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Almond Crêpes

 

This was a lovely breakfast idea I spied in Goodfood Magazine a while back – and so easy! It can be made per person or per crêpe and so it is even doable on a midweek morning. It’s lovely and filling and can be used as a vehicle for healthy or not-so-healthy toppings. The crêpes tend to stick a little and don’t behave quite like the tradtional ones, but I was prepared to accept that once I tasted them! With a little greek yoghurt and fruit, it does feel like a treat.

Per crêpe:

1 large egg

1.5tblsp ground almonds

1 tblsp water

I decided to be novel and gave the kids a jar to each shake their own (I know!) but feel free to beat the ingredients in a bowl, unless of course you’d like to do that too!

Heat a medium pan with a spoon of oil and when the pan is medium hot, pour the beaten egg mix in and swirl it around to coat the pan. Don’t let the pan get too hot. Now leave it set for a minute or two, then it is done (no flipping this one!) Turn carefully out onto a plate and eat with your favourite accompaniments.

We have tried berries and coconut yoghurt (Glenisk is yum), diced apple and raspberries or cherries with a dash of maple syrup, and blueberries with greek yoghurt swirled with a spoon of lemon curd. All delish!

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Cheat’s Toasted Marshmallow Ice-cream

First of all, I have to confess that if you are looking for a recipe for making your own ice-cream, you’ll be disappointed. This was a major shortcut/experiment and was an exercise merely designed to coax some summer weather gently back into our lives again! Second confession; I am not that into ice-cream! I am in the tiny minority in my family though and these little bites of summer went down a treat with the gang here!

I made the ice-cream the day before and then I went OTT (as I like to do) and made the Graham Crackers (for serving it in ice-cream sandwiches) from scratch to get the real s’mores effect. They were, I think, not worth the bother. In future, I’d either buy a nice cookie, or use any nice chocolate chip recipe which would be faster and would not require two rounds of chilling for the dough!

1 tub of Vanilla Ice-cream (I used Aldi, 900ml tub)

Few handfuls of mini marshmallows (enough to cover a shallow swiss roll tin)

1 small handful of chocolate chips

3-4 chocolate chip cookies, crumbled

Cookies, to sandwich the ice-cream, if desired

 

 

Take the ice-cream out of the freezer to soften up. You will need to be able to fold the ingredients through it. Now prep the tin that you will freeze your ice-cream in. Double line an 8×8 tin with cling film, leaving enough of an overhang at the sides.

Now, take a shallow tin and line it with non-stick foil (or foil brushed with a little oil) put the marshmallows and chocolate chips in an even layer. Preheat the grill to a medium/high setting for toasting the mashmallows. Beware! They will go from toasty to fire hazard so actually stare at them as they toast. They will be done in two minutes!

When done, fold gently into the ice-cream in a large bowl, adding two of the crumbled cookies (or more to taste) Moving quickly now, scrape it all into the prepared tin and smooth over the top sprinkling a few crumbles on top.

Freeze.

You can serve as is, with a little chocolate sauce, or as an ice-cream sandwich, using cookies or wafers.

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Pecan and Chocolate Chip Scones

I tend to use the BBC Good Food recipe for Ultimate Scones. It has never failed me and I can make it in my sleep at this stage. It’s a lovely basic recipe and perfect with jam and cream. I’ve added pecans and chocolate here. I usually double it as when you are going to all the bother of getting your hands and worktop messy, you should make it worth your while! I throw some raw unbaked ones in the freezer and bake them from frozen at a later date (just adding a few minutes to the cooking time), which is handy. This makes about ten or so:-

450g self-raising flour (plus extra to dust)

100g butter, cold

50g sugar

250ml buttermilk plus about 8 tblsp milk to thin it out

50g of chopped dark chocolate

50g chopped toasted pecans

 

Preheat the oven to 220c/200c fan. Put the flour in a large bowl and add the butter. I like to grate my butter in. I have an ancient grater and am so unwilling to part with it as it does this job perfectly.  Just grab the butter rub it in the flour and grate away – makes the butter very easy to mix in with the flour.

Mix it in every so often. Now mix in the sugar and make a well in the middle. Mix the buttermilk in using a butter knife to incorporate it all together. Now gently mix in the nuts and chocolate.

When mixed, tumble it out onto a floured board. Less is more in terms of handling now. Pat the dough out to a thickness of 2.5cm. Using a cutter of approx 4cm diameter, cut the scones out by pushing the cutter straight down. Twisting it makes them wonky! Work the scraps together and cut more out, placing them on a baking tray. Bake in a preheated oven for 12 minutes and cool on a wire tray.

 

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Pavlova

This is a nod to my old pal and workmate N. If there was a birthday or a reason to celebrate, this wonder appeared. She also made all things better in our office by appearing with this at other times too. It is just delish. I love to use golden caster sugar as it makes the meringues creamy and golden looking.

A couple of pointers when making pavlova: Make sure your bowl and tools are completely clean and grease free. It may seem an obvious point but any leftover butter will spoil your meringue. Let your meringue cool in the oven too, so if you have other items on your menu, plan accordingly!  Finally, fill at the last minute if at all possible. Eat immediately – this is never usually a problem.

Ingredients

4 egg whites, at room temperature

225g caster sugar

1 tsp cornflour

1tsp white vinegar

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Begin by drawing a 20cm circle on a piece of baking parchment and place on a cookie sheet. This will be your outline for your pavlova. Preheat your oven to 120c

If you would like to make individual nests that serve one generously, draw 4 inch circles on parchment paper – I can usually get around six out of this quantity.

Whisk the egg whites until stiff in a stand mixer (or with a handheld electric whisk) then beat in the caster sugar 1 tablespoon at a time. Follow with the vanilla extract, vinegar and cornflour.

Spoon the mix onto the circle of parchment and make a slight indentation in the middle. Bake for 1 hour until firm. If you are making the individual mini(ish) versions, they will bake at 120c for 30 minutes before you turn off the oven and let them cool. Either way, after the time, turn off the oven and let the meringue cool in the oven with the door closed  this prevents too much cracking

Here are a few ideas for fillings:

A selection of berries marinated in 2 tblsp of balsamic vinegar, 2 tsp of brown sugar and 1/2 tsp of vanilla extract. I used raspberries, cherries, blueberries and strawberries. I filled the nests with half whipped cream and half greek yoghurt and topped with the berries

Sliced mango and strawberries with basil and a teeny squeeze of lime. Again, I used equal parts greek yoghurt and whipped cream.

And my current favourite: roast apple with hazelnut and maple syrup. Inspired by a Diana Henry recipe, I roasted peeled cored apple halves sprinkled with brown sugar at 190c for 20 minutes, removing them from the oven and drizzling them with a little maple syrup and letting them cool. When cool, dice them any way you want, they don’t need to be uniform. Again fill the nests with a mix of whipped cream and greek yoghurt and a touch of maple syrup. Top with the diced apple and a little of the maple/apple juices and sprinkle with some toasted hazelnuts. Heavenly.

 

 

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Cheese and Onion Crisp Cookies

Now bear with me. This you will either love or hate. Please don’t knock it till you try it. If you like the salty/sweet combo you will love these cookies. If you don’t there is something wrong with you!!! In blind tests conducted by me on unsuspecting friends and family, most did in fact like these cookies when they tasted them – interestingly not everyone figured out the ingredients!

Again, I’m grateful to the smitten kitchen for the fabulous recipe, though I did put an Irish twist on it with the cheese and onion 😉 I did not add extra salt to the cookie batter though I did go totally over the top and sprinkle crushed crisp crumbs, Maldon and drizzle chocolate too.

1 cup (225 grams) butter, softened
1/2 cup (100 grams) golden caster sugar,

1/2 cup demerara sugar – or a coarser sugar for rolling
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup chopped and toasted pecans
1/2 cup finely crushed crisps. I used Keogh’s Dubliner Cheese and Onion
2 cups (250 grams) all-purpose flour

For the topping:

1 tblsp crushed crisps, as above

1 1/2 tsps Maldon salt

4-6 squares of chocolate (at least 52%)melted, for drizzling
1 teaspoon butter

Preheat oven to 170c. Line two baking trays with baking paper and set aside. With a stand mixer, beat the butter with 1/2 cup of the sugar until pale and fluffy. Add vanilla, pecans, 1/2 cup crushed crisps and flour and gently mix until combined.

Place the coarser sugar in a small bowl. Roll tablespoon sized scoops of dough into a ball with your hands.  I used a cookie scoop to measure. Roll them in the sugar then place on the prepared tray – use a cup or drinking glass to gently flatten them.

Sprinkle each cookie with some crisp crumbs and a few flakes of salt.

Bake cookies until lightly golden at the edges, about 12-15 minutes. Transfer to cool on a wire rack.

Melt the chocolate and butter until smooth and drizzle or dip the cookies and let set on a rack. Enjoy.