Someone asked me for a variant on my refined sugar free banana flapjacks. Well I have always been one to respond to polite enquiries, so here they are. Apple and pear flapjacks no less. As they’re (refined) sugar free, baby Lawrence, 11 months, has been chowing down on them with aplomb. At first he wasn’t so keen. I think he was missing the banana flavour, but now he’s all about the apple & pear variety. He bangs his high chair when he sees one about to be unleashed.
I’ve long hankered after making one of those impressive ombre cakes, but if I’m honest the thought of making there different coloured icings and then piping them onto a cake made me feel all tired and in need of a sit down. I’m not a ‘fancy’ baker. I like to think this is a choice, that I could make these amazing creations worthy of patisserie school, but frankly, I’m kidding myself. It’s not my style. I like rustic (aka a bit messy) so this cake is a departure for me. It’s about as un-messy as I get. I hope you like it. I especially hope you like the nifty ruler trick for smoothing the icing.
Summer is coming so it’s time for a lemon and coconut cake. If coconut isn’t your thing then make a simple buttercream filling instead. I’ve kept the coconut away from the main cake as I know some folks aren’t keen on it. I however am a coconut fiend.
This recipe first appeared on ITV’s This Morning. You can find a video of the recipe being made here as well as the full recipe.
So Lawrence could barely sit unaided until recently and now all of a sudden it’s action stations. Yesterday I rescued 2 remote controls, a Lego helicopter, a calculator, two mobile phones, a box of tissues, a nappy (unused), another baby, 3 plastic Octonaut toys, a laptop, a Hot Wheels track, a whisk, a rolling pin, 2 wooden spoons and some post from Lawrence. He’s one of ‘those’ babies. He’s wonderfully exhausting.
So what with all this racing about, I need Jaffa Cakes. Homemade ones. With a LOT of dark chocolate. Here we go…
I really wanted to post something hugely traditional like a Simnel cake, some regular hot cross buns or even some kind of lamb dish.
But I couldn’t. I opened the larder door and the chocolate chips called to me. I had some yeast sachets that needed using up, plus some strong white flour that’s almost done for. And I really don’t like waste you see. It bothers me hugely.
The rest is history. But look! They’re very pretty. See:
Well it wouldn’t be Easter without a Cadbury Crème Egg recipe. I’ve given you Cadbury Crème Egg mess and of course Cadbury Crème Egg chocolate flapjack in the past, but this time it’s the turn of the unbaked cheesecake. This is easy, assemble ahead stuff. It’s all the better for longer chilling in the fridge so make the day before if you can.
Have a wonderful Easter!
I made a lovely video with the Scoff folks to show how to make this Crème Egg cheesecake. You can see the vid on my YouTube channel and also the Scoff one. You can watch it below too.
Grease and line a 20cm springform tin with clingfilm – this is important as it makes it much easier to remove later. Mix the biscuits, melted butter and sugar together (you can use a food processor if you wish), stir in the chocolate chips and press into the tin using the back of a metal spoon. Chill in the fridge for 10 minutes.
To make the cheesecake layer, beat the cream cheese, icing sugar and vanilla extract in a stand mixer, with an electric handheld mixer or with a wooden spoon until combined. Then gently fold through the whipped double cream with a large metal spoon. Spoon a third onto your chilled biscuit base, then add half of the crème egg pieces, add another third, then the rest of the crème egg pieces and then the last third of the cheesecake mixture. Smooth until flatish and pop back in the fridge for 1 hour.
Melt the chocolate in short bursts in the microwave or over a bain marie then add the oil, stirring well. Pour over the top of the cheesecake and add the mini crème eggs to the top. Chill for another 2 hours.
To serve gently remove the springform tin and unpeel from the clingfilm. Cut into slices using a knife dipped in hot water for clean cuts, though beware this dessert is messy when served. Gobble it up quickly!
I’ve been meaning to put all my weaning recipes in one place, but, well I’ve been busy weaning. Lawrence is now 9 months old and eats pretty much what we eat. I have been asked many times since he was born whether I follow baby led weaning or the purée method and quite honestly I’ve mostly been avoiding the question. It’s just so political.
But here’s the answer; I do a bit of both. Or, strictly speaking, I offer purées with finger foods before quickly progressing to very lumpy purées with finger foods and then just finger foods. So Lawrence has always had a bit of what we’ve had. Unless we’re eating salty, honeyed food doused in booze. (For current guidelines on what you can and can’t feed babies take a look here).
Here are a few of Lawrence’s favourite things:
Sugar free flapjacks
I think these may be my favourite creation since I began weaning my babies. My youngest son (and his mates) really like them. But please manage your expectations if you’re planning on having a bite. These are refined sugar free. Powered by dried fruit and banana only. So if you’re used to cupcakes, Mars bars and/or ice cream then these will taste decidedly un-treat like. But then you don’t have the unsullied palate of a baby. Recipe here.
Garlicky roasted squash, sweet potato and carrot purée
This is one of those purées that makes the house smell divine. Lawrence loved it as a first food but now he won’t go near it. He’s not into purées now he’s a big boy don’t you know. So the little bag of ice cubes I had left in the freezer made a delicious courgette layered bake along with a grating of parmesean for Mummy and Daddy. Recipe for the purée is here.
Cheesy bread sticks
We all enjoy a homemade bread stick in this house, not least when they’ve been coated in grated cheese before baking. I reduced the salt by half in these before making them for Lawrence to eat. If you do this remember that salt inhibits rising. As in, your bread sticks will rise super fast with less salt. Recipe here.
Cauliflower and broccoli cheese
We all love this. It’s tasty, cheesy, veggie rich comfort food. It makes an excellent spread/dip when blended as well as being really good in it’s non mushed up format. Recipe here.
Frittata
Lawrence finds this easy to hold and is a big pea fan. I personally love a Spanish omelette for the fact they help clear the fridge of odds and ends of vegetables. Recipe here.
Salmon and sweet potato fishcakes
I fashion these into croquettes as they’re easier for Lawrence to hold. Recipe here.
Pancakes
All the boys love pancakes, Lawrence especially. They’re very easy for him to shove into his mouth. They’re also very easy to spread with various nutritious dips and spreads. Hummus is a fave. Recipe here.
Veggie rostis
Anything with parsnip is a big yes here. So these are popular. I serve them with scrambled egg. Recipe here.
Roasting tray ragu
This is NOT authentic. I repeat, this is NOT authentic. But it is tasty and it is easy, so it’s a favourite in our house. Recipe here.
Sweet potato chips
Great for the family, especially loved by babies. I like any recipe where I get to bung it in the oven and forget about it. Recipe here.
Carrot fritters
Remove the salt and off you go. Add any other flavourings you (or your baby) fancy. Recipe here.
Pork and coriander meatballs
Easy to hold, easy to chew on and incredibly moreish. I dare you not to try and snaffle one off your little one’s plate. Recipe here.
Apple and pear puree
I like to think of this as a baby version of apple pie. Without the sugary pie crust. It fills the kitchen with a sweet orchard smell and is loved by Lawrence. Also good mixed with natural yoghurt. Recipe here.
Carrot, courgette and cheese fritters
Call them fritters, call them pancakes. Whatever you want to call them, they’re a big hit with babies. They freeze well too. Recipe here.
Take a look here for advice and tips on weaning including a little video I made with Organix.
Failure can be a good thing. Take London for example. The first time I took a solo trip to London it was a disaster.
In 1999 I was a fresher at Liverpool University, studying for a degree in English Language & Literature. One day I bought a copy of Vogue. Now given I was a chunky size 14 this was ill advised. However this copy did feature a writing competition. Which I of course, being full of arrogant youthfulness, entered.
Months later I received a very proper looking embossed letter telling me I hadn’t won, but I was a runner up. How exciting! Imagine! A girl from Leicester, via Liverpool, being invited to London! All the L’s and all the exclamations. At this point I should have been happy in my triumph, left it there and declined. But I didn’t.
I bought a pashmina. Because that’s what I imagined women in London who were invited to Vogue House might wear. It was beige. I also bought a pair of pedal pushers in a kind of gold colour. They fit badly and made my already reasonable sized backside look gargantuan. I also wore a white loose fitting peasant style T shirt. And heels. A pair of heels that barely fit, were again beige, and hurt considerably. Oh and a beige handbag that didn’t fit much in. Not an umbrella for instance.
But wait! The horror wasn’t complete! I decided, the night before I caught the train to London, from my teenage bedroom in Leicester, to fake tan my whole body.
Reader, I don’t think I need to tell you how bad I looked. A beige monstrosity, streaked in orange. It rained in London, as it often does, and I, being a girl from up North, had no idea that carrying an umbrella in the heat of the capital’s summer might be a good idea. I arrived; wet, streaked, stressed and beige.
I managed to sit through the lunch, in a panelled board room, with Alexandra Shulman (Editor), Miranda Sawyer (Journo) and Nick Hornby (Author), the latter whose work I bought days before to swot up on.
Shulman and I didn’t speak. I imagine she was concerned the beige horror might be a contagious disease. Sawyer chatted kindly, though clearly not engaged in anything a 19 year old student might have to say. (I don’t blame her). Nick was lovely. So interested in everyone. A real gent.
I took the Midland Mainline back to Leicester on the to pick up my Fiat Panda, feeling London was so very unattainable to me. I had embarrassed myself and done a disservice to every girl from the Midlands trying desperately to reinvent herself.
Just 3 years later I moved to London, again, solo. And it was anything but a disaster. I loved it. And I never wore a beige pashmina again. Or gold pedal pushers. (The same can’t be said for my love affair with ‘Holiday Skin’ fake tan).
I made a lovely video with the Scoff folks to show how to make these very easy white chocolate mousse eggs. You can see the vid on my YouTube channel and also the Scoff one. You can watch it below too.
Makes about 9 though depends on the size of your chocolate eggs
Ingredients:
For the curd:
35g butter
70g castor sugar
1 lemon
1 large egg + 1 egg yolk
For the mousse:
2 large eggs, separated
125g white chocolate
To finish:
9 hollow milk chocolate eggs (though how many you fill will depend on the size of your eggs of course)
Melt the white chocolate in the microwave, allow to cool a little. Locate something to stand the finished eggs in – an empty egg box would be perfect.
Make the curd by placing a pan of simmering water over a medium heat and placing a heat proof bowl over the top, being careful that the water doesn’t touch the bowl. Place the butter, sugar, lemon zest and juice into the bowl and whisk. Stir until completely dissolved.
Then add the eggs and whisk intermittently for 10 minutes until the curd has thickened. Chill in the fridge.
To make the mousse, whisk the egg yolks until pale and creamy then add in the melted chocolate and whisk well.
In a very clean bowl whisk the egg whites until you have stiff peaks then add 1 tbsp into the mousse to loosen it a little – simply beat it in with a wooden spoon.
Then add in the rest of the whisked egg whites and fold into the mousse with a metal spoon using a slicing action. Place the mousse in the fridge.
Take the hollow chocolate eggs and gently saw off the top of the egg with a sharp knife, just to reveal the inside enough to spoon mousse into. (Don’t worry if some of the chocolate falls into the chocolate egg).
Spoon white chocolate mousse into the hollow eggs and place in the egg box. Spoon a tiny bit of cooled lemon curd into the middle of the mousse before serving.
NB: These hollow eggs must be kept in the fridge until serving. It is advised not to serve raw eggs to young children, pregnant women or the elderly.
EasterComments Off on Easter chocolate nests with little chicks
It was inevitable. It’s almost Easter, I have small children, I love novelty. What did you expect? I’ve upgraded my mini Easter nests recipe. This time they’re bigger, the nest is more nest like as it’s made of All Bran rather than Shredded Wheat, and… well a chick has hatched. These are altogether a better grade of Easter nest.
Place 12 cupcake cases into a 12 hole cake tin. Melt the chocolate in a large bowl. I used the bain marie method to be sure the chocolate didn’t burn or seize up. Just be careful not to let any water get into the chocolate or allow the bottom of the bowl to touch the water in the pan. Once completely melted remove from the heat and add the All Bran. Stir really well until combined, giving a good dig about at the bottom of the bowl.
Spoon equally between the 12 cases, using the spoon to make a little dent in the middle of each ‘nest’. Add three eggs, then a little pastry chick. Leave to set completely (takes 4 hours ish) before eating.
If you don’t have the time or inclination to make pastry chicks then do sub with marshmallow chicks or similar from the supermarket.
I’m a mum of 3 boys, a cookbook writer and also a finalist on the 2011 Great British Bake Off.
I’ve decided to record the recipes I use, partly to save them somewhere and partly in case someone else might like to use them...
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Holly Bell 