Chocolate peanut butter macarons

Ingredients:

Italian meringue

200g caster sugar

75ml water

80g egg whites (3-4 eggs)

Paste

100g ground blanched almonds

100g ground blanched unsalted peanuts

200g icing sugar

80g egg whites (3-4 eggs)

Filling

125g double or whipping cream

175g dark chocolate chips

2 tablespoons peanut butter

These macarons use the Italian meringue or "cooked sugar" method. You will need a sugar thermometer or else a knack for catching sugar at the soft ball stage. Macarons usually only contain almonds but I've used half peanuts and half almonds - the peanuts add flavour and the almonds ensure the mix is sufficiently dry to form the macarons. If you're grinding the nuts yourself, be careful not to over-grind them or the nuts will become too oily to form a crisp macaron shell.

Method:

Start by making the Italian meringue mixture. Heat the water and sugar to 114 degrees C as quickly as possible without stirring. While this boils, gently beat the egg whites to soft peak. As the syrup reaches 114 degrees C, increase the speed of the mixer and pour the syrup in a thin stream down the side of the bowl into the beaten egg whites. Continue beating for 5 to 10 minutes while the mixture cools

Working quickly, make the paste: mix the icing sugar and ground nuts together, then stir in the unbeaten egg whites. Using a spatula, fold in one third of the meringue mixture, then add in the rest, taking care not to overmix.

Line several baking trays with parchment (you can use a little of the mixture to stick the parchment to the tray). Put a number 1A plain round nozzle in a piping bag and pipe out small round mounds onto the parchment. Tap the bottom of the trays lightly on the counter and leave the macarons to rest at room temperature for about half an hour. They will form a thin crust so that when you lightly run a finger over them, no batter sticks to you.

Bit ashamed of my piping nipples

Heat the oven to 150 degrees C and bake the macarons for 14 minutes. As soon you take the cooked macarons out of the oven, slide the parchment on to a cold counter top to "shock" them and ensure they come cleanly off the parchment.

Be prepared to have a few disasters - for me the macarons at the bottom of the oven often come out a hollow sticky mess. 

With any luck most will have a nice smooth bottom

While these cool, make the filling by bringing the double cream to boiling point. Remove the pan from the heat, add the chocolate and allow to sit for a couple of minutes, then beat into a smooth glossy ganache. Then add the peanut butter. Once the filling has cooled, use it to sandwich together the macarons.

And the failed macarons? Well you've got a load of egg yolks hanging about so why not make some ice cream and break the macarons on top?

Chocolate peanut butter ice cream with peanut macarons

Banana cake with peanut butter frosting

For this week's Clandestine Cake Club I made a banana cake with peanut butter cream cheese frosting, which went down a treat.

Here's the recipe:

Ingredients:

450g unsalted butter
450g light brown sugar
9 eggs
450g self raising flour
2.5 teaspoons mixed spice
4 overripe mashed bananas

For the frosting:

150g full fat cream cheese
150g smooth peanut butter
200g icing sugar, plus a little more for dusting

3 tablespoons of caramel sauce (optional)
handful of chopped peanuts (optional)

This recipe makes a very substantial cake - you can reduce the height of it by making less sponge:

325g unsalted butter

325g light brown sugar

6 eggs

325g self raising flour

1.5 teaspoons mixed spice

3 overripe mashed bananas

Use the same amount of frosting as you're covering the same surface area. Besides, it's so tasty you won't want to skimp on it


Method:

Grease and line three x 8 inch round tins and preheat your oven to 160 degrees C/Gas Mark 3

Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy, then add the eggs one by one

Sift the flour and mixed spice together, then gently fold this into the mix. Lastly, add in the mashed banana

Divide the mixture equally between the three tins and smooth with the back of a spoon
Bake for about 40 minutes (about 30 minutes if you're using the smaller amount of sponge) until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cakes comes out clean.

While the cakes are cooling, make the frosting by beating together the cream cheese and the peanut butter until light and fluffy, then add gradually add the icing sugar.

Spread the top of two cakes with the frosting, the caramel sauce (if using) and a scattering of chopped peanuts (if using). Stack the cakes and dust the top and sides with icing sugar. You can decorate the top by piping on leftover frosting and adding the last of the chopped peanuts.

Enjoy!


Note to cake decorators: this sponge is firm enough to level, cut and ice - just substitute the cream cheese for a butter icing or ganache that doesn't need to be refrigerated.

James Morton - Brilliant Bread

If one of your summer highlights is watching the BBC's Great British Bake Off, you'll remember James Morton from the 2012 final - that nice young medical student from the Shetlands with a penchant for Fair Isle knitwear. 

Following the success of a talk on baking during the Edinburgh Fringe, James was invited to do a Christmas show at The Stand comedy clubs in Edinburgh and Glasgow. Newcastle also boasts its own The Stand, but sadly he wasn't crossing the border.

Undeterred, Newcastle Cake Club ladies did a five hour round trip to see him bake a stollen. Last time I was at The Stand in Glasgow it was to see Daniel Kitson, who shares James' love of knitwear but was no help whatsoever when it came to bread.

James talked the audience (about 98% female) through baking a Christmas stollen and shared his love of baking bread. While there is a whole science to baking, which he clearly understands, he completely demystified baking. He argued that home baking is simple and far better for you than supermarket bread, squishing a loaf of cheap white bread in his hand to prove his point that it is basically raw. As someone living on a student budget, he eschewed expensive equipment ("Don't buy a baking stone, just get a loose paving slab or roof tile and give it a wash"). 

We bought his book Brilliant Bread, took a little  bit of his sourdough starter, had our photo taken and made him promise to come to Newcastle next time.

Unsurprisingly for someone who runs a cake-making business, I bake a lot of cake. But I rarely bake bread. It was time to getting cracking with my new recipe book.

I like to read magazines and books starting at the back, meaning I skip the adverts and know who dunnit straightaway. So I started near the end and the first thing I baked was Peanut Butter Brioche Twists.

But James was waiting for me on page 117: "back to the start you chancer" and I scuttled off to the beginning to make soft white rolls

Meanwhile, I'd been feeding the sourdough starter we'd been given in Glasgow and, like me, it was ready for his favourite chapter: Sours. I've tried making sourdoughs in the past and given up. To be honest I was slightly scared of the starter growing in my kitchen every day, sometimes bursting out of its container and shouting FEED ME SEYMOUR. James' book has changed this: for a start, I've realised that you're meant to keep throwing away some sourdough and that you can keep it in the fridge if you're not baking every day.

An ideal gift

Advanced white bread

Marmite bread. Delicious, especially as cheese on toast 

Staple white sourdough

India Pale Ale and Cardamom Loaf

Seeded sour (yes that is a normal amount of butter)

Proving bread in the fridge overnight has been a revelation for me, as has baking in a cast iron pot. I admit that I can't always get a good shape on a sourdough but the pot helps to support it - baking with the lid on creates steam to help it rise, then taking the lid off during baking helps caramelise the crust.

One excuse I've used for not making my own bread is that I can't eat a whole loaf on my own but this sourdough bread keeps so well that I can easily eat a loaf without it going stale, plus it's so delicious that I want to eat it all straightaway anyway. I've also found that friends are more than happy to accept half a loaf. I bought a supermarket "artisan" sourdough loaf last week and was shocked at how bad it was - no taste, no crumb and it went dry very quickly. It also went in the bin very quickly.

One sourdough that defeated me was the real pannetone, billed as one of the hardest breads there is. After two days' effort, it ended up on the flour and I thought perhaps my sourdough hadn't been active enough

On my second attempt I waited until the sourdough was fizzing like an EDL supporter with a parking ticket, but found the dough was more like batter and it didn't achieve any height at all. If anyone has any advice, please let me know - I've already tried the "consoling myself that I don't even like panettone that much while putting it in the bin" method.

No 'magnificent height' here

I had more success with focaccia bread, challah and stollen.

Wasn't sure I'd manage to eat all this on my own but the olive oil kept the bread moist for days

Four strand challah

Chocolate stollen. It didn't make it to Christmas so I had to bake a second one

Han and I also had a lot of fun deep frying some doughnuts she made and then filling them with jam. The pleasure of eating a fresh, warm doughnut comes a close second to winning Euromillions.

Years of medical training have gone into this injection

James Morton's book is written with warmth, humour and an eye on economy  - no fancy brioche moulds for him ("if you're buying these you've got too much cash to burn") and some tips on making do - I'm pleased with my razor on a stick for scoring the bread instead of a fancy lame,

though after a few weeks of baking I decided to invest in a nice wicker banneton so I could get that swirly pattern on the crust

The recipes have clearly been tested and do work (the blame for the panettone lies squarely with me). It encourages bakers to try their own flavours and offers good sensible advice on the practicalities of home baking, particularly on a budget. Brilliant Bread is already a firm favourite and I recommend it to anyone who wants to start baking at home. Thanks, James, come to Newcastle next time!

Afghan Biscuits

Months ago I bought a biscuit at a coffee shop in London. I took its photo & tweeted it, an act that as any woman can tell you, immediately nullifies all calories and is the only reason for doing it.

It's called an Afghan biscuit, traditional in New Zealand and popularised by the influential Noel Edmonds Cookery Book. Nobody knows why they are called Afghan biscuits or why Noel hasn't published his book in the UK. It contains no raising agent and not much sugar, giving it a soft dense texture, just on the right side of seeming slightly stale like a Tunnock's caramel wafer or a Twirl chocolate bar.

Yesterday out of nowhere I craved the same biscuit, googled the recipe & baked some. 

Here is the recipe:

makes 6 large biscuits or 12 small ones

For the biscuits:
200g softened unsalted butter (or dairy free margarine if you want a vegan version)
75g caster sugar
175g plain flour
25g cocoa powder
50g cornflakes

For the topping: 
60g double cream (or coconut milk if you want a vegan version)
120g dark chocolate
walnuts

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C and grease an oven tray
Cream the butter and sugar, then add the flour and cocoa.
Add the cornflakes & try not to crush them too much
Place spoonfuls of the mix on the oven try and bake for about 15 minutes
Leave to cool

To make the topping, bring the cream to boiling point, them remove from heat.
Add the chocolate and stir.
Spoon some chocolate mix into each biscuit and place a whole walnut on top.

Enjoy!

Edinburgh Cake Awards 2013

Edinburgh Cake Award – Best Newcomer: Lovecrumbs, 155 West Port

A double act established in 2012 by two young women, the panel* was impressed by Lovecrumbs’ range, originality and focus on sugar. 

Coconut cake; violet & passionfruit cake

The cakes are fresh and delicious and they live in a wardrobe. The tea is high quality and the offer of a thermos of boiling top up water a welcome touch. The whole place made the panel want to up sticks and move to Edinburgh.

Edinburgh Cake Award – Best Cake: Scottish Storytelling Centre, 43 High Street

A well established venue incorporating the15^th century John Knox House, the cafe produces excellent new material, like this gluten free plum and cinnamon cake the panel ate.

The friendly staff also mentioned the hidden garden behind the Scottish Storytelling Centre, a quiet haven right off the Royal Mile.

The ‘star’ status of Mimi’s Bakehouse in Leith makes it ineligible for this prize but special mention goes to its newly opened takeaway at 250 Canongate. The panel doesn’t really like cupcakes but was impressed with its combination of Luca’s ice cream with Mimi’s cake. So impressed that the panel scoffed it before taking a photo.

Edinburgh Cake Award – Panel Prize: The Square, North St Andrew Street

A word-of-mouth hit, The Square does a great carrot cake and fantastic peanut butter brownies. It provides a perfect sugar hit if you’re hovering about waiting for the next show at The Stand.

Thanks to Edinburgh cake reviewer Cake Quest Edinburgh whose top picks also include two of last year’s winners, Falko and The Chocolate Tree in Morningside.

The panel burned off cake calories by simply spending all day running from one venue to another. These are all the acts seen in the last two weeks – special mention goes to everyone who used confectionery in their act:

Alternative Comedy Memorial Society (Cadbury’s Roses; may vary according to bill); Beta Males; Birthday Girls (mini Chupa Chups); BLAM!; Bridget Christie; Do the Right Thing Podcast; Each of Us; Gravity Boots; Hannah Gadsby; Jigsaw; Johnny Vegas; Liam Williams; Lucy Porter; Markus Birdman; Michael Legge; Multi-Levelled Morons (Twix); Paul Currie (cornflakes & milk – DON’T sit at the front); Pajama Men; Phil Ellis; Richard Gadd (large sponge cake used to horrific effect); Red Bastard; Richard Herring Edinburgh Fringe Podcast (small bag of Haribo); Sally Ann Hayward; Sarah Millican; Seymour Mace (marshmallows); Simon Munnery; Susan Calman; Tony Law; Vladimir McTavish & Keir McAllister; Zoe Lyons

*it’s just me

Who's Ready for Ice Cream?

A few years ago I was given an ice cream machine for Christmas. It sat largely dormant in a kitchen cupboard then unexpectedly sprang into action this summer, like an evil robot that eats nothing but custard.

 

Thanks Wayne!

A willing lackey, I cast about the internet for recipes and have listed my favourites here. My frosty overlord is a Magimix Gelato Chef 2200 and I recommend it – it soft freezes ice cream in 20 minutes and sorbet in 40 minutes. If you’ve neither the money nor the cupboard space for an ice cream machine, you can just put the mix in a Tupperware box in the freezer and stir it every couple of hours.

There are lots of variations on a traditional custard base for an ice cream. I’ve found that the following works well:

4 egg yolks, 100g caster sugar, 300ml full fat milk, 300ml double cream

• Slowly heat the milk to boiling point in a small saucepan and beat the egg yolks and sugar.
• While still beating, pour the milk into the egg mixture. Return the mixture to the pan and stir constantly until the custard thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon.

• Don’t let it boil or the mixture will separate (if this happens and it starts to look like scrambled eggs, press it through a sieve).
• Once the mixture has cooled, stir in the cream and flavouring, then freeze in the ice cream maker. When the mixture starts to solidify, transfer it to a plastic container. Now is the time to add any pieces like chopped nuts or chocolate chips. Put it in the freezer to firm completely.  

This base works well for any number of flavourings. Add about 2 teaspoons of a good quality extract – I’ve made vanilla, violet, rose and liquorice ice creams. 

Violet ice cream with chocolate chips. See previous blog for this obsession

It also works well with about 4 tablespoons of crunchy peanut butter and a handful of crushed peanuts, or my new favourite confectionery, Speculoos. If you'd like chocolate ice cream, sift 2 or 3 tablespoons of cocoa powder into the sugar, or for a richer version allow 200g dark chocolate chips to melt into the custard while it is still hot. You can stir in peanut butter too and you won't be sorry (unless you hate peanuts).

The above recipe is also a good base for adding a nut paste. I got these 100% nut pastes from Why Nut and they’re well worth the price, making a delicious ice cream. 

I read about them in a lovely blog called The Little Loaf – its author has a good recipe for pistachio choc ices here; I also made her delicious treacle tart ice cream (she’s right- if you leave the ice cream for a couple of days the pieces of treacle tart go chewy).

I particularly recommend the pistachio paste for its taste and beautiful colour. The amount needed varies according to taste – I used 100g of the hazelnut and pistachio pastes in the quantity of custard mentioned above, but only 50g of the almond paste. You need to mix in the paste thoroughly before churning in the ice cream machine,

Once the ice cream is soft frozen, you can add a handful of crushed pistachios, almonds or hazelnuts with some chocolate chips. Or if the fat content is still not high enough for you, you could make some almond roca (recipe here), break it into small pieces and add that to the almond ice cream. I also did the same with hazelnuts for the hazelnut ice cream. Both were so delicious I wondered why nobody will marry me (I know, I know, it's my personality).

 

Almond roca ice cream

If you’d like to get one of your five a day through the medium of ice cream, I like these recipes for banana ice cream (quick, easy, and surprisingly delicious, even if my nephew did spit it out); strawberry ice cream (I recommend halving the quantities) and – oh Delia, you know a trick or two – rhubarb crumble ice cream. I also found a good recipe for plum ice cream in a friend’s extensive collection of Olive magazines; as it’s old school hard copy I’ve had to type it with my fingers:

350g ripe plums, stoned and quartered

100g soft light brown sugar

3 egg yolks

100g icing sugar

200ml double cream

• Put the plums in a pan with the light brown sugar and 225ml water. Bring to the boil, cover and simmer for 10 minutes until the plums are tender. Blend and press the stewed fruit through a sieve. Allow to cool.
• Put the egg yolks and icing sugar in a bowl over gently simmering water. Whisk until the mixture is just warmed through. Take the bowl of the heat and whisk some more. Chill.
• Whip the cream until it just holds its shape. Whisk in the plum puree and egg mixture, then churn in an ice cream maker 

There was also a good recipe for double honey ice cream:

225g runny honey

600ml double cream

250ml full fat milk

6 egg yolks

Honeycomb:

125g golden caster sugar

1 tbsp runny honey

¼ tsp bicarbonate of soda

• Warm the honey in a small pan over a low heat. In another pan, heat the cream and milk to just below boiling point.
• Whisk the eggs yolks in a bowl, then pour the hot cream and milk over the eggs, whisking constantly. Return the mixture to the pan and stir over a low heat until the custard thickens.
• Add the warmed honey; cool and churn in the ice cream machine.
• To make the honeycomb, put the caster sugar and honey in a pan with 5 tbsp water. Bring slowly to the boil and continue to boil steadily until the caramel becomes honey coloured. Add the bicarbonate of soda, quickly swirl the pan to mix and pour onto a greased baking tray.
• Once the honeycomb is cold and brittle, break it into small pieces and mix through the ice cream while it is soft-frozen.  

Mini choc ices

Another top tip from Delia Smith - make little scoops of ice cream with a melon baller, stick cocktail sticks in them , refreeze then dip in chocolate. Delia says they're 'ideal for dinner parties' so I ate all nine chatting with my imaginary friends about house prices.

 

Peanut butter ice cream dipped in milk chocolate with crushed peanuts

These have a high chocolate to ice cream ratio that can overpower the flavour of the ice cream, though the honey-flavoured chocolate on double honey ice cream with a piece of honeycomb on top helped combat this issue.

Using white chocolate also helps as it doesn't overpower the flavour of the ice cream.

Pistachio and strawberry. Thanks to Hanna Miettinen for the photo

Raspberry mini choc ices for an engagement party (not mine, fellas, don't panic)

For a healthier option (note that I’ve listed far fewer of these options) you can make a frozen yoghurt – this lemon curd frozen yoghurt was like a citrusy smack in the chops. You could also make a sorbet with just about any fruit. I made this raspberry sorbet which went down a treat; I also tried these alcoholic sorbets and, while I’m not a big fan of alcohol in puddings, enjoyed both the gin & tonic sorbet and the Pimms sorbet. Remember to follow the recipe when adding alcohol – too much and it won’t freeze, just like that bottle of vodka you’ve got hidden inside a bag of peas.

Some sorbet recipes add egg white but as I wanted these to be vegan I left it out and it worked fine. The addition of egg white (or even gelatine) helps to stop crystals forming after a couple of days, but I find eating all the sorbet within the space of a couple of days is equally effective

Once you have made all the ice creams

Yes, ALL of them

make sure there are lots of biscuits, cake, sprinkles, fruit and sauce. In the north east we call red sauce for ice cream 'monkey blood', but be careful of using this phrase outside the area. Now invite some friends around for an ice cream party.

With any luck there will be some leftover fruit the next day and you won’t be able to think of anything else to do with it apart from make more ice cream. Here is a good recipe for blueberry, coconut and lime ice cream and another for blackberry ice cream.

You are now trapped in a loop of making ice cream. This was the machine's plan all along.  It just has to figure out what to do with 50 leftover egg whites.

Top tips:

If you're putting ice cream in a tupperware box, make sure it doesn't still smell of last week's chilli or else the ice cream will absorb the flavour. Wipe the insides of the container with white alcohol such as vodka to remove any residue.

Speaking of containers: if you make a lot of ice cream and give it away, you'll probably be kissing goodbye to a lot of expensive tupperware. I found these containers in Poundland that hold half a litre. Eight for a quid. I can happily kiss goodbye to those.

Lastly, a lot of recipes tell you to boil fruit then chill it in the fridge. Rather than put it in the fridge while still hot, cool it first in a sink full of cold water. Just watch the tap.....

<<<YES!                           NO!>>>>

Post script. It's winter now and the ice cream machine has more or less gone into hibernation. There are, however, two winter flavours that are worth mentioning. Firstly, treacle toffee ice cream, inspired by a trip to The Feathers Inn in Hedley On the Hill. Simply make some treacle toffee (recipe here), break half of it into small pieces and melt it into the milk when making a traditional custard base. You can hide the leftover pieces of toffee in the bottom, like the bubblegum in a Two Ball Screwball only even better.

There is Christmas pudding ice cream (recipe here) that I've made for my family next week, claiming it's a "light alternative". I won't mention there's 600 ml of double cream in there...

And gingerbread ice cream, a recipe that took some working on to get the level of spices right. I find this works:

300 ml whipping cream
300 ml whole milk
3 inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled and roughly chopped
3 cinnamon sticks
1 tablespoon ground ginger
4 whole cloves
pinch nutmeg
pinch salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 egg yolks
50g light brown sugar
30g black treacle
50g golden syrup

Put the milk, cream, salt and all the spices in a pan. Bring to the boil, simmer for 5 minutes, then remove from the heat to let the flavours infuse for an hour. Strain the mixture to remove the spices and stir in the vanilla extract.

Whisk the egg yolks, sugar, syrup and treacle, reheat the cream mixture and add little by little. Return the mixture to the pan and stir until it thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon. Cool, then churn in an ice cream maker.