Strawberry, Almond and Coconut Crumble

I love a traditional pudding, I would happily say that the crumble is my favourite but I also love Bakewell, cheesecake, bread and butter pudding, well pretty much any pudding...yet I always find something so comforting with a crumble. The only downfall is I would happily eat a several portions, or the whole thing if i had the chance...not like I've ever done that before (well maybe once hehe)

Apple is always the traditional option for a crumble and yes I love that but then I discovered strawberry crumble and that was it....love at first taste! I could happily eat this dessert morning, lunch and dinner, now wouldn't that be fantastic..well as long as my waist line didn't get bigger haha!

To add a little something to an already wonderful crumble I decided to add some tasty coconut (one of my favourites, there's probably not many recipes I don't add this too) and now I truly have died and gone to heaven, it gives this dessert so much depth and extra flavour! If you find yourself with some strawberries lurking in the back of the fridge, I promise you you won't be disappointed 

Strawberry, almond and Coconut Crumble

Filling

600g strawberries, hulled and quartered

20g caster sugar

25g ground almonds

25g dessicated coconut

3 tsp vanilla extract

Crumble

300g plain flour

170g Demerara sugar

200g butter chilled and cut into cubes 

20g ground almonds

85g flaked almonds

100g dessicated coconut

In a deep dish add the strawberries and then add the sugar, ground almonds, dessicated coconut and vanilla extract and stir round

Crumble

In a bowl add the flour and sugar.

Add the butter to the flour and sugar and rub with your fingers to until you get a bread crumb like consistency

Add the ground almonds, flaked almonds and dessicated coconut and stir through

Pour the crumble topping on top of the strawberries and pop into the fridge

Pre heat the oven to 190c/180c fan 

Place the crumble into the oven for around 35 minutes until golden on top

Serve with some double cream or ice cream :))

Perfect summer treat

Fathers Day Treats..."Tidy Eton Mess"

Well it's Fathers Day today and of course me and my son had to go all out for the big day...so a couple of bottles of wine, a fab card, a karting voucher for him and some mates and a little something my son made him, he was over the moon, which I must say is a big improvement from what I had for Mother's Day...nothing :(! Not only that but I also made his favourite foods, a big chicken roast and Eton mess...well my version :))

I must say I'm not the biggest fan of meringue so I guess that means there's more for the hubby but I do like to make them as they are so simple to make and you can transform them into a wowtastic dessert. My version of Eton mess is "Tidy Eton Mess" I hate the thought of making these pretty meringues and then having to break them up to put into a dessert so I down right refuse and would rather make them pretty, so that's how my pretty Eton mess was created. I also like to make my cream filling a little more exciting, so I use a combination of cream and mascarpone, with a little icing sugar and vanilla extract, giving a lovely creamier taste and makes this dessert a little more interesting :)

So heres my recipe for the meringues and the filling...use these to create to wonderful "tidy Eton mess" tower :)

Meringue

3 egg whites

170g caster sugar

Put the egg whites into a bowl and with a hand mixer mix until you get stiff peaks

Slowly add in the cater sugar, about a tablespoon at a time until well incorporated

Spoon the meringue into a baking sheet and using a skewer swirl the meringue around and around until you get a good circle and a peak at the top

Pop into an oven at 140/130c fan for an hour (if one big one) or about 20 minutes if mini ones

Turn off the oven and leave to cool in the oven

Filling

125g mascarpone

200ml double cream

2 tbsp icing sugar (dependant on taste)

1 tsp vanilla extract

Place the double cream in a bowl and using a hand mixer beat until you get stuff peaks

In a separate bowl, add the mascarpone and mix to loosen slightly, add the icing sugar and vanilla extract and mix well

Add the mascarpone to the cream and fold in gently 

Tidy Eton Mess

Take one of the mini meringues and place on a plate, flatten slightly and spoon some of the cream mixture on top

Place some cut up strawberries on the cream and then a small amount of the cream (to hold the meringue in place) then top with another meringue. Flatten this one down slightly and repeat the process and top with the top meringue, I always use the nicest one for the top.

Another alternative is to use some lemon curd and blueberries, so after you have placed the cream on the first meringue, add a little lemon curd and top with some blueberries then a small amount of cream and repeat the process with another layer of meringue as above :)

White Chocolate, Blueberry and Macadamia Nut Tart

This weekend we had a lot of guests coming over for a BBQ, so I set about planning the menu and of course needed a good pudding to end it all so I decided I really wanted to make a tart of some sort, after much thinking I went for a white chocolate and macadamia nut tart but decided to add blueberries into it some how...due to the fact I had loads of them left over :)) I traweled through the Internet and couldn't find anything like it which I was pretty pleased about and the morning of the BBQ I set about recipe developing...I know a bit silly really :(! I made the tart case, and the blueberry compote to go in the bottom and then made the filling and put it all together and popped it in the oven for 35 minutes! Well when it came it it was still very jiggly...not exactly what I was hoping for so I allowed it to cool and popped it into the freezer to set while I panicked and made another pudding just incase the white chocolate, blueberry and macadamia nut tart didn't set! But a miracle happened....it set and not only that, it was amazing! I mean this tart was absolutely fantastic, all my guests loved it and there wasn't a crumb left after most had seconds. I must say I was pretty relieved and we still had a lovely second pudding to tuck into as well which I will also share with you...orange and cardamon polenta cake :)

White Chocolate, Blueberry and Macadamia Nut Tart

1 1/4 cup plain flour

150g butter

1/4 icing sugar

1/2 cup macadamia nuts (toasted)

2 egg yolks

2 tbsp milk

Blueberry compote

100g blueberries

1 tbsp caster sugar

1/2 tsp lemon juice

Filling

250g white chocolate

2 eggs

1 1/2 cups double cream

1/4 cup caster sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 cup macadamia nuts (toasted)

Pre heat the oven to 170/160c fan

In a food processor, add your flour, sugar, toasted macadamia nuts and blitz until the nuts are finely chopped.

Add the butter and pulse until you get fine bread crumbs. 

Add the egg yolks one at a time and blitz, then add the milk until the the dough comes together and wrap in cling film and pop in the fridge for at least an hour, don't overwork the dough as it will result in tough pastry) 

Roll out the pastry between two pieces of baking paper and gently place into your 23cm tart tin. Don't worry if it breaks, any leftover dough can be used to patch up any bits. Try not to handle the dough too much as this can make it tough. Prick the bottom of the tart with a fork.

Scrunch up some baking paper and pop into the pastry case and fill with baking beans.

Place in the pre heated oven for 15 minutes and the remove from the oven and take out the baking paper and baking beans and pop back in the oven for another 5-8 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool

Blueberry compote-

In a small bowl add the blueberries, sugar and lemon juice and gently heat until the blueberries start to break down, continue to simmer for a further 3-4 minutes.

Filling-

Melt the white chocolate either in a microwave or in a bowl over a pan of water, and then allow to cool.

Add the toasted macadamia nuts to a food processor and blitz until finely chopped. (Resembles breadcrumbs)

In a bowl pour in the cream and whisk with a hand mixer until you get stiff peaks.

In another bowl add the caster sugar and eggs and whisk until light and fluffy, add the vanilla extract, macadamia nuts and the melted chocolate and mix together.

Pour the double cream into the sugar mixture and fold in gently.

Pour the blueberry compote into the pastry case and spread around the bottom.

Pour the chocolate/cream mixture into the pastry case

Pop into the pre heated oven (170/160c) for 35 minutes

It will still be wobbly when it comes out, so allow to cool and pop into the fridge over night or in a freezer for around 2 hours to set

Sprinkle with some icing sugar and decorate with a few blueberries and enjoy this wonderful dessert

Sweet Orange Couscous with Cranberries and Pistachios

Following on from middle eastern inspired food, I fancied trying something a little different with an ingredient that is very reminiscent of Moroccan food...couscous! It's a staple food with tagine a etc but when my son asked for a pudding I decided to make it sweet, with the addition of some brown sugar and/or honey and some nuts and dried fruit, it was a huge hit especially served with a little vanilla ice cream :))

Sweet orange couscous with cranberries and pistachios

125g couscous

200ml boiling water 

2 tbsp soft brown sugar (you can use honey in place of all the sugar or half)

1/4 tsp cinnamon 

Zest of one large orange

Handful of cranberries

Handful of pistachio nuts

Put the couscous into a bowl with the orange zest

In a jug pour in the boiling water and add the sugar (honey) and mix well. You can of course add the orange juice if you wanted to have a strong orange flavour)

Pour this onto the couscous and cover with cling film and leave to rest for around 5 minutes until all the liquid is absorbed and the couscous is light and fluffy.

Fluff the couscous with a fork and add the cranberries and pistachios and serve with a good dollop of ice cream :)

Quick and easy :)

Please feel free to add spices such as cardamom or more cinnamon or even some ginger :)

My Favourite Dessert :))

As you've probably guessed I love food and all things sweet hahahaha...and this dessert is all things that I love...pastry, frangipane and nuts and it is so simple to make and will impress all your guests when they see it :)

M'hanncha
(Moroccan snakey cake)

Filo pastry 8 sheets

Frangipan filling
250g butter softened
250g icing sugar
2 eggs
250g ground almonds
1tbsp plain flour
Zest of 1 orange and 1 lemon
75g Crushed pistachios
75g flaked almonds

A little olive oil (for dotting on the filo pastry)

Add the softened butter and icing sugar into a bowl and mix thoroughly. Add the eggs and mix well.
Pour in the ground almonds and stir through.
Add the orange and lemon zest and the nuts, mix into all incorporated.

Line the filo pastry sheets onto a table, overlapping them slighting to form a long line of sheets and fill on one side (longest edge) and then spread as even as possible and roll up (like a cigar) it will look like a long snake
Now you can roll it round and round (so it looks like a snail) Place into a lightly oiled 9" cake tin
Place Into an oven at 180 degrees for 40 to 45 minutes until crisp and golden
Turn out and sprinkle with icing sugar


Adapted from a jamie Oliver recipe