Instant Pot Leek and Potato Soup

A delicious bowl of comforting home made soup with a thick slab of bread and butter takes some beating. Leek and potato soup is quick and simple to make and any that isn't eaten can be frozen in a strong freezer bag.

I made mine in the Instant Pot (electric pressure cooker) and once the soup had cooled down I whizzed it in the blender.  I purchased the pressure cooker just before last Christmas and as with all gadgets it's a bit of a learning curve, but so far so good!

Tear and Share Milk Bread

I love a 'bit of nostalgia', and milk bread baked in a cylindrical ribbed tin brings back memories of my childhood and hopefully my other reader remembers this wonderful soft and tasty loaf of bread too! I can't recall anything as fancy as sharing bread though.

I made this last week to go with our dinner but unfortunately it never made it to the table because I was too late making it. The chia seeds decorating the top of the bread were an impulse purchase from Aldi, I'm unsure they brought anything to the party but they can go into my next seeded loaf of bread!

As usual I made mine in the Thermomix, simply because it has to work for me, but it will work just as well using a stand mixer with the dough attachment.

I've included conventional instructions below.......

Thermomix Instructions in Italics

You will need: 7"/18cm round springform tin base lined and greased

250g strong white bread flour
1 tsp easy blend yeast
1/2 tsp salt
15g butter
150ml warm milk or 150g of cold milk (if using a Thermomix)

Method:
Put the flour into the bowl of the mixer and using the appropriate attachment rub in the butter.

Add the yeast and salt to the bowl, it's always best to place them on opposite sides of the bowl.

Fit the dough hook and pour in 150ml of warm milk, knead for 5 minutes until the dough is elastic.

Pour 150g milk into the jug, add the yeast and set to 1 minute/37ºC/Speed 2, then to ensure the yeast is mixed in thoroughly I tend to set for another 1 minute/37ºC/Speed 2 reverse.
Now add the flour, salt and butter. Set to 2 minutes/Knead Function.

Remove the dough and place into a greased bowl, cover with cling wrap and prove for an hour or so until doubled in size.

Prove the dough in the TM jug, leave until double in size about 1 hour.

Remove the dough from the bowl, return to the stand mixing bowl and using the dough hook knead for a minute to knock out the air.

Remove the dough from the TM jug and knock out the air.

Cut the dough into 10 even size pieces and shape into balls. Place 7 of the balls evenly around the sides of the springform tin, now place the remaining three balls in the middle. Cover with greased clingfilm and leave to prove until double in size, approximately 30-45 minutes. Brush with milk and sprinkle over sesame and chia seeds.

Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 200ºC. Place the baking sheet into the oven and bake for approximately 30 minutes until golden brown. Remove from the tin and place on a wire rack to cool.

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Thermomix Soft White Bread Rolls

There's nothing more satisfying than making a batch of bread rolls and pulling them apart to reveal their light fluffy interior.

I cut these in half, spread mayonnaise over and filled mine with lettuce, tomatoes, bacon, home made beef burger, and melted some cheese over the burger. Yum. These are perfect rolls for beef burgers because the burger stays put in the bread roll!

I love making bread in the Thermomix, it takes only two minutes to knead the dough and then it's ready to rise for an hour in the Thermie jug, shape, rise and bake - what's not to like?

I've included conventional instructions below....

Thermomix Instructions in Italics

Makes: 8

500g strong white bread flour
7g easy blend yeast
1tsp salt
35g butter
200ml warm water or 200g of cold water (if using a Thermomix)
100ml warm milk or 100g of cold milk (if using a Thermomix)

1. Put the flour into the bowl of the mixer and using the appropriate attachment rub in the butter.
2. Add the yeast and salt to the bowl, it's always best to place them on opposite sides of the bowl.
3. Fit the dough hook and pour in 200ml of warm water and 100ml of warm milk, knead for 5 minutes until the dough is elastic.
Pour 200g water and 100g milk into the jug, add the yeast and set to 1 minute/37ºC/Speed 2, then to ensure the yeast is mixed in thoroughly I tend to set for another 1 minute/37ºC/Speed 2 reverse.
Now add the flour, salt and butter. Set to 2 minutes/Knead Function.
4. Remove the dough and place into a greased bowl, cover with cling wrap and prove for an hour or so until doubled in size.
Prove the dough in the TM jug, leave until double in size about 1 hour.
5. Remove the dough from the bowl, return to the stand mixing bowl and using the dough hook knead for a minute to knock out the air.
Remove the dough from the TM jug and knock out the air.
6. Cut the dough into 8 even size pieces and shape into balls. Place onto the floured baking sheet leaving a small gap between each dough ball. Dust with flour and cover with a tea towel to prove until double in size, approximately 30-45 minutes.
7. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 200ºC. Place the baking sheet into the oven and bake for 15-20 minutes until golden brown. Place on a wire rack to cool.

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Pear Polenta Cake

I know January is typically the month we all turn our thoughts to getting rid of the Christmas excesses, but I'm not sure how you can do that when there is still Christmas food in the freezer. I've always tried to make a bit of an effort towards the end of January, afterall I've got a stash of chocolate that needs eating up and I'm sure it's not going to go to waste whilst starting some kind of daft diet.

I'm not sure that this is an authentic Italian polenta cake, but putting that aside, it tastes delicious. The recipe is a bit of a faff and the mixture at times doesn't look very promising but it turned out to make a fabulous dessert. If you have a couple of ripe pears in the fruit bowl, but not overly ripe, this recipe is a great way to use them up.

You will need: 23cm springform tin, greased with butter and base lined. Dust the tin with flour.

100g plain flour
40g polenta
1 tsp baking powder
large pinch of salt
grated zest of one lemon
2 large eggs
75g golden caster sugar
5 tbsp milk
1/2 tsp almond extract
2 tbsp raisins
50g unsalted butter (softened)
2 medium desserts pears (peeled and sliced)
Topping:
25g unsalted butter, softened
10g caster sugar
2 tbsp apricot jam
toasted flaked almonds
icing sugar

1. Preheat the oven to 190°C.
2. Mix the flour, polenta, baking powder, salt and lemon zest together in a bowl.
3. Beat the eggs and half the sugar until light and fluffy.
4. Little by little beat in the milk and almond extract. Beat in the flour and very soft butter. Note: I had an issue mixing the butter into the batter by hand and had to whiz everything briefly in the food processor (but in my case the Thermomix) to make a lump-free batter. Stir in the raisins. Now dollop the mixture into the tin and smooth evenly.
5. Arrange the pear slices over the cake batter. Melt the butter and brush over the slices of pear. Sprinkle over the caster sugar.
6. Bake in the preheated oven for 40 minutes until golden and cooked through.
7. Place the tin on a cooling rack and allow the cake to cool in the tin for 15 minutes.
8. Remove the cake from the tin. Heat the apricot jam with 1 tablespoon of water, brush over the top of cake.
9. Decorate with toasted flaked almonds and a dusting of icing sugar.

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Plum Frangipane Tart with Crushed Amaretti

I bought these plums on a whim from the supermarket, they're what I call the dreaded 'ripen at home' which often translates to 'never will ripen at home'. Why do I do it? This time they were kind to me and ripened at home in a good 10 days after purchase without going mouldy which is a first.

Fortunately the plums were delicious, which is a blessing, especially after I had taken a fair amount of time making this fabulous tart which is topped with crushed Amaretti biscuits and flaked almonds.

I mainly buy Amaretti biscuits before Christmas and these together with flaked almonds make the most glorious crunchy topping for the ever popular frangipane bake.

Thermomix Instructions in Italics

You will need: Oblong tin deep fluted tart tin with loose base.35cmx10cmx3cm 

For the pastry:
175g plain flour, plus extra for dusting
75g cold butter, cubed
25g caster sugar
1 medium egg, beaten with a splash of water
For the filling:
75g butter, softened
75g caster sugar
2 eggs, beaten
75g ground almonds
2 tsp plain flour
½ tsp almond extract
6 plums halved and stoned
For the topping:
Crushed Amaretti biscuits
Flaked Almonds

1. Place the flour and butter in a food processor and whiz until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Add the sugar and mix in briefly, then add 3 tablespoons of the egg and water mixture. Whiz until the dough just comes together.
Place the flour, butter, sugar and 3 tablespoons of the egg and water mixture into the TM jug 20 Secs/Speed 4.
2. Chill the pastry for 30 minutes. Remove from the fridge and allow to come to room temperature. Roll the pastry out on a lightly floured surface and line the tin,
3. Preheat the oven to 190°C/170°C fan/ Gas 5 and place a heavy baking sheet inside on the oven rack to heat up.
4. Prick the base of the pastry all over with a fork, now chill in the fridge for 30 minutes.
5. Line the pastry case with crumpled baking paper and spread over a layer of baking beans. Bake for 10 minutes.  Remove from the oven and remove the baking paper and beans. Return the part baked pastry case to the oven for 10 minutes until light golden brown.  Leave the pastry case in the tin to cool on a rack.
6. Now make the frangipane filling by placing the butter and caster sugar into the food processor, whiz briefly.  Add the ground almonds, flour, eggs and almond extract. Whiz again until smooth.
Add the butter, caster sugar, flour, ground almonds, almond extract and eggs to the TM jug 1 min/speed 3.
7. Reduce the oven to 180°C/160°C fan/Gas 4.  Pour the frangipane into the tin,  Arrange the plum halves cut down side on top of the filling. Scatter over crushed Amaretti biscuits and flaked almonds.
Bake for 45 minutes until the tart is golden brown. Cool on a rack.

Christmas Chocolate Marble Loaf Cake

Christmas is coming! Wrapping presents, writing cards, shopping all to be done but there's always time to bake an easy marble loaf cake. This cake is a childhood favourite and one I never tire of. It's an easy bake simply topped with a delicious chocolate icing and a few sprinkles, what's not to like.

The cake will be a winner with children.........

50g butter, softened
75g soft tub margarine
125g caster sugar
125g self-raising flour
1 level tsp baking powder
pinch of salt
2 large eggs
2 tsp orange juice
2 level tbsp cocoa powder

For the icing
50g unsalted butter
30g cocoa powder, sifted
2 tbsp milk
200g icing sugar, sifted
Decoration
25g white chocolate, melted
white chocolate stars

You will need: Greased 450g loaf tin lined.

Thermomix Method in Italics

1. Preheat the oven to 170°C. Line the tin with a wide strip of non-stick baking parchment to go up the wide sides and over the base.
2. Place the butter,  Stork SB, sugar, flour, baking powder,  pinch of salt, eggs and orange juice into a mixing bowl and beat with an electric mixer for two minutes. Spoon half the cake batter into another bowl.
Add the butter, soft tub margarine, sugar, flour, baking powder, pinch of salt, eggs and orange juice to the TM jug 20 Secs/Speed 5. Scrape down 5 Secs/Speed 5. Spoon half the cake mixture into a bowl.
3. Sift the cocoa powder into one half of the mixture and mix until evenly blended.
Sprinkle the cocoa powder over the cake batter in the TM jug - 10 Secs/Speed 5.
4. Spoon the plain and chocolate cake mixtures alternately into the loaf tin. Level the surface, swirl the cake batter gently with a skewer. Bake for approximately 40 minutes until well risen, and starting to shrink away from the sides of the tin.
5. Cool in the tin for 10 minutes, then turn out on to a wire rack, peel off the lining paper and leave to cool.
6. To make the icing, melt the butter in a small pan, add the cocoa powder, stir to blend and cook over a low heat for one minute. Stir in the milk and icing sugar, remove from the heat and mix thoroughly. Spread the cold cake with the icing, blob the melted white chocolate over the top and swirl with a skewer. Decorate with chocolate stars and leave to set.