polarhair asked: Your tumblr looks delicious! I would love to cook with you.
Thank you!
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Thank you! Your food looks amazing and your photography is fantastic
Roman Holiday
A guest blog from my sister
Rome: eternal city, and one of my favourite places in the world. Full of bustling piazzas, twisting back streets, extraordinary ancient landmarks and architecture and, of course, countless restaurants serving wonderful Italian food. So when I told my sis I was going to Rome for a few days, I promised to throw in a guest food blog.
I’ve visited the city a couple of times before, but this is the first time I have been there in May. At this time of year the weather is perfect - warm but, like the best English Midsummer Day, tempered by a cool breeze; the roses are in full bloom and the heady smell of jasmine fills the air. And, of course, it’s a great time to taste some fantastic seasonal produce.
Rome isn’t necessarily the first city you think of when it comes to gastronomic greatness (the local penchant for offal leaves something to be desired) but Romans, like the rest of their countrymen, know the meaning of good food.
The selection of food on sale in the markets is fascinating to an outsider, with an embarrassment of riches on show. I visited just a couple during my long weekend - one the local San Giovanni di Dio market in Monteverde, up on a hill above Trastevere, and the other in the more touristy Campo dei Fiori in the Centro Storico. In both, stalls were piled high with fruit and veg of every possible description: mountains of carciofini (artichokes), some exotic looking and rather expensive wine-red and white-striped tardivo - a type of radicchio, bags of pasta in every shape and size and, in Campo dei Fiori, a weird and wonderful collection of what looked like gourds, though I didn’t have a chance to find out as I avoided being cornered by the stallholder…
As on previous visits, there are certain dishes I like to enjoy when in Rome. In no particular order, these include: courgette, or zucchini, flowers stuffed with mozzarella or ricotta; gelato (many varieties); great coffee (although, I’m afraid, it’s a watered down americano rather than espresso for me); arancini (originating in Sicily, these little fried rice balls are flavoured with a meat or vegetable sauce) and last, but by no means least, my favourite - a classic Roman dish: Bucatini all’Amatriciana.
For me, with my very savoury tooth, this pasta dish - with its combination of salty pork, sweet, thick tomato sauce clinging to the pasta and its chilli heat - is heavenly. Over the years I have often been ridiculed by my family for always throwing bacon and tomato into every pasta sauce, so it comes as no great surprise to my sister that this is the dish I choose to blog about.
The Amatriciana sauce is a speciality of the Lazio region, in which Rome is situated, particularly the town of Amatrice, after which it is named. It is a simple combination of flavours and uses guanciale - air-dried pork cheeks, a speciality of the region. The pork cheeks are cured in salt and then air-dried for a few months, giving them a stronger flavour and a more delicate texture than other types of bacon. It is also traditionally used in Carbonara. In Amatriciana, it is combined with a little polpa di pomodoro and spiced with some chilli peppers. Traditionally, it is served with bucatini (a thick spaghetti-like pasta which, like macaroni, has a hollow centre) and a sprinkling of pecorino cheese.
I had my best Amatriciana (a committed fan, I tried it in several places) in a trattoria nestled in a back street behind the Coliseum, where I stopped for lunch after a walk down from the Aventine Hill. Accompanied by a glass of earthy red wine, it made the perfect lunch and fortified me for the next few hours of walking through the city.
Here is a British twist on the recipe: ‘Penne alla Matriciana’ (different spelling) from The River Café Cookbook by Rose Gray and Ruth Rogers. Do use Bucatini if you can get it, but penne or spagetti is a good alternative. Guanciale may not be easy to come by, although you may be able to get something akin to guanciale from your butcher. Alternatively as in the River Cafe recipe, you can use pancetta.
Penne alla Matriciana
Serves 6
250g pancetta cut into matchsticks
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 dried chillies crumbled
2 red onions peeled and finely chopped
150ml red wine
1 x 800g tin peeled plum tomatoes drained if very liquid
2 tablespoons rosemary
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
250g penne or spaghetti
100g Pecorino or parmesan freshly grated
A handful of fresh oregano
Place the pancetta, oil and chillies in a large saucepan and heat and fry until the pancetta becomes crisp. Then add the onions and rosemary and continue to fry until the onions have become translucent and soft.
Add the red wine. It will reduce almost immediately; then add the tomatoes and season with the oregano and pepper.
Bring to the boil and then lower the heat and simmer for at least 45 minutes until thick and almost dry. It’s key to give the sauce enough time to reduce so that it becomes thick and intense. Check for seasoning.
Cook the penne in a generous amount of boiling salted water then drain thoroughly.
Add to the sauce and serve with parmesan or, if you can, pecorino.
Despite my love of savoury food, I must leave a little space for those with a taste for sweeter things. On this visit to Rome, I was taken to a couple of excellent gelaterias (apparently you can find some of the best ice cream in the world in Rome) - one, Giolitti, is the oldest of Rome’s gelaterias and the other the lesser known - but, in my opinion, eminently superior - Gelateria del Teatro, off the aptly named Via dei Coronari. Not only was this gelateria as picturesque as they come, tucked into a charming side street decorated with potted geraniums and wrought iron tables and chairs, but it also had the most unusual and mouth-watering selection of ice cream I’ve ever seen. No Bacio-flavoured ice creams here; instead you’ll find flavours such as Sage & Wild Raspberry, Lavender & White Peach, White Chocolate & Basil and Amalfi Lemon. I plumped for an unusual combination of Ricotta, Fig & Almond and Cannolo Siciliano (a twist on the classic Sicilian delicacy of fried pastry dough cylinders - not unlike brandy snaps - filled with sweetened creamed ricotta and flavoured, in this case, with lemon). Both were exquisite; not a word I use lightly. It may not be the most affordable gelato you’ll ever buy, but it’s worth it - I can’t recommend it enough. If Audrey Hepburn’s character had tasted one of these in Roman Holiday, she probably would have shacked up with Gregory Peck and stayed put.
Bountiful Spring
Easter heralds the start of a new season. Spring. The time of year when we shrug off our winter coats, and start the countdown to summer. It can’t come quick enough! Although I have alrerady been slapping on the factor 50 in the last couple of amazing weeks of weather we’ve been having. Due to these uncharacteristicly warm days my family spent the majority of Easter, catching the rays in the garden, eating every meal outdoors and the natural thing to do was have a BBQ washed down by jugs of fruity pimms. Perfect.
When you think of easter day, you think of overindulging on melting chocolate eggs, but the star of the show has to be the spring lamb. We picked ours up from John Clark Butchers, which we are lucky enough to have in our village. He never fails to deliver with his fantastic meat.
The lamb was smothered in a marinade of rosmary, thyme, garlic, olive oil and lemon juice, with sweet onions placed underneith to create a rich gravy from the meats juices. After cooking it in the aga it was then finished off on the BBQ to give it a wonderful smokey flavour and obviously give my dad an excuse to do the ’manly’ job of poking the coals a bit and mumbling something about how the grass could do with a good cut, not letting anyone touch the BBQ. “It’s a mans job”. Yes Dad, yes it is.
To accompany the lamb we had fennel, red peppers and aubergine, well seasoned and drizzled in oil, cooked on the BBQ.
We also had asparagus, grilled until tender on the BBQ then tossed in wilted wild garlic leaves that we had picked from the woods just that morning, topped with curd cheese.
Not forgetting the homemade mint sauce, redcurrent jelly and new potatoes tossed in chives and butter. Essentials with lamb.
After this we all sat groaning, undoing the top button on our trousers, not very ladylike but when you’re with family who cares! Comfort comes first. We claimed that we couldn’t eat another thing until five minutes later when my mum bought out her Cox’s creamy apple tart. Phwoah, it’s a winner. There’s always room for pudding.
Home made sweet short crust pastry base. Sautee Cox’s apple slices in lemon juice, sugar and butter. Remove the apple pieces and place in the pastry case. Add the juice and zest of an orange to the juices and bubble them up. Remove from the heat and add cream, return to a low heat until thickened and pour over the apples. Top with a sprinkling of demerera sugar and serve at room temperature.
LEFTOVERS
The next day my sister and I were given the task of making something for lunch with the left overs from our lamb feast the day before. And this is what we made. Just a light lunch that could probably feed fifty people. We got a bit carried away.
We minced the cold lamb and made it into kofta’s, mixed with herbs and spices and fried in oil. We used the leftover fennel, peppers, new potatoes etc in a large salad topped with garlic and rosemary croutons. As well as a few other things we made a yoghurt and coriader dip topped with pomegranate seeds.
We warmed pitta bread and stuffed them full of all of these delights. Left overs don’t have to be boring you just need to have a bit of imagination.
Rightfully Royal Rhubarb and Custard
The Royal Wedding is upon us! In every sense of the word. You can’t open a newspaper or magazine or even put on the television without being bombarded by images of the Royal Couple. Obviously I want to see pictures of Kate Middleton having a bad hair day on a Royal visit to St Andrews (who wouldn’t?), but when I see it in every newspaper from every angle. You get my point. But I think, deep down, everyone is secretly a sucker for romance, so congratulations to the happy couple.
If you can’t beat them, join them I say. I found the perfect way to join in and entered The Times Royal Bake-Off. After my near triumph in the bake-off at work I decided to take it up a notch. This is the brief:
“Your cake or bake needs to have a royal theme – whether it’s shaped like a crown, decorated with bunting or topped with Wills and Kate figurines. It can be as simple or fancy as you like but needs to look good on on the street party table.”
The Royal family are well-known advocates of seasonal British produce, so I decided to go down that route, rather than stick with a simple Victoria sponge or fruit cake. My ingredient of choice was Rhubarb. As a child I used to hate it, especially when my mother tried to cunningly hide it in a fool. I would hold it in my mouth and refuse to swallow it, sometimes up to an hour in protest. My tastes and behaviour have now matured and I love the stuff.
My cake is a twist on the very British marriage of Rhubarb and Custard. The cake consists of a rhubarb and ginger sponge, marbled through with custard and topped and filled with a blend of whipped cream and vanilla custard.
It is just the right combination of sweetness and sharpness with a hint of spice from the ginger.
Now for the presentation. To elevate the traditional Rhubarb and Custard to regal status I dressed the cake in a selection of royal-themed ribbons, gold, Windsor blue and a Union Jack (sophisticated but demure like our Kate). The topping is crowned with a coronet of bridal petals and of course a sprinkling of gold leaf, not to mention a nod to romance with a ginger-poached rhubarb heart. This isn’t just any cake, it’s a ‘Royal’ cake, so there were no expenses spared. I found a great website called Uncle Roy’s Comestible Concoctions. Its got a whole selection of things on there that you can’t necessarily buy in the supermarket. I found these jars of edible petals, they had a huge range, it was impossible to choose, they were simply called ‘Eat Me’. http://www.uncleroys.co.uk/
Not forgetting the vital Royal Wedding themed plate. I had to venture into the unknown world of souvenir shops. Not an experience I want to repeat. It was like a shrine to Kate and Will, staring at you where ever you went. Then I found it, a little plate perfect to place my champagne glass on as my recommendation would be to serve the cake with a sparkling elderflower and Prosecco cocktail. I hurried to the counter and mumbled something about it being for my grandmother and made my escape!
INGREDIENTS
Sponge
800g Rhubarb
500g Butter (Softened)
300g Custard
1 tsp Baking Powder
500g Self raising flour
8 Eggs
2 tsp Vanilla Ext
500g Golden Caster sugar
2 pieces of stem ginger, sliced
Topping/Filling
300ml Double Cream (Whipped)
250ml Vanilla custard/ Creme Anglaise
Edible petals
Edible gold leaf
Poached rhubarb heart
200ml Water
75g Caster Sugar
Piece of stem ginger
1tbsp Stem ginger syrup
METHOD
Oven 200C. Rinse the rhubarb, trim the ends and cut into finger sized pieces. Put in a shallow dish and sprinkle over 50g of caster sugar and toss together. Top with foil and roast for 15 minutes, after this time take off the foil and roast for a further 5 minutes until the juices are syrupy. Take out of the oven and leave to cool.
Reserve 3tbsp of the custard in a bowl. Beat the rest of the custard together with the butter, flour, eggs, baking powder, vanilla and sugar until smooth. Slice the ginger and mix it into the batter. Butter a spring form cake tin. Spoon one third of the mixture between the two tins, then scatter with the rhubarb, add another layer of batter and spoon in the extra custard, repeat this process until all the batter is used up. Place in the oven for 40 minutes until risen and golden, then cover with foil and continue to bake for 15 minutes more. It’s ready when a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean. Leave to cool on a rack.
For the topping and filling, whip the double cream and then spoon in the vanilla custard (a spoon at a time to create the right consistency).
For the poached rhubarb heart, put the water, sugar, stem ginger and syrup into a shallow pan. Simmer, stirring, for 10 minutes until syrupy. Reduce the heat to low and add the rhubarb. Place the lid onto the pan and leave to poach for 5 minutes.
Decorate
I am very proud of my creation, so proud that I didn’t just take pictures of it on the kitchen table, I went all out with a photo shoot in Green Park. Just to set the scene for a Royal Celebration.
What better way to celebrate the Royal Wedding than with the best of British seasonal produce?
All my efforts were rewarded. I was runner up! Not bad as there was some tough competition. Someone even made a Westminster Abbey cake. Skills.
But for me the most important thing is I get to see my pictures and recipe in the newspaper! Look out for it as it comes out on 28th April. More than excited!
Oh and to Kate and Will; I hope your marriage is as long and happy as the rightfully royal rhubarb and custard……….
Introducing Fran, with one the thing she can’t live without. Salsa!
As a guest blogger for Izzie’s lovely site I am going to introduce a dip. This sounds like a cop-out, but I am passionate on the subject matter.
As a child, our Friday nights were usually spent at one of our neighbours’ houses and quite often at our Mexican/American friend Denise’s.
When some of the other kids were understandably dubious, I would be in the garden with my friends wolfing down blue tacos or mole ‘chocolate’ chicken before an evening of rollerblading!
SALSA
For anyone who has ever bought Doritos Dipping Salsa - hang your head in shame. That sugary gloop with the incognito vegetables and countless E numbers should be banned. My heart always sinks when someone brings round a ‘dip selection’ to a party. 1) The party will probably be rubbish, 2) I could have made my own for half the price and 3) having been to Mexico, I believe that we Gringos have a thing or two to learn about party food.
This is how you make a great Salsa:
INGREDIENTS
(I usually stick on some Gypsy Kings to get me in the mood)
1 Huge bunch of Coriander, stalks off
1 Tin of tomatoes (any) although the equivalent weight of fresh tomatoes with the fleshy part removed is even nicer.
2 Spring onions
1 Small red onion
Red Chillies (as much or as little as you like, the more the better in my opinion)
1 Large lemon or 2 limes squeezed
BIG pinch of Rock Salt
A few large shakes of Crystal Louisiana Hot Sauce (very hard to find, non-essential!)
Put the onions into the magi mix first of all and blend. Then add the tinned tomatoes along with the other ingredients and blend some more, until you are left with a mostly dark green, rich red sauce with flecks of coriander leaves coming through. Make sure you have no pips in the lemon/lime juice as once you blend the salsa it’ll be left with a horrid bitter taste.
Remember it is not just a dip! It tastes great on fish (instead of a salsa verde) or add a few tablespoons to avocadeos to make the best flavouring for guacamole. This salsa needs to be seasoned to taste, I just keep adding until it tastes right.
Salsa just means sauce, so there are countless variations, but this is the one that we used to eat and it is possibly my favourite combination of flavours that take me straight back to those lovely summer evenings.
Thank you Elizabeth David
She is responsible for bringing garlic, courgettes and olive oil to name a few into british homes in the 1950’s. What more can I say. Elizabeth David is a gastronomical deity.
You may be thinking, calm down, thats a bit much, or even “who the hell is Elizabeth David” (shame on you for not knowing) but in a post-war Britain, ground down by dull and rationed food, Elizabeth David bought the joys of Mediterranean cooking to our shores. In her books such as ‘Italian Food’ and ‘Mediterranean Food’ she celebrated rural and regional recipes from all over the Mediterranean in her own unique writing style, which is characterised by her descriptions and historical references. She wasn’t afraid to be completely honest and sometimes scathing in her books, if she didn’t like something she wouldn’t hold back! She hated poor quality food, so in those post war years she had alot to complain about and as a girl who likes a good moan if my food isn’t up to scratch, I feel like saying “Yeah Liz, you tell em” (in my head of course).
I recently came across this quote. So wise, our Liz
“A world devoid of tomato soup, tomato sauce, tomato ketchup and tomato paste is hard to visualize. Could the tin and processed food industries have got where they have without the benefit of the tomato compounds which colour, flavour, thicken and conceal so many deficiencies? How did the Italians eat spaghetti before the advent of the tomato? Was there such a thing as tomato-less Neapolitan pizza?” An Omlette and a glass of Wine, 1984.
In her honour, and drawing inspiration from where I live (it’s all in the name), I made ‘Spagetti Alla Puttanesca’…
There are varying myths behind Puttanesca sauce, but the story I like to believe (as it sounds quite exotic) is that the recipe was credited to Italian prostitutes back in the day, who when not occupied with ‘comforting their clients’, they would whip up a quick meal using staple ingredients they found in the pantry, as they were not allowed to pick up fresh produce from the market place. Supposedly the heady and robust aroma of this sauce wafting into the streets would entice more clients to their doors. What a great image, men being led by their noses to a brothel!
Spagetti Alla Puttanesca (Rick Stein’s Recipe)
Ingredients
- 450g/1lb small cherry, plum or vine-ripened tomatoes
- 4 tbsp olive oil
- 3 garlic cloves, chopped
- 1 sprig of rosemary, leaves finely chopped
- 4 sage leaves, shredded thinly
- a good pinch of dried chilli flakes, or 1 red finger chilli, seeded and finely chopped
- 55g/2oz salted capers, excess salt rubbed off
- 110g/4oz small black olives, pitted
- 2 x 50g/2oz cans of anchovy fillets in oil, drained and chopped
- 2 tbsp chopped oregano
- 450g/1lb dried bucatini or spaghetti
- 1 tbsp chopped flat-leaf parsley
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
Bring 3.4 litre/6 pint water and 2 tbsp salt to the boil for the pasta.
For the sauce, squeeze the tomatoes into the sink to get rid of most of the juice, then cut each one in half. I actually found that this made the sauce too dry, so later added a glug of red wine, so I would advice that you don’t go too mad when squeezing out the juice. (Be sure to wear an apron, it’s messy work!).
Heat the oil in a pan with the garlic, rosemary and sage and cook gently for about 1 minute without browning.
Add the chilli, tomatoes, capers, olives, anchovies, oregano and some black pepper and leave to simmer gently for 10 minutes. Anchovies can be an aquired taste but don’t worry about the amount in this recipe as they melt down and give the sauce a rich flavour.
Meanwhile, add the pasta to the pan of boiling water and cook for about 7 minutes or until al dente.
Drain and tip it into a large warmed serving bowl. Pour over the sauce, add the chopped parsley and toss together well. Serve straight away, with plenty of red wine.
Happy Birthday Hattiepie
Gorgeous breakfasts for a gorgeous birthday girl!
It was my lovely housemate, Hattie’s birthday this weekend and I just couldn’t let it pass with out a special ‘Birthday Breakfast’; actually two…and only Hattie would put on a sequin jacket over her pajamas to eat it. She likes sequins ALOT. I probably should have made sequin porridge, then she would have been in heaven. Next year perhaps…
I love birthdays! I think I get more excited about others peoples birthdays than my own! I like to treat my friends when I can and a birthday is a perfect opportunity.
Breakfast Number one:
On Saturday morning we feasted on thick blueberry pancakes drizzled in honey with fresh fruit and bacon, and croissants, which obviously were a completely necessary addition, just in case the rest wasn’t enough!
For the pancakes all you need is 200g Flour, 1 egg, tbsp sugar, tsp baking powder, 300ml milk and a punnet of blueberries. Whisk the flour, egg, sugar, baking powder and milk together until it is combined and then stir in the blueberries.
Melt a knob of butter in a saucepan (not too much,as you don’t want greasy pancakes), place a table spoon of batter in the pan and wait for bubbles to rise in the batter before you flip it. Grill some bacon, pancetta if it’s available, and slice up some fruit. I don’t know what it is about bacon and sweet pancakes but they just work, with the slight saltiness counteracting the sweetness.
Breakfast number two:
For Hattie’s actual birthday, I thought I’d be too hungover to sort out a ‘fancy’ breakfast, but I woke up and the sun was shining so I ignored the banging in my head and ventured out to the supermarket. I decided on Eggs Royale. Probably the most complicated breakfast I could have chosen, but for some reason it seemed like a good idea. I picked up some flowers, and a hideous ‘Birthday Girl’ pink rosette (that every girl longs to wear on her birthday) and went home to get cooking.
Eggs Royale, is a deliciously indulgent twist on Eggs Benedict. One of the richest but most perfect ways to start the day. Instead of smoked salmon I went for smoked rainbow trout, as I don’t think it is celebrated in the same way as salmon and it really should be.
Ingredients
Muffins
Smoked Trout
2 Large egg yolks
110g Butter
1 Tbsp Lemon juice
1 Tbsp White wine vinegar
Begin by placing the egg yolks in a small bowl and season them with a pinch of salt and pepper. Whisk them thoroughly for a minute. After that, heat the lemon juice and white wine vinegar in a small saucepan until the mixture starts to bubble and simmer. Pour the hot liquid on to the egg yolks in a slow, steady stream whilst whisking the mixture.
Now, using the same saucepan, melt the butter over a gentle heat, being very careful not to let it brown. When the butter is foaming, pour in the butter into the mixture in a thin, slow, steady trickle whilst you whisk; the slower you add it the better. (If it helps you to use a jug instead of pouring from the saucepan, warm a jug with boiling water, discard the boiling water and then pour the butter mixture into that first.) When all the butter has been incorporated, give the sauce one more quick burst and you should end up with a lovely, smooth, thick, buttery sauce.
Toast and butter your muffins and then layer the trout on top. Poach your egg in boiling water with a dash of vinegar (which helps the egg keep it’s form). Put your poached egg on top of the trout and spoon on the sauce. Season with pepper and chives and you’re done!
If only it was her birthday every weekend, we’d be very fat, but very happy!
The old classics are always the best
Focaccia is a classic Italian bread, instantly recongisable by it’s puckered surface. It is a flat, oven-baked bread with a rich oily consistency and its multiple wells, filled with olive oil, rock salt and rosemany, give it an indulgent flavour and heady aroma, making the plain loaf pale by comparison. It is a perfect accompaniment to cured meats, olives and salad: perfect for a summer’s day.
This old Italian classic is related to the pizza, but not considered to be the same in Italy. It can be topped with a number of things like meats, herbs and cheeses, which sounds alot like pizza to me, but I wouldn’t want to argue with an Italian. They know their food.
I love the thought of whipping out a fresh batch of bread at a dinner party and (my middle aged alter ego) smugly saying ‘This? Oh I made it myself…no really, I did. Oh it was nothing’ and watching their impressed faces. Reading that back I can’t get over how cool I sound. Wow.
Making bread from scratch has always terrified me, more so the fear of failure. After all the effort of kneeding and proving (ok that doesn’t take much effort), if it doesn’t turn out right then, what a disappointment! Nevertheless, I faced my fears and made some foccacia. It’s an easy one to break yourself in with, if you’re a breadmaking novice like me. No one will notice if it looks slightly wrong as it’s meant to look ‘rustic’.
I found a simple recipe and thought I’d stick with that rather than be over ambitious and set myself up for a fall. This recipe has limited ingredients and is surprisingly simple to make.
FOCACCIA WITH GARLIC AND ROSEMARY (Waitrose Recipe)
INGREDIENTS
200g Strong White Bread Flour
7g Dried Active Yeast
50ml Exta Virgin Olive Oil (extra for drizzling)
Handful of Rosemary
Rock Salt
2 Cloves of Garlic
Preheat the oven to 200°C. Put the flour and a pinch of salt into a large mixing bowl. Blend the yeast with 100ml warm water, mixing together until smooth, then add to the flour. Mix in 50ml olive oil to produce a soft dough.
Remove the dough from the bowl and knead for 10 minutes until smooth. Shape into a smooth ball and place in a clean bowl; cover and leave to rise in a warm place for 1 hour or until doubled in size. Lightly flour the work surface and rolling pin, then roll the dough into a disc about 1cm thick. Place on a well-oiled baking sheet, drizzle with olive oil, cover with clingfilm and leave in a warm, draught-free place to rise for 15-30 minutes or until puffed up.
Press your fingertips into the dough to create dimples. Scatter with sprigs of rosemary, slices of garlic and the sea salt. Bake for 20–25 minutes until risen and golden. Remove from the oven and drizzle with a little extra olive oil.
Serve it with a bowl of balsamic vinegar in olive oil.
Mine came out a little flat. Not bad for a first attempt!
“Qu’ils mangent de la brioche”
….is what Marie Antoinette apparently said when the peasants had no bread, she simply said “let them eat brioche”. She wasn’t called “The Great Princess” for nothing.
So eat cake we shall. At work anyway because our office are currently having a bake off. Two of us compete in the office every week to win best baker! It’s all fun and games, there isn’t even a prize at the end, but I have become worryingly competitive and I HAVE to win. Just to maintain my pride. I even bought special cupcake cases from eBay……….I need to sort my priorities out. But they are lovely and in the words of the wise Charlie Sheen, it’s all about the ‘Winning’.
The competition is marked on presentation, taste, texture and originality. Now that’s alot to think about. After pouring through my books I went back to my old fave, The Hummingbird Bakery cook book. Every cake that I’ve made from this book always comes out a treat. I don’t know what it is about their recipes, the sponge has always come out light as air, with the indulgent toppings and sweet surprises in the centre, they’re perfect for any occasion. One of my favourite Hummingbird recipes is the Marshmallow Cupcake, people love them, but I wanted more texture and colour so went for the Strawberry Cheesecake Cupcake, with my own little twist.
The cupcake consists of a layer of fresh strawberries, I mixed mine with a little strawberry jam, just to up the sweetness. The strawberries are covered by a light vanilla sponge, a layer of stem ginger cookie cheesecake base bound with stem ginger syrup, and topped with a cream cheese frosting. To garnish, a couple of slices of fresh strawberry and a last sprinkle of biscuit. All in all I think I successfully filled the brief with these. But its all in the tasting!
Hummingbird Bakery, Strawberry Cheesecake Cupcakes (with a twist)
Ingredients:
2x Punnets of Strawberries (base and garnish)
1 Tbsp Bonne Maman Strawberry Jam
1 Egg
140g Caster Sugar
120g Plain Flour
40g Unsalted Butter (room temperature)
125ml Whole Milk
1/4 Tsp Vanilla Ext
1 1/2 Tsp Baking Powder
Pinch of salt
Biscuit layer:
Pack of stem ginger cookies, Stem ginger syrup, 40g unsalted butter
Icing
300g Icing sugar, 50g unsalted butter (room temperature), 125g Cream cheese
Preheat the oven to 170 degrees. Chop up twelve strawberries into small pieces and mix them in a bowl with a tablespoon of strawberry jam. This just gives them extra sweetness and heightens the colour. Place the cupcake holders into the tray and evenly distribute the strawberry pieces. To make the cake mixture, put the flour, salt, baking power, butter and sugar in a bowl and whisk until it has a consistency of fine breadcrumbs. Add the milk and vanilla extract, and whisk until all the ingredients are combined. Finally add the egg and whisk for a few minutes. Spoon the batter into the cases, they each need to be filled three quarters of the way up, and place into the oven for 20 minutes.
To make the biscuit layer, blend a packet of stem ginger cookies - don’t blend them into a dust, but you want nice small crumbs. Melt a knob of unsalted butter in a saucepan and add a good couple of handfuls of the biscuits. Mix this into the melted butter and add two teaspoons of stem ginger syrup. This should help to bind the mixture and give an extra kick of ginger.
After 20 minutes take the cupcakes out of the oven and place them on a cooling rack. For the icing, put the butter in a bowl with the icing sugar and whisk it together. You will now be engulfed in a cloud of icing sugar, so I worked out a trick - put a cloth over the bowl as you’re whisking. Once the butter has broken down add the cream cheese. Whisk this all together until it’s combined, but not for too long as it can become runny.
Press the biscuit mixture onto the top of each cake and then top with the icing. I added a little bit of red food colouring to half of the icing mixture so some of the cupcakes would have pink tops, and the others white. Then slice up some strawberries and top each with two slices and a sprinkle of the blended biscuit mixture.
TADA!
I am now going to bombard you with all the pictures I took of my cakes. Enjoy.
The results are in. It was a draw! My oponent made a pretty spectacular caramel and peanut cake, so I’m happy with that result!
