Breakfast Flapjack

Dear readers,

I've always found it difficult finding time to eat breakfast in the mornings. Even though food is so important to me, I can't resist those extra few minutes in bed!

If I did manage to make time the mornings, I would choose to eat porridge every day for breakfast. I believe that oats are such a healthy food. I've noticed that supermarkets are now selling instant porridge pots, but at £1.00 a pot, I decided that eating those everyday would be far too expensive! I then found myself buying flapjack at work for breakfast. Again, this was too expensive in the long term, and a little unhealthy, too, with all that sugar and butter. Then I remembered reading about banana flapjacks by Choclette. I decided that substituting some of the butter and sugar with bananas would make the flapjacks that little bit healthier, which would make it appropriate to eat them everyday for breakfast, right?! I also thought that I'd pack some extra nutrients from other ingredients in there, too, for that extra boost in the morning.

This recipe is adapted from Chocolate Log Blog

Breakfast Flapjacks
2 ripe bananas, mashed
200g rolled oats
60g soft brown sugar
30g golden syrup
125g butter
80g dried cranberries
50g desiccated coconut
50g chopped dark chocolate
50g chopped pecans
25g pumpkin seeds

Mash the bananas in a large bowl with a fork. Add the butter, sugar and syrup and microwave for 30 seconds or so, to melt the butter. Mix well, then add the cranberries, coconut, chocolate, pecans and seeds, or whatever inclusions one wishes to add, then stir in the oats. Press the mixture into a greased baking tray and bake at 180°C for 30 minutes, or until it is golden brown. Allow to cool before slicing into squares.

These certainly make a good 'on-the-go' breakfast for my commute to work, without my feeling too guilty! The only problem is that they go down rather quickly. It may be worth making a larger batch...

Butternut Squash and Cinnamon Tear 'n' Share Bread

Dear readers,

A couple of years ago my brother sent me a link of a pumpkin and cinnamon bread recipe which he asked me to make for him for his birthday. I'd completely forgotten about it until he mentioned it to me around Christmas time. He's a great brother but recently he's been a really great brother, so, finally I decided to make him this wonderful treat that he desired, and deserved!

I baked this during the very snowy weekend in January, so I have included a couple of my snowy photos in this post.

Since pumpkins are not in season, I substituted the pumpkin with butternut squash.

This recipe has been adapted from Sunny Side Up.

Butternut Squash and Cinnamon Tear 'n' Share Bread 

For the bread dough:

50g butter

120ml milk

1 sachet of yeast (~7g)

320g bread flour

200g butternut squash purée (boiled butternut squash, puréed)

45g brown sugar

A pinch of salt

For the cinnamon sugar:

250g granulated sugar

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

50g butter

For the glaze:

50g butter

150g sugar

2 shots of rum

50ml milk

50g chopped pecans

Brown the butter in a saucepan on a medium heat, being careful not to burn it. Remove from the heat once it has browned. Gently warm the milk in the microwave so that it is lukewarm, then slowly add to the browned butter and return to the heat until it begins to bubble. Pour the warmed butter and milk into a bowl, add the sugar and allow to cool to about 40°C. Then add the yeast and allow to proof (a foam will start to appear on the surface). Then add the butternut squash purée, salt and 100g of the bread flour. Stir until well combined, then add the rest of the flour and mix well. Knead for a few minutes until an elastic texture is obtained. Place in an oiled bowl, cover with a tea towel and allow to rise in a warm place for an hour, or until it has doubled in size.

For the cinnamon sugar, brown the butter then add the sugar and spices and mix until well combined. Set aside.

Once the dough has risen, place it onto a floured surface and knead for a couple of minutes. Roll out into a 20 x 12 inch rectangle. Spread the sugar evenly over dough and push down into the dough. Cut the rectangle into 6 strips and place on top of each other. Cut those strips into 6 even squares and layer them vertically into a greased 9x5 inch loaf pan. Cover with a tea towel and allow to rise for 30-40 minutes. Pre-heat the oven at 175°C.

Once risen, bake the bread for 30-40 minutes or until the top is golden brown.

For the glaze, heat the milk, butter, sugar and pecans in a pan until it starts to bubble. Remove from the heat and add the rum. Pour the glaze over the bread and serve.

Notes:

A foam did not appear after my first proofing attempt, so I gently heated the butter, milk and sugar mixture back up to 40°C and added another packet of yeast. After 10 minutes, a foam then appeared.

The dough expands quite a lot, so it is better to use a loaf tin too big (if one doesn't have a 9x5 tin), than a loaf tin too small. Mine was too small and some pieces fell out of the tin during the baking!

My brother was absolutely delighted with this treat, and, fortunately, it was a complete surprise to him, too. The bread had a slightly crisp crust with a sweet, spicy and chewy inside. The rum glaze was literally the "icing on the cake" - I wouldn't recommend making this bread without it! The little warmth from the rum really took it to another dimension - quite satisfying to eat when it's chilly and white outside!

Lime and Mint Marshmallows

Dear readers,

Happy New Year!

I had two weeks off work for the holidays and I thought that I'd be able to catch up with the blog by making and photographing lots of treats during my time off. I did spend a lot of time in the kitchen but, sadly, lots of these ideas failed (again!).

Firstly, I tried to make gin and elderflower marshmallows. I accidentally used double the amount gelatine, which resulted in a marshmallow mix quite difficult to control during the mixing! I added the elderflower flavour with a cordial, which was far too sweet for a product made almost entirely of sugar. And, to top it all, when I added the gin, the mixture starting fizzing!

However, I learned from this and decided that marshmallows need some sharpness to cut through their intoxicating sweetness so I decided to use lime. The marshmallow itself was absolutely divine (especially compared with the chewy, over-sweet elderflower and fizzing-gin marshmallows). I used both the zest and the juice of the lime for maximum flavour and it worked like a dream... (to my relief!).



As I mentioned in my Bacon Marshmallow post, my favourite type of marshmallows are those covered in granulated sugar because they provide a glossy crispy outer shell once they have been toasted. I decided to top these marshmallows with a little mint sugar to enhance the flavour and to mimic the marshmallows that I used to toast during my childhood. Unfortunately, I no longer live in a house with a fireplace! I was tempted to add a little bit of rum to the sugar (to make mojito marshmallows) but the lime flavour of the marshmallow was so good that I didn't want to interfere any more!



This is the same base recipe that I used for the Bacon Marshmallows (adapted from David Lebovitz)

Lime and Mint Marshmallows

9g powdered gelatine (1 sachet)

40ml + 40ml water

Juice (~20ml) and zest of 1 lime

20 fresh mint leaves

100g + 100g sugar (caster or granulated)

50g liquid glucose

2 large egg whites at room temperature

A pinch of salt

A few drops of green food colouring

Marshmallow mix (70g icing sugar mixed with 70g corn flour, sieved)

This recipe makes ~28 marshmallows. 

Put the gelatine, 40ml cold water and lime juice (this should be ~20ml) in a small bowl to soften.

Generously dust a greaseproof lined baking tray with the marshmallow mix and put to one side.

In a small saucepan with a sugar thermometer add the 40ml cold water, 100g sugar and the liquid glucose and place over a medium heat.

In a clean bowl whisk the egg whites until they are soft and fluffy. Add the pinch of salt.

Once the sugar mix reaches a temperature of 220°F (104.5°C), beat the eggs until they become stiff. When the sugar mix reaches 245°F (118°C), slowly pour it over the whipped egg whites and continue whisking.

Put the gelatine, lime juice and water mix into the saucepan and allow it to melt with the remaining heat from the sugar mix. Whilst whipping, pour the liquefied gelatine into the egg whites and sugar. Add the food colouring and continue whisking until the mixture and the bowl has completely cooled. Gently fold in the lime zest.

Pour into a piping bag and gently pipe out the marshmallows onto the baking tray. Allow the marshmallows to set uncovered for a minimum of 4 hours, but preferably overnight.

Blend 100g sugar and the mint leaves in a food processor until the leaves are finely chopped and mixed with the sugar. Sprinkle on top of the marshmallows just before serving.


These make wonderful palate cleansers for a dinner party. Also, they can be simply popped into one's mouth for a quick sugar fix! They were a huge improvement on the attempted elderflower marshmallows. I strongly recommend using flavours which cut through the sweetness of the sugary puffs of marshmallow.

Salted Dulce de Leche & Mocha Cake Pops

Dear readers,

Firstly, I would like to apologise for my lack of posting last month. The recipe that I was working on had failed. However, I hope to perfect it and post it on the blog in the near future!

Now let's talk about these cake pops. It was my birthday recently and I decided to make some cake pops for my friends to make a change from a normal birthday cake. These aren't the most innovative of flavour combinations (salted mocha caramel cake pops already exist!) but I wanted to make something that all of my friends would like. Rather unsurprisingly, I couldn't resist using the decadent dulce de leche again - it's just so good!

I decided to use my chocolate tempering skills that I acquired from the Chocolate Confectionery Training Course at work (I have been working at Leatherhead Food Research since July 2012) to temper some chocolate for the pops, rather than go for a chocolate coating which seems to be a popular choice in many recipes. Tempering chocolate is quite a work out!



Salted Dulce de Leche & Mocha Cake Pops
To make ~15 cake pops
100g self raising flour
100g sugar
2 large eggs
100g butter
1 tablespoon instant coffee dissolved in 2 tablespoons of hot water
1 tablespoon cocoa
200g dulce de leche
300g dark chocolate or chocolate coating
1 teaspoon sea salt
15 lollipop sticks

Cream the butter and sugar together then add the self raising flour, eggs, prepared coffee and cocoa and whisk until well incorporated. Spoon the mixture into a greased and lined cake tin and bake at 180°C for 25 minutes. Allow to cool.

Break the cake into chunks and place in the food processor to form fine crumbs. Add 90g of the dulce de leche to the crumbs in the food processor and mix for a few more seconds until a dough forms.

Make ~25g balls from the cake and dulce de leche 'dough' mixture. Using the lollipop sticks, prick half way into each ball to prepare for the 'gluing' of the sticks to the balls and place onto greaseproof paper with the lollipop stick holes facing upwards.

Melt 100g of the dark chocolate in a small narrow cup. Dip the lollipop sticks into the dark chocolate and then place into the holes in the balls. Place in the freezer for 30 minutes.

Remove the cake pops from the freezer. Temper the remaining chocolate (or melt the chocolate coating) and cover the cake pops with the chocolate by submerging them until ~5mm of the stick is covered, then quickly and carefully turn them so that there is an even layer of chocolate on the surface. The chocolate will cool very quickly. It takes a little bit of practice. Place the coated cake pop in styrofoam (or an unsliced loaf of bread, as I used!). Repeat until all pops have been coated and allow to cool and set.

Gently warm the remaining 110g of dulce de leche in the microwave 20 seconds at a time, stirring frequently until it has a smooth consistency. Be careful because it burns easily. Pour the warmed dulce de leche into a piping bag and drizzle over the top of the cake pops. Add a sprinkle of sea salt and serve!

Notes:
If one wishes to prepare the uncoated cake pops the night before and store them in the freezer overnight, be sure to remove the pops from the freezer about 25 minutes before coating them to avoid cracking of the chocolate.

Be gentle when putting the sticks into the cake balls as they, also, are very susceptible to cracking!
Chocolate tempering is quite tedious. Temperature probes are essential. The seeding method is probably the easiest method to carry out at home. Please have a browse on the internet for different methods. I decided to use real chocolate because I wanted to test my tempering skills, so if you're feeling brave then please give it a try! If not, chocolate coating works perfectly and is much easier to use because it doesn't require tempering.

The cake pops went down well with my friends and colleagues. However, some people commented that the mocha flavour did not come through. This may be due to the powerful flavours of the dark chocolate, so one could use coffee frosting instead of dulce de leche to 'glue' the cake crumbs together to increase the mocha flavour.

Happy cake-popping!

Snouts - Homemade Bacon Marshmallows Dipped in Milk Chocolate

Dear readers,

I'm not a huge marshmallow fan. When I was a child I used to toast marshmallows on the fire in the living room. My favourite marshmallows were those covered in granulated sugar because, when they were toasted, the sugar melted into a crispy shell which encased the soft molten marshmallow - they had such a wonderful light crunch with a gooey centre, unlike those covered in corn flour which just burned on the outside! I find most commercial marshmallows generally quite chewy and unpleasant. I heard, however, that homemade marshmallows are quite different from the commercial ones. Also, I thought that it would be fun to make marshmallows at home!

When I was in Year 7 (at school), many years ago, we had a media project where we had to design a product and create some adverts for it. I made some "scent bags" with a couple of my friends (I was very 'attached' to the sewing machine at that age) and some of my friends in my class made a food product - snouts! As far as I can remember, these snouts were coated in chocolate and had a pair of nostrils to represent a pig snout. I decided to use that memory of my friend's snouts to influence my homemade marshmallows to surprise him.

Bacon seems to be in everything in America. Burgers, pancakes, chocolate, brownies, cookies, lollipops... and even marshmallows! I always like to make things interesting and I thought that bacon marshmallows would be very apt for making snouts! Most of the people with whom I discussed my idea of bacon marshmallows were a little horrified. This didn't put me off of making them (they already exist anyway!) but it did scare me off of putting too much bacon in them. This resulted in a final product with only a few tiny pieces of bacon in each snout, which meant that most people wouldn't even know that the bacon was there, unless I told them. So I am a little disappointed with the outcome in that respect. Next time I will definitely use more bacon, and try not to be afraid of adding too much!

Homemade marshmallows really are very different from the commercial ones - they are so light and airy, like little clouds (the Spanish actually call marshmallows "nubes", which literally means 'clouds') that go "poof!" in your mouth and disappear before your second chew! They are also very easy to make (unlike macarons!). I can't wait to try out a different flavour soon!

This recipe is adapted from David Lebovitz.
Snouts

9g powdered gelatine (1 sachet)

60ml + 40ml water

100g sugar (caster or granulated)

50g liquid glucose

2 large egg whites at room temperature

A pinch of salt

A few drops of red food colouring

2 rashers of crispy bacon, finely chopped

100g milk chocolate

Marshmallow mix (70g icing sugar mixed with 70g corn flour, sieved)

This recipe makes ~24 snouts.

Put the gelatine and 60ml cold water in a small bowl to soften.

In a small saucepan with a sugar thermometer add the 40ml cold water, the sugar and liquid glucose and place over a medium heat.

In a clean bowl whisk the egg whites until they are soft and fluffy. Add the pinch of salt.

Once the sugar mix reaches a temperature of 220°F, beat the eggs until they become stiff. When the sugar mix reaches 245°F, slowly pour it over the whipped egg whites and continue whisking.

Put the gelatine and water mix into the saucepan and allow it to melt with the remaining heat from the sugar mix. Whilst whipping, pour the liquefied gelatine into the egg whites and sugar. Add the food colouring and continue whisking until the mixture and the bowl has completely cooled. Gently fold in the crispy bacon pieces.

Generously dust a round cake tin with the marshmallow mix and lightly grease the edges of the tin with vegetable oil.

Spoon the cooled marshmallow into the cake tin and allow to set uncovered for a minimum of 4 hours, but preferably overnight.

Once the marshmallow has set, use a 1 inch diameter cookie cutter to cut out individual marshmallows. Roll in the marshmallow mix and dust away any excess.

Slowly melt the chocolate in a bowl over a saucepan of hot water on a low heat. Dip the bottom of the marshmallows in the melted chocolate and place on greaseproof paper. Use the end of a fork to dot on the two nostrils of the snout on the top of the marshmallow. Allow the chocolate to cool and serve!

Notes:
The complete cooling of the marshmallow during the final whip is crucial - if the marshmallow hasn't fully cooled before placing into the mould, it will weep after it has set.

Unfortunately, I was afraid of adding too much bacon in these marshmallows which, as I mentioned above, has resulted in a marshmallow with too little bacon flavour and texture.

My friend, for whom I made these marshmallows, was overjoyed with my re-creation of the snouts. He agreed that the marshmallows were very light and fluffy. He enjoyed the bacon but also agreed that the bacon flavour could be made stronger.

Oink!

Kaffir Lime and Coconut Macarons

Dear readers,

After over two years of blogging, I thought that it was about time for me to try making macarons. I've heard that they are challenging, and that they were; I baked five batches at various baking conditions. The main problem that I experienced was the cracking of the shells. I have read pages and pages about the making of macarons and I think that I have finally (not) cracked it!


Kaffir lime leaf is one of my most favourite flavours in the world. It is so fragrant, aromatic and invigorating. I believe that kaffir lime leaves are the one ingredient that captures the essence of Thailand - a Thai curry is nothing without them! I searched the internet for kaffir lime leaf flavoured macarons and, to my surprise, I couldn't find one recipe. I decided that this situation needs to be changed.
Kaffir Lime and Coconut Macarons
8 kaffir lime leaves finely chopped
 45g egg white (aged for 2 days at room temperature)
70g + 100g icing sugar
50g ground almonds
22g caster sugar
Green food colouring (powder or gel - the amount will vary depending on the type used)
30g coconut cream

This recipe will make 16 macarons (32 shells).

Sieve the almonds and 70g icing sugar. Whisk the egg whites until they become stiff, then add the caster sugar and food colouring and whisk until stiff again. Fold in the kaffir lime leaves and sieved icing sugar and ground almonds. Stir a few times until the batter has a runny consistency. Pour the mixture into a piping bag and pipe circles of the mixture onto silicone baking sheets. Leave to rest for 45 minutes. Preheat the oven to 170°C. Place the macarons in the oven and immediately turn the temperature down to 140°C. Place a wooden spoon in the door of the oven to hold it ajar for the duration of the cooking. Bake for 15 minutes, then set aside to cool before removing from the baking sheet.

Sieve 100g icing sugar and mix with the coconut cream. Pour into a piping bag and pipe onto the bottom of the shells to glue them together.

Notes:
In most meringue recipes, minimal folding is required in order to keep as much air in the mixture as possible. I learned (many cracked macarons later) that macaron batter requires a lot of the air to be stirred out before it is piped. This is tricky, since not stirring enough will ruin the macarons and so will stirring too much! About 10 stirs will leave the batter runny enough so that once it has been piped, it spreads out and flattens a little to yield flat surfaces.

Baking times and temperatures may vary - it depends on your oven and also the weather! This is the recipe that (finally) worked for me.

In winter, rest the macarons near a radiator.

To those who sampled these without knowing the flavour, limey and herby flavours were described. I agree that kaffir lime leaves have lime and herb-like flavours. I think that it was difficult to identify the kaffir lime leaf flavour alone as people are generally used to eating them in savoury dishes with lots of other flavours. Some friends actually said that these macarons remind them of Thai curry! The aromatic kaffir lime leaves and the smooth and creamy coconut do make a fine pairing and are very much associated with Thai cuisine. I think that they make quite a fine pairing in macarons, too!

I am glad that I have now accomplished the "macaron challenge". I think that I will put them to one side for now, but hope to try out a different flavour combination in the future! Has anyone else found these as tricky as I have?

Painkiller Cocktail Cupcakes with Pineapple Flowers

Dear readers,

I have been experimenting with this recipe for a couple of months now (between various other baking activities) and I think that I have finally cracked the recipe.

A few years ago my brother went to the British Virgin Islands and brought back the recipe of one of his favourite cocktails that he sampled at the Soggy Dollar Bar, Jost Van Dyke Island - the "Painkiller".

The Painkiller cocktail consists of pineapple juice, orange juice, dark rum, coconut cream with grated nutmeg on the top. My brother and I enjoyed making these cocktails at home. We used coconut cream that is sold in cartons (essentially for making curries) which made them quite indulgent!

I wasn't sure whether to decorate these cupcakes with a cocktail stick and fresh fruit, with a cocktail umbrella or perhaps with a straw. I then remembered reading a post by Maggie from Kitchen Delights on Pineapple Flowers. I thought that these were stunning and would be the perfect decoration for my Painkiller cocktail cupcakes, and even more so once I discovered the caramelised and almost rum-like flavours in them.

The pineapple flower recipe is adapted from Kitchen Delights and Martha Stewart.

Cupcake sponge

2 large eggs
120g self-raising flour
120g butter
120g caster sugar
30 desiccated coconut
zest of 1 orange
1 half of a nutmeg, grated

Icing

50g coconut cream

200g sieved icing sugar

2 cap-fuls dark rum
Grated nutmeg

Pineapple flowers

1 whole pineapple

This recipe will make 12 cupcakes.

Cream the eggs and butter together, then add the rest of the ingredients and mix well. Spoon the mixture into the cupcake cases and bake for 20 minutes at 180°C.

Mix the sieved icing sugar, coconut cream and rum together until it forms a smooth and even mixture.

Slice the skin off the pineapple and use a melon baller or a knife to cut out the "eyes". Thinly slice the pineapple (as thin as you can without the slices falling apart) and place the slices on a baking tray. Cook at 120°C in a fan oven for 30 minutes, then turn the slices over and cook for 1 hour, or until the slices have completely dried but remain flexible. The cooking time will vary dramatically according to the size of the slices, the ripeness of the pineapple and oven conditions. Place the slices in cupcake cases and allow to set over night in the oven (turned off!) to set the flower shape.

Frost the cupcakes with the icing using a piping bag. Add a light grating of nutmeg, place a pineapple flower on top and serve.

Notes & tips:

Initially, I thought that the coconut in the sponge would be enough for the cupcake and I tried to create a rum-infused meringue butter icing. The icing was delicious, however, it was lacking the creaminess of the coconut cream, so I decided that this ingredient had to be part of the icing.

I understand that pineapple juice is a key part of the cocktail, but I found it very difficult to incorporate this flavour into the sponge. I tried pineapple juice and I also tried chunks of tinned pineapple, since I struggled to get hold of dried pineapple. Yet, overall, I am happy with the flavours contributed by the pineapple flowers.

I used silicone cupcake cases to help the cupcakes hold their shape. I have found, many times, that paper cases tend to spread out during baking and form rather flat cupcakes. Using the silicone cases really helps to keep their shape.

The pineapple flowers can be stored for up to 2 weeks in an air tight container. Do not store the cupcakes once they have been decorated because the moisture from the icing will cause the pineapple flowers to wilt.

I hope that, one day, I will be able to taste a real Painkiller cocktail from the Soggy Dollar Bar in the British Virgin Islands. However, these cocktail cupcakes will have to suffice for now!