I love Simnel cake. I love all things Eastery in flavour. And as the mother of hungry boys, flapjack has a special place in my heart. So, this Simnel Easter flapjack is everything and more that I’m looking for in an Easter treat. Simple, moreish, not too hard on the pocket and really rather Eastery indeed. READ MORE
For us half term is almost over. There have been sleepovers at Nanny and Baa Baa’s, Lego bought, tantrums had and of course, pizza eaten. And so I find myself craving on behalf of my kids, green and good things. READ MORE
Can I ask you something? Have you ever thought you might have a book in you? A fiction book that is. I have become obsessed lately in writing one. Without temperatures, methods, photos. Just a book. Maybe a love story. Not sure. Surely it’s a mistake to diversify. Isn’t it? I even have an idea. It’s sad in a romantic kind of a way. READ MORE
I have so much going on I can barely stop to talk. I really hate it when people do this – tell you how busy they are and then waste 15 precious minutes talking about their stress when they could be tacking their to do list. So I won’t. Instead I will just offer up something that is simply amazing. I don’t even like egg nog (the drink) but I do like these. Oh yes I do.
(P.S. If you are wondering about the other truffles in the picture then I also made orange truffles using this recipe and then rolled them in crushed Oreos. I used the same recipe to make coconut truffles, subbing the orange extract for Malibu and then rolling in desiccated coconut. I also rolled some egg nog truffles in nutmeg spiked icing sugar. They all keep for 1 week from making, provided your double cream has a use by date that doesn’t come before that. Keep in the fridge and bring to room temperature for 1 hour pre serving. And please, if you want to temper your chocolate then go ahead and do it, I just don’t have the time at the moment, nor to explain it. You may get a bloom on your chocolate coating if you don’t temper. It’s fine, it will still taste the same. Just sprinkle with more nutmeg. Did I mention how busy I am?)
I made a lovely video with the Scoff folks to show off how to make these truffles. You can see the vid on my YouTube channel and also the Scoff one. You can watch it below too.
Lots of great recipes like this in my book, Recipes from a Normal Mum, out now… on Amazon, at Waterstones, WHSmith, The Book Depository and many smaller outlets.
Last December: My slow cooker beef bourguignon pie and Crumble topped mince pies and a very ugly but delicious cranberry & raspberry traybake
Two years ago: Mini Yorkshire pudding canapes and Christmas pudding fizz and Brandy butter icing and Rudolf morsels
Three years ago: Lime meringue pie with chocolate pastry and Christmas scones and Ginger cake with Christmas cottage and Hot chocolate on a stick
Four years ago: Moonuts and Cheese biscuits and Parsnip soup and Inauthentic chicken tagine
Egg nog truffles
Makes about 30
Ingredients:
Melt the chocolate, cream, brandy, nutmeg and cinnamon in a heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water, being careful not to let the bowl touch the water. Stir until completely smooth then chill for about 2 hours until hard.
Take a teaspoon and remove heaped spoons of the truffle mixture. Roll between your hands to form spheres. Place on a plate covered in non-stick paper and chill again for another hour.
Melt the chocolate using the same method as before. Dip each truffle into the chocolate using a spoon and fork. Drain as much chocolate from the truffle as possible and transfer to a tray lined with greaseproof paper. Grate a little nutmeg over each truffle. Leave to set either at room temperature or in the fridge, though be aware a bloom is more likely to develop on the chocolate if you use the faster fridge method.
This is a serious blog post. Well as serious as cake gets. I want to warn you in case you’re expecting the usual drivel about babies and weight loss. I’m giving you all a week off from my neuroses regarding not fitting into skinny jeans. Instead I want to talk about hospitals.
When my eldest son was two years old he spent Christmas in hospital. My second eldest son (the phrase ‘middle son’ is banned in our house) was just 2 months old at the time. My, it was stressful. Christmas day was spent watching Bob the Builder on a loop next to my beloved boy who was sky high on painkillers. Luckily he was okay and got off pretty lightly. He has a scar that hugs his left eye socket, but that is all. I have a photo of us both, tucked away as a reminder, next to a South African Father Christmas wearing surgical gloves. You can see I’m crying in the photo.
Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity got in touch with me to ask if I’d blog about their Bake it Better campaign. Bake it Better aims to encourage bakers across the country to roll up their sleeves during Bake it Better Week from 13–19 October, get baking and hold a bake sale to help raise vital funds for a new clinical building at Great Ormond Street Hospital. Their aim is to replace cramped, outdated wards with modern, state-of-the-art facilities, so that everyone receives the best possible care. You can find out more about the campaign by watching this video. Or you can find out why they so desperately need the money by clicking here.
So in support of Bake it Better I am blogging this recipe for Sunshine Cake. Because I made it for a bake sale at my son’s school and it got snapped up in record time (before the sale properly opened)! Because it cuts well, which is so very important for a bake sale. Because it is a little different from all the usual chocolatey offerings you find at bake sales. Because it is very quick to knock up. And because when my little boy was in hospital, sunshine felt like a very far away thing.
Lots more recipes like this in my book, Recipes from a Normal Mum, out now… on Amazon, with The Book People, at Sainsbury’s, Morrisons, Waitrose, The Book Depository and many smaller outlets.
One year ago: Hazelnut cupcakes with Nutella buttercream and Red root reblochon bake and Simple banana cake
Two years ago: Cherry tomato frittata and Lemon brioche or Death by chocolate cake
Three years ago: Tiramisu profiteroles and Drunken cherry brandy mincemeat or Macarons
Four years ago: Easy cheesy pasta and Almond coated chicken and Mince pies for mince pie haters
Sunshine cake
Ingredients:
For the cake:
For the icing and decoration:
Preheat the oven to 180C/gas mark 4. Grease and line 3 x 20cm sandwich cake tins. Mix together the flour, bicarb, nutmeg, cinnamon and ginger with a wooden spoon in a large bowl. Add the sugar and mix again, being careful to press any clumps of sugar against the side of the bowl, otherwise these won’t bake into the cake properly. You’ll essentially have pockets of baked sugar. Then again… that could be rather delicious.
Add the rest of the ingredients and beat well until everything is well distributed – a couple of minutes with a wooden spoon. Then pour equally into the three tins and bake for about 25 minutes until well risen and golden. Check the cakes are cooked by pushing a skewer into the middle. If it comes out clean they are done. Once you can handle the cakes remove them from the tins and cool on a wire rack.
Make the icing by beating the soft butter with the icing sugar until very light and airy looking, like mousse flecked with air. This takes about 7 minutes in a stand mixer, longer with a handheld or wooden spoon. Then add the tinned caramel, (available in large supermarkets, or you could make your own caramel if you like). Mix well and then divide roughly into thirds and use to sandwich the cakes together, using the final third for the top of the cake. Decorate with banana chips and carry gingerly to your bake sale.
NB: If you don’t fancy making the caramel icing you could just make buttercream instead.
P.S. To sign up for my free monthly newsletter just click here. It has a baking SOS, recommendations on bits of kit I can’t live without, my kitchen catastrophe of the month, a sneak preview of a recipe coming up on this blog and a letter from me telling you what I’ve been up to. Remember to check your inbox for a confirmation email and also to add my email recipesfromanormalmum@gmail.com to your contacts. Otherwise I could go to spam.
This is easy but oh so satisfying. I always seem to have leftover cheesecake topping. My tins can’t be big enough. In the past I have, shock horror, either thrown it away (!) or made a kind of baseless cheesecake in old Gu pots. Deeply disappointing to find no biscuit under your cheese in my opinion.
Here’s how to use up leftover cheesecake topping like this one. Just chill it in the fridge, covered up, for about 30 minutes. Then spoon onto the top of digestive biscuits and bake at 190C for about 4 minutes until the top has set but there’s no browning. (Mr B and I disagree regarding which way up the biscuit should be. I say writing side up, he says writing side down.)
Then either eat warm or chill and serve to guests. These will be making an appearance at the annual Bell Christmas party along with our veggie samosas. Easy peasy.
I think nativity plays should be treated with extreme caution. This isn’t a religious statement or the beginnings of a protest in any way. It’s an acknowledgement that the part you’re given in the school nativity play can influence your life. It sets a tone and a precedent. I think a lot can be explained by my 1985 stage debut. Or more, the role I was given.
You see my mother was a fan of elfin haircuts. As an adult I am with her on this. I love that gamine look. It screams chic and self-assured and dare I say it, French. But as a 5 year old I hated my short hair. The social currency of the reception year was hair length. When the girls sat in a circle plaiting and brushing, I was told I could join in, but that no-one wanted to play with my hair as it was just too short. That, coupled with a preference for jeans meant I wasn’t a proper girl. At least not in the eyes of the long-hair-brigade.
Needless to say, I didn’t get picked to play Mary in the school nativity play; my boyish haircut betrayed me. The Angel Gabriel was my destiny. A good close second in my book. Words cannot describe my emotions that evening when my father gently explained to me that angels are neither boys nor girls. I blame this entire episode on my lack of confidence in wearing anything other than black or green to this day. Now Rebecca who played Mary, I bet she’s more than comfortable in pink.
Here’s a little Christmas hit to see you through until mid December when you might get invited to watch a 5 year old swing a Tiny Tears doll just that little too hard whilst wearing a blue dressing gown. You may recognise this cheesecake from the Bake Off. You may also be pleased to know I have changed the recipe to be less erm ‘claggy’ and rather more, well, light. This serves about 12, depending on hunger.
Ingredients:
For the base:
For the cheesecake:
Preheat the oven to Gas 2/150C. Make sure the rack is in the centre of the oven. Grease a springform tin (23cm) with soft butter. Boring bit over.
Pop your biscuits in a food processor and pulse until they’re more like sand and less like biscuits. Don’t worry about the odd lump, they’re only biscuits after all. Melt the butter in the microwave and then add the butter to the food processor and pulse until combined. About two whizzes in my machine. Press into the base of your tin and smooth down with the back of a spoon until level-ish. Bake in the oven for 10 minutes.
Put the dried fruit and brandy into a small saucepan and heat on a medium hob until the alcohol absorbs. Takes about 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and leave to cool.
Separate your eggs and put into two large, separate bowls, being careful not to get any yolk in the white (or it will affect the volume of the egg whites when you whisk them and thus the lightness of the cheesecake.) Then weigh out all the remaining cheesecake ingredients other than the decorations and pop into the large bowl with the yolks already in. Leave to one side.
Take your handheld electric mixer and whisk the egg whites to stiff peaks. This took about 3 minutes for me. Set to one side. Then using the same handheld electric mixer (no need to wash the beaters either if you make sure you whisk the whites first) beat together all the ingredients in the other bowl with the yolks and cheese etc in, for about 4 minutes. The consistency will be rather liquid. That’s fine and good. Now add the boozy dried fruit and mix through with a spoon.
Take the firmly whisked egg whites and fold into the creamy, boozy, cheesecake mixture with a metal spoon. You need to be reasonably firm handed in order to incorporate all the egg whites but light enough not to knock the air out. I think of it as slicing the whites in. The end consistency will be like a loose mousse.
Pour your cheesecake mixture into your tin where the biscuit base is already sitting. Bake for about 45 minutes, but please, watch your cheesecake like a hawk as if they overcook, they crack. All cookers are different and of course a different sized tin will need varying baking times. You need to turn the oven off when the cheesecake still has a slight wobble in the middle. I then leave my cheesecake to cool for an hour in the oven as I’ve found cooling the cheesecake too quickly can make for cracks too. But really, it’s up to you. And let’s be honest, nobody really cares about cracks in cheesecakes do they?
If you do go for the cool in the oven option, then after an hour remove from the oven and run a sharp knife around the outside of the cheesecake to release it from the tin slightly. Pop in the fridge to cool completely.
When you’re ready to eat it, release from the springform tin and put on a serving plate. I leave the base there for easy serving. Decorate with festive gold stars or gold leaf or tree shaped sprinkles.
Serve to Father Christmas and anyone who believes in him.
Holly Bell 