Fruit Jellies
Lemon (or Lime) Jelly
Finely pared peel of 2 lemons
1 sachet (1 tbsp) powdered gelatine
60 ml gin
285 grams unrefined caster sugar
200 ml freshly squeezed lemon juice
3 cloves
Place the lemon peel, cloves, sugar and 300 ml water in a saucepan, heat gently over a low heat until the sugar dissolves, then take off the heat and leave to infuse for 10 minutes. Mix in the lemon juice and gin and leave to cool. Strain through a muslin-lined sieve, and measure out 600 ml. Put 4 tbsp hot water in a cup and sprinkle the gelatine over it. Leave to soak for a few minutes, then place in a pan of simmering water and heat gently until the gelatine is fully dissolved. Leave to cool slightly and, once it is the same temperature as the lemon juice solution, mix together and pour into bowls or glasses. Cool then chill until set.
Blood Orange Jelly
500 ml freshly squeezed blood orange juice
115 grams unrefined caster sugar
1 sachet (1 tbsp) powdered gelatine
60 ml Cointreau
Finely pared peel of 2 blood oranges
Put the orange rind, 200 ml orange juice and the sugar in a saucepan, dissolve the sugar over a low heat, then take off the heat and leave to infuse for 10 minutes. Mix in the remaining orange juice, lemon juice and Cointreau. Leave to cool. Strain through a muslin-lined sieve. Measure out 600ml and continue as above.
Substitute mandarins for a different flavour.
Raspberry/blackberry Jelly
1 sachet (1 tbsp) powdered gelatine
200 grams unrefined caster sugar
1 kg fresh or frozen raspberries
Place the raspberries, 150 ml water and the sugar in a non-corrodible saucepan and set over a low heat, once the raspberries have released all their juice (this takes about 15 minutes) strain into a bowl and measure out their juice. Once cool, mix in the gelatine as above.
Pink for October Themes
I have taken the liberty of adding a couple more themes here. Its all for a good cause after all – Pink October. Both of which were designed by my daughter! They are called Pink Gift 1 and Pink Gift 2, and you will find them in the theme switcher section in the sidebar.
These themes are available for download at Geek with Style :: Pink for October
On the move again!
After tomorrow, I do not think I will be able to get online for some time, at least until we buy a new computer and have satellite broadband installed. Landlines in Spain are difficult to come by, especially on new urbanizations and areas where the infrastructure isn’t yet set up!
I have always wanted to live by the sea, achieved that in Scotland living in Findhorn Bay. I miss the sound of the waves, looking out to sea when I’m not feeling too good, it gives me peace and a sense of well-being – I want it back again.
Some of the Brits in this area are surprised that I want to live near the coast … they think the only place to live is inland in the “real Spain” … that is as far away from the Costas as you can get … and perhaps when I finally master the language, that is where I will eventually settle, but not too far inland!
Property in this area is still fairly inxpensive, you can get a 3 bedroom 1.5 bathroom town house in this area (on a Barrio), requiring some modernisation from 89,000 – euros that is. There are some even cheaper in the town, but those usually need quite a lot of work. Some of the Spanish houses in the town centre are really beautiful inside, they would cost an absolute fortune on the coast, but are quite inexpensive – one we looked at recently was around 200,000 euros on the Internet – with 5 bedrooms, large dining kitchen, living room, fire places, 2 bathrooms, balcony, terrace and small garden plus parking – and private parking in town is like gold dust – scarce.
The witch on my banner – the new design – its me really! You wouldn’t believe the number of people who – in my younger days – referred to me as a witch! Somehow I don’t think it was a compliment, but who cares? I worked in a predominantly male industry and unless you were “pretty/pink/feminine/and didn’t speak out of turn”, then you were a witch. I was never regarded as pretty, though I did have a good “bone structure” and according to Mum – “attractive”), I don’t like pink, feminine … well I am female … and I am far too outspoken, though as I get older, I am learning to “button it”.
Devil’s Food Cake
115 grams unsalted butter
85 grams unsweetened chocolate
400 grams unrefined caster sugar
2 large organic eggs
235 ml water
280 grams plain flour
7 grams bicarbonate of soda
2 grams salt
60 ml full-fat milk
5 ml distilled white vinegar
Lightly butter 1 x 9″ x 13″ cake tin, line the base
Set oven to 175 degrees Celsius
Melt the butter in a small pan with the dark chocolate, set aside to cool slightly
Cream together the sugar and eggs until pale, then add the chocolate mixture to the eggs and beat well
Add 1 cup of warm (boiled) water, stir until blended. The mixture will be liquid
Sift together the flour, baking soda and salt
Add the dry ingredients to the chocolate mixture, stir to combine, then whisk together the vinegar and milk, stir into the batter
Optional:
225 grams cream cheese, room temperature
65 grams unrefined golden caster sugar
1 large organic egg
1 tsp candied orange peel, finely chopped
Beat the cream cheese until smooth then add the sugar, egg and candied peel, beat well
Pour the cake mixture into cake tin, make indentations around the outside of cake plus one in the centre and drop tablespoons of the cheese mixture into the indentations
Bake at 175 degrees Celsius for 30 minutes or until a fine skewer inserted in the chocolate part comes out clean
Leave in the tin for 5 minutes, transfer to a wire rack and remove the greaseproof paper, leave to cool completely before sandwiching together with either lightly whipped double cream or frosting
I love Mississippi Mud Pie – when I worked for a nationalised industry the girls went out to dinner together each week (meant to make us into a “team”), don’t know if that actually worked but on one occasion (maybe more) I had the chef’s version of this pie – it was gorgeous. I cannot find a recipe that seems familiar. It had three layers – like a rich thin chocolate cake, a filling and a cream topping but there must have been something else other than cream in the topping as the texture was very very light. I often wonder if it was his own creation. I have had Devil’s food cake on a number of occasions, not recently, and the cake does taste similar to the pie base. I may have a bash when I’m in a baking mood, make two small individual MMP’s with the DFC base. Will have to research filling and toppings to see what I can come up with. Oh – and he did a mint and chocolate one too!
Jaffa Tart
Pastry
8 oz self-raising flour, Pinch salt, 1 tsp unrefined caster sugar, 3 oz very cold unsalted butter, grated, 1 tsp mandarin or orange zest, cold orange juice – egg white to brush over pastry case
Sift the flour, salt and sugar into a bowl, rub in the butter using fingertips only until mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs, stir in the zest and a little orange juice to bring the mixture together, form into a disc, cover with clingfilm and refrigerate
Sponge
2 eggs and their weight in – self-raising flour, butter (softened) and caster sugar, 1 tsp orange juice, 1 rounded tsp baking powder
Sift flour, baking powder and sugar into the bowl of a food mixer, add the remaining ingredients and mix until fully combined. The mixture should drop easily off a spoon, if too stiff add a little more orange juice
To finish:
Set oven to 160 degrees Celsius
Roll out the pastry and line a shallow 9″ spring-form cake – prick base with a fork, chill for 20 minutes, line with baking parchment and fill with baking beans then cook for 20 minutes or until the pastry is a pale golden colour, remove the paper and beans, brush the inside of the pastry case with a little egg white and cook for a further 2 minutes, leave to cool slightly
Spread 2 heaped tbsp of Mandarin Marmalade in an even layer over the base of the pastry case, carefully spoon the sponge over the marmalade and spread level, bake in a preheated oven for 15 to 20 minutes, or until golden and set
Leave to go completely cold
Meanwhile make the chocolate ganache
Chocolate ganache
6 oz grated dark chocolate (70% cocoa solids), 6 fl oz single cream, finely pared rind from 1 medium unwaxed orange
Put the orange and single cream into a saucepan over a low heat, gently warm until bubbles appear around the edge of the pan, strain through a sieve set over a bowl, tip chocolate into the cream and stir with a wooden spoon or spatula to combine then leave to cool for about 20 minutes
Spread over the sponge, leave to set
The idea for this “tart” was born out of my love for the humble Jaffa Cake with a cup of tea – I just love them, but it has to be the original manufacturer not the cheap imitations! I can’t get them in Spain and I haven’t the faintist idea how to go about making them – though I could import some. The results don’t taste a bit like the original Jaffa cake, but … well its okay. If anyone manages to “refine” and/or “improve” the recipe, let me know.
There is just one point I would make, this is my own recipe and whilst I have no objection to people using it, that´s why it´s on the web, I do object most strongly to so called professional chefs pinching my recipe and using it as their own. Whilst we all look to other people´s recipes and then change them to suit our taste, we only claim original recipes as our own.
Pear, red plum and mixed berry Strudel
Preheat oven to 200° Celsius
Lightly butter a baking sheet
6 oz puff pastry
11 oz marzipan – white *
10 oz ripened firm pears, chopped
8 oz sweet ripe red plums, thickly sliced (not soft!)
4 oz raspberries and blackberries, mixed
3 x sheets filo pastry
1 oz unsalted butter, melted
1 oz unrefined caster sugar
1 oz freshly chopped almonds (or flakes)
Roll out the pastry on a lightly floured work surface (preferably marble or other cold surface)
Trim into a 5″ x 10″ rectangle, place on the prepared baking tray and cook for about 12 minutes, or until a light golden brown (turn the pastry over after 6 minutes), leave to cool on the baking sheet
Reduce oven temperature to 180°C
Roll out the marzipan into a rectangle slightly smaller than the pastry, place on top of the cooked pastry
Place the fruit onto the pastry in layers:
- pears
- plums
- mixed berries
Lay the filo pastry over the fruit – brushing each sheet with melted butter
Tuck the edges of the filo pastry under the cooked puff pastry base, brush the top sheet of filo with the remaining butter, lightly sprinkle with sugar and ground/flaked almonds
Put the strudel in the centre of the oven and bake for 40 minutes
If the pastry browns too quickly loosely cover with either greaseproof paper or foil
Leave to cool for about 10 minutes on the tray
Serve – while warm – with lightly whipped double cream
* If you can’t get white marzipan, use the golden
Marrow stuffed with veggies and cheese
1 tbsp olive oil and 1 tbsp melted butter
2 shallots, roughly chopped
2 sticks of celery – peeled, trimmed and chopped
2 tinned red peppers or 1 fresh – deseeded and chopped
2 oz tinned or frozen sweetcorn
2 oz frozen peas
2 x 1 oz fresh wholemeal breadcrumbs
4 oz Cheshire cheese, grated
1 tbsp fresh chives – finely sliced
Salt and black pepper
1 marrow, cut into 8 slices and deseeded
2 oz Cheddar cheese, grated
2 oz Manchego cheese, grated
Garnish – finely chopped Parsley leaves
Preheat the oven to 200° Celsius
Lightly butter a deep baking dish
- Heat the olive oil and butter in a large frying pan, sweat the shallots, celery and pepper for 3 minutes or until softened
- Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the sweetcorn & peas
- Stir half of the breadcrumbs into the vegetables along with the Cheshire cheese and chives, lightly season to taste
- Remove the ends from the marrow and cut into 8 pieces, remove the seeds, arrange the slices on the baking dish, stuff with the vegetable mixture, sprinkle over the remaining breadcrumbs and grated Cheddar cheese
Cover the dish with foil and bake for 15 minutes, remove the foil and sprinkle over the grated Manchego – return to the oven for about 10 minutes, or until the top is a light golden brown and the cheese is bubbling
Garnish with finely chopped parsley leaves and serve with a fresh tomato and onion salad and crusty Spanish Barra or French stick
When I eat any kind of marrow, I always think of my father who was an enthusiastic gardener – he grew the most magnificent marrows – quite often they were stuffed (usually with minced beef and vegetables), drizzled with butter and baked. This recipe is slightly different but equally as tasty. Mum felt that meat was an important part of a healthy diet and that we should have a large portion of protein in the form of meat every day – how times have changed, I rarely eat meat now, especially red meat as I prefer fish, chicken, pork, and quorn. Whilst I am not a vegetarian, most of the dishes I cook are meat free.
Pink for October 2007
Mizmoe has gone pink!
All in support of Pink for October.
The design was created by my daughter, who owns Geek with Style [have to fit a plug in there somewhere!] .
Its also doubling as my Halloween theme – hence the witch!
Enjoy!
Black Cherry Clafoutis
This is a lovely simple French recipe for the new season’s cherries, you can (not traditional), use other fruit such as apricots or bilberries/blueberries. I have even seen a recipe of chocolate clafoutis with caramelised oranges which sounds absolutely lovely – I wonder what it would taste like if you used gooseberries – a future must try!
500 grams black cherries, pitted
60 grams plain flour
Pinch salt
85 grams unrefined caster sugar
4 eggs, beaten
1 pint full cream milk
3 tbsp Brandy (or Kirsch)
30 grams flaked almonds (optional)
Icing sugar
Set oven to 190 degrees Celsius
Sort, wash and pit the cherries (if using tinned, drain)
Sift the flour, sugar and salt into a large bowl
Make a well in the centre
In a separate bowl, beat the eggs with a fork then stir in the milk and Brandy or Kirsch
Very slowly – pour the egg mixture into the centre of the dry ingredients, stirring constantly
Lightly butter an oven dish, scatter in the cherries and pour in the batter
Sprinkle the flaked almonds over the top (optional)
Bake for 40 to 45 minutes, or until puffed up and golden brown
Leave to cool and slightly, dust with icing sugar and serve
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