Cinnamon Rolls

Now these are fairly tricky, rather time consuming little suckers to make, but boy are they worth it. They are light, fluffy and very, very moreish, you have been warned!

They would be a great complement to a nice morning coffee and ideal for sharing, so invite the girls round, pull up a chair around the kitchen table and you are set for a good natter with friends. Time to relax, share baking tips and generally set the World to rights.

As I said they are rather time consuming to make, but if you have the time and energy, why not make two batches and freeze one ready for when you need it next. You can bake the rolls right up to the end of the recipe, just leave off the melted butter and icing sugar, allow them to cool completely, wrap well in cling film, then foil (or put them in an airtight container) and freeze for up to 3 months. Defrost at room temperature, then warm through in a hot oven for about 5 minutes and brush with the melted butter, icing sugar and cinnamon.

If like me you have a sweet tooth, how about instead of sprinkling the baked cinnamon rolls with more cinnamon and icing sugar, make a lemon icing instead. Just mix a squeeze of lemon juice with some icing sugar until it forms a paste and then drizzle generously over the warm cinnamon rolls, sounds rather heavenly to me.

What ever you decide, I am pretty sure you are going to love them and they would be just perfect to bake at Easter.

Buon appetito

5g fresh yeast or 1tsp fast-action dried yeast
20g unrefined caster sugar, plus 3 tbsp extra for sprinkling
70ml warm water
200g strong white flour, plus extra for dusting
1/4 tsp fine salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon, plus 2 tsp extra for sprinkling
1 medium egg, lightly beaten (plus another, lightly beaten with a pinch of salt, for the egg wash)
40g softened unsalted butter, plus extra, melted, for brushing
Icing sugar for dusting

23cm round cake tin, greased with vegetable oil and lightly dusted with flour

Makes 12 - 14

Put the yeast in a large mixing bowl. Add the 20g sugar and the water, then stir until the yeast and the sugar have dissolved. If you are using fresh yeast, leave the mixture to stand for 10 minutes until it begins to froth. Add 100g of the flour and mix well with a wooden spoon to a soft dough. This is the pre-ferment. Cover and leave the pre-ferment in a warm place for 1 hour until it has doubled in size.

While the pre-ferment rises, in another (smaller) mixing bowl, mix the remaining 100g of flour with the fine salt and 1 tsp of cinnamon. This is the dry mixture.

When the pre-ferment is ready, add the dry mixture and the egg, then mix until it comes together. Mix in the butter with your hands or a wooden spoon until well combined (don't worry if the dough seems ver sticky at this stage).  Cover and leave to stand for 10 minutes.

After 10 minutes, leaving the dough in the bowl, pull a portion of it up fro the side and press it into the middle. Turn the bowl slightly and repeat the process with another portion of the dough. Repeat another 8 times. The whole process should only take about 10 seconds and the dough should start to resist. Cover the bowl again and leave to stand again for 10 minutes.

Repeat the above step three more times.

Cover the bowl and leave to rise for 1 hour. When the dough has doubled in volume, punch it down with your fist to release the air.

Lightly dust a clean work surface with flour. Put the dough on the work surface. Push the dough out with your fingertips to flatten it and widened it into a rectangle 3mm thick (it should be about 25cm x 30cm).

Brush the rectangle of dough all over with the egg wash, then sprinkle over two tablespoons of caster sugar and most of the extra cinnamon. Now roll up the dough from one of the longer sides to make a long log.

Cut the log of dough into roughly 2cm slices. You should get about 12 - 14 slices. Arrange them, cut-side up, inside the prepared tin. Cover and leave to rise in a warm place for 45 minutes to 1 hour, until slightly less than twice the size.

About 20 minutes before baking, preheat the oven to 200c/Fan 180c/Gas 6. Put a roasting tin at the bottom of the oven to preheat. Fill a cup with water and set aside. Put the cake tin with the rolls inside into the preheated oven oven, pour the reserved cupful of water into the hot roasting tin and lower the oven temperature to 180c/Fan 160c/Gas 4.

Bake the cinnamon rolls for 15 - 20 minutes until golden brown. Turn the rolls out onto a wire rack to cool a little.

Brush melted butter over the still warm cinnamon rolls, then dust them generously with icing sugar and a little more cinnamon.

Valentine's Biscuits

As promised, here is another recipe for Valentine's, who wouldn't want one of these lovely homemade treats, lovingly made, beautifully decorated from the one they love. Wrapped individually in a cellophane bag, tied with a pretty ribbon, these biscuits could melt anyones heart.

I have made these before, using lemon zest as the recipe suggests, this time I used orange zest and it was gorgeous. It was however my first attempt at this type of icing, making the first batch to the texture of toothpaste to outline the biscuit, then when dry, making the icing a little runnier to fill the centre. I don't think they turned out to badly, but like with most things baking related, you just need practice and I definitely need a steadier hand, but I'll get there.

You can decorate your biscuits however you wish, you could make them a darker pink, white or red, add whatever decorations you please, put them in a pretty box, nestled on some tissue paper, what ever takes your fancy and if you don't have a piping bag & nozzles, just make a simple water icing of icing sugar & water, cover your biscuits and decorate. You could even dip them in melted chocolate, this would be lovely with the orange zest or roll out fondant icing, use the same size cutter that you used for your biscuits and cover your biscuits this way.

Just have fun with them.

Buon appetito

For the biscuits:
125g butter at room temperature
75g caster sugar
1 egg yolk
1 lemon, zested
200g plain flour

Oven 190c/Gas 5 - Makes 18

Cream the butter and sugar with a wooden spoon until smooth (you know what I am going to say here... yes I used my Artisan), then beat in the egg yolk and lemon zest. Sift in the flour and mix to a dough. Wrap in cling film and put into the fridge for 30 minutes.

On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough to about the thickness of a pound coin, and stamp out shapes with a cutter. Re-roll and cut any leftover scraps. Place the cookies on a large baking tray and bake for 10 - 12 minutes, until golden.

Cool on a wire rack, before decorating.

For the Royal Icing:
4 eggs whites
900g icing sugar

Combine all the ingredients in a mixing bowl,, starting with the liquids first.

Add the dry ingredients and whisk or beat for about 5 minutes if using an electric beater or whisk, or for longer if using a wooden spoon. Whisk slowly to start with to avoid clouds of icing sugar covering you and your kitchen. A little trick that I do here is to cover the mixer with a clean tea towel and hold it around the mixing bowl until the icing sugar is well incorporated.

Continue whisking until the ingredients form a thick, smooth paste that is bright white in colour and has the consistency of toothpaste.

You can add colouring at this stage, I recommend the gel/paste type as you really don't want to add too much liquid. You can buy these online (Amazon) or at a good cookery shop such as Art of Living.

You are now ready to fill your piping bag and pipe a thin neat line around the edge of your biscuits.

When you are happy and finished your out lines, leave them to dry for about 5 minutes, meanwhile add a little more water, a drop at a time to your icing mixture until it becomes just pourable and roughy the same consistency as custard. You are now ready to flood ice your biscuits.

Now you can decorate them to your hearts (please excuse the pun) content.

Pretty in Pink

I am trying to get a head of the game a little and bake and write up some lovely recipes for Valentines.

Saint Valentine's Day, commonly shortened to Valentine's Day, is an annual commemoration held on February 14 celebrating love and affection between intimate companions. The day is named after one or more early Christian martyrs named Saint Valentine, and was established by Pope Gelasius I, in 496 AD. It was deleted from the General Roman Calendar of saints in 1969 by Pope Paul VI. It is traditionally a day on which lovers express their love for each other by presenting flowers, offering confectionery and of course cakes & cookies in our house, and sending greeting cards (known as "valentines").

Rosie and I had the really lovely idea of baking some lovely Valentines treats for our other halves, but unfortunately they are both on diets, fortunately we are not, which means we are going to bake them anyway and stuff the lot ourselves, LOL!

I love the idea of baking something pretty for Valentines Day for Hubby, but I don't like to save this little treat for just one day a year, baking for loved ones should be done as often as you like and such a lovely way to show someone how much you care for them.

So please watch this space as over the next couple of weeks I hope to bake and blog some really lovely treats that I hope will inspire you to bake for the one you love. For starters here is a gorgeous chocolate cake, smothered in a baby pink frosting, just perfect for Valentines, to make it really special why not bake it in the shape of a heart.

Happy Baking.

For the cake:
100g spreadable butter, plus extra for greasing
250ml milk
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
100g plain chocolate, melted
15g cocoa powder, sifted (I always use Green & Blacks)
300g self-raising flour, sifted
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda, sifted
225g golden caster sugar
2 eggs

Preheat the oven to 190c, fan 160c, gas 4.

Grease a 20cm round, deep cake tin and line with baking paper.

Mix the milk and vinegar together.

Place all the other ingredients in a large mixing bowl (thank god for my Artisan). Pour in the milk mixture and beat with an electric mixer or hand whisk until smooth. I tend to beat the ingredients in the bowl together for a couple of seconds first and then dribble in the milk mixture slowly, but its up to you, both ways work equally as well. Once smooth spread into three 8 inch cake tin's and bake for 25 - 30 minutes, until firm in the centre.

Cool for 10 minutes, then turn onto a wire rack to cool completely.

For the frosting:
3 cups (660 g) white sugar
1 cup water
¼ teaspoon cream of tartar (optional)
4 egg whites
1 pinch salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the frosting, combine sugar and water in a saucepan. Cook until candy thermometer reaches 242 degrees F (115 degrees C) or until a teaspoon of mixture dropped into cold water forms a ball when removed from water. Add cream of tartar and a pinch of salt to the egg white, and beat them until stiff. Add hot syrup in a slow stream, beating constantly. Stir in vanilla. Use approximately one fifth of the frosting between each layer of the cake, coat the cake with the remaining two fifths of the frosting.

Cool the cake in the fridge. Place the cake at room temperature 1-2 hours before it is served.

Chocolate and Sour Cherry Bread

My love affair with dough appears to be getting worse, I now seem to be baking my way through Paul Hollywoods '100 Great Breads', keeping a note of each one I have baked, making notes about the recipe and awarding marks out of 10. Obsessed, I think so !!!!

This recipe caught my eye as soon as I looked through the book and I could not wait to bake it, even though I knew that I would be the only one that liked it.

I'm not going to say that this is an easy recipe, I found it rather challenging, as the recipe does not state an exact amount of water to use. As a novice baker I found this rather hard to gauge and felt my bread was a little sticky. Also adding the cherries and chocolate was also not easy, I ended up throwing the whole lot back into the food mixer and combining the ingredients with the dough hook. It worked a treat but I did lose the texture of the cherries.

All that said the end result was gorgeous and turned out well. I ate the first loaf whilst it was fresh and left the other a couple of days and then turned it into the most luxurious bread and butter pudding. It was worth making the bread just for that reason alone. I have added both recipes for you below.

So if you fancy a challenge, who knows you may find it a lot easier than I did and fancy the delicious combination of cherries and chocolate in bread, give this recipe a whirl. Its always nice to try new things and add to our repertoires. Also if anyone has any tips on how much water should be used or an easier way of combining the cherries & chocolate, please let me know, any help would be gratefully received for the next time I make this.

Buon appetito

Ingredients
Makes 2 loaves


500g strong white flour, plus extra for dusting
2 teaspoons salt
30ml olive oil
15g fresh yeast
warm water to mix
160g tin black cherries, drained
200g packet chocolate chips

Put the flour into a bowl with the salt, olive oil and yeast. I always put the yeast in first, cover with the flour, then add the other ingredients as you do not want your yeast coming into contact with the salt. Slowly add the warm water and mix by hand until the dough is pliable. I cheated and did this in my Artisan!

Tip the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 4-7 minutes. Put the dough back in the bowl and leave to rest for 1 hour.  Time for a cup of tea and a browse through your cookery books!

Line a baking tray. Divide the dough into two pieces and add half the cherries to each one (You may need to add a little more flour if the mix becomes too sloppy.) Now add half the chocolate chips to each dough. Mix well, adding a little flour if the dough becomes to soft. Shape the dough into two balls and flatten to about 5cm/2 inches high. Dust heavily with flour and score diagonal lines across the top to form diamond shapes. Place on a baking tray and leave the dough to rest for 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 200c/400f/gas mark 6.

Bake the bread for 20-25 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool.

And with the second loaf I made this:-

Serves 4


6 thin slices or so of your Chocolate and Sour Cherry Bread
50g English butter
50g Cherries (glace, dried, tinned, jar, what ever you have or like)
40g caster sugar
2 eggs
1 pint milk

Thickly spread bread slices with butter. Cut into fingers or small squares, triangles if you like, what ever you fancy. Put half into a 1 litre/2 pint buttered ovenproof dish. Sprinkle with all the fruit and half the sugar. I never ever put fruit on the top as I hate it when it burns.

Top with the remaining bread, buttered side uppermost. Sprinkle with the rest of the sugar.

Beat the eggs and milk well together. Strain into the dish over the bread.

Leave to stand for 30 minutes, so that the bread absorbs some of the liquid. Bake in the oven at 160c/325f, mark 3 gas for 45 minutes - 1 hour, until set and the top is crisp and golden.

Serve hot with custard or good quality vanilla ice cream.

Traditional, simple, perfect.

If you do fancy a change, you can use a selection of dried fruits from cranberries to apricots, add liqueurs, use brioche, croissants, panettone, just play and see what works for you, but most importantly enjoy and share with your loved ones.

The Best Ever Cupcakes

In November I was very lucky to attend a Vintage Cupcake course with Louby's of Reigate, the classes are kept to 5 students so that you get time for individual attention and get to go at your own pace, the instructions are clear, concise and you are made to feel very welcome and at home. It was like sitting around a table with friends, having a lovely afternoon creating lovely cupcakes.

That said, the level of professionalism and teaching is very high, the classes are so well structured, everything is supplied for you and I learnt so many little tricks of the trade that I didn't even know existed,  these alone are worth the £50 I paid for the afternoons tuition.

I came away with 12 beautifully decorated cupcakes that not only looked amazing but also tasted divine. Louby's very kindly send each student a recipe for the cupcakes and the delicious frosting that they normally only share with students, but they have very kindly allowed me to share it with you all because I just love it so much.

This is the perfect cupcake recipe and trust me I have tried a few over the years, it comes out perfect every time, light, fluffy and so flavoursome and the frosting is just to die for.

So if you are an avid cupcaker or beginner, why not check out the links below and treat yourself to one of Louby's classes or check out the gift voucher page, drop a few hints to loved ones and maybe, be treated for your Birthday, Valentines, Easter or Mother's Day.

I must also add that Louby's of Reigate also make the most devine assortment of cakes to buy and cater for weddings, parties and corporate events, check out their website and have a dribble.

Buon appetito

http://www.loubys.co.uk/
http://www.loubys.co.uk/workshops/
http://www.facebook.com/LoubysofReigate

These gorgeous creations are sadly not mine but Louby's of Reigate, I dream of one day being this good!

Ingredients - Makes 12


150g caster sugar
150g soft butter or margarine
3 medium free range eggs
175g self raising flour
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Method
Preheat oven to 160 degrees (fan assisted) or 180 degrees normal.

Beat caster sugar and butter together until creamed (well combined). Scrape down sides of bowl and add 1 egg at a time and a little flour until all mixture is combined.

Do not over mix as this makes the cake sponge tough.

Spoon equal quantities of mixture into 12 cake cases and cook in oven for 18 minutes or until lightly golden. Once cooked, cool on a wire rack.

Vanilla Buttercream frosting ingredients
240g icing sugar
125g good quality soft butter (unsalted) Splash of whole organic milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract


Method
Place soft butter and 1/3 of icing sugar into a bowl and beat on low for 10-15 seconds in a free-standing mixer. Once partially mixed, turn up the speed to high and beat until well combined. Repeat this process until all sugar has been incorporated, making sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl often.
Scrape down a final time and turn the mixer up to medium speed. Add your vanilla extract, wait until combined and then add the milk to blend all the ingredients together. The milk also helps to loosen the mixture and make it light and fluffy.

Low Calorie Apple Strudel

Everyone knows January is a time for New Year’s resolutions and a strive towards a healthier self after all the Christmas indulgence. If you love to bake that is sometimes easier said than done, but baking does not always have to be bad for you, the guys at Baking Mad, hold a collection of healthy baking recipes so you can still fulfil your passion for tasty treats without any guilt!

I was asked to take part in their healthy baking challenge using a low calorie sugar, the product was Silver Spoons, Half Spoon Granulated Sugar, (http://www.silverspoon.co.uk/home/products/low-calorie-sugars-and-sweeteners/half-spoon-granulated-sugar) this was sent to me and I had a choice of what I would like to bake with it. I chose the strudel after reading out the list to the Family & Max getting very excited over the it.

I must admit, I didn't think I was going to like this product, many of these types of sugars taste just to artificial and I thought that this would come a cross in the strudel. We are all die hard sweet tooth people in this family, especially my Daughter and Myself and we love our sugar, so it was going to be tough.

The strudel was gorgeous, simple to make, bursting with fruit and beautifully spiced with nutmeg and cinnamon, the addition of the orange zest really made the dish lovely. In keeping with the theme I brought some low fat ice cream to serve with it. Everyone loved it, I didn't mentioned the Half Spoon Granulated Sugar and when I asked for feed back, apart from being told it was lovely, the only criticisms were, a little too much cinnamon and a little to fragrant. I had to laugh, no one noticed the sugar, success! If I can get it past this lot, you can get it past anyone.

This has inspired me to try Half Spoon in more recipes, I love baking for the Children, I know that if it is homemade I know exactly what has gone into it and that there are no artificial preservatives, colours, flavourings, no nasty baddies I'd prefer my Children not to have. If I can also halve the calories as well, then thats all good. I wonder if I can use Half Spoon Granulated Sugar and low fat butter, low fat cream and so on to create loads of really healthy goodies, I'll give it a go and any successes I will post on here.

Please check out the Baking Mad website for more low calorie baking ideas:-
http://www.bakingmad.com/recipes/dietaryrequirementsbaking

Buon appetito















Ingredients

650 grams eating apples
30 grams ground almonds
1 tsp Cinnamon
0.50 tsp Nutmeg
35 grams Half Spoon Granulated Sugar (Silver Spoon)
1 Orange Finely grated zest
Approx. 4 tbsp sunflower or grapeseed oil, plus extra for brushing and greasing
6-8 ready made filo pastry
Cinnamon and Half Spoon sugar for sprinkling

Method

Preheat the oven to 190°C/fan170°C/Gas 5.

Peel, core and thinly slice the apples into a bowl. Add the ground almonds, spices and sugar and orange zest.

Unroll the pastry and cover with a damp cloth to stop it from drying out. Taking on e sheet at a time brush each sheet of filo pastry with the oil, then place the sheets of pastry on top of each other onto a large sheet of greaseproof paper.

Arrange the apples in a narrow strip, lengthways down the centre of the pastry to within 3cm of each shorter edge. Fold the 2 shorter edges over the filling and then fold over 1 long edge and tuck the fruit firmly underneath the pastry. Brush with any remaining oil and fold over the other edge, so that it overlaps by at least 5-6cm. Carefully transfer the strudel to a large oiled baking sheet. Brush with a little oil. Bake for 35-40 minutes, until crisp and golden.

Leave the strudel to cool down slightly. Dust with a light sprinkle of cinnamon and Half Spoon sugar before slicing and serving with low fat custard or low fat Greek yogurt.

Tip: Add sultanas or dried apricots to the apples.

Devil's Food Cake

Well yesterday was my Birthday and Hubby promised me a whole weekend off and promised to spoil me like a Princess.

He kept to his word and I didn't have to lift a finger all weekend, he did the washing, the school ironing, the meals, it was fantastic. On the Saturday night we went to London Bridge and went to The Real Greek for dinner, it was such a good night, we ate the most amazing food, drunk far to much and laughed so much our sides hurt. After seven years together we still really enjoy each others company and just have so much fun together.

I must admit, I am so pleased that I had nothing to do on the Sunday after such a late night, well it was the early hours of the morning when we got to bed and we did go on to a bar and work our way through the cocktail list, but it was such a wonderful birthday.

Sunday morning I was spoilt with breakfast in bed, presents, flowers and cards and I must say for once I didn't receive anything baking related, even if a few of my cards did have cupcakes on!

To top all this wonderful treatment and luxury off, Hubby excelled himself by making his first ever cake, I usually make my own birthday cake, but he made my favourite Devil's Food Cake and it was perfect. I have loved this cake since I was a teenager and Jasmine(Nonna) use to make it for me. I was quite emotional at the memories that it brought flooding back. I have searched long and hard to find a recipe just like the one she use to make and this is it, so pleased to have it safely on my blog.

So I would just like to a say a 'HUGE' thank you to my Hubby for a truly wonderful birthday weekend.

Buon appetito

Ingredients


2 cups (440 g) sugar
½ cup + 2 tablespoons (140 g) butter, softened
3 eggs, separated
2 cups (220 g) all-purpose flour
7 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
½ cup boiling water
1 cup sour cream

Ingredients for frosting
3 cups (660 g) white sugar
1 cup water
¼ teaspoon cream of tartar (optional)
4 egg whites
1 pinch salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Method
Preheat oven to 350 deg F (Gas mark 4 or 180 deg C) and grease two 9 in (23 cm) cake tins.

Put cocoa in small bowl; add boiling water and mix until smooth. Let cool.

Using an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar on medium speed for approximately 5 minutes. Add egg yolks and mix well.

Sift in flour, baking powder and baking soda, add cocoa mixture, sour cream, and vanilla extract and mix well.

Whisk egg whites until stiff and fold gently into the cake mixture. Divide into two equal portions and transfer to the cake tins.

Bake at 350 degrees until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean, approximately 40-50 minutes. Let the cakes cool.

Slice each cake through the middle to make altogether four layers; if necessary remove the top of the cake by using a knife.

For the frosting, combine sugar and water in a saucepan. Cook until candy thermometer reaches 242 degrees F (115 degrees C) or until a teaspoon of mixture dropped into cold water forms a ball when removed from water. Add cream of tartar and a pinch of salt to the egg white, and beat them until stiff. Add hot syrup in a slow stream, beating constantly. Stir in vanilla. Use approximately one fifth of the frosting between each layer of the cake, coat the cake with the remaining two fifths of the frosting.

Cool the cake in the fridge. Place the cake at room temperature 1-2 hours before it is served.

Meringue Kisses

I just had to tell you about these tiny, cute little meringues, they are so simple to make but so sweet, my Daughter would never forgive me if the recipe was not on the blog, as she loved them.

I first made these just after Christmas, I didn't add the orange-flower water and I didn't put them together with cream, I just piled them up in a couple of small glass bonbon dishes that I got for Christmas from Hubby, from the White Company and served them at the end of the meal with the coffee and Limoncello.

I have made them again today and they are baking away in the oven as I write this blog. This batch I have tinted very slightly yellow with a gel food colouring and I am going to fill them with a little cream with some lemon curd marbled through, then along with some cupcakes that I have made this morning, they are off to my office as it was my Birthday at the weekend and it is custom in my office that we have to provide cakes.

You can have a lot of fun with these, the recipe is so simple, but you could make them any colour you wanted, add flavouring, add different fillings. A bowl of different baby pastel colours would look so pretty or baby pink with rosewater, pink or white with raspberry puree through the cream, grated chocolate folded through the meringue mix before piping and a chocolate filling would be heavenly, so many ideas. I think that I will be making these time and time again.

Buon appetito

Makes about 25

4 medium egg whites
225g white caster sugar
2 teaspoons orange-flower water (I didn't use this, but feel free to add it, or rose water would also be lovely)
150ml double cream
1 tablespoon icing sugar, sifted, plus extra for dusting

Heat the oven to 110c, 90c fan, gas mark 1/4.

Line two baking sheets with baking parchment.

Whisk the egg whites until stiff. Beat in half the sugar 1 tablespoon as a time until thick and glossy. Whisk in the orange-flower water. Folding in the remaining sugar.

Fill a piping bag with a large fluted nozzle. Holding the bag vertical, pipe a blob about the size of a walnut onto a baking sheet, pipe a smaller blob on top followed by another slightly smaller. Lift away the nozzle sharply. I always draw circles onto the parchment, then turn it over and stick it to the baking tray. This way you can see the circles thru the paper and you can pipe the perfect size every time. I found that the little pots edible glitter come in are just the perfect size to draw, round. Continue, spacing well apart, until all the mixture is used up.

Cook for about an hour until a meringue peels away easily. If you prefer a chewy meringue remove from the oven at once, if you like them drier, turn off the heat, leaving the meringues inside, and prop open the door slightly with a skewer.

To serve, whisk the cream with the icing sugar until it just holds its shape. Fill a piping bag fitted with a plain nozzle and pipe a little cream onto the flat side of the meringue. Stick together with another meringue and place onto a serving dish. Continue with the rest of the meringues, piling up into a rough pyramid shape. Dust with icing sugar.

Farl

As is the norm for me at Christmas, Birthdays and Mother's Day, I always have a list a mile long of cookery books that I would like to add to my collection and this Christmas was no different, luckily my lovely Husband and Children happily indulged me in my rather large ever growing pile of gorgeous cookery books and Paul Hollywoods '100 Great Breads' was one of the lovely books that made it to my collection.

On New Years Eve I made this delicious Farl, also known as 'oven bottoms' as it was traditionally baked at the bottom of the oven. This is a very traditional English loaf and Hubby said that it was the best bread hat I have ever made. I followed the recipe to the letter, which is most unlike me, because where it normally advises to knead the bread, I always normally use my Artisan, but as this loaf was to be part of the starter for our New Years Eve/Wedding Anniversary meal, I wanted it to be perfect and by kneading it by hand I felt that I was kneading my love and warmth into the dough, maybe thats why it came out so well.

Anyway, I can highly recommend this beautiful book, the photography is gorgeous, the recipes are simple to follow and there is a bread for every occasion and to suit everyones taste. I intend to try and work my way through the book, but the one I am looking forward to baking next is 'Chocolate and sour Cherry Bread', I can not wait.

Buon appetito

(The photo below was taken by Hubby on his iPhone and I am proud to say it looks exactly like the one in the book)

Makes 1 large loaf

500g strong white flour, plus extra for dusting
1 tablespoon salt
30g yeast, if using fresh (22.5g if using dried, not fast acting, follow the instructions on the packet to activate your yeast)
60g butter, softened
300ml pint water

Put all the ingredients into a bowl and mix for about 4 minutes. Tip out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 5 minutes until the dough is smooth and pliable. Leave in the bowl to rise for 1 hour.

Line a baking tray. Tip the dough out onto a floured surface and shape into a ball, then flatten into a circle about 5 cm/2 inches thick. Put on the baking tray and leave to rise for 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 220c/425f/ gas mark 7.

Cover the top of the dough with flour and, starting from the middle, make vertical slashes down the dough all the way round. Bake in the oven for 30 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Lobster Thermidor

And now for our New Year's Eve/Wedding Anniversary main course, if we were not going out it just had to be lobster, we both love it and Hubby had the brain wave of making a day of it, we were going to Borough Market, get some lunch and buy our lobster. Then he decided that it would be more fun to get up at the crack of dawn and head off to Billingsgate Market, I was so not up for this idea, so rather hastily found a very lovely fishmonger nearby to purchase our lobster from.

Once located, I packed Hubby & Luca off to bring home the lobster, which Hubby and Luca affectionately named Sebastian !!!

There was a little disagreement on the night, as I wanted Hubby to follow The Ivy recipe and he decided that he was doing the James Martin recipe, he won, as he was doing the cooking and I have to say, it was completely and utterly gorgeous, so well done Hubby and thank you.

Hubby was a little worried about cooking the lobster and spoiling it, it was our first attempt at lobster and it would of spoilt the whole evening if it had of gone wrong, but one thing about my Hubby is and one of the things I love about him,  is his confidence in the kitchen and his wonderful ability at cooking, he is a natural. So all went well and it was delicious.

So this leads me to one of our New Year resolutions, we are writing up a list of all the foods that we want to try and a list of new foods that we want to cook. One of my achievements this year, is to learn to make every type of pastry I can, as pastry is still my weak point. So heres  to successful baking in 2012.

Buon appetito

Ingredients


1x750g/1½lb lobster, cooked
20g/¾oz fresh parmesan, grated

For the sauce
30g/1oz butter
1 shallot, finely chopped
1x284ml/10fl oz tub fresh fish stock
55ml/2fl oz white wine
100ml/3½ fl oz double cream
½ tsp English mustard
2 tbsp chopped parsley
½ lemon, juice only
salt
freshly ground black pepper

Preparation method
Cut the lobster in half (our lovely new fishmonger had already done this for us) and remove the meat from the claws and tail. Leave to one side. Remove any meat from the head and set aside. Cut the meat up into pieces and place back into the shell.

For the sauce
Put the butter in a pan, add the shallots and cook until softened. Add the stock, wine and double cream and bring to the boil. Reduce by half. Add the mustard, herbs, lemon juice and seasoning.

Pre-heat the grill and spoon the sauce over the lobster meat.

Sprinkle with the grated parmesan cheese. Place the lobster halves under a pre-heated grill for 3-4 minutes until golden brown.

Gamberoni al Forno

I would like to start by wishing you all a very Happy New Year and hope that you had a very enjoyable evening last night. Hubby and I decided, as the Children were all out, to stay in and celebrate with a really lovely meal, not only was it New Year's Eve, but also our 3rd Wedding Anniversary.

I laid a very beautiful table for two, filled the room with candles and fairy lights and we prepared a meal of gorgeous homemade bread with gamberoni al forno to start, followed by lobster thermidor and then a minty chocolate mousse, we drunks lots of bubbly and of course finished the meal with Limoncello, just perfect, I have to say it was one of the nicest New Year Eve's ever.

The weather for the first day of the year has been terrible, but it has been the perfect excuse to stay cuddled up in bed all day, and discuss our  New Year resolutions and our plans for 2012. I am really looking forward to 2012 as I know that both Hubby and I have so many plans and exciting projects a head of us and it could be a very fun and interesting year.

So all the best to you all, good luck with any resolutions that you have made and I hope all your hopes and dreams come true.

Buon appetito

Serves 4

16 jumbo raw prawns in shells
1/2 cup  olive oil
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
2 green spring onions (with tops), thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 cup dry white wine
3 tablespoons lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper

Heat oven to 375 degrees.

Make a shallow cut lengthwise down the back of each prawn and wash out the vein (you can buy them already prepared or your fishmonger will do this for you).

Pour the oil into 13 x 9 x 2 inch baking dish. Place the prawns into the oil. Sprinkle with the parsley, onions and garlic. Pour the wine and lemon juice over the prawns. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Bake, uncovered, for about 20 minutes or until the prawns are pink and firm.

Serve with crusty bread to mop up the sauce and with a finger bowl.