Chocolate Financiers

This week sees my little boy go on his first residential course with school. He's eight and so, so excited. Midnight feasts, fun activities, outdoor pursuits, sleepovers, disco dancing. He can't wait; I just know I'm going to be in pieces! So I'm over-compensating and spoiling my boys with some yummy goodies for the next few days. Cue these delicious Chocolate Financiers.

I love patisserie. It makes me think of Paris and the counters of stunning old-fashioned patisseries over-brimming with pastries, tarts, custard, cream, fruit. So many amazing delicacies to sample but the word patisserie when it comes to home-baking can be quite scary. You imagine huge complicated recipes with lots of stages and the truth is that it can be like that. But there are other more simple bakes that are much more manageable and don't need huge reams of fancy equipment or two days to prepare. The most important thing you need to do is follow the ratios of the ingredients and measure them accurately. If you do that, you too can create their delicious delicacies.

These Chocolate Financiers are incredible. Traditionally they would be little rectangles (like little loafs) but I don't have that tin and am already packed to the rafters with baking equipment and different types of tins. So I used my Friand tin where the shapes are little ovals - but you could also make these in cupcake tins or whatever you have to hand. Just be sure to adjust the baking times accordingly if your individual Financiers are a lot larger or smaller than mine.

I wanted to make chocolate financiers since my boys love chocolate and this is a special treat for them, after all. I would usually have put pistachios into the cake batter but my boys aren't fond of nuts in the cake itself so I held back and sprinkled them over the top and this way they can removed later! What I did do, was add a few chocolate chips onto the top of the batter before popping them in the oven and they melted deliciously. 

So the first thing we do is preheat the oven and grease the cavities of your chosen tin well.  Then melt the butter and vanilla in a saucepan over a medium heat until melted. Keep the butter over a medium heat until it turns brown (around 5 minutes), being careful not to let it burn. This makes a buerre noisette and when making blonde financiers (ie not chocolate ones) this gives them their golden colour. Once brown, the chocolate is added and stirred together until melted. Then set aside to cool a little.

The next stage is to whisk the egg whites and icing sugar together until soft peaks form. This takes around 5 minutes. Sift the flour and ground almonds over the top of the egg and sugar mixture and then fold them in with a metal spoon. When they're fully mixed, pour the chocolate into the bowl down one of inside edges (this is so that you don't drop the chocolate straight on top of your mixture when you've taken time to fold it and keep lots of air in). Fold the chocolate into the mixture, making sure that you scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl well as the chocolate will all sink to the bottom and you want it folded throughout. The worst thing is when you come to put your mixture into the tin and find a layer of chocolate at the bottom that hasn't been mixed through properly.

When the mixture is fully incorporated, take a small spoon or ice cream scoop and put one spoonful into each cavity of your baking tin. Each one should be around half-full. Then pop them in the oven for 15-20 minutes. Mine took 18 minutes but you can check that they're ready by inserting a wooden skewer into the middle of each one and it should come out clean. When they're baked, leave them in their tins for around 10 mins. Then check that they are loosened  from the tin with a flat knife and use this to help lever them out, but they should come out very easily.

These would be stunning served with raspberries, pistachios, extra chocolate sauce :) As I mentioned earlier, I sprinkled chopped pistachios over the top to give a little extra crunch and then dusted them with icing sugar.

Chocolate Financiers are seriously delicious. Lovely and light, they would be perfect for afternoon tea or a coffee morning. Even a little after dinner treat if you're hosting a dinner party.

I can't wait to share them with my boys when they get home from school today :)

Chocolate Financiers

Makes 12 financiers

Ingredients

• 150G UNSALTED BUTTER
• 1 TSP VANILLA EXTRACT
• 100G CHOCOLATE, CHOPPED INTO PIECES
• 200G EGG WHITES (5 eggs)
• 175G ICING SUGAR
• 50G PLAIN FLOUR
• 85G GROUND ALMONDS
• OPTIONAL: CHOPPED PISTACHIOS AND/OR CHOCOLATE CHIPS

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 160 degrees (fan)
2. Grease the cavities of your chosen tin well
3. In a medium saucepan and over a medium heat, melt the butter and vanilla extract together until fully melted
4. Continue to heat the butter until it turns a golden brown colour (around 5 minutes)
5. Add the chocolate and stir until melted
6. Set aside to cool a little
7. In a freestanding mixer, whisk the egg whites and icing sugar together until soft peaks form (around 5 minutes on a medium speed)
8. Sift the flour and icing sugar over the top of the mixture and then fold in using a metal spoon
9. Add your chocolate butter mixture by pouring it down the inside side of the bowl rather than straight on top of your mixture
10. Fold the chocolate in, ensuring that you scrape down the sides and bottoms and thoroughly mix the chocolate in
11. Using a spoon or small ice cream scoop, fill each cavity of your baking tin around half full
12. Bake for 15 - 20 minutes or until a wooden skewer inserted in the middle of the financiers comes out clean
13. Remove from the oven and leave them in their tin for around 10 mins to cool a little
14. Gently using a flat knife, loosen them from the sides of the tin and remove each one
15. If you would like to add the pistachios, chop a handful of them and sprinkle them on the top
16. Finally, dust them with a light sprinkling of icing sugar
17. And enjoy :)

Profiteroles With Custard and Chocolate Sauce

I think I've made a lifetime's supply of profiteroles in the last two weeks. It has definitely been an opportunity to perfect my choux pastry technique! Chocolate and custard are favourites in this house, so it's not been unwelcome ;-)

I was making a Croquembouche for a birthday last weekend. Everything went perfectly - the choux pastry, the custard, filling the little balls of delight - until I came to build the Croq itself. I was using a recipe that used melted white chocolate to stick the buns together and I thought it was all going swimmingly until I came to release it from its cone. Collapse. Don't admit defeat, I thought. I went through all the possibilities. Time was short. Royal icing, I decided. Whipped up a batch and reglued the buns together using icing. Then I forced myself to leave the house for four hours to let it set (I had no longer and this was already a stressful thing to do when I was due to deliver it that afternoon). I returned, full of hope. Slowly I edged it out of its cone. It stood up but it looked a little crooked. Like a witch's hat with a little kink at the top. I moved around looking at it from different angles. The bottom seemed to be expanding, it leant a little bit more, then a little bit more, before a large splat on the kitchen workbench.

I have the loveliest friends. They were insistent that I deliver the mashed up Croq with some chocolate sauce on top, but I just had to make a new batch. So it was during this time that I perfected my profiterole making and streamlined a quick and easy method for making them. The custard part needs to be made before, but you can always fill them with whipped cream. And the chocolate sauce is super easy, very rich and hugely indulgent.

I suggest making the choux buns the day before you need them. They can get a little soft but I just blasted them in the oven for 5 minutes to crisp them up before filling on the day you plan to serve them. I've heard a number of people worry that choux is difficult to make but this is a pretty fullproof method. You put butter and water in a saucepan until the butter is melted and then bring to the boil. Add the flour in one go and mix vigorously over the heat until it comes together and comes away cleanly from the side of the pan. This takes around 30 seconds. Take it off the heat and place to one side for 5 minutes. After this cooling, add the eggs one by one, stirring vigorously after each one. A lot of recipes suggest that you may not need to add all the eggs but if unsure then add all the eggs. Then pop this in a piping bag. Snip 1cm off the end.

I pipe mine onto silpat lined baking trays but you can use baking parchment. Pipe 24 balls (4 x 6 balls) onto your tray. You'll probably get a little point on the top of each ball and using a little water on your finger, gently pat down the point (this stops it from burning in the oven). I cook mine for 10 minutes, then rotate the trays 180 degrees for another 10 minutes. Then remove them from the oven, cut a little slit in the side (around 1cm) and pop them back in for 5 minutes. Then allow to cool on a baking rack. Repeat with any remaining mixture. These can be stored in an airtight container until you're ready to use them.

I also make my custard the day before I need it and chill it in the fridge overnight. Now custard needs a lot of egg yolks, so it's always worth having something to make with all your leftover egg whites! It's very simple to make too. The egg yolks, sugar and flour are mixed together to make a paste. Then just boiling milk is poured over the egg mixture, whisked vigorously before returning to the saucepan. It's important to whisk this well as you don't want a scrambled egg mixture. You cook this over a low heat, always stirring, until it's thick and bubbling. Then it should be transferred to a bowl and covered with a layer of clingfilm so that the clingfilm is in contact with the surface of the custard. Once cool, it can be refrigerated.

On the day of serving, I generally give my choux buns 5 minutes at 160 degrees just to crisp them up a little. They cool down very quickly so by the time you've filled your piping bag with the custard, they're ready to fill. I use a pastry piping nozzle which has a long, thin nozzle that you can stick into the bun. Squeeze the custard in gently so you can see the filling spreading throughout and the bun will expand a little when it's full. If you're concerned you may be over-filling them, start with a little and you can always go back and top up.

The chocolate sauce is very rich and indulgent and sets quite quickly so you need to pour it on as soon as it's ready. It's warm when you pour it, but you can serve it cool (it will harden a little) or warm - both are delicious. The sauce is made from a sugar syrup (water and sugar) brought to the boil and then reduced to simmering. Whilst simmering, place a bowl with a chocolate on top (as a bain-marie) and allow the melt gently. When it's melted, pour the sugar syrup into the bowl and mix well until combined. Then pour immediately on the profiteroles.

The three elements for making the profiteroles could be really complicated, but are in fact very straightforward when broken into four steps. Making the choux buns and custard the day before, removes the stress completely when you have friends or family waiting to eat them. And making a fresh, warm, chocolate sauce poured over the top in front of your guests is the best (and not only for the smell of the chocolate!)

Profiteroles always seem to be a winner. Kids and adults alike love them. And I think they make such a special dessert, just perfect for sharing :)

Profiteroles with Custard and Chocolate Sauce

adapted from BBC Good Food

Choux Bun Ingredients

• 185G PLAIN FLOUR
• 175G UNSALTED BUTTER
• 450ML WATER
• 6 LARGE EGGS, BEATEN

Choux Bun Method

1. Place the butter and water in a saucepan and heat gently until the butter has melted
2. Bring to the boil and add the flour all at once
3. Beat vigorously with a wooden spoon until the mixture comes together and comes away cleanly from the side of the pan (around 20-30 seconds)
4. Remove from the heat and put to one side for 5 minutes
5. Beat in the eggs one by one until the mixture is glossy and just holding its shape without being too runny
6. Put this in a piping bag and cut 1 cm of the end of the bag
7. Preheat the oven to 160 degrees (fan)
8. Line 2 baking trays with silpat or baking parchment and pipe 24 rounds onto one sheet (6 x 4 balls around 3cm)
9. If you have little peaks on the top of your buns, pat each peak gently with a lightly dampened finger
10. Place the two trays in the oven and bake for 10 minutes
11. Then rotate the trays 180 degrees and bake for a further 10 minutes
12. Remove from the oven and cut a 1cm slit in the side of each bun and place back in the oven for 5 minutes
13. Remove from the oven and place on a cooling rack
14. Once cool, put them in an airtight container overnight

Custard Ingredients

• 9 LARGE EGG YOLKS
• 150g GOLDEN CASTER SUGAR
• 50g PLAIN FLOUR
• 500ml FULL CREAM MILK
• 1 TBSP VANILLA PASTE (to taste)

Custard Method

1. Beat the egg yolks, sugar, flour and vanilla paste in a bowl until you have a smooth paste
2. Bring the milk just to the boil and then pour it over the egg mixture, whisking all the time
3. When combined, pour it back into the saucepan over a low heat, whisking all the time
4. Keep whisking until the custard is bubbling and thickened
5. Remove from the heat and cover with clingfilm so the clingfilm is in contact with the surface of the custard
6. Once cool, refrigerate until ready to use

Preparing Your Profiteroles

1. When you're ready to assemble the profiteroles, if the choux buns feel a little soft, put them in oven at 160 degrees for 5 minutes
2. Using a pastry nozzle, fill your piping bag with the custard
3. Take each ball in turn, insert the piping nozzle into the side of the ball and gently fill each one with custard - you will feel the ball inflate slightly
4. Continue until all balls are filled and then assemble on your serving dish

Chocolate Sauce Ingredients

• 100ML WATER
• 80G CASTER SUGAR
• 200G DARK CHOCOLATE (broken into small pieces)

Chocolate Sauce Method

1. Bring the water and sugar to the boil in a saucepan and then reduce to a simmer
2. Place the chocolate in a bowl and place this over the top of the saucepan
3. Stir the chocolate from time to time until it's all melted
4. Once melted, pour the sugar syrup from the saucepan into the bowl of melted chocolate
5. Stir until smooth
6. Pour immediately over your dish of profiteroles
7. The profiteroles can be served with either warm sauce or sauce allowed to cool - although there is something especially yummy about warm, melted chocolate sauce over a plate of these little choux buns :)

Lime & Green Tea Madeleines

I love when my friends recommend recipes to me. This last week has been a little topsy turvy with a big corporate baking project, making the Jurassic World Launch Cookies for Universal's head office in London (170 boxes of 3 vanilla and chocolate cookies was quite a challenge - photo below!) Whilst I was knee-deep in flour and sugarpaste and covered in airbrush paint, a friend popped a recipe through to me she thought I could try.

This fabulous recipe for Lime & Green Tea Madeleines with Vanilla & Black Pepper Cream. Wow, what flavour combinations! I think the recipe came from a magazine but is from Laura Santtatini's new book, At Home With Umami. It combines zesty lime with green tea in the madeleines and then pairs them with a lovely lightly whipped cream speckled with vanilla seeds and pepper.

What I love most about these madeleines is the wonderful green colour and the zesty lime flavour. I'm not a huge matcha fan but I found that this recipe uses the tea to give it a wonderful colour and the flavour isn't too predominant. I only made a half batch to start off as wasn't sure this would be a popular flavour with my boys, but am now kicking myself that I didn't make the full 20!! The recipe is straightforward but with each stage it's important to keep lots of air in there to make them as light as possible when they're baked. And also to ensure that you grease the madeleine tins well. Laura suggests oiling them but I went with my usual method which is to butter and flour them.

I'm used to making madeleines with just egg whites, but this recipe uses whole eggs. The batter is refrigerated before it goes into the tins for baking. I usually put my batter into a piping bag and then refrigerate  it. Just a preference of mine, but I find it easy to store and then when the mixture sets more in the fridge, it's easier to pipe it into the madeleine tins. 

These madeleines are lovely as a standalone treat without the cream but the fluffy cream adds another dimension. The pepper gives a slightly spicy taste and I love the additional icing sugar that adds a touch of sweetness. Laura suggests adding these to taste and also the option of adding saké but I didn't have any to hand so decided to just flavour with the vanilla seeds, icing sugar and ground pepper. 

This would work really well for afternoon tea but I think if you were making them for morning coffee then losing the cream would work equally - but adding a proper pairing with a nice cup of green :)

Lime & Green Tea Madeleines with Vanilla & Black Pepper Cream Makes 10

Lime & Matcha Madeleine Ingredients

• 65g BUTTER, MELTED & COOLED
• 80G PLAIN FLOUR
• 1/8 TSP SALT
• 1/4 TSP BAKING POWDER
• 1/2 TBSP MATCHA GREEN TEA POWDER
• 1 LARGE EGG
• 85G CASTER SUGAR
• ZEST OF 1 LIME
• 1 TBSP LIME JUICE (just less than the juice of a lime)

Vanilla & Black Pepper Cream Ingredients

• 150ML DOUBLE CREAM
• 1/2 POD VANILLA SEEDS
• 1/2 TSP BLACK PEPPER (to taste)
• 1 TBP ICING SUGAR (to taste)

Method

1. Firstly, melt the butter and set aside to cool
2. In a bowl, sieve the flour, salt, baking powder and matcha green tea powder
3. Place the sugar and egg in a mixer and whisk until it's doubled in volume (around 3-5 minutes)
4. Whisk the lime juice into the egg mixture
5. Fold the flour into the mixture until just combined
6. Fold in the butter and lime zest
7. Put the mixture into a piping bag and refrigerate for an hour
8. When you're ready to make the madeleines, preheat the oven to 180 degrees (fan)
9. Butter and lightly flour the madeleine tins and then pipe the mixture into the cavities until each is 3/4 full
10. Bake for around 12 minutes but watch them carefully as you're waiting for the edges to turn golden brown and don't want them to burn
11. Remove from the oven and turn them out gently onto a cooling rack
12. To make the cream, whisk the double cream to soft peaks being carefully not to over-beat the cream
13. Fold in the vanilla seeds, pepper and icing sugar to taste (these are the quantities I used but feel free to flavour as you like)
14. Enjoy the madeleines warm from the oven with a sprinkling of icing sugar and the cream cool from the fridge :)

Summer Fruit Crumble Galette

I have fond memories of fruit picking with my family when I was a child. Sunny days collecting strawberries and other fruit, quality control taste testing as much as went into the basket and returning for weighing with stained fingers and lips. Happy days! I've been wanting to take the boys fruit picking for so long and took the opportunity now that we're in Dorset for a few days.

I googled local fruit farms and found Sopley Farm near Christchurch - after a quick phone call just to make sure they still had plenty of fruit in season, we packed up and headed off there. It didn't disappoint. The staff were really friendly and we collected punnets of strawberries, raspberries and blackberries. Far too much really, but it's kind of addictive.

So with all our fruit wares and being in someone else's kitchen without my usual baking tins and equipment, I decided to make a free-form Summer Fruit Crumble Galette in the style of Donna Hays. I did cheat and buy some pre-made sweet shortcrust pastry but you can make your own if you prefer. The main fruits were strawberries and raspberries but I wanted to add in some blackberries too for some extra colour and we agreed that they added an additional dimension to the taste.

I love the sweet shortcrust pastry pairing with fruit, but what I really loved about this was the crumble topping which added extra texture and flavour and was seriously delicious. I am a big fan of crumble so you'll always finding my doubling any recipe quantities for my desserts.

This was delicious warm straight from the oven. The fruit was so juicy against the crispy shortcrust pastry and using such fresh ripe fruit meant that we didn't have to add any sugar to bring out the sweetness. 

There are so many creations with such an abundance of fruit, but this is a really simple and delicious dish. I like the freeform style but what it lacks in straight sides, it definitely makes up in its wonderful flavours. A definite winner and gorgeous summer pud.

Summer Fruit Crumble Galette

Ingredients

• 320G SWEET SHORTCRUST PASTRY (I bought pre-made chilled pastry)
• 3 TBSP APRICOT JAM
• SELECTION OF FRUIT (add at your discretion but I used several handfuls of strawberries and raspberries with a scattering of blackberries)
• 60G BUTTER
• 3 TBSP GROUND ALMONDS
• 50G FLOUR
• 3 TBSP CASTER SUGAR
• 3/4 TSP GROUND CINNAMON

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees (fan)
2. Prepare your fruit of choice and set aside
3. Line a baking tray with greaseproof paper and unroll your pastry on to here (I didn't have to roll out my pastry any further but you're looking for it to be around 5mm thick)
4. Spread the apricot jam over the base leaving a 5cm border around the pastry
5. Pile your fruit over the jam
6. Fold the edges of the pastry up over the fruit (you only have the 5cm border to do this with so it just forms a tray of sorts that the fruit sit in)
7. Mix together the butter, ground almonds, flour, caster sugar and cinnamon with your fingertips to create a crumble
8. Scatter the crumble across the top of the galette
9. Bake in the oven for 25 minutes or until the pastry is golden brown and the fruit bubbling
10. Serve with custard, cream or ice cream :)

Dulce De Leche & Mascarpone Crêpe Cake

The sun is shining today and summer feels like it just might finally be on its way. As I write this, I know I'm tempting fate and that a downpour will arrive at any moment! This has been a busy week of cake prepping and admin so we definitely need a mid-week treat to tempt the taste buds, but something that embraces the summer sunshine today.

I've seen a number of crêpe cakes on the internet, but most of them are filled with nutella and syrup and since those two toppings are at the top of our favourite list for our weekly pancakes (I say weekly but our youngest would campaign for them every day of the week given the choice), they've never tempted me. Then I saw a lovely, fresh alternative on Call Me Cupcake which seemed perfect for a summery day and a need for something sweet - Dulce De Leche & Mascarpone Crêpe Cake.

The crêpe batter is sprinkled with orange zest (lemon, if you prefer) and adds a touch of freshness to the cake (and a subtle but beautiful aroma of orange when you're cooking them). You need to get into a rhythm producing the crêpes. Now I don't claim to be an expert pancake maker (I leave that to my hubby) but after the production line needed for this cake, I definitely got better! I made 20 crêpes from the batter using a six inch pan (although one of these sadly met an untimely demise with maple syrup and my mouth during cooking). It's important to separate the crêpes after cooking (either spread out or using greaseproof paper between the layers) otherwise they'll stick together whilst they're cooling. 

It doesn't take long for them to cool down - just the length of time it took to make the mascarpone filling (I chose this over the ricotta in the original recipe). To make sure I had enough filling for the alternate layers, I divided the pancakes in two and spread half of them with ricotta and half of them with dulce de leche. It works better to spread the fillings on them when they're separated as when they're stacked and you press down on them, the filling squeezes out. When they all had their toppings, I stacked them, topped them with fruit and then a light sprinkling of icing sugar. After it was made, the kitchen was quite warm and the dulce de leche started to ooze out, so I kept it refrigerated and that also made it easier to cut.

The resulting crêpe cake is delicious and light, although the ricotta is very creamy so it feels more indulgent, especially paired with the dulce de leche.

This cake is best eaten the day it's made so it's probably an afternoon tea or dinner treat. I know this sounds quite fiddly, but it's very straightforward to make and is a lovely alternative to a usual baked cake so it's definitely one to try. 

It does only make a six inch cake though, so make sure you don't invite too many friends around to enjoy it with you :)

Dulce De Leche & Mascarpone Crêpe Cake (recipe from Call Me Cupcake)

Crêpe Ingredients

• 4 LARGE EGGS
• 1½ CUPS MILK (350 ML)
• 2 CUPS PLAIN FLOUR (260G)
• 1/4 TSP SALT
• 1½ TBP SUGAR
• ZEST OF 1 ORANGE (FINELY GRATED)
• 1 CUP WATER (235 ML)
• 75G BUTTER

Filling Ingredients

• ½ TIN DULCE DE LECHE
• 170G MASCARPONE
• 1 TBSP ICING SUGAR
• ZEST OF ½ ORANGE (FINELY GRATED)
• EXTRA ICING SUGAR (FOR SPRINKLING ON TOP)
• MIXED FRUIT FOR TOP

Method

1. In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, flour, salt, sugar and orange zest until the batter is lump free
2. Stir in the water and leave it to thicken at room temperature for 30 minutes
3. After 30 minutes, melt the butter and stir into the batter
4. Using a 6 inch frying pan, melt a little butter in the pan and cook the pancakes one by one trying to make them as thin as possible (I used around ½ ladle batter for each crêpe)
5. Lay each crêpe to cool on greaseproof paper making sure that you separate them with more greaseproof paper if you plan to stack them for cooling
6. Leave to cook completely
7. Combine the ricotta, tablespoon of icing sugar and orange zest
8. Spread half of the crêpes with the ricotta mix and the other half with dulce de leche
9. Then stack the pancakes on top of each other
10. Top with your choice of mixed fruit and dust with icing sugar just before you plan to eat them
11. And enjoy the fruits of your crêpe production line!

Oreo Macarons

The boys love oreo cookies. I buy them for them, but often end up eating almost an entire packet on my own whilst they're at school (shhh...just our little secret!) I haven't made macarons for a while and we do love them, so I was thinking of new flavours that I'd like to try and pairing oreos and macarons just seemed like a match made in heaven. We were heading for a family bank holiday weekend and I looking for some munchies with limited time in the kitchen. Although some people are nervous about how fiddly these are to make, the longest part is leaving them to rest - making them and cooking them is relatively quick as long as you're precise and have a method that works for you.

I followed my usual method for making the batter, however added crushed oreo cookies to the meringue batter (3 or 4 cookies blitzed in the food processor). This doesn't add a huge amount of flavour - just the speckled texture in the shell so add as much as you like to give you the shell that you like. Then I often leave them to rest for an hour and go off and do something else around the house. The key to them being ready for the oven, is that when you touch the top of a shell lightly with your finger, they have formed a skin so your finger comes away dry and not sticky or slightly wet with the batter.

The flavour of the oreo cookies really shines through in the buttercream. I made a regular buttercream, but in place of the usual vanilla I added around half a cup of blitzed oreo cookies. Again, you can add as much as you like to get the flavour that you enjoy - mine had the flavour but it wasn't that overwhelming and I really liked it. It's obligatory to keep taste testing the buttercream at every stage to get the right flavour - at least that's what I tell myself!

You'll notice in my cover photo that there are pink macarons too which are a completely different flavour that I was trying and this was for my gran. She loves rose and violet flavoured chocolates (apart from lavender, floral flavours in baking are kind of the work of the devil to me) so I decided to experiment with some rose buttercream macarons just for her. I haven't included this recipe but the only differences to the oreo recipe would be to omit the oreos and add a few drops of pink colour to the shell batter; and then omit the oreos from the buttercream but add a couple of drops of rose water (note: only a couple of drops as it's a strong flavour and you can always add more, but can't take away!)

When the boys arrived home from school and realised that we had oreos AND macarons in one tasty bite, they were delighted. And they LOVED them. My elder son, who a while back appointed themselves as my official taste taster, declared they were a hit - and that I need to make them again.

Mmmm...I feel another batch coming on!

Oreo Macarons Makes 12 (24 shells sandwiched together)

Ingredients

Oreo Macaron Batter

• 100G CASTER SUGAR
• 37ML WATER
• 80G EGG WHITES (I use Two Chicks Egg Whites that you can buy in the supermarket)
• 100G GROUND ALMONDS
• 100G ICING SUGAR
• 3-4 OREO COOKIES, BLITZED IN A FOOD PROCESSOR

Oreo Buttercream 

• 115G BUTTER
• 125G ICING SUGAR (SIFTED)
• 1 TBSP MILK
•  6 OREO COOKIES (feel free to add more or less as you like)

Method

1. Line two baking street with baking paper - if you're worried about the consistency of your macaron circles when you come to pipe them, you can draw little circles onto the paper as a guide. My macarons are around 5cm in diameter.
2. Put 40g of the egg whites into a mixer with the balloon whisk.
3. Put the caster sugar and water into a saucepan and heat without stirring to 95 degrees and then start the mixer on a low speed.
4. When the sugar syrup temperature reaches 105 degrees, increase the speed of the mixer and beat the egg whites to a stiff peak.
5. When the sugar mixture reaches 114 degrees, remove from the heat and pour the syrup in a slow, steady stream down the side of the bowl (not into the middle as you don't want to remove all the air) with the mixer still running.
6. Continue beating for 5 to 10 minutes until the outside of the bowl cools down.
7. Whilst beating the meringue in the mixer, prepare the almond paste.
8. Mix together the icing sugar and ground almonds until they're well mixed. You can sieve them if you want to give a smoother finish on your macarons.
9. Add the remaining egg whites (40g) and mix until you form a paste (this is the stage you'd add any food colouring although that's not needed in this recipe
10. Then once your paste is ready, add a third of the meringue and mix thoroughly - don't worry about knocking the air out at this stage as this is intended to loosen the paste a little before adding the rest of the meringue.
11. Add the remaining meringue, folding it in until it's mixed but be careful not to over-mix at this stage as you want to keep the air in it.
12. Fill a piping bag with a circle nozzle (number 1A works well for this) and pipe out small circles into the baking paper. Sometime you may find that your macarons have a little peak on top but this flattens out during the next stage.
13. I generally leave my macarons for at least an hour to form a thin crust on top - you should be able to lightly touch the macaron with your finger and it springs back without leaving a fingerprint.
14. When you're ready to bake them, pre-heat your oven to 150 degrees and bake them for around 14 minutes.
15. After you take them out of the oven, slide them off the baking tray onto a cool counter and then pop them off the baking paper and let them cool down.
16. Make your buttercream by beating the butter until it's light and fluffy.
17. Then add the icing sugar and mix until they're fully incorporated.
18. Add the milk and beat until it's smooth.
19. Then stir through the oreo cookies.
20. When you're ready to fill them, fill a small piping bag with the buttercream and a regular tip.
21. Pipe a small amount of buttercream into the middle of each macaron and then sandwich them together.
22. Your macarons are now ready to eat - some say they're better the next day - if they hang around that long! 

Raspberry Friands

Hurray, it's Friday! We've had 7 days back at school and now have a bank holiday to look forward :) Cue sunshine (wishful thinking?) and the seaside. Double hurray! It's been a busy cake week but I wanted a little treat to welcome us into the long weekend.

I love raspberries. I love friands. And now I love raspberry friands. These gorgeous little cakes are dainty, yummy and with quite a dense texture, rather filling too. They are best served warm and straight from the oven but are still delicious several hours later. Um, I'm hoping there might actually be some left by the time the boys get home from school...

These are very simple to make and can be made with different types of fruit which will be a project for the future. I had some amazing friands from a small bakery in New Zealand at Christmas which were filled with delicious lemon curd. They were my absolute favourite. These raspberry ones are very simple where the almond taste really shines through and then the raspberry gives it a lift. All they need is gentle folding through of the ingredients (making the effort to sift the icing sugar and flour) and well greased friand tins (otherwise you may find that they break up when you try to remove them from the tins). 

These are perfect for a lunch in the sun or afternoon tea. Go on, give them a go and treat yourself this bank holiday :)

Raspberry Friands (makes 9 friands)

Ingredients 

• 200G LIQUID EGG WHITES (or 5 egg whites if you want to crack open your eggs)
• 150G MELTED BUTTER
• 90G GROUND ALMONDS
• 185G SIFTED ICING SUGAR
• 50G SIFTED PLAIN FLOUR
• 125G RASPBERRIES (you need 18 raspberries with 2 on each friand)

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees (fan)
2. Grease a friand tin - you need to grease these well getting into all the nooks and crannies to make sure that your friands don't stick - you will need to grease 9 holes
3. Whip the egg whites for a few seconds just to mix them up
4. Then add the rest of the ingredients (except the raspberries) - the butter, ground almonds, icing sugar and flour
5. Mix on the lowest setting until just combined
6. Pour into the friand tin, filling each hole until it's 2/3 full
7. Then pop 2 raspberries on the top of each friand
8. Bake in the oven for 25 mins or until a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean
9. Loosen the friands in their tin and then tip them out gently onto a cooling rack
10. Serve warm (ideally) and sprinkled with icing sugar
11. Try not to eat them all before your guests arrive!

Karpatka

Last year, I had the pleasure of attending the baby shower of a Polish mum-to-be. Even though it was her party, she made dinner for all the children there as well as treating us to a platter of Polish delicacies. The one that has been firmly planted in my mind since then was a beautiful Polish version of our vanilla slice - Karpatka. She was full of apologies about how it wasn't as perfect as her mother's and I think was taken aback by its success! Instead of the puff pastry of an English vanilla slice, this has layers of choux pastry sandwiched together with vanilla custard. It is seriously delicious (and I've been dreaming about it ever since!) It reminds me of the choux buns my mum used to buy for me when I was little although they had chocolate drizzled across the top too :)

This recipe is a hybrid of my research into this lovely Polish dessert but all published recipes follow a similar process and it's surprisingly easy to make.  The choux pastry is springy to the touch and the custard sets really well in between the two layers so it makes a robust bake that's easy to cut. The choux pastry in the oven browned VERY quickly and I was really worried that it wouldn't make the full 25 minutes, but I also know it's imperative not to open the oven door whilst it's baking so I decided to ride it out - and with a great result. Although it looked crispy when it came out of the oven, it was still really springy to the touch which is exactly what I was looking for.

The vanilla custard is absolutely beautiful in texture. We are huge custard fans in this house so it had a lot to live up to and surpassed all expectations. There were multiple slices of the Karpatka being handed around when the boys had dinner tonight and it was a big hit. I think this is my favourite bake of the journey so far!

Karpatka

Choux Pastry Ingredients

• 1 CUP WATER
• 125G BUTTER
• 1 CUP FLOUR
• 5 MEDIUM EGGS
• 1 TSP BAKING POWDER

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees (fan)
2. Line 2 baking trays (around 32 x 23cm) with baking paper
3. Put the butter and water into a medium saucepan and bring to a boil
4. Add all the flour and mix vigorously with a wooden spoon until the mixture comes away from the sides of the saucepan which is very quick (around 30 seconds)
5. Then put the mixture into your mixer with a paddle attachment (or food processor if you prefer)
6. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after addition until each egg is fully mixed in and the mixture is smooth and sticky
7. Finally add the baking powder and beat until it's fully mixed
8. Divide the mixture between the two baking trays and smooth it out until it forms two rectangles the shape of the baking tray
9. Place in the oven and bake for 25 minutes until the tops have browned. It's very important not to open the oven door once they're in until they're cooked so don't be tempted to check on them too early!
10. When they're ready, put them on a kitchen surface to cool down and you can start preparations for your vanilla custard.

Vanilla Custard Ingredients

• 720ML (3 CUPS SEMI-SKIMMED MILK)
• 170G SUGAR (3/4 CUP)
• 110G BUTTER
• 1 TSP VANILLA PASTE (OR VANILLA EXTRACT IF YOU DON'T HAVE PASTE)
• 30G PLAIN FLOUR (1/4 CUP)
• 5 TBSP CORNFLOUR
• 4 EGGS
• ICING SUGAR (FOR DUSTING)

Method

1. Whisk together the eggs and vanilla in a bowl and then add the flour a little at a time - the mixture went a little lumpy with the addition of the flour so you want to add it slowly and mix thoroughly so you can ensure than it's lump-free
2. Then add a cup of the milk (240ml) milk and whisk thoroughly until smooth
3. Place 2 cups (480ml) of milk, the sugar and butter in a medium saucepan and bring to the boil
4. Once this is boiling, pour the egg mixture into the saucepan and whisk well until the custard thickens and starts to boil - this took mine around 90 seconds - but be careful to ensure that you're scraping the bottom of the boil when whisking as it can burn very easily
5. Pour this custard onto one rectangle of choux pastry and spread it out leaving a small border around the edge (you're going to trim the rectangles down at the end)
6. Sandwich the custard with the top layer and then place in the refrigerator until the custard cools and sets
7. When ready to eat, dust the top layer with the icing sugar and cut it into squares - I got 16 squares from mine (and lots of edges to eat when neatening it up!)

Matcha Macarons

We are a macaron loving household. When I make a trip into London, I always try to make time for a detour to Laduree or Paul to enjoy a few of their little beauties. But I also enjoy making them at home as we can choose our own colours and flavours and they are quite an investment in the shops, especially buying enough to satisfy four of us! I have been admiring Matcha Macarons for some time and have been loving the photos of them all over Pinterest so it's time to have a go at them myself. I recently bought myself some Matcha Tea from The Tea House in Covent Garden, although this organic tea will set you back nearly £20 for 30G so it's to be used sparingly!

I use the Italian Meringue method to make my macarons as it's been the most reliable way for me. You do need a sugar thermometer but it's a very straightforward and for me, foolproof way of making the batter. I looked at various recipes on the web and decided to experiment with my own quantities of Matcha as it's quite an unusual flavour. I added a half teaspoon of tea to the batter but the flavour has not come through very strongly so I think it could be upped a little next time. I filled them with a traditional buttercream and added a half tablespoon to this and this flavour strength is about right for my taste buds.

When I'd made them I decided to add a little sparkle so sprayed them with gold lustre, but when this ran out mid-decorating, I then brushed Sugarflair Edible Tint in gold over one shell of each macaron and both of these worked really well. For a touch of glamour, I also added a little edible gold leaf. I always think macarons make a lovely gift and once you've found a recipe that works for you, they're quite simple to make and very tasty to eat. And there's lots of experimenting with colours and favours. The perfect little Parisienne treat :)

Matcha Macarons Makes 12 (24 shells sandwiched together)

Ingredients

Macaron Batter

• 100G CASTER SUGAR
• 37ML WATER
• 80G EGG WHITES (I USE TWO CHICKS LIQUID EGG WHITES THAT YOU CAN BUY IN THE SUPERMARKET)
• 100G GROUND ALMONDS
• 100G ICING SUGAR
• ½ TSP MATCHA TEA POWDER

Matcha Buttercream 

• 115G BUTTER
• 125G ICING SUGAR (SIFTED)
• 1 TBSP MILK
•  1 TBSP MATCHA TEA

Method

1. Line two baking street with baking paper - if you're worried about the consistency of your macaron circles when you come to pipe them, you can draw little circles onto the paper as a guide. My macarons are around 5cm in diameter.
2. Put 40g of the egg whites into a mixer with the balloon whisk.
3. Put the caster sugar and water into a saucepan and heat without stirring to 95 degrees and then start the mixer on a low speed.
4. When the sugar syrup temperature reaches 105 degrees, increase the speed of the mixer and beat the egg whites to a stiff peak.
5. When the sugar mixture reaches 114 degrees, remove from the heat and pour the syrup in a slow, steady stream down the side of the bowl (not into the middle as you don't want to remove all the air) with the mixer still running.
6. Continue beating for 5 to 10 minutes until the outside of the bowl cools down.
7. Whilst beating the meringue in the mixer, prepare the almond paste.
8. Mix together the icing sugar, ground almonds and ½ tsp of matcha tea powder until they're well mixed. You can sieve them if you want to give a smoother finish on your macarons.
9. Add the remaining egg whites (40g) and mix until you form a paste. You can also add food colouring at this point - I added Sugarflair Spectral Paste Concentrate in green - just add a little to start with as you can always make the colour stronger, but you can't take it away once added!
10. Then once your paste is ready, add a third of the meringue and mix thoroughly - don't worry about knocking the air out at this stage as this is intended to loosen the paste a little before adding the rest of the meringue.
11. Add the remaining meringue, folding it in until it's mixed but be careful not to over-mix at this stage as you want to keep the air in it.
12. Fill a piping bag with a circle nozzle (number 1A works well for this) and pipe out small circles into the baking paper. Sometime you may find that your macarons have a little peak on top but this flattens out during the next stage.
13. I generally leave my macarons for at least an hour to form a thin crust on top - you should be able to lightly touch the macaron with your finger and it springs back without leaving a fingerprint.
14. When you're ready to bake them, pre-heat your oven to 150 degrees and bake them for around 14 minutes.
15. After you take them out of the oven, slide them off the baking tray onto a cool counter and then pop them off the baking paper and let them cool down.
16. Make your buttercream by beating the butter until it's light and fluffy.
17. Then add the icing sugar and matcha tea and mix until they're fully incorporated.
18. Finally add the milk and beat until it's smooth.
19. When you're ready to fill them, fill a small piping bag with the buttercream and a regular tip (I use the same one as to make the macarons but you can be creative here and use a star tip or other nozzle).
20. Pipe a small amount of buttercream into the middle of each macaron and then sandwich them together.
21. Your macarons are now ready to eat - some say they're better the next day - if they hang around that long! 

Raspberry & Lemon Curd Madeleines

I love lemons.  I love freshly squeezed lemonade, lemon cakes, limoncello (especially as a syrup soaked into cakes!), Absolut Citron, lemon curd...everything about lemons!  When I'm baking I often reach for short cuts, especially when I have two little boys at my ankles, but when I have some extra time, it's much more rewarding to make things from scratch. I was hosting a clothes shopping coffee morning and needed some baked goodies to feed everyone and decided to make this lovely Madeleine recipe but no short cuts on the lemon curd - homemade all the way this time!

This is my absolute favourite Madeleine recipe and it's from Rachel Khoo's Little Paris Kitchen. I remember seeing her make these years ago when she had the Saturday morning show and it has been a firm favourite of mine ever since - but I'll confess that I usually reach for the store-bought lemon curd to save on time.  Madeleines are always best served straight from the oven, but what I love about this recipe is that after you make the batter, you then refrigerate it and can leave it there overnight.  And to make the process even easier, I store it in a piping bag, ready to pipe straight into the Madeleine tins the morning of baking.  It does take a bit of concentration to bake them (and I can be easily distracted by kitchen chat with my friends!) so I make sure I religiously use timers to keep me focused.

Once made, the lemon curd is kept in the fridge overnight to set but it was really simple to make - and there's nothing better than the scent of freshly squeezed lemons bubbling away on the stove. I made double the quantity of this as my little boy has requested a special sweet treat for his birthday at the weekend and lemon is his favourite flavour too :)

Raspberry & Lemon Curd Madeleines (from Rachel Khoo's Little Paris Kitchen)

Lemon Curd Ingredients

• 1 UNWAXED LEMON (JUICE AND FINELY GRATED ZEST ONLY)
• PINCH OF SALT
• 40G SUGAR
• 45G BUTTER
• 2 FREE-RANGE EGG YOLKS

Lemon Curd Method

1. Place the lemon zest and juice, salt, sugar and butter into a small saucepan and heat gently until the sugar and butter have melted. Remove from the heat.
2. Whisk the egg yolks in a bowl, then add to the pan and whisk vigorously. Return the pan to a low heat and whisk constantly as the curd starts to thicken.  Keep whisking until one or two bubbles start to appear and the curd coats the back of a metal spoon.
3. Pass the curd through a sieve into a bowl, cover with clingfilm (preferably so that the clingfilm is in direct contact with the surface of the curd) and put into the refrigerator overnight.

Madeleine Ingredients

• 2 FREE-RANGE EGGS
• 130G SUGAR
• 200G PLAIN FLOUR
• 10G BAKING POWDER
• 1 UNWAXED LEMON (FINELY GRATED ZEST ONLY)
• 20G HONEY
• 4TSBP MILK
• 200G BUTTER (MELTED & COOLED)
• PUNNET OF RASPBERRIES (OR AT LEAST 24 RASPBERRIES)
• ICING SUGAR (FOR DUSTING)

Madeleine Method

1. Heat the oven to 190 degrees.
2. Melt the butter and put aside to cool down.
3. Beat the eggs with the sugar until pale and frothy.  Put the flour and baking powder into a separate bowl and add the lemon zest.
4. Mix the honey and milk with the cooled butter, then add to the eggs and stir through.  In two batches, fold in the flour. Cover and leave in the fridge for a few hours or overnight - I store it in a piping bag so I'm ready to go when it's time to bake.
5. When you're ready to bake them, butter and flour two 12-shell Madeleine tins and put around 1 heaped tablespoon of batter into each shell.  Then place a raspberry deep into each Madeleine.
6. Bake for 5 minutes and turn the oven off for 1 minute. Then turn the oven back on to 160 degrees for a further 5 minutes.  Remove from the oven, ease the Madeleines gently out of their tin and cool on a cooling rack for a few minutes.
7. Place a little lemon curd in a piping bag and squirt a little into each Madeleine.
8. Then try not to eat the whole batch in one go!