Sesame and Cardamom Ice-cream

More cardamom!

You do need an ice-cream maker for this recipe. We have a basic Philips one with freezable bowl.

The basic recipe I have used here comes from the Ben and Jerry recipe book and contains raw eggs. Usual advice applies re: avoiding serving this those whose immune systems might be weak such as the elderly, pregnant and small children.

Sesame snaps are thin bars of sesame brittle and can be found in the biscuit or gluten-free/health food section of the supermarket. I have seen similar products in the ethnic sections or larger stores too.

Ingredients (makes just under 1 litre)

3 medium eggs

3/4 cup caster sugar

2 cups double cream

1 cup milk

1/4 tsp ground cardamom

4 x 30g packs of sesame snaps broken into chunks (sesame brittle)

Method

Place the broken up sesame snaps in a bowl in the freezer.

Whisk the eggs and caster sugar together for a couple of minutes until they are pale and frothy. Blend in the cream, milk and cardamom.

Transfer the mixture to a waiting ice cream maker (following manufacturers instructions) making sure the cardamom doesn’t get left behind in the bowl.

Churn for 20- 40 mins until thickened. Add in the sesame pieces just before the end and allow to fold in.

Serve immediately or store in the freezer.

Baklava fruit and nut bars

These are raw bars made with dried fruit and nuts, similar to Nakd Bars available in UK supermarkets (or Lara bars in the US).  The lemon zest and cardamom combine with pistachios and tart apricots to give a lovely fresh taste.  Recipe from The Spontaneous Hausfrau.

Ingredients (makes 9)

3/4 cup + 2 Tbsp shelled unsalted pistachios (I used a whole 100g bag)

1 cup dried apricots (I used natural unsulphured apricots, these are drier than ready-to-eat varieties)

1/2 cup dates (whole pitted are better than ready chopped)

grated zest of 1/2 a lemon

2 teaspoons rosewater

1/4 tsp ground cardamom (I used the seeds from 5 pods, crushed)

pinch salt

Method

Place all the ingredients in a food processor and whizz noisily until they come together into a stiff dough.

Press into a silicon or lined tin using a spatula or wet hands. The recipe called for an 8 x 8 inch tin which I don’t have. I used the base of a 2lb silicon loaf pan.

Chill in the fridge for at least an hour before turning out and cutting into bars or petit four sized squares.

These keep for a week or so in the fridge. Individually wrapped they can be taken along as snacks for hungry children.

Brown sugar pecan blondies

The weather here today is foul. Cold, wet and windy. Just the weather for baking….

This recipe for blondies comes from Sue Lawrence’s Book of Baking. This book is a really good basic baking book with reliable recipes using easily obtained ingredients.

Blondies are basically brownies without the chocolate. In other words they are a cake slice with a high proportion of egg and sugar to flour resulting in a chewy, squidgy interior.

Ingredients (makes 16)

280g light brown sugar

115g butter (unsalted)

2 large eggs, beaten (I used 3 small eggs)

175g self raising flour

pinch salt

2 tsp vanilla extract

100g roughly chopped pecan nuts

Method

Preheat the oven to 180 deg C. I made this using a 9″ square silicon baking tin. If you use metal it will need to be greased and/or lined.

Melt the butter and sugar together in a microwavable bowl (about 2 minutes at full power), stir to blend.

Add the eggs and beat until smooth. Stir in the flour and salt, then add the vanilla and nuts.

Tip the mix into the prepared baking tin and bake for 20-25 minutes in the preheated oven. It will be ready when it it is just firm to touch and a skewer comes out with no wet batter on it.

Cool in the tin on a wire rack. After at least 30 mins, remove from the tin and slice into squares.

Sweet Chilli Popcorn

 

Apologies to anyone on a diet….

This popcorn variation is incredibly moreish. If you are a fan of sweet chilli flavours then this is for you. Thanks to Budget Bytes for the inspiration.

Ingredients

1 batch popped corn

100g sugar

30g butter

20ml water

pinch salt

1/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda

1 Tbsp sweet chilli sauce

 

Method

Preheat the oven to 160 deg C. Line a large baking sheet with oiled foil, parchment or silicon.

Prepare the popcorn and set aside in a large bowl.

In a small non-stick pan melt together the sugar, butter, water and salt. Allow to bubble away over a medium heat, swirling occasionally until it starts to turn a light golden brown (about 8 minutes). Take off the heat and quickly stir in the bicarb and sweet chilli sauce – it will foam up.

Pour the caramel over the popcorn in the bowl and stir to coat. You need to do this quickly before the caramel sets. Take care as the caramel will still be very hot.

Spread the popcorn over the baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes.

Allow to cool on the tray then break up any lumps before serving.

Tiddly Toads in Holes

I asked my kids what I should do with the sausages for tea and they were adamant that toad in the hole was the only possibility. So here it is:

Ingredients (serves 4)

12 chipolata sausages

sprig fresh rosemary

olive oil

125g plain flour

2 eggs

1/2 tsp salt

150ml water

150ml milk

Onion gravy, to serve (recipe to follow)

 

Method

Preheat the oven to 200 deg C.

I used two 6-cup silicon muffin trays for this but you could use a metal tin or bake in one large roasting tin. Place one sausage in each cup. Sprinkle with a couple of rosemary leaves and a drop or two of olive oil (more if using metal tin).

Cook the sausages for 15 minutes or until starting to brown.

In the meantime, make the batter. I usually use a blender for this but it can easily be made using a fork or balloon whisk and a large bowl. Combine the eggs, flour, salt, water and milk to make a thin batter.

Once the sausages are par-cooked quickly pour the batter over them dividing equally between the 12 cups. Bake for 15-20 minutes until puffed up.

Serve with onion gravy and a green vegetable.

Granola

Shop bought granolas can be very high in added sugars and fats. My homemade version is much lighter but still crunchy and flavourful.

This is another BudgetBytes recipe. The original contained cinnamon and pecan nuts but it can be easily adapted to use whatever nuts, seeds and spices you prefer.

I like this best served with cold milk but it is good sprinkled on yoghurt or just, by the handful, as a snack.

I have kept the original US cup measures as I find it is the most convenient way to measure this recipe. For the record my US measuring cup is 248ml. The 1/4 cup takes 60 ml.

Ingredients (makes 10 x 1/2 cup servings)

4 cups rolled porridge oats

1/4 cup milled linseed

1 cup nuts or seeds, roughly chopped if desired

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup oil (sunflower, vegetable or light olive)

1/4 liquid sweetener (honey, maple syrup, agave)

1 tsp ground spice (cinnamon, mixed spice or ginger)

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup dried fruit (raisins, sultanas, cranberries, apricots)

Method

Preheat the oven to 160 deg C. Line a large baking sheet or roasting tin with  parchment or silicon. In a large bowl combine the oats, linseed and nuts/seeds. Set aside.

In a small saucepan gently warm the sugar, oil, liquid sweetener and salt until the sugar is dissolved. Stir in the vanilla and ground spices.

Mix the wet ingredients into the dry, it will be slightly clumpy, and transfer into the baking pan. Bake for 30 minutes, stirring once.

Allow to cool then stir in the dried fruit and store in an airtight container.

Not Nutella

Who doesn’t love Nutella? Creamy, nutty, chocolatey….mmmm. But, take a closer look at the label and you will see that hazelnuts account for only 13% of the ingredients. The largest ingredient is, surprise surprise, sugar. The next is vegetable oil.

I have seen quite a few recipes for homemade Nutella on the internet. This one is adapted from Chocolate Covered Katie’s. I made half quantities as I only had a small supermarket bag of blanched hazelnuts.

Ingredients (makes about 200ml)

100g blanched hazelnuts, toasted

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1 Tbsp cocoa powder

1 heaped Tbsp icing sugar

pinch salt

1tsp vegetable oil

approx. 4 Tbsp milk

Method

Place all the ingredients except the milk into the bowl of a small food processor or blender (the more powerful the better).  Whizz for a couple of minutes until the nuts start to release their oil and clump together, scraping down the sides as needed.

Add the milk one tablespoon at a time until desired consistency is reached.

Keep refrigerated.

We ate this as a dip with green apple wedges. Other favourite uses for Nutella include spreading on toast or pancakes, and mixed into porridge.

Simple Squash Soup

This is my 6 year old’s favourite soup. It is really easy but does take a little longer than a stove top recipe.  This version is flavoured with thyme and garlic but dried chilli flakes or harissa are equally good.

Ingredients (Serves 4)

1 butternut squash, halved and seeds removed.

1 Tbsp olive oil

2 cloves garlic

1/2 tsp dried thyme (or 1 tsp fresh)

approx 1L of chicken or veg stock

Salt and pepper to taste

Method

Preheat the oven to 180 deg C.

Place the halved and deseeded squash on a baking sheet, skin side down. Place a garlic clove (unpeeled) in each cavity, sprinkle with thyme and drizzle with olive oil. Bake until squash is tender, 45 mins – 1 hour.

 

When the squash is cool enough to handle scoop the soft flesh out of the skins and place in the bowl of a food processor or blender. Squeeze the roasted garlic out of it’s papery skins and add this to the squash. Whizz the squash and garlic until pureed and add enough stock until desired soup consistency is achieved. I usually use up to a 1 litre of stock for a medium squash. Home made stock is lovely but a decent cube is fine.

Heat the soup to a simmer in a saucepan and season to taste.

Fame at Last!

My meringue recipe has been published in The Guardian!!

Here

Cardamom Polenta Cookies

I really like the flavour of cardamom in baked goods and sweeties. It really seems to intensify the buttery flavours. These cookies are quite strongly flavoured and you may prefer to reduce the amount of cardamom.

This recipe is adapted from one by Budget Bytes who in turn adapted it from a Martha Stewart recipe.

Ingredients (makes 22)

200g plain flour

75g fine quick cook polenta (I used Merchant Gourmet brand)

Seeds from 4 green cardamom pods, ground

Pinch sea salt

130g butter, softened

130g caster sugar

1 medium egg

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Method

Preheat the oven to 170 deg C. Line two large baking sheets with silicon or parchment.

In a medium bowl combine the flour, polenta and ground cardamom with a pinch of salt.

In a separate large bowl beat the softened butter with the caster sugar until light fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla and beat until well combined.

Gradually mix the dry ingredients into the wet and bring together to make a soft dough.

Take walnut sized pieces of dough and roll into balls. Space the balls out on the baking sheets and press down with a fork.

Bake for 18 minutes or until very slightly golden around the edges.  Cool on a wire rack.