Tag Archives: pudding

The Ultimate Flapjack

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Filed under Baking, chocolate, dessert, Easy recipes, Flapjacks, high tea, pudding, Sweet things, tea time treats, white chocolate

flapjack8

Delilah had another end of term music concert today and we’re always asked to make a contribution to the tea afterwards so I made some flapjacks as I didn’t have much time yesterday. I stupidly forgot to press start on the timer when I put the mixture into the oven so it got rather over-cooked and I thought it was a disaster; Mr Arabella Cooks pulled a face and said “the top is too crunchy”.  So I went along intending to put the plate of flapjack slices anonymously onto the catering table and pretend they weren’t mine. I was amazed and delighted therefore when people started asking who’d made them and could they have another one because they were delicious? I (obvs) quickly claimed them as mine and when a very sweet lady said they were the best flapjacks she’d ever tasted I promised to post the recipe. So here we are. The best flapjacks in the world (maybe; they’re also a bit Christmassy as they have cranberries in them).

Ingredients:

  • 400g oats (I used regular porridge oats)
  • 200g golden syrup
  • 200g light muscovado sugar
  • 200g unsalted butter
  • Grated zest of 1/2 a lemon
  • 3 tablespoons of dessicated coconut
  • 100g dried cranberries
  • 100g raisins
  • 80g white chocolate, melted
  • 80g dark chocolate, melted (or some of the chocolate sauce from my pumpkin pie recipe)

Method:

  1. Preheat the oven to 160 degrees (fan); grease and line a baking tin (I used a 7 inch square tin but I think it was a bit too small; either an 8 or 9 inch square or something rectangular would work well)
  2. Melt the butter, golden syrup and sugar together in a large saucepan.
  3. Take off the heat and stir in the oats, coconut, lemon zest, cranberries and raisins. Mix it all together well and make sure all the oats are coated with the melted butter and sugars.
  4. Pour into the prepared tin and pat it down (I started with a metal spoon but in the end just used my hands).
  5. Bake – you have two options here. If you like your flapjacks squidgy and soft, cook it for 25 minutes. If you like them crunchy, cook it for 40 minutes.
  6. When cooked, remove from the oven, allow to cool in the tin for 20 minutes then turn out onto a wire rack.
  7. Again you have two options here. You can either wait until the flapjack is completely cool and drizzle the white and dark chocolate (or chocolate sauce) over the top as per my picture above, and then cut it into squares, OR cut the flapjacks into squares before it cools completely (as it’s easier to cut then), push the squares together to form one big square, drizzle the chocolate over and then separate them while the chocolate cools and hardens. Dead yummy!

 

Hot chocolate mousse and raspberry ripple ice cream

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Filed under chocolate, desserts, easy puddings, hot choclate mousse, Ice cream, raspberries

hot choc mousse fiddled twice

It’s dessert week on Bake Off tonight and in honour of that I’m posting my hot chocolate mousse recipe. And because it’s so utterly delicious it will knock your socks off. And because it’s really REALLY easy to make.

Ingredients for chocolate mousse (serves 4):

  • 125g plain cooking chocolate
  • 35g unsalted butter (softened)
  • 3 eggs (separated)
  • 40g caster sugar

Method:

Pre-heat the oven to 180 c (fan).

  1. Break chocolate up into small pieces and put into a mixing bowl with the butter and melt over the pan of barely simmering water.
  2. Remove from the heat, add the egg yolks and stir well.
  3. Whisk the egg whites until they form stiff peaks, then gradually whisk in the sugar until glossy and stiff (like a meringue).
  4. Fold the meringue gently into the chocolate mixture and pour into oven-proof tea cups or ramekins. Chill in the fridge until time to cook (at least 20 minutes).
  5. When ready take the mousses out of the fridge and place them on a baking tray. Bake them at 180c for 8 minutes until the mousse has risen to the brim of the moulds and is beginning to firm up on the sides but still gooey in the middle. Serve immediately before they collapse.

Ingredients for raspberry ripple ice cream:

  • 200g raspberries
  • 3 tablespoons of icing sugar
  • 1 tablespoon of lemon juice
  • Ice cream in an ice cream maker:
    • 200g double cream
    • 200g full cream milk
    • 150g caster sugar
    • Pinch salt
  • Ice cream without an ice cream maker:
    • 600ml double cream
    • Half a 397ml can of condensed milk
    • 1 tsp vanilla essence

Method:

  1. Make the coulis – put the raspberries, icing sugar and lemon juice into a blender and whizz to a smooth sauce consistency. Pass through a sieve to remove the pips.
  2. Make the ice cream:
    1. In an ice cream maker: mix together the milk, cream, salt and sugar in a jug. Pour into a cooled down ice cream maker bowl and churn for 30 minutes or until thick.
    2. Without an ice cream maker: whisk the 600ml of double cream, tsp of vanilla and condensed milk until it’s very stiff. Line a loaf tin with cling film.
    3. For both methods once cream is churned/thick:  In either your loaf tin or a shallow plastic tub, add a layer of the cream, add a layer of the coulis, add another layer of cream and another layer of coulis, then a final layer of cream and the rest of the coulis on top. Use a knife or metal pronged stick to ripple the coulis around and through the cream, leaving a lovely swirly pattern on the top (this photo is of some blackcurrant ripple I made recently but you get the idea).

rippled ice cream

Serve the mousses straight away with a scoop or slice of raspberry ripple, which is nice with some chopped pistachios and honeycomb on top (you can make your own or just chop up a Crunchie bar if you can’t be bothered). I made this in the second round of Masterchef for the past winners (without the pistachios and honeycomb) and they and Greg all declared it yum!

hot chocolate mousse with rasp ripple iced cream

(Wonderful photo by Blanche Hughes, who has many more brilliant photos and recipes on her blog: Blanched. Check it out. x)

Blackberry ice cream

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Filed under Autumn fruits, blackberries, Egg free desserts, Gluten free desserts, Ice cream

ice cream mix smartfixed

There are a lot of blackberry bushes at the back of my house. I’ve been eyeing up some early ripeners every time I get in and out of the car and this evening the children and I just couldn’t resist picking the first crop of big juicy berries. They were huge! I’ve wanted to make a blackberry ice cream for ages so set to as soon as we got back indoors. I used my preferred basic ice cream recipe. It’s a very straightforward formula – cold cream, cold milk, sugar, flavouring (vanilla, chocolate etc), churned in an ice cream maker (I use a Gaggia).  It makes a light and smooth ice (like an Italian gelato) which pairs exceptionally well with fruit. Actually it pairs well with anything, as it’s quite a basic background (I was going to say bland, but actually it’s not).  The chocolate version is dense and rich and moreish and the chocolate chip and salted caramel is one of my friend’s favourite ice creams (and Mr Arabella Cooks’ too). I’ll post that recipe in the near future, but for now, here is my magnificent, intense berry tang of a blackberry gelato. It’s lush.

Recipe

  • 500g blackberries
  • Caster sugar
  • Cassis (a blackcurrant liqueur. You can do without it if you don’t have any or don’t want to splash out on a bottle. I do use it all the time though so find it pays for itself, really. Makes a nice cocktail too)
  • Lemon juice (a good squeeze)
  • 200ml double cream
  • 200ml full fat milk
  • 130g caster sugar

Method:

  1.  Make a blackberry coulis: tip the blackberries into a pan (any will do – saute, saucepan or frying pan) with a good glug of cassis, a hard squeeze of lemon juice, 2 tablespoons of water and about 2 tablespoons of caster sugar. Cook on a medium heat till it bubbles a bit then simmer it gently until the berries break down and the sauce thickens a bit. About 4 or 5 minutes.
  2. Sieve the coulis into a jug, to remove the pips. Press down hard to get all the lovely sauce from the fruit and don’t forget to scrape the underside of the sieve. Leave to cool.

ice cream coulis

3. Make sure your ice cream maker is either cooled down if it has an internal cooling unit, or your bowl is chilled from the freezer if it doesn’t. (You can make this very easily without an ice cream maker if you don’t have one – just mix a can of condensed milk with 600ml of double cream and a bit of vanilla essence and whisk until it’s very, very thick. Mix the coulis into the cream, then put it into a loaf tin lined with clingflim and freeze. It won’t be quite as good as a churned version but thoroughly delicious all the same).

4. Mix together the milk, cream and sugar in a separate jug or bowl, then pour it slowly into the cooled coulis.

ice cream mix

5) Pour the delicious mixture into your ice cream maker and churn until thick. Then transfer to a tub and freeze until you can no longer resist eating large spoonfuls whilst standing at the freezer with the door open (yes I do). Yumbles.!ice cream last

Gluten free mocha chocolate ice box cake

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Filed under cake, chocolate, dessert, Gluten free, mocha, pudding, Sweet things

cake 3

A friend of mine is poorly so I made her a cake. This is a spectacularly easy way of making an impressive and delicious gluten free dessert, but it can be gluten free or gluten containing in the blink of an eye. It just depends what kind of biscuits you use. It’s based on the principle of an Italian tiramisu – flavoured whipped cream layered with biscuits. You put it in the fridge overnight and it hardens the cream and softens the biscuits (into ‘sponge’) et voila: cake/pudding/breakfast/whatever. Top it with something delicious and yum to the max, frankly.

Ingredients:

  • 4 packets of Maryland double choc chip cookies (if you don’t need to go down the gluten free route) or 5 packets of gluten free double chocolate chip biscuits (Kent of Fraser or Doves are good) to make it gluten free.
  • 600ml double cream
  • 100g caster sugar
  • 50/60ml of cold espresso coffee
  • 1 teaspoon of good vanilla essence
  • 350g mascarpone
  • 2 tablespoons of cocoa or cacao powder
  • Optional extra if not making for children: (60 mls Kahlua)

Method:

  1. In a large bowl, whisk together the cream, mascarpone, sugar, cocoa/cacao, cold espresso and vanilla (and Kahlua if using), until it forms firm peaks.
  2. Take a high sided, loose bottom cake tin (you don’t need it to be springform) and put a layer of biscuits on the bottom. You’ll need to break some to make the jigsaw of biscuits fit with as few gaps as possible (it takes practice; by the last layer I was brilliant at it).
  3. Spread a thin layer of the cream mixture over the biscuits. Put another layer of biscuits on top (again assembling it like a jigsaw) followed by another layer of cream and so on until you have run out of biscuits and cream/come to the top of the tin. You should end up with around 5 layers, with the top layer being cream.
  4. Cover with clingfilm and refrigerate overnight (or all day if making in the morning to serve at night. It needs at least 6 hours).
  5. When ready, take it out of the fridge and run a small sharp knife around the outside of the cake and push the bottom up and out (I used Mr AC to help me with this). On the top I put some caramel and Belgian chocolate popcorn (for texture and flavour) and then shaved some Lindt Swiss Classic Double Milk chocolate bar (which is my current favourite cake decorating secret) with a vegetable peeler on top of that. I should mention though that the Lindt chocolate is not gluten free (my friend didn’t need a gf option) so if you can’t have gluten use something else to decorate).
  6. Serve cold, in wedges.
  7. Store it in the fridge and eat quickly as it won’t keep for very long (no matter though as you’ll want to eat it all immediately anyway because it’s Y U M!).

cake 4   cake 5