Thick Custard

I thought I would do a quick how to make custard post as it is really easy to do. I usually prefer cream with my desserts but homemade custard is just what I would call, awesome. It taste so much nicer than the shop bought ones.

Ingredients:

2 large egg yolks
50g caster sugar
10g cornflour (if you prefer runnier custard reduce or leave out the cornflour)
150ml semi skimmed milk
150ml double cream
1 vanilla pod

Serves 4

Mix the milk and cream in a pan and split the vanilla pod down the middle to get all the seeds out. Put those and the skin into the pan. Place on a low heat till it becomes warm but not boiling.

In another bowl mix the egg yolks and caster sugar. Keep beating till it is light in colour and then mix in the corn flour.

Once that is combined, take the vanilla pod skin out of the pan and pour into the egg mixture. Make sure you keep whisking continually while it goes in and till just after.

Now pour it back in the saucepan over a low heat. Gently stir it for 3-4 minutes until it thickens. Take off the heat and serve with whatever you desire or, just eat as is.

Simples!

Cherry Pie

I love fresh cherries but I am not a big fan of cherry flavoured food. I also cannot stand those glazed cherries so all things considered, when Mr P mentioned he would like me to make a cherry pie, there was a good chance it would never happen. However, because I am such a lovely wife, I did. I made it this weekend when we had one of my Sister-in-Laws over for Sunday lunch. Sister-in-law P.

Ingredients:

Pastry

500g plain flour
100g icing sugar
2 large eggs mixed
Splash of milk
250g cold unsalted butter cubed

Filling:

1kg fresh cherries stoned
6 tsp caster sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
Juice of 1 small lemon
1 tsp corn flour

Topping

Sprinkle of sugar. I used cane sugar as I had some but you can use caster sugar or what ever else you fancy. (not icing sugar mind)
1 egg to brush

Equipment:

Food processor if you have one otherwise you can use your hands.
9 or 10 inch pie dish


First lets make the pastry. Sieve the flour and sugar into the food processor and then add the butter. Whizz for a few seconds till its looking crumbly and then again while adding the eggs. Add a little bit of milk to help it bind and when it does stop the processor. It will bind quite quickly. Take the dough out and then gently make a ball on a floured work top trying not to overwork it. Wrap in cling film and put in the fridge for at least half as hour.

While that is in the fridge doings it thing lets make the filling. Now if anyone has a quick way to stone cherries do let me know. I sat in front of the television pitting them and unfortunately was forced to watch grown men run after a ball......Anywho, once that's done put to one side. Pour about 50ml of water into a pan on a gentle heat, add the caster sugar and allow to dissolve, then add the cherries. You want them to heat through for a little bit till they become softish over a medium heat. Now add the cinnamon and stir. While that's on the heat in small bowl mix your corn flour and lemon juice till combined.

When the cherries have softened but not jammy, add the corn flour and lemon mix. Now turn the heat up a bit and leave for about 3/4 minutes to thicken. If you leave it too long the amount will reduce too much leaving your pie with less filling. When done, pour into a bowl and leave to cool.

Now, cut two thirds of your pastry off the ball and roll out what is going to be the base on a floured work top. You want it to be about 3mm in thickness. Carefully place into your pie dish patting out the shape. Now put your filling in and then roll out the rest of the dough for the top. Place that on and cut off the excess around the edges. (Any left over pastry you can wrap in cling film and put in the freezer). Use a fork to crimp and make an x in the middle to allow steam to escape. Preheat your oven to gas mark 5 and just before it goes in, brush with the egg wash and sprinkle the sugar over.

Place in the oven for 35-45 minutes or until you get a nice golden colour on top.

Serve with custard/cream/ice cream or all three! Mr P enjoyed mucho thankfully.



A little side note, this was a nice gift from Sister in law P, Viennese Whirls which were gorgeous:

Italian Kitchen, New Oxford Street, London

So, it was time to meet up with some of my friends and we decided to go to Italian Kitchen. Overall I enjoyed myself but that was mainly down to the fact I was having a good old chin wag with my gal pals. Yes, I did just say gal pals. The food was ok. It wasn't offensive really but was it any better than maybe going to a pizza express? I do not think so.

We got there and were given a table that was snug but nice enough. I did notice the music was rather loud but that could just be me being an old moaning fuddy duddy. The waitress we had seemed nice enough but she did seem confused quite a lot, possibly because of the language barrier. When I asked for chilli oil I think she just assumed I said something else and it never turned up. I asked another waiter and I kid you not, he danced his way towards me in a cheesy serenading way. I asked for the chilli oil and I got it but he was just plain odd. I think the staff were just bored as it wasn't that busy. It was a Thurday night.

We ordered some olives and two starters, Insalata Caprese - Buffalo mozzarella, tomato and basil and Bruschetta al Pomodoro - Grilled bread with garlic, tomatoes and fresh basil to share between the four of us. The olives I have to say were gorgeous. Giant fresh good quality olives. I liked these a lot! I also really enjoyed the mozzarella salad. I love buffalo mozzarella. I just think its flipping great and you cannot go wrong when putting it with tomato and basil, it was really well seasoned. After this I feel the rest of the food was nothing more than ok. The bruschetta was piled high with tomatoes but did not really taste of much. It tasted like toasted brown bread which is fine if that's what your expecting. It just didnt seem to taste quite right to me.

Main course and I was boring and went for a Margarita. I had been thinking about pizza all day long and just wanted a nice cheesy pizza. It was alright sure but anything special no. It did the job. I had the chilli oil with the pizza and it was not really oil, more chopped chilli in a ramekin. Had the oil run out leaving just the chilli at the bottom? Was this what they call chilli oil? It had spice and that was fine but it was not chilli oil!

My friends had:
Salmon with brocolli and mashed potato:

Steak with mash and a rocket salad:

And the last one the photo did not come out but was Spaghetti with clams, mussels, calamari, shrimp, tomato and chilli. Everyone seemed happy enough with their mains.

We did not have dessert and am not really too bothered as I don't think they would have been all that wonderful. Of course this is a guess but it is how I felt with the food.

Would I go back, probably not no. One of my friends had a Taste of London card which meant it was half price so we paid £12.50. Had we paid full price I would have been a bit miffed as I feel like I could have had much better for the same price.

Food 5/10
Ambience 6/10
Service 5/10
Overall 5/10

Bogayo, Shoreditch

As you know I am a trendy soul which meant I was in Shoreditch on Saturday night for a shin dig. Before we got to the do, Mr P and our friend Mr C decided to grab a bit of dinner which took us to the Moroccan fusion restaurant Bogayo.
Now I should say the pictures are not my best work because I have a new phone and am slightly incompetent.

We got their early so it was not at all busy and were seated near the door at a cozy table. It was a little chilly when the door opened but this soon went as I started my large glass of white wine. The decor was what you would expect from a morrocan restaurant. Lanterns, colourful cushions and I especially loved the tiled tables.
The staff were all helpful and not overbearing while the food came out in reasonable time.

So the starters, Mr P had humus (houmous/humous. Why can we not spell it just one way??) and pitta bread, Mr C had scallops wrapped in bacon with sweet potato. I didn't really fancy a starter so nibbled on bread which came with olive oil and olives. The olives were stuffed with chilli which gave a nice kick and the bread was warm and soft but I have to say, the olive oil did not really taste of much.
I had a bite of Mr P's humus which was drizzled with olive oil and paprika. It was smooth and probably one of the better I have tasted, so of course regretted not getting any myself.
Mr C said his scallops were cooked well and that you cannot go wrong with scallops and bacon. The sweet potato and red wine sauce complimented them nicely.

Mr P and I both had tagines for our main course which was a first for us. He had the kofta tagine which was lamb meatballs in a herb tomato sauce with an egg topping (optional). The meatballs were cooked evenly and the sauce was rich. The only thing that perhaps did not work was the egg that sits on top as it just did not blend with the meat. My tagine was quail with baby onions, lemon and saffron. There were two sitting in my tagine which were succulent and well seasoned and the lemon hit that I got was refreshing. I enjoyed this dish a lot a part from the pain in le bottom it was getting the meat off the little fellas. On the side I had couscous and Mr P wanting to not be too authentic had some chips. The couscous was soft and cous cousy. I am not a massive fan of it but wanted to give it another go. It wasn't offensive but maybe just not for me.
Mr C had the mixed grill served with saffron rice and mixed salad which consisted of beef, chicken and pork. All the meat was well cooked and went nicely with the chilli sauce we were given. There could have been a little more on the plate but overall was a great dish.

Finally for desserts I ordered a warm fig tart with vanilla ice cream, Mr P had sticky toffee pudding with fudge sauce and chantilly cream and Mr C, had pistachio crème brulee. When they came out it was clear someone in the kitchen is a fan of the old dusting technique.

I think the fig tart was actually my favourite bit of the meal. The pastry was crumbly and the filling just on the right side of sweet. The vanilla ice cream was nice enough, maybe I have had better but all in all a delightful plateful.
I tried some of the sticky toffee pudding which was surprisingly light. A great gooey sticky toffee pudding. I am not sure how else to describe it other than yum yum. The pistachio brulee was not really my cup of tea. The top was just slightly over caramelised and had a burnt taste. I love creme brulee normally, in fact its in my top 5 fave desserts but I am not keen on the involvement of the nut in this situation. A part from the slightly burnt bit Mr C loved it so if you are a nut fan, go for it.

Overall, would I go back? If I was in the area I would certainly give it another go but, I am not sure I would make a special trip for it. It was good food for a reasonable price in a nice setting.

Price for three including wine and service was £90.

Food 7/10
Ambience 8/10
Service 10/10
Overall 8/10

Cheese Cake Pops

Say what?! A cheese cake in a pop? Are you crazy? Perhaps, but lets save that can of worms for another day.
So I had an epithany while dozing off to sleep the other night. I wanted to do another cake pop but felt my first attempt was not as good as it could have been. I started thinking about all the cakes and desserts I like and if it was possible to make these into a pop.
I decided to take a cheesecake recipe that I have done several times and give it a go. It was a bit of trial and error but I got there in the end. If you fancy just doing the cheese cake without the pop bit please do as it has always worked out as a good american cheesecake recipe. You do need to make the cheesecake the day before you serve it.

Ingredients:

200g digestive biscuits
50g unsalted butter melted
900g cream cheese
pinch of salt
300g caster sugar
240ml sour cream
2tsp vanilla extract
Lemon peel from one lemon
1 tbsp lemon juice
4 eggs
2 egg yolks
500g milk chocolate

Equipment:

Food processor or if you have not got one, a food bag and something heavy.
Lolly pop sticks
9in spring cake tin
Cellophane cake pop sweet bags
Ribbon
Foam (that one you get from florist that they stick flowers in. You can get it on amazon too) wrapped in clingfilm

Makes about 16-20 depending how big your balls are. (never gets old)


Day one, preheat your oven to gas mark 4. Put your biscuits in your food processor and whizz till they are crumbs (or bash them in a bag). Add the melted butter and whizz again. Butter your cake tin and then line the base with the crumbs. Don't use all of it, you just want a thin layer if your doing them as pops as we need some of the crumbs for decoration afterwards.

If your doing just the cheesecake, use it all. Pat it down and place in the oven for 10-15 minutes or till it has browned on top.

Take out to cool completely. While that is happening, beat your cream cheese till smooth and then add the sugar and salt. I like to do this in the food processor as it is quick and easy. Otherwise just do this in a large bowl till well combined.
Next add the sour cream, vanilla extract, lemon peel and juice and beat again. Now add the eggs and egg yolks and give a final mix.

Pour the mixture onto the base and put in the oven for about 50 minutes. It should have a slight wobble in the centre when done. After this time, leave it in the oven but with the door ajar for another 45 minutes. Then take it out and leave to cool. When it is take it out of the tin and put in the fridge overnight.

Day two, take it out of the fridge and either serve or if you are popping it, scrape all the cheesecake into a bowl. Add about half of the base. Use your own judgement as to how much base you want in the mixture. Give it a mix. Now this is quite a messy bit, line a baking tray with cling film and either using your hand or a better idea is an ice cream scoop, make the mixture into balls. You then need to put them in the freezer for about 4/5 hours.

When you are just about to take them out, melt your chocolate and get your left over crumbs ready on the side. Once melted take the balls out of the freezer, dip your lolly pop stick in the chocolate and then into the ball. Then quickly but carefully coat it with chocolate. I found the bigger the ball, the heavier it was which caused what I am now calling, the firemans pole situation. In future I would make them a little smaller.

I then used the foam to stick them in so as not to get flat heads like my previous cake pops. Next sprinkle the left over biscuit crumbs before the chocolate sets.

When they are all done, put them in a cake pop bag and tie with ribbon.

I was quite pleased with these. You get that nice creamy cheesecake filling with a hit of the chocolate. Its a deconstructed cheesecake if you will.

Mr P said he liked them but they needed more crumbs on the outside. Can't please everyone....sigh.

Rhubarb and Custard Cup Cakes

I love Rhubarb and Custard and I love cup cakes. So why not smush them together to make a delightful combination. I saw them made once on the television but changed a few things as I felt adding a buttercream to the top, would make them too sweet so replaced it with cream. I also added some of the compote to the batter mix. I am not sure I added enough so next time I would either just add more compote at the end when filling the cake or, add more to the batter. Feel free to make your own call on that.
I did a big batch but if you want to do 12 just halve the recipe.

Ingredients:

Cupcake Batter:

220g unsalted butter
500g golden caster sugar
4 large eggs
300g self-raising flour
250 plain flour
200ml semi skimmed milk
8 tbsp rhubarb compote

Custard:

2 large egg yolks
50g caster sugar
15g cornflour
150ml semi skimmed milk
150ml double cream
1 vanilla pod

Topping:

600ml Double cream whipped
Rhubarb compote

Equipment:

Foil cupcake cases (The paper ones tend to draw out the moisture from the sponge).
Cupcake/muffin tin
Piping bag with a star attachment
Radio - Ideally playing something like Sweet Caroline by Neil Diamond.

Makes 24 Cupcakes


Preheat the oven to gas mark 4. Cream the sugar and butter together until fluffy using an electric whisk/mixer, whatever you have. Then add one egg at a time, beating between each one.
In another bowl combine the two flours making sure to sieve them. Put about a third of the flour in the creamed mixture, beat it till combined.
Mix the rhubarb compote with the milk and add a third of it to the creamed mixture and again beat till combined. Keep going until all the milk and flour is well mixed with the sugar and butter.
Put your cupcake cases in your baking tin and then fill each one about two thirds full. I used a piping bag but you can use a spoon.

Place in the oven for 25-30 minutes. Check on them after 20 minutes and turn them in the oven. They are done when they have browned on top and a toothpick comes out clean. When cooled for a couple of minutes transfer to your cooling rack.

While they are cooling make the custard. Mix the milk and cream in a pan and split the vanilla pod down the middle to get all the seeds out. Put those and the skin into the pan. Place on a low heat till it becomes warm but not boiling.
In another bowl mix the egg yolks and caster sugar. Keep beating till it is light in colour and then mix in the corn flour. Once that is combined, take the vanilla pod skin out of the pan and pour into the egg mixture. Make sure you keep whisking continually while it goes in and till just after. Now pour it back in the saucepan over a low heat. Gently stir it for 3-4 minutes until it thickens. Take off the heat and leave to cool.

For the cream, just pour it into a bowl and whip till its nice and thick and then transfer to a piping bag. I tried to be all fancy and put some of the compote in the piping bag so when I piped it with the cream, it would look magical....this did not happen. Oh well.

Now for the assembly. Make a hole in each cake using a spoon. You want the hole to be big enough to put both the compote and custard in. When you have made your holes, place the compote in about half way and then fill the rest of it with the custard. Once done all you need to do is pipe your cream on top. Make it look however you wish. I used a star piping attachment.

Now eat, eat as many as you want because...well, why not?

Strawberry Cake Pops

These cake pops should come with a warning. If you do not like sweet food then steer clear of these bad boys. However if you do, nom nom away!
I decided to make my cake pops strawberry flavour with a white chocolate coating as I think these two ingredients compliment each other nicely. I ran out of the white chocolate for the last few so I use some milk chocolate as well.
When I do these again the only thing I would do differently is get some styrofoam so that I can stick the lolly pops in while they set. I had to turn mine on their heads which meant they came out with flat heads. Not the end of the world but if you want them to look all posh and what not then that is the way to do it.

Ingredients:

Cake:

175g butter, at room temperature
175g caster sugar
3 eggs
250g self-raising flour
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Cake Ball Ingredients:

225g Cream cheese
300g Icing sugar
2-3 tablespoons Strawberry jam
2-3 drops of red food colouring

Cake ball coating ingredients:

500g White Chocolate
Any cake decorations you fancy. I used sugar stars and strawberry curls.

Equipment:

Lolly pop sticks
7in cake tin
Cellophane cake pop sweet bags
Ribbon

Makes a batch of 20

First thing preheat your oven to gas mark 4. Next, cream the sugar and butter in a bowl and when it becomes well combined and fluffy, add the eggs making sure you mix well between each one. Add the vanilla extract and give it a final mix. Now sieve the flour and fold into the mixture in about 3 batches. Keep folding till there are no flour streaks. Line your baking tin with grease proof paper and then put the cake batter in. It will take about 35-40 minutes in the oven and is done when a knife comes out clean.

Leave the cake to cool completely and when it is, crumble into a large bowl. Now to make the frosting. Mix the cream cheese, strawberry jam, icing sugar and food colouring and once combined, pour into the cake crumbs. Using your hands mix till it turns into a sort of wet dough texture.

Now roll the mixture into balls about 2 inches in diameter. Lay them out on grease proof paper, cover with cling film and put in the freezer for 2-3 hours.

When your balls are firm (hilarious innuendo) and ready to come out of the freezer melt the chocolate in a bowl. Dip one end of your lolly pop stick in the melted chocolate and then poke it in the cake ball.
The chocolate helps it to stay on the stick. Now dip the whole ball into the chocolate and gently twirl it. It may be helpful to use a spatula as well to make sure it fully coats the ball.

Using whatever decorations you want sprinkle the balls with them and pop them on some grease proof paper till they set. If you are giving as gifts, wrap them in plastic sweet bags and use some ribbon to tie it. How jolly nice.

Mr P enjoyed his with a cup of tea.

Pumpkin Donuts

Happy New Year! Lets start the year by being healthy and I think donuts fall into that category don't they? Yes? Ok then donuts it shall be.
Why pumpkin? Well I have several cans in the cupboard I want to use up. The dough is quite a wet one so I am unable to make actual donut shapes but they taste just as good as small pumpkin balls. Balls of heaven if you will. Mr P seemed happy enough stuffing his chops with them as did I.

Ingredients:

Donut mixture:

1/2 can of Pumpkin puree
60ml butter milk
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 egg yolk
1/2 egg (yes half an egg, give it a mix and pour half in)
1 1/2 tbsp butter
pinch ground cloves
pinch ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
pinch salt
175g plain flour
50g caster sugar
Vegetable oil to fry

Icing:

130g icing sugar
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground nutmeg
2-3 tbsp milk (add a little at a time you may need more or less)

Makes 12 donuts

Equipment:

Whisk (electric or not)


Whisk the butter and sugar in a bowl, it will be a bit grainy but that's fine. Add the eggs and vanilla extract and beat those in. Then add the butter milk, mix it and then the pumpkin puree and mix again.

Next put all the dry ingredients into a bowl, give it a quick mix and then fold into the wet mixture in about 4 or so batches. Fold it until there are no streaks and you have a wet dough.
You have to then cover the bowl and place in the fridge to chill for one hour.

Now make your glaze by mixing the icing sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg. Then gradually add the milk till you have a thick smooth paste. Pop it in the fridge till you need it later.

After an hour pour the oil into a deep pan till its about 2 inches deep. Sprinkle in a little bit of flour to tell when it is hot enough, if it sizzle then it is. Then just a few at a time using two metal spoons make a mini rugby ball shape and gently place the dough into the pan. Fry your donuts about a minute on each side. Move to a plate with kitchen roll on to drain and allow to cool.

When cool pour over the glaze, let stand for about half and hour and then EAT!