Recipes

Strawberry & Passionfruit Marshmallows

Food, Recipes

To tell you the truth, i’m not really a marshmallow lover, however I wanted to take a stab at making them, and one of the trainers in the gym loves them, which meant I was winning, I got to have a go and didn’t consume the calories ( I had one or two, guilty!)

I used passion fruit essence for a strong tropical taste, and freeze dried strawberry powder. They were intensley fruity, with a pillowy, mallowy inside. This was just one experiment with regards to flavour combination, however you could experiment with your own. There are tons of different essences/extracts on the market and different freeze dried fruits etc. Check out the Meringue Girls for some flavour inspo!

Ingredients

455g/1 lb granulated sugar

1 tbsp liquid glucose

9 sheets of gelatine

2 egg whites

Icing sugar Cornflour

1/2tsp Passion Fruit Essence – I used one by Foodie Flavours

6-8tbsp Freeze dried Strawberry Powder – I used diced strawberry, and used the milling blade on my nutribullet to turn it into a powder. This way you can use it for decoration too!

Method

1. In a heavy based saucepan, bring to the boil the sugar, liquid glucose and 200ml of water. Continue cooking until the syrup reaches 127c/260F on a sugar thermometer.

2. Meanwhile, soak the gelatin leaves in 140ml of water.

3. Whisk the egg whites until stiff. When the syrup reaches temperature, add the gelatin leaves and the water it was soaking in. Be careful, as it will bubble up and will be extremely hot! This is definitley one for the adults, kiddies – stay well away!

4. Continue to beat the egg whites, whilst slowly pouring in the syrup – you can pour it into a metal jug if it is easier for you. The mixture will become glossy and start to thicken. Add the passionfruit extract.

5. Whisk for around ten minutes, or until the mixture has thickened, and can hold its shape on the whisk. Fold in the strawberry powder here. The mixture will now be a really light pastel pink shade.

6. Lightly oil, and dust a 20 by 30cm (aprox.) baking tray with a mix of icing sugar and cornflour. Pour in your marshamallow mixture, level off and top with some more strawberry pieces if you like.

IMG_0888

7. Leave for an hour to set, dust your worksurface using some more cornflour and icing sugar, turn out onto the surface and cut the marshmallow into your desired sized cubes. I cut the block into about 8 by 6 giving me around 48 pieces. Roll these in a bit of the icing sugar mix to dry up the exposed, gooey edges.

8. Serve with melted chocolate, or on their own.

Enjoy, and stay tuned for next weeks recipe!

A girl with an appetite for all things creative, Maria x

Wimbledon Strawberry & Lime Tarts

Baking, Food, Recipes

Wimbledon Tennis commences on the 29th June, and is one of the sports I love to watch, it reminds me of summer and I always admire the players’ strength and determination – they are the only person responsible for their win and I think that takes a lot of mental strength let alone the physical strength. I have always been pants at sport so I admire most sports men and women to be honest with you (also a bit jealous).

When I think of Wimbledon, I think of tennis, and strawberries, so I thought up a little creative recipe, which takes a little time and care but is well worth it. These little tarts would be perfect to pack up for a picnic to eat on Murray Mount/Henman Hill, or to have with afternoon tea whilst you celebrate the final with friends & family, although let’s be honest you don’t really need the tennis to enjoy these tarts, because they are simply divine all on their own. The lime in the strawberries makes these tarts really refreshing and cuts through the rich creamy custard, and crumbly pastry. The perfect mouthful (or three).

Ingredients

Pastry

200g Plain Flour

1 tbsp Icing Sugar

50g Lard, Diced

50g Butter, Diced

1/2-1 Medium Egg, Beaten

Strawberry Base

400g Strawberries, washed and diced

Zest and Juice of Half a Lime

1 tbsp Caster Sugar

Custard Topping

300ml Milk

1 Vanilla Pod/1tsp of Vanilla paste/Extract

2 Large Eggs plus 1 Egg Yolk

50g Cornflour

75g Soft Unsalted Butter, Diced

Jelly Top

1 Pack of Lime Jelly

1/2 Pint of Water

3-4 cubes of melted white chocolate

Method

You can make the jelly, custard and pastry cases the day before, and assemble when needed.

Start by making the jelly

1. Melt the jelly cubes with a bit of water in a microwave, then top up with water to create 1/2 pint of liquid.

2. Line a tin with clingfilm roughly 20  by 20 cm (but this is just a guide) then pour in the jelly mix so its roughly 1/2 cm thick. Leave this in the fridge to set.

Pastry

1. In a food processor blend together the ingredients, minus the egg to form a breadcrumb like texture, add the egg bit by bit until the mixture comes together to form a dough. Be careful not to over mix, as this will activate the gluten giving you a tough pastry. If you do not have a food processor, you can rub together the flour, sugar and fats with your finger tips, then add in the egg and knead together.

2. Wrap in cling film and leave to chill for about half an hour to allow the dough to relax.

3. Once its chilled, you can start to roll out the pastry, I do this between two sheets of clingfilm which allievates the need for extra flour and it makes much less mess. I used a 24 hole (4.5cm) petit four tin, but if you dont have this you could simply make your tarts a little bigger. Try and roll the pastry as thin as you can, it requires a delicate hand, and some patience (as I discovered) as the dough is quite fragile, but the end result is so short and delicious, almost like shortbread. I used a 7cm cutter to do this, and trimmed the edges, with a smaller cutter to neaten – this is optional, but remember to not trim too much as the pastry can shrink.

4. Fill the pastry cases with squares of non-stick paper, and fill with baking beans/rice/dried pulses and refridgerate again to rest before baking for about 15-20 minutes. At this point preheat your oven to 200c/180c fan.

Tarts

5. Bake in the oven for about 15 minutes, then remove the paper and baking beans, you can brush the insides with a little egg white left from the custard filling but this is optional. Return to the oven for another 5 minutes, until golden brown, as Mary Berry would say, we don’t want any soggy bottoms.

6. Leave to cool fully in the tin before carefully transferring to a wire rack.

Whilst the pastry is relaxing you can start the custard filling (créme mousseline)

Custard Filling

1. Bring the milk & vanilla pod just to the boil, then remove from the heat and allow to infuse for ten minutes.

2. Meanwhile, whisk together the sugar, eggs, egg yolk, and cornflour until smooth and creamy.

3. Remove the vanilla pod from the milk, then pour through a sieve onto the egg mixture, whisking well.

4. Pour this mixture back into the washed saucepan and set over a medium-low heat and stir constantly to ensure that lumps don’t form. Do this until the mixture boils and thickens – this should take about four minutes. The mixture should be thick enough to pipe. Stir in the butter whilst still warm.

5. Transfer to a bowl, and cover the custard directly (so that it touches the custard) with clingfilm, to stop a skin forming, leave to cool then refridgerate until needed.

Strawberries

1. In a bowl, add the diced strawberries, lime zest and juice and sugar, stir and refridgerate until needed. With the other half of the lime why not make my Green Twister  Smoothie.

Assembly

Now all of the constituent parts are ready, comes the fun bit – the assembly.

1. Simply take half a teaspoon of the strawberries and fill each tart case – the strawberries would have created some liquid, try and avoid filling the cases with lots of liquid as the pastry will go soggy.

2. Pipe over the top the custard filling, you may want to give it a beat to loosen it after its firmed up in the refrigerator. If you don’t have a piping bag, you can use a teaspoon and spoon a bit in each one to fill the cases nearly to the top.

3. I then cut the jelly using a 3.5cm cutter and piped on a swirl of white chocolate, and topped the tarts with this. This bit is optional, but completes the tennis theme.

There you have it, 24 delicous tarts – don’t worry if some break, mine did too – just use the bits of pastry with some of the left over custard and call it cooks perks! I know this recipe is quite long, and contains a few different parts, but I promise you these are well worth the effort!

Let me know what you think, I hope you enjoy them as much as I, and my family did.

A girl with an appetite for all things creative,

Maria x

Green Twister Smoothie

Food, Recipes

I’m a lover of sweet bakes and indulgent treats, but I do love creating and eating healthy food too, which is full of nourishing goodness for our bodies, to keep us fit and healthy. If we do this, it means we can enjoy the occasional naughty treat … right?!

So as well as trying some of my more indulgent recipes, how about try this super quick green smoothie recipe. It is super refreshing, as it doesn’t contain milk, so its good for any one with a dairy intolerance. It tastes like the refreshing twister lollies I used to have as a kid, but who am I kidding, I am never too old for a twister lolly!

You’ll need a high power blender to make this recipe – I used a NutriBullet, but a stick blender would also be fine.

Ingredients

1/2 small pineapple – I find this smoothie tastes better made with frozen pineapple, it seems sweeter and more refreshing, but isn’t essential, you could cool the smoothie in the fridge or with some ice.

1cm piece of ginger, peeled (aprox.)

Large handful of spinach leaves

Juice of 1/2 a lime

150 ml of water (or enough to create your desired consistency) you could also try using other waters like coconut water.

Method

1. Place all of the ingredients into a blender and blend until smooth.

2. Serve and enjoy, it really couldn’t be simpler.

This really makes me feel good on the inside, it wakes me up and refreshes me. The ginger adds a spicy note, while the pineapple adds the sweet hit we all crave, and the lime adds a sour, refreshing hit. Ginger has health benefits such as aiding digestive problems, nausea, pain reduction and has anti-inflammatory qualities. You could also add a tablespoon of flax seed to this smoothie for added fibre, and nutritional value.

Green Smoothie 1

Hope you enjoy this as much as I do, and don’t let the colour put you off.
A girl with an appetite for all things creative,

Maria x

Rhubarb & Custard Ice Cream

Baking, Food, Recipes

My mum receives an organic fruit and veggie box every week packed full of seasonal goodies from the wonderful people at Abel & Cole, who like me are lovers of collaboration. We received some organic rhubarb and some strawberries in our box and I thought to my self that summer is finally upon us, despite the weather taking a bit of a turn at the start of June. What better way to kick off the season than with some homemade ice cream, indulgent and luxurious. This flavour is a classic combination that some may remember from childhood boiled sweets.

How about serving it with some mini meringue kisses, (a great way of using up the egg whites) and some strawberries marinated in Amaretto liquor, a twist on the classic Eton mess or why not add some jelly, to make an adult version of a child’s favourite – knicker bocker glory.

There are a few different stages to this recipe, and a fair few ingredients, but please don’t be put off as the stages can be made in advance and refrigerated, ready for assembly the next day.

Serves 4-6

Ingredients

Ice Cream Base

300ml Milk

100g Granulated Sugar

3 Egg Yolks

1tsp Vanilla Bean Paste/Extract or 1 Vanilla Pod

500g tub Mascarpone Cheese

140ml Double Cream

Rhubarb Compote – Adapted from a Waitrose Recipe

Aprox. 400g Rhubarb (about 1 pack/bunch)

1 Vanilla pod, split / Vanilla Bean Paste/Extract

2tbsp Maple Syrup

60g Light Brown Sugar

2 Clementines, or a Splash of Orange Juice

1/2 tsp Ground Cinnamon, or 1 Cinnamon Stick

Meringues – Meringue Girls Recipe

Marinated Strawberries

400g Punnet of British Strawberries

1tbsp Maple Syrup or Caster Sugar

1tbsp Amaretto Liquor

Method

Start by making the Rhubarb Compote

1. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees c and chop the rhubarb into sticks roughly 6-7cm long.

2. Place the rhubarb, vanilla, spices, sugar and clementines (peeled and sliced/or the juice) in an oven proof dish.

3. Cover with foil and place in the oven to bake for 15 minutes, then uncover and baste with the maple syrup and cook uncovered for another 10 minutes or until the rhubarb in tender.

4. Leave to cool, then remove the vanilla pod and cinnamon stick before blending to a smooth puree. Set aside in the fridge.

Next, prepare the Ice Cream Base

1. Combine the milk, vanilla and half the sugar in a saucepan and bring to just below boiling point. Remove the pan from the heat, and set aside for about 15 minutes to infuse the vanilla into the milk.

2. In a heatproof bowl, whisk together the egg yolks with the rest of the sugar and beat until thick and pale. It’s best to use an electric whisk for this, but if you don’t have one just use a little elbow grease – think of all the calories you’ll save, ha!

3. Bring the milk back to the boil, then slowly pour the milk into the egg mixture, ensuring to whisk steadily as the milk is added – we don’t want to end up with scrambled eggs.

4. This bowl can either be placed over a bowl of simmering water, or you can return the custard to the saucepan. If you are going to use the second option, ensure the pan is on a heat diffuser and use a thermometer to ensure you do not overheat the custard. Use a wooden spoon, or spatula to continually stir the custard untill it reaches 85 degrees c, or is thicker in consistency. It should coat the back of the spoon, and hold its shape when you run your finger through it.

5. Pour into a bowl and cover directly with cling film to stop a film forming, and then once cool refrigerate.

6. Once cool, beat the mascarpone, to loosen it and then beat in the custard mixture, along with the double cream. The mascarpone gives the ice cream a luxuriously thick and creamy texture, but you can substitute this for a 300ml carton of double cream instead if you want to (instead of the mascarpone and additional double cream).

7. This is ready to be poured into an ice cream maker, until it is thick and luxurious. If you do not have an ice cream maker you could try pouring it into a tub, freezing and churn it by hand every half hour/to an hour to break up the ice crystals. However, for best results use an ice cream maker, as the hand method will result in a less smooth result.

8. Once the ice cream is set, marble through 3/4 of the rhubarb puree. We will use the other 1/4 to drizzle over the ice cream later. Pour in a tub, and leave to firm up in the freezer.

Marinated Strawberries

1. Hull and quarter the strawberries, and add to a bowl.

2. Spoon over the maple syrup or sugar and add the liquor, mix together and set aside in the fridge, until ready to serve. If you are making this for children, you can leave the liquor out.

Assemble 2-3 scoops of ice cream, a spoonful of strawberries, a few meringues and jelly if you so wish and top with a little of the left over compote, and enjoy.

Rhubarb &Custard

A girl with an appetite for all things creative,

Maria x

Caramelled Oranges

Food, Recipes

This dish is a bit of a family tradition that we serve after Christmas lunch, every year without fail. It’s sweet, but is something refreshing to cut through all the lovely rich food we are all guilty of eating around the festive period. Oranges are so lovely in winter time, so sweet and juicy making it a perfect dish to serve to your loved ones after Christmas lunch.

Ingredients

225g Granulated Sugar

500ml Water

6 Oranges and their zest (I used Navel)

Method

1. Zest the 6 oranges

2. Place the sugar, water, and zest in a pan. Boil on a medium heat until the sugar is dissolved and you have a syrup consistency. (Not too thick though, as this forms the ‘sauce’)

3. Freeze the 6 tested oranges for a little wile to make them easier to peel and slice. This stops all of the lovely juice from escaping. We want to keep as much of the juice as we can. They do not need to be frozen solid, just firm.

4. Using a knife, cut the outer skin off, removing the white, bitter pith. and slice thinly making sure to save any juice. I usually use a plate, rather than a chopping board as this saves the juice from running everywhere and creating a mess.

Beware … you’ll get cold fingers! Have a glass of mulled wine, or something hot at the ready!

5. Add the juice, oranges, and syrup into your serving dish. You can discard the zest, or use it to decorate your dish. I placed some of it on a baking tray and dried out in the oven. You can keep this in a sterilised jar and use this to decorate cupcakes.

Oranges

A girl with an appetite for all things creative,
Maria x

Cranberry and Clementine Sauce

Food, Recipes

It’s an absolute must to have cranberry sauce with turkey on Christmas day. Ditch the jar, and try this out because homemade is so much better! This makes enough for all your cold meat sandwiches on boxing day. It also freezes well. I added clementine into this recipe – always lovely at Christmas time.

Ingredients

450g Fresh Cranberries

Zest and Juice of 1 Clementine

100 ml of Water

3/4 Cup of Sugar (you can simply add sugar to your taste, start with less and add more)

Method

1. Place the cranberries, clementine zest and water in a pan.

2. Place on a low heat and cook until the cranberries have broken down into a pulp.

3. Add sugar whilst warm, and the clementine juice. The reason I always add sugar at the end is because you can taste it, and simply add enough sugar to your own tastes. The residual heat dissolves this.

4. Serve the jewel studded sauce in a nice serving dish.

A very simple recipe, no excuse to buy a jar!

Cranberry

A girl with an appetite for all things creative,
Maria x

Sticky honey, soy & sesame glazed sausages

Food, Recipes

Forget the shop bought cocktail sausages, these sausages are sweet and sticky, and are always a hit at my family’s dinner parties. They are easy to make, and use store cupboard ingredients. If you try these, you will never want to buy a shop bought cocktail sausage again!

I used a foil tray to save on washing up, as when baked the sauce gets sticky and caramelised. Alternatively, you could line a tin with foil, or just use some elbow grease when it comes to the washing up!

Ingredients

Approximately 20 good quality chipolata sausages or 40 cocktail sausages, I used my local butcher. This amount is good for a dinner party – they’ll be gone in minutes.

1/3 cup of dark soy sauce

1/4 cup of honey

3tbps sesame seeds, plus a pinch extra for garnish.

Drizzle of oil, I used sesame but vegetable oil, or olive oil will be fine too.

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees, or 180 fan.

2. Place the sausages, soy sauce, honey, sesame seeds and a drizzle of oil. I used sesame oil – use this sparingly as its quite strong but enhances the sesame taste. Other oils will work fine here too.

3. Mix together well to ensure everything is well coated.

4. Cook in the oven for about 15 to 20 minutes, or until the sausages are cooked, and everything is caramelised and sticky. This may take longer if using full sized sausages.

5. Pour into a serving dish, and sprinkle with a few more sesame seeds, and watch them disappear in minutes!

Sticky Sausages

A girl with an appetite for all things creative,

Maria x

Apple & Thyme Sauce

Food, Recipes

Here is a twist on a classic sauce to accompany rich meats such as pork. Apple and thyme is a classic combination.

I made this as an accompaniment to go with a pulled pork dish we served at our Christmas party. We served the pork alongside freshly baked homemade rolls, homemade barbecue sauce, mini roast potatoes, soy honey and sesame sausages  and salad. Of course a party at our house wouldn’t be complete with out a large spread of homemade dessert!

Ingredients

1 large cooking apple, chopped

1tsp dried thyme

1 cup of water

1/4 cup of sugar/ or to taste

Method

1. Chop a large cooking apple into a rough dice. Don’t worry too much if your knife skills aren’t up to scratch, just make sure the pieces are roughly the same size to ensure even cooking.

2. Place the apple, thyme and water in a saucepan and place on a low heat.

3. Cook for about 15 minutes or until the fruit is soft and has broken down, stir it to break down any bigger lumps. Add more water here if needed.

4. Add the sugar, whilst still warm. The reason I add it at the end, rather than before cooking is so you can add sugar to taste. I’m used to using less sugar in my diet so don’t use too much, so likewise you can add less if you like it more tart, and more if you like it sweeter.

5. Serve warm or cold, and garnish with fresh thyme. This also freezes well, so if you have the apples, make extra and defrost ready for when you have a delicious Sunday pork roast.

Hope you like it!

A girl with an appetite for all things creative,

Maria x

Fireworks Night

Baking, Food, Recipes

On the 8th November, we had our local firework display. I hadn’t been to this in a few years as I was always at university, but luckily I was home this weekend. So I asked mum if we could do what we used to always do, and have a dinner party after the display with close friends. On the Friday, I got up and made homemade chilli con carne, two huge pots of it. As always we do too much. I also made some chocolate pastry for a tart I wanted to make which was a recipe from Tom Kerridge’s series ‘Best Ever Dishes’. Click here to view and make the recipe yourself. I used the pastry recipe, and the chocolate filling recipe, but changed up the decoration, as I wanted to keep it to an autumnal theme bearing in mind the occasion. This, for me is the great thing about cooking. You can take a recipe and use it as a base and experiment and change up the decoration to give it your own personal creative flare, make it your own.

Using the spare egg whites, left over from the pastry I decided to make some meringue mushrooms. I had an idea influenced by the Meringue Girls, and also Rachel Khoo’s recipe to make a ‘forest floor’. So I piped out mushrooms and dusted the tops with cocoa powder. I then assembled the bases and tops using a bit of left over ganache, once they were baked. I assembled the tart the next day.

The Saturday afternoon after our trip to London, we prepared some mini roast potatoes with rosemary, homemade guacamole, homemade salsa, and served all this with a salad, green beans, rice and sour cream with some fresh bread from Bread Ahead that we bought at the market earlier in the day. I then assembled my tart, by pouring the ganache in the case, adding the mushrooms, and added some crushed up pastry (trimmings) and some crushed amaretti biscuits to look like soil, and added some tiny mint leaves. Because of the amaretto liquor, this would go great as a dessert or a slice with coffee. It is rich and indulgent. Mum also made her signature lemon meringue pie, which always goes down a treat. After a few bottles of wine, some lovely food and lots of conversation with dear friends, they left and we headed to bed after clearing up.

Below is my tart.

A girl with an appetite for all things creative,

Maria x

Hello!

Baking, Food, Inspiration, Photography, Recipes

Welcome to my blog. I plan on talking about and sharing my food experiences with you all. This will include products or produce I have seen, my own recipes and things I have made, as well as places I have eaten and enjoyed and want to share with whoever wants to hear about it.

Currently studying a BA in photography and film, and having studied and been passionate about art from a young age, I have developed an appreciation for aesthetics and all things creative. This combined with living in a family where food is a central component, my thoughts are consumed with all things food, cooking and of course the eating too (I don’t even mind washing up at times)! These two things have naturally led me to set up a food blog and see where it may take me.

Thanks for reading,

A girl with an appetite for all things creative,
Maria x