Mary Berry's Easter Pavlova

We all saw the GBBO Easter Masterclass didn't we? If not...where the fudge were you?! I love these seasonal masterclasses, just keeping us going until the next GBBO series....you can never see too much of Paul Hollywood really can you? My point exactly. So this show was basically just an excuse to stare at this lovely face...I mean cakes.....

Easter is probably my favourite baking time of the year after Christmas, anyone else? Normally because the sun is shining and the air is getting warmer...WRONG! So this year Easter weekend has been filled with cold winds and snow...but hey, at least there was chocolate.
Easter Sunday also happened to be my mum's birthday - HAPPY BIRTHDAY MUM! The birthday girl decided she didn't give fancy cake this year (sacrilige I know) but would rather have a dessert. So with the idea of combining Easter and her birthday, Mary Berry's Easter pavlova seemed like a winning choice.  A Meringue base and nests filled with cream, lemon curd and mini eggs. I did leave out the candied lemon as it's just not our thing although it does look pretty in their pictures.

I'll be honest, I've never made meringue before, and I've only eaten it once. But after seeing it made on the GBBO and eating it for the first time at my brother's wedding I thought...surely it couldn't be that hard? Mary Berry whips them up in what seems like seconds, and could probably pipe them blindfolded too.

So following their recipe to the letter I dove straight in. No fear - Julia Child style. And somehow...I pulled it off! I actually found the meringue a breeze to make. I do realise it's probably nothing compared to macaroons for example, but who cares! I DID IT! I did make it a little smaller than it said to as it was only really for two of us, but not too small - it's still a birthday and Easter after all.

So the dessert was a success, crisp on the outside, fluffy and chewy on the inside with gorgeous cream, tangy lemon curd and yummy mini eggs, what's not to like? I command you all to make this now and put your faces in it as soon as you physically can. The End.

Nom! Pin It Now!

Mary Berry's Chocolate Roulade

I finally got to make this chocolate roulade, a little belated but who cares! I've loved it since I saw it on GBBO this year and immediately wanted to master it. However I thought I would save it for a special time, and as it looks quite festive Christmas was the obvious choice.

As I was away I kept it to make for our belated Christmas dinner at home with some family after we arrived back as we still have ALL of the Christmas food left over! We had eight for dinner so it seemed a perfect choice.

The morning of this dinner started badly, I've mislaid the adjustable tin I got for my birthday and I really wanted to use it for this bake. I spent an hour looking for it with no success, it's no annoying when you KNOW something is in your house but - you - just - can't - find - it!! After an hour I gave up and used a deep baking tray...luckily it worked perfectly, I wasn't happy about the idea of going out to buy a ready made dessert last minute.

So I finally managed to get started. I tried to remember what I learned from the GBBO and studying the book furiously. I've never made a cake that needs to be rolled before so I really wasn't sure how it was meant to look at various stages.

Luckily, and somehow miraculously it all kind of went ...perfect! I was also very excited to use my brand new mixer, and got to do a classic mixer shot photo (yes it is a little sad I'm exited about that :D!)

I found rolling it strangely easy too...much easier than I expected and would really recommend anyone who is worried about it to definitely give it a try!

Ingredients:

1. 175g dark chocolate (39% cocoa solids), finely chopped
2. 6 large free-range eggs, at room temperature
3. 175g caster sugar
4. 2 tablespoons cocoa powder 
5.  For the filling and finishing
6. 300ml pourable double cream
7. Icing sugar, for dusting
8. You will need
9. 1 x 33 x 23cm swiss roll tin, greased with butter
10. Non-stick baking paper

Method:

Line the base and sides of the buttered tin with non-stick baking paper. If you make a small diagonal snip in each corner of the paper, it will help fit the paper snugly into the corners of the tin.

Put the chocolate in a heatproof bowl and set it over a pan of steaming hot but not boiling water (don't let the base of the bowl touch the hot water). Leave to melt, stirring occasionally.

Remove the bowl from the pan of water and stir until the chocolate is smooth, then leave to cool for about 15 minutes or until just warm. Preheat the oven to 180ºC/350ºF/gas 4.

Separate the eggs, putting the whites in one large mixing bowl and the yolks in another; set the yolks aside. Whisk the egg whites with an electric mixer on high speed until they stand in stiff peaks. If you turn the bowl upside down, the whites should be stiff enough not to fall out.

Put the sugar into the bowl with the egg yolks and whisk using the electric mixer (no need to wash it) on high speed for 2 to 3 minutes or until very thick and pale in colour, and the mixture leaves a ribbonlike trail on itself when the whisk is lifted out.

- I whisked the these in a seperate bowl and changing with the stand mixer is a bit of work for just one bowl so I used my scary old brown mixer. -

Pour the cooled chocolate into the yolk and sugar mixture and gently fold in with a wooden spoon to blend evenly. Add 2 large spoonfuls of the whisked egg whites to the chocolate mixture and stir in gently to loosen the mix, then fold in the remaining egg whites using a large metal spoon. Take care not to knock out the air you have just whisked in.

Sift the cocoa powder over the top and lightly but thoroughly fold it in with the metal spoon. Pour the mixture into the prepared tin and gently move the tin around on the worktop so the mixture finds its own level. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until risen and the top feels firm and slightly crisp when pressed gently with a finger. Remove from the oven and leave to cool in the tin; the sponge will fall and crack a little as it cools.

Lay a large piece of non-stick baking paper on the worktop and dust it lightly with icing sugar. Turn the sponge out onto the paper, then carefully peel off the lining paper. Whip the cream for the filling until it just holds its shape.

- As you can see I absolutely COVERED my surface with icing sugar causing my kitchen...and myself to get completely engulfed in it! It also did fill up a few of the cracks which is a shame as I did want a couple more to be visible.  -

Spread the whipped cream over the sponge, leaving a clear edge of about 2cm on all sides. Using a sharp knife, make a shallow cut along one of the short edges.

Roll this cut edge over tightly to start. Use the sugar-dusted paper to help continue the tight rolling by pulling it away from you as you roll. Finish with the join underneath, then lift the roulade onto a serving plate or board using a large wide spatula or 2 fish slices.

- I'm really happy with how mine rolled, making the first shallow cut to help with the roll really helped. I really needed the baking paper to help roll it up which worked perfectly. Everyone commented on how light the roulade was and even though we were all stuffed, there was none left over. Success! -

Nom!

Recipe adapted from Mary's Berry's BBC Recipe.

Pin It Now!

Mary Berry's Sachertorte

I've seen this cake around is a few different cookbooks...but I used to always think if a slice of cake wasn't massive, it wasn't worth having - well how wrong was I? I've soon learnt that a smaller slice can pack a powerfully gorgeous punch!

This chocolate cake is said to be invented in Vienna by the chef Franz Sacher in 1832. It traditionally has one layer of rich moist sponge, topped with a layer of set apricot jam and they covered in beautiful ganache. These cakes have a tough reputation as they can be difficult to master to get the right texture and richness. They're meant to be lovely and moist but not underdone. The Ganache has to be silky and shiny. You also have to be able to pipe 'Sacher' onto the top in milk chocolate which some found difficult on the show.

I followed Mary Berry's rule and piped it in one go like handwriting. I always worry about my handwriting, I scribble a lot because I'm used to writing so quick, so I do try practice when I do stuff like this and try not to rush it. Also I didn't heat the chocolate until boiling so it was thicker and easier to pipe. I was disappointed when I realised this wasn't in the 'How To Bake' book from The Great British Bake Off by Mary Berry, but I soon managed to track it down online, and also I aslo got some great tips from The Masterclass they've been airing on BBC2, Thursdays at 8pm.

To do the piping I used one of my Tala Squeezey bottles you saw in one of my previous Baking Buys posts. I thought this might be easier to use than an actual piping bag and boy was I right.  I had such amazing control with it and found it so easy to write with. I will definitely be using this for all future writing tasks and even just decoration. It was a bit of a pain to clean just due to the nature of bottle, but as it was chocolate I let hot water and washing up liquid stand in it over night, and in the morning gave it a good shake and it washed out clean. 

This cake took quite a long time with cooling time etc,  but I think it was completely worth it. I also wasn't sure how I'd feel about the apricot jam...but in an odd way it reminded me of a Jaffa Cake, that's probably a bad thing to say isn't it? ...but it did! The ganache didn't take long to cool at all and I did put the pan in a sink full of cold water to speed up the process, it does cool fast when on the cake, but if you do need to re-smooth it (like I did!) then just run your pallet knife under hot water, wipe clean an you're ready to smooth over. I'm sure I could have got the top even smoother, this way does look more homemade.

 Ingredient:

140g/5oz plain chocolate

• 140g/5oz unsalted butter, softened
• 115g/4oz caster sugar
• ½ tsp vanilla extract
• 5 free-range eggs, separated
• 85g/3oz ground almonds
• 55g/2oz plain flour, sieved

For the topping and the icing

• 6 tbsp apricot jam, sieved
• 140g/5oz plain chocolate
• 200ml/7fl oz double cream
• 25g/1oz milk chocolate

Preparation method

1. Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4. Grease a deep 23cm/9in round cake tin then line the base with greaseproof paper.
2. Break the chocolate into pieces, melt gently in a bowl set over a pan of hot water, stirring occasionally, then cool slightly. Beat the butter in a bowl until really soft, then gradually beat in the sugar until the mixture is light and fluffy. Add the cooled chocolate and the vanilla extract and beat again. Add the egg yolks, then fold in the ground almonds and sieved flour. The mixture will be quite thick at this stage.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk the egg whites until they are stiff but not dry. Add about one-third to the chocolate mixture and stir in vigorously. Gently fold in the remaining egg whites. Pour the mixture
into the prepared tin and level the surface.

4. Bake in the oven for about 45-50 minutes, or until well risen at the top and the cake springs back when lightly pressed with a finger. Leave to cool in the tin for a few minutes then turn out, peel off the paper and finish cooling on a wire rack. Mine was a little to risen, a while it did sink a bit, it wasn't enough so I turned it upside down after 5 mintues to level it, and then turned it back and left it to cool.
5. To make the topping, heat the apricot jam in a small pan and then brush evenly over the top and sides of the cold cake. Allow to set. (See it does look a bit like the jelly part of a Jaffa Cake!)

6. Make the icing by breaking the plain chocolate into pieces. Heat the cream until piping hot, remove from the heat and add the chocolate. Stir until the chocolate has melted, then cool till a coating
consistency. Then pour the icing on to the centre of the cake. Spread it gently over the top and down the sides, and leave to set.

7. For the ‘icing’ writing, break the milk chocolate into pieces then melt gently in a bowl set over a pan of hot water. Spoon into a small piping bag or bottle and piper the word 'Sacher'' onto the top in one go, not letter by letter.

Serves 12 Pin It Now!

Limoncello and White Choclate Croquembouche

Until I watched The Great British Bake Off on tuesday I will be honest and say I hadn't heard of a croquembouche before...profiteroles sure, but done like this? Never. And instantly I just knew I HAD to make one.

Luckily my lovely mother had bought me the latest GBBO book 'How To Bake'. Last season's book, which I baked my Somerset Apple Cider Cake from was brilliant, like a bible. This one is more Mary Berry inspired and very girl which is great. It's gives great step by step guides and shows you in pictures how to do things and what it's supposed to look like which is a godsend. Full of pastel colours and gorgeous photography,  I was so happy to see they featured one of the croquembouches from the show inside, so this was the one I decided I had to make, with limoncello and white chocolate. I could post the whole recipe from start to finish but then it would turn into an essay and I don't want to bore you - so I'll post the limcello and white chocolate bit, as while the choux pastry recipe was good, I think it's just as good any recipe I've used before so I'm sure you can find another in one of your cookbooks or online.

I hadn't made profiteroles before, only eclairs, which are similar but I still had only done those a couple of times but I love choux pastry so I was determined to do it right. It's not as lengthy as you imagine in itself but all in all it did take a few hours from start to finish as you have to let bits cool and stand for a while so it all added up, trust me though it is worth it. I know it's a bit of an extravagant recipe to just decide to do for fun, but I did downsize it to about a quarter of the size of what they did on the show, so it was ok :)

You do need a croquembouche cone, though I didn't have one and I've heard they're quite expensive, so I made mine with a left over cake box lid and some foil. I wrapped the foil over the card and twisted it into a wide cone shape and taped it all up together and leveled it so it stood straight. Voila, and costs next to nothing. I did it with foil rather than baking paper as I was worried the baknig paper would tear on the caramel which would be gutting in the end stage!

The hard part for me was the caramel, I hadn't made it like this before so I didn't really know what to expect and stupidly thought it would be easy as there were only two ingredients...wrong! It took me three attempts, nearly a kilo of sugar, and after number two I had run out of saucepans after filling up the dishwasher and my patient grew thin when realising how fickle sugar is! But I managed to rustle up another saucepan, a bigger one this time and I think that was part of the trick. I burned it the last two times and kept on cooking it. This time when I got to the right temperature and it hadn't quite lots all of the massive sugar clumps that had formed, I turned it down and kept the correct temperature whilst actually stirring it (even though they told you to NEVER do that on the show) and third time lucky it turned out beautifully. So do be patient with it and give it a bit more time than you may expect. The only thing I think I would change would be to add some more double cream to the filling as it was a little loose and kinda spilled out everywhere when you tore a bit off to eat so it could have down with being a bit thicker.

Right enough waffling here's the recipe:

Limoncello and White Chocolate Croquembouche

Ingredients:

• 2 recipe quantities of profiteroles
  (about 96)
• 300g caster sugar for the caramel
• caster sugar for the spun sugar

Filling:

• 4 large egg yolks
• 75g caster sugar
• 25g plain flour
• finely grated zest of one lemon
• 250ml full fat milk
• 150g white chocolate
• 1 tablespoon limoncello
• Sugar flowers to decorate (optional - I didn't use them)

You will also need a piping bag with a 0.5cm plain tube, cake board (I just used a plate) a sugar thermometer,  croquembouche con.

Method:

1. To make the filling, whisk the egg yolks in a bowl with the sugar, flour, lemon zest and one-third of the milk until smooth. Heat the rest of the milk in a medium pan until almost boiling, then pour onto the yolk mixture, stirring constantly. Return to the pan and cook, whisking constantly, until the mixture boils and thickens. Simmer for one minute, whisking, cooking out the flour taste and cool until lukewarm.
2. Meanwhile, gently melt the chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of steaming hot water but not boiling water (don't let the baste of the bowl touch the water). Cool until lukewarm, then whisk the chocolate into the custard, followed by the limoncello. Cover and chill for at least an hour before folding in the whipped cream.
3. When ready to assemble the croquembouche, spoon the filling into the piping bag. Pipe into the cool profiteroles through the steam hole, taking care not to overfill (to avoid leaking).
4. To make the caramel, dissolve the sugar in 4 tablespoons of water in a medium pan, stirring occasionally (again this is odd as they did say to never actually stir it, so I mainly just swirled it around).  Once the has sugar has dissolved bring to the boil and boil rapidly to a light caramel (160 degrees celcius / 320 Fahrenheit) Immediately plunge the base of the pan into cold water for 20 seconds to halt the cooking.
5. Place your cake board on the worktop. Working quickly, dip one side of each profiterole in the hot caramel (be careful not to burn yourself it's crazy hot)  and stick them together inside the cone. You can also just freestyle it into a pyramid. If the caramel 'glue' starts to set you can loosen it up again by heating it gently.  Leave the croquembouche in a cool to set. This shouldn't really take to long.
6. For the spun sugar you can make the caramel again, but I had some left over so I used that, after it's been in the cold water for 20 seconds let it settle for 5 minutes. Hold a couple of forks in one hand, dip the tines in the caramel and lift them out and flick strands of caramel over the assembled croquembouche. Stop as soon as the caramel starts to set and becomes thick. Decorate with sugar flowers if you would like.
7. Destroy and eat! Nom!

I hope you all made it through the recipe I know it's lengthy -
so you can see why I didn't want to write up the choux pastry recipe too!

1. Place your cake

Pin It Now!