Category: cooking

For NYE dinner I wanted to try something different from my standard vegan cherry frozen cake so this recipe looked nice.

Ingredients for caramelized pears:

• 6 small firm pears (conference are good)
• 200g caster sugar
• 2 cinnamon sticks
• 1 star anise
• 6 cloves
• 1 lemon zest
• 1 orange zest

Ingredients for sponge:

• 250g pitted dates
• 1 tsp chia seeds
• 1 can of coconut milk
• 200ml sunflower oil
• 160g dark muscovado sugar
• 200g self-raising flour
• 1 tsp bicarbonate soda
• 1 tsp ground mixed spice (I used Chinese)
• pinch of salt

Process:

1- Peel the pears, cut the bottom off each to give a flat base. With a small knife, try to cut the pips/heart from the base. Roughly chop these scraps and discard the seeds as are not sweet. Set aside for later.

2- In a saucepan where all pears can fit, pour sugar, cinnamon sticks, star anise, cloves, zests and 600 ml water. Bring to a boil, then simmer and add the pears. Cover the saucepan if you can. Poach them until a knife easily slides into the pear. Around 25-30 minutes. After that, remove from heat and let the pears cool down in the liquid.

3- Put chopped dates, chia and coconut milk in another saucepan. Bring to medium heat, stir often so the milk doesnt stick in the bottom. Check the dates get soft.

4- Pour the date mix into a food processor and blitz until smooth. Add oil and blend again. Let it cool down.

5- Pre-heat oven at 175C. My bakin tin is 32x22x5 cm. Line it with baking paper.

6- In a bowl, put the sugar, flour, bicarbonate, mixes spice and pinch of salt. Mix all well by hand. Be sure there are no sugar lumps.

7- Add the date mix to the flour. Mix with a spatula all together. Add the pear scraps.

8- Pour the mix into the tin. Nestle the pears, standing up right. Bake for 35-40 minutes. Remove from oven only if a skewer in the center of the cake comes out clean.

9- Try to reduce the pear poaching liquid to a syrup (I couldnt).

10- Once the cake is out of the oven, with a brush, pour a bit of the syrup on top. Then let it cool down a bit.

11- I cut mine in six parts to be sure everybody had a piece with pear.

I haven’t tried a sticky toffee pudding from a long time. This one didnt remind me much but it was really tasty nonetheless. So happy with the result. And my friends too!

This is a dough that can be used for Foccaia, Bloomer or small bread rolls.

This recipe makes:

• 1 foccacia of 880g (25cmx15cm aprox)
• 1 bloomer
• 4x bread rolls of 80g each

Ingredients:

• 1kg strong flour
• 40g course semolina
• 15g dry yest (30g fresh yeast)
• 20g sea salt
• 100ml olive oil
• 640ml water (warm)
• 1 egg (for eggwash)
• 4 garlic cloves chopped
• Rosemary
• Sesame seeds

Main process for dough:

• Mix flour, semolina, yest.
• Add crushed sea salt and mix
• Make a hole in the middle of the flours and add water and oil. Mix until all combined
• Knead by hand. Take the dough in the air, and slap it on the work surface. Dont add any flour in the work surface. At the beginning will be sticky but once gluten starts forming will be more manageable. Do this for 15 min aprox. Until the dough is smooth.
• Prove until double in size. If using proving machine: 3% water, 35-40C temp.

Foccacia:

• Prepare a tray of aprox 25x15cm. Oil it, add baking paper of similar size, cutting a diagonal in the corners so it fits better.
• Take a portion of 880g from the main dough.
• Spread it on the tray so fills it.
• Prove for a second time until double in size.
• Preheat oven at 200C
• After proving, oil your fingertips and make holes on the dough
• Spread the chopped garlic as evenly as possible. Add a bit of oil
• Cut some rosemary, dip it on olive oil so it doesnt burn in the oven. Add it to the foccacia in the holes made earlier.
• Bake until golder brown (20-25m)
• Take out of the oven, brush with olive oil and sprinkle with sea salt. Let it cool!

Bread rolls:

• From the main dough, after first proving. Take 4 pieces of 80g each.
• Make a ball with each piece, the surface should be smooth. Dont use flour in your work surface.
• Put the ball in a tray covered with a bit of semolina.
• Prove until double in size
• Eggs wash each roll. And add sesame seeds
• Bake in the preheat oven at 200C for 15m aprox or until golden brown.

Bloomer:

• From the leftover dough after the first proving, divide it in 3 parts.
• Roll them horizontally.
• Like babka, make a braid like this video.
• Tap both ends.
• Prove second time until double in size.
• Dust with a bit of flour and bake for 25m or golden brown at 200C in a preheat oven.

This is the result!

To be honest, I didnt like much the bloomer and breadrolls. My weekly homemade sourdough is far much better (and still got room for improvement)

And for the foccacia, as well, I prefer my sourdough version.

Ingredients for Swiss Roll:

• 3 free range eggs
• 75g caster sugar
• 75g plain flour

Filling:

• 18 strawberries: chopped.
• 350ml cream
• 1/4 tsp vanilla
• 2 tsp icing sugar.

Stock syrup:

• 50% water
• 50% sugar
• optional: start anise, lemon zest, etc.
• Process: In a sauce pan, mix water and sugar, then heat up until boiling, then simmer.

Straberry dressing:

• 380g straberries (can be frozen)
• 150g icing sugar
• 1 lemon juice

Overall Process:

• Preheat oven at 175C
• In a tray of aprox 40cm x 25cm, cut a piece of baking paper of the same size.
• Then cut a diagonal in each corner of the paper with scissors

• Butter the tray, put the paper, then trimmer above 1cm on the borders.
• Butter the paper again and pour some flour and smack the tray to produce an anti-stick layer.
• Using a mixing-machine (something I dont have at home….) put the sugar and eggs. Mix until 4 times in size!! They need to become a white and dense cream.
• Sieve the flour in a bowl. Twice if possible.
• Once the egg mix is ready, fold the flour slowly like 1/3 at each time, you want to keep the air bubbles! Use a spatula.
• Pour the mix on the tray. Bake for 6 minutes aprox at 175C. It should spring the surface when you poke it with a finger.
• Let it cool down for a bit.
• Spread a kitchen towel on your work surface and dust it with plenty of sugar. Dont use baking paper or similar!
• Put the sponge on the towel and remove the paper carefully.
• Cut the edges with a serrated knife.
• This is the most difficult step, you need to roll the sponge using the towel to keep it tight but without breaking the sponge! Make a line on the bottom of the sponge to help you roll it up

• once the sponge is rolled, be sure it is tight the kitchen towel. Let it rest.
• Prepare your stock syrup.
• Chop the straberries.
• Prepare the cream. Whisk by hand in a bowl the cream, sugar and vanilla. Until solid but not peaks.
• Unroll the sponge, and brush some stock syrup on it.
• Add chopped straberries.
• Spread the cream on top of the strawberries.
• Roll again the sponge, be careful!!! Using the towel.
• With a clean knife, cut both ends and then start cutting pieces (cleaning each time the knife)

• Optionally, you can prepare a strawberry syrup. In a blender put the straberries, icing sugar and lemon juice.
• Decoration. With the leftover cream and a piping bag, you can decorate each slice with a cream dollop and some pieces of strawberry. Using the strawberry syrup, and a sign.

To be honest the sponge was very nice and not super sweet. The cream doesnt have much sugar and the strawberry give it a fresh bite.

This is a typical British cake. This is for a cicle tin of around 18cm diameter and at least 5cm high.

Ingredients:

• 110g sunflower oil
• 170g dark brown sugar
• 2 small eggs beaten
• 170g plain flour
• 5g baking powder
• 2g cinnamon
• 2 medium carrots grated
• 42g raisins
• 42 chopped walnuts
• pinch of salt
• a bit of melted butter
• optional: 1 bottle cap of (dark) rum.

Process:

• Pre-heat oven at 170C
• Using the circle tin, use to cut a cicle with baking paper to cover the bottom of the tin.
• Butter the bottom and side of the tin. Put the paper and butter a bit again.
• Dust a bit of flour on the bottom of the tin. Smack it a bit to produce an anti-stick layer.
• Mix oil and sugar in a bowl. Then add the beaten eggs.
• In another bowl, mix carrots, raisins and rum (optional).
• In another bowl, sift (twice!) the flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt.
• And the flour to the wet mix. Whisk until smooth.
• Add carrot mix, mix properly.
• Add walnuts, fold it!
• Pour the mix into the tin and take to the oven.
• Bake for 1h or so. Use a tooth stick to check the cake is baked. It should come out clean.
• Let is cool down in a racket.

Cream Cheese Frosting Ingredients:

• 150g philadelpia cream cheese (be sure it is consistent! – full fat!)
• 25g icing sugar sifted
• 12g softed butter
• 1/4 tsp of lemon juice
• A couple of drops of vanilla paste.

Process

• Mix cheese and sugar. Whisking
• Add butter. Keep whisking
• Add vanilla
• Add lemon juice.
• It should be a consistent mix. You dont the frosting to melt down once spread on your cake.

Finishing Cake:

• Remove the cake from the tin. It should be cool down enough.
• In a plate, leave the flat part on top so it is easier to put the cream.
• With a palette, create a flat surface with the cream. You can use a pipping bag and a rotating dish to help you with the process.
• Make eight dollops for decoration.

Optional: Marzipan Carrots

Ingredients:

• 50g of marzipan (store bought)
• Orange, blue and yellow colorants.

Process:

• In a small container, mix a couple of drops of yellow and blue colorant to make a green color.
• Take 30g of marzipan and put a couple of drops of orange. Use latex gloves! Mix both until you have a orange ball.
• Do the same with a 15g aprox marzipan portion and green.
• To create small carrots, take a small ball of orange, with the edge of you palm, try to create the body of the carrot.
• With the bland edge of knife make circle of the carrot body.
• With a tooth stick make a hole in the top to add later the green tail.
• Take a tiny ball of green marzipan. Again with the edge of your palms make a small tail, cut 3/4 with the knife to simulate the carrot leaves. With the tooth stick help to introduce the tip into the carrot.
• Repeat with the rest.
• Once you have eight. Put one in each cream dollop from the cake.

I tried filo pastry last year and it was a bit of disaster so I had in my todo list to try again. And this weekend, it was the time for it. I felt like to eat some good burek so I needed filo pastry for it. So the ingredients and process is the same as before but I will copy anyway:

Filo Pastry Ingredients:

• 500g plain wheat flour
• 250ml whole milk
• 100ml vegetable oil
• 10ml vinager
• 5g salt
• unti-stick mix: 200g thin corn flour + 100g plain flour

Filo Pastry Process:

• In a bowl, add milk, oil, vinager and salt. Mix well. Then add the 500g flour. Mix again until all combined.
• Knead the mix on your work surface for 10 minutes or so until you have a smooth dough.
• Wrap up in plastic film and let it rest for 1h on your work surface.
• Prepare the anti-stick mix: combine the corn and wheat flour.
• Dust your work surface with the anti-stick mix.
• Divide the dough in 20 small pieces. Highly recommended to use a scale.
• Each piece, create a ball and let it rest in a baking try. Cover the try with a kitchen towel or plastic film.
• Then starts the “difficult” part. Pick one ball, use a bit of the anti-stick mix in your rolling pin and on the ball. Spread the ball in a circle around 13cm diameter or so. It should just a couple of moves in each direction. Then be generous with the anti-stick mix, as we need to create a stack of 10 pieces and it is critical so they dont stick. Put the first piece with anti-stick mix on top. And repeat the same process with other 9 balls.
• Once you have the 10 pieces together, you have to spread all of them at the same time. Again be sure you have plenty of anti-stick mix in your work surface, rolling ping, etc.
• Spread slowly in all directions, turning the stack, being careful that all layers spread equally.Likely you get up to 3 or 4 times bigger than the original form.B But dont over stretch it, if you do, the layers will join and will be difficult to separare later.
• Now you have to remove each layer from the stack. Be careful, it should be paper thin!
• In baking paper, with a layer of anti-stick mix, put each layer adding extra anti-stick mix on top. Again, be generous with the anti-stick mix! After adding the 10th layer, use another piece of baking paper and now roll everything together slowly. If you want to keep it in the freezer of fridge, then wrap the roll with plastic film.
• Repeat the same process with the final 10 balls.
• So at the end you end with two packets with 10 layer each.

Burek Ingredients:

• 200g ricotta cheese or mascarpone
• 800g sour cream
• 5 eggs
• 1 tsp dry yeast
• salt to taste
• 20 layers of filo pastry
• sunflower oil for spreading between layers

Burek Process:

• Preheat oven at 200C
• Grease a baking tray with a bit of sunflower oil.
• Add cheese, sour cream, eggs, yeast and salt in a bowl and mix until runny.
• Brush two sheets of pastry indiviually with oil and place into the tray
• Spread a thin layer of the filling onto the pastry.
• Repeat the process of adding two oiled layers of pastry and then a layer of cheese filling until everything is used up.
• With a fork or knife make a few holes in the top as the pastry will raise quite a bit!
• Put burek in the oven for 30-40 minutes or golden on top.
• Remove from oven and let it rest.

This time the filo pastry was FAR MUCH better than last year. I didnt make the same mistakes for a change 🙂

Although I did the filo pastry the day before. I think I should have add a bit more anti-stick mix between the layers when doing the packets.

Regarding the burek, it tasted good. I think it needed a bit more salt. As well, the filo pastry taste it was very different from the shop bought one. It tasted a lot to bread, so it surprised me.

Anyway, I need to do it more often.

Last weekend I spent it with Q, and we had a great time. I tried a couple of new things food-wise that really impressed. This is one of them.

Initially I thought it was a burger but then my friend told me that it was zucchini/courgette. So we gave it a try, and it was really good (and we were a bit hungry too 🙂 So I tried to find something in the Internet and I went for this recipe:

Ingredients:

• 2 medium zucchini/courgette shredded (you can try 3)
• 1 small onion shredded or 4-5 spring onions chopped
• 1 small potato shredded
• 3 eggs
• 1/2 bunch of dill
• 1/2 bunch of parsley
• 100g feta cheese
• 150g plain flour
• salt + pepper
• sunflower oil for frying.

Process:

• Squeeze the liquid from the zucchini. Leave the zucchini in a bowl
• Add onion, potato to the zucchini.
• Add finely chopped dill and parsley to the zuchini
• Whisk the eggs a bit and add it to the mix.
• Add the feta cheese shredded too with your fingers.
• Mix all well. Add salt and pepper. Taste it.
• Add the flour and mix well. You should have a nice butter.
• In a deep pan, heat up the sunflower oil. Once it is hot, put a big spoon of the butter and deep fry until golden. Turn over and do the same.
• Remove the fritter from the pan and put it on paper towels to absorbe the oil
• Repeat the process until the butter is over.

This is my butter:#

And this is after frying:

To be honest, I think it didnt’t taste like the ones I tried last weekend, but it was good enough! Maybe more salt/pepper and one more courgette (total 3) and a bit less dill/parsley?

This makes approx 6 muffins.

Ingredients:

• 110g plain flour
• 110g butter
• 65g caster sugar
• 2 free-range eggs mixed
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 100g blueberries (fresh or frozen)
• pinch of nutmeg
• Muffin cases

Process

• Pre-heat oven at 200C
• Cream the butter and sugar. It should double in size and it should look like a cream. You shouldnt feel the sugar granes. This is slow and a bit painful 😛
• Slowly, add 1/4 of egg to the cream, mix until all combined. Add another 1/4 of egg, mix until all combined. Repeat until all egg is in.
• Add the flour, baking powder and nutmeg. Mix all well.
• Cover the mix and let it rest for 10 minutes.
• Prepare two cases per muffin if you dont have special muffin tray.
• Take a piping bag, you dont need any special head. Put the mix into the bag. Cut the tip of the bag, it should be 1.5cm max diameter.
• Pipe the mix vertically! (very important) on the bottom of the cases. Fill a bit less than half the case.
• Add blueberries on top of each dollop of mix. 5-6 blueberries.
• Then add another layer of mix on top of the blueberries. Remember to pipe vertically!. Fill until the top of the case. Add again 5-6 blueberries.
• Put the muffins in the oven for 20 minutes aprox or until golden on top.
• Before removing from oven, use a tooth stick and check it comes out clean.
• Let it cool for a bit.
• Optionally, you can use a bit of icing sugar on top for decoration.

This makes aprox 6 scones

Ingredients

• 225g self-raising flour
• 2 tsp baking powder (double effect: fizzy with water -> bubbles -> in the oven expand)
• pinch salt
• 25g caster sugar
• 50g unsalted butter
• 150ml whole milk
• 1 egg bitten for washing

Decoration:

• Clotted Cream
• Jam
• icing sugar

Process:

• Prepare a baking tray. Wash with a bit of melted butter, then spread some flour and finally smack the tray to remove the flour. You should have a light dusted tray.
• Pre-heat oven at 220C
• Sift flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl. Stir in the sugar.
• Add the butter and “rub” with the flour mix until it looks like breadcrumbs. Tosh a bit the bowl and check there is no butter pieces.
• Add the milk bit a bit. Mixing with one hand.
• Put the dough on the work surface and knead it for 7-8 minutes. It is a very wet dough so use a scrapper to help you. At then it should be a bit more manageable , then form a ball with your hands and let it rest for 20 minutes.
• Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface. Put flour on your rolling pin and spread the dough until it is aprox 2cm thick. If it is thinner than this, the scone will not rise much!.
• Use a pastry cutter of 8-10cm diameter. Cut the dough with one strong move, dont twist it! Remove the cutter, and do the same in different part of the dough until you can use it anymore. Remove the leftover dough with the help of a spoon or similar without breaking the scone shape.
• If you have dough left, repeat the process. Spread to 2cm thick, use cutter, etc
• Transfer the scones to the tray. Wash only the top with the egg wash. Rest for 10 minutes.
• Wash again the top of the scones and transfer to the oven.
• Bake for 10-12 minutes until the top is golden brown. Use a tooth pick to be sure the inside of the scone is baked. The pick should come out clean.
• Let the scone cool down.
• For serving, use a bread knife and cut approx by the middle. You can use anything you like, the typical fillings is clotted cream and jam!
• You can spread some icing sugar on top for decoration

Ingredients:

• 100g butter
• 125g icing sugar
• 100g flour
• 3 egg whites
• 1/2 vanilla paste

Process:

• Pre-heat oven at 180C
• Cream butter and icing sugar with your hand.
• Add the egg whites in three times. Mix with your hand.
• Add the flour bit a bit and keep mixing.
• Add the vanilla, mix a bit.
• Prepare a piping bag with a small nozzle. As usual, twist the bag with your index finger in the nozzle so it keeps the form, fold the pipe to the middle and then add the cream.
• On the back of a tray, wash it with a bit of butter, add flour and then smack it with one hit so it get a soft non-sticky cover.
• Using a butter block, make two vertical lines using thumb and index finger.
• ^^ This is the same as the eclairs ^^
• Pipe the cream horizontally, hold the pipe with your left hand and squeeze with the right. Be sure the lines are uniform (parts with more cream than other, etc), the cream doesnt have bubbles.
• Then trim the edges with a sharp knife, the lines should be well inside the tray. This is important because once in the oven, they will expand and you dont want the biscuit bend down the tray edge.
• Bake for 10 minutes aprox, until the biscuit edges are golden brown.
• Remove from oven and let them cool down
• Optionally, you can dust half of the biscuit with icing sugar.

The biscuits were tasty but the form was really bad. My piping wasnt good I think as some parts had more cream and they expanded more. Need to try again!

Brandy Snap Ingredients:

• 55g butter
• 55g demanara sugar
• 55g golden syrup (put 10sec in microwave once ready to use it so it is liquid)
• 50g plain flour
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 1/2 tsp lemon (stops crystalizing the sugar)
• optional: Silpat matt (Non-Stick Silicone Baking Mat)

Process:

• Pre-heat oven at 180C.
• In sauce pan, put butter, sugar and syrup. Heat gently at low heat, until everything is disolved. Don’t boil it!!! Stir with a spoon, until you dont feel the grains of sugar. If should look like “caramel”. It will take 10-15 minutes. Dont rush it.
• Let the sugar mix to cool down for 1-2 minutes, add the flour and ginger. Mix well but just a bit. You dont want to split the mix.
• Add the lemon, mix well but like above.
• In the baking try with non-sticking paper or similar, drop 4 small balls of “caramel”. Around 1/2 tsp. It looks small but then in the oven they will spread out a lot. They need to become flat, and “toasted”. A bit less than 10 minutes.
• When the circules have a nice brown color, remove the try from the oven.
• Wait 30 sec or so. Then with a circle cookie cutter, cut a circumference from each melted caramel. If it is too soft, wait for a bit, then remove the sides around the cutter with the handle of a fork or spoon. The “cookie” should be pliable.
• Use the handle of the whisk, with a bit of oil, and put the “cookie” to form a “canoli”. Try to connect the sides. Wait until the “cookie” is a bit hard and remove from the handle. Let it rest in a cooling rack
  • Very likely from the 4 caramel melts, one or two will be hard and you will not be able to cut it or put the cookie in the handle without breaking it. If you think they are going to break, put them back in the oven for 1 minute and will be come soft again. So start the process again, use cutter, help with fork to remove excess sides, then handle to form a “canoli”.
  • Once you have all “canoli” resting, make the filling below:

Cream Ingredients:

• 200ml double cream
• 1 tsp icing sugar
• 1/2 tsp vanilla paste

Cream process:

• Whisk the cream, sugar and vanilla until it starts to become solid. Don’t go to stiff peaks!!! This is not merengue. If you do, once you try to pipe it, the cream will spilt in something similar to butter and water.
• Use a cross end for the pipe. As usual, twist the bag with the index finger so it stays, the put the cream in the bag, twist the bag until all cream is together and then pipe one hand in the bottom and the other squeezing.
• Fill each canoli a bit from each side.
• Optional, dip each side in pistachio

I tried one after cooling down and I felt it was too sweet. But maybe because I ate a bit of the “cookie” leftover that are nearly purely sugar.

The next day, I tried another and felt much better. The cream is not sweet at all so it balance the “biscuit”.