chocolate salt caramel brownies

Goodness, my friend Daffy Duck (she may be biased) has just pronounced these brownies the best she has ever tasted!  A recipe from The Guardian which I fell in love with during a chocolate brownie frenzy a while ago, this time with a river of salt caramel running through... http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth/2010/sep/09/how-to-make-perfect-brownies

CHOCOLATE SALT CARAMEL BROWNIES
250g dark chocolate 70%
250g unsalted butter
300g caster sugar
3 large eggs plus one extra yolk, lightly beaten
60g plain flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt
60g cocoa powder
SALT CARAMEL
150g caster sugar
150mls double cream
1 tsp salt
Preheat the oven to 180C and line a 23cmX23cm baking tray with parchment.
Set a bowl over, but not touching, a pan of simmering water and add 200g of the chocolate, broken into pieces. Allow to melt, stirring occasionally, then remove from the heat immediately.
Meanwhile, beat the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy, and break the rest of the chocolate into chips.
With the mixer still running gradually add the eggs, beating well in between each addition to ensure thoroughly incorporated before adding another. Leave mixing on a high speed for five minutes until the batter has a silky sheen and has increased in volume.
Remove the bowl from the mixer, and gently fold in the melted chocolate, chocolate chips, sifted flour, baking powder, salt and cocoa powder.
Make the salt caramel by heating the sugar in a large heavy bottomed pan at a moderate to high temperature swirling occasionally until turns to liquid gold.  Add the cream and stand back! Swirl the pan to incorporate the sugar and cream together and add a tsp salt.  Pour into a bowl to cool.
Spoon half the brownie mixture into the baking tray, followed by a layer of all the salt caramel topped again by brownie mixture and bake for approximately 35 minutes. Test with a skewer, should come out sticky but not with raw mixture.  If it does, put it back in for 3 minutes and test again.
Prepare a roasting tin of iced water.  When the brownies are ready, move the tray from the oven and place in the tray of iced water.
Leave to cool an hour before cutting into squares. Store in an air-tight container: they're even better the next day!


There is neither this world nor the world beyond nor happiness for the one who doubts. Bhagavad Gita.

red velvet cupcakes

Ever since engorging on these delectable fancies on a saturday morning along Portobello Road in London I have desired to make them. Here is the Hummingbird Bakery recipe...

RED VELVET CUPCAKES
Makes 12
60g unsalted butter
150g caster sugar
1 egg
10g cocoa powder
2 tablespoons red food colouring
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
120ml buttermilk
150g plain flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 1/2 tsps white wine vinegar
Preheat oven to 170C.
Whisk the butter and sugar together in an electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy and well mixed.
Turn the mixer up to high speed, slowly add the egg and beat until everything is well incorporated.
Mix together the cocoa powder, red food colouring and vanilla extract (I initially used Dr Oetker Natural Red Food Colour from Waitrose but it didn't give a beautiful red colour so I sprinkled 1/4 tsp 'Intense Rouge Powder to give the desired effect)
Add this mixture to the butter mixture and mix thoroughly until evenly combined and coloured.
Turn the mixture to slow and pour in half the buttermilk slowly. Beat well. Then add flour, and beat until well incorporated repeating the process until all buttermilk and flour have been added, scraping the sides of the bowl.
Turn on high speed again, beat until you have a smooth even mixture.
Turn to low speed and add the salt, bicarbonate of soda and vinegar. Beat until well mixed then turn to high and beat for a couple more minutes.
Spoon the mixture into paper cases until two-thirds full and bake in the preheated oven for 20-25 minutes or until the sponge bounces back when touched and a skewer comes out clean.
Leave to cool in tray before turning out onto a wire cooling rack to cool completely.
When the cupcakes are cold, spoon the cream chees frosting on top.
FROSTING
Mix 50g softened butter with 300g sifted icing sugar until well incorporated.  Add 125g cream cheese and whisk until soft and fluffy! 


If the definition of success was happiness... are you successful?

armenian nutmeg cake

Another baking day which started off with magnificent success.  In fact a miracle.  My raspberry madeleines, after many trials and tribulations have developed their signature peaks. I followed Rachel Khoo's recipe and left the mixture in the fridge for two days, and this time baked the madeleines in a fan oven at 20C lower, and voila the magic occurred! Elsewhere on the baking front I baked a tray of Rose Bakery's hazelnut brownies, almond and rhubarb cake, chocolate bourbon cake and the armenian nutmeg cake.  This simple cake with simple ingredients from my friend Daphne, who has been baking it for most of her 45 years of married life, is surprisingly popular and lovely (her friend gave it to her in the early years of her marriage as she had no idea how to cook, and it is apparently foulproof).  We were debating whether to rename it to sell in the shop maybe 'Daffy's Nutty Cake' or 'Upside Down Crumble Cake'?  The jury is still out on the name but here is the recipe. You can use any nuts which are floating around in your cupboard... today I used walnuts and hazelnuts:

ARMENIAN NUTMEG CAKE

Courtesy of the Australian Women's Weekly 'sweet old fashioned favourites'. Armenian cooking is noted for it's use of spices.  In this recipe nutmeg adds fragrance to a not too sweet cake that cooks in two layers. 

1 cup SR flour

1 cup plain flour

1 tsp ground nutmeg

125g butter

1 1/2 cups of lightly packed brown sugar

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

3/4 cup milk

1 egg lightly beaten

1 cup chopped pecans, walnuts or any nuts you fancy

Grease and line a 20X30cm tray about 2 inches deep.

Sift flours and nutmeg into a large bowl.  Rub in butter and mix in sugar. Press 1 1/2 cups of the mixture into the prepared tray.

Stir combined soda and milk into remaining dry ingredients with the egg and nuts.  Mix well and pour into the tray on top of the first layer.

Bake at 160C for 35-40 minutes.  Stand for 5 minutes then turn out onto a wire rack and cool.

Cut into squares when cool.


Life has got a habit of not standing hitched. You got to ride it like you find it. You got to change with it. If a day goes by that don't change some of your old notions for new ones, that is just about like trying to milk a dead cow.
Woody Guthrie

a simple cake

A friend who teaches a cooking class for children told me the simplest cake recipe in the world. Weigh 2 eggs shell and all, add the same weight of butter, self-raising flour and sugar and a dash of whatever you fancy, maybe some lemon zest or vanilla essence, and voila you have your cake!

“You wander from room to room
Hunting for the diamond necklace
That is already around your neck!” 
― Rumi

chocolate guinness cake

Wandering around the supermarket tonight with my cookbook 'cake days' opened at the chocolate guinness cake and a lovely old man strolled past, caught sight of the book and asked if I was making something yummy for dinner. I said yes something extremely healthy 'a chocolate guinness cake!'. He and his wife then came over and said if I like cooking had I seen 'the baker boys'? The second person today to mention these boys I must check them out. And they both said I had to watch a film called 'Streetcat Bob' about a cat in London who saved a man, and a man who saved a cat. So many things to do! This cake from the Hummingbird Bakery is dark, rich and very moist, it comes out perfectly every time. Whatever you do make sure you sift the icing sugar when making the frosting mine came out with lumps the first time, and I nearly overdosed on cream cheese icing.

CHOCOLATE GUINNESS CAKE
250mls guinness
250g unsalted butter
80g cocoa powder
400g caster sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla essence
140ml buttermilk
280g plain flour
2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
Preheat oven to 170C.
Line the base of a 23cm diameter spring-form cake tin with baking parchment.
Pour the guinness into a saucepan, add the butter and gently heat until it has melted.  Remove the pan from the heat and stir the cocoa powder and sugar into the warm liquid.
Mix together the eggs, vanilla essence and buttermilk by hand in a jug or bowl then add to the mixture in the pan.
Sift together the remaining dry ingredients into a large mixing bowl. Set the mixer on low speed and pour the contents of the pan. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and continue to mix thoroughtly until all the ingredients are incorporated.
Pour the batter into the prepared cake tin and bake for approximately 45 -60 minutes until the sponge bounces back when lightly pressed and a skewer inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean.
Set aside to cool, then remove from the tin onto a wire rack, making sure the cake is cold to the touch before you frost it.
FROSTING
50g unsalted butter softened
300g icing sugar
125g full fat cream cheese
cocoa powder for dusting
Sift the icing sugar. Using an electric whisk, mix the butter and icing sugar together until there are no large lumps of butter and it is fully combined with the sugar in a sandy mixture.
Add cream cheese and mix in a low speed then increase the speed to medium and beat until the frosting is light and fluffy.
Place cooled cake on to a plate or cake card and top generously with the cream cheese frosting.  
Dust lightly with cocoa powder if you fancy!

meditation and the art of beekeeping

Sometimes I wonder whether cooking is a form of meditation.  Maybe it soothes your brain waves into a pleasurable frequency with simple repetitve things like stirring, tasting, waiting, chopping... something like music. Your mind stops chattering and you live in the moment. Not to mention the intoxicating scent of freshly grated zest of a lemon or lime, grated nutmeg or chopped rosemary which might instantly make you feel alive or even joyful! Maybe I'm confusing meditation with the concept of living completely and utterly in this moment? An excerpt from the book I'm reading...


MEDITATION AND THE ART OF BEEKEEPING 
by Mark Magill
Why meditate?
You will experience physical and mental joy with the perfection of concentrated meditation. Mind and body will achieve a state of suppleness as a result of the ability to concentrate without effort.
You will gain control over your mind.  Like the meditator in the Ten Ox-herding Pictures, you will have tamed your powerful mind and can now direct it to useful purpose instead of constantly chasing after it, like the ox herder chasing the wild bull through brush and brambles.
You will be able to focus your mind on positive activity.  Because of your ability to focus, you will see the undesirability of negative thoughts and actions before they have a chance to get a hold of you.
Your mental owers and abilities will be increased.  People who have concentrated on mastering specific skills in sports or other activities use the power to focus to give them a great advantage in their fields.
Your sleep can be transformed into meditative practice.
You will develop the ability to practice vipassana - or special insight. This will enable you to cut the root of delusion and negative action at its source.

if at first you don't succeed...

...give up!  Or is the best yet to come? Another failed batch of macaroons. I have compared three recipes for the french macaroons - l'atelier des chefs, delicious magazine and 'the pink whisk' blog and find quantities are the same.  The secret is simply in the mixing. Tomorrow is therefore a brand new unblemished hopeful day.

brixton village market

A perfect discovery on a Sunday in London. An Aussie girl I worked with in France last year said the best place for coffee in London was Federation Coffee http://federationcoffee.com/, and I found a note in my phone today reminding me. The quirky little designer shops we stumbled across looking for this cafe were a complete surprise, although not all were open today, and we found the place jampacked and spilling over somewhere near the middle of the market. All coffee beans are roasted on site and they are currently using a blend called 'contraband' described as nutty and chocolatey.  My sister opted for a flat white and I had a double macchiato showing off perfect 'latte' art and tasting thick, rich and decadent. We devoured a Croque Monsieur to die for - light crispy buttery toast dripping with mustard and cheese and sweetcorn fritters accompanied with harissa yoghurt dip. I do so love a twist. Little bit of kiwi nostalgia there, we grew up on sweetcorn fritters ymmmm. I want to go back!  http://brixtonmarket.net/ 

heartache chocolate cake

Some lovely cafe regulars who have just been to New Zealand, brought me back sea shells from a beach north of Auckland. I'm craving the sea. A large expanse of ocean with warm sand and a beach extending for miles, just standing taking a deep breath filling my lungs with all that salty air. Failing that - I'm baking Harry Eastwood's 'Heartache Cake'... This is his description:

'This cake is sad. It's dark and drizzling down the window panes.  She puffs her chest in hope when she goes into the oven; she then breaks, like a chest heaving a sob.  This is why aubergine (the Eeyore of the vegetable world) is the right kind of friend to hold your hand'.

HEARTACHE CHOCOLATE CAKE

2 small aubergines (about 400g)

300g dark chocolate broken into small pieces

50g good quality cocoa powder, plus extra for dusting

60g ground almonds

3 large free-range eggs

200g clear honey

2 tbsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1 tbsp brandy

Preheat the oven to 180C and line a 23cm, loose bottomed tin with sides 7cm deep, with baking parchment.

Cook the aubergines by puncturing their skins with a fork and baking in an oven at 200C for 40 minutes.

Skin the aubergines. Put the flesh in a blender and puree until smooth. Add the chocolate to the aubergine, which will still be warm enough to melt the pieces.

In a large bowl whisk together the remaining ingredients for 1 minute until well blended and slightly bubbly.

Fold the chocolate and pureed aubergine into the mixture using a spatula and incorporate thoroughly.

Pour the mixture into the prepared tin and place it on the bottom shelf of the oven for 30 minutes, by which time your kitchen will just sing with the smell of hot chocolate.

Remove the cake from the oven and let it cool in its tin for 15 minutes before turning it out onto a plate and peeling off the parchment.

Dust a little cocoa over the top of the cake before devouring it with gusto!

blackberry, lemon and thyme muffins

A day of baking old favourites. Chocolate cheesecake brownies, chocolate guinness cake, chocolate raspberry croissant pudding and one new simple recipe from the Australian Woman's Weekly - armenian nutmeg cake. Feel a bit ambivalent about this latest one, although freshly grated nutmeg is one of the best smells you could possibly inhale positively LIFE affirming. This afternoon I decided to see if I could actually make muffins, following my muffin disaster last week when a whole batch were declared inedible due to doughiness. The secret, I've been told is in the speed of mixing together the ingredients... a little like scones. We shall see. It proved to be an interesting recipe conversion from US measurements of sticks of butter and cake flour (for which I substituted 3/4 cup flour and 2 tablespoons of cornflour). I fell in love with this recipe purely on the name, earthy and rustic from Bon Apetit. Luckily blackberries are everywhere at the moment!

BLACKBERRY,LEMON & THYME MUFFINS
Crumble
1 cup flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp fresh thyme chopped finely
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
85g butter
1 large egg yolk
Whisk dry ingredients in a bowl. Add butter.  Using fingertips, rub in butter until pea-size lumps form.  Add egg yolk; stir to evenly distribute and form moist clumps. Crumble should resemble a mixture of pebbles and sand. Chill for at least an hour.  Can be made up to 3 day's in advance.
Muffins
1 cup flour
1 cup cake flour ( http://joythebaker.com/2009/09/how-to-make-cake-flour/ )
1 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
113g unsalted butter at room temperature
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup buttermilk
2 lemons - zest only
1 1/2 cups fresh blackberries
1 tblsp chopped fresh thyme
Preheat oven to 160C.  Line 12 muffin molds. 
Whisk all dry ingredients together. 
In a separate bowl beat the butter until pale and creamy, approximately 2 minutes.  Add sugar and continue to beat for a few minutes.  
Whisk eggs and vanilla essence separately then add gradually to the butter and sugar mixture.  Continue beating until light and fluffy.  
Combine lemon zest and buttermilk in a small bowl, then gradually beat into butter mixture.
Fold in dry ingredients being careful not to overmix.
Toss blackberries and thyme with 2 tablespoons of flour and fold into batter quickly gently crushing berries slightly to release some juices. 
Divide mixture between the molds.  Top each with 2 tblsps crumble mixture.
Bake until tops are golden brown and a skewer comes out clean when inserted into the centre, approx 50 minutes.
Cool in the tray then leave to rest on a wire rack.

Fame or integrity: which is more important?
Money or happiness: which is more valuable?
Success or failure: which is more destructive?

If you look to others for fulfillment,
you will never truly be fulfilled.
If your happiness depends on money,
You will never be happy with yourself.

Be content with what you have;
Rejoice in the way things are.
When you realize there is nothing lacking,
The whole world belongs to you.

Lao-tzu, Tao Te Ching

madeleines with fresh raspberries

Sweet madeleines. Rachel Khoo's inspired recipe although without the lemon curd this time, the raspberries work a treat by themselves.  I still haven't perfected the signature peaks what a curious affair can't quite understand yet the secret. Mine are more like gentle mounds but having been to St Johns restaurant in London I am acutely aware of what the peak should look like. Next batch I shall cook in a fan oven to assess the situation further. In cafe life... a lovely regular customer bought a slice of apple crumble cake and insisted I take a piece of her cake to taste when I wondered aloud what it was like. That little kindness was the best moment of my day - see it's always the little things that count!

MADELEINES

3 free range eggs

130g sugar

200g plain flour

10g baking powder

1 unwaxed lemon, finely grated zest only

20g honey

4 tbsp milk

200g butter, melted and cooled

punnet of raspberries

Beat the eggs with the sugar until pale and frothy. Put the flour and baking powder into a separate bowl and add the lemon zest.

Mix the honey and milk with the cooled butter, then add to the eggs.  In two batches fold in the flour. Cover and leave to rest in the fridge for a few hours, or overnight.

Preheat oven to 190C*.  Butter and flour a 12-shell madeleiene tin.  Place a heaped tablespoon of batter into each madeleiene shell and press a  raspberry deep into the batter.

Bake for five minutes and turn the oven off for one minute (the madeleines will get their signature peaks), then turn the oven on to 160C* and bake for a further five minutes.  Transfer the madeleines to a wire rack and leave for a few minutes until cool enought to handle.  Meanwhile, wash and dry the tin, then repeat the baking as for the first batch.
*I found that baking in a fan oven at 20C lower resulted in the signature peaks forming.

dainty pink macaroons with rose water and raspberry filling

MACAROONS
Makes about 24
175g icing sugar

125g ground almonds

110g egg whites

75g caster sugar

pinch of powdered rose food colouring
Preheat the oven to 160C
Pass the almonds and icing sugar through a medium sieve to remove any lumps.
Whisk the egg whites until they froth then gradually add 75g of caster sugar. Whisk until you have a semi-stiff and glossy meringue. Avoid over-whisking at all costs, needs to be to a chewing gum consistancy where the peaks gently fall over as the whisk is separated from the bowl.
With a spatula stir in one third of the dry ingredients. Once incorporated, repeat with the second third and then the final third. Add the food colouring and work the mixture with a spatula until it is shiny and has a thick ribbon-like consistancy as it falls from the spatula.  It must get to this stage but not go beyond otherwise you will end up with macaroons spreading all over the tray.
Fill a piping bag with the macaroon mix and pipe the macaroons into small circles onto good quality baking parchment on a perforated tray (this allows ventilation whilst cooking and avoids the macaroon sweating). 
Tap the tray on your work surface to smooth out the tops and remove air bubbles (hold entire tray about 10 cms above your work surface and drop). 
Leave the macaroons to dry for 30 minutes at room temperature. They are ready to cook when the surface is touch-dry. 
Transfer to the oven and bake for 15 minutes. The macaroons are cooked when the top is firm. Remove from the oven and leave to cool. Allow to cool thoroughly before filling.


ROSE WATER AND RASPBERRY FILLING

250 mls milk 

2 egg yolks

25g caster sugar

15g cornstarch

5mls rose water

100g raspberries

50mls double cream
Bring the milk to the boil. 
Beat the egg yolks and sugar together until pale, add the flour. 
Pour the milk over the eggs, mix well and then return to the pan and cook for 3 minutes. 
Allow to cool then fold in the lightly whipped double cream, the raspberries and the rose water. Keep cool.
Fill half of the macaroon shells with the rose water and raspberry cream.
Place a second macaroon shell on the top and et voila you have a perfectly beautiful home made macaroon!

motorcycle training day wisdom

My first CBT course, and sadly unprophetic dreams of mastering a manual 125cc motorbike in one day. We were asked at the start 'can you ride a bicycle without falling off?' and all giggled smugly. In fact I didn't feel nervous at all...until confronted by the bike, surrounded by men, and had to exhibit with confidence the art of 'un-standing and re-standing' the bike. It all sounds so easy except it wasn't. On my third desperate attempt with the combined silent will power of everyone watching, I managed to wrestle it back onto it's leg to a round of applause no less.  And immediately decided the only way forward was an automatic scooter. Sigh still feeling remnants of deflation all these hours later.  But I did pass - figure eights, u-turns, emergency stops, circling cones in a disused car park, and a gruelling slog on a bitterly cold day from Worthing to Shoreham. Felt like a hard day. Why am I putting myself through this? I love riding pillion, I love motorcycles but everything else is a mystery. Maybe it just needs to be summer.

Thought of the day 'LOOK TO WHERE YOU WANT TO GO!'.  If you're looking at the green fence, that's where you're going to end up, if you're looking at the pot hole - THAT's where you're going to end up'. Look up and ahead to exactly where you want to go'.  How often did the magnificent instructor yell this out to me today as I whizzed past in all my automatic scooter glory. In a nutshell that's really all you need to know about life isn't it?

ruby grapefruit and campari granita

An inspirational frozen summery cocktail perfect for a cloudy day.

RUBY GRAPEFRUIT AND CAMPARI GRANITA

Serves 4-6

Ingredients

500ml freshly squeezed ruby grapefruit juice

150g caster sugar

75ml Campari

Gently heat the juice with the sugar until the sugar has melted. Leave to cool.

Add the Campari and pour the liquid into a wide shallow container and put in the freezer. After about an hour, fork the crystals forming round the edge into the rest of the juice. Keep doing this at intervals, forking the slush to break it up as it freezes. Serve in glasses.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddrink/foodanddrinknews/9198035/Carolyn-Harts-food-news-Somerset-spelt-and-a-boozy-cruise.html?frame=2190666&page=0

roast lamb with a pistachio, apricot and lemon crust

I harbour a secret desire to know the intricacies of roasting meat to perfection.  Do some cooks just know how to do this?  Or is it purely a matter of cooking time, juggling with ovens and thermometers. I have witnessed professional chefs mopping frazzled brows as they put the thermometer into the lamb at a crucial moment only to find it is not hot enough! Mon dieu and what is to be done with all the waiting guests!  I still don't know the correct temperature and have never done it this way, I guess safer if you enjoy meat rare and people are paying for your food. I decided to cook a leg of New Zealand roast lamb.  Heston's recipe as below, was followed to the letter, but as my leg was 1.7kg it was cooked a little too much. Nigel Slater's suggestion for roast lamb medium rare is - 20mins at 220C, then about 15 minutes per 450g of meat and 10 minutes resting. Will try these cooking times in future, but the recipe was absolutely drop dead DELICIOUS and doesn't require a wink of adjustment otherwise!


ROAST LAMB WITH A PISTACHIO, APRICOT & LEMON CRUST
1.8-2kg leg of lamb
3 cloves garlic sliced
1 tbsp olive oil
50g dried apricots
50g pistachios
4 tbsp freshly ground parmigiano reggiano
grated zest and juice of 1/2 lemon
Preheat oven to 200C. Place lamb in a roasting tin and pierce all over with a small sharp knife. Insert slivers of garlic into piercings. Rub skin with olive oil and season. Roast in oven for 30 minutes then reduce temperature to 180C for a further hour.
While the lamb is cooking, whizz the apricots and pistachios together in a blender until finely chopped. Stir in cheese, lemon zest and juice and season.
Remove lamb from oven, press the mixture all over the lamb, baste with tin juices and return to the oven for a further 15 minutes until the crust is golden brown.
Remove lamb from oven, place on a warm platter and leave to rest for 10 minutes.  Make lamb gravy from tin juices by adding lamb stock or whatever else takes your fancy. Cut the lamb in glorious chunks and serve with gravy and fresh spring vegetables or a zesty salad!  I lightly steamed some french beans and tossed together with a little rocket, few sprigs of coriander, mint and parsley, pomegranate seeds and the zest and juice of one lime, olive oil, little sprinkle of grated parmigiano reggino and some seasoning. Bon apetit!

chocolate and raspberry croissant pudding

After weeks of collecting leftover plain and almond croissants, I raided the freeze and discovered to my astonishment sixteen whole croissants! Funny how things accumulate. So I set about the task of collecting all my ingredients to make the recipe spotted in 'Green & Black's Organic Ultimate Chocolate Recipes The New Collection'. Easy peasy.


CHOCOLATE AND RASPBERRY CROISSANT PUDDING
Serves 6-8
1 tbsp unsalted butter
100g dark (70% cocoa solids) chocolate, chopped into rough chunks, plus 1 tbsp, finely grated
4 croissants
100g fresh or frozen raspberries
600ml whipping cream
100g milk chocolate chopped
3 free-range medium eggs, beaten
Preheat oven to 180C.
Grease a 2 litre, ovenproof dish with the unsalted butter and dust with grated dark chocolate.
Tear the croissants into chunks and place in the ovenproof dish.  Sprinkle over the raspberries and chunks of the dark chocolate.  Set the dish aside while you prepare the custard mixture.
In a small saucepan bring the cream up to boiling point.  Remove from the heat and gently stir in the milk chocolate until melted.
Add the eggs and quickly mix in until well combined.  Pour the mixture over the croissants and raspberries. Push the croissants down into the custard so that they soak up a little of the liquid.
Bake in the preheated oven for 20 minutes or until the custard is just set.
Serve hot from the oven with ice cream. In my case, I served cold the next day as a cake and got mixed reviews from people - strangely moreish, interesting bread and butter pudding twist, can clearly taste the croissants but the raspberry and chocolate hit makes it! And plainly, alright.  I think you might need to be a fan in general of bread puddings for this richly decadent version.


If you don't know where you're going, any road will get you there.
Alice in Wonderland

'hurt me with the truth but never comfort me with a lie'

souffleed herb and goat's cheese omelette

A souffle in five minutes who would have thought? I love the simplicity of an omelette and throwing whatever takes your fancy into a frying pan.  In my case usually involves a chilli or two, some rocket, maybe tomato and a little parmesan.  If I was lucky and the fridge is looking good... dill, smoked salmon and salmon pate or creme fraiche with a squeeze of lime juice. But somehow it never occured to me to separate the eggs and whisk the whites while staying with the frying pan and the grill! Ooh la la!

SOUFFLEED HERB AND GOAT'S CHEESE OMELETTE 
by Diana Henry

Serves one greedy or two moderate eaters
Be careful in choosing your goat's cheese. Some of the creamier ones completely melt when heated, the way a cream cheese does, and you don't want one of those. Choose a firmer one that stays intact. If you use one with a rind, weigh it after removing the rind. Don't go for an ash-covered one either – it doesn't look pretty!
3 large eggs
leaves from 1 sprig tarragon, chopped
½ tbsp flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
½ tbsp chives, finely chopped
15g (½oz) unsalted butter
60g (2oz) goat's cheese without rind, crumbled into small pieces

Preheat the grill – it often takes domestic grills quite a while to get to a good temperature.Separate the eggs. Put the yolks into a bowl and beat with some salt and pepper. Mix in the herbs.Put the whites into a scrupulously clean bowl and beat until they form soft peaks. Using a large metal spoon, fold the whites into the yolk mixture.Put the butter into a non-stick pan measuring 18-20cm (7-8in) across and melt until foaming. Add the egg mixture to the pan and shake to level it out. Cook over a medium heat for one to one and a half minutes – you need to be able to see that the omelette has set underneath – then slide a palette knife under the omelette to loosen it. Scatter the goat's cheese over the top and put the pan under the hot grill. It should be about 10cm (4in) from the heat. Let it cook there for a minute or so until the cheese and the top are just going golden, then take it out and, using the palette knife, lift one edge of the omelette to fold over the other half and slide on to a warm plate. Serve immediately.

churros and porras

Easter weekend in Madrid. We arrived at late Good Friday flying from London Gatwick, thoroughly famished. After a quick peek into the cafeteria-like restaurant of the hotel we decided to wander through the streets, and a few corners later stumbled across a local bar. A glorious slice of spanish life. Couple in the corner playing dominos, a few old men huddled around an old television screen in the corner, some teenagers loitering smoking outside.  We timidly approached the waiter who to our shock spoke perfect english - shame on us!  Before we knew it we had a bottle of rioja, plate of squid rings and some chicken croquettes sitting on our little red and white chequered tablecloth. Perfect. Our new friend had waitered in London for many years, hence his english and he advised us on a few places to go, including EXACTLY where to go for breakfast in the morning. Just down the road in the little village square, for churros and porras, a cup of hot chocolate and good strong spanish coffee.  My oh my!  This is right up there with my all time favourite experiences.  Buenos dias, por favor dos churros, dos porras, una cafe solo, una cafe con leche and a hot chocolate which is about the extent of our spanish now but it got us by and this is what it looked like...

simnal cake

Today on the front counter sits a simnal cake all it's sunny glory. Yellow marzipan with eleven yellow toasted balls symbolising the apostles (a brief moment of hysteria ensued when we thought it was one ball short). Judas was missing hence only eleven, but Jesus is sometimes represented with a ball in the middle. This is all new to me, I have never seen one or tasted one before, so had a little sliver to investigate.  Decadently rich moist fruit cake with a river of marzipan running through the middle if you like that sort of thing. A colleague commented that it 'wasn't worth the calories', which is something one must always consider when eating a cake. And although I confess to feeling particularly greedy today, in my humble opinion it actually was!  But it's all a matter of taste isn't it?
Seeking means: to have a goal; but finding means: to be free, to be receptive, to have no goal. Herman Hesse

oeufs en cocotte

I can't believe I have never encountered this before, being such a fan of baked eggs. A lovely easy little lunch or supper as seen on 'The Little Paris Kitchen'. http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/eggs_in_pots_93154l

lemon curd macaroons

I'm learning all sorts of interesting macaroon terminology today. Macaronnage is a term for mixing flour and meringue to make the macaroon, and macaronner is a term for mixing the batter until firm! In the midst of surveying the wreckage of my second batch of macaroons I felt sublimely tempted to abandon this recipe altogether. I baked three trays of macaroons and doubled the size from the original recipe http://www.atelierdeschefs.co.uk/en/recipe/17419-basic-macaroon.php. giving the mixture a sprinkle of rose dust for a lovely pink hue. After piping into chic little mounds, I allowed thirty minutes for drying the surface this time before placing in the oven. Due to space issues I baked the first two trays for 15 minutes until the top appeared hard. The third tray I left in for 20 minutes before taking out. My sinking heart at another failure allowed them to sit on the work top all day before coming back to inspect hopefully - to find the first two trays of macaroons were still undercooked and sticking to the non-stick paper. Unsalvagable.  But joy of joys the third batch were looking hopeful. I also used different (unbleached) non-stick paper on the third batch and used the ventilated baking tray. It was possible to slide them easily off the tray, after they have cooled completely, and sandwich together with a liberal dash of lemon curd! Voila!

We delight in the beauty of the butterfly, but rarely admit the changes it has gone through to achieve that beauty.” 
― Maya Angelou

high tea

High tea in Highgate, London this Sunday afternoon with a friend. And what a delightful affair. Mrs Worthington's rose tea, earl grey tea, orange and chocolate cake and freshly baked scones with butter, jam and tea. Has got me pondering concocting an orange, chocolate and cardamom creation based on my lemon polenta cake recipe from the rose bakery. http://www.highteaofhighgate.com/