MERINGUE NESTS & EASTER ROCKY ROAD

OK, I have six kids to entertain over the easter holidays and one of the best ways I know of is cooking because after the cooking comes the eating.  These are two recipes that children will love getting stuck into

Believe it or not there are people out there who don't like chocolate, I know it's difficult to comprehend but there are even some who still have Christmas chocolate! Those people look away now, you may find the following scenes upsetting.

EASTER ROCKY ROAD

170g Dark Chocolate
170g Butter
170g Golden Syrup
400g Shortbread Biscuits
100g Mini Marshmallows

100g Micro Mini Eggs

This is a bit of a variation on the classic easter nests but with some cheeky extra's..

Melt the butter, syrup and chocolate in a pan.
Leave this to cool slightly while you break up  the short bread.
Now stir the short bread into the chocolate then add the half the marshmallows and half the Micro Eggs.
Press the mixture into a  20cm x 15cm tin lined with parchment or into muffin cases.
Sprinkle over the remaining marshmallows and Mini Eggs.
Leave to cool to room temperature before putting it in the fridge to set completely.

EASTER MERINGUE NESTS

If my house is anything  to go by, Easter brings with it a small mountain of chocolate so hear is a bake which avoids using too much.

(Makes 15)

4 Egg Whites

250g Caster Sugar

1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract

100g Dark Chocolate

50g Sugared Coconut

Mini Eggs

These are just the kind of thing that as a child I would stare at longingly in the cake shop window.  They definitely have a bit of a retro feel to them with two of my favourite sweets, mini eggs and sugared coconut.  I remember buying a 1/4 of both of them from my local sweet shop.

Heat the oven to 100C and line a baking sheet with baking parchment.

Whisk the egg whites with an electric whisk until they form soft peaks.  Add the sugar a spoon at a time while continually whisking.  The egg whites should become stiff and glossy.

Draw circles on the underside of your parchment approximately 6cm across.  Turn your parchment back over and use them as a guide to pipe your nests.  Bake the nests for  1-1 1/2 hours until the nests come away from the parchment easily. 

Leave to cool while you melt chocolate in a double boiler. 

To decorate spoon a little chocolate onto each nest and top with the coconut and eggs.

Have a good Easter break

GLUTEN FREE COCONUT & COFFEE CAKES

 I've been making these gluten free coffee cakes and coconut cakes for Dafna's Cheescake Factory in Liverpool for a while now and they've proved to be a hit.  Gluten free cakes can be a little dry I think but I've used potato and sweet potato along with rice flour and ground almonds.  Adding vegetables to the mixture makes them soft and light.  Both are topped with buttercream to finish.

Everyone knows I like to save money where I can and these mini cakes were baked in sponge pudding tins, the ones you get in the supermarket and boil in the can.  They're a 4" tin and perfect for a gift size cake.

THE GREAT BRITISH BAKE OFF - WEEK THREE

It was bread this week and we were all very nervous about what Paul would have to say about our efforts.  I do like to make bread, of all the things to bake it gives me the most sense of achievement when I produce something nice - For me, It's easy to get wrong and hard to get right.

In the past I have shied away from loaves and made less temperamental breads like stromboli and fougasse.  Bread does scare me a little so I had to really get to grips with my reservations and work hard on coming up with original recipes that I could guarantee would work, have lots of flavour and offer something different. 

We started with our signature free form loaf. I have issues with adding ingredients to my bread, I just don't seem to get good results once I add any extras so I new I had to find something that would add lots of flavour but not affect the structure of the dough

Dukkah is a middle eastern spice mix traditionally used as a side dish eaten with olive oil and bread.  The name Dukkah is derived from the Arabic for 'to pound' as the mixture of spices and nuts are pounded together after being dry roasted.  I also use it on roasted meats , in stews and on pizzas and now in bread.

   50g Blanched Almonds or Hazelnuts

50g Sesame Seeds 25g Coriander Seeds 5g Cumin Seeds 1/2tsp Salt Flakes 1/4tsp Freshly Ground Black Pepper 1 tsp Dried Thyme

  

Put the corriander seeds, cumin seeds, hazelnuts and sesame seeds in a pan and dry roast them till they start to brown and pop.  The aroma is fantastic.  Remove them from the pan immediately as they will continue to toast and they may burn.  Add the remaining ingredients and either use a pestle and mortar to grind them together or whizz them in a mini chopper.  I like it a little chunky and to have texture but you can make it as fine as you like.

              

          Dough

500g Strong White Bread Flour                                               15g Yeast                                                10g Salt                                              40g Butter                                             300g Water                                             50g Dukkah                                          A little Olive Oil

                                                                                                                                         

Rub the butter into the flour, add the yeast, salt and dukkah and combine.  Add the water and mix till it all comes together, I find it easier to use a knife for this.  You want to start with quite a wet dough.  Put a little olive oil on the surface, this will help it to not stick when kneading.  Knead for 10 minutes - if you can manage it,  till smooth.  If it does start to stick, add a little more oil to the surface or dust yout hands lightly with flour.  Try not to add too much flour to your dough though as it will become tough and you will achieve hard bread. Form the dough into a ball, return it to the bowl and cover with a tea towel.  Rest for 1 hour to double in size. Remove the dough from the bowl and 'knock it back' to it's original size.  Now shape it into a ball and rest for a further hour on a baking stone covered with a tea towel.  After the hour the dough will have doubled again, cut marks into the loaf and bake at 200C for 40 minutes.

PESTO BREAD

Because I'd used a normal bread dough for the signature loaf I wanted something different for the first of my two rolls.  This pesto bread is made with an olive oil dough but rather than use just olive oil, I have used the oil to make the pesto and added that.

Olive oil dough has a lovely soft stretchy texture, I actually prefer to use it for most of my bread, it's good for pizza bases too.

Pesto 50g Basil               30g Pinenuts 30g Pecorino        1 clove Garlic 85ml Olive Oil       Salt & Pepper to Season Whizz all the ingredients together in a mini chopper or processor till you have a lovely sloppy green paste.    Dough 500g Strong White Bread Flour 15g Yeast 10g Salt 320g Water 3 Tblsp Pesto Mix the flour, yeast and salt. Combine the water with the pesto and mix into the flour with a knife  to form a dough.  Knead it on a lightly oiled surface for 10 minutes till smooth. Now return the dough to the bowl and cover with a tea towel.  Rest for 1 hour till doubled in size. Remove the dough from the bowl and 'knock back' to original size.  Divide it into 12 pieces, they should weigh about 80g each.  Roll each one into a sausage then tie them into knots.  Rest them on the baking sheet or stone and cover with a tea towel.  Rest for a further hour to double again. Bake for 20-25 minutes at 200C

SWEET COCONUT ROLLS

So, I've used a regular dough and an olive oil dough, now for a sweet dough.  This was the bread that made Mary like coconut.  It reminds me of my mum's chelsea buns, she replaced the usual sultanas with a mixture of toasted coconut, butter and sugar, every time I taste it I'm transported back to my childhood.

You can eat this bread as it is, still warm from the oven is best but it also goes great with a really hot curry, the sweetness helps combat the heat from the chilli, a bit like peshwari naan.

Coconut Filling

100g Dessicated Coconut 

50g Demerara Sugar  

50g Butter 

500g Strong White Bread Flour 15g Yeast 60g Butter 40g Sugar 10g Salt  2 Eggs  200g Milk 25g Dessicated Coconut 1 tsp Icing Sugar

Make the coconut filling. Toast all the coconut in a dry pan till it browns.  Remove it from the pan as it will continue to toast and burn. Remove 25g and set aside for the dough.  Now put the butter and sugar in the pan and heat till the butter has melted.  Once they have both melted add the remaining coconut and stir to combine.

Now make the dough.  Stir the icing sugar into the 25g of coconut and set aside.  Warm the milk slightly in a pan.  Rub the butter into the flour.  Add the yeast, sugar, salt and coconut with icing sugar and stir to combine.  Mix in the eggs and milk with a knife and knead for 10 minutes on a slightly oiled surface till smooth. Return the dough to the bowl and cover.  Leave to prove for an hour till doubled in size.

The Faffy Bit

Remove from bowl and 'knock back' to original size.  Divide the dough into 12 neat balls, they should weigh about 80g each. This is where it gets tricky but only slightly,  To form each one, roll each into a disc about 5mm thick and cover with a spoon of coconut filling.  Cut from the centre to the edge of the disc then roll it up from the cut edge to form a cone shape.  Tuck the dough at the larger end in on itself to make a base, sit the base in the surface and use your thumb to push the point of the cone into the centre and form a dimple.  Rest for a further hour on a baking sheet lined with parchment.   Cover with a tea towel. 

Because it is a sweet dough it can burn if the temperature is too high so bake it at 160C for 20-30 minutes.

BREAD BASKET

If that wasn't enough we had to make a display basket for our rolls.  15 years in child care teaches you something about play dough along with cutting and sticking so that's just what I did!

My friend Ann always buys the most perfect presents and she gave me these fantastic leaf cutters.  The whole thing was simple and effective but it was the cutters that made it - with a little help from me!

  

 Salt Dough

2 Cups Plain Flour and Extra for Rolling 1 Cup Salt 1 Cup Warm Water 1 tsp Oil 1 Egg White to glaze and stick extra leaves on

I baked mine for 30 minutes at 140C on the outside then removed the bowl and did it for a further 30 minutes.

Once it's baked glaze the whole thing with egg white and glue on the extra baked leaves also with egg white.  Bake for a further 10 minutes.