1 store bought puff pastry 125g cream cheese, I use chive flavoured 250g smoked bacon, cubed/chopped 200g mushrooms, sliced a handful of thyme leaves 5 courgettes, cut into 3-4cm long sticks egg wash: 1 egg yolk + 30ml water whisked together
Preheat your oven to 190℃. Roll out the pastry and cut as large a circle from it as the diameter allows. Spread the cream cheese on the pastry, leaving a 3cm border on the outside. Place a pan on medium-high heat and fry the bacon pieces until cooked. Spoon into a bowl. Add the mushrooms and thyme leaves to the pan and fry until golden. Add the courgette sticks to the mushrooms and stir-fry for 2 minutes. Spoon into the bowl with the bacon and mix through. Now spoon this mixture onto the cream cheese. Fold the 3cm border of pastry over the filling and brush with the egg wash. Bake the galette for 40 minutes. Serve warm.
This tiramisu is made with thin layers of chocolate cake and the traditional mascarpone-cream filling and sprinkled with grated chocolate!! Serves 6.
Cake batter: 190ml flour 190ml sugar 2,5ml salt 120g butter 80ml cocoa powder, sifted 120ml hot water 2 egg yolks 50ml buttermilk 2,5ml baking powder 2,5ml vanilla
Preheat your oven to 180℃ and line a 27cm x 37cm baking tray with baking paper. Select 6 glasses or straight-sided bowls in which you are going to assemble and serve the tiramisu. Set aside. Add the flour, sugar and salt to a mixing bowl. Set aside. Add the butter, cocoa powder and hot water to a small saucepan set over medium-high heat. Stir the mixture until the butter melts. Bring to a boil, remove from the heat and pour over the dry ingredients. Stir to combine. Add the egg yolks, buttermilk, baking powder and vanilla and mix together. Pour the batter into the prepared baking tin and bake for 15 minutes. Cool completely. Remove the cake and cut 12 rounds using one of the serving glasses as a guide. Set aside until needed.
Add the mascarpone and cream to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Add the espresso powder, vanilla and sugar and beat on medium-high speed until very thick – be mindful not to over whip!
Assembly: 80g coffee flavoured, dark chocolate, grated
Layer a spoonful of mascarpone-mixture, grated chocolate, a cake disc and repeat until you have used 2 cake discs and have three layers of mascarpone. Sprinkle with grated chocolate to finish off the tiramisu. Refrigerate for 2 hours. Either sprinkle with more chocolate or sift over some cocoa powder before serving.
1 bagel per person 2 eggs 30ml milk a pinch of salt
cinnamon-sugar
Add the eggs, milk and salt to a bowl and whisk together. Slice the bagels in half horizontally and dip each half in the egg mixture. Place a frying pan on medium-high heat and add a splash of vegetable oil. Fry the egg-soaked bagel for about 2 minutes before flipping it and frying for another 2 minutes. Generously dish the warm bagel halves with cinnamon sugar and serve while warm.
It has been said that a Viennese Sachertorte is a cake worth fighting over….! Hopefully without the fighting, you will bake this labour of love and indulge in the best chocolate cake in the world! Traditionally the cake is served with Chantilly cream on the side so that every bite may be dipped into the cream before eating. If you want a higher cake like the one in my photographs, bake the cake twice – the apricot and chocolate glaze is sufficient to cover a higher/larger cake.
Chocolate glaze: 220g sugar 125ml water 200g dark chocolate, chopped
Place an oven rack in the centre of your oven and preheat to 180℃. Lightly butter 22cm springform tin with butter and line the bottom with a round of baking paper. Dust the sides of the tin with flour and tap out the excess. Add the chocolate to a heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water and allow to melt. Remove from the heat. Stir the chocolate often until tepid but still fluid. Add the butter to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and beat on medium-high speed for 1 minute. Turn the mixer to low speed and beat in the icing sugar. Set the mixer back on medium-high and beat until light in colour and texture. (about 2 minutes) Beat in the egg yolks, one at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl. Now beat in the chocolate and vanilla with the machine running. Remove the bowl from the mixer. Add the egg whites and granulated sugar to a mixing bowl and beat with a hand-held electric mixer on high speed just until they form soft, shiny peaks. Do not overbeat. Stir about a fourth of the whites into the chocolate mixture to lighten it. Now fold in the remaining whites, leaving a few visible whisps of whites. Sift half the flour over and fold in with a spatula. Repeat with the remaining flour. Scrape the batter into the prepared cake tin and spread it evenly. Bake until a wooden toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean, about 35 minutes. Remove the cake from the oven and cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Remove the sides of the tin and invert the cake onto the wire rack. Remove the baking paper. Re-invert the cake on another rack to turn it right side up and leave to cool completely.
For the apricot glaze: Melt the jam in a saucepan over medium heat, add the rum and pass through a sieve. Set aside to cool slightly.
Trim the top of the cake to make it level. (Optional) Cut the cake horizontally into 2 equal layers. Brush the top of one cake layer with a third of the apricot glaze. Place the second layer on top and brush the top and sides of the cake with the remaining glaze. Allow to cool until the glaze is set/less sticky. Half an hour in the refrigerator should be sufficient.
For the chocolate glaze: Bring the sugar and water to a boil in a saucepan. Stir until the sugar dissolves. Add the chocolate, remove from the heat and stir until the chocolate has melted and you are left with a smooth, glossy glaze.|Set aside to cool and thicken slightly.
Transfer the cake to a wire rack set over a rimmed baking sheet. Pour the slightly warm chocolate glaze over the cake. Take care to cover the entire cake and the sides. Allow to cool and set completely – 2 hours minimum. Trim away any hardened glaze on the bottom of the cake and transfer it to a serving plate. Serve each slice of sachertorte with a generous dollop of cream so that each bite may be dipped in the cream before eating.
This recipe is for one portion flapjacks = 3-4 average sized flapjacks.
1 very ripe banana, mashed 30ml self-raising flour 1 egg
Add the mashed banana, flour and egg to a small mixing bowl and whisk together with a fork. Place a frying pan on medium-high heat and add a dash of vegetable oil. Spoon the batter into the pan, about three flapjacks at a time and cook until tiny bubbles appear. Flip over and cook for another minute or two. Serve the flapjacks warm with honey and added fruit.
Place the potatoes in a large pot and fill it with water to cover the potatoes with 3 cm water. Bring to a boil and cook until they are easily pierced with a toothpick, about 25 minutes. Drain in a colander and shake of as much water as possible. Pat dry with a tea towel. Spread the potatoes on a dry tea towel and leave to air-dry and cool enough so that they are easy to handle. Crush the potatoes by pressing down on them with a spice bottle (or anything with a flat bottom like a glass). Pour 4cm of vegetable oil into a saucepan set over medium-high heat and wait for the oil to heat up. Fry the potatoes in batches to avoid over crowding in the saucepan. They are ready after 2-3 minutes and when they are crispy and beautifully golden. Drain on paper towel before placing on a serving platter. Sprinkle with salt and serve immediately.
Fill a large saucepan with salted water and bring to a boil. Add the pasta and cook according to packet instructions. Add the chorizo to a saucepan set over medium-high heat and fry for 3 minutes. Add the thyme and garlic and stir-fry for another minutes or so. Add the lemon juice, yoghurt and egg to a small bowl and whisk together with a fork. Take the saucepan from the heat and add the yoghurt mixture while stirring. Add the spinach to the saucepan and place it back onto the heat while stirring until the spinach is wilted. Remove from the heat and sprinkle the parmesan over. Mix through before serving.
This cheeseboard is a brilliant way of entertaining friends and family with the absolute minimum effort! The cream cheese is used as a base and smeared onto a wooden serving board and then topped with crunchy, punchy bits and bobs. One 250g tub of cream cheese should provide you with enough to feed 4 people as a snack with cocktails or even as a nibble before a meal.
250g tub of cream cheese (I used a chive flavoured cheese) red onion, finely chopped chives, chopped (garlic chives are especially good) fried onion bits (mine was store bought but feel free to make them yourself) pomegranate seeds lemon zest honey for drizzling over edible flower to make everything look pretty
Smear the cream cheese onto a wooden serving board. Sprinkle over the onion, chives, fried onion, pomegranate seeds and lemon zest. Drizzle a small amount of honey over and finish off with a few pretty edible flowers. Serve with crackers and cocktails.
These marinated eggs are delicious as a healthy snack or added to any asian dish and theeeee perfect companion for a slurpy bowl of noodles!! Serve them as breakfast, lunch, dinner and in-between..
Add the water, soy sauce, vinegar and honey to a jug and whisk together to blend the ingredients. Set aside. Bring a large saucepan of water to a boil. Lower the eggs into the boiling water with a spoon and cook for 7 minutes, or to your liking. Fill a large bowl with cold water and ice and keep on the side. Transfer the eggs to the ice bowl after the 7 minutes. Once the eggs have cooled enough to handle it is really easy to peel them when kept under the cold water. Place the peeled eggs in a container and pour the marinate over. Cover and refrigerate for 6-8 hours. The eggs must be submerged in the marinade – place a weight on top to keep them covered in the liquid. Remove from the soy mixture, slice and sprinkle with fresh chopped herbs to serve.
The eggs in these photographs were marinated for 24 hours – very dark colour and strong umami taste!!
250g digestive biscuits 100g butter, melted 250ml Cremona (coffee creamer) 1 x 385g tin condensed milk 250ml cream 80ml lemon juice your choice of fresh fruit and/or berries
Place 6 glasses/bowl on a small baking sheet and set aside. (the baking sheet makes it easier to transport the desserts) Place the biscuits in a food processor and process to crumbs. Add the melted butter with the engine running. You want to end up with a mixture that resembles wet sand. Spoon a heaped tablespoon of the mixture into the glasses and divide the rest equally. Press lightly onto the bottoms and place in the refrigerator. Add the Cremona, condensed milk, cream and lemon juice to a mixing bowl and whisk together until you have a very thick mixture. Divide among the serving glasses and place back into the refrigerator for a minimum of two hours or overnight. Take the desserts from the fridge about 20 minutes before you want to serve them. Top with your choice of fresh fruit.
My Whisk and I 