MERINGUES

Violas from my garden were used to decorate the meringues. The flowers can be crystallised, but on this occasion I thought they looked lovely just as nature intended them to be.

In past blog postings I have used flowers to decorate cupcakes and cakes and I always think just how pretty they look.

These filled meringues need to be eaten as soon as possible after assembling but the meringue shells can be kept for a week in an airtight tin.

Makes: 12 to 15 Sandwiches

You will need: a large, or two small baking trays, lined with baking paper.

2 egg whites, 100g caster sugar, food colouring, 300ml whipping cream.

1. Preheat the oven to 110°C, 100°C fan, gas ¼. Put the egg whites and sugar in a bowl and beat with an electric whisk for 10 minutes until the mixture is smooth, glossy and stands in firm peaks.
2. Whisk in the food colouring. Put the mixture into a piping bag and pipe rounds about the size of a walnut onto baking trays. Or alternatively, spoon walnut size blobs of meringue onto the lined baking tray.
3. Bake for 1 hour 30 minutes, or until the meringues are dry and firm. For drier meringues, switch off the oven and leave the meringues to cool inside.
4. Sandwich the meringues together with whipped cream and decorate with flowers.
5. The filled meringues will need to be served within two hours.

CHOCOLATE FRIDGE CAKE

Chocolate Fridge Cake is usually made with melted chocolate but this recipe uses cocoa powder. There are only a few ingredients used, and to get the best out of this rich cake, use good quality cocoa powder. The cake will last well in an airtight tub stored in the fridge.

The fridge cake is very rich and you only need a small piece. If you have lots of people to feed and not much time, this cake will go a long way.

It's best if the tin is lined with either greaseproof paper or cling wrap to help you lift the cake out of the tin. I used a 20cm x 20cm baking tin lined with overhanging cling wrap.

You will need:

200g unsalted butter, 100ml golden syrup, 50g cocoa powder, 400g digestive biscuits (broken into small chunks), 100g raisins (optional).

1. Place the butter, golden syrup and cocoa powder in a large saucepan over a medium heat and melt until smooth, stirring occasionally.
2. Put the biscuit chunks and raisins in a large bowl and pour the chocolate mixture over, mix well to combine the ingredients.
3. Press the mixture into the baking tin and using a spoon to flatten. Cover with a sheet of greaseproof paper, then a plate. Top with jam jars to apply pressure on the cake. Leave to cool completely, refrigerate for a few hours. Store in the fridge.
4. Cut into small slices to serve and dust with icing sugar, if you like.

HONEYCOMB

Honeycomb is ridiculously easy to make, so why have I never made it before? Perhaps Lorraine Pascale, with her easy to watch television programmes, has given me some renewed inspiration.

Yep, it's calorific, but then most good things are. I have stored mine in a ziplock bag (no expense spared) and it's definitely a keeper. Lorraine's recipe is different from most because she uses butter in the recipe. You can also crumble the honeycomb and sprinkle over vanilla ice cream or even as a decoration on cupcakes. This honeycomb has a lovely buttery caramel taste, it looks beautiful and is very moreish!

The recipe is taken from Baking Made Easy by Lorraine Pascale, a book for both the new baker and those of us looking for some baking inspiration.

A great collection of both sweet and savoury recipes, including old favourites such as Sticky Toffee Pudding and Jam Roly Poly to Omelette Arnold Bennett and Chicken Pies. New favourites include Red Velvet Cake, White Chocolate Panacotta and beautiful Macaroons.

Here is the link to the Honeycomb recipe on the BBC website.

TOBLERONE SWEET

This recipe is adored by my family and friends and is the most talked about dessert that I have ever made. I haven't made it since my children were small, and I also used to make it for good friends of mine when they brought their daughter with them for dinner. Their daughter even mentioned it to me on her wedding day and said can we meet up some time to eat Toblerone Sweet!

I wasn't sure if we would still enjoy this dessert, as you move on through life your tastes change, and I didn't want to spoil fond memories. I'm delighted to say though this dessert is still wonderful.

Please note this recipe contains raw eggs.

You will need: Lots of bowls!

1 x 200g Toblerone, ½ pint double or whipping cream, 3 eggs, 8-10 teaspoons hot water.

1. Grate 2 teaspoons Toblerone for decoration.
2. Melt the rest of the Toblerone gently in a basin over hot (not boiling water).
3. Whip the cream lightly.
4. Separate the eggs. Whip the egg whites until stiff, but not dry.
5. Whip the cream lightly in a large bowl.
6. Add the egg yolks gradually to the cooled chocolate, then mix in 8-10 teaspoons warm water, so that the chocolate is runny.
7. Fold the egg whites into the cream. Add the chocolate mix. Fold in from the bottom of the bowl, be careful mixture does not curdle.
8. Pour mixture into either a 1 pint serving dish or individual glasses. Decorate with the grated Toblerone. Leave to set covered in the fridge.

PARKER HOUSE ROLLS

The story of Parker House Rolls is part legend and part truth. Apparently, they date back to the 1800's and originated at Parker House Hotel in Boston. There are a variety of stories surrounding them and you can find out what The Food Timeline have to say about these wonderful rolls by clicking here.

The rolls are a butter and egg enriched dough, served warm they are very moreish.

The dough can be made in a bread machine (by referring to your manufacturers instructions), in the food mixer fitted with a dough hook or if you feel like a good workout, made by hand.

The book this recipe came from is for either making bread by either hand or bread machine. The fundamentals of breadmaking are covered, there is a photographic gallery showing some of the world's most mouthwatering breads, a guide to ingredients and equipment, also techniques. There are recipes from basic breads to sourdoughs, flavoured breads to festive breads, in fact something for everyone.

Bread by Eric Treuille & Ursula Ferrigno
Page: 118
ISBN No. 1-4053-0511-8


You will need:
2½ tsp dried yeast, 250ml milk, 60g melted unsalted butter, 30g melted butter to glaze, 2 tbsp granulated sugar, 2 beaten eggs, 560g strong white flour, 2tsp salt

1. Sprinkle the yeast into 100ml tepid milk in a bowl. Leave for 5 minutes; stir to dissolve. Warm the remaining milk in a saucepan with the butter and sugar. Stir continuously, until the butter has melted. Cool until tepid, then beat in the eggs until evenly distributed.
2. Mix the flour and salt together in a large bowl. Make a well in the centre and pour in the yeasted milk and the butter mixture. Mix in the flour to form a soft, sticky dough.
3.Turn the dough out on to a floured work surface. Knead until smooth, shiny, and elastic, about 10 minutes. Knead in extra flour, 1 tablespoon at a time, if the dough is too sticky. Don't add too much flour, the dough should be soft not dry.
4. Put the dough in a buttered bowl and cover with a tea towel. Leave to rise until doubled in size, approximately 1½ hours.
5. Knock back, then leave to rest for 10 minutes. Divide the dough into two pieces. Roll out each to form a 20cm x 40cm rectangle. Cut each rectangle lengthways into four strips, each 10cm long. Brush half of each rectangle with melted butter, then fold in half, leaving a 1cm flap.
6. Place the rolls on a buttered baking sheet so that each roll overlaps slightly with the one next to it; cover with a tea towel. prove until doubled in size, about 30 minutes.
7. Brush the tops of the rolls with melted butter. Bake in a preheated oven 220°C for 15-20 minutes until golden and hollow sounding when tapped underneath. Leave to cool on a wire rack.

SPATCHCOCK CHICKEN WITH GREMOLATA

On Sunday we braved the cold, but sunny weather and had a barbeque, a silly thing to do I know. It was too cold outside for moi but my husband, who seems to be an all weather person, set about cooking the barbeque with a smile but I did notice later on this had turned into a grimace (I think he was feeling the cold and had barbeque regret!). The rewards were high though, a beautifully cooked barbeque chicken, which is impossible to replicate in the oven.

It is very easy to spatchcock a chicken and here are the instructions. Sometimes this surgical procedure on the poor chicken is also called butterflied chicken. You may also see this recipe come under the recipe title of chicken under a brick. You don't have to use the bricks (which in fact we didn't because we forgot), but it does keep the chicken flat and you then have better contact with the cooking surface. The recipe can also be made with spatchcocked poussins (but I/we just couldn't!).

This wonderful, tasty and aromatic chicken was marinated overnight. A wild rice and pepper salad, together with lots of vegetables cooked on the barbeque made a perfect meal.

The chicken is very easy, with only a few ingredients for the marinade.

You will need:

A medium spatchcock chicken, 1 chopped garlic clove, juice of 2 lemons, pepper, 3 tablespoons olive oil, 1 teaspoon fennel seeds, 1 tablespoon chopped rosemary.

1. Mix together the rosemary, fennel seeds, olive oil, garlic clove, juice of 2 lemons and seasoning.
2. Put the spatchcocked chicken into a ziplock bag together with the lemon shells, pour over the marinade. Place the bag into a large bowl.
3. Chill in the fridge overnight, if possible.
4. Pat the chicken dry, drizzle with olive oil and season. Put skin side down on the barbecue.
5. If you wish, wrap a brick in foil to weigh down the chicken and cook for 30 minutes on medium heat.
6. Turn the chicken over and cook for another 30 minutes weighed down with the foil covered brick. Check the chicken is cooked through and leave to rest.

Gremolata

You will need:

Zest of 1 lemon, 1 chopped clove garlic, large bunch of chopped parsley.

1. Sprinkle over the cooked chicken.

WILD RICE AND PEPPER SALAD


You will need:

½ a finely sliced red onion, 150 g wild rice, 2 roasted and sliced peppers (or from a jar), 100g crumbled goat's cheese, handful of toasted pine nuts, small bunch chopped mint, 1 tablespoon of red wine vinegar, 2 tablespoons olive oil.

1. Put the onion in a bowl, season and toss with the red wine vinegar and olive oil, leave to marinate and soften.
2. Cook the wild rice in boiling water for about 25 minutes, drain and rinse under cold water, drain again. Toss with the onion and dressing.
3. Mix the red peppers, goats' cheese, pine nuts and chopped mint through the rice mixture.