The lovely Louisa from Lulubelle's Cupcakes has emailed me to let me know about a fantastic competition she's running - a box of 12 cupcakes every month for a year!
Winning them is easy - and yet also a challenge. All you have to do is imagine a new flavour of cupcake. The best one wins. Sounds simple, yes? But since Lulubelle's are behind the incredible and yet to be available cake balls and already do a pretty incredible range of flavours, you may have to go some to come up with a winner.
Anyway. If you think you can do better than orange curd and dark chocolate (that one's mine and I'm pretty sure it's too tame to be a winner!), you can enter here. Good luck!
Monday 10 May 2010
Monday 15 February 2010
Chocolate Rose Truffles
Last March, post-Cheltenham Gold Cup, I went for lunch at Le Champignon Sauvage. This is not going to be a review of that, but, at the end, with the coffee, we had the most incredible truffles. It's hard to describe, but although it look and smelt like a chocolate, when you bit into it, it was like the truffle had instantly become liquid. Rose flavoured liquid.
Anyway, I thought I'd have a go at making chocolate rose truffles. Warning: this recipe is not for you if you don't like turkish delight. But you could substitute a flavour you do like instead.
125g dark chocolate
100ml cream
1 tbs rose water (or rum, or other liqueur, or lavender water, or try a smaller amount of orange or lemon oil)
Melt the chocolate with a spoonful of hot water in a bowl over a saucepan of simmering water. Heat the cream until just warm, and mix with the chocolate.
Remove from the heat and allow to cool to room temperature. Add the flavouring and mix well. The chocolate should look shiny and delicious at this stage.
Using an electric whisk, whip the mixture until it's mousse-like (about five minutes should do it.)
Refrigerate for at least 15 minutes. Then flatten out a sheet of greaseproof paper and scatter with cocoa powder. Have a bowl of cold water or a cold tap nearby.
Take a spoonful of the mixture and roll it into a ball (after a few your hands will be too warm and sticky, hence the cold water!) then roll it in the cocoa.
And that's it! If you're not eating them straight away, keep them in the fridge. Because of the cream they'll last about three days, take them out of the fridge 20 minutes before eating to come back to room temperature.
They're dead easy, and though they're not quite Michelin star standard, they're more than good enough to give as presents, I'd say. If you don't eat them all first.
Anyway, I thought I'd have a go at making chocolate rose truffles. Warning: this recipe is not for you if you don't like turkish delight. But you could substitute a flavour you do like instead.
125g dark chocolate
100ml cream
1 tbs rose water (or rum, or other liqueur, or lavender water, or try a smaller amount of orange or lemon oil)
Melt the chocolate with a spoonful of hot water in a bowl over a saucepan of simmering water. Heat the cream until just warm, and mix with the chocolate.
Remove from the heat and allow to cool to room temperature. Add the flavouring and mix well. The chocolate should look shiny and delicious at this stage.
Using an electric whisk, whip the mixture until it's mousse-like (about five minutes should do it.)
Refrigerate for at least 15 minutes. Then flatten out a sheet of greaseproof paper and scatter with cocoa powder. Have a bowl of cold water or a cold tap nearby.
Take a spoonful of the mixture and roll it into a ball (after a few your hands will be too warm and sticky, hence the cold water!) then roll it in the cocoa.
And that's it! If you're not eating them straight away, keep them in the fridge. Because of the cream they'll last about three days, take them out of the fridge 20 minutes before eating to come back to room temperature.
They're dead easy, and though they're not quite Michelin star standard, they're more than good enough to give as presents, I'd say. If you don't eat them all first.
Sunday 10 January 2010
A Lamb Casserole, Jan 9
Take some neck of lamb - on the bone if you can get but if not, fillet will do. If you can't get neck, ask your butcher for another slow cooker, they usually have chunks of leg that will work just as well.
Roll the lamb in some seasoned flour and fry in olice oil, in a casserole dish, until browned. Remove and set aside.
Chop some onion (roughly one small onion per portion of lamb) and add to the pot. Next, garlic cloves, crushed with the flat of a knife. You can add just a couple or loads, depending on your preference.
Fry until softened. Meanwhile peel some parsnips and chop into very chunky pieces. I went for a large parnsip per portion of lamb and you wouldn't want any less - it's the sweetness of the neep that makes the sauces so beautifully tasty.
If you like, peel and chop a couple of potatoes and throw them in too (waxy ones hold their shape better, but a maris piper will add something extra to the flavour of the sauce.)
Put the lamb and any juice that's come out while it's been resting back in the pot. Cover with hot water and throw in some sprigs of rosemary. I didn't bother with salt and pepper because the lamb was already seasoned.
Put in a medium oven (I used gas mark 5) and leave for at least 90 minutes.
The parsnips should be meltingly soft and will have given the sauce a sweet velvety quality that will make you want to eat it all at once. Yum
Recipe inspired by Nigel Slater's Simple Suppers BBC TV show.
Roll the lamb in some seasoned flour and fry in olice oil, in a casserole dish, until browned. Remove and set aside.
Chop some onion (roughly one small onion per portion of lamb) and add to the pot. Next, garlic cloves, crushed with the flat of a knife. You can add just a couple or loads, depending on your preference.
Fry until softened. Meanwhile peel some parsnips and chop into very chunky pieces. I went for a large parnsip per portion of lamb and you wouldn't want any less - it's the sweetness of the neep that makes the sauces so beautifully tasty.
If you like, peel and chop a couple of potatoes and throw them in too (waxy ones hold their shape better, but a maris piper will add something extra to the flavour of the sauce.)
Put the lamb and any juice that's come out while it's been resting back in the pot. Cover with hot water and throw in some sprigs of rosemary. I didn't bother with salt and pepper because the lamb was already seasoned.
Put in a medium oven (I used gas mark 5) and leave for at least 90 minutes.
The parsnips should be meltingly soft and will have given the sauce a sweet velvety quality that will make you want to eat it all at once. Yum
Recipe inspired by Nigel Slater's Simple Suppers BBC TV show.
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