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Very occasionally, I get the time to make something other than jam/chutney at the moment. (Watch this space for a pear chutney recipe coming soon). If you have limited time, but want something which looks and tastes good, these are perfect.They are delicious and very easy. They take about 10 – 15 minutes to throw together and a few hours in the fridge to chill, making them a great dessert to make in advance for a meal with family/friends when you want to be able to serve it with a minimum of fuss. They do contain raw egg, so you should make sure you use fresh, preferably free range eggs and follow the usual guidelines for those who should avoid them.
Recipe: Marvellous Chocolate Mousse
Summary: An easy and delicious dinner party dessert
Ingredients
- 120g Kinnertons dark chocolate
- 4 very fresh medium free range eggs
- 50g Tomor
- 2 tbsps soya cream
Instructions
- Melt the chocolate and Tomor in a bain marie (double boiler/large bowl over a saucepan of hot water). Make sure that the boiling water never touches the bottom of the bowl or your chocolate will go hard.
- When they are melted, stir them together.
- Separate the eggs, putting the whites into a large very clean bowl and the yolks into a medium one.
- Beat the whites until they are fairly firm.
- Beat the egg yolks lightly.
- Pour the melted chocolate mixture into the egg yolks and stir through evenly.
- Add the soya cream and stir well until the colour is even.
- Put a large tablespoon of the egg white into the chocolate and egg yolk mix and stir it through vigorously to loosen the texture a bit.
- Using a metal spoon, fold the chocolate mixture into the egg whites carefully and gently. You want to keep as many of the bubbles as possible.
- Spoon into ramekins, small dishes or cups and chill for at least 3 hours until needed.
Quick Notes
Never tip the eggs into the chocolate, or you’ll end up with chocolate flavoured scrambled egg as the heat of the melted stuff cooks the egg as it hits the mix!
Cooking time (duration): 15 minutes + chilling time
Diet type: Dairy-free
Number of servings (yield): 6
Meal type: dessert
Culinary tradition: French
Microformatting by hRecipe.
Sounds odd? Well, it can happen. The traditional way of preventing strawberry jam from developing a layer of scum while you’re making it, is to add a knob of butter. While I can’t believe commercial jam makers still do this, it could well still be happening in domestic jam making. This could be an issue with jam on sale at fêtes and fairs. You can always ask the stall-holder to make sure.
To be safe, you can always make your own. It’s easy and absolutely delicious. You’ll never want to buy it again!
Recipe: Strawberry Jam
Summary: Deliciously superior to the shop stuff
Ingredients
- 3lb / 1.35kg strawberries
- 3tbsps lemon juice
- 3lb / 1.35kg granulated sugar
Instructions
- Wash, hull and roughly chop the stawberries
- Simmer with the lemon juice in a large, heavy-bottomed pan for about 20 minutes, stirring frequently to prevent sticking.
- Set up your jam-making kit as described in Wild Plum Jam.
- Bring strawberries to the boil and add the sugar.
- Boil, stirring constantly for about 10 minutes.
- Test a small puddle of jam on a cold saucer and leave for a couple of minutes.
- If set, the jam will wrinkle when you push a finger-tip through the puddle.
- Remove from the heat and carefully ladle it into your hot jars, sealing up the jars as you go.
Quick Notes
Remember to label your jam.
Cooking time (duration): 35-40 minutes
Diet type: Dairy-free
Number of servings (yield): 6 x 1lb jars
Meal type: breakfast
Microformatting by hRecipe.
It’s that time of the year again! I love finding fruit in the hedgerows and turning it into jams or freezing it for fruit crumbles and tarts in the depths of winter. The last couple of weeks have been filled with picking, freezing and then jamming a huge crop of wild plums of all different sorts. They all make delicious jam. The lovely thing about plums is that they freeze really well and can be stored in the freezer until you are ready to make the jam. The fruit will frequently burst on thawing, but that doesn’t matter at all, since you’re going to be squashing them down as they simmer in a any case.
Jam is really very straightforward to make. It doesn’t have to involve specialised equipment, just a deep, heavy bottomed pan, a large wooden spoon, a set of empty, clean jam jars with lids or cellophane jar covers, three or four clean saucers, a ladle and a weighing scales. If you have narrow-necked jars, a funnel makes it easier to fill the jars without pouring jam down the outside of the jars!
You do have to be careful when making jam as boiling sugar can be dangerous. The boiling and stirring are probably best done without small children around. Mine like to help with the weighing of fruit and sugar, but that’s all. The rest is just too dangerous. They also “clean up” the testing saucers after the jam’s finished!
Here’s my recipe for Wild Plum Jam
Recipe: Wild Plum Jam
Summary: A delicious breakfast jam
Ingredients
- 6lb / 2.5kg wild plums
- about 5lb 6oz / 2.375kg granulated sugar (This weight depends on the weight of fruit you have left after the stones are removed)
Instructions
- Wash and pick over the fruit, discarding any which are starting to go off. Slight bruises will not matter, but brown squashy patches will affect the taste.
- Simmer the fruit in a large, heavy-bottomed pan, stirring frequently to prevent it from sticking.
- Squash any un-popped fruit against the side of the pan with a wooden spoon.
- Place a colander over your preserving pan or whatever you are going to make the jam in. I use a plastic colander with quite wide slots and a sieve type shape (ie. with a handle), as this sits over the edge of my deep jam pan.
- Ladle the simmered fruit into the colander a bit at a time and stir. The stones will move to the edge and you can scoop them out with a spoon.
- When you have all the stones on a plate/dish, weigh them and take their weight away from the weight of the fruit. The answer is the amount of sugar you will need to make the jam.
- Put a few saucers in the fridge ready for testing your jam.
- If you are using plastic-lined metal lids, put them in a small saucepan, cover with water and bring to the boil. Boil for at least 5 minutes to sterilise them.
- Wash your jars in hot, soapy water, rinse thoroughly and put them in the oven. Always put in one more jar than you think you could possibly need. Running out would be a disaster! Set the oven to 120 °C(100°C fan oven) / Gas Mark ½ and leave to heat with the jars in it. The jars need at least 10 minutes at temperature to be sterile and of course they must be hot enough to cope with having boiling jam poured into them. (Hot jam will crack cold glass.)
- Get all your waxed discs and cellophane tops ready, lay a complete newspaper, open at the middle, ready to receive the hot jars and set up somewhere heat resistant to put the jam pan while you do the filling.
- When you are sure that everything is ready, bring the fruit pulp to the boil and add the sugar, stirring to ensure it all dissolves without sticking to the bottom.
- Boil for about 10 minutes, or until the scum starts to appear on the surface. Skim this off.
- Test to see if the jam is ready by putting a small puddle on one of your cold saucers and leaving it in the fridge for a few minutes. If it is ready it will wrinkle when you push a finger tip through the puddle from the outside edge.
- Pot it up carefully, but fairly quickly, sealing up your pots as you go. Remember to wet the cellophane discs before putting them on the hot pots. They will shrink to give a good seal as the pots cool.
Quick Notes
Do remember to label your jam. When you come across jars after many months, it’s always good to know what is in them!
Cooking time (duration): 1 hour or thereabouts all in
Diet type: Dairy free
Number of servings (yield): lots of gorgeous breakfasts! About 10 x 1lb pots
Meal type: breakfast
Microformatting by hRecipe.
The lovely big pots of Alpro Soya summer fruits soya yoghurt which disappeared a while back are now available again,…but not in the supermarkets. Alpro have brought it back under their premium Organic healthfood shops only Provamel label. It tastes as good as ever and seems to be on offer at the moment in Holland and Barratt. I had two pots for £2, which seems good to me! I can’t imagine it’s going to stay at that price for long, so I’d get out there and enjoy it while you can before it goes up to normal health food luxury prices.
The flavour is just as good as ever. It claims to “taste fruitier” which suggests to me that it doesn’t actually have any more fruit in it, but may have more flavouring or flavour enhancers. However, it still has a good texture and has bits of fruit in it, which I like. I realise some people like their yoghurt smooth, and if you’re one of them, there is a range of other soya yoghurts covered on our reviews page if this one doesn’t do it for you.
I have had a request for a scaled up version of my madeira cake recipe for a wedding cake. The texture of madeira cake is firm enough to cope with ornate icing which makes it a good choice for wedding cakes. However, you do have to remember that it does not keep like a fruit cake. You cannot make the cakes a long way in advance and don’t expect to be able to keep a tier for the christening in the old tradition: it will not keep.
Since wedding cakes tend to come in tiers, I’ve put together a set of figures for a whole range of tin sizes. I haven’t made anything as huge as the big ones myself, so I can’t swear to their failsafe-ness but the figures are accurately scaled up. If you are making a cake for anything important I would always urge you to have a dry run to make sure that everything works properly.
Choose either the metric or the imperial measurements, but don’t mix them up. For measuring small quantities in mls, use metric measuring spoons: 1 tsp = 5 mls. A random teaspoon out of the cutlery drawer may well not be anywhere near this.
The first set of measurements are in metric:
|
8”/20cm round |
7” square |
9”/23cm round |
8”/20cm square |
10”/ 25.5cm round |
9”/23cm square |
11”/28cm round |
10”/25.5cm square |
12”/30cm round |
11”/28cm square |
| Tomor (softened) g |
175 |
175 |
225 |
230 |
280 |
290 |
340 |
355 |
395 |
430 |
| caster sugar g |
175 |
175 |
225 |
230 |
280 |
290 |
340 |
355 |
395 |
430 |
| eggs |
3 |
3 |
4 |
4 |
4 large |
5 |
5 large |
6 |
6 large |
7 large |
| plain flour (sifted) g |
225 |
225 |
290 |
295 |
350 |
375 |
440 |
460 |
510 |
550 |
| soya milk ml |
30 |
30 |
35 |
40 |
45 |
50 |
60 |
65 |
70 |
75 |
| baking powder ml |
7.5 |
7.5 |
10 |
10 |
12.5 |
12.5 |
15 |
15 |
17.5 |
17.5 |
| grated rind of lemon |
1 |
1 |
1 large |
1 large |
1.5 |
1.5 |
2 |
2 |
2.25 |
2.5 |
| vanilla essence ml |
10 |
10 |
12.5 |
12.5 |
15 |
15 |
17.5 |
20 |
22.5 |
22.5 |
And in Imperial:
|
8”/20cm round |
7” square |
9”/23cm round |
8”/20cm square |
10”/ 25.5cm round |
9”/23cm square |
11”/28cm round |
10”/25.5cm square |
12”/30cm round |
11”/28cm square |
| Tomor (softened) oz |
6 |
6 |
7.5 |
8 |
9 |
10 |
11.5 |
12 |
13.5 |
15 |
| caster sugar oz |
6 |
6 |
7.5 |
8 |
9 |
10 |
11.5 |
12 |
13.5 |
15 |
| eggs |
3 |
3 |
4 |
4 |
4 large |
5 |
5 large |
6 |
6 large |
7 large |
| plain flour (sifted) oz |
8 |
8 |
10 |
10.5 |
12.5 |
13.5 |
15.5 |
16 |
1lb 2oz |
1lb 4oz |
| soya milk tbsp |
2 |
2 |
2.5 |
2.75 |
3 |
3.5 |
3.75 |
4 |
4.5 |
5 |
| baking powder tsp |
1.5 |
1.5 |
2 |
2 |
2.5 |
2.5 |
3 |
3 |
3.5 |
3.5 |
| grated rind of lemon |
1 |
1 |
1 large |
1 large |
1.5 |
1.5 |
1.5 large |
2 |
2 |
2.5 |
| vanilla essence tsp |
2 |
2 |
2.5 |
2.5 |
3 |
3 |
3.5 |
4 |
4.5 |
5 |
All the instructions are in the main madeira cake post. With the larger ones you may have to extend the baking time a little, but it’s not by as much as you might think as the depth of the cake is the same so the heat reaches the middle in pretty much the same time. As usual, use the gentle pressure of fingers to test the cake and you can always use a skewer to test the centre if you wish.
One I did for my daughter’s birthday:
 A celebratory madeira cake
This a recipe provided by someone who’s been working on it for a while. She uses it on carrot cake. The ingredients and method are hers and you’re welcome to contact her with any queries by leaving a comment on this post. It sounds good to me.
For this recipe you will need an electric hand held mixer, a sieve and a large mixing bowl.
Recipe: Helen’s Cream Cheese Topping
Ingredients
- 15g Stork hard margarine for pastry (NOT spread: that has milk in it)
- 60g Tofutti Original Creamy Smooth
- 15g Vitalite
- ½tsp vanilla extract
- 1 ½tsp lemon juice
- 200g icing sugar, plus extra as required
Instructions
- Beat the Stork until smooth.
- Add the Vitalite and the Tofutti Creamy Smooth and beat again.
- Add the vanilla extract and the lemon juice and mix thoroughly.
- Sift in the icing sugar and beat.
- Add more icing sugar to achieve the desired consistency (if you add even the tiniest bit too much liquid you will need more icing sugar).
Quick Notes
Good for carrot cake topping.
Preparation time (duration): 10 minutes
Diet type: Dairy-free
Meal type: dessert
Culinary tradition: English
Microformatting by hRecipe.
MILK POWDER ALERT!!
Waitrose have gone and deprived us of one of our staples for making cheesecakes!
The biscuit shelves in one of the Waitrose stores which I use now carries a label stating that their own digestive biscuits now contain milk!! They’ve changed the recipe. Apparently all new batches have new labels which have whey powder as an ingredient and include milk in the allergens list.
This is a disaster! Now we have no digestive biscuits at all that I can find without milk in them. (Other than food-free gluten-free ones baked with added cement dust.) We’re reduced to either Rich Tea or baking our own again. Why can’t they just leave a good recipe alone? Presumably milk powder is now cheap again, since it all tends to come back to overheads.
BE VERY CAREFUL!
If you have bought any Waitrose Essentials Digestive Biscuits in the last week or two, check the list ingredients very carefully. The label didn’t give a date when the recipe changed, nor did it say how long it had been there so I don’t know when exactly they became toxic. If you are in any doubt, it is always safer not to risk it.
I am currently playing around with an unbaked cheesecake recipe and to this end I have been investigating the availability of dairy free biscuits for the base. While I like baking biscuits very much, I find I’m much less enthusiastic if I know I’m baking them simply in order to crush them up for crumbs. So… here you have a few finds from a trip to Waitrose. Some are suitable for cheesecakes, some are just good biscuits.
NOT OK
McVitie’s Digestive Biscuits
These used to be fine, but were adulterated with skimmed milk powder a year or so ago. Motto: always read the label!
OK
Waitrose Essentials
Morning Coffee
These taste good and are small and nibblish. They are completely useless in a cheesecake base. They just don’t hold together. You’re left with a cheesecake which you can’t get off the plate except in dollops: not very attractive.
Ginger Nut
Bog standard ginger biscuit. Good and firm. Can be used to make a very tasty base for a baked cheesecake, but they can be very difficult to beat into submission to make crumbs! Beware, if you put fresh ginger biscuits into a food processor to crumb them from scratch, you’ll blunt your blade! Bash them hard first is my advice.
Fruit Shortcake
These are a family favourite. They do fill the back of the car with crumbs like few other biscuits I’ve come across, but they also taste really good!
Almond Biscuits
Bourbon Creams
Another fave. One of the very few “cream” biscuits which is dairy-free. Very more-ish.
Nice Biscuits
Digestive Biscuits
These remain the number one choice for cheesecake bases, whether baked or unbaked. They crush up finely and evenly and they absorb the melted spread/Tomor well, so they stick together properly.
Rich Tea
These can make a successful cheesecake base, but they do tend to go into very fine crumbs and make a slightly softer base than digestives. They work better in a baked cheesecake than an unbaked one.
Shortcake Biscuits
As usual, I shall add these to our reviews page for easy reference.
This is a great meal to make with leftovers from the weekend’s lamb joint. As it uses cooked lamb, the cooking time is fairly short, so it’s a good choice when you fancy something tasty (that isn’t just cold lamb and veg.), but you don’t have much time.
We cook Indian food in a flat-bottomed wok with a lid, which makes a good approximation for a karai. You could also use a flame-proof casserole.
Recipe: Balti-style Lamb
Ingredients
Marinade
- 12 oz / 350g cooked lamb, chopped into rough 1″/2.5cm lumps
- 3½ oz/ 100g sojade natural yoghurt
- 2 tsps ground cumin
- 2 tsps ground coriander
- 2 tsps frozen garlic, chopped finely
- 2 tsps frozen ginger, choped up or ½” / 1cm ginger, grated
Main ingredients
- 1 medium onion, finely sliced
- ½ – 1 tsp crushed, dried chillies
- 1 tbsp ground coriander
- 1 tsp ground turmeric
- 1 tin chopped tomatoes
- ½ pt / 275 ml water
- 2 tsps dried fenugreek leaves
- 1 tsp garam masala
- a good handful of chopped coriander
Instructions
- Mix all the marinade ingredients, stir in the lamb and leave for at least ½ an hour.
- Fry the onion hard for about 5 minutes, stirring it around constantly.
- Add the chillies and fry for 1 minute.
- Add the ground coriander and ground turmeric.
- Stir for about 30 seconds.
- Add the tin of tomatoes and cook fairly hard,so that it bubbles until the liquid has gone.
- Add the lamb in its marinade and cook over a medium heat for 3 – 4 minutes.
- Add the water and simmer for about 10 minutes.
- Add the fenugreek leaves and the garam masala and stir through.
- Stir in a generous handful of chopped coriander, keeping a little to sprinkle on top when serving.
Quick Notes
Serve immediately when ready, the pre-cooked meat will disintegrate if you overcook this.
Preparation time (duration): 30 – 60 minutes
Cooking time (duration): 20 minutes
Diet type: Dairy-free
Number of servings (yield): 4
Meal type: dinner
Microformatting by hRecipe.
This is a fabulously fruity and amazingly easy fruit loaf. It’s a great recipe to make with children. I made this with mine when they were not much more than 18 months old. Once they can stand on a chair, they can help to choose the proportions of the dried fruit and put handfuls onto the weighing scales.
For this recipe you will need a food processor and a 1lb loaf tin (lined with silicone paper or a loaf tin liner).
Recipe: Fast and Fabulous Fruit Loaf
Ingredients
- 7oz / 200g self-raising flour
- 4oz / 110g dairy-free spread, softened
- 2 tbsps orange juice / water / soya milk
- grated zest of 1 orange
- 6oz / 175g mixed dried fruit
- 5oz / 150g caster sugar
- 2 eggs
Instructions
- Pre-heat the oven to gas mark 4 / 350C / 180C
- Put the flour, sugar, spread and eggs in the food processor.
- Whizz for 5 seconds.
- Add the orange juice / water / soya milk.
- Whizz for 3 – 5 seconds.
- Add the dried fruit.
- Pulse to blend the fruit evenly.
- Pour the mixture into the loaf tin.
- Bake for about 1 hour. I check it after 55 minutes by gently pressing the top of the cake with my fingertips. If it is golden and springs back well, it’s done. It may need 5 – 10 minutes longer.
- Turn out the cake onto a cooling rack.
Quick Notes
The dried fruit can be a mixture of all your favourites, as long as it adds up to the right total. I chop fruit into the scales until I have the right amount. I use a mixture of sultanas, dates, apricots, cranberries and prunes and sometimes I vary this with glacé cherries or glacé ginger.
Preparation time (duration): 10 minutes
Cooking time (duration): 55 minutes – 65 minutes
Diet type: Dairy-free
Number of servings (yield): 12
Meal type: dessert
Culinary tradition: English
Microformatting by hRecipe.
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