All That I'm Eating

Recipe ideas for budget meals, everyday cooking and a little indulgence. Travel inspiration and restaurant reviews too.

Lime Macerated Cherries with Caramelised Brioche

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Toasted Brioche with Lime Macerated Cherries
Considering how much I like cherries I don’t get the chance to eat very many of them. I have never had much success with a supermarket cherry preferring to take my chances at the farmers’ market where I might be lucky to nab a punnet if I am early enough. The cherries used for this spontaneous dessert were earned by my own fair hand. I was meandering through the market, deliberating how many doughnuts were too many for breakfast, when I was called to help one of the stall holders who couldn’t fill enough punnets to keep up with demand. My reward for much scooping was a big punnet of cherries all to myself.  

Ingredients

You will need (for two):

  • 300g cherries, de-stoned
  • 1 tbsp caster sugar
  • Juice 1 lime
  • 2 slices brioche
  • Butter
  • Demerara sugar

Method

I quite like de-stoning cherries. I find it a therapeutic thing to do and once you get into the swing of things it takes no time at all. I have to admit that my fingers were stained for days afterwards which is not something I’ve ever encountered with cherries before. Put the de-stoned cherries into a bowl with the caster sugar and lime juice and then leave to macerate overnight. Remove the cherries from the fridge an hour or so before you want to eat them so that they are at room temperature. Lightly toast the brioche and then spread generously with butter. Sprinkle over a little demerara sugar and then put under a grill so that the sugar lightly caramelises. Remove from the grill and top with the cherries.

For an impromptu dessert I was pretty pleased with this. The cherries create their own sweet and sour juice which soaks into the sweet bread. It’s crunchy at the edges and gooey in the middle. The lime freshens everything up and the cherries were a lovely shade of deep crimson which looked great on top of the sugar topped bread. Perhaps it was because these were free cherries, maybe it was because I had to work for them but there was something a bit more special about this sweet treat than normal. read more

Elderflower Syrup

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elderflower syrup
Last year I wanted to make some elderflower cordial but after a series of rainy days, lack of time and effort I didn’t get round to it. This year I wasn’t going to let it escape me but I wanted to make something a bit more punchy. Elderflower syrup seemed like a great idea to me but I had no idea where to start; then I remembered a beautiful violet syrup I had seen over on Karen’s blog Lavender and Lovage. The recipe seemed simple and straightforward so I donned my cycling attire (no Lycra thank you very much) and went off in search of elderflowers.

As you may be aware I love a good forage; you never know what you might find. One thing you will inevitably end up with on or in your foraged goods are little critters and bugs. I’m not sure if you can eat them but it’s probably best to try and remove them. You don’t want a sea of grimacing faces when you pour them out a little beetle. I find shaking your booty (don’t confuse with bootie)* outside to get most of them off works well. To be extra stringent I then give it all another shake and wobble in a sieve; I want the assurance that it is indeed a strawberry seed in the finished dish giving that unusual texture rather than an exoskeleton. read more

Coffee and Chocolate Shortbread

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chocolate and coffee shortbread
I have been meaning to make some shortbread for a while but things just seem to get in the way and before I know it I’m tucked up in bed thinking, “Tomorrow. Tomorrow will be shortbread day”, it seemed to be a never ending cycle. However many things happen I always try to make time to bake a biscuit; there’s nothing else that can fill the void like making a homemade treat. To bring about my biscuit making I set about creating a coffee chocolate shortbread.

Kopi sent me some coffee and instead of making a mug of coffee and telling you about it I wanted to mix it up in something tasty! I like the idea of Kopi coffee; you sign up and get a different coffee sent to you each month. I was sent Sumatra Aceh Organic and it was deep and smooth with a little hint of bitterness but not too much. It formed a distinct crema layer on top with no effort on my part; I’ve been told a good crema is the sign of a good coffee. 

Ingredients

You will need (for 12 fingers):
  • 180g plain flour
  • 1 tbsp cocoa powder
  • 50g caster sugar
  • 150g softened butter
  • 40g dark chocolate, finely chopped
  • 10g ground coffee

Method

Preheat your oven to 160C and grease a baking dish; I’ve used round, square and rectangular for this mixture before and all work well. read more

Gin and Tonic Mini Jellies

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gin and tonic jelly
I was never a fan of jelly and ice cream. I’m afraid that even when I was five I had standards and high expectations of jelly and ice cream that a children’s party just could not match. I went off jelly after several wobbly strawberry attempts for many years. I tried it in trifle too (not for me) and it wasn’t until I decided to make my own jelly that I appreciated just what a marvel it can be. Now I’m a grown up and I like jelly I’ve also realised I quite like gin. It’s about time these two met each other. Welcome to my gin and tonic mini jellies.

Ingredients

You will need (for around 12 mini jellies):
  • 30g sugar
  • 50ml water
  • 120ml pre-mixed gin and tonic
  • 3 sheets gelatine
  • Decorations of your choice (e.g. herbs or zests)

You may have noticed that I have three different coloured jellies. Indeed, not only was this an excuse to get out my calculator and work out gin to tonic to gelatine proportions but also a good reason to try out my new jelly mould and gins. The proportions above are for 12 jellies in total of around 10g each; feel free to mix up whatever spirits you have just divide the total gin and tonic amount by the amount of flavours you want to try and make different batches.

Method

Best to get the mathematics out of the way before you start your jelly making just in case you feel the need to make and drink a G&T at the same time. Not that I did of course. First of all put your decorations of choice into the jelly mould and go about selecting your gin. I went for: Sloe Gin and Mint, Saffron Gin and Cucumber and Gin and Lime Zest. 

Put the sugar and water into a pan to dissolve the sugar and then bring to the boil. While the sugar and water are heating put the gelatine into cold water. Once the sugar syrup has boiled remove from the heat, squeeze the excess water from the gelatine and stir the gelatine into the syrup until dissolved. Pour in the pre-mixed gin and tonic and stir gently so that you retain some of the fizz. Pour the jelly mix into your jelly mould and refrigerate until set. I like knowing that if you dissolve five sheets of gelatine into 500ml of liquid it will set to a decent quiver so I upped my gelatine to liquid ratio to make these thicker and more like adult gummy bears. read more

Spelt and Dark Chocolate Pancakes with Yoghurt and Honey

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spelt chocolate pancakes
When the weather gets like this there is only one way to improve the situation; to fill your belly with buttery things. More specifically spelt and chocolate pancakes. It seems to have been raining forever recently! Each time I glance out of the window there is never even a peep of blue sky and hardly any bright daffodils to remind me it is in fact Spring. But no matter, I have honey at the ready.  Perhaps not the healthiest advice to give, a more svelte person might suggest a nice jog in the park but it wouldn’t quite cut the mustard for me. No, when my fingers are still blue in March I need chocolate and sticky sweet things. That’s where these Spelt and Dark Chocolate Pancakes fit in nicely. Rachel’s Organic sent me some Greek Yoghurt with Honey to try and I thought it would work nicely with these pancakes.

Ingredients

You will need (for around 16 pancakes):

  • 200g spelt flour
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 40g caster sugar
  • 20g melted butter, plus extra for cooking
  • 1 egg
  • 275ml milk
  • 40g dark chocolate chips
  • Yoghurt with honey to serve

Method

Start by sieving the flour, baking powder and sugar into a large bowl.

In a separate bowl mix together the melted butter, egg and milk until well combined. Stir the egg mixture into the flour mixture and add the chocolate chips. Give everything a good stir to make sure it is well incorporated.

Heat a little knob of butter in a frying pan until it just starts to foam and then drop the pancake mixture in using around 2 tbsp of the batter for each pancake.

Fry the pancakes until they are golden brown before flipping them over and cooking the other side. Don’t be tempted to flip too early as you could end up with miserable looking pancake. read more

Banoffee and Chocolate Chelsea Buns

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Banoffee and chocolate Chelsea buns
Have you ever had one of those days where a banana keeps looking at you? You keep seeing it out of the corner of your eye knowing it’s getting riper by the second but you just don’t feel like eating it. Everyone likes their bananas differently; some like them green and leaving that funny feeling in your mouth and others like them bruised and brown. I am on the green team; as soon as there’s a speck of brown on the banana skin I can’t stand it. But what do you do with that slightly brown banana that keeps winking at you? I hate to waste food and so I devised these Banoffee and Chocolate Chelsea buns, or as I like to call them: Chanoffee Buns. You will need: 500g strong white bread flour 50g caster sugar 1 x 7g sachet fast action yeast 200ml milk, warmed 50g unsalted butter, very soft and in cubes 1 egg 1 can dulce de leche (you won’t need the whole can) 1 ripe banana 50g dark chocolate chips

I have wanted to try making an enriched dough for a while so this was a perfect excuse. Mix together the flour, caster sugar and yeast in a bowl or mixer. Make a well in the centre and add the warm milk, egg and butter. Turn the mixer on or start to mix with your hands. Once mixed, knead the dough until it is nice and stretchy. Cover and leave in a warm place for 45-60 minutes or until doubled in size.

Remove the dough from the bowl and knock some of the air out. Divide the dough into two pieces and roll each piece out into a long rectangle. As you can see from the above picture an actual rectangle was hard for me to achieve but a bit of a jaunty angle here and there never harmed anyone. Spread a few spoons of the dulche de leche along the bottom two thirds of the long edge of the dough. Take half the banana and squeeze this onto the caramel towards the bottom edge of the dough. Top with half the chocolate chips.  read more

White Chocolate and Rose Truffles (with a surprise inside)

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White Chocolate and Rose Truffles
Last year for Valentine’s Day I posted a three course meal; Beetroot and Goat’s Cheese Risotto, Boeuf Bourguignon and Dark Chocolate Tart. They were great together for a lovely meal in but this year I wanted to make something a little romantic and very indulgent. I know Valentine’s recipes will be two a penny at the moment but my truffles are a bit different. Not least because they’re not heart shaped and look rather plain and innocent. Until you bite into one that is.  What is that in the middle of the truffle I hear you ask? Well, as love is in the air, it’s a small pink nod to St. Valentine in the form of a pomegranate seed. A nice bit of fresh texture in an otherwise melty, mellow mouthful. It takes barely any effort to put the pomegranate seed inside each one and makes such a difference to the end flavour and texture it is definitely worth it.

You will need (for around 25 truffles):
300g white chocolate
150ml double cream
25g butter
Splash rose extract (preferably not rose water)
1 pomegranate
100g white chocolate – for dipping

Start by chopping the 300g of chocolate into small chunks. Heat the double cream and butter together until hot but not boiling. Pour this over the chocolate and mix well until the chocolate has melted and it’s all nicely combined. Add a drop of rose extract, mix well and then try it to see how floral it tastes. If you’re a bit overenthusiastic with your dripping technique the end result might taste reminiscent of soap. Not really what you’re going for. read more

Zillionaire’s Shortbread

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The New Year is always full of optimism, resolutions and excitement. What is your resolution this year? Some people choose dieting/getting healthy/losing weight as their resolution and to those of you reading this who may have just started their path to a healthier lifestyle, I apologise. This recipe is not for those who strive for a smaller waist. This is pure, unashamed indulgence; layers of buttery shortbread sandwiched with dulce de leche, topped with salted caramel and dark chocolate. Not millionaire’s shortbread, but Zillionaire’s Shortbread. read more

Chocolate Covered Salted and Sweet Popcorn Bars

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Chocolate Covered Salted and Sweet Popcorn Bars - All That I'm Eating
I love popcorn. I don’t know what it is that makes it so addictive that you carry on eating it even though you know it’ll be stuck in your teeth for hours afterwards. I think popcorn is responsible for starting a lot of arguments; queuing at the cinema inevitably results in the question, “Salted or sweet popcorn”? and the ensuing debate afterwards discussing the merits of both flavours. 

If I had to choose it would be sweet. Fortunately I no longer have to make this decision as the ingenious people from Toasted have made the ultimate popcorn; sweet and salt. If ever there was a day to rival the invention of sliced bread it has to be this. Never again do we need to decide and end up wishing we’d had the other. This popcorn deserved to be treated to something a little special.

You will need:
300g milk chocolate (I used Milka with Daim)
A few large handfuls of popcorn (salted and sweet ideally)
100g white chocolate read more

Chocolate Covered Marshmallow Rice Krispie Squares with Vanilla Salt

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vanilla salted marshmallow crispy cakes - All That I'm Eating
Sometimes I feel like I need to let my inner child out and indulge in something so wonderful and absorbing that I can think of nothing else. I wanted to make some marshmallow rice krispie squares, as I had made them once before with great success, but this time they needed to be even more sensuous and luxurious. Thus, these chocolate coated marshmallow rice krispie squares with vanilla salt were born. A bit of a mouthful both to articulate and masticate. I’m sure lots of people claim to have been on the salted caramel scene before it became fashionable but I was not one of them. No. I was on the salted chocolate scene when I was a teenager enjoying nothing more than alternating a ready salted crisp and a bite of chocolate. I have to admit that I thought it was weird and no one would really ‘get it’ hence why I never made stuffing my face with crisps and chocolate in quick succession a public matter. Now is the perfect time to publicise my secret salted chocolate love affair as I have recently been made aware of Vanilla Salt from Halen Mon. They kindly sent me a tube to try for myself.

You will need:
50g butter
300g marshmallows
120g rice krispies
100g milk chocolate
Vanilla salt

Start by warming the butter and marshmallows over a low heat until melted. Stir in the rice krispies. Put the rice krispie mixture into a greased dish. Those three steps sound wonderfully simple and they do result in exactly what you’d expect them to, however, it’s the bit in the middle you want to watch out for. Once the rice krispies are in it’s a countdown to see how quickly you can distribute and deposit them before you end up like I did. I have never met anything as sticky as this; it could have stuck greaseproof paper to a non-stick frying pan if it wanted to. During the transition from pan to dish the marshmallow underwent some sort of metamorphosis. It changed from being silky and smooth to stringy and awkward. If you had walked into the kitchen at this moment you would have thought I was preparing far too early for Halloween in making my marshmallow cobweb costume. I had to use my hands to scoop the mixture into the dish and then realised I myself was part of the marshmallow mixture and much time and gentle coaxing was needed to extract myself from the tangled web of mallow. If nothing else make this just to have ten minutes pretending you are Spiderman.

Let the mixture cool before you portion it up. Melt some milk chocolate and either dunk or dribble the chocolate onto each square. Let the chocolate cool for just a minute before sprinkling the vanilla salt crystals over the top. You want the crystals to stick to the chocolate but not to dissolve into it. Leave to cool.

I knew what to expect from the rice krispie square before I wrapped my teeth around it but I was really surprised at how the other flavours and textures turned this into an incredibly generous treat. Imagine: firstly your teeth crunch slightly on the chocolate and salt and then sink down into a pink pillow of fluffy marshmallow interrupted by the crisp cereal. Then you get the mouth coating that only chocolate can provide interspersed with sweet and chewy marshmallow and the crunch of the rice krispies. Finally there is the unctuous vanilla salt rounding the whole thing off. This is a treat for all the senses. read more

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