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May, 2016

  1. Marshmallows

    May 31, 2016 by sarah

    I have to admit now, before we go any further, I do not like marshmallows. Except the seriously caramilised (burnt) type on the end of a stick and something to do with a camp fire – those I can take in small doses. But a raw bouncy, squidgy marshmallow just does not do it for me. They tend to be insipid in taste, overwhelmingly sugary and have the texture of a gymnastics mat. I even bought some expensive hand-made ones from La Pâtisserie de Rêves the last time I was in London – they were disgusting AND expensive! Not very promising for a weekend treat, I hear you cry! Well after having made them, my way, I may be converted… just a little. And they look very pretty!

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    Feel free to use whatever freeze dried fruit you can find. Most supermarkets sell some now but I get mine online from Healthy Supplies as they have a fabulous selection at good prices. I have been disappointed with the flavour of freeze-dried fruit in chocolate ganaches – it tastes kind of ‘green’ and not at all like the fruit it is supposed to. So these marshmallows are a good use of the freeze-dried fruit as the flavour is actually intensified in them.

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    Raspberry Marshmallows

    Makes lots (about 30 portions), takes about 30 minutes.

    Handful of freeze-dried raspberries
    3 tablespoons of freeze-dried raspberry powder
    2 tablespoons icing sugar
    2 tablespoons cornflour
    8 gelatine leaves
    450g granulated sugar
    1 tablespoon glucose syrup
    3 large egg whites (about 120g)

    – Line the base a sides of a large roasting tin (about 20x30cm, but it doesn’t matter too much) with non-stick baking parchment.
    – In a small bowl, mix one tablespoon of the raspberry powder with the icing sugar and corn flour. Sieve half of this mixture into the base of the lined tin so it is evenly covered.
    – In another small bowl, sit the gelatine leaves in COLD water.
    – In a heavy based pan on a medium heat, heat the granulated sugar, glucose syrup and 150ml water, stirring until it is all dissolved. Bring this sugar syrup to the boil, do not stir any more and continue to boil until it reaches 116°C.
    – While the sugar is doing it thing, in a stand mixer, whisk the egg whites until they form soft peaks.
    – Once the sugar syrup reaches the correct temperature, take it off the heat and leave it to sit for a couple of minutes.
    – Remove the gelatine leaves from the water, squeeze out as much water as possible and pat dry with kitchen paper. Add the gelatine to the sugar and stir until melted.
    – With the mixer on slow, trickle the sugar syrup over the beaten egg whites (try to miss the whisk otherwise it gets messy). Once it is all added, turn the mixer up to high and beat until the marshmallow is thick, light and cool to touch.
    – Add the rest of the raspberry power and whole raspberries.
    – Pour this into the prepared tin, tapping it flat, and leave to set overnight.
    – Cover a chopping board with non-stick parchment and sieve over the remaining powdered raspberry/icing sugar/cornflour mix. Turn the tray of marshmallow out on to this and cut into desired sizes, rolling in the dust as you go along.

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  2. A jewellery making weekend

    May 17, 2016 by sarah

    I was wondering at the weekend, while on a silver jewellery course, do I need another craft or hobby? The answer should probably be no but I can’t stop making things! I find it fascinating finding out about new crafts to do and make, especially if they have an ancient basis. I have long wanted to do some jewellery making; I dabbled in beading to make my jewellery for my wedding. But I wanted to learn how to do it properly. So I spent this past weekend on a silver jewellery making course with Stephen O’Keeffe at Missenden Abbey. I can highly recommend this course and the sketching with water colours I did last year; in fact, probably any of their courses would be great fun to do and I circled at least half a dozen in the brochure. The sad thing is I have just received an email saying that they are closing down and this is the last year they are running courses. Very sad, but then they are not advertising properly or to the right people.

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    This is the silver bracelet that I spent most of the weekend making. Can you believe it is made only from silver wire? To make this the wire had to be soldered into rings, linking them together as I went along, and then they were shaped on molds (different sized bolts) – this was the most delicate bit and I snapped a couple of the hearts when trying to get a nice sharp shape. Finally I made the toggle catch – it looks like a ships anchor! Actually the mini heart earrings I made to go with it are even harder to make and fiddly – I nearly melted them while joining on the backs!

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    Our first project was a ring which is actually surprisingly easy to make but with my thin fingers, the ring had not been hammered to proper thickness and pattern all the way round before it was already too big. So the kink was put in which actually means it sits better on my finger. I don’t think I could be a hand model though!

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  3. Madeleines – a better recipe!

    May 10, 2016 by sarah

    Almost exactly a year ago, I made madeleines for the first time, inspired by our trip to Paris. After the initial enthusiasm of a new pretty cake, I realised they were actually quite dry and boring! My excitement of a new cake tin and a recipe that is supposedly hard and picky turning out right the first time clouded my judgement of what a madeleine should really be like; a moist morsel.

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    My interest was stimulated again at Christmas time when reading about the uses of invert sugar, initially in chocolate making and that lead on to reading about its use in baking and how this may be secret to moist madeleines. Before you start worrying about artificial additives in my cooking, invert sugar is chemically similar to honey (you could substitute honey in many recipes) and is simply made by boiling regular sugar in the presence of acid, for which I used cream of tartar. Invert sugar has many uses in recipes; to control crystallisation, improves keeping properties and keeps products moist. It even intensifies flavour and aroma! If you want to read more about it and make some for yourself then visit Chef Eddy’s website, a mine of information on pastry and confectionery making.

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    The test of a good madeleine is a good dome and a crispy shell with a soft buttery inside. This recipe cracked that and was much easier than my previous attempt where I was freezing molds and juggling batter between fridge and tin! See what you think and let me know!

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    Orange and White Chocolate Madeleines

    Makes about 48, keep a couple of days.

    50g caster sugar
    zest of 2 oranges
    1/2 teaspoon orange extract
    40g invert sugar
    3 medium whole eggs (150g)
    60g cream 35% (whipping cream)
    200g plain flour
    1 teaspoon (6g) baking powder
    100g butter
    60g neutral vegetable oil
    85g white chocolate

    1. Combine the sugars and orange zest with extract; whisk in the eggs and cream.

    2. Combine the butter, oil and chocolate and heat over a very gentle heat until melted and combined. Add to the sugar mix and then sift over the flour and baking powder and fold in.

    3. Leave the batter to rest, ideally overnight. Scrape into a piping bag.

    4. Preat the oven to 200ºC/ 180ºC fan. Grease the madeleine tray with butter then pipe in a teaspoon sized amount of batter. Bake for 7-8 minutes and allow to cool in a cooling rack.

    5. Store in an airtight container; they will keep well for 3-4 days.


  4. Recipe book

    May 7, 2016 by sarah

    A couple of months ago, I received a voucher for a free photo-book and having just completed a couple of photo-books of our previous holidays, I decided to use it for something different and made a recipe book of my favourite recipes. I think it is a mixed success – it feels good to have some of my photos in print but the layout is a bit clumsy, probably from using the photo-book software in a way that it was never meant for. I’ll never be able to sell these because though it is just 26 pages and a thin cardboard cover, the company wants £18 to print more! Oh well, will just have to wait for the publishing contract to come my way…

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