White Chocolate and Cranberry Oatmeal Blondies – drizzle forecast ...

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I woke up this morning to a grey sky and a steady drizzle of rain. (If only Trump would share that trick that makes it stop raining on just him...) There is only one thing to shift me from this ill humour. Bring on the mood-enhancing white chocolate cranberry blondies...

These sweet treats are not quite as wicked as they sound. They contain oatmeal and dried fruit so that makes them practically breakfast. The recommended dosage for mood enhancement is two, with decent coffee.

The moggy isn't liking the rain either

For approximately 16 delicious ‘blondies’ you will need...

... to butter and base-line a 23cm square cake tin and to pre-heat your oven to 170°C

150g rolled oats (oatmeal flakes)

1 ½ teaspoons baking powder

100g butter

50g crunchy peanut butter

50g cream cheese

175g Demerara sugar

1 egg, beaten

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

100g white chocolate, roughly chopped

75g dried cranberries

75g white chocolate for topping (optional)



Cranberries: "We're not just for Christmas you know!"

Method
First place the rolled oats and baking powder in a food processor and blitz until you have a smooth ‘flour’.

In a separate bowl, cream together the butter, peanut butter, cream cheese and sugar, beating the mixture until light and fluffy.

Add the egg and vanilla extract and beat until well combined. Then mix in the oatmeal ‘flour’.

Finally, stir in the chopped white chocolate and cranberries. Mix until just combined.

Transfer the mixture into the prepared cake tin and bake for 30 minutes until evenly golden brown.

Remove from the oven and leave to cool slightly. Melt the remaining white chocolate and drizzle over or simply leave to cool in the tin before dusting with icing sugar and cutting into squares.

These are good slightly warm but even better if left go completely cold, so that the chocolate solidifies back into chunks. They’ll keep for up to a week (yeah right!) if sealed in an airtight container or cling wrap.

My lazy woman’s way to melt chocolate: snap the chocolate into squares and place in a Ziploc bag. Remove as much air as possible from the bag and seal. Half-fill a 1 pint measuring jug with boiling water, then carefully place the sealed bag in the water making sure the chocolate is submerged. Leave for a couple of minutes until the chocolate has melted. Remove the bag from the water and pat dry. Snip off a small corner of the bag and gently squeeze the liquid chocolate over the blondies.

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Boxty – out of the laundry room and into the frying pan

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Out of the laundry room and into the frying pan
(the gorgeous bowl and jug are by my aunt, Patricia Casey, artist and potter extraordinaire)

Writing in The Medical Times and Gazette in 1865, Henry MacCormac M.D., of Belfast, mentions the preparation of Boxty or ‘poorhouse bread’.

“The country people prepare, for purposes of laundry, potato starch. Raw potatoes are peeled, grated and washed. The gratings from which the boxty cake is made remain in the colander. This boxty cake … has a peculiar but not unpleasant flavour. I remember having partaken of it… in one of the houses of the peasantry.”

Thanks Henry, I know there were particular reasons for such frugality at the time, but that sounds really, really grim. No wonder Boxty isn’t our national dish!

As if that weren’t bad enough, a traditional rhyme suggests that if you were a female at that time, and this concoction wasn’t in your repertoire, you were in big trouble: Boxty on the griddle /Boxty in the pan / If you can’t make boxty / You’ll never get a man. Yikes!

Mercifully, laundry methods, society, and potato cuisine have all moved on since the dark days of the nineteenth century. You'll find that Boxty can be a type of potato cake, a dumpling or a pancake. Today’s recipe is for the pancake. My preference is for the floury Rooster potato but any floury potato will do.

For approximately 12 boxty pancakes you will need…

350g freshly boiled and mashed potato

50g butter

250g raw potato, finely grated

250g plain flour

1 teaspoon fine table salt

1 teaspoon baking powder

¾ teaspoon bread soda

350mls buttermilk

A little sunflower oil or extra virgin olive oil for frying

Mix the butter with the freshly made mashed potato while it is still hot. Leave to cool.

Meanwhile, wring the grated potato out in a clean tea towel to extract as much liquid as possible. (Discard the liquid.)  Add the grated potato to the cooked mashed potato along with the flour, salt, baking powder and bread soda and mix to combine.

Gradually mix in the buttermilk to form a thick batter.

Now, heat a frying pan over a medium heat. Wipe the hot pan with a wad of kitchen paper dipped in sunflower oil, giving the pan the barest sheen of oil. (Keep the oily paper to wipe the frying pan between cooking each pancake.)

Fry gently until the surface of the batter has set

Scoop about 80mls of batter into the pan and quickly smooth it out to form a circle. Fry gently until the surface of the batter has set, then flip the pancake over. Continue cooking for a further 30 seconds or so, or until the pancake is golden brown. Repeat until all the batter has been used up, keeping the cooked pancakes warm in a low oven.

Serve as part of a cooked breakfast or drizzled in maple syrup.

Variation:

I make tiny versions of these as an alternative to blinis and serve with smoked salmon and crème fraiche.

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Honeyed Goats Cheese in a Walnut Crust – devilishly good!

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Goats cheese, honey? Where?

What’s with the goats on the M11? It is rather alarming to see their devil’s eyes glaring out from the side of the road. Go back to the hills where you belong, silly creatures.

Serious danger to traffic aside, I cannot see a goat without thinking of goats cheese and I found myself at the checkout with two gorgeous little cheeses in my basket. My beloved thinks he doesn’t like goats cheese so it has to be presented in disguise. Here’s how that went …

Brrrr... goats cheese needs a coat in this weather!

For 2 portions you will need…

1 heaped tablespoon plain flour

a pinch of salt and a twist of black pepper

1 egg, beaten

100g fresh breadcrumbs

50g walnuts, finely chopped

50g melted butter

2 small crottins of goats cheese about 70g each (how ripe is up to you – I used fresh)

Green salad and runny honey to serve

Hey, watch me do the eggy-paddle!

Preheat the oven to 180°C

1.      Mix the salt and pepper with the flour and sprinkle into a shallow bowl. Place the beaten egg in a second shallow bowl. Place the fresh breadcrumbs in a third bowl with the finely chopped walnuts and pour in the melted butter, tossing the crumbs and the nuts until the butter is evenly distributed.

2.      Sprinkle the cheeses with flour, making sure to coat every last centimetre of the surface. Dip in the beaten egg, then in the breadcrumb mixture.

3.      Return the coated cheeses to the egg bath, and again to the breadcrumb mixture, gently packing the crumbs around the cheeses to seal well.

Goats cheese in its winter coat of breadcrumbs and walnut

4.      Transfer the cheeses to a lightly buttered baking tray and place in the preheated oven for about 20 minutes or until golden.

5.      Remove from the oven and serve immediately with a green salad and a generous drizzle of decent honey.

Honeyed Goats Cheese in a Walnut Crust - Devilishly Good!

 

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Valentine's Day 2021 - sharing is not really an option

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Looking back over previous Generosity Day / Valentine's Day posts, I'm struck by the fact that all the sweet treats are for sharing - with your darling, with your friends and family, with your colleagues! Covid has knocked that on the head somewhat. 

You could make smaller portions and share a virtual sweet moment with your darling, friends and family, colleagues by emailing them the recipe so they can turn that virtual moment into a moment of deliciousness.

I'm reposting Baileys Chocolate Biscuit Cake; Sour Cherry Rocky Road, and 'Just Because...' cookies; 

I'm not sure which of these was my favourite... I think if I had to make a choice, it would be the Rocky Road (which is almost too delicious to share anyway!)

Stay safe

Mwah! x

Love is ... sharing your Baileys Chocolate Biscuit Cake

For me, love is in the every day things.  It’s in the whole-hearted, rib-cracking bear-hugs from my godson; in the slightly soggy, pre-licked crisps offered by my three-year-old niece when you know she really, really, really wants them herself (“Thanks honey, but you have them, I insist! No, really – I insist”.

I asked friends and family what love meant to them. It turns out, it isn't in the grand gestures. Love is... in having the washing up done for you; in getting a cup of tea... just the way you like it... brought to one’s boudoir. Love is in chocolate; in a tiny posy of primroses; in a bunch of daffodils (preferably not ones stolen from the local park); Love is in a ‘Thank you for feeding me’ lick from a four-legged friend (awwww - but don't be giving the dog chocolate now - it will probably wolf it down and then be sick as a ... dog... or worse); it's in a crayoned picture of you looking like a happy witch; in a warm hand that reaches for your cold hand; in sharing a bag of salty, vinegary chips; Love is in cupcakes, hot from the oven; in a hug, just when you need it; it seems that love happens in lots and lots of small ways, - funnily, many of them food-related. ... read on for recipe

Sour Cherry Rocky Road - the Silver Lining! 

Sometimes ...  often  ... ok ... practically all the time, life doesn’t go according to plan. The road ahead usually has a few lumps and bumps lurking, ready to trip us up as soon as we cast our attention elsewhere... (click on the post to chortle at the lumps and bumps that were happening that week). 

The good news is that life’s little wrinkles can often work out for the best. Most lumps and bumps can have a silver lining... like when I drop my heavy cookery notebook on my foot (bump, lump) and a little scrap of cardboard falls out. It’s my sister Veronica’s incredible Rocky Road recipe (silver lining).

In general I HATE marshmallow, I HATE desiccated coconut, and I’m not particularly fond of milk chocolate either. However when these ingredients get together with crunchy salty nuts and chewy sour cherries and go skinny dipping in dark chocolate, magic happens. I will happily eat this version by the kilo – leading to further lumps and bumps if indulged too often.  ... read on for recipe

‘Just because...’ cookies

Love is bigger than just romantic love. It’s in the everyday things:  it’s in the email/card/text/call that says between the lines “Hey, I was thinking of you”. It’s in making the dinner/walking the dog/cleaning the bathroom/rescuing the laundry from a sudden rain shower without having to be asked. It’s in accepting the irritating imperfections right along with the good qualities that are so much easier to love, whether you are family, friend, or lover.

Since 2011, there has been a move to ‘reboot’ Valentine’s Day as Generosity Day; to make it less ‘cosy couples’ and more egalitarian. At first glance, this smacks of an ‘everyone-gets-a-medal’ race, but why not!  Generosity Day is an opportunity to practice random acts of, well, generosity. It is a day for giving rather than taking. ... read on for recipe

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'Courgetti' Fritters with Lemon and Feta - Watch them vanish!

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Courgettes are like magic beans. You set off for the market. On the way you get conned into handing over your cow for a few small seeds. You return home delighted with your "bargain", but your mum chucks them out the window in disgust and practically at once they spring forth from the ground and start growing like beanstalks almost before your very eyes! Once they flower, they magically produce courgette after courgette - seemly overnight - and suddenly you have the equivalent of a courgette factory and the need for 101 courgette recipes.

One of my favourite ways to eat this vegetable to is spiralize it into 'courgetti' and then tip these delicious veggie noodles into whatever pasta sauce that is heating on the stove, give them about 3 minutes to heat through, then serve. Courgetti also make a delicious salad, tossed in soy vinaigrette and toasted sesame seeds. They are also great stir-fried with garlic, ginger and chillies.

Another is the ‘Some Like it Hot’ Courgette Vichyssoise from the book – a lovely light summery soup and a doddle to make.

My latest favourite, though, is Courgetti Fritters with Feta and Lemon. They can be a snack, a starter, an unusual side - and a delicious way to make courgettes vanish as quickly as they appeared.

For 8 – 10 fabulous fritters you will need...

2 courgettes (zucchini), approximately 600g in total

1 teaspoon table salt

1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh mint

80g spring onions, finely chopped

80g feta, crumbled into small crumbs

60g fine fresh breadcrumbs

1 small clove of garlic, crushed

1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest

1 large egg, lightly beaten

a little flour for dredging

A pinch of salt and a little freshly ground black pepper

Extra virgin olive oil or sunflower oil for frying

Start by spiralizing the courgettes (skin and all) using the fine noodle attachment of your spiralizer*. Using a scissors, cut them into lengths about 6cm – about 3 inches - long, otherwise they’ll end up being an unmanageable tangle. Put them in a colander over a bowl and sprinkle with the teaspoon of salt. (*If you don't have a spiralizer, coarsely grate the courgettes instead).

Leave for about 30 minutes so that the salt leaches some of the liquid out of the courgettes

Squeeze the courgettes to remove as much liquid as possible and drain this away. Place the courgettes in a clean tea towel and wring out as much liquid as possible.

Place in a bowl with the rest of the ingredients except the flour and mix until well combined.

Divide the mixture into 8 – 10 portions. Using floured hands, form them into flat little cakes, about 1cm thick. Place on a lightly floured plate while you heat a little of the oil in a non-stick frying pan over a medium heat.

Cook the fritters for about 3 -4 minutes each side, or until golden brown and serve hot. Simple!

I love them as a snack with either the crisp apple (or cool as a cucumber) Tzaziki in the Starters, Snacks and Light Bites section of the book.

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Double-Hazelnut Vanilla Caramel Cake – quite a character!

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Re-reading Kathryn Stockett’s best-seller, The Help, I couldn't get one of the characters out of my mind. Appearing almost as often as the main protagonist, Minnie’s Caramel Cake seemed to be a huge part of the story. It made me hungry every time I picked up the book.

I tried to find a definitive recipe for Caramel Cake, but – like Irish stew – it appears to be one of those recipes that no matter what version you use, you’ll set someone’s tongue a-tutting.

Soooooo, I’m not going to try and recreate a Caramel Cake. I am going to make a Double-Hazelnut Vanilla Caramel Cake – hazelnut sponge cake, with a layer of creamy Nutella filling, slip in some crushed meringue, add a layer of caramel, another layer of Nutella/meringue filling. Top this sugar-fest with more caramel - the filling doubles as frosting.  You’ll need a sugar thermometer for the caramel topping.

For 10 generous slices you will need...
... to pre-heat the oven to 160°C


For the Cake Batter

200g butter, at room temperature

180g caster sugar

4 eggs, beaten

150mls fresh milk

1 teaspooon vanilla extract

330g plain flour

3 teaspoons baking powder

50g toasted hazelnuts, chopped

Method

·     First, butter and base-line two 23cm sandwich tins.

·     In a large mixing bowl (or food mixer) beat together the soft butter and sugar until fluffy and paler in colour.

·     In a jug, mix together the eggs, milk and vanilla extract.

·     In another bowl, mix together the flour and baking powder.

·     Slowly add about a quarter of the egg mixture to the butter, beating continuously until combined. Then, add about a quarter of the flour mixture. Continue beating while you add alternate lots of egg and flour to the butter mixture until both have been used up.

·     Finally, add in the toasted hazelnuts and mix until just combined.

·     Divide the mixture between the two buttered, base-lined sandwich tins and bake in the pre-heated oven for 30 minutes. Prod lightly with a finger. The sponges should spring back. If not, give them another 5 minutes or so and test again.

·     Leave to cool in the tin for about 10 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack. Leave to cool completely.

While the cakes are baking, make the fillings...

For the Creamy Nutella Filling

240g cream cheese

130g Nutella

220g icing sugar, sifted

2 single-portion ready-made meringues, crushed into pea-sized bits

·     Place the cream cheese, Nutella, and icing sugar in a mixing bowl and with your hand-held blender set to low, beat together until combined in a smooth mixture. The meringue comes in later...

For the Caramel Filling and Topping

330g sugar

250mls milk

30g black treacle

50g Kerrygold butter

8 tablespoons condensed milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

·     Place the sugar, milk and treacle in a saucepan and stir together over a low heat until the sugar has melted. Turn up the heat a little, stirring continuously, until the mixture is bubbling and has reached the ‘soft ball’ mark on your sugar thermometer (116°C or 240°F). Don’t worry if the milk separates. It will all come together in the end.

·     As soon as it has reached the ‘soft ball’ stage, remove it from the heat and add the butter, letting it melt. Stir the melted butter into the mixture – it will seem like this is never going to happen at first, but persist! When the butter has vanished into the mixture, stir in the condensed milk and vanilla extract.

·     Leave the mixture to get cold, beating occasionally to break up the surface crust that forms as it cools.

Assemble when the cakes and the frosting are cold

·     Split each of the cakes and fill both with the Nutella mixture. Sprinkle the filling with crushed meringue before joining the cake halves together again.

·     Pour a generous layer of caramel on top of one cake and stack the other cake on top.

·     Pour the rest of the caramel over the stacked cakes, smoothing with a palate knife. Ensure that the sides are covered.

·     At this stage it looks very brown so I coat the sides with chopped toasted hazelnuts (that makes it triple hazelnut!) or desiccated coconut and drizzle the top with dark chocolate which sets hard and makes a lovely contrast to the soft caramel. You may have other decorating ideas. Either way, prepare for a sugar rush.

Tip
Use ready-made caramel or Dulche de Leche in place of the caramel frosting if you want to save yourself a bit of stirring. 

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White Chocolate and Cherry Clafoutis - Simply Irresistible !

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The poet, Paul Valéry, said that a poem is never finished, only abandoned. I have that same feeling about recipes. From time to time, I can’t resist making just a tiny edit or two to an old favourite, on the hunch that it will make the dish even better.

Simply irresistible

I have revisited the first dish I ever did on Alchemy in the Kitchen - Cherry Clafoutis - and I’ve made a few edits. One was the addition of chunks of good white chocolate - for me, the missing link in the evolution of clafoutis. 

I have also come down firmly on the side of de-stoned cherries for a number of reasons:

●       multiple taste tests don’t reveal the almond flavour that the stones are supposed to impart (a touch of almond extract does it better!)

●       de-stoned cherries leak their juice into the batter and even more juice evaporates, leaving a concentrated cherry flavour

●       there is less risk of a tooth-shattering surprise.

Hungry caterpillar? No, cherry-stoner!

Unfortunately I had to buy the cherries for today’s clafoutis rather than being presented with a strange and marvellous bouquet as before.  

Life is ...

As I needed a decent amount of natural light for the photos, I made the dish this morning. Although I’m not in the habit of having dessert for breakfast, clafoutis is best eaten warm from the oven, so I had no option but to sample it there and then (good excuse eh?) and I have decided it wouldn’t be out of place at a special brunch.

For 4 servings you will need......to preheat the oven to 170°C

A little butter for greasing 4 shallow ramekin dishes

50g ground almonds
25g plain flour

½ teaspoon baking powder
a  pinch of fine table salt
3 eggs, lightly beaten
50g runny honey
150mls fresh whole milk
½ teaspoon almond extract

300g ripe fresh cherries, stones removed (I prefer to leave the stalks on for presentation but take them off if you prefer).

75g good quality white chocolate, cut into 1cm chunks

Method

With the butter, lightly rub the inside of the ramekin dishes and set aside.

Measure the ground almonds and flour into a mixing bowl and add the baking powder and salt. Add the eggs and whisk to a smooth batter. Add the honey (I weigh it directly into the bowl to save on washing up) and whisk until combined. Finally whisk in the milk and almond extract to give a consistency similar to single cream.

Divide the batter evenly between 4 shallow ramekin dishes, making sure not to fill beyond the half-way mark, then divide the cherries and chocolate chunks evenly between the 4 dishes.

One for me, one for the clafoutis, one for me...

Bake in the pre-heated oven for 25 minutes or until risen and golden brown.

Allow to cool slightly before dusting with icing sugar and serving with a jug of pouring cream. Mmmmm-mmmm-mmmmmmmmmm.

Note: Clafoutis sinks slightly as it cools – that’s just its nature

Note: Clafoutis vanishes quickly when cooked - that's just in its nature ...

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