Such a romantic.

Tbf, these chocolate truffles are delicious and would definitely make a really cute gift to give to someone you love! Or yourself. It’s important to love ourselves too, right?

Shameless sexy photo of melted dark chocolate. Standard.

Nutty Chocolate Truffles

 

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Author: Acorns & Custard

Serves: 24

Ingredients

• 200g walnuts
• 100g desiccated coconut
• 2tbsp cocoa powder
• pinch of salt
• 1tsp vanilla extract
• 2tbsp almond butter
• 4tbsp maple syrup, plus 1tbsp for the chocolate coating
• 200g dark chocolate
• 1tbsp coconut oil
• Optional toppings: desiccated coconut, freeze dried berries, chopped walnuts

Instructions

1. Blitz up the walnuts and coconuts in a blender/food processor to a fine crumb consistency.
2. Add the cocoa powder, salt, vanilla, almond butter, and maple syrup and mix till throughly combined.
3. Refrigerate for 30 minutes to firm up a little.
4. Roll into bite sized balls and place on a cling film lined baking tray.
5. Refrigerate for another 30 minutes.
6. Break the dark chocolate into small pieces and place in a heatproof bowl. Microwave in 30 second bursts (stirring in between) till the chocolate is melted.
7. Add the coconut oil and maple syrup and mix.
8. Dip each ball into the chocolate to coat and set on another cling film lined tray.
9. Sprinkle with any toppings you may want, then refrigerate till the chocolate has set.

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However, now that I find my Instagram feed full of yummy looking vegan recipes, I’m not going to lie… I am a little bit curious.

Don’t get me wrong, a whole month still seems like a big commitment, but it has got me interested in figuring out how I would turn some of my favourite meals vegan. You know, if I were to try it for a day/week. Maybe it’s the scientist in me that relishes the challenge of having to research, experiment and trial new ingredients, techniques and recipes? Yeah, I know. Nerd.

Anyways, I figured I’d start with something that I eat far too often and yet never get tired of eating…

Mac and Cheese. (Ang’s Ultimate Comfort Food.)

Now, when I make mac and cheese I usually add a ton of cheese and bacon, so I knew this would be a challenge. I also wanted to steer clear of specialist ingredients that I wouldn’t normally buy or have in my kitchen, e.g. vegan cheese or vegan bacon… because that would make it too easy!

Whilst researching, I’d seen a number of recipes that used a creamy cashew “cheese” sauce, flavoured with various savoury, umami ingredients which seemed to work a treat. So that’s what I did. Added as much umami as I could! I also decided to fry some red peppers with smoked salt and smoked paprika, as an alternative to the smoky taste of bacon.

I was super impressed with how cheesy the “cheese” sauce turned out! I mean, look at the image below! Seriously, cashews are a game changer if you ever need to make a creamy yet dairy-free sauce!

Vegan Mac and Cheese

 

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Author: Acorns & Custard

Ingredients

For the “cheese” sauce:

• 150g cashews
• 400ml almond milk,
• 1tsp garlic powder
• 1tsp onion powder
• 1tsp mustard powder
• 1 tbsp miso paste
• 2tbsp lemon juice
• 1tbsp yeast extract (Marmite)
• 1tsp turmeric, optional (for colour mostly)
• salt and pepper to taste

To serve:

• 400g macaroni pasta
• 2 spring onions, sliced
• 1 green chilli, finely chopped
• 1 red pepper, diced
• 1tsp smoked salt
• 1tsp smoked paprika
• a handful of panko breadcrumbs
• 1 head of broccoli, cut into small florets

Instructions

1. Soak cashews in boiling water for minimum of 1-2 hours. Drain and place in blender.
2. Pour in half of the almond milk and blitz to a smooth paste.
3. Add the remaining almond milk and “cheese” sauce ingredients and blend to combine. Season with the salt and pepper to your taste. Set aside.
4. In a small bowl, mix the red pepper pieces with the smoked salt and smoked paprika to coat them. Tip into a lightly oiled frying pan and fry till they start to crisp and char. Remove from the pan and set aside.
5. To the same pan, add the panko breadcrumbs and fry till golden in the smoky, peppery oil. Season with smoked salt and pepper as necessary. Remove from the pan and set aside also.
6. Bring a large saucepan of salted water to the boil. Add the pasta and cook according to package directions till al dente. Add the broccoli florets to the water for the remaining 2-3 minutes.
7. Whilst the pasta is boiling, pour the “cheese” sauce into another saucepan and warm up on a medium heat, continuously stirring.
8. Add the spring onions, green chilli and smoky red peppers. If the sauce becomes too thick on heating, add a little water to let it down to the desired consistency.
9. Once the pasta and broccoli is cooked, strain and add to the warmed sauce. Stir to combine and serve immediately, topped with the breadcrumbs.

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However, that break then became a whole fricking year. *hangs head in shame*

Anyways, we’re now in 2018, and a new year makes for the perfect excuse to give myself a good kick up the butt to get back into blogging! *flexed bicep emoji*

I don’t know about you, but it seems like everyone I know and their mother got taken down by some sort of flu/cold over the Christmas holidays. So, to help keep warm and toasty whilst I’m getting rid of my pesky cough, I figured I‘d make a Speedy Chicken Pho, packed with spices, fresh veg, chilli and ginger to help my immune system do it’s thing. Because nothing beats a steamy bowl of chicken noodle soup when you’re ill. Except maybe medicine… and bed. But also Pho.

Now, as a traditional Vietnamese chicken pho broth normally takes hours/days to simmer chicken carcasses/bones to impart their flavour, I opted for the speedier approach of using a decent store-bought chicken stock instead. Hey, shortcuts happen when you’re ill! And tbh, I was pretty pleased with how aromatic and flavourful my speedy broth tasted!

(For a vegetarian alternative, you can use vegetable stock and sub out the chicken for some shitake mushrooms. Just fry them off for a few minutes in an oiled pan till they turn brown, before adding to the broth.)

Speedy Chicken Pho

 

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Author: Acorns & Custard

Serves: 4

Ingredients

• 1 large onion, quartered
• 2 inch piece ginger, thickly sliced
• 3 whole garlic cloves, smashed
• 1 stick lemongrass, smashed
• 2 cinnamon sticks
• 3 star anise
• 1tsp coriander seeds
• 1tsp black peppercorns
• 4 whole cloves
• 2l chicken stock
• 500g chicken breasts
• salt and pepper
• 300g instant rice noodles
• 4 spring onions, sliced
• 1 red chilli, sliced
• handful of bean sprouts
• pak choi, sliced in half
• 1 lime, quartered
• a large handful of coriander, roughly chopped

Instructions

1. In a large dry pot, cook the onion, ginger, garlic, and lemongrass on a medium high heat for 5 minutes till they start to brown/toast.
2. Once browned, add the spices and continue to toast for a few minutes till they begin to sputter and give off an aroma.
3. Pour in the chicken stock and bring to the boil.
4. Once boiling, add the chicken breasts and cover with a lid. Bring back up to the boil, then reduce to a low heat and simmer for 15 minutes until the chicken breasts are just cooked.
5. In the meantime, wash and prep the veg. (I actually added the coriander stalks to the broth too.)
6. Cook the rice noodles as per the package instructions. Rinse under cold water to prevent them sticking together. Drain and divide between 4 bowls.
7. Once cooked, remove the chicken breasts from the broth and shred using two forks. Divide between the 4 bowls.
8. Strain the broth through a sieve to remove the whole spices and veg, and pour back into the pot. Bring back to the boil and season to taste with salt and pepper.
9. Ladle the hot broth over the noodles and chicken.
10. Serve as desired with the fresh veg, and a squeeze of lime.

Notes

For optional added heat, squirt in some Sriracha!

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Sort of. (Just pretend this is 3 weeks ago! Kthnx.)

Ok, so I know that with all the recent US election stuff it feels like GBBO ended about 25 years ago but… I FINALLY got around to doing my FINAL Showstopper Challenge post! *pats self on back*

Tbh, I knew from the get go that I wasn’t going to bake the showstopper that very weekend… what with the final episode falling in half term… and it being the Halloween weekend… and whilst I had my cousin Vanessa visiting. Priorities. However, after watching the episode and realising the extent of what I was actually going to have to make, I wasn’t really looking forward to the task and may have put it off a little longer than intended. I’m sure you can understand why though…

A WHOLE FLIPPIN’ PICNIC?!

49 INDIVIDUAL THINGS?!

IN 5 HOURS?!

SERIOUSLY?!

Yup, for the final the bakers were asked to make a picnic feast containing the following:

• 12 sausage rolls, with homemade puff pastry
• 12 mini quiches, with homemade shortcrust pastry
• 12 fruit and custard tarts, with homemade sweetcrust pastry
• 12 savoury scones
• 1 chocolate celebration cake

In 5 hours. Sigh.

So yeah, I wasn’t exactly thrilled. Especially when faced with the fact that I was going to be spending lots of time/energy/money making a tonne of food for no real reason other than a personal challenge! It just felt a bit ridiculous. I mean, my family probably could have polished it all off no problem… but it still felt like a waste.

That was until I had the bright idea of doing something productive with the food I was going to make (instead of just fattening up my family!) …

Why not sell it for charity? 

Then suddenly I’d found the inspiration and motivation to finally get the showstopper done! *flexed bicep emoji* And with Children In Need falling in November (specifically yesterday, Friday 18th Nov 2016), I thought that would be the perfect charity! Therefore, last Sunday I spent most of my day in the kitchen baking a feast, to bring everything in to sell to my colleagues on the Monday.

I must have spent about 7 hours in my kitchen (I gave up keeping count after I’d gone over the 5) but it was so worth it because everything sold out and we managed to raise a whopping £100!!! Result!

Here’s what I ended up making….

Now, instead of going into intense details of each recipe in one post I figured I’d separate it to make things easier to digest. Pun intended.

For my sausage rolls I made Pork, Sage & Quince Sausage Rolls. Everyone knows pork and apple goes extremely well together, but with quince being in season right now I thought I’d use that as a sweet flavour instead! They seemed to go down particularly well with my colleagues!

For my savoury scones I made Bacon, Cheddar and Jalapeño Scones. I had initially decided on just the cheese and jalapeños… but then last minute I added bacon. Because bacon. And I have a problem.

For my quiche I made a Ratatouille Quiche. This was packed with roasted vegetables and herbs for all the vegetarians at work. I also didn’t have 12 tart tins so ended up making an extra large 12” one instead.

For my fruit and custard tarts I made Red Wine Poached Pear and Custard Tarts. With pears also being in season I thought I better take advantage. I only ended up making 6 of these though because I only had 6 mini tart tins.

Finally, for my chocolate celebration cake I made a rich Hazelnut Mocha Chocolate Cake. Coffee, Kinder Buenos and dark chocolate? Yes please.

*****

Overall…

How long did it take? About 7 hours, but I stopped really keeping count after 6 (5 plus my 1 hour of taking photos/washing up time). Tbh, I don’t think that was too bad given that I was trialing a lot of different elements and making stuff up as I went. For example, I wasn’t sure how I wanted to decorate the cake until I’d started (let alone what I was going to fill it with!), I wanted to fry and taste some of the sausage filling before continuing, and I wasn’t completely sure of how much of everything I should make!

What worked? I was happy with the flavours, especially the sausage rolls! Nom. I was also pleased that you could see the layers in my puff pastry!

What didn’t work? There wasn’t really anything that ‘didn’t work’, I just severely ran out of time.

Things to improve if I were to take this recipe to the tent? I would definitely cut down my work load. I rightly started with the puff pastry and the chocolate cake (to make sure I had plenty of time to do all the folds and chilling for the puff pastry, and so the cake had enough time to chill before decorating) but then I started faffing with peeling and poaching all the pears! I could have used that time elsewhere and just placed fresh fruit on the tarts, which would still have been effective! Also, as I was serving my food to lots of people I wanted to make sure I wasn’t contaminating the veggie options with meat, so I did try to make the savoury meaty things towards the end, rather than making the most of my time. I also ended up making a helluva lot more scones and sausage rolls than just 12 each… so surely that counts?

Other than knowing what cake recipe I’d be using, I didn’t actually plan what filling to use or how to decorate the cake before starting it. It was only last minute that I decided to add the flavour of coffee by adding instant coffee to the cake batter and the icing. I then sprinkled crushed Kinder Buenos in the middle to add a hazel nutty flavour.

I had wanted to make a ganache to pour over but ran out of time as this was part of my GBBO Showstopper Challenge. Maybe next time.

First I creamed together the butter and sugar till pale, whipped and fluffy.

To a heatproof bowl, I added the cocoa powder, instant coffee and boiling water and carefully whisked till smooth. I let this cool whilst the butter and sugar was whipping.

I mixed the plain flour, bicarb, baking powder and salt together in a separate bowl.

I added the eggs to the butter and sugar, 2 at a time and mixed to combine completety. I then alternated adding the dry ingredients, the cocoa liquid and the other eggs and so on until all the ingredients were used up it formed a rich dark brown cake batter.

I evenly divided this between 2 lined 9″ cake tins and baked at 180°C for 35 minutes till a skewer came out out clean from the centre. I left this to cool completely.

For the icing I beat the softened butter till light and whippy.

I beat in the icing sugar, cocoa powder, instant coffee, and melted chocolate till smooth.

To construct, I levelled the tops off each cake. I then spread the icing on top of one cake, sprinkled on crushed Kinder Buenos, the placed the second cake on top. I piped on some more icing, then topped with chocolate coated coffee beans.

Hazelnut Coffee Chocolate Cake

 

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Author: Acorns & Custard

Ingredients

For the chocolate coffee cake

• 340g unsalted butter, softened
• 750g caster sugar
• 190g cocoa powder
• 2tbsp instant coffee
• 700ml boiling water
• 6 eggs
• 510g plain flour
• 1tbsp bicarbonate of soda
• ¾tsp baking powder
• 1tsp salt

For the chocolate coffee buttercream:

• 200g unsalted butter, softened
• 600g icing sugar
• 50g cocoa powder
• 100g dark chocolate, melted
• 2tbsp instant coffee
• (optional: chocolate coated coffee beans and crushed Kinder Bueno)

Instructions

For the chocolate cake:

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C.
2. In a bowl, gently whisk together the cocoa powder, coffee and boiling water to mix. Leave to cool slightly.
3. In another large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar till pale and fluffy.
4. Add 3 eggs and mix till completely incorporated.
5. Add half the chocolate mixture and stir in.
6. Add half the flour and fully combine.
7. Repeat with the other half of the eggs, chocolate mix and flour, making sure to fully incorporate before adding the next.
8. Divide the batter between two lined 9" round cake tins.
9. Bake for 30-40 minutes, until a skewer comes out clean from the centre.
10. Set aside to cool completely.

For the chocolate coffee buttercream:

1. Beat the butter till soft and whipped. Add the icing sugar and cocoa powder and beat together to combine.
2. Add the cooled melted chocolate and whip till light and fluffy.
3. Level the tops of the cakes with a serrated knife.
4. Spread, or pipe, the icing onto the top of one cake.
5. Sprinkle crushed Kinder Bueno on top, before placing the second cake on top.
6. Decorate with more buttercream and chocolate covered coffee beans.

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I do love a good red wine poached pear (evidently, as I’ve blogged a recipe using them before!), but when you pair (ba dum tsh!) them with a smooth homemade custard? Yes!

I started with the custard by adding the milk, vanilla pod and almond extract to a large saucepan and bringing to the boil. Once bubbling I removed this from the heat.

In a separate heatproof bowl I beat together the egg yolks and sugar. (There’s only 4 egg yolks in the photo because I actually made half the recipe, but it wasn’t enough so doubled it for the post!)

I then beat in the flour and cornflour.

I poured the hot vanilla-infused milk into the egg mixture, whisking to combine as I poured.

I strained this through a sieve into a clean saucepan, and put this back on a medium heat to thicken.

Once thickened, I poured this into a bowl, pressed some cling film onto the surface of the custard to cover and to stop a skin from forming. I left this to chill in the fridge for 2 hours.

I added a bottle of red wine, sugar, a vanilla pod, cinnamon stick, and 2 star anise to a large saucepan and brought this to the boil to dissolve the sugar.

Once boiling, I reduced this to a simmer and added my peeled pears. I then poured in some boiling water to make sure the pears were covered.

I let this bubble away and poach for 30minutes until the pears had softened. (You may want to place a piece of foil on the surface of the liquid to make sure the pears are fully submerged.)

I then left the pears to cool in the poaching liquid to deepen in colour.

For the sweet crust pastry, I placed the flour, ground almonds, sugar and salt in a large bowl and mixed together.

I then added the egg yolks and brought this together with my hands to a soft sticky dough. I turned this out onto a lightly floured surface and clumped together into a circle, wrapped in cling film and chilled in the fridge for 30 minutes.

(I realise I forgot to take photo’s of the rest… oops!)

I rolled out the chilled pastry to ½cm thickness and cut out circles wider than my mini tart tins. I lay the dough circles into the greased mini tart tins, pressed in the edges, then pricked the base with a fork. I placed a piece of greaseproof paper and baking beans into each tart and baked these for 15minutes at 200°C, then for a further 5 mins without baking beans.

I left these to cool completely before spooning in some custard, and placing a poached pear on top. (For the twisted pears, I sliced downwards going around the pear and twisted gently to fan out.)

Red Wine Poached Pear & Custard Tarts

 

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Author: Acorns & Custard

Serves: 6 tarts

Ingredients

For the custard/creme pat:

• 1.2l whole milk
• 1 vanilla pod
• 8 egg yolks
• 440g caster sugar
• 80g plain flour
• 4tbsp cornflour
• 2tsp almond extract

For the poached pears:

• 6 small pears, peeled with the core scooped out and the stalks intact
• 1 bottle of red wine
• 1 vanilla pod
• 200g caster sugar
• 1 stick cinnamon
• 2 whole star anise

For the sweet crust pastry:

• 165g plain flour
• 25g ground almonds
• pinch of salt
• 50g caster sugar
• 120g unsalted butter, cold and cubed
• 1 egg

Instructions

For the custard/creme pat:

1. Pour the milk and almond extract into a large saucepan. Scrape the seeds from the vanilla pod and add to the milk, along with the pod. Bring to the boil, then immediately remove from the heat.
2. In a heatproof bowl, beat together the egg yolks, sugar and flours to a thick paste.
3. Pour in the warm vanilla infused milk, whisking to mix.
4. Strain through a sieve into a new clean saucepan and put back on a medium heat. Cook until thickened.
5. Spoon into a bowl and cover with cling film, pressing it onto the surface of the custard to prevent a skin from forming.
6. Leave to chill in the fridge completely. (Minimum of 2 hours.)

For the poached pears:

1. Add the red wine, sugar, scraped vanilla pod, cinnamon stick and star anise to a large saucepan and bring to the boil to dissolve the sugar.
2. Add the peeled pears and top with water to make sure they're covered.
3. Reduce to a simmer and poach for 20 - 30mins until the pears are soft. You can place a piece of foil on the surface to make sure the pears are fully submerged and colour evenly.
4. Remove from the heat but leave the pears to cool in the poaching liquid to get a deeper colour.

For the sweet crust pastry and construction:

1. Place the flour, ground almonds, caster sugar and salt in a large bowl.
2. Rub the cold butter into the dry ingredients till you get a breadcrumb texture.
3. Add the egg and bring together to a soft dough.
4. Tip out onto a lightly floured surface and shape into a circle.
5. Wrap in cling film and chill in the fridge for 30mins before using.
6. Preheat oven to 200°C.
7. Once the dough has chilled, roll out to ½cm thickness and cut out circles of dough wider than the mini tart tins.
8. Lay the circles into the tart tins and press in the edges. Prick the base with a fork.
9. Place a piece of greaseproof paper and baking beans into the tart tins and bake for 15 minutes. Remove the baking beans and bake for a further 5 minutes. Leave to cool to room temperature.
10. Once cooled, spoon in some of the chilled custard.
11. Slice the poached pears and lay on top. (For the fanned out pear, slice downwards around the pear and twist gently.)

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I think I succeeded…

For the shortcrust pastry, I placed the flour and salt in a large bowl. I added the cold cubed butter and rubbed it into the flour with my fingertips to form a coarse breadcrumb texture.

I then added enough cold water to JUST bring it together to form a dough (when it starts to come away from the bowl). I wrapped this in cling film and chilled for 30 minutes.

To roast the veg, I chopped the courgettes, red onion, yellow pepper and aubergine to roughly even sized pieces. I added this, as well as 3 wholes cloves of garlic, to a large roasting tray. I drizzled with olive oil, seasoned with salt and pepper, then placed in an oven at 200°C for 30minutes.

I then added the cherry toms and roast for a further 15 minutes. Once cooked I removed from the oven and set aside to cool completely.

I rolled out the chilled pastry to ½cm thickness and large enough so it would fit my 12″ tart tin. I laid the pastry into my greased tin and pressed into the edges. I trimmed the pastry around the tin, but kept it rough as I’d be trimming it properly later. I then pricked the base with a fork,

I placed a piece of greaseproof paper on top and filled with baking beans before blind baking at 200°C for 15 minutes. I then removed the baking beans and baked for a further 5 minutes.

In a bowl I mixed the eggs, double cream, chopped herbs and salt and pepper. I also squeezed out the roast garlic, mushed it up with a fork and added that too.

I trimmed the edge of the tart case to neaten, then scattered the roast veg into the tart case.

I then poured the egg mixture all over to fill. I baked this at 180°C for 40minutes until there was no more wobble in the middle and the egg had started to brown.

Ratatouille Quiche

 

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Author: Acorns & Custard

Serves: 12inch tart

Ingredients

For the shortcrust pastry:

• 500g plain flour, plus extra for dusting
• 110g unsalted butter, cold and cubed (plus extra for greasing)
• 1tsp salt
• 70-150ml cold water

For the roast vegetable filling:

• olive oil
• 1 yellow pepper
• 2 courgettes
• 1 aubergine
• 1 large red onion
• 3 clove garlic
• 400g cherry tomatoes
• 5 eggs
• 200ml double cream
• 1tsp dried thyme
• bunch of fresh basil, finely chopped
• salt and pepper

Instructions

For the shortcrust pastry:

1. Place the flour and salt into a large bowl.
2. Rub in the cold butter with your finger tips till you get a breadcrumb texture.
3. Gradually add the water till it just starts to clump together as a dough. Tip out onto a lightly floured surface and press together into a circle.
4. Wrap in cling film and chill in the fridge for 30mins before using.

For the roast vegetable filling and construction:

1. Preheat oven to 200°C.
2. Chop the pepper, courgettes, aubergine and onion into similar sized chunks.
3. Place into a large roasting tray, along with the whole garlic cloves, drizzle with oil and roast for 20 mins (tossing the veg halfway between).
4. Add the cherry tomatoes and roast for a further 15mins. Set the veg aside to cool to room temperature.
5. Once the pastry has chilled, roll out to ½cm thickness and large enough to cover your tart tin.
6. Grease a 12inch/30cm loose base tart tin with a little butter.
7. Lay the pastry on top of the tin and carefully press into the case.
8. Trim away the excess pastry but you don't have to neaten the edge at this stage. Patch up any cracks/gaps with the extra pastry. Prick the base with a fork.
9. Place a sheet of greaseproof paper on top and fill with baking beans.
10. Blind bake for 15mins at 200°C, then remove the baking beans and bake for another 5mins. Set aside to cool. Trim the edge of the tart case when cooled.
11. Turn heat down to 180°C.
12. In a bowl, beat together the eggs, cream, herbs and salt and pepper.
13. Take the roasted garlic and squeeze out the insides. Mash it up completely with a fork/pestle and mortar, then add to the egg mixture.
14. Scatter the rest of the roast veg into the pastry case, then pour the egg mixture all over to fill.
15. Bake for 40mins until the egg begins to brown and there is no longer a wobble in the middle when jiggled.
16. Serve warm or cold.

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Bacon, cheese AND jalapeños is end game.

I began by cooking my rashers of bacon for 15mins in an oven at 200°C. I then blitzed this up in a food processer to small pieces

For the scone dough I mixed the plain flour, bicarb, baking powder and salt in a large bowl.

I then added my cold cubed butter and rubbed the cubes with my fingertips into the dry ingredients till it formed a coarse breadcrumb texture. Let me tell you this isn’t the best thing to do with a recently healed sprained wrist! My mum may have stepped in, because mums.

In a separate bowl I beat together the eggs and buttermilk till combined.

I also finely chopped some pickled jalapeños. You can use fresh jalapeños, but I feel the stuff in jars have more heat…and that’s how I like em!

I added the bacon crumb, jalapeños and grated mature cheddar to my dry ingredients and mixed to distribute.

I then made a well in the centre and poured in the wet ingredients.

This came together as a sticky dough, so I turned it out onto a lightly floured surface and generously dusted the top with flour also.

I rolled out the dough to about 2cm thickness then cut out rounds with a floured cutter.

I placed the scones onto a lined baking tray, brushed the tops with beaten egg, then baked for 15 minutes at 200°C until risen and golden brown on top.

Bacon, Jalapeño & Cheddar Scones

 

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Author: Acorns & Custard

Serves: 24

Ingredients

• 700g plain flour
• 2tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 2tbsp baking powder
• 2tsp salt
• 225g unsalted butter, cold and cubed
• 280ml buttermilk
• 4 large eggs, plus 1 for egg wash
• 8 rashers of streaky bacon
• 100g pickled jalapeños, finely chopped
• 200g mature cheddar, grated

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 200°C.
2. Lay the rashers of bacon on a lined tray and cook in the oven for 15mins until crispy.
3. Place the flour, bicarb, baking powder and salt into a large bowl.
4. Rub in the cold butter till you get a breadcrumb texture.
5. Blitz up the bacon into a fine crumb. Add this, the chopped jalapeños and the grated cheddar to the dry ingredients.
6. In a separate bowl beat together the eggs and buttermilk. Pour into the dry ingredients and bring together with your hands till just combined to a soft, slightly wet dough.
7. Tip out onto a lightly floured surface and knead with floured hands for a couple minutes till smooth.
8. Roll out to 2cm thick and cut out rounds with a cutter.
9. Place on a lined baking tray and brush the tops with beaten egg.
10. Bake for 15minutes until risen and golden brown on top.

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Ok, I can understand it if you want to add a flavour to the pastry, or you’re a pastry chef, or own a bakery, or have arms of steel… but little ol’ me? Nah, I’ll take the store-bought stuff from now on kthnx. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not that it’s difficult… just very longwinded! Ain’t nobody got time for that! Though, I am glad to be able to cross ‘puff pastry’ off my baking bucket list. I love crossing things off lists.

Anyways, Pork, Quince & Sage Sausage Rolls!

These seemed to go down pretty well with my colleagues, so I’m quite chuffed with how these babies turned out!

You can most certainly use store-bought puff pastry… in fact, I insist you do… but as I was required to make it homemade, I started with that. I did this by mixing the plain flour and salt in a large bowl, then added enough water to bring it together to a soft dough with my hands.

I then wrapped this up in cling film and chilled in the fridge for 30 minutes.

Whilst the dough was chilling I prepared the butter. I did this by cutting the chilled butter into slices, placing onto a wooden board, then sprinkling 1tbsp of plain flour on top. I then bashed this with my rolling pin until pliable, sprinkling another tbsp of flour in between.

I shaped this into a rough square, and chilled for the remainder of time the dough was chilling (about 10 minutes).

Once both were suitably chilled, I rolled out the dough to a large square, then laid the butter block in the centre but at a diagonal to the dough. I then folded the corners of the dough in towards the centre, then pressed down with my rolling pin to seal.

I then started on my first 2 turns. I rolled out the square of dough to a long rectangle of about 1cm thickness, folded down the top third, then folded the bottom third up over the top. I then rotated this 90° (this is the first turn). Once again, I rolled out the dough to a long rectangle and repeated the folds as before (this is the second turn).

After these 2 turns, I placed the dough in the fridge to re-solidify the butter for 30 minutes.

After 30mins I took out the dough, rolled out and folded for 2 more turns, before chilling once again for 30 minutes.

I did this one more time, rolling and folding for 2 more final turns, before returning to the fridge for 30 minutes (or until ready to use).

For the sausage filling I started by blitzing up the onion, garlic, quince paste and sage leaves till it formed a thick paste. I then blitzed up the pancetta too.

I added this to the sausage meat, along with the Dijon mustard and Worcester sauce and mixed it with my hands till evenly distributed. I then generously seasoned with salt and pepper.

At this stage I actually fried off a bit of the filling in a pan with a bit of olive oil, just so I could taste it to check the flavour/seasoning.

Once I was happy with the taste, I rolled out half of the chilled puff pastry to a large rectangle of ½cm thickness. I spooned the filling into a line along one of the long edges. I then brushed the pastry around the filling with beaten egg before rolling the pastry around the filling. Once the pastry overlapped itself I cut away the extra pastry to use to make another long sausage roll.

I cut each long roll into 6 even sized sausage rolls and place these on a baking tray, brushed with beaten egg, and scored the tops with a knife in an attempt to make them look all fancy.

Repeat this with the other half go puff pastry to make 12 more sausage rolls.

I baked these at 200°C for 40minutes until puffed up, crispy and golden brown.

Pork, Quince & Sage Sausage Rolls

 

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Author: Acorns & Custard

Serves: 24 large

Ingredients

For the puff pastry:

• 500g plain flour, plus extra for dusting
• 2tsp salt
• 200-300ml cold water
• 450g unsalted butter, chilled
• 1 egg, beaten

For the sausage filling:

• 1.2kg pork sausages
• 1 large red onion
• 2 cloves garlic
• 6 sage leaves
• 125g quince paste
• 50g pancetta/bacon
• 1tbsp Dijon mustard
• 1tbsp Worcester sauce
• salt and pepper

Instructions

For the puff pastry:

1. Place the flour and salt into a large bowl.
2. Gradually pour in the cold water, bringing it together as a dough with your hands. (I used 250ml water.)
3. Wrap in cling film and chill in the fridge for 30mins.
4. In the meantime, cut the chilled butter into slices. Place the butter in a pile on a wooden board and sprinkle 1tbsp of flour on top. Using a rolling pin, bash the butter till cold but pliable, sprinkling another tbsp of flour in between. Shape into a square, cover in cling film and chill in the fridge for 10mins to re-harden.
5. Take out the chilled pastry and roll out into a large square.
6. Place the solid butter square in the centre of the pastry square at a diagonal. Fold the corners of pastry into the centre and seal with a few knocks of the rolling pin.
7. Roll out into a long rectangle.
8. Fold down the top third of the rectangle towards the middle, then fold the bottom third up to overlap. Turn the pastry 90° and roll into a long rectangle and repeat the folds. This is the first 2 turns.
9. Wrap the pastry in cling film and chill for 30minutes.
10. Roll out and fold for another 2 turns. Chill for 30minutes.
11. Roll out and fold for a final 2 turns. Chill for 30mins, or until needed.

For the sausage filling and construction:

1. Remove the sausage meat from the skins and place in a large bowl.
2. Blitz up the red onion, garlic, quince paste, sage leaves and pancetta till you get a thick paste.
3. Add the paste, along with the mustard and Worcester sauce to the sausage meat and mix together till well combined.
4. Season with salt and pepper. (I used about 1tbsp freshly ground pepper and 1tsp salt.) At this point you can fry a little bit of the mixture to taste it and check the seasoning/flavour.
5. Set the filling aside in the fridge to chill whilst you prepare the pastry.
6. Preheat oven to 200°C.
7. Cut your puff pastry into half and roll out to a large rectangle.
8. Spoon your sausage filling along the longer edge of the pastry into a line.
9. Brush the pastry with the beaten egg before rolling over the filling. Once the pastry just overlaps, cut into a long roll. Use the extra pastry to make another long sausage roll.
10. Cut each long roll into 6 sausage rolls.
11. Repeat with the second half of pastry.
12. Place the sausage rolls on a lined tray and brush with beaten egg. Bake for 30-40 mins until puffed up and golden brown. If you feel they're browning too quickly, turn the heat down to 180 °C or cover with some foil for the remaining time.
13. Serve warm or cold.

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This week saw the bakers making 24 savoury palmiers, some fancy liqueur soaked cake called a ‘Savarin’, and a showstopper of 36 fondant fancies.

I swear as soon as my sister heard the words ‘fondant fancies’ she turned to me with the happiest smug face possible. Basically the raised eyebrow emoji. She loves them a bit too much.

The bakers had to make theirs to the following criteria:

• must be 36
• 2 flavours; 18 of each
• Genoise sponge, buttercream and fondant must be made from scratch

I spent a few days thinking about flavour ideas, and looking at different fondant fancies/petit fours online. I knew I wanted to make them look really cool (as well as obviously taste good!), so I started focussing on the design.

I don’t know what made me think of it, but suddenly the idea of lego came to made and I knew I had it. LEGO CAKES! How fricking awesome is that?! *belts out ‘Everything Is AWESOME!’

I then decided making red and yellow ones would look best together, then planned my flavours around that.

The red ones obviously becoming ‘red velvet’. Maybe a bit safe and simple, but it’s generally a favourite. Bright red fondant fancies filled with bright red cake and cream cheese filling.

Then for the yellow ones I naturally thought, ‘lemon’. However, to make things interesting I opted for pink lemonade. Bright yellow fondant fancies concealing a surprisingly pink lemon cake, and filled with raspberry curd and fizzy popping candy.

Here’s how I got on…

First I started with the cakes. Like for any Genoise sponge I whisked up the eggs and sugar till pale, thick and fluffy.

I then added pink gel food colouring to one batter, and red powdered food colouring to the other and whisked in till I was happy with the colour.

For the pink lemonade cake I then added the juice and zest of 1 lemon, then sifted in the flour and salt. I folded this gently into the whipped eggs, trying to keep as much air in as possible.

For the red velvet cake I just sifted in flour, salt and cocoa powder.

I then poured in the melted butter to the cake batters and folded this in till combined. (For the red velvet cake I also added a tsp of vanilla extract to the butter.)

I poured the cake batter into a lined 8″ square tin and baked each for 20 minutes until beginning to brown on top and a skewer came out clean. (I could have baked both at the same time to save time but I only have one tin that size. Sad times.)

Once baked, I let them cool to room temperature before moving to the fridge to completely chill and firm up a bit.

Whilst the cakes were baking I got started with the fillings. For the cream cheese filling I simply beat together the chilled cream cheese and icing sugar, then set this aside in the fridge till needed. Literally took 5 minutes.

For the raspberry curd, I started by melting the butter in a saucepan over a low heat.

I then added the lemon juice…

…and the raspberries, sugar, egg yolks and salt.

I cooked this on a medium heat for about 10mins, constantly stirring, until the berries broke down and the whole mixture had thickened.

I then strained the mixture through a sieve to remove the pulp and seeds.

I covered the surface with cling film to prevent a skin from forming and set aside in the fridge till needed.

I then made the standard Swiss meringue buttercream I always make by adding egg whites and sugar to a heatproof bowl, then dissolving the sugar by placing the bowl over a pan of simmering water.

Once I was happy I couldn’t feel any grains of sugar I removed from the heat.

I then poured this into a stand mixer and whisked for 8-10mins till cooled and it formed a thick, glossy meringue.

I then switched to the paddle attachment and gradually beat in small pieces of the softened butter until I got a light buttercream.

I then split this between 2 bowls.

To one bowl I added vanilla extract and red food colouring (though I ran out of red colouring so it looked pink). This was to coat the red velvet fondant fancies.

To the other half I added 2tbsp of lemon juice and yellow gel colouring to cover the pink lemonade fondant fancies.

With the fillings and buttercream made, and the cakes baked, everything seemed to be going so swimmingly.

I was so chill I even took a break to watch an episode of Sister Sister with my sister.

After my break I got to cake cutting. First I levelled each cake to 3cm high. Yes, I have a kitchen ruler.

I then trimmed the edges so it was a perfect 20x20cm square. I also marked out a grid of 4x4cm squares and scored the top, not cutting all the way through.

I took a small piping nozzle and used this to cut out a small circle of cake from each 4x4cm square for the fillings.

For the red velvet cake I spooned the cream cheese filling into a piping bag and piped this into the holes.

For the pink lemonade cake I sprinkled in some popping candy, in the hopes that it would add a sparkling, fizzy sensation.

I then piped the raspberry curd on top to fill the rest of the holes. The popping candy did start to fizz a little, but I added enough that some did last till eating.

I then rolled out my red marzipan to ½cm thickness and cut out a 20x20cm square. I also scored out the 4x4cm grid to help with cutting later.

I spread a thin layer of the red pink buttercream on top of the cake, before laying the marzipan square on top and pressing down gently to stick. I then cut into cubes following the 4x4cm grid.

Then I repeated this for the pink lemonade cake and the yellow marzipan.

Once I had the cake cubes I coated the sides with a thin layer of the appropriate buttercream, then chilled in the fridge for a minimum of 30mins to firm up.

I actually kept mine in there for longer whilst I was faffing with the fondant, so half way through I actually took them out and with slightly wet fingers smoothed out the sides for sharper edges.

For the fondant (ugh!), I added water, icing sugar and corn syrup to a heavy bottomed saucepan and mixed off the heat till combined. You could use golden syrup if you can’t find corn syrup, but it would have a slight colour to it.

I then bubbled this on a medium heat till it reached 114°C (the ‘soft ball’ stage) and removed from the heat.

I poured it into a stand mixer and let it cool to 60°C before beating till it thickened and turned an opaque white. At this stage I added the colouring and flavourings. This is also when the fondant drama started.

At this point the fondant started to cool too much that it became too thick to pour. I know this because when I tried it didn’t really go anywhere!

I then reheated the fondant and tried pouring it, but this time it was too warm and runny then it just slid right off and started melting the buttercream.

Then I stopped and reassessed the situation, before reheating it one last time to try… but by this stage the fondant started getting grainy and looked a right mess.

This is when I just lost all chill and couldn’t be bothered any longer! (By this point I’d given up on keeping time and was just trying to do it right, so it ended up being 8pm in the evening and I was absolutely EXHAUSTED!)

So yeah, I covered like 6 fondant fancies then stopped to eat dinner.

After my dinner, I FINALLY rolled out some of the coloured marzipan and cut small discs to sit on top of each fondant fancy to look like pieces of lego.

They were messy, but they were FINISHED!!

Well 6 of them were.

Nailed it.

Overall…

How long did it take? Ok, so this is a difficult one as I teeeechnically didn’t finish and gave up keeping time. However, if I was looking at how long it took me to just get up to the fondant making/pouring stage? 4 hours. (Again, this includes taking photos and having to juggle stuff in my crammed fridge/freezer! I wasn’t really rushing though, so I feel like I could have easily cut that down to 3 hours. Especially if I baked both cakes at the same time!

What worked? I’m pretty happy with the flavours – the pink lemonade ones especially! I like to think I got sharp edges when coating with buttercream too.

What didn’t work? Everything was going so smoothly until I got to the fondant. Firstly it started setting before I got to pouring. Then it was too runny and warm that it was melting the buttercream. Then from all the reheating it was starting to get grainy. And let’s not forget the fact that I severely underestimated how much I would need in the first place and only made enough to coat just 6 of each colour! It’s safe to say I was DONE with fondant after those 6.

Things to improve if I were to take this recipe to the tent? Not surprisingly, the fondant. The recipe I used worked, it’s just knowing when and how to pour it that I need to figure out.

*****

Lego Fondant Fancies – GBBO Showstopper Challenge (Week 9)

 

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Author: Acorns & Custard

Serves: 50

Ingredients

For the Red Velvet Genoise sponge:

• 6 large eggs
• 180g caster sugar
• red gel food colouring
• 150g plain flour
• 30g cocoa powder
• pinch of salt
• 1tsp vanilla extract
• 45g unsalted butter, melted and cooled

For the Pink Lemonade Genoise sponge:

• 6 large eggs
• 180g caster sugar
• pink gel food colouring
• 180g plain flour
• zest and juice of 2 lemons
• pinch of salt
• 45g unsalted butter, melted and cooled

For the Raspberry Lemon Curd:

• 60g unsalted butter
• 170g fresh raspberries
• 75g caster sugar
• juice of 1 lemon
• 3 egg yolks
• pinch of salt

For the Cream Cheese Filling:

• 180g cream cheese, softened
• 100g icing sugar

For the Swiss Meringue Buttercream:

• 170g egg whites
• 340g caster sugar
• 450g unsalted butter, room temp
• 1tsp vanilla extract
• 2tbsp lemon juice
• red/yellow gel food colouring

For the Pouring Fondant (probably x6 to have enough):

• 480g icing sugar
• 120ml water
• 50ml corn syrup/golden syrup
• 1tsp vanilla/lemon extract
• red/yellow gel food colouring

optional extras:

• popping candy
• marzipan (dyed red and yellow)

Instructions

For the Red Velvet Genoise sponge:

1. Preheat oven to 180°C.
2. In a large bowl, whisk the eggs, sugar and red food colouring until thick and fluffy. The mixture should be doubled in volume and able to hold it's form for a few seconds when drizzling - 'ribbon stage’.
3. Sift in the flour, salt and cocoa powder.
4. Gently fold into the mixture, making sure there are no pockets of flour but keeping as much air into the mixture as possible.
5. Add the vanilla extract to the melted butter, before drizzling and folding into the mixture gently.
6. Pour into a lined cake tin and bake for 20 minutes until the sponge is golden and springs back slightly when pressed.
7. Leave to cool completely.

For the Pink Lemonade Genoise sponge:

1. Preheat oven to 180°C.
2. In a large bowl, whisk the eggs, sugar and pink food colouring until thick and fluffy. The mixture should be doubled in volume and able to hold it's form for a few seconds when drizzling - 'ribbon stage’.
3. Sift in the flour, salt and add the lemon zest.
4. Gently fold into the mixture, making sure there are no pockets of flour but keeping as much air into the mixture as possible.
5. Drizzle in the melted butter and lemon juice and fold in gently.
6. Pour into a lined cake tin and bake for 20 minutes until the sponge is golden and springs back slightly when pressed.
7. Leave to cool completely.

For the Raspberry Lemon Curd:

1. In a heavy bottomed saucepan, melt the butter over a low heat.
2. Add the raspberries, sugar, lemon juice and zest, egg yolks and salt.
3. Cook over a medium heat, constantly stirring and crushing the raspberries, until thickened. (Mine took about 10mins.)
4. Strain through a sieve.
5. Pour into a bowl and leave to cool slightly before pressing a piece of cling film onto the surface to prevent a skin from forming.
6. Refrigerate until completely cooled.

For the Cream Cheese Filling:

1. Beat together the cream cheese and icing sugar until softly whipped.
2. Refrigerate until needed.

For the Swiss Meringue Buttercream:

1. Add the egg whites and sugar to a large heatproof bowl, and place on top of a pan of simmering water.
2. Whisk over the heat until the sugar dissolves. (You can test this by rubbing it between two fingers to feel for sugar crystals.) Remove from the heat.
3. Whisk on a high speed for about 8 minutes until the mixture has cooled and you get a stiff, glossy meringue.
4. Switch to a paddle attachment (if using a stand mixer), and whilst mixing, add a small amount of the softened butter to the meringue.
5. Continue to add small amounts of butter until finished and fully incorporated.
6. Half the mixture into two bowls.
7. Add the vanilla extract and red food colouring to one half and mix till evenly coloured.
8. Add the lemon juice and yellow food colouring to the other half and mix till evenly coloured.

To construct the Red Velvet Fondant Fancies:

1. Level the top of the red velvet cake layer, then trim to a neat square of 20x20cm. Measure and mark a grid of 4x4cm squares, but do not cut all the way down.
2. Using a piping nozzle, scoop out a small circle of cake from the middle of each 4x4cm square.
3. Fill a piping bag with the cream cheese filling and pipe into each hole.
4. Roll out the red marzipan to approx. ½cm thick and cut out a 20x20cm square. Score out the 4x4cm grid.
5. Spread a thin layer of the red buttercream onto the cake then lay the marzipan grid on top, pressing down to seal.
6. Cut along the 4x4cm grid to make 20 filled cubes of cake.
7. Frost the sides of the cake cubes with the red buttercream to seal in the crumbs and to smooth the edges.
8. Set the cake cubes in a fridge to chill and harden for a minimum of 30 minutes.

To construct the Pink Lemonade Fondant Fancies:

1. Level the top of the pink lemonade cake layer, then trim to a neat square of 20x20cm. Measure and mark a grid of 4x4cm squares, but do not cut all the way down.
2. Using a piping nozzle, scoop out a small circle of cake from the middle of each 4x4cm square.
3. Sprinkle a pinch of popping candy into each hole.
4. Fill a piping bag with the raspberry curd and pipe to fill each hole.
5. Roll out the yellow marzipan to approx. ½cm thick and cut out a 20x20cm square. Score out the 4x4cm grid.
6. Spread a thin layer of the yellow buttercream onto the cake then lay the marzipan grid on top, pressing down to seal.
7. Cut along the 4x4cm grid to make 20 filled cubes of cake.
8. Frost the sides of the cake cubes with the yellow buttercream to seal in the crumbs and to smooth the edges.
9. Set the cake cubes in a fridge to chill and harden for a minimum of 30 minutes.

For the Pouring Fondant:

1. Combine the sugar, syrup and water in a heavy bottomed saucepan until fully mixed.
2. Cook quickly over a high heat until it reaches 114°C (‘soft ball’ stage).
3. Remove from the heat and pour into a large mixing bowl. Leave to cool to 60°C.
4. Once cooled to 60°C, beat on a medium speed until it turns white and thickens.
5. Add the extract and enough gel colouring to achieve your desired colour and beat into the fondant.
6. Pour/spoon over the fondant icing over the chilled cubes of cakes to coat entirely. (Excess fondant can be reheated and re-poured, but do not reheat too much as it will go grainy!)
7. Set on a wire rack to cool and set.
8. Roll a tube of red marzipan and slice small even sized discs to set on top of the red cake cubes, using a bit of water to stick if needed. Repeat with the yellow cubes.

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