Puff Pastry

Just the other day I took a trip to my local butcher where I bought some sausagemeat as I was planning on making some sausage rolls. My husband Paul really likes them so I thought I'd make some for him to be able to take to work for his lunch. I often make pastry for both savoury and sweet dishes but I have never before made puff pastry. I always thought it sounded far too complicated and so I normally cheat and buy the ready made kind.

No I am not going to post about making sausage rolls with bought puff pastry. I have recently purchased Darina Allen's Ballymaloe Cookery Course and as I was flicking through it I found a recipe for puff pastry. After reading the recipe several times I thought I would be adventurous and give it a try. I did buy some ready made puff pastry as a back up just in case.

I found that the pastry wasn't actually that difficult to make although it did take a little time. It was more than worth the effort though as it tasted amazing and so much better than the stuff you can buy in the supermarket. I will definately be making this again so that pack I bought will be languishing in my freezer for a long time to come.



In the book Darina says it is essential to use butter rather than margarine to make this and apparently puff pastry should have 729 layers. I'm not sure if mine had quite that many but it was lovely. I used my pastry to make sausage rolls and I also had enough to top a chicken and bacon pie.









This recipe makes about 1.25kg

• 450g chilled strong flour
• pinch of salt
• 300-350ml cold water
• squeeze lemon juice (optional)
• 450g butter, firm but pliable

Sieve the flour and salt into a bowl and mix to a firm dough with ate and a squeeze of lemon juice. This dough is called detrempe. Cover with greaseproof paper or cling film and rest for 30 minutes in the fridge.

Roll the detrempe into a square about 1cm thick. Unwrap the butter and shape into a slab roughly 2cm thick. If the butter is very hard, beat it (still in the wrapper) with a rolling pin until it is pliable but not sticky. Place in the centre of the dough and fold the dough over the edges of the butter to make a neat parcel.

If you have a marble slab then do use that but if not then just use your work top. Make sure your work surface is well floured, then flatten the dough with a rolling pin and continue to roll out into a rectangle about 45cm long and 15cm wide. Fold neatly into three and align the sides as accurately as possible. Seal the edges buy pressing with a rolling pin.

Give the dough a one quarter turn. It shoudl not be on your pastry bench as though it was a book with the ends facing north/south. Roll out again, fold in three and seal the edges with the rolling pin. Cover with cling film or greaseproof paper and rest in the fridge for 30 minutes.

The pastry has now had 2 rolls or turns. Repeat the process another 2 times, giving the pastry 6 rolls altogether with a 30 minute rest in the fridge between every 2 rolls. Chill for at least 30 minutes before using.

Note: Each time you roll the pastry place in on the worktop with the ends north/south as if it were a book. In hot weather it may be necessary to chill the pastry for slightly longer between rollings.

Lamb Shanks

My local butcher is wonderful and I get all of our meat there. He is always happy to offer advice and always has such a fabulous selection. He sells amazing sausages that are my husbands favourite. When I visited the other day I noticed that he had some lamb shanks. I have had these on several occasions when I have been out but have never cooked them myself. Along with lots of other goodies I decided to buy a couple.

So when I get home I had a good look through my cookery books so that I could decide on the best way to cook these. My butcher recommended long slow cooking and I found lots of wonderful recipes. In the end I decided to use some ideas from a recipe in one of my books but I made some changes.

I cooked my lamb shanks for about three hours and they were divine. I served them with buttery mashed potato. They were a real hit and I'll definately get them again.

This recipe serves 2.

• 2 lamb shanks
• olive oil
• 1 leek chopped
• 1 stick celery chopped
• 1 onion chopped
• 4-5 garlic cloves unpeeled
• 1 carrot roughly sliced
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 sprig thyme
• 1 sprig rosemary
• 200ml red wine
• 300ml chicken stock

Take a large casserole dish place on the hob over a high heat. Pour in enough olive oil to fill the casserole dish so it is about 1cm deep. When hot add the lamb shanks and turn them occasionally until they are browned.

Once the lamb shanks are nicely browned remove them from the casserole and place on a warmed plate. Add the leek, celery, onion, carrot and garlic to the casserole dish. Stir them together and then add the bay leaf, thyme and rosemary.

Once the vegetables are lightly browned place the lamb shanks back into the pot so that it rests on top of the vegetables.

Pour in the red wine and the chicken stock and bring to the boil.

Place the lid on the casserole dish and place in an oven that has been preheated to gas mark 2/ 150C. Cook slowly for about 3 hours or longer if you want. Before serving remove the herbs. Once ready lift the lamb shanks from the dish and place on warmed plates. Serve with the vegetables and the red wine sauce from the casserole dish.

Floral Cupcakes

I have recently become a Pampered Chef consultant which I am really enjoying. I get to meet lots of people that love to cook and I get to use some fantastic equipment. I will do a separate post all about my new job but for now I will just say that I am loving it.

As part of my kit I got a floral shaped silocone cupcake mould. I have had it for a few weeks now and have been debating what to make in it. I did think about making a frozen dessert but in the end I decided to make some cupcakes. I was a bit apprehenisve about getting them out of the mould but they popped out so easily and look so pretty.

This recipe is quick and simple to make so is perfect for when you fancy cake but don't have much time. If you don't have a silicone mould then you can use this recipe to make normal cupcakes in cases.

I was really pleased with how these turned out and I will definately be using this cupcake mould to make lots more pretty cakes.

This recipe makes 12 cupcakes.

Sunflower oil for spraying
1 lemon
1 orange
155g softened butter
155g light brown sugar
2 eggs beaten
155g self raising flour
half teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoons milk
60g caster sugar
Icing sugar to decorate

Preheat the oven to 180C / Gas 4.
Spray the cupcake pan with sunflower oil.
Zest the lemon and orange.
Cream together the butter and sugar until light anf fluffy.
Gradually beat in eggs and then stir in lemon and orange zest.
Fold in the flour and baking powder and then gently stir in the milk.
Place a level scoop in each well of the pan dividing mixture evenly. Bake for15-18 minutes. Remove the cakes from the oven.
Sqeeze the juice from the lemon and orange. Combine the 2 juices and stir in the caster sugar. Poor the sugar juice mixture over the hot cakes and allow to cool completely.

Carefully remove cakes from mould. Sprinkle with icing sugar.

Oven Baked Lamb Chops

Britsh sheep have an ability to thrive on fairly marginal land. They are therefore much less likely to be subjected to intensive farming. Lamb is a distinctive and flavoursome meat. There are some regional variations in taste and flavour which is the result of different breads and the variable quality and character of the grazing land.

Just the other day I bought some lamb chops from my local butcher. I was assured by him that these sheep were locally reared and had spent their days running about on a Dorset hillside. Once I got them home I had to decide how to cook and serve them. Normally I just grill them but I fancied something a bit different. I spent a good couple of hours flicking through my cookery books and in the end I decided to oven bake them.

I hadn't cooked lamb chops like this before but they were truly delicious and I will definately be doing them this way again. I made an onion and rosemary sauce to go with them and served my lamb with some buttery new potatoes and steamed vegetables. It was so easy to just pop the chops in the oven. While they were baking I made the sauce and cooked the potatoes and vegetables.



This recipe serves 2.

4 lamb chops (or more if you fancy it)
1 small onion peeled and chopped
salt and freshly ground black pepper

Preheat the oven to Gas Mark 6, 200C.
Firstly place the lamb chops in a shallow roasting tin and pop the chopped onion around them. Season with salt and paper and then place on a high shelf in the oven to bake. I like my lamb a little pink so cooked them for about 30 minutes. If you like yours more well done then increase the cooking time.

While the lamb chops are baking you can whip up the sauce easily. For that you will need:

1 small onion peeled and finely chopped
1 rounded teaspoon of rosemary leaves
15g butter
15g plain flour
85ml milk
85ml vegetable stock
1 tablespoon double cream
salt and freshly ground black pepper

Melt the butter and sweat the onions over a gentle heat for five minutes. Meanwhile bruise the rosemary leaves in a pestle and mortar to release their oil and then chop them finely. Add them to the onion and cook gently uncovered for about 15 minutes. Now using a wooden spoon stir in the flour until smooth. Gradually stir in the milk followed by the stock and stir vigorously with a balloon whisk. Season with salt and pepper and then simmer for 2 minutes. Then remove from the heat and liquidise in the pan with a stick blender. If you don't have one then pour the sauce into a conventional blender and liquidise. Then stir in the cream.

Once cooked remove the chops from the oven. The onion will have roasted and caramelised too which is lovely so dish these up along with the chops. Serve the chops with with the sauce poured over and enjoy.

A Cake Full of Truffles

I have had a heart shaped cake tin languishing in my cupboard for months and I thought that Valentines day was the perfect time to dust it off and use it. We don't normally celebrate Valentines but I thought I would bake a cake for my husband. After consultanting my cookery books I decided to try and create a chocolate box full of truffles. I was quite pleased with the end result and my husband was very impressed although a little guilty that he didn't get me anything. Ah well it is my birthday soon so maybe he will make up for it then.

So on to the cake. I decided to make a chocolate cake and used a recipe from my Divine Chocolate book. All of the recipes that I have tried from this book have been wonderful. I really do like this book but then I love anything to do with chocolate.

While the cake was baking and then cooling I started to make the chocolate truffles. These are so easy to make yet totally delicious. I have made them several times and they make a wonderful gift too. I decided to flavour these truffles with some Baileys Irish Cream but they are still delicious without this. I had to go back and finish the truffles later as you do need to let the mixture set for several hours.

The truffle recipe

275g dark chocolate broken into piece
250ml double cream
50g unsalted butter at room temperature
3-4 tablespoons Baileys Irish Cream according to taste

1. Place the chocolate in a large bowl. Bring the cream to the boil and pour it over the chocolate. Stir gently until the chocolate has melted, trying not to create bubbles. Leave to cool for 2 mins. 2. Add the butter in two stages, stiring gently. Once the butter is incorporated, the ganache should be smooth and glossy with no oil slick on the surface. Set the truffle mixture in the fridge for a minimum of 3 hours or overnight.
3. Remove the ganache from the fridge about 15 mins before you want to make the truffles, depending on room temperature. Put the cocoa in a bowl. Ensure your hands are cold and dry, then dust them with cocoa.
4. Take spoonfuls of the ganache mixture (use a teaspoon or tablespoon depending on how large you like your truffles) and roll the mixture into a ball in your cocoa-dusted hands. I decided to coat some of my truffles in melted chocolate and some in cocoa. For the cocoa dusted ones, drop each shaped truffle into the bowl of cocoa, turn it around and then toss it between your palms to remove any excess powder. Please each individual truffle in a mini petit four case. For the other truffles melt some chocolate in a bowl over a pan of simmering water. I did some white chocolate and some milk chocolate. Leave the melted chocolate to cool. Once cooled dip the truffles in the chocolate and place on baking paper to set. Once set put each truffle into a mini petit four case.


Once the cake is cool, slice it into two with a sharp knife. Make some chocolate ganache by melting 100g of dark chocolate in a bowl over a pan of simmering water. Once it has melted whisk in 175ml double cream until it is smooth. Leave to cool and then spread some chocolate ganache on one half of the cake and then sandwich the two halfs back together again. Use the rest of the chocolate ganache to ice the top and sides of the cake.

Then draw an outline of the cake tin onto some baking parchment and cut it out. You will need red fondant icing for the next part. I cheated and bought mine from my local cake shop but you can colour it yourself with food colouring. Roll out the icing and then place your baking parchment heart on the top. Use a cocktail stick to mark the heart onto the icing. Cut out the heart shape and place on the top of your cake.

Roll out some more red fondant into a long strip. Cut the edges so they are straight and make sure that the strip is slightly wider than the height of the cake. Carefully wrap the strip of fondant around the cake. I rolled out my fondant a little thin so I would recomment that you keep this quite thick so that it doesn't bend over where it is higher than the cake.

Then all you need to do is fill the top of the cake with your truffles.

Tea Cosies for Breast Cancer

No you aren't seeing things. These ladies are wearing tea cosies on their heads. These lovely ladies are from the Exeter branch of the Country Woman's Association in New South Wales, Australia. They are doing something amazing in order to raise money for women with breast cancer. The idea is to knit or create wild and wonderful tea cosies which will be auctioned or sold for this very worthwhile charity.

If you would like more information or would like to create a cosy of your own then have a look at their website for some more information. You can find the link here

So come on everyone, knit or make a wild, whacky and wonderful tea cosy for a very good cause. I will be having a go although I have never knitted anything before.

Girdlebuster Pie

I am a big fan of Nigella Lawson and have all of her books. So when her new Christmas book was released last year I just had to get a copy. It is full of seasonal recipes and along with the traditional Christmas dinner there are many other wonderful recipes. There are lots of little details like Black Bean soup hangover cures and chicken soup flu remedies. There is a great selection of twists on the tradional stuff like chilli jam to give as a gift and pomegranate vodka.

There are many recipes in this book that I am looking forward to trying. I don't think this book is just for Christmas and I certainly won't be putting it away just yet.

There is a recipe in this book called Girdlebuster Pie and I just had to try it. As I read the description I was drooling and who could resist it with a name like that.

In the book Nigella suggests coffee ice cream for the filling. I substituted this with vanilla as my little nephew was joining us and I thought this would be better for him. Last summer my husband and I were having lunch in a country pub near Wimborne in Dorset and on the way home we drove past a farm that makes their own ice cream We had to stop and buy one and I went back just before Christmas to get some for over the festive period. If you are ever near Wimborne then call into Barford Farm and try some of their ice cream. My favourite is the Baileys one but they are all scrmptios. I used some of their vanilla flavour to make this pie.

This pie was pretty easy to make and totally delicious. The caramel topping is heavenly and we all loved it. I used the same pie dish that Nigella uses in the book and I did find it a little tricky removing the pie from the dish in order to serve it. I think when I make this next time I might try doing it in a springform cake tin.

This is definately a winning recipe in our household.

For the base:
375g digestive biscuits
75g soft butter
50g dark chocolate chips
50g milk chocolate chips

For the ice cream filling:
1 litre vanilla or coffee icecream

For the topping:
300g golden syrup
100g light muscovado sugar
75 butter
a quarter of a teaspoon of maldon salt or a pinch of table salt
30ml bourbon
125ml double cream

• Process the biscuits with the butter and chocolate chips until it forms a damp crumb like clump.
• Press into a 23cm pie plate or flan dish. Form a lip of biscuit a little higher than the dish if you can. As Nigella says in the book this take patience as you need to form a smooth even layer.
• Freeze the biscuit lined layer for about an hour so it sets really hard. In the meantime let your ice cream soften in the fridge.
• Spread the ice cream into the biscuit layer then cover in cling film and place in the freezer.
• Put the syrup, sugar and butter into a saucepan and let it melt over a low heat before turning it up and boiling for 5 minutes. Then turn off the heat and add the bourbon letting it hiss in the pan.
• Add the cream and stir into a sauce then leave to cool. Once cool but not set pour over the pie to cover the icecream layer and then put back in the freezer.
• When ready to serve remove from the freezer, take the whole pie out of its dish and cut into slices. Should you have any left over put it back in the dish, return to the freezer and enjoy another day.

Happy New Year

Firstly I would like to apologise for not posting much over the last few weeks. I have been very busy in the kitchen cooking up lots of festive recipes but sadly I have been without a computer. Now it is all fixed I hope to be back to blogging more freqently. I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and I would like to wish you all a very happy and healthy new year.

I spent my Christmas day with my inlaws and we had a lovely but quiet afternoon. My husband and I started the day with a breakfast of bacon sarnies and bucks fizz. We then went to visit Pauls sister and her family. It was so lovely seeing the little ones opening their presents although I think that some of the adults had more fun with the toys than the children. My husband is a big kid and spent ages playing with the little ones toys.

Then it was back to my mother and father in laws for dinner. My Mother in law had done a lovely traditional Christmas dinner which we all enjoyed. I provided the dessert. I spent ages pondering over what to take. My husband doesn't like Christmas pudding so I wanted something different but something festive as well.

After searching through what felt like hundreds of recipes I came across and idea for a chocolate Christmas pudding. It sounded delicious and so I settled for that. The recipe is basically a chocolate sponge filled with chocolate mousse and is shaped to look like a Christmas pudding. I flavoured my chocolate mousse and the chocolate ganache with some Baileys Irish Cream which was wonderful but I'm sure other flavours would work just as well.

This went down really well with everyone and although it looks like a Christmas pudding I think it would be delicious all year round. And If you are a chocoholic like me then you will love it.

Ingredients:

For the sponge:

4 eggs
100g caster sugar
100g self-raising flour
50g cocoa , plus extra for dusting the tin, sifted
85g butter , melted, plus extra for greasing
3 tablespoons Irish Cream

For the mousse:

3 eggs, separated
50g caster sugar
175g dark chocolate (70% cocoa solids)
200ml double cream

dash of Irish Cream

For the topping:

142ml double cream
100g dark chocolate (70% cocoa solids)
50g butter
1 tbsp golden syrup
2-3 tablespoons Irish Cream

Heat oven to 200C/fan 180C/gas 6. Butter a 22 x 31cm or similar Swiss roll tin, then line with buttered baking paper. Tip in 1 tbsp cocoa, turn the tin until it's evenly coated, then tap out any excess.

For the sponge, beat the eggs and sugar with electric beaters for 7 mins, or until thick enough to hold a trail. Fold in flour and cocoa, then swirl in butter and fold through. Tip into the tin, bake for 10 mins until just firm, then cool under a clean tea towel.

For the mousse, beat the egg yolks with the sugar until thick and pale. Melt the chocolate and loosely whip the cream until it just holds its shape. Quickly beat half the cream and all of the chocolate into the egg mix, then gently fold in the rest of the cream. Whisk the egg whites until softly peaked, then fold in. Stir in the Irish Cream

Grease a 1.4 litre/2½ pint basin with a little oil. Line with cling film, letting it overhang. To build the pudding, cut a circle of sponge to fit the bottom of the basin and put it in. Cut seven sloping rectangles about 10cm long from the sponge and fit them tightly together around the bowl.

Sprinkle with the Irish cream. Fill the bowl halfway with the mousse then, using what's left of the sponge, top the mousse with a snug-fitting circle of cake. Sprinkle with remaining Irish Cream. Spoon in the rest of the mousse, then cover with the overhanging cling film. Chill for at least 4 hrs until firm (ideally overnight), then turn onto a plate.
For the topping, heat all the ingredients gently in a bowl over a pan of simmering water until the chocolate melts. Leave to cool, stirring occasionally, until thick and glossy. Spread all over the turned-out pudding, then top with the chocolate-coated cocoa beans and chocolate curls.

Before serving
Leave the pudding out of the fridge for about 20 minutes before serving to let the mousse relax to a chocolatey velvet.

Strawberry Cloud Cupcakes

The other day my husband dropped some enormous hints to me about baking a cake. I haven't done any baking since my mammoth session to make all the malteser cakes for our running club. I didn't have a lot of time so decided to make some cupcakes. I'm not very adventurous when it comes to cupcakes and normally just do a normal sponge mix and top with some butter icing. I have been known to experiment with chocolate ones too.

Well I fancied something a bit different and was inspired by some pictures in an old magazine I found laying about. These little cakes are delicious and so simple to make. I made mine to be strawberry flavoured but I think raspberry, cherry or even lemon would be srumptious too.

For the cakes:

• 90g softened butter
• half a teaspoon vanilla extract
• 110g caster sugar
• 2 eggs
• 150g self raising flour
• 2 tablespoons milk
• 2 tablespoons strawberry jam

For the fluffy frosting:

• 220g caster sugar
• 80ml water
• 2 egg whites
• pink coloured sugar

Preheat the oven to 180C. Line a 12 cup muffin pan with paper cases.
Beat the butter, vanilla extract and sugar in an electric mixer. I used my Kitchen Aid here but you could use a hand mixer. Add the eggs, flour and milk and beat on a slow speed until the ingredients are just combined. Increase the speed to medium and beat until the mixture is fluffy and a paler colour.
Divide the mixture between the paper cake cases and smooth the surface of them. Divide the jam over the tops of the cakes and using a skewer swirl the jam into the cakes.
Bake in the preheated oven for about 20 minutes until golden and they spring back when touched.
Allow to cool.

To make the fluffy frosting combine the sugar and the water in a small saucepan. Stir over the heat without boiling until the sugar is dissolved. Boil uncovered and without stirring for about 5 minutes or until the syrup reaches 116C on a sugar thermometer. The syrup should be thick but not coloured.
Remove from the heat and allow any bubbles to subside. Beat the egg whites in an electric mixer until soft peaks form. While mixer is operating add the hot syrup in a thin stream. Beat on a high speed until the mixture is thick and cool.

To make the coloured sugar, place the required amount in a plastic bag such as a small freezer bag. Add a tiny amount of colouring and work the colour through the sugar by massaging the plastic bag. My sugar was a little bright so my tiny dot of food colouring was still too much. Coloured sugar will keep in a jar indefinately.

When the cakes are cool decorate with the fluffy icing and sprinkle with the coloured sugar.

Tip - When you have poured the sugar from the pan, place the pan in a bowl of warm water. This will make it much easier to clean than if you leave the remainder of the syrup to set on the pan.

Chocolate Malteser Cake

My husband Paul and I are members of a running club. He is a much more serious runner than I am and also a lot better than me. I only started running about 6 months ago and entered my first 10K race back in the summer. I started running as a way to keep fit as I was getting bored with going to the gym. Paul has been running for a while now and persuaded me to give it a go. Well I'm so pleased I did as although I don't feel that I'm all that good I can see that I have improved a lot and I have really started to enjoy it.

You'll probably wondering what running has to do with a chocolate cake. Well I'll let you know. Our running club Wimborne AC organise a race every November called the Wimborne 10. This is a ten mile race around the beautiful area of Wimborne. I didn't run the race this year as I'm yet to attempt that distance but Paul did. I volunteered to help out as a marshall on the day and along with 2 other people manned a water station for the thirsty runners.

One of the best things about this race is that it is so well recievd by everyone that takes part. For the last few years everyone gets a cup of tea and a slice of cake when they have finished the run. So this calls for volunteers to make the cakes. There were 700 runners in the race this year so this called for a lot of cake.

I volunteered to help with the cake and decided on the chocolate Malteser Cake from Nigella Lawsons Feast. I have made this once before and it is delicious. Sadly I didn't get a slice this time around as all the hungry runners has eaten all the cakes by the time I got there. I made three of these to take along on the day and they went down very well with everyone that ate them. There wasn't a crumb left at the end which is definately a good sign.

Makes 8 - 10 slices

For the cake:

150g soft light brown sugar
100g caster sugar
3 eggs
175ml milk
15g butter
2 tablespoons Horlicks
175g plain flour
25g cocoa
1 teaspoon baking powder
half a teaspoon of bicarbonate of sode

For the icing and decoration

250g icing sugar
1 teaspoon cocoa
45g Horlicks
125g soft unsalted butter
2 tablespoons boiling water
2 x 37g packets of Maltesers

Preheat the oven to Gas 3/ 170C. Butter and line two 20cm cake tins with baking parchment.

Whisk together the sugars and eggs until they are light and fluffy.

Heat the milk, butter and Horlicks in a pan until the butter melts and it is hot but not boiling. Beat into the sugar and egg mixture. Then fold in the flour, cocoa, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda. Divide the cake mixture between the tins and bake in the oven for 25 minutes.

Once the cakes are cold you can ice them. I used a processor here but you could make the icing by hand if you wish. Put the icing sugar cocoa and Horlicks in the processor and blitz to remove any lumps. Add the butter and process again. Stop and then slowly add the boiling water and beat until you have a smooth buttercream.

Sandwich the cold cakes together with half of the buttercream. The ice the top of the cake with the remaining half. Decorate with the Maltesers and enjoy.