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Cooking, Recipe and Food Blog

Treacle Tart

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This sweet and sticky dessert is very fun to make, and it’s very tasty, especially when served warm with Custard or some fresh single cream – if you want, really push the boat out, and use some Vanilla Ice Cream or Clotted Cream.

Treacle Tart

It takes around an hour to make, including cooking time, but you can heat it up again after it’s been made, so you can eat it in one or two sittings if you can resist eating it all at once!

To serve 6
500g Shortcrust Pastry
Plain Flour, for dusting
400g Golden Syrup
225g Fresh White Breadcrumbs
Grated Zest of 1 Small Unwaxed Lemon
2tbsp Lemon Juice

1. Heat an oven to 200C, before rolling out the Shortcrust Pastry on a lightly floured surface, and line a twenty three centimetre flan tin.
2. Mix the Golden Syrup with the Breadcrumbs, Lemon Zest and the Lemon Juice until evenly mixed. Spoon into the Flan Tin, and evenly spread out the mixture, levelling out the top.
3. Cut the remaining Shortcrust Pastry into strips about a centimetre in width, and lay out in a lattice pattern on the top. Seal the strips to the edges of the flan, using water to dampen the edges and pressing together.
4. Bake for ten minutes at 200C, then reduce the heat to 180C, and bake for a further thirty minutes.

Photo Courtesy of: jbracken

Gingerbread Cupcakes

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Gingerbread is just for kids? Says who!! These are so easy to make, and go with so many drinks and dinners that they’re just too good to pass up on!

Gingerbread Cupcake

Top them with some Candied Orange Peel if you’d like to really make them Extra-Special!

To Make 10 Cupcakes
175g Butter, softened
175g Caster Sugar
4 Eggs
350g Plain Flour
2tsp Baking Powder
1/2tsp Allspice
1/2tsp Ground Ginger
1/2tsp Ground Cinnamon
1/2tsp Ground Nutmeg
Pinch Salt
100ml Milk
Zest of 1 Orange
1 Drop Vanilla Extract

For the topping you’ll need
150g Butter, softened
100g Icing Sugar
Zest of 1 Orange
Pinch of Ground Ginger
Candied Orange Peel (optional)

1. Preheat an Oven to 160C
2. Cream together the Butter and Sugar. When it’s light and fluffy, start to add the Eggs, one at a time – make sure that you keep the mixture moving whilst adding the Eggs in. The mixture will look like it has split into different layers, but that’s normal, so don’t worry!
3. Sift all the dry ingredients into the mixture, before adding in the Milk, Orange Zest and Vanilla, then stir well and fold the Flour in gently.
4. When everything is combined, spoon a tablespoon of the mixture into individual cupcake cases, which are best sat in cupcake trays or Yorkshire pudding tins. Bake for twelve to fifteen minutes.
5. Remove from the Oven, and leave to cool whilst you make the Butter Icing.
6. Cream the Butter with the Icing Sugar for the Topping with a Wooden Spoon until smooth. Add the Orange Zest, stir in then spread over the top of the cooled cakes. Top each with a pinch of Ground Ginger and some Candied Orange Peel if you wish.

Photo Courtesy of: shimelle

Griddled Tuna with Citrus New Potatoes

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Served with New Potatoes, Black Olives, Capers, Lemon and Parsley, this dish is great. It’s so healthy, light and tasty, and is very easy to make – great for a treat after a hard day at work.

Griddled Tuna

To Serve 2
100g Baby New Potatoes
2tsp Capers
2tbsp Black Olives, halved and pitted
1 ½ Lemons
50ml Extra Virgin Olive Oil, plus extra for drizzling
150g Tuna Loin
Maldon Sea Salt and Freshly Ground Black Pepper
1 1/2bunches Flat Leaf Parsley, chopped

1. Cook the New Potatoes in boiling salted water until they are tender and then drain well.
2. Add the Capers, Olives, the Zest and Juice of One Lemon and the Olive Oil to the warm Potatoes, then leave to marinade for as long as possible – if you have the time, leave it covered in the fridge overnight to really bring out the range of flavours
3. Heat a Griddle Pan until it is red hot. Drizzle the Tuna Loin with Oil, the season with Salt. Carefully place the Tuna Loin on the Griddle Pan and cook for two minutes on each side to have it rare. For a more cooked Tuna Steak, leave it on for a minute longer.
4. When cooked squeeze over the juice of the Half of a Lemon that is left, and remove from the Griddle pan.
5. Stir the Parsley into the Potatoes, then season to taste. Slice the Tuna in half, then serve on top of the Boiled New Potatoes, drizzled with a little Extra Virgin Olive Oil.

Photo Courtesy of: rjw1

Mascarpone and Fruit Baked Cheesecake

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Rich, full of flavour and very simple to make – this Cheesecake will leave you wanting more and more of it, which is okay as it’s designed to serve eight. Whether or not it serves that many is a different story!

Mascarpone and Fruit Baked Cheesecake

Serve it once it’s been chilled, along with some Syrup on top for a sweeter twist on it.

To Serve 8
175g Digestive Biscuits, crushed
65g Butter, just melted
Juice and Grated Rind of 1 Orange
100g Dried Fruit (such as Apricots, Raisins, Sultanas, etc.)
3 Egg Yolks
2tbsp Cornflour
100g Caster Sugar
200g Crème Fraiche
400g Mascarpone

1. Using some fresh Butter, cover the sides of a twenty centimetre spring form cake tin, and pre-heat an oven to 200c.
2. Mix the Crushed Biscuits and Butter together, then pour into the base of the tin, covering the base evenly. Chill in a refrigerator until set.
3. Put the Dried Fruit into a saucepan along with the Orange Juice, and simmer for four minutes until the Juice has been absorbed.
4. In a large dry bowl, mix the Egg Yolks, Grated Orange Zest, Cornflour and Caster Sugar to make a paste, before whisking the Crème Fraiche and Mascarpone together, and slowly folding it into the Paste. Slowly add the Dried Fruit, and pour onto the Biscuit Base.
5. Place in the oven for fifty minutes. If it begins to brown, cover with some foil.
6. Cool before removing from the tin, and dust with Icing Sugar to serve.

Photo Courtesy of: stu_spivack

White Chocolate Pots

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A superb treat – this White Chocolate and Rum Mousse can be adapted and changed by adding a tablespoon of grated chocolate through the mixture whilst mixing it. Add some Orange zest to give it an orange flavouring.

Mousse

To change the tastes, add the Chocolate or Zest whilst folding the Egg Whites into the Chocolate Mixture. Of course, you could always try using Dark Chocolate instead of White!

To Serve 2
90g White Chocolate
1tbsp Butter
1tbsp Dark Rum
1 Egg, separated
1tbsp Natural Fromage Frais

1. Break up the Chocolate into small pieces, and place in a heatproof bowl, along with the Butter. Place this bowl over a saucepan of simmering water, taking care to make sure that the surface of the water is kept out of contact with the bowl, otherwise the Chocolate may burn. Heat gently until completely melted, stirring all the time.
2. Remove the bowl from the heat (be careful, it’ll be very hot), and mix in the tablespoon of Rum, followed by the Egg Yolk. Add the Fromage Frais before leaving to cool.
3. Whisk the Egg White until it forms stiff peaks – use a clean, dry bowl for this, it makes it much easier. Slowly fold the mixture into the Chocolate Mixture, making sure it’s done evenly.
4. Divide into two separate portions, and place into serving dishes. Chill these until set.

Photo Courtesy of: stu_spivack