Blog - Stuff yer bake

Entries in cream (7)

Thursday

29Oct2009

Better late than never!

Thursday, October 29, 2009 at 11:08PM

Ok so I haven't got my daring baker post done on time but I've been a busy little bee recently. I've been making cakes, damson gin, working and doing wedding preparation etc! I was quite keen to do this recipe though as anything with almonds in it is basically food of the gods and we were having a leaving lunch in work for a colleague going on maternity leave and I thought this was appropriate.

As I have been rather busy organising presents for the departing colleague and doing a cake for the same day I needed to have made the macaroons for the lunch, it was a bit of a rushed affair. The resulting macaroons were delicious but I don't think they were quite what they should have been. They were a bit soft instead of being nice and crisp.

I filled my macaroons with Maya Gold spiced orange dark chocolate and cream. They were really lovely but I would like to have another go at making them to try and perfect them and also try different fillings.

Recipe

Preparation time: Not taking into account the amount of time it takes for you to bring your egg whites to room temperature, the whole baking process, including making the batter, piping and baking will probably take you about an hour to an hour and a half. How long it takes to make your filling is dependent on what you choose to make.

Actual baking time: 12 minutes total, plus a few minutes to get your oven from 200°F to 375°F.

Equipment required:
• Electric mixer, preferably a stand mixer with a whisk attachment
• Rubber spatula
• Baking sheets
• Parchment paper or nonstick liners
• Pastry bag (can be disposable)
• Plain half-inch pastry bag tip
• Sifter or sieve
• If you don’t have a pastry bag and/or tips, you can use a Ziploc bag with the corner snipped off
• Oven
• Cooling rack
• Thin-bladed spatula for removing the macaroons from the baking sheets
• Food processor or nut grinder, if grinding your own nuts (ouch!)

Ingredients
Confectioners’ (Icing) sugar: 2 ¼ cups (225 g, 8 oz.)
Almond flour: 2 cups (190 g, 6.7 oz.)
Granulated sugar: 2 tablespoons (25 g , .88 oz.)
Egg whites: 5 (Have at room temperature)

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 200°F (93°C). Combine the confectioners’ sugar and almond flour in a medium bowl. If grinding your own nuts, combine nuts and a cup of confectioners’ sugar in the bowl of a food processor and grind until nuts are very fine and powdery.
2. Beat the egg whites in the clean dry bowl of a stand mixer until they hold soft peaks. Slowly add the granulated sugar and beat until the mixture holds stiff peaks.
3. Sift a third of the almond flour mixture into the meringue and fold gently to combine. If you are planning on adding zest or other flavorings to the batter, now is the time. Sift in the remaining almond flour in two batches. Be gentle! Don’t overfold, but fully incorporate your ingredients.
4. Spoon the mixture into a pastry bag fitted with a plain half-inch tip (Ateco #806). You can also use a Ziploc bag with a corner cut off. It’s easiest to fill your bag if you stand it up in a tall glass and fold the top down before spooning in the batter.
5. Pipe one-inch-sized (2.5 cm) mounds of batter onto baking sheets lined with nonstick liners (or parchment paper).
6. Bake the macaroon for 5 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and raise the temperature to 375°F (190°C). Once the oven is up to temperature, put the pans back in the oven and bake for an additional 7 to 8 minutes, or lightly colored.
7. Cool on a rack before filling.

Sarah |

Berry swirl cheesecake ice cream

Tuesday, July 21, 2009 at 8:31PM

My other half and I were lucky enough to take advantage of his Dad's bumper crop of strawberries and raspberries over the last couple of weekends and had a haul of about 6 kg in all. When it came to deciding what we were going to do with them, I already had my ideas planned out. I made a not terribly successful strawberry curd, but one thing that really worked was a thick, creamy and luscious ice cream.

I really like making ice cream but making a custard with eggs etc can be a bit of a faff so I thought just simple double cream with some mascarpone would give me a deliciously smooth texture. The ice cream was very popular and didn't last long but with mascarpone and double cream in it it's not exactly low fat so it's for special occassions only!

Ingredients

300 ml double cream
100 ml milk
6 tbspoon icing sugar
1 tsp Vanilla extract
Generous glug of Cointreau
Handful each of raspberries and strawberries
100g caster sugar
250g tub mascarpone

Put the strawberries and raspberries in a pan with the caster sugar and warm until the sugar dissolves. Bring to the boil and reduce the mixture if your strawberries are a bit watery. Allow to cool. Put the mascarpone in a bowl and add the icing sugar and vanilla extract. Mix to combine then add the cream and milk and mix well with a whisk. Add this mixture to your ice cream maker and churn until very thick and coming away from the sides. While the ice cream is churning push the fruit mix through a sieve to remove the seeds, then add the Cointreau and set aside. Once the ice cream has churned marble the fruity coulis through it and put in the freezer to set fully. Serve the ice cream with some buttery shortbread.

Sarah |

2 Comments |

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Wednesday

17Dec2008

The alternative Christmas pudding

Wednesday, December 17, 2008 at 4:50PM

Cranberry and orange fool with walnut shortbread

It's getting close to the big day, so now is the time to lug crates of booze into the house, organise your elderly relatives so they don't forget what time lunch is and plan the delicious treats you are going to enjoy over the festive period.

I absolutely love Christmas pudding, doused in flaming brandy and served nice and hot with a big dollop of homemade brandy butter melting over it. Wonderful as it is, not everybody likes it, so this dessert is a nice simple alternative and a fitting finale to the delicious food you have just enjoyed.

A fool is a creamy dessert that you can adapt to use any fruit you feel like, the most common ones being rhubarb and gooseberry. I thought a cranberry and orange fool would make a nice Christmassy treat and that some shortbread would be a good accompaniment.

Recipe to serve 2

For the Fool:

1 medium carton of whipping cream

150g fresh cranberries

75g caster sugar

zest and juice of one orange

glug of Cointreau

2 tblsp icing sugar

For the shortbread:

250g plain flour

250g unsalted butter

125g semolina or cornflour

125g golden caster sugar

More caster sugar and flour for dusting

8 inch square tin, greased

50g walnuts, blitzed finely in a food processor

Begin by putting the cranberries into a saucepan with the zest and juice of the orange, a tblsp of water and the caster sugar. Cook on a moderate heat until the cranberries have burst,and have started to cook down a little and the sugar has dissolved. Leave to one side to cool and then add about a 1 1/2 tblsp cointreau or more if you want.

Whip the cream to soft peak consistency, add the icing sugar and then take about two tblsp of the cranberry mixture and lightly mix through the cream to give a nice marbled effect. Take a couple of cocktail glasses and put a heaped tsp of the cranberry mixture in the bottom, then top with the cream. To finish it off put another tsp of the cranberries on top of the cream and chill the dessert in the fridge until needed.

To make the shortbread, cream the butter and sugar together and add the finely ground walnuts. Then sift the flours and stir in gently, finally bringing the mixture together with your hands. Roll out about 1/4 inch thick on a well floured surface, then cut out different shapes with a christmassy cutter and place on a baking sheet. Put into a 160 degree centigrade oven for about 25 minutes or until lightly golden. Cool on a rack and serve with the chilled cranberry and orange fool.

Sarah |

5 Comments |

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Sunday

09Mar2008

I am still here, Honest!!

Sunday, March 9, 2008 at 11:24PM

I am struggling to get my act together to write blog posts recently. Maybe it's just because of the amount of energy that goes into making the cakes and I need a couple of weeks to recharge my batteries after making one. That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it. So to make amends I will tell you about this dessert I made last weekend.

Last Saturday I saw James Martin making an iced coffee and honeycomb parfait on Saturday Kitchen. I had never made parfait before, but it looked nice so I thought I would give it a go. As usual my inability to stick to anything written down or done for me, i.e a recipe, lead me to make a totally different, but delicious, chocolate and amaretti parfait.

Ingredients

150g dark chocolate

3 free range eggs - separated

150g caster sugar

500ml double cream

50ml Amaretto (optional)

100g Amaretti biscuits

Line a loaf tin with cling film. Lightly Crumble 50g of the amaretti biscuits into the base of the tin. Put the egg yolks and half the sugar in a bowl over some simmering water. Whisk the mixture for about ten minutes until thickened. Remove the bowl and set aside. Melt the chocolate in another bowl over the simmering water with the Amaretto and then add to the egg mixture, stirring to combine. Whisk the egg whites until soft peaks and then add the rest of the sugar to make a raw meringue mixture. Stir this into the chocolate mixture. Finally softly whip the cream and fold this into the chocolate mixture with the other 50g of the amaretti biscuits crumbled lightly. Pour this into the pre-prepared tin and tap to settle out properly. Put in the freezer for about four hours until set. To get the parfait out of the tin, either use a chefs blowtorch around the outside of the tin or sit the tin in warm water for a minute, then simply turn out. Cut into slices and serve.

Sarah |

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Thursday

27Dec2007

Quick Christmas trifle

Thursday, December 27, 2007 at 4:20PM

I really love trifle but I hate the ones with jelly in them. I'm probably being a bit snobby but I think jelly is a bit tacky and I also don't really like the texture. This recipe is really quick and easy, which is a must for around Christmas when you have run out of time or can't face any more slaving over hob.

Ingredients

1 box of Trifle sponges

500ml ready made custard (get the best stuff you can or make you own if you like)

250g Mascarpone cheese ( I found a reduced fat one which made me feel less gluttonous)

Ground cinnamon

280ml Whipping cream

Frozen berries 300g (anything you like)

Brandy

Juice and zest of 1 orange

4 tblsp Golden caster sugar

First cut the trifle sponges in half and use them to line the bottom of the trifle bowl. Put a splosh of brandy (it is really up to you how much you want to add) into a bowl and add half the juice of the orange and the zest. Pour this over the trifle sponge base and leave to soak in. Put the berries into a saucepan with the caster sugar and heat until the berries have melted and the sugar has dissolved. Leave to cool and then pour over the trifle sponge base. Take the custard and add the mascarpone cheese and a couple of tsp of cinnamon, whisking together until combined. Pour this over the top of the fruit and let the trifle set in the fridge for a while. Whip the cream until soft peaks and use to decorate the top of the trifle. Serves 6-8

Sarah |