Cookery book roundup

Here are all the cookbooks I have cooked from so far each with the name of the corresponding recipes: 

1. Strawberry Jam

2. Peach ice cream

3.  Chicken Chettinad

4. Polenta and Ricotta Cake with Dates and Pecans

5. Sticky Peanut Butter Cake

6.  Sachertorte

7.  Parsley and Bacon Soup

8. Potato Bread with Roasted Garlic

9.  Slow-roasted Duck with Cabbage and Gooseberry Jam

10. Chocolate Digestives

11. Custard Creams

12. Cheese and Nut Balls

13. Mini Eve's Puddings

14. Blackberry Ice Cream

15. Wild Mushroom Bread Pudding

16. Thai-style Chicken With Chillies and Basil

17. Sesame and Maple Syrup Flapjacks

18. Flatbread, Chicken with Cardomom and Coconut-Coriander Chutney

19. Instant Chocolate Mousse

20. Little Mincemeat Souffle Puddings

21. Soup Flamande with Creme Fraiche and Frizzled Sprouts

22. Maple Rice Pudding Pots

23. Lamb, Spinach and Potato Curry

24. Millionaire's Shortbread

25. Sesame Prawn Toasts

26. Moist Chocolate and Rum Squares

27. Easy Chocolate Cheesecake

28. Sinkers Mousse , and Boozy Chocolate and Prune Terrine

29. Swedish Chocolate Coffee Lamb

30. Rhubarb Crumble

31.  Chocolate Marmite Caramel Cake

Chocolate and Marmite Caramel Cake: even some of the hardest sceptics will change their minds once they've tasted this!

The Clandestine Cake Club Cookbook  http://www.amazon.co.uk/Clandestine-Cake-Club-Cookbook/dp/1782060049/ref=sr_1_1_bnp_1_har?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1375036838&sr=1-1&keywords=clandestine+cake+club  is fast becoming one of my favourite baking books and I've only owned the book less than six months! In case you are unfamiliar with the concept of this cake club, it's all about meeting up with like-minded amateur bakers in your area and sampling some of their delicious home-cooked delights. The simple rules of the club are: cupcakes, brownies, cookies or pies are not allowed as this defeats the whole ethos of getting together and sharing proper cake! The club was founded by Lynn Hill who has spread this wonderful concept across the United Kingdom and further afield. Anyone interested in setting up a club can get details from this address: www.clandestinecakeclub.co.uk.

The book features all the favourite recipes of the club, with chapters on Classic Cakes, Victorian Cakes, Fruity Cakes, Chocolatey Cakes etc. I have already tried a number of recipes including one of my favourite the Elderflower Cordial Cake on page 48 - this is a divine concoction of dreamy sponge, elderflower buttercream and a white chocolate ganache covering. The Passion Fruit Cake on page 85 is another delight to behold: aromatic sponge cake with a passion fruit curd and white chocolate icing. In case you'd forgotten how to do a Swiss roll, the Strawberry Swiss Roll on page 28 is another winner with a simple strawberry and whipped cream filling...

The Chocolate and Marmite Caramel Cake on page 176 was a real success when I baked this as part of a get-together with friends and it was fun to try and get them guessing what the 'secret ingredient' was (I didn't tell them about the Marmite!)

Slicing up the cake ready to serve my guests. Decorated with some chocolate rose leaves.

Chocolate & Marmite Caramel Cake (Recipe supplied by Becs Rivett, copyright Lynn Hill 2013)

Serves 8-10
175g dark chocolate (broken up)
175g butter, softened
175g caster sugar
4 large eggs, separated
90g ground almonds
90g plain flour, sifted

Caramel Marmite Buttercream

In case you've never seen a jar of Marmite!

120g butter, at room temperature
440g soft light brown sugar
180ml milk
2 tsp Marmite, or more to taste
480g icing sugar, sifted

Creaming the butter and sugar

The completed cake which can be decorated however you like

1. Preheat the oven to 180

   

   Combining the chocolate and almonds

   degrees. Grease and line two 18cm sandwich tins.
2. Melt the chocolate in a bowl set over a pan of simmering water. Stir gently and remove from the heat.
3. Beat the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add the eggs yolks one at a time, beating well after each addition, then add the melted chocolate and ground almonds.
4. In a separate bowl, whisk the egg whites to soft peaks. Using a large metal spoon, gently fold in the egg whites and sifted flour into the mixture bit by bit until completely incorporated. Divide the mixture between the tins and spread evenly. Bake for 18-20 minutes until springy to touch. Leave to cool for a few minutes in the tins and then turn out on to a wire rack to cool.

   

   Silky melted chocolate

   
     

   

   Folding in the whisked egg whites

   Make the buttercream. In a large saucepan, melt the butter over a low heat, then mix in the brown sugar, milk and Marmite, stirring until it comes to the boil. Boil for a minute, then remove from the heat and transfer to a large bowl. Check and add more Marmite if desired (remember the flavour will be diluted with the icing sugar).
5. Whisk in half the icing sugar and then leave to cool, checking and stirring regularly to to regulate consistency. Once cool, whisk in the remaining icing sugar. If it is still runny, sift in enough icing sugar to reach a spreadable consistency.
6. Assemble the cake by spreading a third of the buttercream over one of the cooled cakes, then sandwich with the other cake. Cover the top and sides of the whole cake with the remaining buttercream.

   

   Making chocolate leaves using washed rose leaves and painting on melted chocolate.

   

   Cake  ready to go out and be served, no time to fiddle about and set up artistic photos!

   This really is a rich and chocolatey cake. The saltiness of the Marmite in the buttercream adds that extra depth and reveals the taste of caramel rather like the ever-popular trend of salted caramel. I did find I had to add extra icing sugar to reach a good consistency for the icing to be spread though.

Next time: seasonal recipes using black currants and gooseberries

Strawberry Mousse Cups: my own creations!

Summer's not summer without a strawberry recipe and with Wimbledon due to start in the next few days, how about treating yourself to these lovely strawberry mousse cups?! This is my own recipe where I have drawn upon other recipes I have come across over the years and hence created this concoction. Obviously, if you are following my challenge then you'll know that this recipe won't count but it's so yummy I just wanted to share it!

Strawberry mousse in an edible chocolate cup

Strawberry Mousse Cups

Serves 6
200 g strawberries
125 g Marshmallows (Approximately 15 normal sized)
1 tsp lemon juice
120 ml double cream
For the chocolate cups
125 g plain chocolate
1 tsp white vegetable fat such as Trex

1. First make the chocolate cups by melting the chocolate and the vegetable fat together in a bowl over a pan of simmering water. Remember not to let the bottom of the bowl touch the water.
2. Brush the melted chocolate inside 6 cupcake baking cases (I always do a spare one just in case!). Place in the fridge for 10-15 minutes to set - you should still have quite a bit of chocolate mixture left over. Repeat once more. This can be done a few hours ahead.

Melting the chocolate with the Trex

 3.  Lightly crush 50 g of the strawberries and combine with the marshmallows in a saucepan and heat until melted. Stir in the lemon juice and cool completely.

4.  Whip the cream to soft peaks and fold in the marshmallow mix with the remaining chopped strawberries.

5. Carefully peel off the paper cases from the chocolate so you are left with the chocolate shell and fill the chocolate cups with the mousse mix. Chill until ready to serve. You can garnish with whipped cream or a single small strawberry.

Melting the marshmallows with the strawberries

Chopped strawberries to add to the mousse mix

Folding in the strawberries

Ready to chill in the fridge

Assembling pudding for my guests (this moreish cake recipe will be featuring soon!)

Rhubarb crumble - Gregg Wallace's favourite and just right for this time of year

Rhubarb crumble served with homemade custard

Rhubarb crumble is Greg Wallace's 'favourite pudding of all time' and when you dig that spoon into that crunchy and crumbly topping with the sharp fragrant rhubarb you then know why! This pudding is highly underrated in my opinion, it's not until you make a batch that you remember why you loved it in the first place. This version is rather lovely and has the added twist of some stem ginger and stem ginger syrup but you can omit this and add an extra 25-50 g of caster sugar. It also has the bonus of being a simple dish to prepare and then cooked in the oven for 40 minutes or so.

Rhubarb from my mother's garden - thanks Mum!

Anyone that has seen Gregg on television on programmes such as MasterChef will have gathered that he is their puddings aficionado. Nothing pleases him more than a sublime and delicious pudding for him to sample and judge. In terms of my favourite cookery books, Gregg's favourite puddings (2010) http://www.amazon.co.uk/GREGGS-FAVOURITE-PUDDINGS-WALLACE-HARDBACK/dp/B00BO9URDQ/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1371572595&sr=1-3&keywords=gregg%27s+favourite+puddings is definitely one I reach for when I want a reliable, reassuring, and sumptuous pudding! As well as plenty of wonderful pudding recipes he also includes basics such as icings, glazes, custards, sauces, pastries and so on. Other recipes I can recommend and that I have followed are his pavlova on page 130 (I always use whatever fruit is in season), Rum and raisin ice on page 150 (if you like this flavour you'll absolutely love this recipe!). Also his custard recipes (page 170) , chocolate sauce (page 175) and pastry recipes (pages 176-177) are all fail-safe stand-bys you can dip into as and when needed.

Being summer it's absolutely fitting then that I do include a nice seasonal recipe. Rhubarb crumble can be found on page 28 of Gregg's book.

Rhubarb crumble (Octopus Publishing Group Ltd 2010)

Serves 6
1 kg fresh rhubarb
125 g caster sugar
2 pieces of stem ginger, chopped
2 tbsp stem ginger syrup
For the crumble
250 g plain flour
125 g butter, diced
25 g caster sugar
25 g demerara sugar

1. Preheat the oven to 190 degrees. Top and tail the rhubarb and remove any stringy skin. Cut the sticks into 2.5 cm lengths, place in a large ovenproof dish and sprinkle with the caster sugar. Add the stem ginger and stem ginger syrup.

   

   Prepared rhubarb

   
   
2. To make the crumble, sift the flour into a bowl. Add the butter and rub in with your fingertips until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Stir in the caster sugar.
3. Cover the rhubarb with the crumble mix and press down lightly. Sprinkle over the demerara sugar.
4. Bake in the oven for 40 minutes until golden brown. Serve hot with custard.

Ready to bake in the oven

Golden brown straight from the oven

Cooking up some Quick Custard (page 170), stirring in the vanilla extract

If you want to serve your crumble with custard, and quite frankly who wouldn't, it's very easy to make your own. Here are instructions for Gregg's Quick Custard page 170, slightly less naughty than his proper variety, also to be found on that page, as it doesn't contain cream!

Quick Custard

Serves 2-4
2 egg yolks
1 tsp cornflour
2 tbsp caster sugar
300 ml milk
Half tsp vanilla extract

1. Beat egg yolks, cornflour and sugar in a bowl until pale and creamy.
2. Bring the milk to the boil in a saucepan, pour on to the egg mixture and stir. Return the mixture to the cleaned saucepan and cook over a gentle heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until the mixture is thick enough to coat the back of the spoon.
3. Add the vanilla extract, then strain. Serve warm.

Delicious rhubarb crumble and homemade custard

Next time: Coming soon my own recipe for strawberry mousse cups, perfect for Wimbledon and summer dining...