milk
75g unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 tsp vanilla extract
12 tsp strawberry or raspberry jam
For The Topping
100g unsalted butter
150g granulated sugar
½ tsp ground cinnamon (optional)
You will need 12 hole muffin tin lined with paper cases.

Preheat the oven to 190.

Sift the flour, baking powder and salt into a large mixing bowl, and stir through the sugar. In large jug, lightly beat the eggs then add the milk, cooled butter and vanilla extract and beat together. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients stir gently until just combined. (Do not over mix, its fine to have a few lumps in the mixture.) Spoon half the muffin mixture into the base of each paper case. Top each muffin with a teaspoon of jam. Now equally between each paper case, top with the remaining muffin mixture. Bake in the preheated oven for 15 – 20 minutes until well risen, golden and firm to the touch.

For The Topping: melt the butter in a saucepan over a low heat. Spread the granulated sugar in a wide, shallow bowl with the cinnamon if using. When the muffins are baked, leave in the tin for 5 minutes. Dip the tops of the muffins in the melted butter and then roll in the sugar. You can serve these muffins warm or cold.

Makes 12
Sweet and Simple Bakes

I love the muffin cases!  I found them at Morrison's and they come in a range of animal prints - these muffins are sporting the Zebra print - Hubby is not as appreciative of this fact as I was lol.  Although he has just phoned me to say that he has taken his first bite of the muffin and really, really, really likes them!

Strawberry Shortcake Cookies

I've always wanted to try a Strawberry Shortcake for dessert.  I remember watching a black and white movie one rainy Sunday afternoon when I was maybe 9, don't ask me the name of the movie or for the general plot or end result because I can't remember!  What I can remember is that the heroine of the piece had been hotly pursued by the hero (who was very handsome and had me swooning from the start!) and about half way through finally consented to a date.  She had strawberry shortcake for dessert which I thought was ever so elegant and grown up and I vowed to myself that when I was old enough to go out on a date I too would have strawberry shortcake for dessert.

Of course that never happened, I think my first date was probably to McDonalds!  So when I saw this recipe recently on Martha Stewart's Cookie Of The Day site I knew I had to try them.

Strawberry Shortcake Cookies
275g strawberries, hulled and cut into 1cm dice (chopped weight)
1 tsp fresh lemon juice
115g caster sugar
355g plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
85g cold, unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
165ml double cream
sanding sugar, for sprinkling (optional)

Preheat the oven to 190C.  Combine strawberries, lemon juice and 30g of the caster sugar.  Whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt and remaining caster sugar in a large bowl.  Cut in the butter with a pastry cutter, or rub in with your fingers (I actually did this in the food processor), until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.  Stir in the cream until a dough starts to form, then stir in the strawberry mixture.

Using an ice cream scoop (Martha says to use a 1 1/2 inch scoop, I used a regular ice cream scoop which was a lot bigger) or a tablespoon, drop dough onto baking sheets lined with baking parchment, spacing evenly apart.  Sprinkle with sanding sugar, if using, and bake until golden brown, 20 to 25 mins.  Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Cookies are best served immediately but can be stored in an airtight container at room temp for up to 1 day.

Makes about 3 dozen (I got 18 cookies, using a much larger scoop)
Martha Stewart's Cookie Of The Day

These were delish, although I think calling them a cookie is maybe a stretch too far.  They are more scone like than cookie.  Martha says these are best eaten immediately, but I think they are equally as nice the next day.  These will definitely be made again.

White Chocolate and Strawberry Centre Muffins

The danger of working across the road from a supermarket is that every time I pop in for a pint of milk after work I always end up buying other bits and pieces too.  My current obsession seems to strawberries, which is kind of stupid seeing as I have 8 strawberry plants on the balcony.  This means there will be a few post coming up featuring said berry!

White Chocolate Strawberry Centre Muffins

375g SR flour

1 ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda

150g golden caster sugar

250g white chocolate, roughly chopped

3 large eggs, beaten

150g butter, melted

200g natural yoghurt

2 tbsp milk

12 strawberries, hulled

1 tbsp granulated sugar for sprinkling

Preheat the oven to 200C/fan 180C and line a 12 hole muffin tin with paper cases.

Mix the flour, bicarbonate of soda, caster sugar and chocolate in a large bowl with a pinch of salt.  Beat together the eggs, melted butter, yogurt and milk, then stir briskly into the dry ingredients.  Don’t worry if it’s a bit lumpy.  Its important not to overmix, otherwise the muffins will lose their lightness.

Divide the mixture among the cases, then push a strawberry into each muffin, making sure its completely enclosed by the batter.  Sprinkle with granulated sugar, then bake for 20-25 mins until golden.  Cool in the tin for 5 mins before lifting on to a rack to cool completely.

Makes 12

Delicious, June 11

These are pretty delicious muffins, but then anything with white chocolate and strawberries will always score pretty highly on my list ;0)

I followed the recipe to the letter and used the mixture to make 12 muffins, as you can see these made for some pretty big muffins, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but next time I'd maybe stretch the mixture further and make one or two more.

My Mum's Pav

Growing up a family get together was never complete without some piece of domestic goddess-ery from my Mum.  A chocolate cream cake for 'one of the kids' birthday's or a coffee and walnut cake for my Grandparents on their big day. 

In later years Chocolate Profiteroles stuffed to busting point with freshly whipped cream and drizzled with a  rich and sticky chocolate sauce was her preferred method for wowing the crowds at parties.  But the one thing, the constant mainstay, of her sweet toothed arsenal was her pav.  I never appreciated it fondly enough until I moved to the other side of the world, absence does make the heart grow ever fonder!

Because my Mum was such a dab hand in the kitchen I never really needed to learn to cook ... that and the fact that in full flow the kitchen belonged to my Mother and no-one else, only the foolish or uninitiated would dare enter!  My baking experience comprised pretty much entirely of pikelets and a family sized chocolate cake taken from my High Schools fundraising cook book.  Home Ec taught me how to make pizza and traffic light sandwiches though!  So there is no tale here of learning to bake at my mothers apron strings, just pure gluttony once  her magic was produced at the family table. 

Anyway, my point is that my Mum makes the best pav's.  Ever!  There was never any point in me learning to make them when she was such a pro.  Now I've been in the UK for 8 years and my taste buds have been crying out for a slice of Pav ... time to bite the bullet!  Below is my Mum's recipe for Pav, everything else is a freak of nature ;0)

My Mum's Pav
4 egg whites
1 1/2 cups caster sugar
1 tsp each cornflour, white vinegar, vanilla extract
4 tbsp boiling water

In my Mother's words you add all these together and 'beat like hell'!  Further questioning managed to narrow this down to 10 mins of beating at 'full bore on my kenwood'.  I wasn't sure what a kenwood's 'full bore' would translate to with Big Bertha, I opted originally for speed 6 and then got impatient and threw caution to the wind and bumped it up to 8, but I did beat it for the full 10 minutes, which did seem a bit excessive to me.  Of course, my Mum's instructions were true to her word, the egg whites fluffed up to a soft satin white.  I used a pie dish to draw a circle on the underside of some baking paper and then spooned the fluffy egg whites on to it, shaping as I went.  I say shaping in a very general way, Mum usually gets out the palette knife and smooths the top and sides with deft movements, my attempt is far more 'rustic'.  This was then baked in an oven preheated to 170C for 10 mins, the heat was then reduced to 150C and baked for another 30 mins.  Once the timer bleeps turn the oven off but leave the pav in the oven until its cold.

Makes 1 big pav

I was so pleased with this first attempt, just the way a remember a pav tasting.  Hubby, who doesn't even like pav has had about 3 slices today.  A thumbs up in anybodies book!

This pav has been smothered in loads (and I mean loads!) of softly whipped cream, topped with a punnet of raspberries, the contents of 3 passionfruit and a punnet of strawberries halved or quartered.  Traditionally, Mum would slice a banana and place this on the pav before smothering the cream over.  The fruit would then get piled on and a well known crumbly type chocolate confectionery bar, sprinkled over the top. 

Next time I think I'll try making some individual pavs, Mum says that she has used this recipe to make generous tablespoon sized mini pavs with great success.  Bake them at a constant 150C for 3/4 of an hour and they come out all chewy and ready for devouring!

Breakfast Club - Smug Pancakes with Summer Berries

I love summer!  I love the warm weather, the longer days, the bumble bees and most importantly, I love all the summer fruits.  I just can't get enough of them.  This morning I decided that raspberries are my all time favourite summer fruit ... apart from passionfruit!  Strawberries, apricots and peaches all rank pretty highly too, as do nectarines and plums!  Just can't get enough of summer!

Smug Pancakes with (A Few Of My Favourite) Summer Berries!
1 batch of Smug Pancakes
60g caster sugar
1 vanilla bean, halved lengthways (pop the bean into a jar of caster sugar afterwards)
1 punnet raspberries
1 punnet blueberries
1 punnet strawberries, washed, hulled, quartered
 

 
Combine the sugar, 1/4 cup of water and the vanilla bean in a small saucepan. Stir over low heat until the sugar dissolves. Bring to the boil. Simmer for 2 minutes. Add berries and cook for 1 minute until just soft. Remove from heat.
 

 
Serve the berries spooned over the warm pancakes.  I also served this with some sweetened vanilla yogurt, just mix a small amount of icing sugar into low fat natural yogurt and stir through with a dash of vanilla extract.
 
Serves 4
Adapted from the Taste Website
 

 
The vanilla (I love the little spots of vanilla seeds that disperse through the sugar syrup) added a wonderful flavour to the sweetness of the fruit, the perfect way to start the day!  Think we might be having these summer fruits for breakfast next weekend too ;0)

Strawberry Jam Bread

After making the jam tarts last night I got to searching for some more ways to use up all that excess jam, in particular the cement like Strawberry Jam.  Google very kindly pointed me in the direction of this recipe, and though its title is a little deceiving ~ its more of a loaf, along the same kind of lines as Banana Bread, than an actual bread ~ it has already earned its place as a regular feature in our home by request of Hubby.  Over set Strawberry Jam is not a pre-requisite for this!

Strawberry Jam Bread

485g plain flour

1 tsp salt

3/4 tsp. cream of tartar

1/2 tsp baking powder

330g vanilla caster sugar

225g unsalted butter, softened

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 tsp lemon juice

4 duck eggs

250 - 300g strawberry jam

130ml buttermilk
250g chopped nuts (optional)

Combine flour, salt, cream of tartar and baking powder in a bowl. Set aside. Combine sugar, butter, vanilla and lemon juice in large mixing bowl; cream together until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beat well after each addition. Stir together jam and buttermilk; add to creamed mixture by alternating with dry ingredients, mix just until blended. Stir in nuts, if using.

Spoon batter into 2 greased 9x5x3 inch loaf pans. Bake at 180C for 55 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool 15 minutes; remove from pans onto cooling racks.

Makes 2 Loaves
Adapted from Cooks dot com

Lizzie Kamenetzky’s Summer Berry Jelly and White Chocolate Pannacotta

This is a recipe I discovered at the end of summer last year when the summer berries had well and truly passed their peak.  When we had some of the family around for a barbie last Sunday night it seemed only logical to pull this recipe out for dessert.  It was a real treat!  I made a few changes to the recipe of course, I used pink bubbles instead of the rose wine and I only used strawberries and raspberries that I had picked up at the farmers market the day before.

Lizzie Kamenetzky’s Summer Berry Jelly and White Chocolate Pannacotta
7 fine gelatine leaves
1 tsp lemon juice
150g caster sugar
250ml medium sweet rose wine
250g mixed raspberries, small strawberries (hulled and quartered), blueberries and redcurrants, plus extra berries to serve
For the Pannacotta
500ml double cream
1 tsp vanilla bean paste
75g white chocolate, broken up into chunks
3 fine gelatine leaves

Soak the 7 gelatine leaves in cold water for 5 mins to soften. In a pan, bring 300ml water and the lemon juice to the boil. Add the sugar, stir until dissolved, then remove from the heat. Squeeze the water from the gelatine and add to the syrup. Stir until dissolved, then stir in the wine.

Put the jelly aside to cool to room temp. Meanwhile, divide the mixed berries among 6 x 200ml dariolr moulds (or a 1.3 litre loaf tin), then pour over the cool jelly to half fill the moulds / tin. Chill for at least 2 hours in the fridge to set.

Once the jelly has set, make the pannacotta. Heat the cream in a pan over a medium heat. As it starts to boil, reduce the heat, then stir in the vanilla bean paste and white chocolate. Stir until the chocolate has melted, then remove from the heat.

Soak the gelatine leaves in cold water for 5 mins to soften, then squeeze out the excess water and place in a bowl with 4 tbsp boiling water, stirring to melt. Add to the cream and chocolate mixture and allow to cool a little. Pour the pannacotta mixture into the dariolr moulds or loaf tin on top of the set jelly and berry layer. Leave to set overnight in the fridge. Turn out and serve with more berries.

Serves 6
Delicious, Aug 10

I have to admit that I was so pleased with the way this dessert turned out that it got a tour of the living room for everyone to see, in a style not too dissimilar from the way a haggis is traditionally carried into the room for Burn's Night!  Its always a relief when jelly and pannacotta turn out nicely instead of ending up in a pool on the bench.  Next time I would make these in individual moulds, for presentation purposes alone!
 

 
This one is going over to Jac's Bookmarked Recipes blogevent, a fantastic event to help you finally use some of those long stored away recipes!
 

 
And while I'm on a post using fresh and local strawberries I thought I would show you my first ever home grown strawberry!  I feel like a proud mother (who eats her babies!)  Our plants have now produced three stunning little red berries, super juicy and sweet ;0)