JAM!

We have a little house in London, and are very lucky to have a relatively big back garden compared to most. It isn't very wide, but it is 100ft long. It is south west facing, and gets a lot of sun, so much that we have been known to have barbecues in January.

At the bottom of the garden, we have a vegetable patch and some raspberry canes.  Every year I diligently pick the raspberries and put them in zip-lock bags in the freezer, ready to make JAM!

This year was a bad year for our vegetable patch for everything except cherry tomatoes and raspberries. From the summer fruiting raspberries from the beginning of June, and the Autumn fruiting berries I was picking up until last weekend, I picked 5.4kg of raspberries. So many that my dear husband was getting ever so slightly annoyed with the amount of room they were taking up in the freezer – and he rarely gets annoyed with anything. So, cue a visit from my lovely in-laws, and a jam making frenzy.

Step one: sterilise the jars you want to use, and then put them in the oven on a deep sided baking tray on very low heat (50 degrees Celsius is fine, but no higher).

Step two:  You need the same weight in granulated white sugar as fruit.  Keep this aside until step four. You don't need preserving sugar as raspberries contain high levels of pectin – the added ingredient in preserving sugar.

Step three: Place the raspberries in the pan along with the jam thermometer. It will heat up along with the raspberries to stop it from heating too quickly and shattering.  Bring the raspberries to boiling point, while stirring all the time. Let the fruit boil until the murkiness at the surface clears somewhat (keep stirring!).

Step four: Add the sugar while stirring it in as quickly as you can. Keep stirring to stop any of the sugar and fruit mixture burning or sticking to the bottom of the pan.  Boil until the mixture reaches the 'Jam' setting point on the thermometer (keep stirring!).  You will need to skim off any of the foamy residue on the surface.

Once you reach that point, get one of the plates you put in the freezer and drizzle a small amount of the jam/sugar mixture on the back of the plate.  You should be able to push it along itself with one finger and it form a skin. If it doesn't, keep boiling and try in a few minutes.  If  this is your first go at making a jam, you might want to put a few plates in.  Not all thermometers are accurate, so you may need to experiment to find out where is the right point on yours.

Once it reaches the 'skin' stage, turn off the heat and get yourself a clean plate and a small metal milk jug.  You can use this to fill your jars and stops drips. Don't forget the jam funnel.

Fill jars up to the base of the funnel. Place a wax circle on top, and add a plastic circle that has been soaked briefly in water and secure with a rubber band.

 Allow to cool and then put the lids on, label up pretty up if you want to... I did as I'll be selling 24 jars of this at a stall I have at a Winter Fair next week, with all proceeds going to Crisis.

Husband Rating: Husband decline to give this a rating as he said he couldn't see how you could get a better jam, but doesn't want to keep giving everything 10/10 all the time. Fair enough really. I'll have to make something bad to get him back on track.

Carrot Cake

Ah, carrot cake. I became obsessed with carrot cake in my first year of University. I've never liked coffee, but all my friends used to meet each morning in one of the cafes and drink coffee. I'd always have a chocolate Moove (fresh, chocolate milk) or an orange juice and every now and then, a piece of Sara Lee carrot cake.  That's what got the love started. You can still buy Sara Lee carrot cake in the freezer section of supermarkets in Australia. I still like it. But... and it is a big but, it is nowhere near as nice as a home made carrot cake.

For me, there are a few unbreakable rules to achieve carrot cake greatness:

1. It absolutely, positively must have cream cheese icing - none of that butter cream rubbish, which is ridiculously sweet. You want something a little sweet, but not overpowering. If you get that cloying sweet sensation of sugar overload in your mouth, you know you have gone too far.

2. It must include either walnuts or pecans that have been toasted gently before putting in the mix. (Yes, it does make a difference!)

3. You must, must, must include both vanilla extract (not essence - that's rule No.1 of Baking 101) and lots of cinnamon.

4. The cake must be moist and have a good texture.

I've been on the search for the perfect carrot cake for many a moon.  I have two favourite recipes. This is the first.  I'll share the second another time.  This one is a bit more refined than my other favourite. The lemon zest in the icing gives it a gorgeous flavour which really complements the sweetness of the carrots and slight bitterness of the walnuts.

I cooked this for a charity bake sale in aid of White Ribbon Day. I put the cake together at work, so the icing is a bit rushed. It didn't detract from the taste. I am not exaggerating when I say that this was bought up within two minutes of being put on sale.

You can find the recipe on the incredibly awesome site that is Joy of Baking.

Husband Rating: 10/10 

Joy of Baking's Carrot Cake

Quiche Lorraine

I’ve been yearning to try and make a quiche for a while. My mother-in-law makes the best quiche I’ve ever tasted. I chose Quiche Lorraine because of the bacon, egg, onion combination. After some deliberation over which recipe to go for, I reverted to one of my favourite cooks – Rachel Allen’s recipe from her book ‘Bake’. 

I cooked this in a massive hurry after work, so I wasn’t particularly bothered about getting the pastry perfect.  In fact, I quite like imperfect pastry. I like how the little misshapen bits take on a different texture and flavour to the rest of the pastry. I cooked the quiche in my 22cm deep Le Creuset pie dish rather than a flan dish, as I wanted a deep filling.  

I was really happy with how it turned out. It was well balanced, light and fluffy texture but with plenty of flavour from the bacon and onions coming through. The pastry was easy to make, and complemented the filling really well.  It probably isn’t an after work dish – it is better suited to a lazy weekend, but when I get a yearning to bake, I have to run with it.

Husband rating: 9/10

Quiche Lorraine
Serves 6

450g shortcrust pastry
1 tbsp olive oil
175g streaky bacon, cut in to 1cm lardons
1 large onions, peeled and finely chopped
2 eggs and 2 egg yolks
250ml double cream
1 small tbsp. chopped parsley
1 small tbsp. chopped chives
50g cheddar, grated
50g Gruyere, grated
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

19cm high sided tart tin or 23cm shallow tin

 
Method

1. Make the pastry or use bought.
2. Preheat the oven to 180c/ Gas Mark 4. Line the tin and bake blind.
3. Heat the oil in a frying pan and cook the bacon until crisp.  Remove and dry on kitchen paper. Sweat the onions gently in the same oil for 10 minutes.
4. Meanwhile, whisk the eggs in a medium-sized bowl, add the cream, herbs, cheese and cooled bacon and onions. Mix well and add seasoning.
5.  Pour the filling into the pastry base and return to the oven for 30-40 minutes, or until the centre has set.

Serve warm, or just as nice cold out of the fridge.  Bon Appetit!

 

Pavlova

As a child, I remember Pavlova as one of those desserts that us kids didn't like or touch. Now it is one of the things I most associate with summer.  

The secret is to get the meringue crisp on the outside, and chewy on the inside. Topped with whipped cream and fresh fruit, you can't beat it. I used sliced banana, strawberries, raspberries, sliced kiwi fruit and fresh passion fruit pulp squeezed over the top. You can also use mandarin, or clementine segments and blueberries are lovely too.

Husband rating: 12/10 (Yes I know, that's cheating)

Pavlova

Meringue:

Egg whites of four eggs

1 cup of caster sugar

1 teaspoon of cornflour

1 teaspoon of vinegar

1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

Topping:

600ml double cream (whipping cream), beaten

Vanilla pod (optional)

Fruit of your choice, washed and sliced.

Preheat the oven to 120 degrees Celsius. Prepare a baking tray by greasing and lining it with baking parchment. I use a pizza tray.

You will need to whip your eggs in a large bowl with smooth sides. It must be very clean.  To ensure it is completely clean, you can wash it with detergent and once dry, rub it with lemon juice and rinse out again, which will remove any last greasy residue from the bowl.

Beat the egg whites with an electric mixer until soft peaks form. Then gradually add the sugar. Beat until firm and the sugar is completely combined and you no longer detect any sugar granules. You should be able to tip the bowl over your head without any mixture spilling.

Add the vinegar, vanilla and cornflour and combine. Then spoon out in a circle on to the tray. You will want a dip in the centre for the cream and fruit topping.

Cook for one hour in the pre-heated oven.  Once cooked, turn off the oven and leave the oven door ajar until the meringue is completely cool.

Just before serving, scrape out the vanilla pod and add it to the cream, then whip until it reaches the right consistency.  Place your fruit on top. Enjoy!

Bunting-tastic

During July and August, I spent most of my spare time making bunting for a family wedding in the south of France. The bride asked for a vintage look with pastels, to fit in with her overall theme. I found fabric and double-checked that she liked it, and then got on with the job. In the end, I cut out 280 flags, and made it up in ten metre lengths to make 60 metres to zig-zag across the room. It was a lot of work, but so much fun, and it looked fantastic.


The trick is to find four to six fabrics that work together tone and colour wise. I cut out the flags using pinking shears using this template and then play around with the order until I'm happy with it.

I then pin it up using 2.5cm wide bias binding cut in to ten metre lengths...

And then sew it up...

The real satisfaction came not when I finished it, but when I put it up in the hall where the reception was held. It really set all the other amazing hand-made decorations off. It was a fantastic wedding, and such a pleasure to be a part of in a small way.