fondant-cakery

f o n d a n t - c a k e r y
My latest favourite ingredient to play around with is fondant icing. I've experimented with various techniques and surfaces to roll the icing out and think there's a good bit more I have to learn but I'm having a lot of fun trying out designs and constructions. Me being me I have a tendency to over-complicate things and don't really stop until I'm happy but whilst I do it I am having fun!

So here are a few of my designs so far...with room for improvement but a good starting point I think!!

Tennent's cake; Spiderman cake; Music cake

So for the recipe for my basic cake:
150g butter; 150g caster sugar; 3 eggs; 175g self-raising flour; 1 tsp baking powder; 2 tbsp ground almonds; 1 tbsp semi-skimmed milk

Cream the butter and sugar together, beat in the eggs one at a time, alternating with spoonfuls of flour (so that the eggs don't curdle with the creamed butter). Add the remaining flour into the mixture with the baking powder, ground almonds and spoonful of milk.

Pour the mix into a greased cake tin and bake for 25 - 30 minutes (or until a skewer comes out clean)
Leave to cool completely before covering with either thick frosting (150-175g icing sugar; 1 tbsp cream cheese; 1 tbsp butter) or some apricot jam (this just creates a smooth layer for you to put your fondant icing on top of and gives it something, other than crumbs, to stick to).

Knead the fondant into a ball and, on a lightly icing-sugar-dusted surface, roll out to the required depth (I usually go for about the thickness of a pound coin). Fold over the back of a rolling pin and then unfold onto the cake. Smooth down the edges to cover the sides of the cake and smooth over the whole cake with your hands to flatten any bumps.

And now you can decorate as required!

banana-bread-baking

b a n a n a - b r e a d - b a k i n g
When it comes to bananas I can get a little bit judgemental...if they're too green they feel horrible to bite into and as they pass over the yellow/brown stage they get a bit......furry!! My idea of a perfect banana is one which is completely yellow except for a tiny green bit on the stalk...and if there are any bruises, I'm out! I think over a banana's lifetime there's around a 40 minute window where I will eat them!

Therefore banana bread is the answer to all my banana ripening troubles! It's a really simple cake to throw together, it uses up all my neglected bananas and I know lots of people who love to eat it!!

So for the recipe (which is in cups):
2/3 cup sugar; 1/2 cup vegetable oil; 2 eggs; 2 bananas; 1 teaspoon of vanilla (I tend to use vanilla bean paste but you can also use vanilla extract); 1 & 2/3 cup self-raising flour; 1 teaspoon of baking soda; 1 teaspoon of cinnamon

Start by mashing your bananas and stir in the vanilla. In a separate bowl mix the sugar, vegetable oil and eggs together then add in the mashed bananas/vanilla combination. Finally add in all your dry ingredients (flour, baking soda and cinnamon) and give it a final stir.
I have a tendency to add coconut to it at this point for a little bit more texture... just after the flour and cinnamon (about half a cup) and put 1/4 cup of milk in to keep enough moisture in too.

Pour the mix into a greased loaf tin (or 2 depending on quantities of cake) and bake for around 25 minutes at 190 degrees (you can check it's cooked by pushing a skewer through the cake and seeing if it comes out clean).
Once cooked move to a cooling rack to cool a bit before cutting/eating/devouring.

chinese-sticky-pork

c h i n e s e - s t i c k y - p o r k

Last night I had taken some pork steaks out of the freezer in an attempt to use up the vast quantities of frozen meat which reside there. As my day at work wore on I couldn't really think what to do with the pork steak...partly because I didn't really know what I was looking for and partly because I couldn't think what I had in my cupboards, I really struggled to find a good recipe for pork on the internet (I'm absolutely sure they exist though). 
So I decided to have a go at putting some of my favourite flavours in the same bowl and seeing what I could produce!!
The results were surprisingly delicious (and really, really simple)... I give you Chinese-style sticky pork with paprika and coconut rice.

So for the recipe:

2 pork steaks; 2 tablespoons honey; 1 'glug' (technical term!) soy sauce; 1 tablespoon sesame oil; 1 teaspoon chilli flakes; 2 chopped spring onions; 2 teaspoons paprika.
1 red onion; large handful baby corn; 2 chopped spring onions; 1 tablespoon honey;  half a tin chopped tomatoes; 1 handful coriander;
Brown rice; sesame oil; 2 tablespoons dessicated coconut; 1 tablespoon paprika
Mix all of the ingredients together to form a sticky paste, add a little more soy sauce or sesame oil to form a marinade and cover the pork steaks in it and leave for a while (overnight would be great but I only had half an hour!) Meanwhile cook your rice, drain and leave to the side.
Once your steaks have marinaded heat up your frying/gridle pan, brown the onion and, whilst the pan is very hot, place your steaks in the pan. Cook for around 5 minutes on one side, pour the rest of the marinade in and turn the steaks over to cook through. Place your steaks on a chopping board, cut into slices and return to the pan with the baby corn, spring onions, honey, coriander and chopped tomatoes. Cook until most of the liquid has been cooked off and the honey is turning everything sticky and delicious.
In the same pan (once the content has been moved into a bowl) heat some more sesame oil. Add the rice, paprika and coconut and continue to stir this until everything has been mixed together, the coconut is starting to smell delicious and the rice is cooked through (if you're finding the rice is starting to dry a little you can add some coconut milk or a bit more oil to keep it moving).

Serve with some extra coriander and a few more chopped spring onions.

Paprika and coconut rice

brilliant-baking-day

b r i l l i a n t - b a k i n g - d a y
I thought I'd post quickly and give you a taster of what I've been up to.
For Christmas my parents got me a practical class at Martin Wishart Cook School which I cashed in yesterday, learning to make 5 different desserts and ultimately having an amazing day. It really was worth using one of my holidays to spend a day in a kitchen and as well as getting some inspiration for new recipes, meeting some lovely people and getting taught some new techniques I also realised that my experiences in the kitchen are so much more pleasant when you have a kitchen porter weighing out all your ingredients and cleaning up after you... It's aspirational at least!!

One of the desserts on the menu was a blueberry bakewell tart and, because I remembered to take photos of it during the baking process, I thought I would share it just now!!

blueberry bakewell tart - pre baking

So for the recipe:
Pastry: 70g butter; 60g icing sugar; 1 egg; 200g plain flour
Frangipane: 250g butter (softened); 250g icing sugar; 250g ground almonds; 100g plain flour; 4 eggs
Final touches: Fresh blueberries, flaked almonds; blueberry jam

P a s t r y : Place butter, flour, icing sugar and a pinch of salt into a bowl and rub together with your fingertips until it forms breadcrumb consistency.
Beat the egg into the flour mix. Knead the mix gently until it forms a ball. Wrap in cling film and leave to rest in the fridge.
F r a n g i p a n e : Sieve the icing sugar into a bowl with the butter and beat together until white and creamy. Fold in the ground almonds and the flour. Beat the eggs into the mix one at a time until incorporated well and beat again for a further 3 or 4 minutes.
F i n a l - t o u c h e s : Butter and flour a 30cm flan ring. Roll out the pastry to 5mm thickness and place onto the ring pressing it into the corners. Prick the base with a fork. Evenly spread blueberry jam onto the base. Spoon the frangipane mix into the flan and spread evenly. Scatter the blueberries and flaked almonds on top of the frangipane and bake at 190 degrees for 20 minutes.

Serve with creme fraiche or just eat the whole thing between you and 3 friends in approximately 15 minutes!

More of my Martin Wishart day will definitely follow as I try to make the rest of my menu by myself!!

blueberry bakewell tart - pre eating!

sausage-hotpot

s a u s a g e - h o t p o t
I bought a brilliant turquoise casserole dish with a lid last year which looks perfectly at home in my kitchen. It usually sits on a shelf surrounded by my cute little, charity shop bought, cups & saucers and my mum's old milk jug... but that's not really the point of it I suppose! After deciding I should do more cooking with it (and mostly because I realised I had sausages needing used up), a sausage hotpot seemed like an obvious choice!

So for the recipe:
6 sausages of your choosing (I used pork & red onion sausages but it definitely works with Quorn sausages too); 2 carrots; 1 leek; 1 courgette; 4 chestnut mushrooms; red wine (some for cooking, the rest for drinking); chutney; red onion; Worcestershire sauce; tin of baked beans.
Cook the sausages in the casserole dish with a chopped red onion, 200ml (ish) of red wine, a 'glug' of Worcestershire sauce and 2 tablespoons of chutney. Whilst the sausages are cooking, parboil the carrots and have a glass of wine. After about 20 mins of the sausages cooking, cut them into smaller chunks and add the remaining ingredients (chopped leek, parboiled carrots, chopped courgette, sliced mushrooms, baked beans). At this point I added a little water and another tablespoon of chutney - because it's just so tasty. Cook on a lower heat (about 120) for a further 30 minutes until everything is bubbling away in the casserole dish.


I served it with mashed potatoes (which I mash with olive oil & a tiny bit of paprika to give them a deep, nutty taste with a bit more colour) and I'll admit the portions were slightly out of control...the recipe would comfortably serve 4 but it seemed to be finished by the two of us!!

winter-cakery

w i n t e r - c a k e r y
Like a grit bin, I'm made for winter really. A 'Celtic' transparent & freckly complexion lends itself well to being wrapped up in a hat and coat on winter nights with the steam of a cup of mulled wine keeping me warm!
Warm, spicy and tasty are the results I aim to produce when I bake during Winter.
I can throw together a Marieke Cake pretty quickly & add a dusting of icing sugar with some Christmas-related greenery in the middle. Alternatively, I cook some gingerbread biscuits. Gingerbread biscuits are so easy to make in all different sort of shapes and sizes (man/woman/star/heart/bell).

So for the recipe (which makes about 30 decent star shapes):
350g plain flour; 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda; 3 tsp ground ginger; 1 tsp cinnamon; 125g butter; 175g brown sugar; 1 egg; 4 tbsp golden syrup
Mix the flour, bicarbonate of soda, ginger and cinnamon (or other spices) into a bowl. Add the butter and blend together until the mix resembles breadcrumbs. Stir in the sugar.
Gently beat the egg and syrup together and add the the dry mix until combined. Tip the dough out and knead it until it had turned smooth. Wrap it in clingfilm and leave to chill for 15 minutes.
Roll out the dough to a £1 coin thickness and use cutters to cut out your gingerbread shapes. Place on a baking tray and bake for 12 minutes at 170 degrees. Transfer to a cooling rack once cooked so they can begin to harden.

plenty more fish...

p l e n t y - m o r e - f i s h . . .
I was told by a former colleague that salmon is too common and, in many ways, I think I agree; Every restaurant you go to now has at least one salmon dish but I don’t think this is necessarily a bad thing. I am aware there are plenty more fish in the sea, metaphorically and literally I suppose, but I really do love salmon (particularly a giant bit of smoked salmon if anyone is thinking about a good Christmas present).
 

My Dad is brilliant when it comes to flavour combinations; He has great taste in wine and is my kindred spirit when it comes to sharing a giant pot of raw garlic in oil and polishing off a kilo of Roquefort in 20 minutes! And as much as garlic, wine and French blue cheese feature heavily in his (and my own) life he also creates some other amazing concoctions in the kitchen - one incredible salmon recipe in particular which he has shared with a few people, and it now comes recommended by their local fish man (someone who, I imagine, is not like this...)!

Salmon in marinade

So for the recipe:
For the marinade – 1 ‘glug’ soy sauce; 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar; 1 ‘glug’ white wine; 3 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced; 4 chopped spring onions; ½ inch ginger, finely sliced; ½ chilli, finely sliced.
For cooking – 1 ‘glug’ white wine; 1 tbsp olive oil; 2 tsps honey; 1 tsp dried tarragon

Cover the bottom of a dish with the soy sauce then add the other marinade ingredients. Place the Salmon steaks on the marinade with the skin side up, cover and place in fridge for at least 6 hours.
Cover the bottom of a dish with olive oil, remove the salmon from the marinade and place skin side up in the dish and rub some olive oil on the skin. Cover with tin foil and bake for 25 to 30 minutes at 180C.
Pour the left-over marinade into a pan, add another glug of white wine, some olive oil & slowly heat the mixture. When hot add 2 tsps of honey and keep stirring until the honey is dissolved. Add a teaspoon of dried tarragon and let mixture simmer until reduced slightly.
When the salmon is cooked, serve with the cooked marinade mixture poured over the top. I usually serve it with spring onion & crème fraiche mash and a glass of the remaining white wine which seems to compliment it pretty well!

Eat Mair Pie is a lovely recipe blog which has my dad’s salmon recipe on it too.
And Vince – maybe have a go with this salmon recipe...it’s not that common and "Hugh’ll" probably be impressed!!

Baked salmon with 'nomathon' mash