Quince essentials

At the weekend I was given 15 kilos of beautiful quince by our lovely friends at Bridgefoot Meadows. After scouring the internet I found lovely recipes for quince jam, Spanish Membrillo (which is a kind of paste cooked in the oven that you can eat with cold meats and cheese), quince gin (definitely doing that!) and preserved quince.

I decided on the jam in the end, but I'm giving it my own little twist with vanilla bean and lemon. It's on the hob at the moment and what a heavenly aroma!

Quince Jam

You will need

1kg prepared (peeled and sliced) quince
Juice of a lemon
Vanilla Bean (pod) - optional
1 litre of water
1.5kg sugar (I use jam/preserving sugar)

Simmer the quince in the water and lemon juice (add the vanilla bean if using) until very soft.
Add the sugar and dissolve slowly
Bring to a rapid boil and test on chilled plates (the jam is ready when a skin forms quickly once cool and when you push the jam with a finger it will wrinkle up).

Pot up in warm sterilised jars and put the lids on immediately.

Crumpets!

A Countryboy Eats: No bake Italian Cheesecake/Ricotta Cream Pie

I am attempting this today:  A Countryboy Eats: No Bake Italian Cheesecake

Without the nuts and chocolate, but with a punnet of juicy English strawberries - Yes, a whole punnet

Making Whoopie - Update.....

I am very much liking this recipe for Whoopie Pies - and I think I would prefer the marshmallow filling to buttercream........ I shall be trying this out SOON
Chocolate Whoopie Pies with Marshmallow

Oh wow! These are DIVINE
A year's chocolate fix in one bite

A few little amendments:  You won't get 36 biscuits using tablespoons - I got around 20 - I suggest a large heaped teaspoon.

Please note, DO NOT use more than 1 marshmallow per biscuit (they may look underpopulated when you add them, but boy do they spread) - and don't leave them until they run, I would say 2 mins max. I used pink AND white; decadent.

Great British Bake Off

Don't forget - Great British Bake Off  tonight at 8pm!

It's not actually all about cake.....

So, this weekend no baking!  We live in a lovely small village in the North of West Sussex where the locals like to grow their own and now we are coming to the end of Summer there is a glut of all things delicious. So far this week we have been given by our lovely neighbours red and yellow tomatoes, runner beans, cucumber and beetroot. I've been giving my veg bed a little rest this year and mostly growing herbs, nasturtiums and sunflowers for the birds. I planted a few red spring onions, phew they're hotties!

I have blanched off about two pounds of runner beans and they are now in the freezer ready for when we fancy a "bean feast". 

In the oven are gorgeous roasted beetroots with balsamic, olive oil and garlic (a la Jamie Oliver) - the most delicious way I've had beets EVER!  A little garlic roasted chicken and roast spuds with swede and carrot mash and runner beans (of course). Perfect.

Bon apetit my friends. Enjoy your Sunday lunch whatever it is.

Chocolate Zucchini Cake

Now this might just persuade me, after all Nigella is a goddess.........

Nigella's Chocolate Zucchini Cake

Eat Beet

..........and while on the subject of veg, have a look at this amazing site full of wonderful things to do with beetroot (I didn't realise they were so versatile!). No longer will they be consigned to the salad bowl. The cake looks yum!

Beetroot Recipes


Another "sneak in the back door" route to veggies in kids and unwilling adults.

Zucchini Cake

After watching the Great British Bake-off, I was intrigued by the zucchini (courgette) cake one of the contestants baked. The judges said it was very light and tasted wonderful.  I haven't tried it, but with all the courgettes being offered, I might give it a go.

A good way to sneak veggies into the kids!

Zucchini Cake

Dare you!

Does this count as fat free? (there's none in the recipe!)

Coconut Loaf

A lovely teatime treat and so easy to make. I think this counts as fat free! 

There's obviously a certain element of fat in the coconut and egg, but no butter or margarine

4oz dessicated coconut

8oz caster sugar

4oz self-raising flour

1 egg
Pinch of salt

120ml milk

Preheat oven to 180c

Line a loaf tin with baking paper (I use loaf liners)

Throw all of the above in a bowl and mix together

Pour into loaf tin and bake for approx 45 minutes until the top is springy and a skewer comes out clean

Yes, it really is that easy.

Rob's cake conundrum

Today we found a problem: how do you slice a cake covered in buttons! We had to ping them off then put them back on.......choc fudge icing hands! Rob's cake ended up a bit of a gooey mess (although a very yummy gooey mess). Anyways, I think he enjoyed it :-)

Eggstra, eggstra............. what exactly happens when you bake a cake?

Science (ology) is what happens.  How can three or four pretty bland ingredients be 'voilad' into a wonderful moist, scrumptious cake? What occurs in that mixing bowl and hot place? Some of you will know that you start off by creaming together butter and sugar (in pretty exact quantities!). During this process the butter coats each granule of sugar and air is added, lightening the mix.

The beaten eggs are added, the proteins in which coat the air bubbles and stop them disappearing when heated.

Once you add the self raising flour, which has a chemical leavening agent (baking powder: a dried acid (eg cream of tartar and sodium aluminium sulphate) and an alkali (sodium bicarbonate, or baking soda). Adding water and heat to this mixture allows the acid to react with the alkali to produce carbon dioxide gas. This is trapped in the tiny air pockets created when you creamed the fat and sugar together in the first stage.

Some of the proteins in the flour join together to create an extensive network of coiled proteins, known as gluten. It is this gluten that holds the cake together. Its elastic nature allows the batter to expand during baking (to incorporate gases) and then it coagulates into a strong network that supports the heavy weight of sugar and shortening.

Folding the flour in gently (as Mother always told you) avoids breaking down the bubbles you have worked so hard to put into the mix in the first place. It also reduces excessive gluten formation: Gluten is essential to the structure of the cake, but excessive beating creates too much gluten, resulting in a cake with a heavy texture. Cake flour is made from soft wheats with a low protein content.

So, what happens in the oven?

As the batter temperature rises, the gases in the air cells expand the stretchy gluten from the flour, then the chemical leavening agents release carbon dioxide. (Starting to sound dangerous?). As the batter reaches 60degrees centigrade, water vapour begins to form and expand the air cells. Carbon dioxide and water vapour account for approximately 90% of the subsequent expansion of the batter, the remaining 10% being due to thermal expansion. At around 80 degrees, the risen batter adopts its permanent shape as the egg proteins set, starch granules absorb water, swell and form a gel, and the gluten loses its elasticity.

Finally, flavour-enhancing browning (Maillard) reactions take place on the surface. It is at this point you have to decide whether the cake is ready – one of the most critical points in the whole process. The cake will shrink slightly away from the walls of the tin and the crust will spring back when touched with a finger.(A knife or skewer inserted in the centre of the cake should come out clean).

Bakers? nooooo, we're scientists, it's official!

Piping without the ooze

I make a lot of cupcakes - big creamy swirly ones - which calls for reliably strong, ooze free piping bags. I've tried many and I've had a lot of frosting on my shoes. Then I found these: Lakeland "Get a Grip" piping bags  - amezzin!   Super strong and very grippy, so even if you do get a (rare) ooze it won't be like icing with a wet bar of soap!

and now for the jam......

Proper home made jam can't be beaten in my book. Here's my recipe:

The same weight in preserving (jam) sugar as fruit (say a kilo of each)
A lemon - juiced
A maslin or big wide pan
Some sterilised jars and lids (I microwave them for this as they need to be warm when you put the jam in)
A couple of chilled small plates for testing

Wash and prepare the fruit - I usually just halve strawberries
Layer the sugar and fruit in the maslin and place over a very gentle heat until the sugar has completely dissolved, stirring from time to time. Stir in the lemon juice.

Once the sugar is dissolved bring the pan to a rolling boil for approximately 10 mins - keep checking the jam and don't let it catch on the bottom of the pan, it will be bitter and burnt tasting if this happens - place a little blob on a chilled plate (it should cool quickly). Once cool push it with your finger and if you get a good wrinkle on the surface your jam is ready to be jarred.

Make sure your jars are warm and fill almost to the top. Place a circle of wax paper on the surface and then put the lid on immediately.

Leave to cool.

You're now ready to get the scones polished off!

Proper Cornish Scones!

With all the gorgeous strawberries around at the moment, what's better than a real cream tea? Thank you to my wonderful friend Dawn in St Austell for this amazing recipe for proper Cornish scones. These are sooooo easy and great for the kids to make. Eat the same day.

12oz self raising flour
2oz caster sugar
6fl oz buttermilk (you can get 2 batches from a 284ml carton of buttermilk, just add a little milk to make up to 6floz)
3oz butter

Method
Preheat oven to 210 centigrade

Rub butter and flour together until a fine breadcrumb texture is achieved

Stir in sugar

Stir in buttermilk and blend to a smooth dough, but don't overwork it

Press out the dough until approx 3/4 inch thick and cut circles of approx 2 1/2 inch (I can usually get about eight from a batch.

Place on a baking sheet with enough room for the scones to spread. Bake for 12-15 minutes until just pale gold.

Enjoy!

Who doesn't like cake?

Not as daft a question as it appears. I'm sure there are a some people who really can't be bothered with cake of any description, or people who adore it but are unable to indulge for a particular reason.

I'm eating a buttered scone as I type this blog: it's not every nice. I bought it from our work sandwich delivery van and I am sorely disappointed. The scone is dry and the "butter" is "I can believe it's not butter cos it isn't" - unpleasant, bright yellow, margariney claggyness. How I long for a proper scone. I shall be purchasing buttermilk forthwith