Month: February 2017

Rhubarb Friands

~ louisehad ~ 1 Comment

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I love rhubarb; I love its tartness and it’s just so pretty.  So now this season’s forced rhubarb is in the shops I’m extremely happy. It’s a sign that winter is coming to an end and there is hope! Of course, with the cold weather, a rhubarb and ginger crumble is a must, but I also wanted to make something lighter and prettier. I’ve used this recipe many times now with different fruit, (check out the plum and almond friands post, Plum and Almond Friands) it’s reliable and hasn’t let me down yet. The original recipe is from Waitrose Summer Harvest, 2015.

 

Ingredients

 

125g unsalted butter, plus extra for greasing

50g plain flour

115g icing sugar

75g ground almonds

4 medium egg whites

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 stick rhubarb, thinly sliced into strips to top the friands

icing sugar for dusting

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Directions

·    Preheat oven to 200°C/180°C fan/ gas Mark 6.

·    Grease a 12-hole muffin tin with a little butter, then line the bases with circles of baking parchment.

·    Melt the butter.

·    Sift the flour and icing sugar into a bowl and add the ground almonds. Whisk the egg whites until soft peaks form. Stir the vanilla extract and melted butter into the flour mixture and mix to combine.

·    Using a large metal spoon, fold a quarter of the egg whites into the flour and butter mixture to lighten it, then fold in the remainder until it is just combined.

·    Divide the mixture into the holes in the tins. Arrange the rhubarb on the top and bake for 15-18 minutes. Leave in the tin for 5 minutes, then loosen the edges with a knife and transfer to a wire rack to cool.

·    Serve lightly dusted with icing sugar.

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Roasted Vegetable Lasagne

~ louisehad ~ Leave a comment

roasted-vegetable-lasagne-2

The weather is not getting any better so what better excuse is there for the ultimate comfort food, lasagne? This recipe was motivated not only by the freezing weather, but the contents of my food cupboard. You wouldn’t usually have sweet potato in a lasagne, but it really works!

 

Ingredients

3 red peppers

2 sweet potatoes

200g spinach

300g lasagne sheets

125g ball mozzarella, sliced or grated mozzarella

1x tablespoon Olive oil for roasting vegetables

Tomato Sauce

1 tin chopped tomatoes

1 finely chopped onion

10 chopped black olives

1 clove garlic, finely chopped

Handful of chopped basil leaves

 

White Sauce

85g butter

85g plain flour

750ml milk

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Directions

 

  • Heat oven to 200C/180C fan /gas 5. Deseed the peppers, cut into quarters length ways. Cut the sweet potato length ways, 0.5cm thick. Lightly grease 2 large baking trays, then place peppers and sweet potatoes on top. Toss with the olive oil, season well, then roast for 25 minutes.
  • Meanwhile, make the tomato sauce by gently browning the onions and garlic. (in olive. When the onions have softened, add the chopped olives and season to taste. Add the tin of tomatoes and let the sauce simmer for 15 minutes. Add the basil at the end.
  • Make the white sauce by melting the butter in a saucepan, stir in the plain flour, then cook for 2 minutes. Slowly whisk in the milk and keep stirring until the milk boils. Allow to cool, but keep stirring and then the sauce should start to thicken.
  • Reduce oven to 180C/ 160C fan /gas 4. Lightly oil an ovenproof serving dish (30 x 20cm). Arrange a layer of the vegetables on the bottom, then pour over a third of the tomato sauce. Top with a layer of lasagne, then drizzle over a third of the white sauce. Repeat until you have 3 layers of pasta.
  • To finish, spoon remaining white sauce over the pasta, making sure the whole surface is covered.
  • Scatter mozzarella over the top. Bake for 45 mins until bubbling and golden.

 

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Chocolate and Raspberry Cigarello Cake

~ louisehad ~ 1 Comment

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For my glamorous mum’s 70th birthday, I had to make a cake as stunning as her. But it also had to be a cake that my brother and his family would like even with their very conservative food tastes, so no exotic flavour combos.  It also had to be a cake that I could take on the train from London to Newcastle. Not an easy brief.  

The recipe for this cake came from Lorraine Pascale, (http://www.foodnetwork.co.uk/recipes/i-cant-believe-you-made-cake.html) who also saved my life with my brother’s Malteser cake. For my mum’s cake, I incorporated raspberries into the layers as well as creme fraiche to cut through the sweetness of the chocolate butter cream which held the chocolate cigarellos in place. I bought the cigarellos and striped chocolate triangles online at http://www.chocolatetradingco.com

To decorate the top, I made the meringue kisses with freeze dried raspberries and the pale pink balls were strawberry filled truffles from Marks and Spencer. I also added extra-long birthday candles and three star shaped sparklers which set off the smoke alarm when we lit them. The cake was a huge success; mum really loved it.

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Ingredients

200g butter, softened

200g caster sugar

4 eggs

140g plain flour

60g cocoa powder

pinch of salt

2 tsp baking powder

400g plain, milk or white chocolate cigarellos (about 75-80 in total) (I bought 2 boxes) 

For the buttercream

250g butter, softened

500g icing sugar

100g good dark chocolate (at least 70% cocoa solids), melted and slightly cooled

 

For the layers

1 large tub (600g) of creme fraiche

750g frozen raspberries (use fresh if you like)

For the decoration (optional)

Fresh flowers, fresh raspberries, raspberry meringue kisses, chocolate strawberry filled truffles, painted chocolate triangles

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·        Preheat the oven to 180°C/160°C fan/ Gas Mark 4. Line the 20cm round deep cake tin with baking paper and brush or spray with oil.

·        Cream together the butter and sugar in a large bowl until they begin to go pale.

·        Add half the eggs and half the flour and mix well. Add the rest of the eggs, flour, cocoa powder, salt and baking powder and beat for a minute or two until the mixture is uniform.

·        Dollop into the prepared tin and bake in the oven for about 30-40 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean. Leave to cool in the tin.

·        Meanwhile, make the buttercream.

·        Put the butter and icing sugar into a bowl and whisk together until the mixture begins to go fluffy. Add the cooled, melted chocolate and whisk for a further 2 minutes.

·        Once the cake is completely cool, remove from the tin. Carefully cut the top flat with a large serrated knife, then turn the cake upside down on a 20cm cake board so that the bottom now becomes a nice flat top.

·        Split the cake horizontally and sandwich the top and bottom together with a layer of creme fraiche. Then place the defrosted raspberries on top, don’t worry if they get smashed up. Spread half the buttercream all over the top and sides of the cake, making it as smooth as possible.

·        Put it in the fridge to set before spreading a final layer with the remaining butter cream. This makes it easier to get a smooth, crumb-free finish.

·        Gently push the cigarellos vertically onto the sides of the cake, positioning them as straight as possible and making sure they touch the bottom.

·        Then decorate the as you like!