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Posts Tagged ‘eggs’

  1. Eggs and Lemons Part Deux – Lemon and Poppyseed Cake

    November 2, 2013 by sarah

    With the excess eggs and lemons, I also made a lemon poppyseed cake. This came out a bit denser than I like for a sponge though I understand Maderia sponges are supposed to be like this. Next time I will try adding a little (maybe half a teaspoon) of baking powder and see if it lightens the mixture up a touch.

    Lemon and Poppyseed cake
    From ‘How To Be A Domestic Goddess’ by Nigella Lawson
     
    240 softened unsalted butter
    200g caster sugar
    grated zest and juice of 2 lemons
    2 tablespoon of poppyseeds
    3 large eggs (or 4 medium), beaten
    210g self-raising flour
    90g plain flour
     
    Line and butter a 23 x 13 x 7cm loaf tin.
     
    Cream the butter and sugar, then add the lemon zest. Add the eggs one at a time with a tablesppon of flour for each. Then fold in the rest of the flour and the poppyseeds and finally the lemon juice. Sprinkle with caster sugar.
    Bake at 170 (150 fan) for an hour or until a cake tester comes out clean. Let cool in the tin before turning out.
     
    Unfortunately I had to cook this at the same time as the pastry for the lemon meringue tart, which meant it was at too high temperature and it burnt slightly round the edges. Also my fan oven isn’t very even and I forgot to turn the cake. Will not do that again!
     
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  2. What to do with eggs and lemons? Lemon Meringue Tart

    November 2, 2013 by sarah

    This week I found an egg mountain in my fridge. Well not so much a mountain as I am not sure if you could stack eggs high enough to make a mountain, but a whole box of my girls’ eggs hiding at the back of the fridge. They are starting their annual moult which is when egg production slumps so these eggs are very precious and deserving of a fitting baking project.

    I am not a fruit pie girl. I suppose it stems from my innate fear of pastry, which I am slowly over coming, and lack of tummy space for a desert after dinner but why should pie be restricted to a particular time of day. In fact, I have enjoyed it for breakfast for several days and though I am sure it would not be good for one to do this on a regular basis, it does have a naughty twinkle-in-the-eye element! And it contains eggs and fruit, what is more healthy than that!

    Lemon Meringue Tart
    Recipe from ‘The Great British Book of Baking’ (BBC Books)
     
    For the sweet shortcrust pastry
    • 175g plain flour
    • 115g unsalted butter, chilled and diced
    • 1 tablespoon caster sugar
    • a good pinch of salt
    • 1 medium egg yolk, with 2 tablespoons ice-cold water
    For the lemon filling
    • 3 medium unwaxed lemons
    • 40g cornflour
    • 300ml water
    • 3 medium egg yolks
    • 85g caster sugar
    • 50g unsalted butter, diced
    For the meringue topping
    • 4 medium egg whites
    • 200g caster sugar
    A 22cm loose-based deep flan tin.
     
    Make the pastry by rubbing the butter into the dry ingredients until it looks like bread crumbs. Using a round-tipped knife, mix in the egg yolk mixture. Knead for a minimal time to bring together. Wrap this in clingfilm and chill in the fridge for at least 20 minutes.
    Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface and then use to line the flan tin. Prick the base with a fork and put in the freezer for 15 minutes while the oven heats to fan 170. I like to leave a little extra pastry all around the edge to account for shrinkage and then trim this off after the first part of the blind bake as you remove the baking beans.
    Line the pastry case with greaseproof paper and fill with baking beans. Heston (de Blummental) likes to use copper coins for this but I’ve never tried this way as I have the beans. Bake for 15 minutes, remove from the oven and trim the edge and return to the oven for another 5 minutes, take out and leave to cool. Do NOT over cook the pastry as it will turn burnt and bitter and it will be getting further baking anyway.
     
    Make the filling by grating the zest of the lemons into a heatproof bowl, adding the lemon juice and cornflour, stirring until a smooth paste is formed. In a pan bring the water to a boil then pour it over the lemon mixture, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon. When thoroughly combined, tip all the mixture back into the pan and put on the heat, stirring constantly until it boils and thickens. Reduce the heat to a simmer and keep stirring for another minute. Remove from the heat and quickly beat in the egg yolks then the sugar and butter. Leave to cool.
     
    Make the meringue topping by whisking the egg whites until soft peaks and then add the sugar a tablespoon at a time until it is well dissolved and the resulting mixture is glossy and stiff.
     
    Fill the pie by spreading the lemon mixture over the pastry case then topping with the meringue, making sure the meringue goes all the way to pastry edges. Stand the tart on a hot baking tray and bake for 15-20 minutes. Leave to cool to room temperature before unmoulding and serving but eat the same day other wise the meringue will weep and liquid will come out of your tart/pie. From searching online, this is a common problem and there doesn’t seem to be any sure way of avoiding it except by eating the pie straight away. No excuse needed!
     
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  3. Easter chocolate egg nests

    March 31, 2013 by sarah

    Oh no, I’ve done it again! Despite this supposing to be a blog about baking, the recipe this week is again a non-baking one! Never mind, we all have busy weeks don’t we? And don’t these little nests look so retro and kitch? I think I must of been about 10 when I last had one but this time I made them grown up with a good proportion of dark chocolate. But don’t feel obliged to get out the expensive 70% plus coco solids chocolate. No, these were made with a cheapish bar of Cadbury’s Bournville with some milk chocolate I had kicking around in the cupboard for added sweetness. So they are frugal and yummy – a smashing combination do you not think?

    easter (3 of 8)

    easter (2 of 8)300g chocolate (any combination of dark and milk)

    25g unsalted butter

    100g shredded wheat breakfast cereal

    little chocolate eggs in colourful sugar shells

    mince pie tin

    Melt the chocolates and butter in a bain-marie or carefully in the microwave. Crumble the shredded wheat into another bowl. Once the chocolate/butter is melted, stir into the shredded wheat. Divide into 12 among the mince pie holes and gently press the middle of the mound to form a depression to hold the eggs. Put the nests somewhere cold until set then flick them out of the mince pie tin with a knife and add the little eggs. Voila!

     

     


  4. Lemon curd and some non-bake baking!

    March 17, 2013 by sarah

    Though the weather today is the opposite of spring-like, I felt like making some lemon curd. The silky smooth texture with a fresh zingy flavour and eye-popping yellow colour sort of sums up Spring. I hope the sun comes soon! This was my first attempt, by the way, and I am very pleased with the result.

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    Makes about 700g or 3 small jars and a little left over.

     

    Grated rind and juice of 4 ripe unwaxed lemons

    4 eggs, beaten

    125g butter cut into small pieces

    350g caster sugar

     

     

     

    Place all the ingredients in a pyrex bowl over gently simmering pan of water (picture 2). Stir until the sugar is dissolved and the butter melted.

    Continue to heat gently for about 20mins until thickend and coats back of a spoon (image 3).

    Strain and pour into sterilised jars. Done!

    Keeps for a few weeks in the fridge.

     

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    While the curd was thickening, I threw together a batch of rocky road (melt 125g butter and 300g dark chocolate and 3 tbsp of gold syrup, add 200g crushed biscuits, 100g mini marshmallows and any dried fruit or nuts that need using, press into tin, refridgerate).

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    Update 15/9/13 – made the lemon curd for the show using this recipe but reduced the sugar to 300g and added half a teaspoon of real lemon extract. This made it super zingy and so super nice.