Festive Rocky Road

Festive Rocky Road

Calories are essential.

You're on the home straight. The final push. You need to keep your energy (and spirits) up.

Whether you're partying hard, wrapping a mountain of presents, ferrying children from party to performance or staying up half the night, bleary-eyed, with gin in hand, trying to create a nativity costume (with the stars falling off as quickly as you can stick them on), you need sustenance. This is no time for self sacrifice.

These little morsels of rocky road are easy to eat. Too easy perhaps. Blink and you've demolished four. So make them, give half away as festive gifts (another job ticked off that mother of all lists) and let yourself loose on the rest.

And if you are worried about that calorie thing, then take the advice of Mum's work colleague: break a piece in half, shake out the calories and get eating.

Maraschino, Amaretto & Almond Rocky Road

Makes 64 bite-sized pieces

Ingredients

200g Green & Blacks 70% dark chocolate
100g Green & Blacks milk chocolate
100g good unsalted butter
3 tbsp condensed milk
pinch maldon salt
2 tbsp amaretto liqueur (optional)
zest 1 orange, finely grated
100g Luxardo maraschino cherries (drained weight)
50g blanched almonds, toasted and roughly chopped
150g amaretti biscuits

Method

Grease and line a 20cm square, loose-bottomed baking tin.

Break up the chocolate and put it into a large heat proof bowl with the butter. Place the bowl over a pan of simmering water (taking care to make sure that the bowl doesn't touch the water) and, stirring occasionally, leave the chocolate and butter to melt.

Whilst the chocolate is melting, blot the maraschino cherries on kitchen paper to remove most of the syrup and cut each one in half. Put the amaretti biscuits into a plastic sandwich bag and bash them a little with a rolling pin until they are roughly broken up.

Once the chocolate has melted, add the condensed milk, salt, amaretto liqueur (if using) and orange zest. Stir to combine.

Add the maraschino cherries, toasted almonds and amaretti biscuits. Stir until evenly coated in the chocolate. Transfer the mixture to the prepared tin, spread out to fill the tin and smooth the top with the back of a spoon as best you can.

Put the tin into the fridge for an hour, or until solid. Alternatively leave overnight. Then remove from the tin, discard the baking paper and carefully cut into small pieces. Dust with icing sugar.

Store in the fridge or a cool place.

Savoury Cake with Spiced Onions & Chickpeas

Savoury Cake with Spiced Onions & Chickpeas

Have I told you about Band of Bakers? If not, it's probably about time I did. It's my fourth baby (my first was a cat and the middle two are human). Founded by Gemma and I in 2012 out of a mutual love of cooking, baking, eating, talking and, well to be perfectly honest, drinking.

Band of Bakers is a bake club. A bit like a book club, but with a lot less reading and a lot more baking. And some sleepless nights. Sugar fuelled and stuffed to the gunnels it is virtually impossible to nod off until the early hours after an event. 

The itinerant Band of Bakers roves around our gorgeous little corner of SE London, hosted by generous local business owners The Palmerston, The Crooked Well and Brickhouse Bakery every couple of months. Each event is themed so you rarely taste the same bake twice. Except at our retro event when there were no less than THREE black forest gateaux. But, you know, cherries and kirsch.

For the last innovation-themed event before our summer break I baked this savoury cake. It's kind of a riff on a cornbread, but with warm spices and gorgeously fragrant curry leaves. I had a bag of yellow pea flour lurking in my cupboard, which is produced by Hodmedods, a Suffolk-based independent business sourcing and supplying British-grown pulses, grains and flours. A naturally gluten free flour, milled in Essex from British-grown split peas, it is high in protein and a great alternative to gram flour. The idea was for bakers to create a bake using ingredients or techniques they had never used before. So this was my contribution - a simple, delicious savoury cake. Great served with dal and raita or as a pre-dinner nibble with drinks. Leftovers make for a good picnic or lunchbox filler.

Savoury Cake with Spiced Onions & Chickpeas (gluten free)

Ingredients

For the cake:

150g course gluten free polenta 

75g fine ground yellow pea flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp ground turmeric

1/4 tsp garam masala 

250g whole milk yogurt

2 medium eggs

50g butter

For the topping:

2 tbsp groundnut oil
2 tsp black mustard seeds

large pinch gluten free asafoetida 

2 large onions, sliced 

10-12 fresh curry leaves

1/2 tsp ground turmeric

1 tsp Kashmiri chilli powder

1/2 tsp salt

freshly ground black pepper
2 tsp soft brown sugar

1-2 tsp tamarind paste
1/2 400g tin chickpeas, drained and rinsed

Method

In a large bowl, mix together the polenta, yellow pea flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, salt, turmeric and garam masala. In a separate bowl, beat the yogurt and eggs together then stir into the dry ingredients and mix to form a smooth batter. Put to one side whilst you make the topping.

Pre-heat the oven to 220C.

Put a heavy based frying pan over a medium heat. Add the oil. When the oil is hot, add the black mustard seeds and asafoetida. Wait for the mustard seeds to begin to pop (about a minute) then add the onions and fry for around 10 minutes, until they have softened and golden. Add the fresh curry leaves, ground turmeric, chilli powder, salt, black pepper and brown sugar and stir to coat the onions. Finally, add the tamarind paste and chickpeas and stir to combine.

Put the butter in a 20cm x 30cm rectangular roasting tin and put it into the oven until the butter has melted and the tin is piping hot. Pour the batter into the tin and quickly put the onion and chickpea mixture over the top (I find that the easiest way to do this is with your fingers). 

Put the roasting tin back into the oven and cook for about 10 mins, until golden brown.

Serve hot or cold.

Fig Frangipane Cake

Drop whatever you're doing and go and buy some figs. Quick. It's time to make the most of them before their season is done and dusted. You'll need the ripest, juiciest figs you can lay your hands on. And, if you're anything like me. you should probably buy more than you think you'll need as they have a habit of disappearing.

Sat atop creamy Greek yogurt with a sprinkling of granola for breakfast. Roasted with blue cheese and drizzled with honey and sherry vinegar for lunch. Baked in a tart with goat's cheese and thyme for tea. Eaten straight from the fruit bowl.

This little tart-cake hybrid came about last week when Milli Taylor posted something similar on her (frankly drool-worthy) instagram feed. One trip to the Magic Shop later and, with figs and ground almonds in hand, I set about baking, just in time for Great British Bake Off viewing. Well, because, as everyone knows, it is impossible to watch Bake Off without, at the very least, a massive slice of cake to hand. Since then, I've baked it for Band of Bakers, a visit from my mother in law and most recently for a friend who has just had a baby. She'll be needing all the cake she can get to see her through those long sleepless nights. 

It's kind of a fig frangipane tart which lost it's crust along the way. The flour means it is a little more cake like than my usual frangipane, but it does need to be substantial enough to make it from plate to mouth without it's pastry scaffolding. Sort of.

Ingredients

150g unsalted butter
150g golden caster sugar
2 medium eggs
1 tbsp amaretto
finely grated zest of 1 orange
100g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
150g ground almonds
2 ripe figs
1 tbsp apricot jam

Method

Preheat the oven to 190C (170C fan). 

Grease a 23cm round deep fluted loose bottomed tart tin with a little unsalted butter.

Using a stand mixer or electric beaters, beat the butter and caster sugar until pale and fluffy (this can easily take 5 minutes or longer, depending on your mixer).

Beat the eggs together with the orange zest and amaretto, then add this to the butter and sugar mixture a little at a time and continue mixing until incorporated. Don't worry if the batter looks a little like it has curdled, it will come together when you add the flour.

Sift the flour and baking powder and add to the batter along with the ground almonds. Mix until just combined.

Put the batter into the prepared tin and smooth the top.

Cut each fig into eight equal pieces and arrange them on top of the batter, pushing them in lightly without submerging them in the batter.

Bake for 25 minutes or until light brown on top and a skewer comes out with only a few moist crumbs.

Whilst the tart is cooling, heat the apricot jam and sieve to remove any large pieces of fruit. Stir 1 tsp boiling water into the sieved jam and, using a pastry brush, brush all over the top of the tart.

I think it tastes pretty good still slightly warm, served with a good dollop of clotted cream.

Plum & Cobnut Tart

There was a lot of baking going on in our house last weekend.  I was recipe testing choux pastry for a chocolate & salted caramel Paris-Brest. But even with a litre of chocolate custard in the fridge and a tin full of choux buns, all I wanted to eat was something else. A more homely bake. Fine patisserie is all well and good (and it has its place - it was the only thing I craved during my last pregnancy when I went on the hunt for the best mille-feuille I could find in London...) but there are times when I much prefer a simple, home baked tart.

This one is autumn in tart form. Plums. Cobnuts. Perhaps served with a big spoonful of clotted cream.

I can't quite believe that I had never tasted, let alone cooked with, a cobnut until a couple of weeks ago. All those years missing out on what is a very tasty nut. Still, I'm on the case now (just as the season starts to draw to a close...).  

Ingredients

For the pastry:

125g plain flour
25g icing sugar
75g unsalted butter
pinch of salt
1 egg yolk
5ml cold water

For the frangipan:

100g fresh cobnuts, shelled weight
25g ground almonds
125g unsalted butter
125g golden caster sugar
1 tbsp plain flour
2 eggs

For the plums:

300g sweet plums
2 tbsp golden caster sugar

Method

Preheat the oven to 200C (180C fan) and prepare a 23cm deep fluted tart tin.

Start by making the pastry.  Mix together the flour, sugar, butter and salt until it looks like breadcrumbs.  Whisk the egg yolk and cold water together and then add to the flour mixture to bring it together to form a ball of pastry.  Handle as little as possible.  Shape into patty, wrap in cling film and put it in the fridge for at least half an hour.  (I usually make a double quantity of pastry and then put half in the freezer for next time).

Roll out the pastry and line the tart tin.  Prick the base of the pastry with a fork all over and put it back in the fridge for at least 10 minutes to chill.

Line the pastry case with baking parchment and baking beans and blind bake it for 15 minutes.  Remove the parchment and beans and bake for a further 6 or 7 minutes until the pastry has just begun to turn golden brown.

Reduce the temperature of the oven to 180C.

Whilst the pastry is cooking, prepare the plums and the frangipan.

For the plums, halve them all and remove the stones.  Sprinkle 1/2 tbsp golden caster sugar over the cut sides of 14 plum halves and put them to one side.  Put the remaining plums and 1 and 1/2 tbsp golden caster sugar in a small pan and cook over a medium heat until the plums have broken down to look like a chunky jam.  Remove from the heat and leave to cool, then remove the skins.

To make the frangipan, roast the shelled cobnuts for around 10 minutes.  Put them into a food processor and roughly grind.  Add the ground almonds, golden caster sugar, unsalted butter, plain flour and eggs to the food processor and mix to form a smooth paste.

Spread the plum 'jam' over the base of the pastry case, then spread the frangipan mixture over the top, taking care to cover all of the plum jam.  Gently press the plum halves into the frangipan cut side up.

Bake for approximately 20 minutes, until the frangipan is a light golden colour and cooked through.

Pistachio, Raspberry & Rose Bundt - A Wedding Present

Once upon a time, there were two girls who lived in South East London and who both loved baking.  Over a glass or three of wine they plotted and planned and decided to share their passion for all things baked.  With more than a small dose of trepidation they organised the inaugural gathering of the Band of Bakers - a bake club for South East London - and have never looked back.

Sometime later, one of the girls married the man of her dreams.  The other girl, not content with just buying a wedding gift, decided to create a cake to mark this special, romantic occasion.  A beautiful cake which could be baked again and again as they all lived happily ever after.

For Gemma & Ollie Thomas.

Ingredients

For the cake:

150g unsalted butter, softened

200g golden caster sugar

3 medium eggs

120g plain full fat yogurt (unsweetened)

2 tsp rose water 

150g good quality shelled pistachios, roughly ground 

225g plain flour

2 tsp baking powder

125g fresh raspberries

For the icing and decoration:

2 tbsp rose water

125g icing sugar, sifted

pistachios, roughly chopped

edible dried rose petals

Method

Preheat the oven to 180C.

Prepare a small bundt tin - grease with butter and then coat with a little flour.

Beat the unsalted butter and caster sugar until pale and fluffy.  This will take about 5 minutes in a stand mixer or with an electric whisk.

In a separate bowl beat together the eggs, plain yogurt and rose water.  Add to the butter and sugar mixture and beat until combined.  

Sift the plain flour and baking powder into the mixture and mix until just combined, then gently fold in the pistachios.

Put half of the cake batter into the bunt tin, then push half of the raspberries gently and evenly into the batter. Add the remaining cake batter and repeat the same process with the rest of the raspberries.  Smooth the top of the batter with the back of spoon until all of the raspberries are covered.

Bake in the middle of the oven for 50-55 minutes until golden and risen.  Test with a cake tester - it should come out clean or with just a few moist crumbs, but not wet batter.

Leave the cake to cool in the tin for at least an hour, then turn out onto a cooling rack.  If you try to turn it out too soon, the cake could split.

Whilst the cake is cooling prepare the icing by mixing the rosewater and icing sugar together.  Once the cake has cooled decorate with the icing, chopped pistachios and rose petals.

*A little note about the ingredients for this cake: it will taste so much better if you use really good pistachios and rose water.  I buy both of mine from Persepolis in Peckham.  If you aren't lucky enough to live nearby like me, you can order online.