The Queen's Jubilee & Childhood Memories

It's the start of half-term and as usual I am in the kitchen preparing pancakes for brunch for my brood, its a tradition in our family and one that, however old the Children become, a tradition they still love and always ask for. Watching Luca licking the bowl of a Victoria sponge batter that I have just baked, got me to thinking about Children, the memories we have of our childhood and how they are created. Recently one of Luca's friends was here when I was baking a chocolate torte for dessert and I offered him & Luca the bowl, he replied, 'I don't like licking the bowl'! Was this just personal preference, or did his Mother just not bake and he had never tried it, I didn't push it, but I do love the memories that food and food preparation have created over the years for my Family.

Now anyone that knows me will know that I am not a Royalist and as a family we do not have any jubilee plans, but I do remember celebrating the Queen's Silver Jubilee and my primary school being invited to a street party at Knep Castle and dancing around the May Pole. Were Summers really longer, hotter, I don't know, but I hope when my children grow up they will look back and have fond memories.

My idea of a good Jubilee celebration would be a yummy afternoon tea, gorgeous garden setting, pretty bunting blowing lazily in the breeze, tiny sandwiches with the crust cut off, scones dripping in cream and homemade jam and of course a Victoria sponge cake, so if this has inspired you and you feel the urge to bake this Jubilee weekend I have put together below a few of my favourite afternoon tea bakes.

Long live the Queen.

Jubilee Scones

225g self-raising flour

75g butter, chilled, cut in small pieces

50g Vanilla Sugar (You could use ordinary caster sugar, but as a Prepped fan, I now have a selection of flavoured sugars ready at hand)

¼ tsp salt

125ml buttermilk ( ordinary milk will do, I used ordinary milk & they were still divine)

3–4 tbsp milk ( I didn't add this, the dough was just perfect without it, if I had used buttermilk, then maybe I may of needed to add it)

Extra flour, for dusting

Vanilla Sugar, for sprinkling

1 egg, beaten, for the glaze

Preheat the oven to 180˚C/gas mark 4.

Put the flour, butter, salt and sugar into a bowl. Mix well. Make a well in the centre and add the buttermilk. Bring the mixture together to form a dough. If the dough seems a bit too dry, add a little more buttermilk, a teaspoon at a time. Being the cheat that I am, I did all this in my Artisan!

Turn out onto a floured work surface and use your hands to form a 2.5cm round. Cut out shapes from this, depending on your preference, and put them on a baking tray. I rolled mine out with a rolling pin to 2.5cm and then used a heart cutter, they looked so cute.

Glaze the scones with the beaten egg and bake for 18–20 minutes and sprinkle with sugar.

Cool on a wire rack. If you want to freeze these scones do so as soon as they are cool.

Enjoy the same day, they are so much nicer fresh. You can freeze them when they have cooled, but I love mine warm from the oven dripping with butter in the colder months and this time of the year they are just perfect with strawberries and cream.

Jubilee Celebration Gateau

Serves 6 - 8

1 large ready-made flan case

750ml double cream

100g caster sugar

1 vanilla pod, seeds only

1 shot of Drambuie (this is what James Martin suggests, I always use Marsala)

200ml ready-made custard

1 punnet of small stawberries

1 1/2 punnets of large strawberries (again this is what Mr Martin suggests, I usually need far less)

1 punnet of mixed berries of your choice

50g icing sugar

fresh mint sprigs

Using a 20 - 25cm stainless steel ring, cut out the centre of the flan with a sharp knife, slice the disc in half through the middle so that you end up with two thin discs. This is fairly tricky and you do require a little patience or as in my case as I lack this quality get my lovely Hubby to do this for me.

Whip the double cream with 25g of the caster sugar, the vanilla seeds and a shot of booze of your choice, in my case Marsala, to a thick peak consistency. Fold in the custard, then chill in the fridge.

Set aside 10 whole, small strawberries for the garnish. Cut the green top from all the remaining strawberries and cut them in half lengthways.

Ok if you happen to have James Martins book Desserts, you will at this point realise that he has made a huge cock up as at no point does he mention what one does with the sponges that you cut in half earlier. Lucky for me I have actually seen him make this on his show Sweet Baby James and also it is fairly self explanatory, you take one of the sponges and place it at the bottom of the ring.

Then line the ring with the largest strawberry halves, cut side against the ring. You won't need all of the strawberries so save the remainder for the topping. Place the whipped cream in the ring and gently spread to the edges. Add the rest of the strawberries and smooth the top. Now again I am not sure that I agree with Mr Martin here (Sorry James & yes I know you look very like my Husband) but it doesn't seem to work that well. So either you can follow the recipe or cut the strawberries smaller or even chop them up smaller and add them to the cream mix, trial and error really, see what works best for you.

Now at this point Mr Martin tells you to lift the cake to a plate and remove the ring and if you had been following his recipe you would now have a big mess all over your kitchen. I advise that you build it on the plate you wish to serve it on right from the start.

Then, again Mr Martin misses this bit of the instructions, but you now place the last piece of sponge on top of your cake and I highly recommend placing it in the fridge to set.

Once set you can decorate it how you wish, I have made this gateau three times now and have decorated it differently each time. Again my wonderful Hubby has a helping hand as like his look a like he also loves to spin sugar, so very often this will be served with some of his handy work.

Please note if allowing your Hubby or significant other to do this, I advised sending them outside at this point as men tend to be rather messy creatures and given hot sugar syrup is a recipe for disaster !!! You have been warned.

Anyway, place the remaining caster sugar into a very clean pan and heat gently until it caramelizes, then remove from the heat and leave to cool slightly, James again does not tell you what to do with the pan of molten sugar but it is to be spun to decorate the top of the cake, its messy & tricky & can be missed out as there are so many other ways you can decorate this cake, but if you fancy a go, here are the instructions.

To spin the sugar, take a whisk with the bottom snipped off with pliers, so that you have a whisk that is simply a handle with spikes. Alternatively you can take two forks placed back to back and hold tightly. Dip the whisk into the syrup and flick the whisk back and forth over a broom handle or rolling pin to create long hair like strands. Next gather up the strands of spun sugar and create your shape by simply moulding the strands in your hands.

Next dredge the top of your cake thickly with a coating of icing and take a metal skewer that has been heated until red hot and score the top of the gateau in lines (again best done outside if possible as we set the fire alarm off when we did this), to create a diamond pattern. Dress the top with the remaining strawberries and the berries and garnish with a fresh sprig of mint.

Jubilee Victoria Sponge

175g English butter

175g caster sugar

3 eggs, beaten

175g self-raising flour

30ml jam (flavour of your choice, but strawberry or raspberry is more traditional)

caster sugar to dredge

Butter two 7 inch sandwich tins and line the base of each with a round of buttered greaseproof paper.

Beat the butter and sugar together until pale and fluffy. Add the eggs a little at a time, beating well after each addition. Fold in half the flour, using a metal spoon, then fold in the rest.

I always sieve the flour and I must admit that I don't fold the flour in, I just gentle mix it in using the Artisan.

Place half the mixture into each tin and level gently with a spatula or knife.

Bake in a preheated oven at 190c, 375f, gas 5 for about 20 minutes, until they are well risen, lightly golden and coming away from the sides. This will depend obviously on what kind of tin you are using, or if you are making fairy cakes. Just keep an eye on it.

A good test is, if you touch the sponge gently it should bounce bake.

Turn out and cool on a wire rack.

Once cool and if you are making a Victorial Sponge, sandwich the two halves together with a layer of jam and sprinkle the top with caster sugar.

You are now ready for afternoon tea, so invite the girls round and get that kettle on.

Variations :

The sponge pictured was made as above, but just baked in a ring mould, filled with fresh cream whipped with a little icing sugar to sweeten and 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla essence and just topped with fresh strawberries. Quick, simple, dessert made for dinner.

Add the finely grated rind of one orange or lemon to the mixture. Sandwich the cakes together with orange or lemon butter frosting and use some juice from the fruit to make a glace icing.

A fun idea would to make the ring mould sponge, drizzle with glace icing, cover in glitter and sprinkles and fill the centre of the cake with dolly mixtures, the kids would love it.

I could go on, but I know you will all come up with your own lovely creations.

Rhubarb Jam

1kg rhubarb , weighed after trimming, cut into 3cm chunks

  

1kg jam sugar (or 1kg caster sugar plus 1 x 8g sachet pectin - we used Tate & Lyle)

  

2 vanilla pods , halved lengthways

  

juice 1 lemon

Put a small plate in the freezer. Put the rhubarb into a preserving pan or your largest saucepan with the sugar and halved vanilla pods. Heat gently, stirring, until all the sugar has dissolved, then squeeze in the lemon juice and increase the heat.

  

Boil for about 10 mins, skimming off the scum as you go (the fruit should be soft). Test for setting point by spooning a little onto your chilled plate. After 1-2 mins, push your finger through the jam - if the surface wrinkles it is ready, if not, keep cooking for 2-min intervals, testing in between. (Or if you have a sugar thermometer it should reach 105C)

Once the jam is ready, let it cool for about 15 mins before ladling into warm sterilised jars and sealing. Will keep for 6 months in a cool, dark place.

What ever you decide to do this weekend I hope you all have a really lovely time and create lots and lots of happy memories.

Rhubarb Crumble & My New Kitchen

As promised, here are a few photo's of my new place of work, sorry they are not great but they are the best I could manage on my iPhone and it gives you an idea of how it looks.

We have now been in the house for 2 months, I have decorated the kitchen, downstairs toilet and one of the lounges, with the weather turning nice I must confess to a halt being brought to any further decorating as my attention is now being focused outside.

We have planted the vegetable patch with two varieties of courgettes, french beans, peas, radishes and two varieties of carrots, one variety being rainbow carrots, so really looking forward to seeing how they will turn out. The fruit cage was well established before we arrived and we have inherited rhubarb, strawberries, raspberries, gooseberries, currants and a variety of apple trees. The green house is full of three different varieties of tomatoes, so we are feeling fairly self sufficient.

At the moment we are still working our way through the rhubarb, I have made jam, muffins, a friendship cake and my most favourite of all crumbles, which only Max & I eat, but hey, thats just great for us!

I have added this recipe, because even though it is very basic, when you are first starting out you never know which fruits you need to pre-cook before adding to a crumble or which one's can just be bunged in, so here it is, rhubarb crumble.

Buon appetito

Serves 4

For the rhubarb
500g rhubarb , chopped into chunks the length of your thumb
100g golden caster sugar
3 tbsp port (optional)
You could add some ginger in syrup, chopped up or use the syrup from the jar instead of the port, rhubarb and ginger work so well together.

For the crumble topping
140g self-raising flour
85g butter , chilled
50g light brown muscovado sugar
50g chopped walnuts (optional)

Tip the rhubarb into a saucepan with the sugar and Port, if using, I didn't add this, but I did add 3 tablespoons of water instead. Cover and simmer on a very low heat for 15 mins, adding more sugar if you want. When soft (but still holding its shape) and sweet enough, pour the rhubarb into a medium baking dish.

Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6.

To make the topping, rub the flour and butter together with your fingers until you have a soft, crumbly topping. Now add the sugar and nuts, mixing together with your hands. Scatter the topping over the rhubarb and bake for 30 mins or until golden brown on top. Serve piping hot with a vanilla custard or a good quality vanilla ice cream.

Sfincione (Sicilian Pizza)

I love Italian food, but I am not a pizza lover, well I wasn't until I found the recipe for this gorgeous Sicilian Pizza, unlike the thin based, tasteless topped pizza you normally get, this one is on a beautiful thick bread base and the toppings are full of flavour and to die for.

Deep pan pizza's are usually thought of as American, but they originally came to New York from Sicily. Sfincione is more a thick, flavoured bread that is topped with breadcrumbs to give it a lovely crunch when baked.

Very simple to make and you could vary the toppings to suit your own individual tastes, but I do advise trying it this way first as it really is lovely.

Buon appetito

For the dough
2 x 7g sachets of fast-action yeast
2 teaspoons caster sugar
200ml warm water
375g strong white bread flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon of olive oil

For the topping
2 pork sausages, preferably fennel-flavoured, skins removed and crumbled
4 tablespoons good-quality tomato sauce
4 tablespoons ricotta
6 slices provolone cheese, cubed (use mozzarella if you can't get provolone)
2 tablespoons dried breadcrumbs
drizzle of olive oil

First, make the dough. Mix the yeast and sugar with the warm water. Place the flour and salt in a mixer with a dough hook, or in a bowl, make a well in the middle and pour in the liquid and oil. Mix by hand for 10 minutes or 5 minutes in the mixer, until the dough is silky. Tip into a well-oiled bowl, cover with a cloth (I use plastic showers caps for this, works a treat) and place somewhere warm for about 40 minutes or until it has doubled in size.

Tip the dough onto a work surface and knead for 2 minutes, knocking out any air pockets. The dough should be soft not not to elastic.

Dust a 25 x 16cm baking tray with a little flour and place the dough in the centre. Using your palms of your hands and tips of your fingers, push the dough to the edges of the tray. Leave it for 30 minutes to rise.

While the dough is rising, fry the sausage in a dry pan until crumbly.

Heat the oven to 230c/ 210c fan/ gas 8.

Spread the tomato sauce over the base, followed by the sausage, ricotta, provolone and dried breadcrumbs.

Finally, drizzle with olive oil.

Put into the oven for 5 minutes, then turn down the heat and cook at 200c/ 180c fan/ gas 6 for 20 to 25 minutes, until golden brown.

Leave to cool slightly, then cut into 6 chunks and serve.

Exploding Chocolate Gateau

I try to keep the recipes on my Blog either very simple or very traditional, this is because the purpose of the Blog is that my Children can access our family recipes where ever they are in the World, but sometimes I do derail a little and decide to add something just a little bit special, for example the gorgeous Sachertorte, http://dianastaveley.blogspot.co.uk/2011/10/sachertorte-as-seen-on-great-british.html , this isn't a bad thing, it means that the kids can challenge themselves a little bit and also sometimes you may just need something that little bit special.

Saturday we were invited out to dinner by friends and I offered to take along the dessert, I love taking something homemade and as Simon & Mia both love to cook and love good food I felt something a little special was required.

Hubby is a Heston Blumenthal fan and has a couple of his books, so he suggested I made the Exploding Chocolate Gateau, not only is it an impressive dessert but also has an element of fun about it. Sophisticated and fun, sounds a little like me, LOL !

Well we had a lovely evening and as expected Simon's food was gorgeous and I am so pleased that they enjoyed the Exploding Chocolate Gateau.

Thank you Simon & Mia for inviting us.

The gateau itself isn't actually that hard to make, its just a little time consuming and there are quite a few different stages. The only tricky bit I found was painting the ganache onto the biscuit crumb base as it lifted the crumbs and stuck to the brush, I would advise tipping a little ganache over the bottom of your base and spreading from there, don't try dipping back into your ganache or you will transfer crumbs to it and it will spoil your lovely smooth finish, a mistake I very nearly made. The gateau isn't a rich as you would expect, the tartness of the passion fruit pulp really lifts it and we found it to be a very refreshing and enjoyable end to our meal.

For the base

150g all butter shortbread biscuits
30g unsalted butter, melted
2 tbsp white caster sugar
25g neutral popping candy

For the chocolate ganache
175g whipping cream
Pinch of salt
Pulp from 6 passion fruits
50g fresh custard
110g dark chocolate (minimum of 60% cocoa solids), broken into pieces
50g milk chocolate, broken into pieces

For the flocking
500g dark chocolate
200g vegetable oil

Method
Preheat the oven to 180ºC/gas mark 4. Place the shortbread biscuits on a baking tray and bake in the oven for 10 minutes until golden brown.

Place the biscuits in a food processor and add the melted butter and sugar. Blitz until the mixture resembles fine sand in texture.

Gently stir in the popping candy. Place the mixture inside a 15cm cake ring placed on a tray lined with baking paper. Flatten using the back of a spoon then put to one side to set.

Add the cream, salt and passion fruit to a small saucepan and place over a medium heat until it almost comes to the boil. Remove from the heat and allow to stand for 5 minutes, then stir in the fresh custard.

Put the dark and milk chocolate in a bowl. Place over a bain marie (a pan of gently simmering water) and allow to melt completely. Remove from the heat.

Strain the infused cream and add to the bowl of melted chocolate a third at a time, making sure to incorporate the cream thoroughly after each addition. Allow the ganache to cool to room temperature.

Once the tart base has set, use a pastry brush to spread some of the ganache on top of the base and around the edges then place in the freezer for 5 minutes. This will ensure that the ganache will not seep through.

After 5 minutes, pour the remaining ganache into the ring and place the tart in the fridge to set for 2 hours. Place the tart in the freezer at least 4 hours before flocking.

After the gateau is fully frozen, sit the gateau on a wide upturning glass or pot. Remove the metal ring by lightly warming with a blow torch. Remove by carefully sliding the ring downwards. Place back in the freezer.

(Personally, unless you really want to impress & can be bothered, I'd leave this part out, I just dusted the gateau with cocoa powder but below are the instruction for the flocking if you fancy giving it a go)
For the flocking, break the chocolate into chunks and place in a small bowl. Melt the chocolate by placing the bowl over a bain marie. Leave to cool slightly before stirring in the vegetable oil.

Fill the base of a paint gun with the melted chocolate mixture and attach the nozzle. To avoid redecorating the kitchen in chocolate brown, set a large cardboard box on its side to provide a protective roof and walls to work in.

Remove the gateau from the freezer and carefully lift it onto a plate. Place the gateau in the cardboard box then spray it with the chocolate, turning carefully as you go. Return it to the freezer until 20 minutes before serving.

Custard & White Chocolate Biscuits

Even the most ardent of home bakers amongst us, sometimes feel a little overwhelmed that we are always expected to come up with something yummy and amazing for the latest school fete or charity event, our lives are busy with work and being Mums/Wives and even though we love to bake, we don't always have the time and energy!

This got me to thinking about this time of year, so far over the last week Luca has had a charity bake sale and on the 19th May is the school fayre and you just know that nearer the time there will be a letter in his book bag asking for cakes and bakes for the cake stall, so I have come up with a new section on my Blog with recipes just perfect for these occasions.

To welcome amongst the old recipes that already appear on my blog I have baked today this new recipe, just perfect for this new section. Yummy, easy to bake, quick biscuits that make a nice size batch, put into little cellophane bags & tied with a little bow, they would definitely hold their own on any cake stall.

The recipe used white chocolate but I only had dark and it worked just as well. They work out at about 10p each to make and will last up to two weeks in a tin, so you can even get a head with your baking.

Here's looking forward to a lovely summer of baking.

Buon appetito

140g butter, softened
175g caster sugar
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract
225g self-raising flour
85g custard powder
85g white chocolate (or chocolate of your choice) chopped into chunks

Heat the oven to 180c/ 160c fan/ gas 4.

Line 2 - 3 baking sheets with baking parchment.

Put the butter and sugar in to a food processor and whizz together until light and fluffy. Add the eggs and vanilla, and mix well.

Sift together the flour and the custard powder, then tip into the bowl of the food processor, pulse to mix into a dough. Scrape the dough out of the food processor and work the chocolate in by hand.

Roll the dough into balls a little smaller than a walnut, then place on the baking sheets, a little apart to allow for spreading. Press each biscuit down lightly with your fingers.

Bake for 12 - 15 minutes, until lightly golden. Remove and cool on a wire rack.

Simple Dark Chocolate Torte

I know I already have a very traditional http://dianastaveley.blogspot.co.uk/2010/06/torta-al-cioccolato.html
chocolate torte on my blog, but this recipe is far simpler and a great one to quickly knock together and pop in the oven for a gorgeous evening dessert.

I threw mine together whilst I finished cooking our dinner last night and then popped it in the oven while we enjoyed our meal, this gave us enough time to eat, allow our food to settle, enjoy some family time together around the table and then enjoy this yummy torte warm from the oven, served with some Cornish vanilla ice cream, it was heavenly and the perfect end to the meal. Well a nice glass of  Limoncello and an espresso would of finished it all off a treat, the perfect accompaniment to this dessert, but espresso that late for me would mean no sleep and we are trying not to drink during the week !!!! It sucks I know, but health kick and all that jazz !!!

We had a lovely evening together, I love nothing better than that time of the day where we all come together at the table, enjoy good food and talk about our day, precious family time that I think is just so important.

Buon appetito

200g unsalted butter
200g bar dark chocolate , 70% cocoa, chopped
4 large eggs
200g golden caster sugar
50g plain flour
50g ground almonds
cocoa powder, for dusting

Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4.

Butter and line the base and sides of a 23cm springform or loose-bottomed cake tin.

Put the butter and chocolate into a pan and gently melt together until smooth.

Meanwhile, using an electric whisk, beat the eggs and sugar together for 5 mins until billowy and about the thickness of old-fashioned custard.

Pour the chocolate and butter mix into the whisked egg and sugar, then fold it in very carefully using a large metal spoon. Mix the flour, almonds and ¼ tsp salt together, then fold into the mix until even.

Spoon into the tin and bake for 35-40 mins until evenly set with a slight crust all over the top. Leave the cake to cool until warm, then release from the tin. Dust with cocoa, then cut into wedges.

This dessert is dark and dense, but not so rich it defeats you. It freezes brilliantly too.

Serving suggestions 
Try with Mascarpone or Limoncello cream http://dianastaveley.blogspot.co.uk/2010/05/limoncello-cream.html , Sherry-soaked raisins, raspberries and fresh cream, or poached pears and chocolate sauce.

Chocolate & Almond Biscotti

I promised Hubby today that after the last manic couple of months I would actually take it easy today, the Children are all back at school/college, Hubby was at a meeting, house is spotless, so perfect to put my feet up for a bit and relax.

Well you'd think so wouldn't you, after a few minutes of chilling with a coffee in bed I got restless and felt guilty that Hubby was at work and I was just lazing around, so I got up and cleaned the cooker, put a load of washing on and then baked a batch of gorgeous chocolate and almond biscotti's.


"Biscotti" is the plural form of biscotto. The word originates from the medieval Latin word biscoctus, meaning "twice-cooked/baked." It defined oven baked goods that were baked twice, so they were very dry and could be stored for long periods of time.

Biscotti, more correctly known as biscotti di Prato, are twice-baked biscuits originating in the Italian city of Prato. The biscuits are oblong-shaped almond biscuits, made dry and crunchy through cutting the loaf of dough while still hot and fresh from baking in the oven.

They were far easier to make than I expected, the smell of warm chocolate dough wafting round the house soon relaxed me and I spent a most enjoyable morning in my kitchen listening to some fantastic opera and just enjoying being at home alone.

So I may not of actually put my feet up, but I still had a relaxing morning and now I am sitting in my lounge, sun streaming through the windows, typing up this blog post, I'd call that pretty relaxed, wouldn't you!

Buon appetito

These biscottis make a great home-made gift, and are delicious served with a sweet dessert wine (traditionally vin santo) or an espresso at the end of a meal.

200g shelled unblanched hazelnuts (I didn't have any, thats why I used almonds)
350g plain flour, plus extra for dusting
50g cocoa powder
1 tsp baking powder
300g golden caster sugar
200g plain chocolate chips
3 large free-range eggs, plus 2 large free-range egg yolks
1 tsp vanilla extract

Method
Preheat the oven to 180°C/fan160°C/gas 4. Line 4 large baking trays with sheets of baking paper.

Roast the hazelnuts for 10 minutes and leave to cool.

Sift the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and a good pinch of salt into a bowl and stir in the sugar, chocolate chips and toasted hazelnuts.

Beat the eggs, yolks and vanilla together, add to the dry ingredients, by making a well in the centre of the dry ingredients and stir in the egg mixture until it comes together into a soft dough. If it is slightly sticky, knead in a little more flour, but don’t let it become stiff and dry. Turn out onto a lightly floured work surface and knead briefly until smooth.


Divide the dough into 3 and roll each piece into a long sausage, about 4-5cm wide. Lay on 2 of the baking sheets (2 on 1 sheet, well spaced apart, and 1 on the other) and bake for 25-30 minutes, until lightly golden and cooked. A skewer inserted into the centre should come away clean. Remove from the oven and cool for at least 10 minutes.


Lower the oven temperature to 150°C/fan130°C/gas 2. Using a sharp, serrated knife, cut each log slightly on the diagonal into approximately 1.5cm thick slices. Place the biscotti, side by side, cut faces down, on the baking sheets and bake for another 20 minutes, turning halfway through, until the biscotti feel slightly firm and dry when pressed. Transfer to a wire rack and leave to cool completely.

The biscotti will become harder as they go cold. Store in an airtight tin for up to 3 weeks.