Afters: I thought of doing trusty glamorous fairy cakes with a chocolate topping, and while searching for ganache I found this. So I made two-tone cupcakes with the cake mixes, topped with ganache and a cherry. Based on experience I would modify the recipe a bit as follows:
1) use the traditional mixing method of creaming butter/sugar, mixing in the eggs and milk until smooth, then combining the flour, before proceeding to split the mixture and add the chocolate.
2) do not melt white chocolate in the microwave! Use better quality (Green & Black's?) and melt gently over simmering water.
3) use a lighter chocolate for the ganache, e.g. Green & Black's "darker" milk chocolate, or something else with less than 70% cocoa.
To make the two-tone cupcakes I just dolloped a good spoonful of each mixture into a muffin case, in a tin. One on top of the other, side by side, however it goes. You could marble it with a spoon too. Baking was definitely on the longer side, 25 mins. Lower and slower might help stop them sinking too.
Monday 20 July 2009
Sunday 19 July 2009
Barbecue with friends
My contribution to mains: a roasted vegetable salad.
I started with this and made a few changes. OK, a lot of changes! Final recipe was:
2 medium-large butternut squashes, peeled, deseeded, cubed (1-1.5cm)
1 red onion, roughly chopped
3 long sweet red peppers, deseeded and roughly chopped
2 handfuls rocket
8 rashers streaky bacon
1 pack stilton
5 tbsp olive oil
3 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp dark soy sauce
1-2 tbsp sweet chilli sauce
Coat the chopped squash in oil and roast slowly (about 1hr at 150-170C) until soft, sweet but not too charred.
Roast the pepper and onion alongside for the last 20-30 mins.
Tip into a bowl with the combined dressing ingredients and leave to absorb while the veg cools.
Grill the bacon until crispy, and cut into strips.
Chop/crumble the stilton.
Add the stilton and bacon and rocket to the dressed vegetables, and toss gently. If you are serving this to vegetarians, just put the bacon (and cheese, if non-vegetarian) in separate bowls for people to add.
I started with this and made a few changes. OK, a lot of changes! Final recipe was:
2 medium-large butternut squashes, peeled, deseeded, cubed (1-1.5cm)
1 red onion, roughly chopped
3 long sweet red peppers, deseeded and roughly chopped
2 handfuls rocket
8 rashers streaky bacon
1 pack stilton
5 tbsp olive oil
3 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp dark soy sauce
1-2 tbsp sweet chilli sauce
Coat the chopped squash in oil and roast slowly (about 1hr at 150-170C) until soft, sweet but not too charred.
Roast the pepper and onion alongside for the last 20-30 mins.
Tip into a bowl with the combined dressing ingredients and leave to absorb while the veg cools.
Grill the bacon until crispy, and cut into strips.
Chop/crumble the stilton.
Add the stilton and bacon and rocket to the dressed vegetables, and toss gently. If you are serving this to vegetarians, just put the bacon (and cheese, if non-vegetarian) in separate bowls for people to add.
Why not?
I can never remember what I cooked when and how I tweaked the recipe. This will help!
Not many photos so far, but will try and remedy that as I go.
Not many photos so far, but will try and remedy that as I go.
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