Baking | THE WORLD'S BEST BROWNIES (honestly)

HOW TO MAKE THE WORLD'S BEST BROWNIES

I found this recipe shortly after I read Stella Newman's book "Pear Shaped" which I stumbled across in the 99p eBook section on Amazon and I was jolly pleased I did because after I had finished the book I performed a quick internet search and found Stella Newman's Brownie Blog and this recipe. Ever since it has been a firm favourite and I even made 10 of them for a catering event and they went down very well (actually, bar one lady who shouted at me because she didn't believe they were the worlds best brownie and said we had conned her… insane). 

It is INCREDIBLE and a rather forgiving recipe if you aren't an experienced cook. You can also change the chocolate combinations to suit your taste. My Mum prefers not sweet and very bitter chocolate so I recently made it for her with 400g Green & Blacks 70% which was far too bitter for me, but I am a sugary sweet chocolate person and I find the Bournville works well, especially when served with ice cream or cream for a dessert.

RECIPE: 

250g BUTTER 

100g SIFTED PLAIN FLOUR 

 400g BOURNVILLE (dark chocolate) 

 3 EGGS 

 240g MUSCAVADO SUGAR 

 1 tsp BAKING POWDER 

 1 tsp VANILLA EXTRACT 


You can view Stella Newman's blog here.

This is my 1st video that I have filmed like this and edited. Goodness me it takes a long time! I filmed this on my iPhone 5 and edited the footage with iMovie on my computer.

Baking | Meringue Marshmallow Icing

Meringue Marshmallow Icing

175g Caster Sugar

1/4tsp Cream of Tartar 

1/4tsp Salt

5tbs Golden Syrup

1tsp Vanilla Extract

2Tbs Water

2 Egg Whites

Put all the ingredients in a bowl over a saucepan of simmering water (Bain marie) and use a food mixer to beat together. 

The mixture will turn from a pale golden grainy consistency to a whipped white meringue.

This can take up to 10 minutes.

Use this to spread over a cake, perhaps a lemon sponge with lemon curd is best, then you can blow torch the outside.

To be honest I don't think it is necessary as it doesn't cook or set the meringue it just seals the outside and creates a lovely bronzed finish. 

Recipe | Mary Berry's "French Potato Salad"

Mary Berry's "French Potato Salad" 

This potato salad is not meant to be claggy, it is definitely not a recipe to replicate the 50% mayonnaise potato salads that are hard and glutenous This is so simple, quick and delicious. As with all Mary Berry's recipes, you can trust them to work first time and then alter them to your taste.

RECIPE 

1 Serving of Mary Berry's Vinaigrette (see recipe on my blog).
1 lb New Potatoes
2 Tablespoons of finely chopped chives.
1/2 an Onion, Very finely chopped.
2 Tablespoons of Hellman's Mayonnaise (or more/less to taste).

INSTRUCTIONS
Chop the new potatoes to make them all similar in size so they evenly cook.
Boil them in salted water until tender.
When cooked, leave them to steam in the saucepan with the lid on.

Pour over the vinaigrette and stir.
Add the chives and onions.
Add the mayonnaise small amount at a time until the potatoes are lightly covered.

This potato salad is meant to be lightly dressed and served warm. We have it with our BBQ meats in the summer, also as a healthy-ish comfort food with proper sausages in hot dog buns and salad. As I type this I am remembering that this hasn't happened since before Christmas so I will add it to our meal plan for the upcoming weeks and take some pics.

Recipe | Sticky Chinese Barbecue Marinade

Another Instagram video, only 14 seconds!

RECIPE

Runny Honey
2 or 3 cloves of Garlic, Minced.
Ginger, 1 Inch Piece, Finely chopped.
Olive Oil
Dark Soy Sauce
Chinese 5 Spice

I used a pack of 6 large-ish chicken breasts sliced into pieces ready to skewer onto kebab sticks.

This Marinade coated the chicken nicely and provided a lovely strong flavour once cooked on a charcoal barbecue.

You can leave the chicken in the marinade all day, overnight or even just for 30 minutes. If you don't have time, you can coat the chicken and then brush more marinade over when cooking but the flavour will not be as strong.

Recipe | Asparagus, Giant Couscous & Roasted Vegetables

I need it to be summer now so we can eat things like the above. 

I threw this salad together to use up some ingredients last year and it was a massive hit with them indoors and it looked very colourful and pretty so I took a quick picture.

It's not really a recipe, more like instructions on how to assemble a few ingredients.

RECIPE

Serves 2, but double for more people.

1 Avocado

1 Red Pepper

1 Yellow Pepper

2 Vine Tomatoes

A Handful of Basil Leaves

2 Slices of Nutty Bread

100g Cooked Giant Couscous

1 Packet of Asparagus

Balsamic Vinegar and Olive Oil

INSTRUCTIONS

Make the couscous to the packet instructions

(You can use normal small couscous but it is smaller and tends to stick to everything)

Cut all the vegetables ready to griddle. Nice and big, not too small. 

Tear the basil leaves up and put to one side.

Toast the bread and chop into croutons.

I have a griddle pan so I heated it up until it smoked slightly.

Steam the asparagus, plunge into ice water, toss in olive oil, then griddle.

Toss the peppers in some olive oil and put them in the pan.

When they are almost cooked add the tomato, you don't need to cook the tomato fully, just char it and warm it through.

You can also put the avocado on for a minute which will create more flavour and is nice when charred, but not cooked. 

The pan needs to be really hot for this and the avocado needs to be pre-oiled slightly. It's a nice way to use an under-ripe fruit.

Remove the cooked veg and plate up. 

In the remaining juice/oil left in the pan add the toasted croutons, they will absorb the blackened bits and the juices from the veg.

Scatter the couscous over the vegetables, then sprinkle the torn basil and the croutons.

Add the asparagus and drizzle your olive oil and balsamic over the top to taste. Salt and Pepper too obvs.

If you are a meat-fiend have a side of meat.

Baking | Lemon Citrus Basil Fairy Cakes

In the summer everyone asks me for lemon drizzle cake but it's so simple to make and gets a bit repetitive so I made up this recipe for Lemon Citrus Basil Fairy Cakes which also helped me find things to do with my three enormous Basil plants which I split from 1 Sainsbury's growing herb pot. 

The gorgeous weather we had combined with a spot by the sink where I didn't forget to water it meant it rapidly took over the kitchen until I re-potted it. So for a £2 plant I did very well for Basil last summer.

RECIPE 

12 Hole Tin 
12 Cake Cases
Preheat oven to Gas Mark 4
    
CAKE: 
7 oz Self Raising Flour  
7 oz Golden Caster Sugar
7 oz Free Range Eggs (weigh your eggs, to about 7 oz which will be 2 or 3)
7 oz Butter, Softened.
1 tsp Baking Powder
1 Lemon (Zest and Juice)

ICING:
8 oz Icing Sugar
2 oz Butter, Softened.
1 Lemon (Zest and Juice)
For a less rich icing, you can omit the butter and use more lemon or lime juice.
 
FILLING:
Lemon Curd
I use Delia Smith's recipe for Lemon Curd, I love making jams, preserves and different flavoured curds so had this already in my cupboard. 

You can use a shop bought jar, I won't bore you by saying it isn't the same, we all know home made anything is better. I recommend the Sainsbury's Taste the Difference Lemon Curd as a very good substitute, it is zingy and creamy with no glutenous wobble.
The Tesco's Value jar is tasteless but at 22p a jar will provide you with a wobbly filling, if you squeeze even a little bit of left over lemon or lime and mix it in it will improve it slightly.

DECORATION:
Basil Leaves
Lime Zest (Decoration) 

 INSTRUCTIONS:
In a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until pale, light and fluffy. 
You are adding air here as well as mixing so do it for about 3 or 4 minutes. 

Crack the eggs into the mix, add the lemon juice and zest, sieve in the flour and baking powder and then mix gently until fully combined. 
Do not over mix.
 Use a spatula and clean down the bowl to make sure the ingredients are all incorporated.

Spoon the mixture into the cake cases, make sure they are evenly distributed.
Put the cake tray into the oven and bake for 15 to 20 minutes, keep and eye on them and remove when you stick a skewer into a cake and it comes out clean.
Remove from the tray and leave to cool on a wire rack.

Now make the icing. Whizz the softened butter in a bowl with the lemon zest and lemon juice, then sieve in the icing sugar and combine. 
The longer you whip the icing, the lighter it becomes. 

When the cakes are 100% cold, use a small sharp knife and slice round holes into each cake.

Add a teaspoon of lemon curd to the space in each cake and replace the top.
The cakes MUST be cold or the filling will melt into the cake.

Pipe or smooth on the icing to the top of the cake.

For decoration, add a leaf of basil  and a sliver of lime zest.

Recipe | Mary Berry's Vinegarette

I made Mary Berry's Vinaigrette which is one of the steps to making her "French Potato Salad" which is a light potato salad which has very little mayo and served warm. The vinaigrette is put on the warm potatoes and is absorbed quite nicely, leaving some to mix into a few tablespoons of mayonnaise. 

I made this for a BBQ last summer and it is perfect served with salad and barbecued meats.

RECIPE

Dijon Mustard
White Wine Vinegar
Olive Oil
Lemon Juice
Salt
Pepper

This is really easy, you just whisk the Olive Oil, White Wine Dijon Vinegar, Lemon Juice and Mustard together with the Salt and Pepper. The mixture will emulsify and thicken. 

You can use it straight away, if you leave it too long the mix will start to separate but you can simply whisk it back together.


This was a 16 second Instagram video that I uploaded to YouTube, I stupidly clicked a button which "stabilised" the video but its made it wobbly, I'll know next time!

Baking | Rhubarb & Ginger Sponge Pudding

Ingredients

A Delicious, Warming Alternative to the British Crumble

2lb Rhubarb, cut into 1 inch lengths  

1lb Soft Brown Sugar 

8oz Butter          

5 Rounded Tsp Ground Ginger  

2 tsp Ground Cinnamon  

4oz Almonds  

4 Eggs, Lightly Beaten   

4oz self-raising flour   

75g Black Treacle    

75g Golden Syrup   

1/4 Nutmeg, grated  

• Preheat the oven to Gas Mark 4
• Use a dish about  30x20cm) 
• We used our battered green Le Cruset rectangular baking dish
• These measurements are UK pounds and ounces

You can find the original recipe here on the telegraph website. We have altered the recipe slightly, it has been doubled for our big family and for left overs. We also added more ginger and drew some inspiration from Delia Smith's recipe for Dark Jamaican Gingerbread as we prefer a much spicier and deeper flavour.

Method

Spread the rhubarb out in an ovenproof dish and scatter with half the brown sugar.

Cream the butter and the rest of the sugar until smooth and fluffy.

Beat in the spices, almonds and then eggs, one at a time.

Fold in the flour (if you are making this in a food processor then just pulse in the flour, stopping as soon as it is amalgamated).

Spoon the mixture on top of the rhubarb, spreading it out lightly. Use a metal spoon and gently tease the dollops of mixture across the rhubarb and into the corners, this prevents you knocking the air out.

Bake for 50 minutes to 1 hour.

It will be wet and soft in the middle, rhubarb is a watery fruit when cooked and will seep sweet juices into the sponge and is perfectly normal.

Serve with proper custard or good quality ice cream.

Baking | Dorset Cereals Berries & Cherries Flapjack

I love flapjacks with lots of lovely ingredients but it isn't practical to buy six 250g bags of different types of dried fruit to use a few grams of each. As a lover of the Dorset Cereals Muesli I had a few varieties in my cupboard so I used it to make a flapjack to see what would happen.

This muesli made up of 50% fruit and contains cranberries, blueberries, cherries, blackcurrants, raspberries, sultanas and raisins as well as oat, wheat and barley flakes so I was pretty confident it would work well.

I used a tin which had a loose bottom, I don't recommend this as the melted butter leaks through onto the bottom of your oven and burns, but I wanted to use the long and fluted shaped tin to make the flapjack prettier as it was a present so I slid a tray on the bottom of the oven to catch the goo.

Flapjack. Such an odd word. 

You will see in the recipe, that you can choose to add more or less butter depending on whether you prefer a chewy or crunchy flapjack, more butter equals a chewier finish (Delia's idea not mine so I can't take credit!) I used less butter but it was perfect for my taste; chewy in the middle with slightly crisp, crunchy edges. I turned the oven up at the end for 10 minutes to create this finish.