Eggs Archives - Page 5 of 6 - All That I'm Eating

Miniature Elderflower Cakes made with Elderflower Sugar

June 12, 2012 By All That I'm Eating 39 Comments

I had grand visions of picking great swarms of elderflowers and returning home to concoct some floral cordial. My imaginings were interrupted with the first (and now unrelenting) rain and my great plan was no more. I had heard that elderflower is not to be picked on a rainy day and I wasn’t about to don my wellingtons and test that theory. So instead of making gallons of cordial I baked some elderflower in to my life.

These little cakes I suppose pay homage to the great elder tree; a plant that doesn’t look like much until it is burgeoning with white flowers and then, if you manage to resist the flowers, festoons itself with beautiful berries. I needed both fresh elderflowers and some cordial for these cakes but try as I might I could not get hold of local elderflower cordial. The elderflowers were relatively easily obtainable, once you’ve negotiated your way through the many cobwebs that is.

You will need:
1 egg
Butter
Elderflower Sugar (see below)
Self raising flour
Elderflower cordial
Icing Sugar read more

Victoria Sponge with Balsamic Strawberry Jam

June 8, 2012 By All That I'm Eating 28 Comments

I love a good cake and they don’t get much better than a classic Victoria sponge. It’s got all you need in a cake; light, sweet, buttery sponge with fruity, slightly sharp jam sticking it all together. It is debated which jam is the best; strawberry, raspberry or even blackcurrant. Strawberry would always win for me and when I saw a lonely punnet of English strawberries at the greengrocer’s I had to buy it. After debating what to make with my edible purchase I set about putting a twist on this traditional cake.

It goes without saying that your sponge must be magnificent but I think the jam is just as important as both the literal and metaphorical glue that holds this cake together. As much as I like the fruitiness and sweetness of strawberry jam I enjoy the faint acidity that comes with it. To increase the tang in my jam I wanted to incorporate some balsamic vinegar.

You will need:
3 eggs, beaten
Butter, at room temperature
Sugar
Self raising flour
Vanilla extract
1 punnet of ripe strawberries
3 tbsp balsamic vinegar
Strawberry jam read more

Coronation Chicken: using up leftover chicken

May 17, 2012 By All That I'm Eating 14 Comments

Removing all the meat from a cooked chicken has to be one of the most rewarding things to do; ending up with a plate full of bones and a bowl full of meat opens up a world of possibilities. As I mentioned in the previous post the bones were used to make stock; half of this was used in a bright broccoli, celery and stilton soup. I think the other half will end up in a risotto in the near future.

First and most importantly it was essential to make some form of chicken sandwich from the leftovers. As Jubilee fever is gripping the nation at the moment I thought the most appropriate sandwich would be Coronation chicken. Possibly my favourite sandwich filler but one I’ve never made myself and I wanted to do it properly, do it justice and so I set about making some mayonnaise.

You will need: 2 egg yolks 250ml oil (I used half groundnut, half rapeseed) Cooked chicken Curry Powder Mango Chutney Bread, salad, other sandwich bits

My mixer would be the perfect thing to make glorious, fresh, silky mayonnaise, at least that’s what I thought. As far as I was aware 1 egg yolk can emulsify 100ml of oil but none of the recipes I found followed this rule so I trusted both my instincts (which are apparently useless) and a few recipes and went for 2 egg yolks and 250ml oil. read more

Hot Cross Bun Bread and Butter Pudding

April 3, 2012 By All That I'm Eating 20 Comments

Easter provides an opportunity to make things you don’t normally make; Simnel Cake, Chocolate Nests and Hot Cross Buns to name a few. If the weather is horrible it provides time to bake at leisure. This is a recipe for when you have bought or made too many hot cross buns in all the Easter excitement and they have gone a bit stale. It could also be used to disguise a less than perfect batch of homemade hot cross buns. It’s a brilliant way to make the most of this lovely, fruity spiced bun. Warm, crisp on top, gooey centre; what more could you want? You will need: 4 Hot Cross Buns, Butter for spreading and a bit extra, 1 egg and 2 egg yolks, 3 tbsp caster sugar, 410g can condensed milk, A little extra milk Marmalade (optional)

Slice the hot cross buns into four or five slices and butter on one side. I thought I’d be lucky to get three slices but four or five can be easily accomplished with a little perseverance. If you want you can put marmalade on the buttered side too for an extra citrusy zing. Put the buttered slices into an oven proof dish.

Whisk together the egg, egg yolks and sugar with until well combined. Empty the condensed milk into a saucepan and add two tbsp milk. Heat gently until almost simmering and then pour into the egg mixture whisking all the time. If you’re particularly exuberant with the whisking and subsequent calorie burning it would be rude not to reward yourself with extra pudding. Pour the custard over the bread and leave to soak in for a few minutes.

If the pudding is looking a bit parched and there’s not a drop of custard visible, pour over a little extra warmed milk. This will depend on the size of the hot cross buns you use. Put a few small knobs of butter on top of the pudding. read more

The Cornish Pasty

March 8, 2012 By All That I'm Eating 18 Comments

The Cornish pasty is an absolute classic. If you’re ever in Cornwall you won’t be far from one, you’ll probably smell it before you see it. Originally from humble origins the pasty is now a celebrated meat and vegetable filled pastry. For those who don’t know the pasty was the food of Cornish miners. The way it is folded over (with a thick edge of pastry on one side) meant that the miners didn’t have to put their hands in their mouths when eating. It’s a clever bit of pastry this and it got even cleverer when you had a savoury and sweet end separated by a wall of pastry. Meat and vegetables in one end and fruit or jam in the other. If I had one of these for my lunch I’d consider it pretty luxurious.

Before the pasty police come out in force and criticise my ingredients or method, I think it’s important to point out that I am not Cornish. However, my better half is half Cornish and his Grandmother a full on Kernow woman and she has passed on some of her pasty knowledge.

Making pasties is quite personal; only you know what proportions of vegetables and meat you like, how full you want your pasty to be and how big. Because of this I can provide a guide but you can change proportions at will. To make four large pasties I used: one large and one medium potato, half a swede, three small onions and 500g of skirt steak. For the pastry I used 400g of plain flour, 200g butter and enough cold water to make a dough. read more

Dark Chocolate and Hazelnut Tart with Rhubarb and Blood Orange Compote

February 11, 2012 By All That I'm Eating 23 Comments

You can’t have Valentine’s Day without a little chocolate. This tart is great because you can make it in advance and leave it in the fridge so there is no last minute pudding fretting! It’s beautifully rich and very easy to make; made even easier if you use a food blender for the pastry. If pastry is your nemesis, it used to be mine, I have a previous post that will make you feel much more relaxed about constructing this tart.

Start by making the pastry. Blend 50g cold butter with 100g plain flour until it resembles breadcrumbs. Add 15g caster sugar and 25g chopped, toasted hazelnuts and then bring the pastry together with one small egg. Persevere it will get there in the end but you can add a little cold water if you think it needs it. Wrap the pastry in cling film and chill in the fridge for half an hour. I would recommend making the pastry when you’re as sure as you can be that the phone won’t ring and the doorbell won’t go because otherwise there’ll be pastry all over the place. read more

Vegetable Patch Recipes

October 9, 2011 By All That I'm Eating 15 Comments

Recently it has become apparent that most of the meals I eat are vegetable orientated. There are two reasons for this; firstly I have a cornucopia of vegetables in my garden at present and each one needs celebrating in its own way and secondly meat is so expensive.

I can go into Sainsbury’s and pick up four chicken breasts for £6. Not the extra special ones, not the organic ones, just the standard ones. My alternative is to go to the farmer’s market and pick up two whole chickens for £10. These are free range chickens and I would still get four chicken breasts but I would also get four drumsticks, four wings, four thighs and two carcasses for making beautiful stock with. It’s a no brainer really. read more

Lemon Drizzle Cake

September 9, 2011 By All That I'm Eating 19 Comments

There have been cakes in my past which I tried either when I was too young to appreciate them or they were a mass produced poor version of what is actually a beautiful cake. An example of this is carrot cake. What I thought carrot cake tasted like was nothing compared to when I made one for myself; it wasn’t dry it was moist, it wasn’t boring it was luscious and the icing is by far my favourite of all icing. Another cake I had always ignored was lemon drizzle cake. Ones that I had tried were too sticky, not lemony or had so much icing you could have waded through it. This was my unshakable opinion and I wouldn’t touch it with a barge pole, until I made it myself.

This turned out to be one of my favourite cakes to bake as it makes your kitchen smell so good. The classic cake baking aromas are wafting around with a bit of lemon thrown in for good measure. This is another recipe from my Granny. Some recipes make the cake in two tins and put lemon curd or butter icing between the cakes, I made one cake for optimum drizzle potential.

To make the sponge, butter and line a nice deep cake tin. Beat together 175g each of butter and caster sugar until pale and fluffy. Part of the reason I like making cakes is because I feel the beating, whisking and subsequent reduction in circumference of my arms more than compensates for the rather large slice I’ll help myself to once complete.
Gradually add in three beaten eggs. Sift 175g self raising flour and a teeny bit of baking powder and fold this into the mixture. Grate in the zest of two lemons and mix. Place in a preheated oven at 180C for 45-50 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean. Mine took about 55 minutes in the end. read more

Classic Asparagus and Hollandaise Sauce

April 27, 2011 By All That I'm Eating 11 Comments

I had been waiting and waiting until the asparagus turned up at the Farmers’ Market and last weekend it finally did. I had heard whispers and rumours that this fine vegetable had pushed its purple head through the soil but didn’t want to get my hopes up until I saw it with my own eyes. read more

Easter Biscuits

April 24, 2011 By All That I'm Eating 19 Comments

A good biscuit is an excellent thing. Golden brown, buttery and crisp makes a good biscuit for me. I discovered this recipe when rifling through recipes with my Nana. It seems fitting to make Easter biscuits at this time of year! They are so easy to make, wonderfully simple and have lovely subtle flavours.

Ingredients

To make your own Easter biscuits you will need:

75g margarine
75g caster sugar
150g self raising flour
1 egg split into yolk and white
Zest of 1 lemon
Pinch of cinnamon
25g currants

Method

Cream the margarine and sugar together in a bowl until smooth and then mix in the egg yolk. Sift the flour and cinnamon into the margarine mix and stir in.

Add the currants and lemon zest and bring the biscuit mix together into a ball. You might need your hands for this bit! Dust a surface with flour and roll the biscuit mix out until about 1/2 a centimetre thick. Cut the biscuits out with a fluted biscuit cutter (Nana says they must not be plain edged!) and put each one onto a greased baking tray. read more