Melting Goat's Cheese Salad

I've been having a great time recently, I've just returned from a holiday in beautiful Rovinj where it was amazingly hot. Only this last week I attended the 25th Anniversary of The Hyatt Birmingham where the party, food and drink can only be described as amazing, I love the Hyatt.

I'm out and about for the next three weeks and for the majority of the time I'll be away from home. Today I'm in Beckenham and tomorrow I'll be trying to avoid the rain on the southbank in London where I'm reviewing a restaurant with Paul my London based blog partner. This next week is going to be a mix of culture, food, the odd glass of fizz, visiting a few independent coffee shops and shopping.

We're then going home for a few days and moving on to The Wirral for culture, food, and so on and so on.....then we're off to the Lake District, Scotland and the Peak District.

The blog is going to be a bit erratic but both Paul and I have some fabulous posts coming up:

The limited edition luxury trout that costs £300!
Christmas in July with Waitrose
Zwilling Press Event
The Hyatt Birmingham 25th Anniversary Party
Microplane Review
Stellar Cookware Review
Restaurant Reviews
Camp Bestival
Recipes

And that's just for starters!  So please bear with us whilst we battle our way through the blog posts.

After indulging over the last few weeks we needed a few lighter meals, although true to say there is cheese and pasta involved in this meal which is no bad thing.

You will need:
Bag of washed prepared mixed leaves
Vine cherry tomatoes
Sundried Tomatoes
Cucumber sliced
Red grapes
cooked crispy smoked streaky bacon
2 small rounds of goats cheese

Dressing:
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
Freshly ground pepper
Sea Salt

For the farfalle salad
110g farfalle pasta
Small handful of pine nuts
Small amount of washed spinach leaves
Extra Virgin Olive Oil to drizzle
Freshly ground pepper
Sea Salt

1.  Arrange the salad ingredients onto a plate.
2.  Grill the goats cheese gently until starting to melt.
3.  Place the grilled goats cheese onto the salad.
4.  For the dressing:  Add the ingredients to a small bowl and whisk until mixed together. Pour over the salad immediately before serving.
5.  For the farfalle salad: Fill a pan three quarters full with water, bring to the boil, add a sprinkle of salt.  Add the pasta to the pan and cook on a gentle boil for 10 minutes or until cooked.
6.  Drain the cooked pasta and rinse under cold water.
7.  Place the cooled pasta to a bowl, add the spinach leaves and toss.
8.  Place the pine nuts into a small frying pan and toast on the hob until lightly browned.  Remove from the pan and cool.
9.  Add the pine nuts to the salad.
10. Drizzle over the extra virgin olive oil.

Mixed Berry and White Chocolate Cheesecake Slice

My strawberries were at their best when I left for my holiday a few weeks ago and now they are struggling to produce any fruit.  Next year I'm definitely not going away during strawberry season and missing one of my favourite fruits.

The raspberries are being a bit temperamental this year and the berries aren't anything to get excited about.  However, my redcurrant bushes are producing amazing crops of fruit and I'm looking forward to filling bag after bag to pop into the freezer for a rainy day.

I'm not the biggest fan of a baked cheesecake but because the cooked layer is quite thin I was more than happy with my dessert. If you have a go at making this you'll find that there is a quantity of cheesecake batter left over but you can easily make a couple of individual cheesecakes with some extra biscuits.

You will need:  12.5cm x 35cm loose based tin.

Ingredients:
250g Hobnobs
80g butter, melted
120g white chocolate
1 vanilla bean or 1tsp vanilla extract
125g cream cheese, softened
55g caster sugar
2 medium eggs
125ml whipping cream

To decorate:
60g white chocolate
250g small strawberries
125g raspberries

1. Add the Hobnobs to a food processor and whizz until fine.  Add the melted butter and process until all combined.
2. Pour the biscuit mixture into the tin and press over the base and sides of the tin.  Place in the fridge for 30 minutes.
3. Preheat the oven to 180°C.
4. Break the chocolate into pieces and add to a small bowl.  Place a pan of water on the hob to a gentle simmer and place the bowl with the chocolate over the pan to melt the chocolate.  Cool.  Or if you have an induction hob the chocolate can be placed in a small saucepan and the chocolate melted on the lowest setting.
5. If using, take the vanilla bean and split it lengthways, scrape out the seeds.
6. Place the cream cheese, sugar, eggs and vanilla seeds or vanilla extract into a mixing bowl.  Beat with an electric whisk until the mixture thickens and becomes smooth - if the mixture seems a little thin don't worry it will still be okay.  Now add the cooled chocolate and cream and whisk until the mixture thickens slightly.
7. Remove the tin from the fridge, place onto a large baking tray, and pour in the filling taking care not to overfill.
8. Bake for 30 minutes.  Leave the baked cheesecake in the oven for a couple of hours.  Remove from the oven, cool and place in the fridge for approx 2 hours to chill down.
9. Carefully remove the flan tin and place onto a suitable plate, decorate with the fruit, melt the chocolate and drizzle over the top of the berries.

Cappuccino Cake

I made this cake just before my holiday, it's quick and easy to make using the never fail all-in-one method. It was hastily photographed and my photograph doesn't really do this delicious cake justice....I'm playing catchup now with the blog posts and with a safety net of only a few in draft to fall back on, I may have to resort to sharing my holiday snaps with you!

This is basically a moist coffee cake with the addition of cocoa powder, the topping is white chocolate, butter, milk and icing sugar. I gave my two cake testers a slice each without telling them what the cake was called or the ingredients I'd used and they both thought it tasted of hazelnut. Interestingly the coffee/chocolate combo appears to confuse the taste buds!

If you own an induction hob the icing ingredients can be melted gently in a pan on the hob instead of over a pan of water.

You will need:  28cm x 18cm tin fully lined to come above the edges of the tin.

225g Stork SB
225g self raising flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cocoa powder
225g caster sugar
4 eggs
3tbsp coffee granules,
dissolved in 2 tbsp hot water

For the icing:
115g white chocolate (I use Menier because it melts easily)
55g softened butter
3tbsp milk
175g icing sugar

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C.
2. Sift the dry ingredients into a large bowl, add the butter, caster sugar, eggs and coffee mix.  Whisk for 2 minutes.
3. Pour the cake batter into the lined tin.
4. Bake for 35 minutes or until cooked.
5. For the icing: Add the chocolate, butter and milk to a bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water, stir until the chocolate has melted.
6. Remove the pan from the heat and sift in the icing sugar.  Beat until smooth. Spread over the cake quickly.
7. Dust with cocoa powder and when the icing is set cut into squares.
8. Freezes superbly.
9. Eat with a fabulous cup of coffee.

Raspberry, Almond and Custard Cake Recipe

The custard layer for this cake is made from Birds Custard Powder, in this house we love it. Posh custard out of a carton isn't suitable, neither is low fat, out of a can, ready made or a fancy version of home made.........it's just got to be yellow custard powder made with milk and cooked without any lumps!

Last time I made this cake I used frozen raspberries and they all sank to the bottom of the cake, so let's forget the fact that I ruined a perfectly good bake.  This time round I used fresh and they stayed on top of the cake.  I also baked the cake on a conventional setting rather than the fan setting and this allowed the cake to rise gently without the cake batter rising and burying the raspberries.

So, if you are looking for a large cake that's easy to make and love the bright yellow stuff, then maybe this recipe will be perfect for you too.

It's best to make the custard the day before you make the cake.

You will need:  22cm deep springform tin greased and lined sides and base

250g salted butter, softened
2 tablespoons finely grated orange rind
330g caster sugar
4 eggs
225g self-raising flour
75g plain flour
2 tablespoons fresh orange juice or from a carton
60g ground almonds
150g fresh
20g flaked almonds

For the Custard:
2 tablespoons custard powder
55g caster sugar
250ml milk
20g butter, chopped
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. To make the custard: Place the custard powder and sugar in a small saucepan, gradually stir in the milk. Cook, stirring, until the mixture boils and thickens. Remove from heat, stir in the butter and vanilla extract. Wet a  piece of clingwrap and press over the surface of the custard to prevent a skin forming. Place in the fridge until cold.
2. Preheat oven to 170°C.
3. Place the butter, orange rind and sugar in a large bowl and mix until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time. Gradually fold in the flours, orange juice and ground almonds.
4. Spread two-thirds of the cake mixture into the prepared cake tin. Dollop small spoonfuls of custard over the cake batter. Spoon the remaining cake mixture over custard, carefully spread with a small spatula to completely cover the custard. Sprinkle over the raspberries followed by the flaked almonds.
5. Bake for about 1 hour 25 minutes or until cooked, if it shows signs of getting too brown cover the tin loosely with a piece of foil and bake for a few minutes longer until cooked.  Cool the cake in the tin.
6. Serve the cake with whipped cream just as it is.
7. Store in the fridge.
Adapted from an Australian Women's Weekly recipe.

Are you yay or nay when it comes to Birds Custard?

Bird's Custard is an egg free alternative to custard.

For more raspberry inspiration:
Raspberry, Chocolate and Almond Cake
The Perfect Raspberry and Almond Cake
Mini Raspberry Cream Brownies

Raspberry and Coconut Scones Recipe

I came across this scone recipe on the BBC Good Food website and they looked so temptingly delicious I thought I'd get the pinny on and see how they turned out.

Coconut and raspberries are a delightful combo, these light and fluffy scones are amazing and all you need is a dollop of whipped cream for the perfect mouthful!

Raspberries are one of my favourite berries and I love the sweet/sharp flavour. They are the cooks friend, you can use them fresh or frozen and they liven up even the humblest of bakes.

Slightly adapted recipe:

200g self-raising flour
25g desiccated coconut, plus 1 tbsp for sprinkling
50g cold salted butter, cut into small cubes
25g golden caster sugar
100ml buttermilk
1-2 tbsp full-fat milk
50g frozen raspberries
1 egg, beaten

You will need: Large baking tray dusted with flour.

1. Preheat the oven to 220ºC.
2. Place the flour in a bowl with the coconut and salt. Add the butter and rub in with your fingertips until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Add the sugar and mix in. Pour in the buttermilk and milk. Mix with a knife until the mixture has almost come together,add the raspberries and mix again, trying not to break up the fruit too much.
3. Tip the dough onto a work surface and knead a little to bring it togetherv– don’t overwork or the scones will be heavy. Pat the dough into a square about 4-5cm deep.
4. Cut into 4 pieces, shape them back into squares.
5. Place onto a baking tray, brush with egg, sprinkle with a little coconut.

6. Bake for 15 minutes until golden and risen. Leave to cool on a wire rack.
7. Either eat on the same day or freeze the cooked scones.

For more scone inspiration you may also like:
In Search of the Perfect Scone Recipe
Fresh Berry Scones
Blueberry Breakfast Scones

Little Apple and Almond Cakes Recipe

These little cakes remind me in taste and texture of almond macaroons which I ate as a child.  They are easy to make and taste delicious.

My tins (in the photograph below) have removable bases and were given to me by an elderly lady who had been an avid baker but found she was baking less and less. The tins are old, well used and I love them. I'm sure you too have baking tins that have been passed onto you.

If you need a dessertcumcake recipe that is inexpensive to make then look no further......

Slightly adapted recipe from Mary Berry's Absolute Favourites.

Makes: 6

You will need:  six tins with removable bases measuring approximately 7cm or a muffin tin

75g butter, melted
100g self-raising flour
100g caster sugar
1 large egg, beaten
½ tsp almond extract
1 x Braeburn apple, peeled and thinly sliced
15g flaked almonds

1. Preheat the oven to 180ºC.
2. Grease the inside of the tins with butter and dust with flour. Place the tins on a baking tray.
3. Pour the melted butter into a bowl. Add the sugar, flour, egg and almond extract and mix until smooth.
4. Spoon a little of the mixture into the base of each tin, arrange a few apple slices over the cake batter and spoon the remaining cake mixture on top, level with the back of a teaspoon.
5. Scatter the flaked almonds over the cake mixture. Bake for 25–30 minutes, or until risen and golden.

6. Place on a cooling rack for 10 minutes, remove the cakes from the tins. Serve warm (reheat in a microwave) with crème fraîche or ice cream.