Pancakes Galore - Shrove Tuesday

I love pancakes. I mean I REALLY love pancakes. Shrove Tuesday, Pancake Day, whatever you call it I love it! I truly have no idea why we don't have pancakes more often throughout the year. Every year I say I will and every year I don't have anything other than the occasionally American style pancake for breakfast and a crepe if I go to France. This year I should eat more British style pancakes!

Pancake Day holds great memories for me. My dad hardly ever went in the kitchen as we were growing up. To be honest I don't think I thought he could actually cook, but the one thing he always did was cook the pancakes. If he was working or wasn't around for any reason we would postpone Pancake Day. My mum would make the batter to Delia's recipe and then when my dad came home he would cook the pancakes. He'd always cook them in lard (I assume as his mother had and as it has a higher cooking temperature) and would always toss them, making us laugh as he pretended to drop them or get them stuck to the ceiling.
Today I started the day with American style pancakes but a healthy version high in protein and low in sugar. I topped them with grated apple, a squeeze of lemon juice, berries and a spoonful of 0% Total Greek yoghurt. A fab start to the day and a perfect post workout treat.




The recipe can be found here
I then had a light lunch to leave room for a blow out evening of pancakes.

I started with a relatively healthy Bolognese Pancake Stack. I made this by layering up spelt pancakes with Bolognese.






I used the Delia recipe above but replaced the white flour with spelt whole meal flour. It was effectively a lasagne but with pancake rather than pasta layers. For the Bolognese I used half beef mince and half turkey mince as it's a leaner cut and bulked it with plenty of onion and mushrooms to increase the vegetables. I also omitted the béchamel sauce and topped with tomato sauce and a small sprinkling of Parmesan rather than loads of cheese.



The photo's aren't great but give you the idea







For pudding I didn't even attempt to be healthy and went all out.

For these pancakes I used Delia's standard recipe above with white flour as she does and I cooked them in lard as my dad would have done.

The first one I decided to try something inspired by a wonderful breakfast I had in a little cafe opposite the Anne Frank museum in Amsterdam. I made this by pouring batter into the pan as normal and pressing rounds of apple into the batter before the first flip.






The apple cooks into the pancake and tastes great. I served it with a sprinkle of cinnamon and a drizzle of agave nectar.



For the second one I kept things simple. It can't be Pancake Day without at least one lemon and sugar pancake. I squeezed a generous amount of lemon on the cooked pancake and sprinkled liberally with granulated sugar. Simple and delicious!



Next up was a Nutella pancake. I make this by cooking the pancake on one side and then flipping. As the second side cooks I put a generous spoonful of Nutella in one corner of the pancake so it could start to melt and then folder the pancake into quarters squashing in the Nutella with the back of my spatula.









Finally, was the Big Bang, based on a banana split sundae I went all out on this pancake. Totally OTT and fabulous!
I cooked the pancake on one side and flipped it. While the other side cooked I added slices of mars bar and allowed them to start to melt from the heat of the pan and added slices of banana.






I then put it on the plate and added whipped cream, chocolate ganache and lots of salted caramel sauce. Wow!



After all of that I now feel rather obscenely full and am kind of understanding why I don't do this more often!

Porridge with Spiced Apple

On a cold day like today a steaming bowl of porridge is a great start to the day.
I try not to add any sugar and also use non dairy milk so have to be fairly inventive with the toppings so it doesn't become bland and boring.
The recipe can be found in my guide

Check out How to Cook Porridge With Spiced Apple by Sarah's Kitchen Diary on Snapguide.

Here is the finished result




Tasty!

Summer Porridge

After posts full of cake and chocolate yesterday, I though it was time for something healthier.

This is one of my favourite summer breakfasts and I often have some variation on it. It's so quick and easy, the only hard part is remembering to put the oats to soak the night before!

Start the night before, by putting the oats in a bowl. I use about 40g per person. Pour on your choice of milk until it comes just above the level of the oats. I tend to use oat milk to cut down on the dairy I eat, a good apple juice also works well. Cover the bowl and put it in the fridge overnight.

In the morning coarsely grate half an apple per person and stir into the oats. Top with your choice of fruits, I used a mixture of cherries, raspberries, blueberries and strawberries. It's also good to add some dried cranberries or chopped dried apricots. Sprinkle with a few chopped nuts and drizzle on some good honey, if desired. My favourite is Greek honey which is dark and has an almost caramel like flavour.

Enjoy!

Pink Lady Apple Sorbet

I love fresh fruity sorbet's and ice creams. There used to be a fab little place in Ealing which sold a huge variety, but since it closed I've been missing my fix.

Although they did more interesting flavours I always really enjoyed their green apple sorbet so decided to have a go at recreating my own version.

I love Pink Lady apples. They are so much sweeter and juicier then most varieties of apple and as they are naturally so sweet it meant I had to add very little sugar.

This recipe is so simple. I started by making a apple purée as the base by cooking 8 apples chopped into rough chunks (pips, skin and all), adding 1 tbsp of caster sugar and the juice of half a lime for some zing plus a small glass of water and cooked until the apples were soft and starting to fall apart. I let it cool for a few minutes and then sieved the mixture to end up with a smooth purée which was a lovely pale pink colour without adding and food colouring. I popped the purée into the fridge to chill.

Once cold I churned in my ice cream maker until frozen.

I have one of the basic ice cream makers which you freeze the bowl and then churn the mixture until frozen. It's not great and I want to buy the ice cream maker attachment for my Kitchen Aid but unfortunately I can't justify that at the moment. In the meantime it does the job! If you don't have an ice cream maker you can place the mixture in the freezer and give it a good stir every hour or so to break up the ice crystals.

Once frozen either eat immediately or pop into a freezer proof container and freeze until you want to use it.

I served the sorbet by piling spoonfuls into a glass and topping with a spring of mint. Such a lovely, light and relatively healthy pudding.





I am entering this into Kavey Eats Bloggers Scream for Ice Cream challenge this month, which has fruit at the theme.

This mornings breakfast...Apple and Plum Porridge

I eat porridge for breakfast most mornings with various toppings but have never written a post before. This morning I had jumbo oat porridge topped with apples and plums. I always add some bran and soak the oats in the milk and water for at least ten minutes as I think this makes the final result lovely and creamy. I also always use a mixture of milk (now I use almond milk) and water largely as it is the way my mum used to make it for me as a child. You need 2 parts liquid to 1 part oats. Bring it to the boil and then turn it down and simmer for around 5 mins until creamy.

I served up with bowl of porridge and then topped it with some chopped cooked apple and a plum compote using the wild plums mentioned in this post. I made the compote with no added sugar simply by cooking the plums very slowly for a very long time until sticky and yummy. I've heard it referred to as Hungarian Jam before. I then flooded the edge of the porridge with a milk (I use almond milk). You can also add a sprinkle of dark soft brown sugar or a drizzle of honey if you want extra sweetness (if you want it to be clean skip the sugar and if you really need the sweetness go for a natural sweetner).

Enjoy!

Apples, apples and more apples

I've been making presents for Christmas for a while now and love @vanessakimbell's push to #letsmakechristmas.


As I mentioned on twitter I've been collecting windfall apples (apparently an old type of Golden Delicious) from my parents garden. This is on top of some I was given by a friend (Bramleys) and some wild ones (no idea what variety). There is something I find very satisfying about making something from ingredients I have picked or foraged. The only slight issue was what to do with them all. After peeling and blanching what seemed like 3000 apples to put in the freezer I wanted to try something else!

Apple Butter

I keep reading and hearing about Apple Butter. It seems to be an American recipe which is a bit like a thick fruit compote. I love cooked apples so it sounded right up my street! Basically you roughly chop 4lbs of apples and put them in a large pan including all of the skin, cores, pips etc (this is for two reasons. Partly as there is a lot of flavour in these parts and also as there is a lot of pectin which helps the butter to set. Plus it was a massive relieve given I was a little bored of peeling and coring apples). This is an awful lot of apples and although the pan was large they barely fit, luckily they cook down pretty quickly. I used a mixture of golden delicious and bramleys to get the sweetness and sharpness of the different varieties.


I then added about a cup of water or apple juice and a good splash of cider vinegar and cooked until the apples were very soft. This will take about 30mins depending on the type of apple.

Once the apple is cooked it's time to sieve it to get a smooth purée. Use the back of a spoon to gradually push the apples through the sieve until you are only left with skin, core, pips and so on.




Now for every for every cup of purée you have add 1/4 cup of caster sugar and add the zest and juice of one lemon. At this stage you can also add spices such as cinnamon or nutmeg but I decided to make plain.


Bring the mixture to a boil and then turn down to a simmer for an hour or two, stirring every so often until the mixture is very thick and slightly browner.

Place the mixture in sterilised jars. I made 4 jars.







I tried a little of the apple butter in 0% Total Greek yoghurt and it was delicious. It is also supposed to be great on toast or as a filling for pancakes.

Rowan and Apple Jelly

I picked to rowans for this ages ago and put them in the freezer. Apparently if you pick them before the first frost it's good to freeze them to allow them to break up more. This also meant they didn't go off whilst I was too busy to make them into anything.

I absolutely hate waste so imagine my delight when this recipe called for the cores and peels of apples but not the rest of the flesh which I could then prep for the freezer (fortunately I realised this before I got fed up of peeling!)

You start by taking the rowan berries off their stalks and then add an equal weight of apple cores and skins. Add water to about half way up the fruit, bring to the boil and then reduce to a simmer until it is soft and broken down. Pour the mixture into a jelly bag or piece of muslin over a bowl and drain for a good few hours or over night. Don't push the fruit through otherwise the jelly will be cloudy. For every litre of juice at add 750g caster sugar plus a couple of cloves and a few strips of lemon zest.




Stir the mixture to dissolve the sugar and then slowly increase the heat to a rapid boil for 10 mins or 106C if you have a sugar thermometer. Remove the zest and cloves and pour into sterilises jars to set. This still has quite a dry flavour but goes well with meats and cheeses.



#letsmakechristmas

Mary Berry's French Apple Tart

Along with my mums guidance I was taught to bake by Mary Berry. More precisely by her Ultimate Cake Book, which is by far and away my most loved and used recipe book. From a very young age I'd try her recipes and this is an old favourite. It's time consuming and a little messy, but the end result is well worth it. This time I decided to use almond pastry instead and replaced just under half of the flour with ground almonds. Either pastry works well so just pick your favourite.

I've recently picked a lot of windfall apples from my parents garden so this is a perfect use for them. The recipe also works well as individual tarts for a gift.

Here is the flan before it goes into the oven.





And when it came out








French Apple Tart Recipe from Mary Berry's Ultimate Cake Book

Serves 8-10

INGREDIENTS
90g butter
1.5kg cooking apples, quartered, cored, and cut into chunks
3 tbsp water
6 tbsp apricot jam
125g caster sugar
Grated zest of 1 large lemon
375g eating apples, quartered, cored, peeled, and thinly sliced
Juice of 1 lemon
1 tbsp caster sugar
6 tbsp apricot jam

For the pastry

250g plain flour
125g chilled butter, cubed
125g caster sugar
4 egg yolks

For the apple topping and glaze

250g plain flour
125g chilled butter, cubed
125g caster sugar
4 egg yolks

Method

Make the pastry: put the flour into a bowl and rub in the butter until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Stir in the sugar, then the egg yolks and a little cold water to make a soft dough. Roll out the pastry on a lightly floured surface and use to line the flan tin. Chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

Melt the butter in a large saucepan, and add the cooking apples and water. Cover and cook very gently for 20–25 minutes until the apples are soft.

Rub the apples through a nylon sieve into a clean pan. Add the jam, sugar, and lemon zest. Cook over a high heat for 15–20 minutes, stirring constantly, until all the liquid has evaporated and the apple purée is thick. Leave to cool.

Bake the pastry case blind in a preheated oven at 190°C/gas mark 5 for 10–15 minutes. Remove the beans and foil and bake for another 5 minutes. Leave to cool.

Spoon the purée into the case. Arrange the apple slices on top, brush with lemon juice, and sprinkle with caster sugar. Bake for another 30–35 minutes until the apples are tender and their edges browned.

Heat the jam, work through a sieve, then brush over the apples. Serve warm or cold.

Enjoy!

Random Bakes of Kindness 3: Cake and Cookies

I've been promising to take some baked goodies into work for ages so decided a Random Bake of Kindness was in order. I had the oven on anyway so it was easy to make a little extra.

I started by making some Millies Style Double Chocolate Chip cookies. They are always a crowd pleaser and very quick and easy to make. I forgot to take any photos but it is the same recipe as my very first post and there are photos there if anyone wants to take a look. The full recipe is below but basically you cream the butter and sugars together, add an egg and then add flour, cocoa powder, salt and chocolate chips. I always chop a bar of chocolate up as I prefer chunks to the small drops. I also tend to use white as I like the contrasting colour, but any chocolate works or even nuts, raisins or chunks of toffee. Bake them in an oven pre-heated to 180C for 7 mins before cooling on a wire rack. Don't be tempted to cook them for any longer if you want the lively chewy middle. Even if you don't think they're done I promise they will firm up! Once cool either serve as they are or drizzle with a little melted chocolate.

I also wanted to take a cake, but wanted to try a new recipe. Here in the UK there is definitely an autumnal feeling in the air. The nights are drawing in, the weather is getting colder and the leaves are falling from the trees. This time of year always makes me think of spices and warming flavours so it is the perfect time to try a recipe I've fancied making for a while. It's a Spiced Apple Cake with Brown Sugar Frosting and is adapted from the Hummingbird Bakery Cake Days recipe book and also used some of the many apples I have waiting to be used.

The full recipe is below but you start by cooking the grated apple, sugar, spices and apple juice in a pan. While it cools a little cream the sugar and butter until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time followed by half of the dry ingredients the soured cream and the rest of the dry ingredients. Finally mix in the apple mixture and the walnuts. Put the mixture into two 8'' tins. Make sure they are lined and greased especially well as I found the cakes very sticky once baked. Bake for about 30 mins until a skewer pushed into the middle comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack. I found the cakes to be very sticky and crumbly so handle them carefully.

In the meantime make the icing. Put the egg whites and sugar in a heat proof bowl (make sure the bowl is scrupulously clean and no yolk sneaks in otherwise the whites will not whip) and place over a pan of water, taking care that the bowl doesn't touch the water. Whisk on a high speed for about 8 mins until the mixture forms stiff peaks and allow to cool for about an hour.

Once everything is cool sandwich the two cakes with approximately 4 tablespoons of icing and use the rest to cover the top and sides of the cake.

It was a really unusual cake and everyone was very complimentary. Especially about the icing which was very yummy!




Millies Style Double Chocolate Chip Cookies

125g butter, softened
100g light brown soft sugar
125g caster sugar
1 egg lightly beaten
175g self raising flour
50g cocoa
1/2 tsp salt
200g choc chips

preheat oven to 180
cream butter & sugars, then add egg
sift in flour, cocoa & salt, then choc chips
roll into walnut sizd balls or cut slices
place on ungreased paper
bake for 7 minutes for doughy cookies or 10 for golden edges
take out of oven & leave for 1 min before transferring to wire rack.

Spiced Apple Cake with Brown Sugar Icing

For the cake:
140g (5oz) unsalted butter or margarine
50g grated granny smith apple (around 1 apple)
60ml (2floz) apple juice
250g (9oz) soft light brown sugar
1tsp cinnamon
1/4tsp ground nutmeg
1/4tsp ground ginger
2 large eggs
230g (8oz) plain flour
1 1/4 tsp baking powder
1 1/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1/4 tsp salt
60ml (2 floz) soured cream
150g (5oz) walnuts chopped

For the icing:
3 large egg whites
125g (4 1/2 oz) soft dark brown sugar

Preheat the oven to 170C (325F, gas mark 3) and line and grease two 8'' cake tins

1. Melt 20g of the butter with the grated apple, the apple juice, spices and 75 g of the sugar until the liquid has reduced by about three-quarters
2. Cream the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Add one egg at a time
3. Stir in half of the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt
4. Stir in all of the soured cream
5. Stir in the remainder of the dry ingredients
6. Stir in the apple mixture and pecans
7. Divide between the two tins and cook for about 30 mins until a skewer pushed into the centre comes out clean and then cool on a wire rack before icing
8. Make the icing by mixing the egg whites with the sugar in a heat proof bowl (ensure the bowl is scrupulously clean and no egg yolk gets in otherwise the eggs will not whip).
9. Place the bowl over a pan of water but make sure that the bowl doesnt touch the water. Whisk on a high speed for 6-8 minutes until it forms stiff peaks. Set aside to cool for about an hour.
10. Once cool place about 4 tbsp of icing onto one cake and then sandwich the other on top. Use the remainder of the icing to cover the top and sides of the cake.

Adapted from the Hummingbird Bakery Cake Days

Apple and Blackberry Jam

This morning before work I decided to make some jam. Some of the blackberries and apples I picked at the weekend hadn't made their way into my freezer yet and I wanted to use them before they went off. It's so simple to make jam and much tastier than jam from the supermarket. I tend to add apple to any jam I make as if you ate buying the fruit it is cheaper and it's also higher in pectin so helps the jam to set. This jam has 2 cups of blackberries to 1 cup of peeled diced apple and 1 cup of jam sugar (you could also use granulated sugar and some pectin) plus a squeeze of lemon juice.










I make my jam in my bread maker as its so easy. You just chuck it all in and leave it for about 90 mins, but it is equally possible to do it in a pan. Once completed put the jam into sterilised jars.

Here is the finished article. Perfect with homemade bread.

Autumn treats and Random Bakes of Kindness

I've spent the weekend at my parents so decided to go blackberry picking. Luckily the spot I picked had been well designed by mother nature and had wild apples growing next to the blackberries. My neighbour had also given me some walnuts from a tree in his garden.












I decided I'd make some blackberry and apple muffins with a streusel topping. I just made a basic sponge but used soft light brown sugar and added some cinnamon (4oz self raising cake flour, 4oz light soft brown sugar, 4oz butter or margarine, 2 eggs, 1/2 tsp baking powder and a scant teaspoon of cinnamon). I lined the tin with baking parchment rather than using muffin cases for a more rustic finish and once I'd put the mixture into the tins I popped a few blackberries and some diced apple on the top of each, picture below.






I then sprinkled with some streusel topping (equal amounts of butter and flour rubbed together until they resemble breadcrumbs, stir in the same amount of dark soft brown sugar, a few oats and chopped walnuts and another teaspoon of cinnamon). Here they are ready to go into the oven.





Then baked at 180 degrees for about 15-20 mins. Next time I think I'd add the streusel topping half way through the cooking time to get a better rise. They still tasted yummy though!

I had some leftover streusel topping so used it to make a blackberry and apple crumble by putting blackberries and diced apple in an oven proof dish and then sprinkled to streusel topping all over and baked for about 20 mins until golden.

I packed up some of the muffins and gave them to my 90 year old nan who doesn't bake for herself anymore and tends to buy rubbish cakes from the supermarket. She always appreciates homemade treats so
perfect for my first Random Bake of Kindness for the month :)

I also picked some rosehips and rowan berries so will blog about them once I've turned them into something edible!