Marzipaning my Christmas Cakes

Now that the cake boards have arrived its time to Marzipan my Christmas Cakes.

You want to do this at least a day before you plan to ice your cake. I usually do it a week before and wrap it up but left it a bit later due to forgetting to get cake boards!

Please note: this is my method of putting marzipan on a cake, I apologise to any professionals out there!

You will need marzipan (I found that 60g did an 6" cake), icing sugar for stopping any sticking, a couple of tablespoons of jam (the smoother the better), your original cake tin and a rolling pin.

first dust the surface with icing sugar and roll out your marzipan until about 5mm thick.

Take you cake tin and press gently into the top of the marzipan.

The tin will leave an indent the size of your cake which you can cut out with a sharp knife.

I had two cakes so did this twice.

You now need to unwrap your cakes and place next to the cake boards. You will be using the jam as a sweet glue for your cakes and marzipan but also to stick the cake to the cake board. using a small bowl microwave the jam for 30 seconds-1 minute until liquid.

Spread the jam thinly onto the top of the cake then place top down on the board - this means that the bottom of the cake, which is flat will now act as the top of your cake!




Next spread some jam on the new top of the cake and place the ready cut marzipan on top and gently press down.

Now that the cakes are on the boards upside down you are probably thinking "there's a little bit of a gap at the bottom, what do I do about it?" No matter how slowly you bake your cake you are likely to have a bit of a gap because the middle of the cake has risen slightly. Dont worry we

will now sort this out.

Roll out the remaining marzipan as a long strip, keep flouring the top and bottom as you turn it to prevent sticking. Measure the bprd to the top of your cake and cut a long strip this width.

With the off-cuts you can now use your hands to roll a long pieces out which you then place around the base of the cake to even out that gap. press it in gently with your fingers, it doesn't have to be pretty as no-one will see it.

Problem solved!

Finally brush some jam all the way round the remaining visible sponge. Then take the long strip of marzipan and wrap it around the cake. If you have a gap at the end don't worry just cut out a piece of marzipan to fit the gap.

Push together all the edges to seal the cake inside and smooth with your fingers.

Remember this is the base for your icing to go on top of, don't worry if there are any discoloured bits just make sure it smooth and sealed



Result:

preparation, preparation, preparation!

All good plans....

I had planned to marzipan the Christmas Cakes on sunday but realised I did not have the cake boards! doh!

They arrived today so will do an update later!

Naked Noodles

I picked up 2 packs of Hoisin Duck flavoured Naked Noodles in Tesco when they were on offer.

On first impression Naked Noodles seem to be a premium noodle brand with less additives than their popular "junk food" competitors.

"peel back the lid" what lid?

On opening the pack however I was disappointed to find a paper cup a plastic bag of noodles and a sachet of flavouring. Far from ready to just add water as it said on the side of the box. There was no lid to peel back as stated.


So first I had to take the cup out of the box add the noodles, open the flavouring sachet and unwrap the fork - lots of needless non-recyclable packaging.

You are then asked to add 200mls of boiling water or 3.5cm from the top - no fill line provided. I did the "guess what 3.5cm from the top is" method rather than digging out a jug.

The result: Quite watery noodles - there was so much liquid that I found it hard to fish out the noodles before tipping the remainder down the sink. On the website the noodles appear to have been re-branded "Ramen noodle soup" I'm not sure if this was missed off the original packaging or was added due to the overly soupy style of the product.

They had a nice flavour, quite strong and obviously hoisin sauce but really were nothing special.

The product certainly did not live up to the impression (or the instructions) on the box as an easy but healthy noodle snack.

Christmas Cakes done!

I have just made my Christmas cakes for this year.

Rather than my usual 8" cake, I went for two 6" cakes instead. I did however stick to Delia Smith's Classic Christmas cake as it's served me so well over the last few years.

I'm not going to post the full recipes as you can visit Delia's page by clicking the link above. I will however give a quick run-down of how easy it is to make.

First you want to measure out your fruit the night before and mix with your alcohol of choice! I Chose a lovely cherry liqueur as it needed using up, brandy and other such drinks with a high alcohol content work well.

Give the fruit a good stir whenever possible throughout the evening and next morning to make sure its being soaked nicely.



Next is the Golden Rule of Baking; measure out and prepare your ingredients. There is nothing worse than getting half way through a recipe and having to run out to get something you've missed especially at a crucial time in the method!

Now is also the time to line your tins with a double layer or baking paper as you will be cooking the cake for a long time!

 Sift the flour and other dry ingredients into your largest bowl then add butter, sugar, eggs and treacle and mix with an electric hand blender. I've done this by hand a couple of years and it can be done but just takes a bit longer and usually a tea break when your arm starts to ache!

 Once smooth, mix in all the lovely fruit and the lemon and orange zest before popping into your pre-prepared tins and baking.

How long do I bake my cake for?

Very good question! If you stick to Delia's recipe then its a minimum of 4 hours but could be longer.

If you are using a different sized tin then the times will vary.

Delia also shows how to scale up and down the recipe and the baking times.

Once a skewer comes out clean, cool in the tin for 30 minutes then remove and once fully cool I wrap them in baking paper then tin foil. Feed on a weekly basis until ready to cover: to feel poke a skewer through the base of the cake evenly across the surface then drizzle on a couple of tablespoons of brandy or other alcohol, this keeps the cake moist and preserved as well as giving flavour.

You can make the cake a month in advance or longer if you wish, I would recommend at least 2 weeks to give feeding time!

Next week I will be putting marzipan on the cakes!

Black bean salad with BBQ chicken

This is another HelloFresh recipe. I've recently cancelled my account with them as I've had repeated problems with missing items and a couple of cold packs bursting and ruining ingredients and recipe cards.

I cup new potatoes, 3 chicken thighs, 1 tin of black beans, 1 lime, 1 spring onion, 1tbsp BBQ sauce, 1/2 cup sweetcorn, 2 tbsp sour cream, 2 tbsp olive oil, 1/2 red pepper

1. Pat dry and smother the chicken in BBQ sauce then bake at 200 degrees in the top of the oven for 20 minutes.

2. Finely chop the spring onion and pepper.

3. Boil the potatoes in salted water then drain and chop into bit sized pieces.

4. In a small bowl mix a little lime zest and half the juice with the sour cream and olive oil and a pinch of salt.

5. Let the chicken rest for 5 minutes after taking out of the oven then shred with 2 forks (crispy duck style)

6. In a large bowl mix together all the ingredients and serve!

Fresh week - day 4

Day 4

Another successful day, I had a snack from graze.com at lunchtime but otherwise all fresh.

It makes a really nice change to eat fruit and nuts as snacks.

For dinner I managed a to make a fresh meal fast, I went slightly off plan as I really needed to add some meat to the meal so did sausages with grilled mushrooms and spring greens.

The mushrooms were grilled till soft then topped with some seriously strong spreadable (and cream cheese would do) and topped with cheddar before going back under the grill for a few minutes. I shredded the spring greens and cooked in a little olive oil and some seasoning.

Fresh Week - Day 3

Day three went exactly to plan.

Mine contained cashews, hazelnuts, macadamia, walnuts, brazil nuts and almonds

During the day I made my self a tub full of mixed nuts for snacking on and chucked in a bag of chocolate chips to make it more of a treat. Services like Graze do a great job getting me to snack more healthily but I always run out quickly and could make up a tub myself that lasts longer and is cheaper!

You can get a free graze box using code: 6FFYKCM or by clicking this link.

Real pizzas aren't perfectly round!

For dinner I stuck to my plan and made a  pizza albeit with ready made dough. I rolled out the dough on a floured surface which took a little while as the dough kept springing back rather than staying flat! I topped it with a fresh tomato sauce (tomatoes, peppers and seasoning) then mozzarella, peppers and chicken.

Into the oven at 200 degrees C for 15 minutes and its ready. Serve with
nice fresh salad. Don't worry if your pizza doesn't look like the ones in pizza hut or isn't round, it will taste amazing because its fresh!

Fresh week - Day 2

I knew day 2 would be difficult being out all day and evening.

I made some bread dough on Monday night by combining 500g flour with a teaspoon of quick yeast, 300mls warm water and 3 tablespoons of olive oil. I then kneaded until smooth and left overnight in the fridge in an oiled bowl covered in cling film.

Tuesday morning it had doubled in size so I knocked out the excess air and shaped into a loaf tin. I then left for an hour to rise for a second time before putting in the oven at 200 degrees centigrade for 25 minutes. The result was lovely but still a little doughy in the middle. I will try again but leave to rise a little longer and bake for longer.

Lunch was a panini from costa coffee, clearly freshly made, but not by myself.

Dinner was a sad affair of buffet sandwiches and coffee but I did avoid the Danish pastries!

All in all not a prefect day but not a fail.

Fresh Week - Day 1 complete

Healthy lunch and dinner achieved!

I haven't eaten raw carrot sticks since my mum made me lunch, but I was actually surprised how nice it was!

The roll was packed with lettuce, tomato, cucumber, Edam cheese and crumbed ham and actually kept me full all afternoon.

  

Dinner was Chicken and Mushrooms in a tomato sauce with Carrots and Rosemary crushed Potatoes.
Ingredients:

4 chicken thighs
1 tin of chopped tomatoes
1 Clove of Garlic
350g new potatoes
A sprig of thyme
A bay leaf
300g Carrots

Preheat the oven to 220 degrees and boil a pan of water.

First I chopped up the garlic finely, halved the larger potatoes, and roughly chopped the chestnut mushrooms.I peeled and sliced the carrots into equal sticks, this took a few minutes (if I had a Tefal Fresh express it would have taken seconds, hint, hint!)

The chicken was patted dry, rubbed in oil and seasoned before going in the hot oven on a baking tray for 20 minutes.

In a large pan I heated a tablespoon of oil and fried off the garlic before adding a tin of tomatoes with a bay leaf and the mushrooms. The potatoes were added to the boiling water and both pans simmered for 14 minutes. I then added the carrots to the boiling water for 4 minutes, took the chicken out of the oven and put it in the pan of tomato sauce.

Finally to make the crushed rosemary potatoes I drained the pan of water and put the carrots to one side. I crushed the potatoes gently with the back of a fork and heated a frying pan with a little oil. Once hot I added the rosemary waited a few seconds then fried the potatoes until crispy!

 Serve it all in warmed bowls and enjoy!

Fresh Week - Plan

If fresh week is about buying the right food then I win!

Unfortunately it's not! So today as planned I received a Veg box from Abel and Cole and also ordered some bread flour and yeast.

Now comes the tricky bit; planning a week of healthy meals from my fridge and box!

Plan A:

Monday: Dinner is already sorted as I have a HelloFresh! meal ready to make from scratch of Matador chicken and chorizo casserole with crushed new potatoes. For Lunch I am going to make myself a fresh roll with lettuce, tomato, cucumber, ham and cheese (I know the ham and cheese aren't organic/handmade etc but they're in the fridge!)

Tuesday: First hurdle; I'm out all day and not home till after 10 due to work events! I'm thinking make bread in the morning to atone for my sins later on? Healthy pack-up with said bread and carrot sticks then I'll have to make do with whatever buffet is served at the evening meeting

Wednesday: Home-made pizza with peppers, onions and chicken for dinner. The pizza dough is from the Tesco make it at home range but still better than frozen or ready made bases plus I can put all my own fresh toppings on top!

Thursday: I'm concerned that my lovely fresh food will not stay fresh! I have some carrots and  leeks in the fridge and the veg box potatoes are piling up so i think I will have a soup session. Leek and potato for the fridge and carrot and coriander for this evening with some homemade rolls.

Friday: Starting to struggle for ideas now, I'm not one of these people who can make a box of vegetables into a main meal easily. Maybe a vegetable stir fry with the spring greens, peppers and carrot with soy sauce and chicken stock for flavour and seasoning.

Saturday: Leek and Potato soup for lunch,  Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms with salad and potatoes.

Sunday: Dinner at the in-laws, usually a roast or casserole made from scratch.


Making the plan took a little more effort than I thought but there's nothing on there which is unachievable!

Fresh Week 13th May - 19th May - Fresh Start!

Today kicks off the start of Fresh Week!

Fresh week appears to be the invention of Tefal (based on my attempts to find any earlier example on Google) this year. Cynics may say it is designed to sell the new super slicing device but the ethos is definitely positive: A week dedicated to eating fresh food and avoiding processed ready meals.

This week the plan is to eat as much home prepared fresh food as possible.

I will hopefully update each day with my attempt to eat everything from scratch (with maybe a couple of short cuts!) during a normal busy work week.

If you would like to Win a Tefal Fresh Express and a Veg box from Riverford Organic click here.

Kent's Kitchen: Spicy Korma Kit

This spicy Korma kit from Kent's Kitchen is award winning for a reason. I have never tasted such a flavoursome home-made curry before.

Spicy Korma Kit, Chicken, Veggies, Coconut Milk

The beauty of the kit is that you get a flavoured oil to cook your chicken and/or Vegetables, a curry paste to cook through then a spice pot to add at the end. Just provide the Chicken and Veg and a tin of coconut milk.

Method: Chop up your chicken and/or vegetables. Add the Garlic Oil to a hot pan and first seal your chicken (if using)

Add the vegetables and cook for a few minutes.

Add the Korma paste and cook for 5 more minutes.

Finally add the coconut milk and spice pot and simmer until your rice or other accompanying dish is ready.

Tip: In the winter you will find you coconut milk may solidify, just pop the tin in some warm water before opening. I added mine to the washing up bowl!






Result:

 A very tasty, fresh curry. I will definately be trying the other kits in the range.


Recipe Score:



Also a great price at £2.30

The Hotel Chocolat Tasting Club

I have been a member of the hotel chocolat tasting club for a few years and although it is a real luxury who would begrudge such a high quality box of chocolates every 3 months?

The club produces a new box every month sent to your door with a tasting card and newsletter. As I am the only one in my house who eats dark chocolate I've set my subscription to once every 12 weeks.

Being a club member also entitles you to a 5% discount is store.

How easy was it to order?

The website is very easy to use to place your order or modify an order but you do need to phone up to cancel.

The club is also designed so that those not confident with the internet can order by phone and pay by cheque if desired.

     

Delivery and Packaging

The box arrives in a long box designed to fit through your door and the box of chocolates is wrapped in a cellophane sleeve to keep them fresh. There is alos a message for your postman telling them not to leave in sunlight!

  What's in the box?

A generous 'sleekster' box of chocolates, newsletter, tasting menu and score card.


The idea is that you have 2 of each chocolate, working through the menu you can then score each chocolate and report your answers on-line or by post. In each newsletter the results from each selection are posted and the best chocolates may be considered for the shop range. So as you can see its all very serious stuff!

Ratings  

Delivery - Delivery is included in the price so cannot be judged alone.
 
 

Packaging - Well packaged, yet just fits through the door!

 

Quality & Taste- Second to none, easily the best boxed chocolates sold in the UK.

 

Value for Money - Not too bad as long as you recognise this as a luxury item, yes you could buy a lot of cadburys or galaxy for £18 but you are paying for ethical production and high quality.

Other comments: The Tasting Club really is a unique experience and a real indulgence.

     

Overall Rating:

Bacon Wrapped Pork Loin With Peppercorn Sauce

Following the Pork theme of my last recipe HelloFresh seem to be quite generous with the pork!

For this recipe and the Spiced Pork Skewers I only needed 300g of pork fillet but was sent at least 600g so  an looking forward to making them both again.

300g Pork Fillet, 450g potatoes, 4 Rashers Streaky Bacon, 100ml Milk, 1 Clove of Garlic, 3 Tbsp Double Cream, 1 Beef Oxo cube, 3 Tbsp diced Shallot, 150g Broccoli, 1/2Tbsp Black Peppercorns

As usual chop everything up; Peel and finely dice the garlic and shallot, peel the potatoes and chop into just smaller than golf ball size pieces.

Boil two pans of water, with a pinch of salt in each, and add you potatoes to one of them. Let them boil for 10-15 minutes until soft throughout and drain.

lay the bacon out, overlapping the edges to make a sheet to wrap your pork loin in. place the loin on end and roll carefully into a giant pig in blanket.

Heat a pan with a tablespoon of oil then seal your pork roll and let brown a little on all sides.

Slice the roll into discs about 2cm thick then pop them back in the hot pan and fry for 90 seconds on each side. Let rest on a warm plate.

fry the shallots and garlic in the pan containing your pork juices then add half the stock cube and 200mls of water. Allow to simmer until reduced by half then crush the pepper corns and add these plus the cream to the pan. Leave bubbling until thick.

Now cook your broccoli for 3 minutes in the second pan of boiling water and mash your potatoes with the milk, a nob of butter and a little salt to taste.

Serve the pork on top of the mashed potatoes with a good splash of sauce and broccoli on the side.

Result:

A little bit fiddly rolling up the pork and bacon but worth it in the end.

An impressive dish with lots of flavours.

Recipe score: