CHOCOLATE AND GINGER PUDDLE PUDDING

 

This is a recipe I found in one of the series of little books by the Women’s Institute, called “Chocolate Success”.

It’s for one of those self saucing puddings where you end up with a sponge on top and a sauce underneath.  The interesting thing about this one is that ginger beer is one of the ingredients.

I haven’t bought ginger beer for donkey’s years and it took some finding in our local supermarket.  This was the only brand I could see.

I have made a similar chocolate pudding dozens of times before, using a recipe given to me by a friend decades ago, but this was the first time I had used ginger beer in it.  The mixture was extremely runny, much more so than I remember, and I had serious doubts that it would turn out right.  But it did!

I liked the texture of the sponge and that it was not too sweet, much less sweet than my previously favourite recipe.  There was a hint of ginger from the ginger beer.  I might be tempted to add a little ground ginger to the mixture to make it even more gingery next time.

It’s best to serve the pudding soon after it comes out of the oven.  As time ticks by the sauce thickens and eventually solidifies, in the same way as a custard sets as it cools.

We served ours with some cream but it would be nice with ice cream or even custard.  I have to admit that I also like the pudding cold with the sauce quite set too.  It microwaves well but the sauce doesn’t really become liquid again.

I am submitting this post to the current We Should Cocoa Challenge, the brainchild of Choclette of Chocolate Log Blog and hosted this month by Linzi of Lancashire Food.  You can see the details here.

The theme for January is “new ingredient” and as I have never used ginger beer in anything before, this seems to qualify !!

Ingredients

For the sponge

100g softened butter or margarine (I used Lurpak spreadable)

100g light muscovado sugar

125g self-raising flour

25g cocoa powder

½tsp baking powder

2 eggs

150ml semi-skimmed milk

For the sauce

100g light muscovado sugar

25g cocoa powder

150ml boiling water

300ml ginger beer

Method

Grease a deep pie or casserole dish of about 1.4 litres.  Preheat the oven to 180°C / 160°fan / gas mk 4.

Put all the sponge ingredients except for the milk in a food processor and process until smooth.  Gradually add the milk and process to combine.  Pour the mixture into the prepared dish.

To make the sauce, put the sugar and cocoa into a medium bowl, add the boiling water and mix until smooth.  Stir in the ginger beer.

Gently pour the sauce over the sponge mixture so that it is completely covered and bake for 40-45 minutes until the sponge is firm.

Serve within ten minutes to ensure the sauce remains runny.

Serves 6.

PEAR AND ALMOND TART

I have been baking quite a few frangipane creations lately and this is another one.  In fact I have made a pear and almond tart to Laura Washburn’s recipe quite happily many times ~ I wrote about it here.  Then I stumbled across a different version by Michel Roux which appeared in the Metro and you can see it here.  I liked the sound of it because you cook the pears in a vanilla and cinnamon flavoured syrup so I decided to have a go.

As usual, I didn’t stick exactly to his recipe!  I didn’t have a vanilla pod so omitted it.  I didn’t use his recipe for making the pastry as I am really happy with the Mary Berry sweet pastry that I have made several times recently and used that instead.  I also used Amaretto in the frangipane topping instead of rum.

I expected the step of poaching the pears to be a bit of a faff but it wasn’t.  While they’re cooking gently you can get on with the pastry and almond topping, which is no bother at all.

I used four large pears but that produced too much for the tart so I put the leftover slices in the fridge with the poaching syrup and served them separately.  They were yummy too and we had the last few slices with some yoghurt for dessert a couple of days after the tart had all gone.

I was convinced I had taken a photo of the finished tart but apparently not so this one of half of it will have to do!  I glazed it with apricot glaze but didn’t scatter any flaked almonds on the top ~ I thought it looked better without.

(Curiously, although this scattering of flaked almonds is mentioned in Michel’s recipe, you can see clearly from the photo in the article that he didn’t either.)

This is a stunningly good dessert and excellent served cold with a cup of tea too.  The almond topping is delicious and looks very chic with its shiny glaze.  I gave a slice to our French neighbour, Mme André and she loved it, which is always a good sign!

I am submitting this post to this month’s Tea Time Treats Challenge, hosted by Karen at Lavender and Lovage and this month Janie at The Hedgcombers blog.  The theme this month is eggs, eggs, eggs!  As the almond topping does indeed contain three eggs it seems to fit the bill!

I am also dedicating it to my friend Elizabeth over at Braye-sous-Faye.  She has to have a gluten free diet and has always struggled with producing good pastry ~ until now!

This pear and almond tart could probably be easily adapted to a gluten free version because it has no flour in the topping, and if you follow Elizabeth’s instructions for the pastry, which you can see here.  I dare say you could even make a sweet pastry version by adding a little icing sugar to the flour and combining it with egg à la Mary Berry!  (It might be worth a try anyway!) 

Ingredients

For the poached pears

3-4 large pears, peeled, halved and cored

300ml water

1 cinnamon stick

1 vanilla pod, split (optional)

250g caster sugar

For the pastry

200g plain flour

100g cold butter, cubed

25g icing sugar

1 egg, beaten

For the almond topping

125g softened butter or spreadable butter such as Lurpak

125g caster sugar

125g ground almonds

3 eggs

2 tblsp Amaretto liqueur (or rum)

2tbslp sieved apricot jam (or use Sainsbury’s apricot glaze, which is essentially sieved jam)

Method

Put the pear halves in a large saucepan with the water, sugar, cinnamon stick and vanilla pod (if using).  Bring slowly to the boil and simmer gently for 20 minutes until the pears are tender.  Drain the pears and leave to cool.  (Discard the spices but reserve the liquid for another purpose if, like me you hate to waste it.)

Make the pastry by blitzing the flour, icing sugar and butter in a food processor.  Use the beaten egg to combine it then wrap in cling film and chill in the fridge while you make the almond topping.

Preheat the oven to 200°C / 180°fan / gas mk 6.  Grease a 23-25cm flan tin or dish.

Without washing the food processor bowl, put the butter and sugar into it and process to a cream.  Add the ground almonds and combine briefly.  Add the eggs and Amaretto and process again until well combined.

Roll out the pastry to fit the tin or dish, prick the base and blind bake for 20 minutes.

Spoon the almond mixture into the pastry case and level the top.

Cut each pear half into three slices and arrange the slices on top of the almond mixture, pointed end towards the middle.  Bake for about 40 minutes until the the filling is golden brown and passes the usual skewer test for a cake.

Warm the apricot jam in a small pan with a little water and brush over the finished tart. 

Serve warm with cream or crème fraîche.  Also nice served cold with a cup of tea.

Cuts into 8-10 slices.

YORKSHIRE CURD TART (with cranberries)

I have not  made any New Year Resolutions this year.  It has finally dawned on me that setting myself up for failure and disappointment every year is a waste of energy and does no good at all.  The only thing I thought I would try to do is to fully grasp the practise of not wasting food, or at least wasting as little as possible.  This is not so much a resolution (therefore doomed to failure) as an expansion of current housekeeping methods.  Which brings me to a little conundrum that occurred last week. 

Our friends Tim and Pauline introduced us to the delights of the above product, which is similar to a clotted cream, very naughty and perfectly delicious on puddings.  So every time we come to France it’s one of the basic items in our first shopping basket.

So we were a little put out when, on opening the jar, we found that it had curdled and looked nowhere near as appealing to dollop on our puds as it should have done. ( The jar on the right is the offending product, the jar on the left is a fresh one we bought to replace it.)

It was our fault, of course.  The little fridge in our little French kitchen was the cheapest we could get when we equipped the place and the temperature control is not the most effective to say the least.  Somehow the fridge had been set to be extra cold and we think this caused the crème fraîche to split.

So I looked at it and thought that it looked like curds and whey.  Wondering what on earth I could do with it, I thought of a Yorkshire curd tart, something I haven’t eaten for an awfully long time, and have certainly never made.  Partly because you can’t buy curds in our local supermarkets, or at least, none that I have ever seen.

I found several recipes on the net but most of them had instructions for manufacturing your own curds from milk and lemon juice.  In the end I found one that used real curd cheese but for tarlets.  I followed the recipe but made it into one large tart instead, using the Mary Berry pastry recipe from my frangipane mince pies!

The other change I made was that I didn’t have any currants (I have never seen currants in a French supermarket) but I did have a few dried cranberries, the leftovers purchased for some long forgotten recipe, lurking at the back of the cupboard and slightly past their sell-by date. 

The tart turned out to be delicious.  We had invited our friends Tim and Pauline round and, as former residents of Yorkshire, they declared that it was fairly authentic in both flavour and appearance compared to a proper Yorkshire curd tart.  Except for the cranberries of course.

I am submitting this recipe to this month’s Alphabakes Challenge, organised by Ros of The more than occasional baker, and Caroline of Caroline Makes.  The letter this month is “Y” and you can see the details here.

Also to the “no waste food challenge” organised by Elizabeth of Elizabeth’s Kitchen Diary.  This monthly challenge is devoted to making us all think about how to use food in a way that avoids waste and you can see the details here.

So here’s how I made my Yorkshire curd tart ~ you can see the original recipe that I followed loosely here.

Ingredients

For the pastry:

200g plain flour

100g cold butter, cubed

25g icing sugar

1 egg, beaten

For the filling:

250g curd cheese

2 eggs, beaten

75g caster sugar

the finely grated zest of 1 lemon

70g dried cranberries

1 tblsp brandy (an ingredient I was not expecting to find in a curd tart)

freshly grated nutmetg

Method

Make the pastry in a food processor, using just the egg to bind it.  Chill in the fridge while you make the filling

Preheat the oven to 180°C / 160° fan / gas mk 4.  Grease a 23cm (approx) flan dish or tin.

Beat the cheese in a medium bowl to soften it a little.  Add the eggs, sugar, lemon zest and brandy and beat together.  Add the cranberries and mix well.

Roll out the pastry to line the flan dish or tin.  Spoon the filling into the pastry and level the top.  Grate a little fresh nutmeg on top.

Bake for 40-50 minutes until lightly browned and almost completely set, but check after 35 minutes. 

Cool in the dish and dust with icing sugar if you like.  Serve warm or cold with cream or crème fraîche.

Serves 6-8.

PARSNIP, HONEY AND CLEMENTINE CAKE

For the first post of 2014 I am posting the last cake I made in 2013.  Parsnip, honey and clementine cake.

I spotted this recipe in the lovely Dom’s blog, Bellau Kitchen.  As soon as I read it I knew I wanted to bake the cake as soon as possible!

Dom made it as a loaf cake but as we were in France at the time of baking and my one and only loaf tin was otherwise engaged, I baked it in a 23cm round tin.  I had to bake it for a bit longer than stated in the recipe but it worked out perfectly.

I also had to make a couple of substitutions according to what I had in my French kitchen cupboards.  I used golden raisins instead of sultanas and dark soft brown sugar instead of light muscovado.  It looked nice and moist when it came out of the oven so I decided not to add the orange and honey drizzle.

This was the perfect cake to round off the year.  Moist, fruity, spicy and delicious.  If you didn’t know it contained parsnips you would never guess I think. 

And of course, as it contains no butter but plenty of vegetables it kicks off the New Year to a fantastic healthy start !!

So I would like to say a huge “thank you” to Dom for this recipe ~ and all the others I have either baked already or saved for future enjoyment ~ so many recipes, so little time !!

And a Happy New Year to everyone.  Here’s to many more delicious cakes and bakes in 2014.

Ingredients

200g golden raisins

the juice and zest of 4 clementines

2 tblsp honey

3 large eggs

175ml sunflower oil

200g dark soft brown sugar

200g self-raising flour

50g ground almonds

1tsp baking powder

1tsp ground ginger

½tsp ground cinnamon

225g parsnips, peeled and grated

Method

Put the sultanas, honey and clementine juice in a small pan and heat gently for five minutes.  Set aside to cool.

Preheat the oven to 170°C / 150° fan.  Grease and line the base of a 23cm round springform cake tin.

Beat the eggs, sugar and flour together in a large bowl until creamy.  Add the raisins from the pan and all the other ingredients and mix well.

Spoon the mixture into the prepared tin, level the top and bake for about an hour until risen and golden.  Cool in the tin for 5 minutes then transfer to a wire rack.

Cuts into 10-12 slices.

FRANGIPANE MINCE PIES

If you are one of those people who can’t stand the sight of another mince pie by the time New Year’s Eve is nearly upon us, then read no further.  If, on the other hand, mince pies are high on your list of favourite things about Christmas, read on.

My mum used to make dozens of mince pies in the week before Christmas and we consumed them gratefully.  In fact they were so popular with our family that my dad had a mince pie in his packed lunch most days in most months of the year. 

Sadly, Nick is not too keen on them so I rarely make more than a dozen myself, but this year I decided to try a different recipe.  There are plenty of recipes for frangipane mince pies and the good thing about them is that you get less pastry and a nice light almond sponge topping instead.  I chose a recipe in “Mary Berry’s Christmas Collection” and modified it slightly to include elements that I also fancied from other recipes.

I added some chopped apple and orange zest to the mincemeat along with a good measure of brandy.

It’s always a relief when the end result looks like the picture in the book and these mince pies really were a picture!  Instead of glazing them with apricot jam as per the recipe I dusted them with icing sugar in the usual way.  I thought the jam would make them sticky and difficult to store or pack in boxes to give away. They were a hit with everyone, including Nick, who liked them enough to suggest I bake another batch now that the first lot have all gone.  Success !!

You can find Mary Berry’s original recipe in several places including here, but this is my version of them:

Ingredients

For the pastry:

175g plain flour

75g cold butter, cubed

25g icing sugar

1 egg, lightly beaten

For the mincemeat filling:

1 x 312g jar Wilkin and Sons Tiptree mincemeat (my favourite)

½ eating apple, peeled, cored and chopped into small chunks

zest of one orange

2 tblsp brandy

For the frangipane topping:

100g spreadable butter such as Lurpak

100g caster sugar

2 eggs

100g ground almonds

1 tblsp plain flour

½tsp almond essence

a few flaked almonds for sprinkling

Method

Make the pastry in a food processor in the usual way, cover in cling film and chill in the fridge while you make the topping etc.

Preheat the oven to 200°C / 180° fan / gas mk 6.  Grease two patty or bun tins.

Spoon the mincemeat into a small bowl and combine with the apple, orange zest and brandy.

To make the frangipane topping, put the butter and sugar into the (unwashed) food processor and process until light and creamy.  Add the eggs and process again.  Finally add the ground almonds, flour and essence and mix briefly to combine.

Roll out the pastry thinly and cut into circles to line the tins, re-rolling scraps of pastry to use it all up.  A 6½ cm cutter worked best for my tins.  Add a level tsp of mincemeat to each circle, resisting the temptation to put too much in each one, because if you do it will definitely boil over!  Spoon a dessertspoon of almond mixture on top of each tart.

Sprinkle a few almond flakes on each tart and bake for 15-20 minutes until golden and springy.  Cool on a wire rack and dust with icing sugar.

Makes 24 mince pies (at least).

BLACK FOREST TRIFLE

We had visitors a few days ago and I wanted to make a dessert that would look and taste great without having to spend hours in the kitchen.

I had stumbled upon a recipe for Black Forest Trifle some time ago and decided that now would be a good time to try it.  I adapted it to make my own quick and easy version.  It is loosely based on this one on the Good Food website.

Black Forest means chocolate cake, cherries and cream.  I loved black forest gateau when it was the height of sophistication in the 70’s and 80’s.  During the 90’s it was usurped by the tiramisu, which is also one of my favourite desserts, although that too seems to be disappearing from menus and being replaced by things like salted chocolate tart and anything with pistachios.

This was a doddle to make and in fact I made it the day before it was needed, which is often the best way with something like a trifle.

Our guests loved it.  When I make it again I will either use a smaller trifle bowl or make twice as much.  But even though the quantity didn’t have the wow factor, the flavour most definitely did.

In order to complete the full set of my favourite baking challenges this month I am entering this into this month’s We Should Cocoa challenge, a monthly event to encourage us to bake with chocolate, if any encouragement is actually necessary.  This month the idea is to use alcohol and it’s organised by Choclette of Chocolate Log Blog.  You can read all about it here.

Ingredients

Some chocolate cake, any kind will do, such as muffins, brownies, loaf cake, the amount needed will depend on the size of your trifle bowl

Cherry jam

a tin of dark cherries in syrup or juice, or a jar of cherries in Kirsch, drained.  Reserve the liquid as you will need some of it.

Kirsch or rum to taste

a 500ml tub of ready-made custard

100g good quality dark chocolate

500ml double cream

1tblsp icing sugar

Chocolate sprinkles to decorate

Method

Slice the cake or break it into chunks, enough to make a good thick layer in the bottom of your trifle bowl.  Spread one side of each chunk with cherry jam and arrange the cake the bottom of the bowl.

Pour some Kirsch or rum over the cake to moisten it.  How much to use depends on how boozy you like your trifle but I find that too much can be unpleasantly overpowering.  You can use the liquid from the jar if your cherries are in Kirsch.  Add syrup or juice from the tin to make sure all the cake is moist, but not too soggy.  Put the drained cherries on top.

To make the chocolate custard, break the chocolate into pieces and put it in a small pan with the custard.  Heat gently, stirring all the time, until the chocolate is completely melted.  Allow to cool slightly then pour on top of the cherries.

Chill the trifle while you whip the cream.  Chilling it overnight at this stage improves the texture I think.  Whip the cream with the icing sugar, splodge on top of the trifle and decorate with chocolate sprinkles or other decoration of your choice.  The addition of fresh cherries adds a degree of sophistication.

Serves 6-8.

TRIPLE CHOCOLATE CHRISTMAS CUPCAKE KIT

I spotted this recipe recently on the Good Food website and thought it was a great idea for an extra little Christmas present for an enthusiastic young baker in the family.

I managed to get everything into the jar apart from the bar of milk chocolate for the topping.  In order to keep the cake ingredients in the bottom of the jar and to prevent them from messing up the other bits and pieces I cut a circle of baking paper which was placed on top before putting in the cases and the rest of the kit.

I amended the ingredients very slightly by only putting in 100g white chocolate chips as 200g sounded like an awful lot.  I added a tiny pinch of ground cinnamon for a little extra touch of Christmas as well as sugar snowflake decorations.

Naturally I felt obliged to bake a batch for myself just to be sure the kit would work.  The cupcakes were delicious, very chocolaty and moist.

I hope they go down well with the person the gift is intended for.  I did something similar and gave away quite a few Christmas Muffin kits a few years ago.  They were very well received and you can read about them here.

I am entering this into this month’s Tea Time Treats Challenge, which is for Festive Foodie Gifts.  This month is organised by Kate of What Kate Baked and this is her final Tea Time Treat.  Looking at the number of posts already linked to the challenge she is certainly going out on a high!  Her co-host is Karen of Lavender and Lovage and you can read all about the challenge, and dip into some of the marvellous ideas already submitted, by clicking here.

For the kit you will need:

A suitable jar with a screw top or clip, about the size of a large pickle jar.

In the bottom put 100g caster sugar, 100g self-raising flour, 2 tblsp cocoa powder and a small pinch of cinnamon.

Next cut a circle of baking paper the same size as the jar and place it on top of the ingredients to keep them in the bottom of the jar.

Next add 12 cupcake cases and a few sprinkles tied in a twist of cellophane.  Then put 100g white chocolate chips enclosed in another twist of cellophane and close the lid.

Tie a wooden spoon to the jar and place it in a gift bag along with a 100g bar of milk chocolate and a card with these instructions handwritten on it:

“Heat the oven to 180°C/160°fan/gas mk 4.  Put the cupcake cases in a muffin tin.

Beat together 100g very soft butter, or spreadable butter such as Lurpak, or Stork tub margarine, with 2 eggs and the cupcake ingredients.  Add a little milk if the mixture is very stiff and mix in the white chocolate chips.

Divide between the cases and bake for 15-20 minutes.

When the cakes are cool, melt the milk chocolate in the microwave in 20-second bursts, stirring after each burst.  Spoon a little over each cupcake and decorate with the sprinkles.”

Makes 12 cupcakes.