SHEPHERD MARKET SWEET TART

Bit of a “do”

When I was asked to do canapes for a hen party the first thing I thought was will I have to make “rude” canapes? Tasteful yet distasteful? But I was relieved to find that this was more of a sophisticated hen, not the hanging out of a stretch hummer screaming through Leicester Square, wearing tutus and little else, brandishing blow-up phallic objects type hen. Dodged an awkward bullet there. 

This hen party was a surprise for the bride to be, so instead of laying out the food on simple plates to be handed round I wanted to make a feast for the eyes as well as the mouth. 

I don’t want to stereotype women…..but, on the whole you can’t go wrong with cupcakes and flowers can you? So I wanted to incorporate flowers into my menu as well as just the display, so went to a fantastic site called First Leaf and bought myself a punnet of edible primroses and violas to top my strawberry and ginger cheesecake cupcakes, which I featured in an earlier blog. 

Then I made little chocolate pots using ginger Green and Black’s chocolate to give them a little heat. Topped with a raspberry to take the edge off the sweetness and a little gold leaf.

For my savoury canapes I made crostini with honey and thyme-roasted figs and fresh goat’s cheese. A beautiful combination of flavours. I also made mini chorizo, fennel seed and herb frittatas topped with a pea, parmesan and mint puree. Finally, I made mackerel pate on beetroot rostis. A nice little selection: one fish, one meat and one vegetarian - something for everyone.  

After plating up, I scattered the table with petals and placed roses and anemones between the cakes and plates. I finished as the girls started to arrive. Scarpered before the squealing ensued and the champagne started flowing. Hen parties don’t have to be trashy, they can be pretty and sophisticated, although I didn’t witness the rest of the evening. I’ve never been to a hen do, but the advice I can give is never book a stripper. I made my friend cry on her birthday when I booked her a slightly over-enthusiastic stripper in a gorilla suit…………I’ll leave you with that. It was uncomfortable. For everyone. 

The reinvention of the canape

Been a bit rusty of late, but I’m full of the joys of January. My New Year’s resolutions are written down in my sparkly new diary and I’m ticking them off one by one. A big resolution of mine is to start my own little business on the side. This is the business of Canapes. Those bite sized delights that everyone looks forward to at an event, or some dread…that awkward moment when talking to a client and you have to decide to ‘nibble’ or ‘whole in one’. In both situations you could end up with a prawn hanging off your chin or a chive sticking out of your teeth, with everyone nervously grimicing and wondering if you’ve realised you have a dollop of hollandiase on the end of your nose.

After doing a little research I realised how much fun they can be and the amount of creativity you can squeeze in to these tiny morsels. So I took on my first Soiree and came up with four fool proof canapes to get you started.

Smoked salmon on rye with a lemon and horseradish creme fraiche

Smoked salmon - always a winner. I thinly sliced pumpernickle rye bread, folded a generous amount of salmon on top. I then mixed creme fraiche with horseradish (plenty of it), lemon rind, lemon juice and lots of black pepper. Dolloped a spoonful on each and topped the canape off with a caper and a few dill leaves. This is a delicate, elegant looking canape with some great punchy flavours.

Smoked mackerel pate on beetroot rosti

Another fish canape which is incredibly easy to do is smoked mackerel on a beetroot rosti. Again, mixing firey horseradish with smoked mackerel and cream cheese in a blender with lots of black pepper, lemon juice and parsley. There are plenty of rosti recipes to try but, I liked the thought of the earthy beetroot contrasting with the zesty smokiness of the pate.

Sticky majool dates with lemon infused feta and walnuts or chorizo

This canape is so simple, but combines a great combination of flavours. It’s sweet, tangy and nutty. Start with the feta cheese. Mix in a bowl with lemon rind and the juice of half a lemon and a large pinch of black pepper. Leave in the fridge to infuse.

Cut the dates in half. Fill one side of each date half with the feta and place a walnut in the other side. Top with mint to add freshness. The other option is to replace the walnut with a piece of chorizo, tightly rolled up. The paprika brings a smokiness to the flavour.

and finally

Manchego, membrillo, parma ham and marinated olive, topped with fresh fig

This is a wonderful canape and it looks great on the plate. Slice even cubes of manchego cheese. Slide onto a cocktail stick, top with membrillo. You can either go for the jam or jelly. Tightly role a piece of parma ham. Put this on the stick followed by the olive and then the fresh fig. It’s so easy. They line up like soldiers on a plate.

So there are my four canape suggestions. Make these and you’ll be ever so popular at your next party. My next job is an exciting one. The brief is Alice in Wonderland and I think I’m going to have a lot of fun with it.

Gone are the days of the dated canape. The partially cooked mushroom vol-au-vent, containing a non-descript pale sauce next to the shrivilled chipolatas. Canapes can be fun to look at, inviting to eat and packed full of flavour.

To the canape! As long as there are weddings, hen do’s, work do’s, the “look how nice my new pad is” do’s, there will be canapes and I intend to make the most of them. 

Lovely Jubbly Jubilee Trifle Cake

                         
   

London and people all around the UK are gearing up for a big weekend, with street parties, concerts, royal boat processions and all sorts of festivities. There is bunting hanging from every street corner; the union jack plastered in every shop window; Even the Ritz has put up a banner “Congratulations your Majesty”. It’s hard not to get swept up in all the excitement. 

As soon as I heard about the competition I was determined to make a cake fit for the Queen. The idea came to me straight away. I wanted to create a cake that resembled the crown, but not in a tacky way. I wanted it to be fun yet sophisticated and for some reason I became obsessed with the idea of making jelly. I mean jelly isn’t the sloppy accompaniment to ice-cream at children’s parties that it used to be.  Bompass and Parr for example, have reminded us how fun and versatile and even grown up it can be. http://www.jellymongers.co.uk/ 

This was my entry.

A Victoria sponge, adopted by Queen Victoria and used as a suitable base for our pudding, references her past as the longest-standing Queen in our monarchy. Made from delicate vanilla sponge filled with cream and fresh strawberries.

The trifle, filled with strawberries and raspberries momentarily suspended in an elegant champagne and elderflower jelly. Trifle is truly a quintessentially English pudding — both humble and sumptuous, it is the perfect tip of  the crown. First featured in Tomas Dawsin’s ‘The Huswifes Jewel’ centuries ago, the trifle lays testament to British culture, and is the perfect colourful centerpiece.