A ROSE BY ANY OTHER NAME

This month's We Should Cocoa challenge was to create something lovely using both rose and chocolate. Choclette really does like to keep us on our toes!!

My first thoughts were to team the rose with some white chocolate - there is something so delicate about a rose (and rose water) that I immediately thought to pair it with the subtle vanilla sweetness of some good white chocolate.  White billowy meringues, perhaps?  But then life got in the way (as it does), I was getting short on time and I needed a kid friendly, throw it all together type bake.

The kids are not great fans of white chocolate - milk chocolate gets the vote every time!  So I decided to play around with one of my stock recipes - add some rose water and see what happens!!

I had a hit and a miss - the cake was very popular, the hint of rose being very subtle, gave an extra dimension (just a little something that stopped you wolfing down a slice and encouraged you to nibble it thoughtfully), it married very well with the milk chocolate, one flavour not overpowering the other.  The icing on the other hand was not popular (even with me!!) Firstly the cake was sweet enough and did not need the extra sweet injection of the icing.  Secondly the rose and orange flavours (which I thought would be fantastic together) just didn't jell, and thirdly it was all just too much when combined.  Luckily I only iced a small section of the cake - so there was plenty of happy munching!!


Chocolate Rose Cake

200g               butter
200g               caster sugar
200g               milk chocolate
250g               self raising flour
1.5 tsp            rose water
3                    eggs, beaten.


Prepare a 24x33cm (13x10inch) tin by lining with baking parchment paper
Preheat oven to 180 C

Melt the butter and 75g of the chocolate.
Add the sugar and combine.
Gently stir in the flour.
Chop up the remaining 125g of chocolate and add to the batter.
Add the eggs, stirring gently.
Pour into the shallow tin.
Bake for 20 - 30 minutes.

Icing (though I wouldn't bother!)

100g     icing sugar, sieved
1 tsp     rosewater
orange juice to get to correct texture.

Combine.

Enjoy!

CAKE SLICE BAKERS

After a long absence, and with apologies to my fellow Cake Slice Bakers, I am back for the penultimate cake from Lauren Chattman's "Cake Keeper Cakes",  this month the bakers voted for her Hungarian Coffee Cake (aka Monkey Bread) - a coffee free cake (I'm always caught!!) rich in cinnamon (well my version was anyway!) and fun to make.

I was excited to bake my first "Monkey Bread", but found this cake to taste much more like scones coated in a buttery, sweet cinnamon glaze - delicious, but not what I had expected, and not really pull-apartable!

We really enjoyed this cake on the day it was made, but it doesn't  belong in a book with "keeper" in the title as on the second day (like scones) the cake had dried out and lost it's lovely soft texture - nice but not nearly as nice as on day one.  This cake would be perfect for a coffee morning with a gang of friends - just make sure you invite enough to eat it all in one go!!!!

The recipe as I made it:

Hungarian Coffee Free Coffee Cake

Topping

1/2 cup (110g)    butter, melted and cooled
3/4 cup                light brown sugar

Cake

1/2 cup               granulated sugar
3  tsp                  ground cinnamon
9 tbsp (117g)     chilled butter - actually frozen is best.
3 cups                plain flour
1 tbsp                caster sugar
1 tbsp                 baking powder
3/4 tsp                bread (bicarbonate of) soda
3/4 tsp                salt
1 cup                  buttermilk (maybe more)
1/4 cup               pecan nuts

Preheat the oven to 180 C/350 F
Butter and flour a non-stick bundt cake tin

Whisk the melted butter together with the light brown sugar and put to one side.
Combine the granulated sugar with 1 tsp cinnamon in a plastic bag.
Grate the frozen butter with a coarse grater.
Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt,2 tsp cinnamon and 1 tbsp caster sugar in a large bowl.
Add the grated butter and combine with a spoon.
Stir in the buttermilk, adding more if necessary to combine.
Scoop up small balls of dough (slightly smaller than a golf ball) and toss in the sugar cinnamon mixture.
Layer the balls of dough in the bundt tin, scattering in the chopped pecan nuts as you go.
When all the balls of sugared dough are in the tin, pour the cooled butter and sugar mixture over them.
Bake in the oven for 35 - 40 minutes or until firm to the touch.
Remove from the oven and allow to cool in the tin on a cake rack for 10 - 15 minutes.
Invert onto a serving plate and serve at once.

Enjoy.

A CLEAN(ISH) CONSCIENCE

I have an admission ........ I cheated ........ but then I felt so guilty that I uncheated - I hope that Dom can forgive me - but at least I did the right thing in the end!!!

You see it was like this .... Dom over at Belleau Kitchen had challenged us to randomly choose a cookery book from the shelf/pile and then to choose a random recipe from said book and then to cook/bake it - no messing.   Wellllllllllllll, I closed my eyes and grabbed Nigella Lawson's "Kitchen" - so far, so good (I had neglected this book and was pleased to give it a go), but then I randomly chose her Marmalade Pudding Cake - yuk, I really don't like marmalade, nobody in the house eats that type of cake.  I decided it would be a total waste (I don't like marmalade), it would end up uneaten in the bin (I don't like marmalade)- I just couldn't do it (I don't like marmalade).

I closed the book, closed my eyes and fanned through the pages and came to .....Indian Roast potatoes ...... Result ...... I love potatoes (well I know stereotypes are often untrue, but I AM Irish) and I love spice ..... Happy Days, Indian Roast potatoes it was.

They were a perfect choice, you just chop up your unpeeled potatoes into cubes and toss them in a plastic bag  to which you have added oil and spices (turmeric, fennel seeds, cumin seeds, nigella seeds, black mustard seeds, chilli powder) some garlic, lime juice and salt - toss the potatoes about until fully coated, roast for an hour and then serve with a chopped red onion as garnish.  I played about with the spices (just a bit) left out the raw onion - and they were delicious, and really popular.

BUT I just couldn't do it ..... I couldn't pretend that they were my random choice ..... I had to bite the bullet .... I just had to .... didn't I?...... I had to ..... my conscience demanded it!!!!!!!!

So Marmalade Pudding Cake it was, on the plus side it was easy to throw together, you just dump everything in the food processor, a quick whizz and it's ready to go in the oven, stress free really. 

As for the result, well - I thought it was OK. (which isn't bad as (you might not know but) I'm not that fond of marmalade!!), Brownieville Man loved it and Brownieville Physical Magician (aka my friend Amo, who gives me life saving massages) ate 5 slices in one sitting (slight exaggeration!!).  All in all - worth giving a go.


Marmalade Pudding Cake


250g           soft butter (plus some to butter the dish)
75g             caster sugar
75g             light brown muscovado sugar
150g           marmalade, plus 75g  marmalade for the glaze*
225g           plain flour
1/2 tsp        bread (bicarbonate of) soda
1 tsp           baking powder
4                 eggs
1                 orange - zested and juiced. (keep half the juice for the glaze)


* I used a jar of three fruit marmalade that I had left over from a Christmas hamper recieved the year before last!!!


Preheat oven to 180 C
Butter a 24cm sq Pyrex (or actually any) ovenproof dish


Prepare the glaze by putting 75g of marmalade and the juice of half the orange in a small pan and put to the side to heat later.
Put all the remaining ingredients into the food processor, and whizz.
Pour the batter into the prepared dish.
Bake for about 30 minutes, although could take 40 minutes.
Check it is done by inserting a piece of raw spaghetti to see if it comes out clean (if there is batter on it - it needs more time)
Heat the glaze over a medium heat, when melted, pour over the hot cake.
Serve while still warm with cream or custard.

Enjoy (if you like marmalade!!!)

VIRTUOUS BUT GOOD!

I promise I haven't had a blow to the head (!!) but I had a yen for some healthy, bright, crunchy food - something that yelled "summer" - a salad obviously, but not a claggy mayonnaise laden one, something much fresher.

Never one to do things by halves, I went the whole hog with this one - not even a smidgen of oil in there, but brim full of flavour - try it - you'll forgive me the virtuousness!!!




Carrot and Coriander Salad

6        organic carrots
2        handfuls of coriander
2        limes juiced


Grate the carrots - you really do need to go with organic ones, they have a much stronger flavour.
Chop the coriander stems very finely and the leaves roughly.
Combine them both, and add the lime juice to taste.
Allow flavours to combine for a half hour or so.
Enjoy.

MESSED UP MUFFINS

I haven't blogged in ages, and now I have to come back with an unmitigated failure!  These apricot and chocolate muffins were just nasty, the actual muffins were rubbery and the apricots therein had an unpleasant jammy texture.

When I read Chele's challenge for this month's We Should Cocoa, I feared that I would be unable to source any fresh apricots, but as luck would have it there were some delicious specimens in the shop the very next day.  Murphy's law being what it is, everyone who visited over the next couple of days, spotted them, and said "you never see fresh apricots, may I take one?" and the punnet disappeared in no time!!!!  Fortunately I managed to get the last of the apricots the next time I went shopping, and even more fortunately (or not when you consider the way the muffins turned out!!) I managed to hide three of them to use for the challenge. 

I won't bother giving you the recipe* - why would I when this recipe is a million times better.  As for the apricots - they are just so nice when fresh and ripe (and so hard to locate) that I will stick to dried or tinned for my baking in future.  I have a lovely recipe for an apricot tart which uses tinned apricots - I must bake and blog it soon.

As I tell the kids, your mistakes are just as important as your successes, so I'll put this one down to furthering my culinary education!  They did look nice though!!

*All I'll say is that Ms Smith isn't totally infallible.

SCONE IN NO TIME!!

The newest Brownievillers on the block have been raving about the delicious scones with raspberries they had when they were visiting my sister in Galway recently,  I just knew they had this one right - like having the jam inside the scone - nice one!!!

This month's We Should Cocoa Challenge was to create something delicious with both chocolate and strawberries - wonderful timing, our local strawberries are just perfect at the moment, deep dark red and brim full of flavour (I actually find it hard to use them in a recipe - I just want to gobble them up straight from the carton!!)  I decided to try my hand at some scones, with nuggets of strawberry and grated white chocolate within - figured it would please the little ones anyway!!

As regular readers will know, I have been striving to find the perfect scone recipe for some time - I have finally decided the the two things necessary for really good scones are: frozen butter and slightly sour cream!  You might think I'm mad (join the queue!!) but try it and see  - I'd love to know how you get on.



It is much easier to cut scones into these shapes then the usual rounds - no rerolling of the dough!



The scones turned out really well, the soft sweet nuggets of strawberry were just about prefect - no jam necessary!  The chocolate on the other hand didn't really have any impact on the taste - next time I plan to use chunks of chocolate (similar in size to the strawberry pieces) - but these were so nummy, that there will definitely be a next time!

Strawberry and White Chocolate Scones

adapted from the Avoca recipe

450g/1lb          self raising flour

pinch                baking powder

pinch                salt

50g/2 oz           caster sugar

110g/4oz          frozen butter (I keep a few weighted out butter blocks in the freezer for when the scone mood strikes!)

1                     egg, beaten

50ml/2fl oz      cream (I think it's best if slightly sour)

200ml/7fl oz     milk (more if necessary)

10                    medium strawberries

100g/4 oz        white chocolate (grated or chopped into chunks)

1                     egg - to make the glaze

Preheat oven to 180 C

Sieve the flour into a large bowl.

Add the salt, sugar and baking powder.

Grate the frozen butter into the flour - I use the large grate size on my box grater.

Add the chocolate and mix gently with your hand.

Add the egg, cream and most of the milk.

Mix well until it has a soft texture - it's important that it's not too moist.

Add more milk if necessary.

Gently add the strawberries.

Gather the mixture into a ball and place on a floured surface.

Press out into a rectangle shape about 2.5cm/1 inch thick.

Cut into your preferred shapes - keeping everything to a similar size.

Make your glaze with a beaten egg and a tiny amount of water, and brush over the scones.

Transfer to a greased/lined baking sheet.

Bake in oven for 15-20 minutes, or until well browned.

Enjoy.

GOOD FOR THE SOLE!

Dom over at the wonderful Belleau Kitchen has challenged us to cook a random recipe from our most recent cook book - great idea, how many of us buy/receive a new cookbook, devour the recipes and pictures and then cast it aside for the old reliables (kinda have to put my hand up on that one!) - Thanks Dom.

I was having a really hard time remembering which was my most recent acquisition (cook book wise) - I knew that I hadn't bought anything recently, but was it as far back as Christmas? - couldn't be, but then I couldn't remember anything more recent - it was really bugging me!!  But then the Lovely Louise came to my rescue, and gave me a "cheer you up" present of "The Food of France" (a journey for food lovers) by Maria Villegas and Sarah Randell.  This is a delightful book, brim full of interesting, doable recipes and mouthwatering pictures. (Thanks Lou xxx)

My luck was in when I opened the book, I actually had most of the ingredients (and just left out the ones I didn't have) - I thought I was just opening it to write my shopping list!!  My luck was still in when we tasted the dish - delicious, delicious, delicious!  I was told that it was "better than any restaurant" (what an ego booster!).  This dish would be perfect for a dinner party, it's really impressive and really easy, what more can you ask!

I have to say that the quality of the fish and prawns is really important here - the sauce is light and the fish has to be as fresh as possible.  As always my local fish shop (Connollys) came up trumps, not only was the fish delicious, but Kieran actually peeled the prawns for me!

I served the Sole Normande with samphire, which I tossed in the creamy sauce over a high heat for a couple of minutes - it was just perfect.  Asparagus or green beans would also to good accompaniments, anything green with a bit of crunch, actually.



SOLE  NORMANDE


12             prawns (shrimp) (I used more)
500ml        white wine
12             shucked oysters (I didn't have any, so left them out)
12             small button mushrooms (mine weren't particularly small, so I sliced them)
4              sole fillets (I used small, skinned whole Dover Sole)
250ml       cream (I used much less, about 120 ml)
1               truffle, thinly sliced (another ingredient I left out!)
1 tbsp       chopped parsley (the only ingredient I omitted, that I will add next time)



Put the wine in a deep frying pan (I used a wok) and bring to the boil.
Add the oysters (if using) and poach for 2-3 minutes, remove from the wine with a slotted spoon  and keep warm.
Add the peeled and deveined prawns to the bubbling wine and cook until pink and cooked through, about 3 minutes. Lift out and keep warm.
Poach the mushrooms for 5 minutes or until cooked through, remove and keep warm.
Place the sole carefully into the poaching liquid, and cook for about 5 minutes (depends on the size of your fish) until just cooked through -  remove the fish and put to one side.
Add the cream to the poaching liquid and bring to the boil, boil until reduced by half and thickened enough to coat the back of a spoon (I didn't reduce it by this much, as I was after a lighter texture)
Season with salt and pepper (be careful with the salt if you are serving with samphire, which is very salty)
Put the sole on a serving dish, scatter with the prawns, oysters (if using), mushrooms, and truffle (again, if using) and parsley and serve while it's still hot!

Enjoy.