Mothers' Day

When you think about it, mothers keep the world running.  They give birth to new life, they nuture the child until it is old enough to be independent and they do a million and one other things.  My mother has looked after me when I was ill, taught me to read, inspired my love of Shakespeare, came to all my school plays, comforted me when I had my heart broken by my first  boyfriend,  taught me to cook, looked after my children and celebrated many milestones with me.  And now that she can no longer do so much for me, it is my turn to help her and be there for her when she needs me.  To thank her for all that she has done and show her how much she means to me, I cooked her a special Mothers' Day dinner:

ROAST LAMB

Ingredients

1 leg or shoulder of lamb, about 1.5kg-2kg

2 cloves garlic, sliced

Fresh rosemary

Potatoes

Carrots

Cabbage

1 tsp cornflour

1 tbsp fresh mint leaves

1 tsp sugar

2 tsp white wine vinegar

Equipment

2 roasting tins

Vegetable knife

Peeler

Saucepan

steamer

1.   Place the meat in a roasting tin and  make small slashes in the skin with a knife. Into these slashes push slices of garlic and rosemary. Put the meat into a hot oven at 200 for 20 minutes than turn the heat down to 180 and roast  for  20 minutes per 500g.

2.   Peel the potatoes and put in a saucepan of water. Bring to the boil and simmer for 5 minutes.  Put 1 tbsp sunflower oil or goose fat into a roasting tin  and put in the oven to get hot.  Drain the potatoes and put in the roasting tin ensuring that they are coated in fat.

3.   When the meat is cooked remove the meat from the oven and put it on a plate, covered with foil, to rest. Use that tin to make the gravy.

4.  To make the mint sauce:  chop the mint leaves, add sugar, vinegar and 1 tbsp boiling water and stir well.

5. Turn the  oven  heat up to 190 to crisp the potatoes.

6.  Peel carrots, cut them into circles or matchsticks  and place in a saucepan of water. Bring it to the boil and cook the carrots for 5 minutes. Shred a cabbage or cut up broccoli and place in a steamer over the carrots to steam for 5 minutes. Drain the carrots, reserving the cooking water.

7. Using the roasting tin in which the lamb was cooked, skim off any fat and place on the hob. Heat and add a tablespoon of wine or water, scraping up the tasty bits in the pan.   Pour in the water from the carrots and bring to the boil.  Add 1 tsp cornflour mixed to a paste with a little cold water.  Stir well until you have a smooth gravy. Season with salt and pepper.

8.  Carve the lamb into thin slices and serve with the vegetables and gravy.

      LEMON TART

Pastry
5 oz plain flour
1 oz icing sugar
1 egg yolk
4 oz butter


Filling
2 lemons,  zest and juice
3 eggs
6 oz caster sugar
5 fl oz double cream


1.  To make the pastry, put the flour and icing sugar in a bowl and dice the cold butter into it. Rub in the butter, or put it in a food processor, until it resembles finde breadcrumbs.Add the egg yolk and mix in well until you have a dough.  Leave it to rest in the fridge for at least 20 minutes then roll out to fit a loose- bottomed tart tin.  Put a circle of greaseproof paper  and some baking beans on top and bake blind for 15 minutes at 180/gas 4, then remove from the oven and remove the paper and baking beans.  Put the pastry back in the oven for a further 5 minutes.  Take it out of the oven and leave it to cool.
2. Mix together the eggs and sugar then add the  lemon juice, rind and cream.  Put the pastry case in its tin on a baking sheet, carefully pour in the lemon filling and put it in the oven at gas 2/160 for 20 minutes until the filling has just set.
3.  Serve warm, dusted with icing sugar.

Red Nose Day Cakes

If you have children, sooner or later you will be faced with a request for cakes at very short notice. Many people dread those words:   " I need to take some cakes into school tomorrow".  In fact, one of my friends admitted that she fees physically sick when she gets home from work and her daughters want her to bake cakes for them.  On day my daughter came home from school and announced that the following day was to be French day at her school.  She casually said
 "I told my teacher you would bake a cake like the French flag."  When I rang my sister she marvelled at how children have so much faith in their parents that they take it for granted they can create a cake, model or whatever is required.  Needless to say, I donned my apron and  cracked on with the task and judging by the feedback I received the following afternoon I don't think I let her down.
Anyway, If you are faced with a similar situation, such as a charity or school cake sale, her is my foolproof recipe for fairy cakes and in my experience these do sell like the proverbial hot cakes.  As it is Red Nose Day today get baking and raise some money for this wonderful charity that helps so many people. I find that the following recipe makes 12-14 cakes.  I used glace cherries for the red noses, but feel free to decorate you cakes as you wish.

Ingredients

115g/ 4oz self raising flour

115g/ 4oz unsalted butter

115g/ 4oz caster sugar

2 eggs, beaten

1tsp vanilla extract

Icing sugar

Food colouring

Equipment

Cupcake tray

Paper cake cases

Large mixing bowl

Spatula

Metal tablespoon

Sieve

Cooling rack

Hand whisk

1.   Line a cupcake tray with paper cases.

2.    Preheat the oven to gas 4, 180c, 400F.

3.   Cream together butter and sugar.

4.   Add the eggs and vanilla.

5.   Add the sieved flour and baking powder and fold in with a metal spoon.

6.  Fill the paper cases about 2/3 full.

7.  Bake for 15 minutes.

8.  Remove from oven and leave to cool on a rack.

9.  To make the glace icing sieve the icing sugar into a bowl and gradually add cold water, beating all the time to avoid lumps, until you have a smooth spreadable icing.  If you wish, you can add colouring.

10. When the cakes are cold, pour some boiling water into a jug or cup and dip your palette knife into it. Put a large teaspoon of icing on each cake and

Quickly spread it over the cake with you hot palette knife, dipping the knife back in the hot water between each cake. Decorate each cake with  edible glitter, sprinkles, or small sweets.

The best of British

I have been lucky to have some visitors from overseas, one from France and another from Korea and it has been an interesting and rewarding experience getting to know new friends from other countries.  I thought it would be good to let them sample some British cuisine so what could  be  better  than roast beef and Yorkshire pudding?  I like to make individual Yorkshire puddings in a muffin tin and the following recipe makes 12 muffin-sized puddings. Don't be afraid of making Yorkshire puds- they are really very simple to make and the trick is to have the oven very hot and keep the oven door closed so that they puff up.

ROAST BEEF &YORKSHIRE PUDDINGS

Ingredients

A piece of beef suitable for roasting, such as silverside or rib of beef

2 eggs

175g / 6oz plain flour

175 ml/6 floz milk

110 ml/ 4 floz water

Salt & pepper

Sunflower oil or dripping

Equipment

Roasting tin

1 large mixing bowl

Electric whisk/ hand whisk

Ladle

Muffin tin

1.  Heat the oven to 180, put the beef in a roasting tin, season with salt and pepper and put it in the oven for about an hour to an hour and a half depending on how large the beef is and if you like it rare or well done. Make sure you allow time for the meat to rest so that it is tender and easy to carve.

2.  Peel the potatoes, put them in a saucepan, cover with water and bring to the boil.  Simmer for about 5 minutes then drain and put into a roasting tin that has been pre-heated and has about 2 tablespoons of hot oil or goose fat in it.  Coat the potatoes with the fat and roast for an hour.

3.   Put the flour, salt and pepper in the bowl and make a well in the middle.

4. Crack the eggs and place in the well.  Gradually add the milk and water, whisking  really well until  you have a smooth batter, the consistency of single cream.  You can use this straight away, although I prefer to make it a couple of hours in advance and leave it in the fridge.

5.  While the meat is resting put oil or dripping in each cup of the muffin tin and place in the really hot oven until the fat is sizzling.

6. Take the tin out of the oven and ladle the batter in, filling each cup about three quarters of the way up.

7. Pop it straight in the oven and cook for 20 minutes by which time the puddings should be golden and puffed up.

8.  Serve immediately with roast beef and a rich beef gravy made by using the juices from the roasting pan the beef was cooked in.  Heat it on the hob and add a splash of red wine or water from the pan you have cooked your vegetables in.  Scrape up the tasty bits in the pan, pour in more vegetable water and bring to the boil.  Mix a teaspoon of cornflour with cold water to make a paste and add to the pan.  Stir well until it is thickened and season with salt and pepper.

January Blues

Yesterday snowflakes were swirling in the air like ice-clad ballerinas and this evening, as I look out of the window I see a thick layer of ice coating the cars and pavement like fondant icing.
At this time of year, many people  embark on diets, eschewing carbohydrates, sugar and other comforts that make the dreary days and long, dark nights bearable. In this cold weather we need warming, comfort food. Why not make a delicious stew.  It takes very little effort, you can go and do something else while it is cooking in the oven.  My New Year's resolution is to dance more, so while my stew is cooking, I shall be dancing around my kitchen.

LAMB STEW

Serves 4

Ingredients   

500g middle neck of lamb or stewing lamb                                                          

4 medium potatoes

4 carrots

1 onion
Pearl barley

salt and pepper

Equipment

Large ovenproof casserole dish, approximately 1.5 litre, with lid

Preparation: 10 minutes

Cooking: 2 1/2 hours

1.   Cut meat into cubes, approximately 2cm.

2.    Peel and thinly slice the potatoes and put them in a bowl of cold water

      to remove some of the starch, then drain them off. 

3.   Peel and slice the onion and carrots.

4.   Put layers of meat, potatoes, onions and carrots, seasoning with pepper

      and finishing with a layer of potatoes. Pour in water to come halfway up

      the casserole dish and add 1 tablespoon of pearl barley.

5.  Put the lid on the dish and put stew into the oven at gas mark 3/170 for 2 hours.

6.  After 2 hours, remove the lid of the casserole and turn up the heat to

     gas 4/180 for 30 minutes to allow the top layer or potatoes to turn golden.

7.  Serve with some additional green vegetables.

Top tip

To save time, cook a double quantity and freeze half so you have a lovely homemade stew in your freezer.

New Year

Happy New Year!   Some of you may be feeling jaded after all the recent festive feasting and you may have some food leftover.  Here is a simple recipe that uses leftover turkey, chicken or ham and makes a delicious and filling pie.


LEFTOVER CHICKEN PIE

Ingredients

500g  cooked chicken, turkey and/or ham

1 onion, finely chopped

250g mushrooms

1 tbsp plain flour

250 ml chicken stock or milk

400g pack puff pastry

1 egg and/or milk, beaten lightly (egg wash)

Equipment

Frying pan

Wooden spoon

Marble board

Rolling pin

Pie dish

Pastry brush

1.  Fry the onion and mushrooms in vegetable oil until lightly browned and

     Add the cooked meat.

2.  Sprinkle  the flour over the meat and gradually add the stock or milk,

     stirring all the time. If you have any leftover cream add 1 tablespoon for a

    more  creamy sauce. Season to taste.

3.   Flour a rolling pin and board and roll out half the  puff pastry  until it is larger   than the pie dish and use that to line the base and up the sides of the dish .  Brush  around the edge of the pie dish with milk/egg wash.

4.  Pour the filling into the pie.

5. Roll the other piece of pastry  out to make the pie lid and roll it carefully around the rolling pin and gently drape it  over the pie. Crimp the edges of the pastry together and trim off any excess. Use the trimmings to make leaves to decorate the pie and cut a small hole in the top of the pastry to allow the steam to escape.

7.  Brush the top of the pastry with egg wash and bake in the oven for  30

     minutes or until golden brown at 200c/400F/Gas 6.

8.  Serve with boiled or mashed potatoes and green vegetables. 

Christmas

A wonderful accompaniment to roast turkey at Christmas, or roast chicken at any time of the year is a really tasty stuffing and I like to roll mine into balls as they cook quicker and you can make them a bit crunchy.


Stuffing Balls

Ingredients
200g  sausagemeat
breadcrumbs
oatbran
herbs
dried/ fresh fruit

Put the sausagemeat into a large bowl.
Add about 4 tablespoons of breadcrumbs and 1-2 tablespoons of oatbran if you have it.
Finely chop some fresh parsley or sage and add it to the mixture.
If you wish, you can add some fresh apple or dried apricots.
At Christmas it is good to add chopped chestnuts or fresh cranberries.

Squish the mixture together with your hands and roll into balls.
Place on a baking tray and bake in the oven for about 30 minutes at 180.

Christmas truffles

Christmas Truffles

Ingredients;
100g dark chocolate
100g cake or biscuits
50g white chocolate
holly decorations


1.  Melt the dark chocolate in a bowl over hot water.
2.  Crush the cake or biscuits into crumbs, then mix into the melted chocolate.
3.  Take a walnut sized piece of the mixture and shape into a ball. continue until all the mixture is used.
4.  Melt the white chocolate in a bowl over hot water.
5.  Drizzle a teaspoonful on each truffle and decorate with sugar holly berries and leaves.

Christmas Ham

The Christmas tree is decorated and hung with baubles and trinkets.  Christmas is getting ever closer and the excitement in the air is palpable.

At this time of year it is good to get a piece of gammon and cook it.  It is delicious hot with mashed potato, carrots, pease pudding and parsley sauce and it is scrumptious cold with salad, pickles and bread.

Baked Ham

Ingredients

1 boneless joint of unsmoked gammon

2 tbsp brown sugar

1 tbsp cloves   
1 tin of pineapple pieces in juice

Equipment

Large saucepan

Roasting tin

Carving knife

Tablespoon

1.   Put the gammon is a large saucepan, cover with water and then drain off the water.  Cover with water again, place over a high heat and bring to the boil. Drain off the water, cover with fresh water again and bring to the boil then turn down the heat and simmer for 2 hours.

2.   After 2 hours, turn off the heat and remove the meat from the boiling water. Place the meat in a roasting tin and carefully remove the rind with a sharp knife. Leave some of the fat on the meat for flavour. Score the fat with the knife, making a diamond pattern. Push a clove into each diamond. Sprinkle the top liberally with brown sugar, pressing it on with your hands if you think it necessary. Drizzle  a tablespoon or two of pineapple juice over the meat and put it in the oven for about 30 minutes.

3.   Remove from the oven and put the meat on a plate, cover  with foil and leave to rest for 20 minutes before carving.  Pour the sweet, sticky sauce into a jug.

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving Day is a national holiday celebrated  in the United States of  America  as a day of giving thanks for the blessing of the harvest and of the preceding year. It is celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November in the United States and is said to have arisen from a celebration feast in 1621 at Plymouth in Massachusetts that  was prompted by a good harvest.  The pilgrims who began emigrating from England in the 1620s gave thanks for a good harvest that would see them through the harsh New England winter.
Although we do not celebrate Thanksgiving in Britain, there is no reason why we cannot enjoy some of the foods that are traditional Thanksgiving staples and anyone who has been to America will know that it is not Thanksgiving without a pumpkin pie, so here is my recipe for this sweet delicacy.    

                         PUMPKIN PIE

Ingredients

Pastry

175g plain flour

90g unsalted butter or half butter and half lard

Approx 2 tbsp cold water

Filling

450g  pumpkin pulp

2 eggs

250 ml double cream

75g soft brown sugar

4 tbsp golden syrup

1 tsp cinnamon

1.       First make the pastry:   Place the flour in a large bowl and cut the butter into small pieces.  Rub the fat into the flour using just your fingertips, until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Gradually add the water and mix with your hand until you have a firm dough. Wrap it in cling film and place it in the fridge for at least half an hour.

2.       Roll out the pastry, turning it regularly on the board, until you have a thin circle slightly larger than the pie dish.  Lift one edge of the pastry and roll it around the rolling pin. Gently lift it over the pie dish then lower it and press gently into the tin.  Prick the pastry with a fork and refrigerate for a further 15 minutes.

3.       Remove the pastry case from the fridge, put a piece of greaseproof paper on the pastry and weight it down with baking beans. Bake in the oven for 15 minutes. Take it out of the oven and carefully remove the baking beans and paper. Return it to the oven for 10 minutes then take it out and put it on a rack to cool.

4.       Put all the filling ingredients into a large mixing bowl and beat or stir well. Pour into the cooled pastry case and bake for 30 minutes or until the filling has just set.  It should not be set hard but should have a slight wobble as the filling will firm up as it cools.

4.  Serve warm with cream or “a la mode” with ice cream.

       

 

Sunday Roast

A recent survey has shown that fewer families today are cooking a roast dinner at the weekend.  This seems such a shame as a roast dinner is very easy as you just bung the meat in the oven and leave it to roast.Sitting around a dining table enjoying a roast dinner is a marvellous opportunity to spend time as a family and for children to learn consideration and table manners and communication skills,  and it is a good time for the family members to exchange news about their day.  In March 2013 researchers at Loughborough University published a study showing that regular family mealtimes are associated with fewer eating disorders and a lower incidence of depression in adolescents. It may not be easy, but try to have at least  some meals together as a family and make sure that computers, mobile phones and televisions are switched off then. Sit around a table, not in front of a television.  All family members can eat together. I have never been a fan of feeding the children fishfingers or nuggets and putting them to bed before the adults eat. Have your baby sitting at the table in their high chair and when they see everyone eating they will want to try your family cooking and you will have no trouble getting them to eat vegetables and everything else. 

Roast Chicken

Ingredients
1 chicken
4 potatoes
2 carrots
cabbage, sprouts or broccoli
1 tsp cornflour
sausages wrapped in bacon

Equipment

2 roasting tins

Vegetable knife

Peeler

Saucepan

steamer

1.   Place the chicken  in a roasting tin and  season with salt and pepper and smear with butter. Wash your hands thoroughly.  Put the meat into a hot oven at 200 for 20 minutes than turn the heat down to 180 and roast  for  about an hour.

2.   Peel the potatoes and put in a saucepan of water. Bring to the boil and simmer for 5 minutes.  Put 1 tbsp sunflower oil or goose fat into a roasting tin  and put in the oven to get hot.  Drain the potatoes and put in the roasting tin ensuring that they are coated in fat.

3.   When the meat is cooked remove the meat from the oven and put it on a plate, covered with foil, to rest. Use that tin to make the gravy.

4.   Turn the  oven  heat up to 190 to crisp the potatoes. Pop the sausages in bacon on a baking tray in the oven for 20 minutes.

5.  Peel carrots, cut them into circles or matchsticks  and place in a saucepan of water. Bring it to the boil and cook the carrots for 5 minutes. Shred a cabbage or cut up broccoli or peel sprouts and place in a steamer over the carrots to steam for 5 minutes. Drain the carrots, reserving the cooking water.

6. Using the roasting tin in which the chicken was cooked, skim off any fat and place on the hob. Heat and add a tablespoon of wine or water, scraping up the tasty bits in the pan.   Pour in the water from the carrots and bring to the boil.  Add 1 tsp cornflour mixed to a paste with a little cold water.  Stir well until you have a smooth gravy. Season with salt and pepper.

7.  Place the chicken on a board and using a sharp knife remove the legs.  Then carve the breast meat downwards into thin slices.  Slice the meat off the legs.  Serve with vegetables and gravy.

While you have your oven on, don't waste the opportunity to pop something else in there to cook.  How about some baked apples?

BAKED APPLES

This is a simple way of using apples, particularly when there is a glut in the Autumn and this dish can be popped in the oven while something else is cooking.

Ingredients

4 cooking apples

2 tablespoons brown sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 tablespoon raisins

Golden syrup

Equipment

Sharp knife

Apple corer

Tablespoon

Baking dish

1.   Preheat oven to 180/Gas4.

2.   Wash and dry the apples. Remove the cores with the corer or a sharp knife and score the skin  in a horizontal line around the middle of each apple.

3.  Place the apples in an ovenproof dish and pour 1 tablespoon of water around them.

4.   Mix together the sugar, cinnamon and raisins and stuff this mixture into the cavity of each apple.  Squirt a little syrup over each apple.

5.  Bake for about 30 minutes then remove from the oven and serve with chilled cream, custard or yogurt.

   

Halloween

Well, it's here already; Halloween, 31st October.  The clocks have gone back, it is getting dark earlier and the orange, amber and golden leaves adorn the pavements instead of the trees. But it does not feel like Halloween, more like a balmy Summer evening.
Months ago, we planted some small seeds in the garden and they grew into pumpkins and today we carved them and put candles in them.

The bonus was that we walked around our neighbourhood and talked to our neighbours and met some new people.
Then we came home and baked a spider's web cake for Halloween. It is very simple:
Ingredients
6oz caster sugar
6oz self-raising flour
5oz soft margarine
1 oz cocoa
3 eggs mixed with a spoonful of milk

Equipment
8" sandwich tins
whisk or wooden spoon
spatula
cocktail stick


1. Preheat the oven to 180 and grease the sandwich tins and line with baking paper.
2. Place all the ingredients in a large mixing bowl and mix until smooth and creamy.
3. Scrape the mixture into two sandwich tins and bake at 180 for 20 minutes.
4.  Turn out onto a cooling rack.
5.  Mix 4oz soft, unsalted butter with 6oz icing sugar and 1oz cocoa and 1 tablespoon milk until smooth and creamy.
6.  Mix 1 tablespoon icing sugar with 1-2tsp water to a smooth paste.
7.  When the cake is cool, spread a layer of icing on one half of the cake and sandwich the two halves together. Spread another layer of chocolate icing on top.
8. Put the white glace icing into a piping bag and pipe circles around the cake radiating out from the  centre.
9. Take a cocktail stick and draw lines from the centre to the outside, working around the cake.

Season of Mists

Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness
Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun
Conspiring with him how to load and bless
With fruit the vines that round the thatch-eaves run;
To bend with apples the moss'd cottage-trees,
And fill all fruit with ripeness to the core;
To swell the gourd, and plump the hazel shells
With a sweet kernel; to set budding more,
And still more, later flowers for the bees,
Until they think warm days will never cease,
For Summer has o'er-brimm'd their clammy cells.

When John Keats wrote these words in his Ode "To Autumn" he perfectly captured the mood of Autumn and even though he wrote those words in 1819, almost 200 years ago, they still resonate today.  This is the season when the harvest is gathered in, marrows, pumpkins and squash are swollen with promise, the branches of fruit trees bow under the weight of ripening apples, pears and plums. Make the most of Nature’s larder: pick blackberries when you see them along the wayside, enjoy the fruits and vegetables in season, go for a walk in the autumn sunshine and kick your feet through the fallen leaves and cherish the light evenings before the clocks go back and the days grow shorter.

Autumn is a beautiful time of year and there are so many wonderful foods in season.  My kind neighbour gave me some apples from his garden so what could be better than an apple pie.

APPLE PIE

Ingredients

8oz/225g plain flour

4oz/100g butter

2oz/50g lard

3 tbsp cold water

1 tsp cinammon

3 tbsp  sugar

2-3large cooking  apples, peeled, cored and sliced

Egg/milk

Rolling pin

Sharp knife

8inch/20cm metal pie plate

1.   First, make the shortcrust pastry: Put the flour into a large bowl and cut the butter and lard into dice and drop into the flour.  Rub the fat into the flour with your fingertips until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.  Gradually add the water and mix together with your hands until you have a dough.  Wrap in clingfilm and leave in the fridge for 20 minutes.

2.   After 20 minutes, sprinkle flour onto a board and your rolling pin and roll out half the pastry, keep turning it as you roll so that it does not stick and you get a circle the size of the pie plate.  Carefully roll the pastry round the rolling pin and transfer to the pie plate. Moisten the edges of the pastry with egg or milk.

3.  Preheat the oven to gas 4, 180c, 400F and put a baking tray in the oven.

3.   Arrange the apple slices on top and sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon.

4.   Roll out the other half of the pastry into a circle and place on top of the apples.

5.   Crimp or squeeze the edges of the pastry together to form a seal and trim off any excess.  Roll the spare bits of pastry out and cut out shapes such as leaves to make decorations.  Brush egg or milk over the top of the pastry.

6. Put the pie plate on the heated baking tray and bake for 30-40 minutes.

Serve warm with custard or cream.

Baking for Macmillan

Tomorrow is the World's Biggest Coffee Morning to raise money for Macmillan.  Macmillan is a marvellous charity that provides medical, emotional, practical and financial support for people diagnosed with cancer. My wonderful, caring sister is a palliative nurse so I know how hard the nurses work and what an invaluable service they provide.
The idea for a coffee morning started in 1990 when a local Macmillan fundraising committee decided to hold a coffee morning and it has now grown into a national event.  It is a good excuse to meet friends, have a coffee and cake and help a charity too.
Get baking and why not make these rich,  moresih, chocolate brownies.


CHOCOLATE BROWNIES

Ingredients

200g dark chocolate

200g unsalted butter

200g caster sugar

50g  dark brown sugar

2 eggs

2 tbsp plain flour

1 tbsp cocoa

1.   Grease and line a cake tin or shallow pan with baking parchment. Heat the oven to 180/ Gas 4.

2.   Melt the chocolate and butter in a saucepan over a very low heat, then leave to cool slightly.

3.   Whisk the eggs and both sugars together briefly in a large bowl then add the melted chocolate.

4.  Fold in the flour and cocoa.

5.  Pour the mixture into the prepared tin.

6.  Cook at 180/ Gas 4 for 20 minutes or until the outside is cooked but the inside is still a little gooey.

7.  Leave to cool for a short time in the tin.

8.   Turn the cake out onto a board and cut into squares. 

Serendipity ...and beetroot

Having lived in the same area for many years, I thought I knew all the interesting places but on Sunday I was driving along a road, not far from where I live when I spotted a sign that read "Band Day".  My curiosity aroused, I went down a narrow lane and found myself at a nursery.

  It is a glorious place with fat carp swimming in ponds and another pond full of glittering goldfish. There were rows and rows of dahlias, their jewel colours shimmering in the sunlight.  There was indeed a band and we sat outside the cafe on a bench, the scent of lavender wafting on the breeze and enjoyed a cup of tea while listening to the band play the Dambusters tune.  The experience fired my enthusiasm for gardening so I rushed home and weeded and remembered that some weeks ago I had planted some seeds that had grown into plump, purple beetroot.

I adore beetroot.  It can be eaten raw, grated into salad and it can be baked, boiled or roasted and pickled. The leaves can also be cooked like spinach. I prefer to boil my beetroot so I cut off the leaves and stalks, washed them and boiled them in a saucepan until tender.  Large beetroot can take an hour to cook. Beetroot is delicious with goat's cheese or other soft cheese but it can also be added to cake to give depth, moisture and richness to a chocolate cake.  Here is my recipe for chocolate beetroot cake. You can bake it in one large tin and that will need about  35-40 minutes but I prefer to use 2 sandwich tins as the cake bakes quicker and more evenly. I like to decorate it with a rich chocolate ganache, but it is equally delicious with fresh cream and raspberries.

Ingredients

3 tbsp  hot water

180g/6oz cooked beetroot

200g/7oz dark chocolate

200g/7oz unsalted butter

125g/4oz plain flour

1 tsp baking powder

2 tbsp cocoa powder

180g/6oz caster sugar

4 eggs 

100g plain chocolate

200ml double cream

Knob of unsalted butter

Equipment

1 blender

2 mixing bowls

Small saucepan

Tablespoon

scales

2 sandwich tins, greased and lined with baking paper

Palette knife

 1.  Place the beetroot and water in a blender and blend to a smooth puree.

2.  Break up the chocolate and put it in a bowl, together with the butter over a saucepan of hot water and allow them to melt.

3.   Weigh out the flour, cocoa and baking powder and set aside.

4.  Separate the eggs and whisk the egg whites until they form stiff peaks, then add the sugar gradually until you have a glossy meringue.

5.  Whisk the egg yolks until creamy then add the chocolate and butter, then add that to the egg whites.

6.  Fold in the dry ingredients, then pour the cake mixture into 2 sandwich tins and bake in the oven for 20 minutes.

7. Remove from the oven and turn the cakes out of the pans and leave to cool on a rack.

8.  While the cake is cooling, pour the cream into a small saucepan and heat it until it just starts to bubble then turn off heat and add the chocolate. When the chocolate has melted, whisk in a knob of butter until you have a glossy ganache.  Leave to cool and thicken.

9. Place your cake on the serving plate, dip the palette knife in boiling water  and spread half the ganache on the bottom layer. Place the second sponge on top and spread the rest of the ganache on top. Decorate with fresh raspberries or chocolate shapes. 

Summer fruits

In July, when the children broke up from school and the Summer seemed to stretch ahead like a lazy cat in the heat, the weather was sunny and sultry.  Now, at the tail end of Summer, the days and nights are cooler and ennui has set in and we have run out of ideas for how to pass the time.
We have been away to the beautiful Suffolk coast for a week of splashing in the sea, building sandcastles, collecting pebbles, cycling and crabbing.
We have been for walks with our friend's sweet-natured dog and we have been swimming and to museums and read books.
We were also lucky enough to get tickets for the theatre during Kids' Week and we was the hilariously energetic and effervescent  performance of Jeeves and Wooster in Perfect Nonsense.
So, what else could we do?
A trip to our local "pick your own" farm proved fruitful (please excuse the pun!) and we returned home laden with sweet, ripe raspberries. The gorgeous, jewel- coloured fruit called for a pavlova, so here it is:

                                                                  PAVLOVA

Ingredients
2 egg whites
100g caster sugar
1 teaspoon cornflour
1 teaspoon lemon juice
250 ml double cream
200g raspberries, strawberries or mixed fruits
1 tablespoon of cassis or liqueur, if desired

Equipment
1 large baking tray lined with baking parchment
Electric or hand whisk
tablespoon
scales

1.  Preheat oven to 140/Gas 1.
2. Whisk the egg whites until they form stiff peaks.  Add the sugar a little at a time, whisking it in thoroughly. Then add the cornflour and lemon  juice and keep whisking until the mixture is completely combined and looks glossy.
3.  Spoon the meringue mixture onto the baking parchment in a circle. Bake in the oven for 40 minutes. Then switch off the oven and leave it to cool in the oven.  This is important to ensure  that the meringue does not crack and is crisp on the outside with a slightly marshmallow texture in the middle.
4. Whip the cream until it is floppy. Put the meringue on a serving plate and spread the cream over it. Then put the fruits on top and drizzle the liqueur over the fruits.