Open Table

CHOCOLATE ROULADE

We have a few friends popping over for dinner tonight so I thought I would cook Chicken with Spelt followed by one of my favorite puddings ... Chocolate Roulade 

With Thea in nursery, Charlie and I went shopping for all the ingredients then came back to cook.  He got a bit carried away when I was clearing up and managed to break off a quarter of the first Roulade ... apparently the huge bit he broke off was “for Daddy” ... I could not get cross with his very cute face.  So while he tucked into the first chocolate base I got the mixing bowls out again and made another.

I will post the recipe tomorrow for Chicken with Spelt ... pop back then if you want a great one pot dish that I think is a good alternative to risotto ...

CHOCOLATE ROULADE - Serves 8

Ingredients 

200g Plain Chocolate (70% Coco), 50ml warm water, 5 Eggs, 150g Caster sugar, 1 Teaspoon of vanilla extract, 1 Tablespoon of Organic Coco Powder, 300ml Double cream, 100g Chestnut Spread, Icing sugar for dusting

Equipment

40cm x 27cm Baking Tray, Baking Paper, Tea Towel

• Turn you oven to 160
• Get out the baking tray (40cm x 27cm).  Place a piece of baking paper on to it.  I tend to scrunch the baking paper up into a ball the place it on tray to help stop the paper rolling up
• Break up the chocolate and place in a mixing bowl with 50ml of warm water.  Place the bowl over a sauce pan of hot water.  The saucepan should be on a low heat and make sure that the bowl doesn't touch the water.  Then, keeping the heat at its lowest, allow the chocolate to melt slowly; it should take 6-7 minutes.
• Once melted remove from the heat and give it a good stir until it's smooth and glossy.
• Separate the eggs, place the whites in one mixing bowl and the yokes in another.  
• Add the caster sugar, vanilla extract and coco powder to the yokes
• Whisk the egg whites until you have soft peaks ... to check pull the whisk out of the egg and if a little peak forms and stay then you have a soft peak and can move onto the next stage.
• Now whisk the yokes mixture.  
• Pour the melted chocolate into the yoke mixture and mix together.  
• Stir 1/3 of the egg whites to the chocolate mixture, repeat with the rest of the egg whites until the egg whites and chocolate are throughly mixed
• Spoon the mixture on the the baking paper and spread out so that the chocolate fills the tin
• Place in the oven for about 15-20 minutes, when done the top will be firm and slightly crisp.  
• While the Roulade is cooking wet the tea towel
• Remove the roulade from the oven and cover with the wet tea towel, this stops the roulade going crispy which will make it difficult to roll
• While the roulade it cooling, place the cream in a mixing bowl and whisk it until it is thick.  You are looking for the same thickness of clotted cream you spread on scones (a scoop full should stay on a teaspoon if turned upside down for a few seconds). 
• Once the cream is thick mix in the chestnut spread
• Layout a piece baking paper.  Sprinkle the baking paper with icing sugar.  You are now going to put the roulade onto of the icing sugar.  Remove the tea towel, lift up the cold roulade and carefully place it face down on the baking paper covered in icing sugar
• Carefully remove the baking paper from the back of the roulade
• Spread out your cream mixture on to the roulade, cover it completely and equally, the cream should be about half a cm thick
• Now is the tricky bit, using the baking paper to help you, slowly roll the roulade and place on serving dish
• Gently cover with tin foil and place in fridge till you guests arrive
• When you are ready to serve dust with icing sugar and bring to the table 

Cooking notes

I use a hand held whisk for this recipe.  You can do it by hand but be prepared for quite a bit of whisking. 

Make the Roulade on the day you plan to serve it.

Adapting 

If you don’t like Chestnut spread then leave it out ... if you want you could add some raspberries or a couple of tablespoons of Grand Marnier would be delicious.

FIG TART

I love long sunday lunches, for me the planning and cooking are just as fun as the eating.

Yesterday was a perfect sunday lunch day.  We spent the morning at the Parsons Green Farmers Market buying lots of wonderful fruit and veg.  Then came home to cook.  Rich made roast chicken with lots of trimmings while I baked a fig tart.  

Our siblings arrived at one to help us eat the feast ... It was great fun ... thought I still can’t quite believe that eight of us managed to eat 24 Yorkshire puddings.

My brother in law wanted the recipe ... the batter in my Toad in the Hole recipe will make 24 yorkshire puddings. 

Use a 12 hole muffin tray ... if you make them please let me know how you get on.

FIG TART - Serves 8

Ingredients

320g Pre-rolled short crust pastry, 300ml Double cream, 250ml Mascarpone, 20g Icing Sugar, 1 Lemon, 1 Large teaspoon of Vanilla bean paste, 4 Figs, 50g Caster Sugar

Equipment

23cm Flan Tin

• Unroll the pastry and line the flan tin.  Trim off any excess pastry from the top of the tin so that the sides of the tart are all the same height.  If there are any holes in the pastry patch them up with any excess that you have trimmed off the top.
• Place the tart in the fridge for 20-30 minutes so that the pastry can set.  Once set you are going to blind bake the pastry.
• While the tart is in the fridge make the filling.  Whisk the double cream slightly till it just starts to thicken then mix in the icing sugar, mascarpone, rind and juice of quarter of a lemon and then vanilla bean paste.  Cover the mixture and place in the fridge
• Cut each of the figs into eight and place in a bowl.  Put 50g of caster sugar and 50ml of water in a saucepan on a medium heat and stir until all the sugar has dissolved and it starts to boil.  Once boiling remove form heat and pour over the figs.  Set the figs aside while you blind bake the pastry
• To blind bake the pastry, take a piece of baking paper slightly larger than the tin and scrunch it up, then unscrunch it and line the tin with it.  Fill the tin with baking beans or dried beans and ‘blind bake’ in the oven at 180 for 20–25 minutes until the tart crust has gone golden. 
• Remove from the oven and allow to cool
• Once cool remove the tart from the tin and fill it with the cream.  Drain any excess liquid from the figs and place them over the tart and serve

Cooking notes

If I am running short on time I use jusrol pastry as it is stocked in my local shop.  If I have more time I will make it from scratch.  I will post my recipe for home made pastry shortly.

I make a sugar syrup for the figs as I think it enhances their flavour.  If your figs are very sweet you may not need to use it.

A little tip ... don't over whisk the cream as you don't want the filling to get to thick.  Whisk it until it looks like thin runny custard then add in mascarpone and other ingredients ... if you are unsure hold back 50ml of cream and add it at the end this will loosen the mixture if it has got to thick.

Adapting

If you don’t like figs then use another fruit ... raspberries would be wonderful, I would not use the sugar syrup though, add them straight onto the top of the tart.

 

FLAP JACKS

Having just got back from a few days away I thought I would ‘fill the tins’ for the weekend ... My Granny taught me this wonderful expression.

Every time she arrived for the weekend we would spend a good ten minutes or so unpacking the car.  It was not clothes we were unpacking but food.  

She never quite believed that rationing was over, so always bought the luxuries with her where ever she went ... Even in the late eighties she would still tip parking attendants with a box of eggs when she came up to London.

Every item she bought was carefully wrapped in three or four plastic bags which were secured with rubber bands ... there were eggs, cream, butter, and lots of tins filled with goodies ... her meringues were to this day the best I have ever tasted.  They were amazing; crispy on the outside and wonderfully perfectly chewy on the inside.  I would love to have her recipe, which, very sadly died with her.  

With Granny in mind I have filled the tins today, not with her wonderful meringues but with another favourite of mine, Flap Jacks ... 

 

FLAP JACKS - Makes 16 or 32 Small bite size ones

Ingredients

250g Butter, 150g Golden syrup, 150g Dark Demerara Sugar, 100g Sunflower seeds, 250g Oats

Cake Tins

2 x 2lb loaf tins, 2 x 2lb loaf tin liners 

• Heat the oven to 170 
• Place one 2lb loaf tin liner in each of the 2lb loaf tins
• Melt the butter, syrup and sugar in a saucepan
• Once the sugar has dissolved mix in the sunflower seeds and oats
• Divide the mixture between the two cake tins, pressing the mixture down firmly into the tins
• Place in the oven for 18-20 minutes until golden
• Remove the flapjacks from the oven and leave to cool for a minute.  After a minute, leaving the flapjacks in the tin, cut lines through the flapjacks.  I cut each tin of flap jacks into eight strips so I am left with 16 Flap Jacks from two tins.  If you want smaller ones divide the strips again into 32 smaller squares.
• Allow the flap jacks to cool for 30 minutes and then place them, still in the tin, in the fridge for a couple of hours.
• Remove from the fridge, take them out of the loaf tin and divide them up.  (I take them out of the fridge and store them in a tin, if you prefer them very cold and crunchy keep them in the fridge)
• Serve with a cup of tea ...   

Cooking notes

I use my loaf tins with the liners that I use for my Banana Cake recipe as I find it makes this a much easier and a little quicker as you don’t spend time greasing and lining a tray.  If you don’t have loaf tins and liners then use a lined cake tin that is roughly 20cm x 22cm

I cut the flap jacks when they are hot as I find it easier and I find they look a lot neater once cooled.

You can get loaf tin liners at any good cake shop.

Adapting

You can replace the sunflower seeds with other nuts or seeds.  

MEGS BIRTHDAY BANANA CAKE

My sister requested a banana cake for her birthday ... I have never found a recipe I love so I spent the day creating one.   I have come up with the following ... I hope you enjoy it as much as Thea and Charlie who got quite cross they were not allowed a third slice!

The recipe makes two, 2lb cakes.  I did this because I think banana cake tastes better the day after it is cooked.  

This recipe makes one cake to eat on the day and one for the following few days ...

BANANA CAKE

Ingredients

4 Mashed bananas, 4 Eggs, 250g Soften butter, 250g Self raising flour, 150g Unrefined caster sugar, 100g Dark muscovado sugar, 125g Pecans, 25ml Milk, 1 Heaped teaspoon of ground cinnamon, 1 Heaped teaspoon of ground ginger, 1/4 Heaped teaspoon of ground cloves, 1 Teaspoon of vanilla essence, 1 Level teaspoon of baking powder, 1 Level teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda 

Cake Tins

2 x 2lb loaf tins, 2 x 2lb loaf tin liners 

• Heat the oven to 170 
• Place one, 2lb loaf tin liner, in each of the 2lb loaf tins
• How you make the cake will now vary depending on whether you have a food processor
• FOOD PROCESSOR: Place all the ingredients into a food processor and mix together until smooth, it should take about 20-30 seconds, you want the nuts to have been chopped slightly but not turned into dust, if you are worried (or like large pieces of nuts in you cake) mix all the ingredients together first and then add the nuts and blitz for an additional few seconds.   
• BOWL: Cream the butter and sugar together, add the egg and milk beat again, add in the remaining ingredients to the mixture and beat well.  
• Divide the mixture between the two cake tins and place in the oven for 35-40 minutes.  When cooked the cake should be golden on the top and spring back when touched.  To check it is cooked through slide a metal skewer into the middle of the cake, if it comes out clean the cake is cooked.  If the skewer is covered in cake mixture it needs a few more minutes in the oven
• Once cooked remove the cake from the oven and leave it to cool slightly for a couple of minutes
• After a couple of minutes remove the cakes from their tins, keeping them in the liners and transfer to a wire rack to cool
• Once cold serve with a nice cup of tea ...  

Cooking notes

If you use the bowl method make sure the nuts are chopped and the banana is thoroughly mashed or they will not be distributed evenly through the mixture.  In addition mix the baking powder and bicarbonate of soda into the flour before you add the flour to the mixture, this ensures they are both mixed evenly through the cake. 

Make sure that you use soft butter for this recipe, remove from fridge at least an hour before you make the cake. 

You can get loaf tin liners at any good kitchen shop.

Adapting

If you do not have, or do not want to buy the spices individually then substitute them with mixed spice.

You can also add the zest of an orange or lemon if you like citrus flavour in cake.  

 

LEMON BISCUITS

I had a couple of friends popping over this morning for a cup of tea with their little ones.  With Thea at school, Charlie and I thought we would make some biscuits ...  

I always divide the biscuit dough in two.  This morning i used the first half to make a batch of biscuits for the mummies.  The children used the second half during the morning ... two year olds treating it as play dough did not make the biscuits very appetising ... but it kept them entertained and meant we could actually drink our tea, which is not always possible with my demanding little man ... !

LEMON BISCUITS - Makes 40 (small biscuits)

Ingredients 

180g Plain Flour, 100g Butter, 50g Caster sugar, 1 Teaspoon lemon juice, Zest of one lemon

• How you make the biscuits will vary depending on whether you have a food processor:
• FOOD PROCESSOR: Place all the ingredients into a food processor and pulse for 20-30 seconds.  The  mixture will be quite crumbly.  Remove from processor and use hands to form a ball of dough
• BOWL: Place all the ingredients in a bowl and use your hands to mix the ingredients together, after a minute or a so of mixing use your hands to form a ball of dough
• Cut the ball of dough in half
• Knead each half into a sausage, you should be left with two sausages that are 4cm in diameter and roughly 15cm long 
• Place two 30 x 30cm pieces of cling film on the side
• Wrap each sausage in a piece of cling film, use the cling film to help you wrap the sausage up tightly.    To do this you need to twist the ends of the cling film once wrapped  
• Place each sausage in the fridge for at least an hour
• When you are ready to cook the biscuits, preheat the oven to 180  
• Unwrap the cling film and cut the biscuits from the sausage, they should be about 1/2cm thick .. you should get about 20 biscuits from each sausage
• Place the biscuit dough on a lined baking tray (i use reusable baking paper so it does not stick).  Each piece of dough should have about 1 cm of free space around it so each biscuit can spread
• Place the baking tray in middle of the oven for 8-10 minutes until they are just starting to go golden
• Remove from the oven and allow the biscuits to cool for a couple of minutes on the baking tray, before transferring to rack.  It you transfer to early they will lose their shape

Cooking notes

Make sure that you use soft butter for this recipe, remove from fridge at least an hour before you make the biscuits.

If you use the bowl method make sure the lemon zest if finely grated or it will not be distributed evenly through the dough.

I often cook one sausage of biscuits and then freeze the second for another day.  Allow the dough to defrost for a few hours and then follow the instructions above.

Adapting

If you don’t like lemon try using an orange instead.

 

 

CUPCAKES

Today is one of those rare days as a mummy where you feel you have remembered enough to almost feel in control ...

I finally finished writing all of the thank you letters for Charlie’s party last weekend ... and we are now off to a birthday party.  I have got the children's outfits and actually ironed them, I have a present with card attached and I have cooked the cakes ... nigella would be proud! 

As Emily is cooking, clearing the garden, filling party bags, blowing balloons (just thinking about it makes you realise the effort that goes in) and generally bomb-proofing her house for twenty-five over excited children. 

I thought I would offer to cook something.

We agreed on cupcakes.  I always make mini ones.  My children only ever lick the icing off the top ... so little seems a better option.  I also ... if i am honest ... get bored eating a whole cupcake and would rather a couple of little ones over the afternoon.

So here is my recipie for 36 of them ...

CUPCAKES - Makes 36 mini cupcakes

Ingredients for cake

125g Self raising flour, 125g Caster sugar, 125g Butter, 1  Teaspoon baking powder, 1 Teaspoon of vanilla paste, 2 Eggs beaten, 15 mil milk

Ingredients for icing

150g Butter, 350g Icing Sugar, 15 mil Vanilla extract, 15 mil Milk

• Heat the oven to 170 
• How you make the cake will now vary depending on whether you have a food processor
• FOOD PROCESSOR: Place all the ingredients into a food processor and mix together until smooth
• BOWL: Cream the butter and sugar together, add the egg and milk beat again, add in the remaining ingredients to the mixture and beat well
• Divide the mixture between 36 mini cakes cases, a teaspoon full per cupcake.  Place the cakes in the oven and bake for 8-10 minutes until the cupcakes are golden on the top.  
• Remove the cakes from the oven and allow to cool.
• As the cakes cools make the icing, i make mine in the food processor.  Place all the ingredients in the food processor and blitz till smooth, you may need to add a little bit more milk if you want the icing a little thinner.  If you don’t have a food processor, place all ingredients in bowl and mix by hand. 
• Once the cakes are cold ice each of them.  I am generous with the icing and tend to put a good teaspoon on the cake
• Once iced decorate
• I store in the fridge, remove 20 minutes before you serve to allow the icing to relax slightly.

Cooking notes

All the teaspoon and tablespoon measurements in the recipe need to be level.

The butter should be room temperature.

If you can not find vanilla paste then use extract for this to.  I use paste as i love having the vanilla bits in the cakes.

Adapting

You can use lots of different things to decorate the cakes.  I love using little iced flowers, smarties and dolly mixture ... 

CHOCOLATE CAKE

Tomorrow we have ten children for our son’s rather late birthday party ... today I tackled the cake.

I thought I would try a cake kit that provides you with everything you need including all the icing etc ... I was quite pleased when i had the cake cooked by 8am.  I was not so pleased with the taste ... i had to remake it ... I turned to my most trusted and favorite cake recipe.  

The second cake came out of the oven just before nine, we had a quick sprint to school and made it just before the gates shut.

Home to decorate ... it took a while but I was pleased with the results.  One treasure chest for the pirate party ... done.  Just need to go and get all the food and try and find and extra sword for a late acceptance ...

Here is the recipe I used on my second attempt.  It is brilliant and makes a great cake that stays fresh for a good couple of days.  Thought I had better mention .... For the cake in the photo I doubled the quantities in the recipie below, I also used fondant icing to make the treasure chest.  

The recipie below will make a round cake covered in butter icing:

CHOCOLATE CAKE - Serves 16

Ingredients for cake

190g Plain flour, 2 Tablespoons cocoa powder, 1 Teaspoon bicarb, 1  Teaspoon baking powder, 150g Caster sugar, 1 Teaspoon of vanilla essence, 2 Tablespoons golden syrup, 2 Eggs,150ml Vegetable oil, 150ml Milk

Ingredients for icing

150g Butter, 330g Icing Sugar, 20g Coco powder, 15mil Vanilla extract, 15mil Milk

• Heat the oven to 160 
• Grease and line two 8 inch sandwich tins
• How you make the cake will now vary depending on whether you have a food processor
• FOOD PROCESSOR: Place all the ingredients into a food processor and mix together until smooth
• BOWL: Mix all the dry ingredients into a bowl together, mix all the wet indents in a jug.  Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and mix until smooth.
• Divide the mixture between the two tins and bake in the oven for about half an hour.  When cooked the top of the cake should spring back when you press it gently.  To double check, when you think it is done pop a sharp knife into the middle of the cake, if it comes out clean then the cake is cooked.  If it comes out with cake mixture on it put it back in for a couple more minutes.
• Remove the cakes from the oven and allow to cool for five minutes, remove from tins and place on rack (if you don’t have one leave on clean side to cool.
• As the cake cools make the icing, i make mine in the food processor.  Place all the ingredients in the food processor and blitz till smooth, you may need to add a little bit more milk if you want the icing a little thinner.  If you don’t have a food processor, place all ingredients in bowl and mix by hand. 
• Once cake is cool ice the middle, sandwich the two cakes together and then ice all around it
• I store this cake in the fridge, remove 20 minutes before you serve to allow the icing to relax slightly.

Cooking notes

All the teaspoon and tablespoon measurements in the recipe need to be level.

Adapting

I use butter icing on this as i think it makes it wonderfully rich, if you would prefer not to then follow the instructions on the side of the icing packet for the other icing options.

CHOCOLATE BROWNIES

My son starts nursery on Thursday (After three and a half years, I am about to get 12 hours each week to my self ... bliss) we are off tomorrow to meet his class for a picnic.  We had a little family conference and decided we should make brownies, rather than biscuits, to take along.  

We were out of eggs so before we could start cooking we had to go egg picking, as named by our three year old after strawberry picking this summer.  Egg picking is a favorite of the children, ill explain ... the butcher at the end of the road has a basket with free range eggs in it.  The children pick their eggs and put them in egg boxes ... egg picking.

With the eggs safely in the buggy, rather than on the butchers floor ... it is always 50:50, we head home and started cooking.  

As the brownies need to chill over night in the fridge, the children got to lick the bowl.  Charlie got a little excited and thought licking it from the inside was the best option ...  

I have tried lots of different brownie recipes, adapting them as I have gone along, this one is defiantly my favorite.

 

CHOCOLATE BROWNIES - makes 32 (small ones)

Ingredients

500g Light brown sugar, 4 Eggs, 220g Butter, 100g Coco powder, 100g Plain flour, 20mil Full fat milk, 1 Teaspoon of vanilla essence, 100g Shelled pecan halves, 175g Large milk chocolate buttons

• Heat oven to 160
• Whisk together the sugar and eggs
• Melt 220g of butter and add into it the Coco powder
• Mix the chocolate mixture into the sugar and eggs.  Stir in plain flour, milk and vanilla essence
• Lightly crush the pecans so they are in slightly smaller pieces
• Add the pecans and buttons to the mixture and pour into a ready lined backing tray.  I use reusable baking paper that i have cut to size to fit in my baking tray that is 12.5inch long x 9inch wide x 2inch deep
• Put on the middle shelf in the oven for 25 mins.  The crust should be crispy but underneath still a bit soft so it will be all gu like.
• Allow to cool once cool place in fridge (in backing tray) over night
• Remove and cut up.  I cut the large brownie in half so you are left with two squares.  Then cut each half into 16.  I store these in the fridge as i think they taste wonderful cold.

Cooking notes

Brownies are always hard to get right.  Each oven will give a different result.  My oven is fan assisted so fairly hot.  If you know yours is quite cool you can try cooking at 170.  If the top does not look firm and the mixture is very sloppy when you gently shake the baking tray then you will need to put them back in for another few minutes.

 

Adapting

You can change the chocolate buttons and pecans in this to what ever you fancy.  Walnuts, flaked almonds, white chocolate ...