Recipe: Hazelnut and Chocolate Chip Blondies

You were requisitioned blondie

I had heard Keith muttering something about blondies.  As a brunette, I took slight offence and had not paid attention to him, until I heard Keith say something about pecans. It then occurred to me he was not talking about his hair colour preferences.  Instead, he had wanted to bake the above cake as a dessert treat. 

The blondie is similar to a brownie, but with a dominant flavour of vanilla and caramelised sugars, instead of chocolate.  You can substitute the hazelnuts for pecan, macadamias or walnuts.  In fact most nuts would do.  Chocolate drops will do also instead of the broken up bar, but we recommend using good quality chocolate of at least 70% cocoa.

Ingredients

• 100g Unsalted butter
• 200g drak brown sugar
• 200g plain white flour
• Good pinch of salt
• 2 medium sized eggs, lightly beaten
• 1/3 tsp baking powder
• 1/3 tsp baking soda
• 1 vanilla pod
• 50g hazelnuts roughly chopped
• 50g chocolate (70% cocoa) smashed into small pieces

 Method

1. Preheat the oven to 200C or gas mark 5 (adjust for fan assisted ovens)
2. Cream the butter together with the sugar in a mixing bowl
3. Add the eggs and mix together until you get an even consistency
4. Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt and sift into the mixing bowl
5. Split the vanilla pod and extract the seeds into the mixture
6. Give the mixture a good stir until all the ingredients are combined and you have a thick cookie dough like paste
7. Stir in the chocolate pieces and hazelnuts
8. Line a 6x8 inch tin with greaseproof paper with a couple of centimetres protruding over each end
9. Transfer the blondie mix onto the paper and spread as evenly as you can. It should be about 1.5cm to 2cm thick
10. Place into the middle shelf of the oven for 18 minutes
11. Remove from the tin and lay to rest on a rack until it has sufficiently cooled.

This recipe makes about 6 blondies. We served them with a couple of small scoops of vanilla ice cream.

The blondies were so good I had to force myself to leave the kitchen to stop picking at them.  Truly divine!

Recipe: Mini Apple & Cinnamon Loaves, perfect for afternoon tea

For the want of the price of tea and a slice

When I was a youngster I was obsessed with all things tiny. In fact, I can boast that I managed to squeeze 52 items into a matchbox once. In a similar vein, miniature cupcakes, cookies, apples, chipolatas were exponentially more fun than regular sized foods. I believe this may be a product of being an '80s child, when all foods were either shrunken or enlarged. To some extent I have not grown out of this, and when I spied small baking loaves, well, they had to be mine. The inaugural baking event was apple and cinnamon loaves served with spiced honey cream.

When As well as having that homely, domestic goddess appeal to them, the loaves taste great too. They are beautifully spongy with a subtle spice. Together with the spiced, honey cream you have an amazing teatime treat. Feel free to play with the quantities if you would like more kick from the ginger or sweet from the cinnamon. We are at the tail end of the apple season, but there are still good quality fruit out there.

For the cake:

• 3 tsp vanilla extract
• 8 tsp ginger syrup
• 80g caster sugar
• 1 egg
• 200g self-raising flour, sieved
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 100ml milk
• 25ml buttermilk
• 2 tbsp apple sauce
• 1 red apple cored and thinly sliced
• 1 tbsp granulated sugar
• 1 medium red apple
• Knob of butter, melted
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

For the cream (for two cakes):

• 8 tbsp double cream (low fat)
• 1/2 tbsp honey
• Shake of ground ginger
• Shake of ground cinnamon

Method

1. Grease 4 mini loaf tins (but depending on the size, this could make more)
2. Pre-heat the over to 160C / Gas Mark 4
3. Beat the butter, sugar, vanilla extract and ginger syrup until light and fluffy
4. Add the egg and beat further
5. Gradually stir in the flour, baking powder, milk and buttermilk
6. Add the apple sauce
7. Transfer to greased loaf tins
8. Lay the slices of apples on top in a concertina fan
9. Mix the granulated sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle about 3/4 on the cakes
10. Lightly baste the apples with the knob of melted butter
11. Bake for 20 minutes or until golden
12. Remove from the oven and sprinkle remaining sugar and cinnamon.
13. Allow to rest for 5 minutes before removing from tins and allowing to cool on a rack.

We accompanied the mini loaves with the spiced cream, but you can also serve with custard or ice cream. Enough loafing around, get baking!

Recipe: Ham and cheese toastie sandwiches

Thinking of all the ham and cheese sandwiches

No, it is not a croque monsieur.  Neither is it savoury French toast.  Nor is it welsh rarebit. 

It has been a week since we returned from France and I never thought I would get to the point where I craved cheese or ham.  I did though.  In fact, I had this concept which I outlined to Keith, and we took it one step further where we would actually create an eggy roux-coating around the cheese and ham sandwich and bake it until crispy. 

Yes, it is more involved than a sandwich should be, but our golden, crunchy, toasties make a delectable brunch or snack treat. 

Ingredients

• 2 eggs
• 8 slices of soft white bread
• 50g plain white flour
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 50g butter
• 50g grated mature cheddar cheese, we used Lincolnshire
• 1/2 tsp Dijon mustard
• Dash of Worcestershire sauce
• Pinch of nutmeg 
• 75g sliced smoked ham
• 300ml milk
• 50ml buttermilk

Method

1. Make a white roux by melting half of the butter in a pan on a low to medium heat, add half of the flour and stir until combined.
2. Add 2/3 of the milk to the roux a little at a time and stir continuously until there are no lumps. 
3. Stir in the cheese gradually. Add the mustard, nutmeg and Worcestershire sauce and stir again. The mixture should resemble a smooth paste. Remove from the heat.
4. Butter both sides of the bread.
5. Make 4 sandwiches using the ham and some of the cheese paste. Be careful not too spread the cheese on too thick.
6. Use a cookie cutter at this point if you want to make a shape but this is optional. Place side by side in a large shallow dish.
7. Whisk the egg with the rest of the milk and the butter milk. 
8. Whisk in 2 generous tbsp of the cheese paste with the remainder of flour and the baking powder and pour over the sandwiches.
9. Ensure they are evenly coated in the mixture.
10. If you have time, place in the fridge for 20 minutes to allow the mixture to soak into the bread.
11. Preheat the oven to 200C/Gas mark 5. Transfer to a greased oven tray and bake for 8-10 minutes until golden. If using firmer bread, you may want to extend this but it should be light and crispy on the exterior when cooked.

Wine Paring

Louis Jadot Beaujolais Villages –  Combe Aux Jacques 2009 (£8.99 from Waitrose) Distinctive red berry characteristics with a robust body that works well with the strong flavours of the cheese and ham

Recipe: Fish Cakes and tartar sauce

I do want fish cakes

We sometimes feel a bit lazy and just want to put together a quick midweek dinner that's still tasty without being unhealthy. In the past, shop bought fish cakes and salad fit the bill perfectly but over time we lost interest in the packaged variety. Today being midweek (I'm writing this on a Wednesday) I thought I'd revive this old favourite but this time I wanted to create my own and serve it with a punchy tartar sauce that would put its jarred compadres to shame.

Fish Cake Ingredients

• 500g potato
• 500g fresh white fish (I used whiting)
• 400ml milk
• 100g bread crumbs
• 2 tbsp chopped flat leaf parsley
• 2 eggs
• Zest of 1 lemon
• 3 spring onions, finely chopped
• Salt and pepper to taste

Tartar Sauce (light) Ingredients

• 200g creme fraiche
• 1 shallot, finely chopped
• 2 small pickles, finely chopped
• 2 tbsp capers
• 2 tsp lemon juice
• 1 tsp whole grain mustard
• 1 tsp horseradish sauce
• pinch of salt

Method

1. Peel and boil the potatoes until soft and mash. Allow to cool.
2. In a large frying pan, poach the fish in the milk for 5 minutes and set to one side to cool.
3. Once cool, remove the skin from the fish and any bones and flake the flesh.
4. Add the mashed potato, flaked fish, spring onion and lemon zest into a bowl and mix evenly.
5. Using your hands, mould the mixture into 6 evenly size cakes. They should be approximately 6cm in diameter and no more than 2cm thick.
6. Coat the cakes in egg and then breadcrumbs mixed with the chopped parsley and leave in the fridge for at least 30 minutes. This allows the fish cakes to bind a little to prevent them from breaking up when cooked.
7. Heat 1cm deep of vegetable or sunflower oil in a frying pan. To ensure the oil is hot enough before cooking, drop in a small piece of bread and it should bubble a little and turn golden after a few seconds. Carefully add the fish cakes and cook on each side until even and golden in colour.
8. Remove the fish cakes from the pan onto kitchen towel to remove any excess oil.
9. Before serving, heat the cakes in the oven at 180C/Gas mark 4 for 12 to 15 minutes.
10. Prepare the tartar sauce by combining the ingredients into a bowl