Category Sweet Treats

Gingerbread Ice Cream, Lemon Apple Tart

December 26, 2014 Comments Off read Sweet Treats

Gingerbread! Not only is it a festive crowd and stomach pleaser but its also an adored treat in the Wardlaw household! So what could be better than gingerbread and ice cream combined for a festive spicy Christmas lunch dessert this year. I think I’ve gotten a little carried away with the gingerbread theme recenty (see here for gingerbread latte macaroons and here for gingerbread scotch pancakes). And those that know me know that ice cream is my achilles heel (see here for some inventive creations).

We’re probably in the minority in terms of food ethos on Christmas day. While many people might not think twice about their pudding choice I like to choose something that leads on from the indulgent main event that leaves people feeling happy and not sick and queezy. Don’t get me wrong, we’re a family with healthy appetite but a modest one. So, I always create something fresh and clean to cleanse the greasy remains of the turkey lunch so this zesty fresh tart is perfect.

This is a really old and long used tart recipe which could not be more simple to knock out! If you’re not making your own pastry it can be ready to go in under an hour!

Serves 6

Gingerbread Ice Cream

Although you could just flavour the ice cream base with gingerbread spices, I thought some added crumbled gingerbread would be a nice addition. Gingerbread is characteristcally mosit so I dried and crisped mine up beforehand to provide some texture to the final snowball scoop.

1 can condensed milk
300ml single cream
1tsp ground ginger
1tsp ground cinnamon
200g gingercake (I used Jamacian ginger loaf)

Preheat the oven to 200°C. Crumble the ginger cake onto a baking tray and bake for about 15 minutes or so, keeping an eye on it, until it begins to crisp a bit or loose some of its moisture. Remove from the oven and leave to cool. Don’t worry – once its cooled it will crisp up more.
Mix the condensed milk and cream together thoroughly in a jug then add the spices and mix.
Churn in an ice cream maker until thick but not too set. Alternatively you can pour it into a tupperware box and leave to set in the freezer until thicker and no longer sloppy.
Once the ice cream is the right consistency and the cake crumbs have cooled, stir them into the ice cream so it is distributed evenly and then freeze until hard.

Lemon and Apple Tart

Shortcrust Pastry (enough for 2 tart cases)

125g unsalted butter
250g plain flour
Zest of 1 lemon

Filling

1 large cooking apple
2 large eggs, whisked
1 lemon, zest and juice
100g caster sugar
50g melted butter

Start with the pastry. I like to use plain shortcrust as the ice cream and filling are sweet enough. Mix together the butter and flour in a food processer until it forms a breadcrumb like texture and then grate in the lemon zest and mix.
Keep adding a few tbsps of cold water bit by bit and mix until you form a soft smooth dough.
Form gently into a dough and shape into a disc. Wrap in cling film and leave to rest in the fridge for about 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 180°C and line and grease a 20cm loose bottomed tart tin.
Once rested, roll the pastry thinly on a floured surface and line the tart tin pushing the pastry into the edges neatly. Use a fork to prick 4-5 wholes across the base to stop it puffing up while cooking. Line with a sheet of baking parchment and fill with baking beans. Bake the tart case blind for about 15-20 minutes until it has a light straw colour and is mostly cooked.
Remove the beans and parchment and return the case to the oven to cook the base for about more 5 minutes. Finally brush with a little beaten egg to cover the wholes and seal the pastry.
Leave the case to cool while you make the filling.
Whisk the eggs, sugar and lemon zest and juice in a bowl.
Melt the butter and add to the mixture, whisking as you go.
Grate the apple into the eggs too.
Fill the tart case with the mixture and bake in the oven for about 35-40 minutes until just set and golden on top.

Serve the tart dusted with icing sugar and with a snowball of gingerbread ice cream!

Gingerbread Latte Macaroons

November 17, 2014 Comments Off read Sweet Treats

Its official. The John Lewis advert has graced our televisions and Starbucks have out their red cups so Christmas is fast approaching! Yay! For those who know me will know I’m a Christmas fan through and thorough…however I can’t have celebrations too early. No songs before December 1st and no tree until at least the first week! So festive flavours are a tasty and subtle introduction to the festive season. After a couple of delicious novelty Christmas coffees shared on a chilly Sunday evening after a lovely weekend last week I was inspired to make these. Its been a whle since I’ve knocked out a batch of macarons but these were dying to be made.

Makes about 15

Macarons

90g eggs whites (about 3)
30g golden caster sugar
100g icing sugar
200g ground almonds
½ tsp ground ginger
¼ tsp ground cinnamon
Pinch nutmeg

Buttercream

1 heaped tsp coffee dissolved in 1 tbsp boiling water
80g butter, unsalted and softened
40g sieved icing sugar

Line a baking tray with parchment and preheat the oven to 140°C.
Whisk the eggs whites until soft peaks. Add the sugar bit by bit whisking until glossy stiff peaks form
Blend the almonds, icing sugar and spices in a food processor until fine.
Fold 1/3 into the eggs whites (you can be more heavy handed with the first 1/3)
After this fold in the rest, being careful to retain as much air as possible.
Spoon the mixture into a piping bag and pipe consistent macarons onto the baking tray. mine were fairly large. The size doesn’t matter as long as they are all the same!
Leave to rest and form a ‘skin’ (delightful!) for about 20-30 minutes
Bak for about 15-20 minutes depending on their size.
Leave to cook before lifting from the parchment.
Blend the butter cream ingredients together until blended. Spoon into another piping bag and pipe onto one macaroon half. Sandwich together with another empty shell and repeat with the rest.
Eat with a warm coffee or store in an airtight container!

Pear and Cinnamon Cake with Lotus Buttercream

October 25, 2014 Comments Off read Sweet Treats

wanted to create an Autumn cake that would fit with the seasons. Having been a bit of a stranger to baking recently, a gloriously empty leafy weekend back home seemed like a good time to reassure myself that The Great British Bake Off hadn’t detered me from the cake world! Pears seemed like a good choice here and I’m a cinnamon addict. After recently discovering the delights of ‘Lotus spread’ I felt it needed a place in one of my recipes so is used here in a crunchy coffee tainted buttercream. The chocolate leaves are a nice Autumnal touch here for a special occasion but feel free to leave these off if life is far too short in your eyes…

Makes 2 small cakes or 1 large one

Cake

740g pears
40g butter
3 tbsp light muscovado sugar
½ heaped tsp cinnamon
200g butter
200g sugar
200g self raising flour
½ tsp baking powder
3 large eggs, beaten lightly

Peel, core and halve the pears and diced.
Heat the 40g butter, sugar and cinnamon in a frying pan until melted.
Add the pears and cook until the pears and softened and the caramel thickens and coats the pears. Set aside to cool.
Preheat the oven to 170°C. and grease and line 2 small cake tins (15cm wide) or one large one (24cm spring form tin)
Cream the butter and sugar together until fluffy.
Add the eggs bit by bit with a little flour if it curdles.
Fold in the flour and baking powder
Finally fold in the pears and their syrup and spoon into the tins.
bake for about 35-40 minutes until springy to touch and cooked in the middle. Leave to cool.

NOTE: Cake tin size: I used two small tins. This isn’t really a recipe that could make a tiered cake due to the pears which make it more of a dense cake. So either use 2 small tins for 2 cakes or one large one. I also had some extra mixture so made a few muffins (which will take about 20 minutes to bake) as gifts to take to some willing friends.

Topping

160g unsalted butter, softened
80g ‘Lotus biscuit spread’, crunchy
90g ish icing sugar
40-50g dark chocolate
Handful mint leaves

Start with the chocolate leaves. Melt the chocolate in a heatproof bowl over some simmering water until melted.
Use a pastry brush and coat the back of the mint leaves very thickly. Done too thinly and they will snap when ready. Don’t worry about doing these really thickly. Lay over a rolling pin to dry and pop in the fridge.
Once set, remove from the fridge. I won’t lie, this bit is fiddly and I think I only ended up with 2 whole leaves. But, the effect is still good. Make sure your hands are really hot and carefully peel the mint leaf from the chocolate. Repeat and set these aside carefully.
For the buttercream, cream together the butter, spread and as much icing sugar to taste. This is a guide and your tastes will vary.
Spoon into a piping back and use to pipe your cakes
Decorate with the leaves and serve!

Almond Blackcurrant Tarts with Salted Lime

September 29, 2014 Comments Off read Sweet Treats

I spent a gorgeously sunny few days at home in Wiltshire this weekend and had to make a batch of my favourite sweet treat. The recipe is from one of my previous blog posts but adapted slightly with some lime salt which I thought was a quirky experiment. I love salt with sweetness and the sharp lime and blackcurrant in this recipe make sure you’ll never forget the taste. Served with coconut ice cream it would happily top off my last meal…

Recipe

1 x Blackcurrant almond tart recipe
1-2 limes
2 tbsp icing sugar
Pinch salt
Mint to decorate

Make the basic tartlets as per the recipe link above adding the zest of 1 lime to the frangipane mixture.
For the icing, mix about 2 tbsp of icing sugar with a tiny amount of lime juice and mix until thick. Add more icing sugar if its too runny. Spoon into a plastic piping bag and snip off the end.
Once cool, ice a neat pattern or random design on top.
Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 75°C. Place the zest of 1- ½ a lime on a piece of parchment on a baking tray and dry in the low oven for about 20 minutes to intensify the flavours. Alternatively you can leave it to dry overnight. Mix the dried zest with a tiny pinch of salt.
Scatter sparingly on top of the tarts and top with a few dainty leaves of mint.

Lime Curd Bounty Bites

September 27, 2014 Comments Off read Sweet Treats

A little experiment from another Greek treat my sister and I recently collapsed over in owe and love on our recent holiday. ‘Calm down’ you may say, its basically a bounty stuck on a biscuit? Agreed. But a good one and after a 5th evening of baklava, this was most welcome.

On returning home I’ve adapted my own version. I usually use recipes, books and blogs just for inspiration more than a guide and I’m not one to steal recipes like for like without my own twist. But the filling needed a starting point so I’ve used the solid recipe from a fellow blogger (see here….but please return!) and spiked mine with lime curd. Like I say, it was an experiment and apparently lime curd doesn’t freeze? (see recipe for more detail on this) But these still turned out pretty awesome.

PS. No I didn’t stick mine to a biscuit but a ginger snap wouldn’t go a-miss here. Or anywhere for that matter?

Makes about 15

140g unsweetened desiccated coconut (and some for decoration)
40ml coconut oil, melted
30ml maple syrup
Lime curd – optional (enough for 1tsp/bite)
Zest 1 lime
100g Green & Blacks 85% dark chocolate (Also good here would be their lemon flavour bar)

Begin by combining the coconut, 35ml of the coconut oil, syrup and a pinch of salt in a food processor until well combined.
Use a ice cube tray or mini cupcake mould and line with cling film. If using the lime curd, drop a small tsp into each.
Fill each hole with a tsp or so of the coconut and push down until compressed well on top of the curd (if using)
Freeze until set for about 2 hours.
After this, melt the chocolate over simmering water and set aside.
Remove the coconut from the freezer and take each from their wells and place on a baking tray lined with baking parchment. The lime curd will probably be a bit sticky but go with it if you can.
Dip each piece using two forks into the bowl of melted chocolate until covered fully and place flat side down on the baking parchment
Repeat with the remaining pieces and top with a sprinkle of coconut and lime zest while the chocolate is still not fully set.
Place in the fridge until set and then store in an air tight container so they don’t pick up any nasty fridge odours…!

Apple Pie ‘Duffins’ and a 2nd Birthday

September 2, 2014 Comments Off read Sweet Treats

This weekend called for a belated blog birthday celebration and naturally a cake! Celebrating not only the last day of August which was blissfully sunny and spent wakeboarding on a glass-like lake in Wiltshire with some friends, but also the 2nd birthday of ‘forage in the pantry’ or FITP as its been recently named. Since my first ever blogged recipe and still one of my absolute favourites (see here) it has been two years of new experiments, flavours, combinations, styles, and ingredients which have flown by deliciously. A LOT has happened and changed in these past 2 years but the blog has been ticking over loyally and creatively in the background. Maintaining my sanity and satiety.

It pains me to say it but as Autumn approaches on the horizon in the form of darker nights and colder mornings, the apples are abundant and I felt it only natural to choose them as the star in my birthday cake. Taking inspiration from the controversial Starbucks ‘Duffin’ (muffin filled with jam) I have concocted a cinnamon cake filled wickedly with a slow roasted spiced apple puree and a tangy ginger lemon frosting. I refrained from rolling in sugar. Delicious served fresh on the day bitten into with no prior warning of the jammy filling.

Apple Puree – see here

Apple Crisps

1 apple
65g caster sugar
35ml water
cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 130° C and line a baking tray with parchment.
Slice the apple on the horizontal using a mandolin to very fine slithers.
Heat the water and sugar in a pan until the sugar dissolves and it bubbles into a lovely clear syrup.
Lay the slices on the tray and brush with the glaze. Dust with a little cinnamon and sugar if you like and bake in a low oven for about 30 minutes until dry and crisp. Leave to cool.

Cinnamon Muffins – I actually found these too big and dense. I think they’d work much better as cupcake with a lighted spongy texture so I have included a recipe below but feel free to make them GIANT and muffin like as titled.

115g unsalted butter
115g caster sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
115g flour
1 tsp baking powder
35g chopped hazelnuts (optional)
2-3 tbsp milk
2 tsp ground cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 180° C and line a cupcake tin with cases.
Cream the butter and sugar together very well until pale a fluffy.
Beat in the eggs and vanilla a bit at a time.
Now sieve in the flour, cinnamon and baking powder and fold in gently until just incorporated.
Fold in the nuts and loosen with a dash of milk if needed.
Fill your cupcake cases and bake for about 15 minutes until golden and set in the middle. Leave to cool.

Ginger Lemon Buttercream

125g softened unsalted butter
100g icing sugar
1-2 tbsp ginger syrup (from a jar of stem ginger. You can also add some chopped stem ginger if you like)
1 lemon, zest only

Combine all (in a food processor) until well mixed. Fill a piping bag and use to decorate the duffins.

Assembling….

Take your cooled cupcake/muffin and slice the top off (usually easier if they have risen with a dome!)
Cut out the middle to create a small whole keeping the removed cake.
Fill with about 2tsp of apple puree.
Top with a little bit of the filling to hide the puree, eat the excess.
Pipe the buttercream over the top in any pattern you like
Top with a wafer
The best bit….serve to a greedy worthy friend.

Sunshine and Roasted strawberries for breakfast……

July 26, 2014 Comments Off read Sweet Treats

Summer has been here all week. I love it.

Roasted strawberries…..the fruity equivalent to a toasted marshmallow. Sturdy and non suspicious looking from the outside but deliciously sweet, gooey and almost molten in the middle. Roasting strawberries is such a great way to concentrate their summer flavours. Roast low and slow and serve with anything from yoghurt and granola for breakfast, scattered with cinnamon sugar with pancakes or decadently resting at the bottom of a flute of bubbly with some of their juicy sugary roasting syrup.

Heat the oven to 120°C
Hull the tops from your strawberries but leave whole.
Line them up cut side down in a greased baking dish and scatter with a few teaspoons of sugar (cinnamon/vanilla sugar optional)
Roast for about 1 hour or until tender and soft.

Serving suggestions; yoghurt and granola; mint; pancakes;cinnamon sugar;to top porridge/rice pudding;folded into cake batter (once cooled); crushed on toast; delicious Eton mess…….options are endless.

Banana and Cardamon Loaf

June 25, 2014 Comments Off read Sweet Treats

This is my go-to banana loaf recipe for when those bruising and sweetly turning bananas are slowing deteriorating in the fruit bowl, unaware of their potential. This loaf is easy to knock out and can be kept for a while in the cake tin. Here I’ve added the beautifully pungent ground cardamon but this can be left out or substituted.

I love banana loaf as its one of those ‘cakes’ that is less restricted by Paul and Mary’s dreaded ‘science’ of baking. This recipe for example only has one egg in the entire mixture but still manages to set with a lovely rich texture. The recipe is therefore hugely open to adaptation and I change mine practically every time. Try these little additions which I’ve done in the past:

Ground cardamon, cinnamon or ginger
Replace hazelnuts for your classic walnut
Add chunks of chocolate chips
Add a handful or desiccated coconut
Add a decadent molten layer of peanut butter/salted caramel/Nutella inside
Top the mixture with a crumble mixture before baking
Soak the bananas in rum for a bit…

Makes 1 loaf (Taken from Delia Smith’s ‘All in one Banana Loaf’ with a few adaptations)

75g butter, softened
110g caster sugar
1 large egg, beaten
225g plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp ground cardamon (or other spice of choice)
4 ripe bananas, mashed
70g hazelnuts, toasted and chopped roughly.
Handful demerara sugar

Preheat the oven to 180°C and line a loaf tin with parchment.
Place the butter, sugar and egg in a food processor and combine (or use an electric hand whisk)
Sieve over the flour, spices and baking powder and combine (don’t worry if it looks dry!)
Add the bananas to the processor and combine until you have a smooth and creamy batter.
Stir through the nuts (or any chocolate chips, coconuts additions etc)
Pour into the loaf tin and sprinkle generously with the demerara sugar (or crumble) to create a nice crunchy topping. (If adding a layer of peanut butter/caramel etc, add half the batter to the tin, dot with the chosen filling and then spoon on the remaining batter to cover before baking)
Bake for 50-55 minutes until cooked.
Leave to cool in the tin before removing and slicing

Gorgeous sliced, toasted and layered with cinnamon butter

Toscakaka – Caramel Almond Cake

May 28, 2014 Comments Off read Sweet Treats

Aside from the fact that this cake tastes undeniably devine, one of the things I like about it the most is the subtle way you can pick off the sticky caramel almonds from the top when no one is looking with fairly unnoticeable consequences. Its not the done thing to swipe a greedy finger through the icing on a cake but you can get away with it here. Be warned, once you start you may end up with a topless and naked sponge cake and some unimpressed guests. If there was ever an award for moreish-ness (excuse the made up word) this cake would triump.

Its a super light sponge base which I decided to spike with cinnamon and vanilla, basted and topped with a crunchy caramel almond praline which is left to set and encase the pillowey cake. This recipe is from ‘Scandilicious Baking’ and is therefore (I’m told) a classic Scandi treat which quite frankly just makes me want to visit the region even more. I took the recipes advice and added a tsp of coffee to the praline topping which adds a really deep and intense flavour.

Serves 10-12

Cake

150g caster sugar
3 eggs
1 vanilla pod, seeds scraped
150g plain flour
Pinch cinnamon
1 tsp baking powder
¼ tsp fine salt
75g melted butter
75ml buttermilk (or add a tsp of lemon juice added to normal milk)

Praline topping

150g flaked almonds
125g soft light brown muscovado sugar
125g butter
50ml milk
Pinch fine salt
1 tsp instant coffee

Preheat the oven to 160°C and line a loose bottomed tin (8cm of so wide) with parchement. If making your buttermilk add the lemon juice to the milk now and set aside for a few minutes.
Whisk the eggs, vanilla and caster sugar on a high speed for at least 5 minutes until really thick and creamy to get in as much air as possible. It really will pay to do this for a good length of time.
Combine the flour, cinnamon, baking powder and salt. Sieve over half this dry mixture into the eggs and extremely gently using a metal spoon fold in making sure retain the air.
Add half the buttermilk and fold in. Add the remaining flour, fold in and finally the rest of the buttermilk.
Finally fold in the melted butter.
Spoon the mixture into the tin and bake for 35-40 minutes until golden and set. It is important it is set so that it doesn’t collapse when you coat it in praline!
While that bakes, toast the almonds in a dry frying pan or hot oven for a few minutes until golden and fragrant.
Add to a saucepan with the butter, sugar, milk, salt and coffee.
Heat until all melted together and then bubble for a few minutes until thick.
When the cake is ready remove from the oven and increase the heat to 200°C. Pour the praline over the cake, smooth out and bake for 8-10 minutes at this higher temperature until the top is golden and gooey.
Leave to cool before cutting to allow the caramel to set and encase the cake.

This can be enjoyed on its own or with healthy lashings of custard

Blackcurrant Lemon Madeleines

May 4, 2014 Comments Off read Sweet Treats

Not many things beat a gift box of homemade goodies especially when they’re madeleines. Delicate, pretty, elegant and gorgeous. A sweet crusty cinnamon-sugar coated Parisian madeleine is the personification of a classy French lady. I baked a fresh batch of these the morning before visiting an old and very special friend (you know who you are) to take as a gift.

Makes about 12

100g unsalted butter, melted
100g caster sugar
100g plain flour
1 level tsp baking powder
2 large eggs
Grated zest 1 lemon
50g blackcurrants/blueberries
50-100g cinnamon sugar (made with a ratio of 1 large tbsp: 300g golden granulate sugar)

Whisk the eggs and the caster sugar together until pale and creamy.
Add the flour, baking powder and lemon zest and lightly whisk in with the melted butter to prevent overdeveloping the gluten. Mix in the berries.
Set aside for anywhere up to 3 hours. Apparently, the longer you leave the batter to chill the better as it chills and hydrates the flour. This helps to give you that bump on the back that is characteristic of a madeleine.
When ready to cook, preheat the oven to 200°C. Grease your madeleine tray with a little melted butter and a dusting of flour if it is liable to sticking..
Fill the moulds making sure you don’t overfill. The mixture will settle into place in the oven so don’t worry about smoothing them out.
Bake for 8-12 minutes depending on how big you made them and how large your madeleine pan is.
Once golden and cooked, remove from the oven and, while warm, coat in a generous blanket of cinnamon sugar and then leave to cool on a wire rack before eating
Best eaten fresh on the day or the sugar will make them sticky. Try with some cream/creme friache and some slow roasted strawberries.