reverse crumble chocolate dessert

Raymond Blanc’s reverse crumble chocolate dessert is something I've come across while cruising the interweb for chocolate cake recipes, because who doesn't? It looks pretty good. Overnight chill needed, and not much flour, so the current shortage of the stuff might not put you off, so long as you can get cream, butter, milk and eggs.

If you substitute gluten free flour in the crumble, you have a gluten free dessert. 

Method

Grease an 8”/20cm cake ring, line a baking tray with greaseproof paper and sit the ring on it

Set the oven to 160 fan oven 170 normal oven

For crumble

35g butter unsalted, cold

35g sugar demerera

pinch of salt

30g flour (gf if you like)

1/5 tsp cocoa powder

Combine to a breadcrumb texture to make a crumble and bake in oven 170 for 10-12m

for choc cream

90ml whipping cream

150ml full fat milk

155g 70% choc broken into pieces

1 egg

• heat the milk and cream together to almost boiling
• start beating the egg gently then slowly pour hot milk into the beaten egg continue beating to combine.
• add the chocolate to the hot egg/milk mixture and keep beating slowly until the chocolate has melted completely, which may take a few minutes.
• allow the mixture to cool then pour over the crumble base and leave to chill in the fridge overnight

Just before serving

• slip the cake onto a plate
• loosen the edge of the cake with a hot knife and remove the ring before serving

Beetroot salad - mustard vinaigrette

Even in the winter, salad is a lovely part of a meal. Some people like pickles with their meals, but I prefer salad. Of course there is no stopping you having both.

Yesterday we had a sit down weekday lunch, one of those lunches where everyone eats something different, even though you’re eating at home.  My plate housed a mixed green salad with avocado, asparagus and watercress using the Long Family dressing, a traditional olive oil, vinegar and garlic dressing. I also put together a quick beetroot salad. I’ve posted the recipe before as one of my hors d’oeuvres posts.

I used to go to the green grocer, and to market stalls and beetroot would be bubbling away on a camping stove

, the earthy smell wafting along the road, drawing me in. Freshly cooked beets were ready to buy, and when you came to use them the dry outer skin could be rubbed off, revealing the rich deep red flesh ready to eat, sweet and cool. The supermarkets sell small versions of the larger lovely beets and both can be wonderfully dressed with a mustard vinaigrette. The onion is essential, and the longer it sits in the dressing with the beetroot the better – but it is still pretty good straight away.

Beetroot Salad Recipe

Four small beetroot or equivalent

One small onion

Mustard vinaigrette

• Slice the beetroot to suit – I like it diced
• Finely chop the onion
• Mix with vinaigrette

Vinaigrette

Large teaspoon Dijon mustard

Large pinch salt

Generous grindings of black pepper

I tbsp wine vinegar

2 tbsp light oil (sunflower or similar)

• mix salt, pepper and mustard
• stir in the vinegar until it is well combined
• stir in oil until dressing looks like a loose mayonnaise

Variations of ingredients and methods

• Walnuts and parsley are delicious additions to the salad
• A little whisk makes combining the mustard dressing easier

Ricotta citrus tart, crostata to some

I have just made this tart twice, adapting Carluccio’s recipe a bit. It is really easy, and the result is a very light cheesecake, with a flavour reminiscent of pannetone. The difference between this recipe and a more usual cheesecake is that the eggs are separated and the beaten egg whites give it a lift. I’ve seen it made with short crust elsewhere too, which would make it richer. Also, Carluccio adds the lemon zest after cooking, which gives an extra tang.

I used half a packet of puff pastry and rolled it very thin, and leaving about a one inch overlap, which gets folded over the mixture. Then I put little straps of pastry across, which I think looks good, but a rather acerbic relative (while eating it) said makes it looks like a hot cross bun, clearly meaning not in a good way. Sob.

In the mixture I added a spoonful of marmalade, reducing the sugar a little.

Carluccio says this tart is delicious served on its own or with roasted pears, which I haven’t tried yet.

Ingredients

For the pastry

·         1 x 400g/14oz ready-made puff pastry

·         Plain flour for dusting

·         1 lemon finely grated zest only

For the filling

·         300g/10½oz ricotta cheese

·         200g/7oz mascarpone cheese

·         200g/7oz candied peel roughly chopped

·         125g/4½oz caster sugar

·         6 free-range eggs, separated

Preparation method

1.     Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4.

2.     Roll the pastry out on a lightly floured work surface to a 3mm/⅛in thickness. Use the pastry to line a 25cm/10in pastry case. Cover with a damp cloth while you make the filling.

3.     In a bowl, mix the ricotta, mascarpone and candied peel with 100g/3½oz of the sugar and five of the egg yolks until smooth and well combined.

4.     Whisk the egg whites in another large, clean bowl until fluffy. Whisk in the remaining sugar and continue whisking until stiff peaks form when the whisk is removed.

5.     Using a large metal spoon, fold the whites into the ricotta mixture, then pour into the pastry-lined tart tin.

6.     Beat the reserved egg yolk in a bowl. Fold in the overhanging pastry and brush with the egg yolk. Bake in the oven for 30 minutes, until the pastry is cooked through and the filling has a slight wobble in the centre.

7.     Set aside to cool for two hours, then sprinkle with lemon zest.

Cake for an occasion

I'm revisiting Burnt Sugar Cake, which is a cake for sharing. It's not just that it is large, it's also a cake that tempts you to have another slice, and the second slice somehow always disappoints. This is a cake that really impresses, it's a surprise, it's flavour reminds the adult eater of a childish love of sweetness, and panders to to skewed taste of the young, so it ticks lots of boxes.

easy peasy green tomato chutney

You never know how many green tomatoes you're going to end up with, so I've given the recipe in volume equivalents.At the bottom of the recipe I've added a recipe with absolute weights and measures

in volume
4 parts green tomatoes
1 part brown sugar
1 part sharp apple
1 part raisins
1 part onions
1.5 parts malt vinegar
tsp cayenne
tsp mustard seeds
tsp salt
piece fresh ginger

use a large pan, not aluminium as it reacts to the acid

• chop up the green tomatoes
• slice the onions
• peel, core and chop apple
• tie up the mustard seeds and ginger in a bit of muslin
• put all ingredients together in large pan and bring to the boil
• boil for an hour or until it reaches good consistency

allow to cool
pour into jars, following the anti-botulism protocols

yum

grilled marinated chicken strips that make you overeat

Four skinless chicken breasts, cut into strips.

2 med onions
1 clove garlic
2.5cm/1" ginger
1tsp thai green curry powder*
5cm/2" cream coconut
generous handful of powdered coconut
juice of 1 lemon
fresh coriander - approx 1/3 generous bunch - incl. leaves, stem and washed root

good pinch of salt

1 mug water

With blender	Without blender
Grate or chop up cream coconut and add ½ mug boiling water – leave to melt	Grate or chop up cream coconut and add ½ mug boiling water – leave to melt
Peel onions.	Peel onions.
Roughly chop onions, coriander, garlic and ginger, put in blender jug. Add ½ mug water and coconut cream mixture. Blend.	Grate onions, put grated onion into bowl. Finely chop coriander, garlic and ginger and add to bowl. Add ½ mug water and coconut cream mixture and mix.
Add lemon juice, salt, thai curry powder and powdered coconut and mix to a paste.
Mix  chicken strips with paste until they're well covered. Leave for at least two hours or overnight. Thread onto skewers – makes about 8 large skewers. If you haven't got skewers or don't want to use them, you can cook the chicken without, but you'll need to cook the strips in batches and turning them takes longer.
Cook under preheated grill for 10-12 minutes, turning once. Wrap cooked chicken strips in tin foil and leave for at least 10 minutes. Eat hot or cold.

* If you can't find it, try this combo

2 Tbsp fish sauce OR 4 tinned anchovies OR omit

½ tsp ground cumin

½ tsp ground coriander

½ tsp chilli powder, or one seeded green chilli

ground lemon grass or zest of a lemon or lime


other chicken recipes: flattened chicken roast chicken chicken of forty cloves of garlic