Coffee and Turkish Delight Granita

My handbag is a wondrous thing. Anything you could possibly need, is in it.

I forgot my purse the other week and I managed to find £2.84 in the bottom of it so I could grab some lunch. Any emergency and it has you covered. A cut finger, a laddered pair of tights, chipped nail varnish, a broken nail or dry lips are no match for the contents of my handbag. Sometimes I am worried that it has developed its own kind of sentience though. Just the other day I was experiencing a bit of an ebb. My handbag produced a turkish delight bar and instant coffee sachet. It's like it knew...

I'm entering this into Kavey's Bloggers Scream for Ice Cream hot drinks inspired challenge.  You can read all about BSFIC here.  

Ingredients

400ml water

2 heaped tablespoons of ground coffee

40gr caster sugar

1/2tsp vanilla extract

Turkish delight

Method

1, In a saucepan combine all the ingredients, save for the turkish delight and put over a medium heat.  Bring to a gentle simmer and then remove from the heat.  

2, Leave to cool completely and then strain through a fine mesh sieve to get rid of all of the coffee grounds.  

3, Transfer into a shallow, freezer proof bowl bowl or tray and pop in the freezer. 

4,You'll need to break up the ice crystals and then also periodically after that with a fork. It's really up to you as to the consistency of the granita. Some like it almost slushy and some like hard shards of ice. I hover in the middle.

5, Check the granita every half an hour after that'll break up the ice. Mine took just over two hours as my freezer is quite new and has a super fast freeze option. When you've got to to the desired consistency. 

6, Cut up the turkish delight into small chunks and stir through. It's really up to you how much you use. Serve immediately.

We Should Cocoa: Chocolate and Rose Baumtorte

This my entry for We Should Cocoa hosted by Choclette at Chocolate Log Blog.  Last month’s entries can be seen here for the Apricot challenge.  This month’s challenge is Rose and you can see the rules here.

I couldn’t possibly name a specific cake as my favourite.  But I can definitely name Baumtorte as one of the most calming and therapeutic cakes to make.  It’s also one of the most delicious discoveries I have ever found!  I decided to make one it with a little twist.  And that little twist has made it suitable for We Should Cocoa!

Amazing original recipe from here

225gr unsalted butter

225gr golden caster sugar

6 eggs

225gr plain flour

2tbsp cocoa powder

1tbsp rose water

1, Preheat your grill to medium heat.  Grease a deep 7 inch sandwich tin well and set to one side.

2, Beat together the butter and the sugar until pale and fluffy.

3, Slowly beat in the eggs and then blend in the flour until smooth.

4, Divide the batter into two bowls and beat the cocoa powder into one bowl and the rose water into the other.  You could add a little pink food colouring into the rose flavoured one but I went au natural.

5, Spread a thin layer of either of the cake batters onto the bottom of the tin and place under the grill under golden brown. 

6, Spread a thin layer of the other cake batter onto the top of the ready cooked cake and return to the grill until golden brown.

7, Repeat this process until all the batter has been used or until the cake pan is full.

8, Turn out onto a wire cooling rack and cut into slices when fully cooled.  

Rose Madeleines

Since the discovery of the Madeleine pan in one of my favourite shops in town, I have been searching for the perfect recipe. I made three loads of batter and had to tweak the fourth one to get what I wanted. The perfect very light, buttery taste and the delicate taste of roses which just shines through at the end.

Makes 24 (dependant on pan size)

2 eggs

65gr caster sugar

70gr unsalted butter, melted plus extra for greasing the pan

65gr caster sugar

Pinch of baking powder

1tsp rosewater

Preheat oven to 190o/c

1, Beat the eggs and sugar together until doubled in size. This can take about five minutes.

2, Add in the rosewater and beat for another minute.

3, Sift in the flour and baking powder and fold in delicately with a spatula.

4, Pour in the melted butter and again fold in slowly with a spatula.

5, Brush tin with butter and also dust with flour. If you have a silicone tin or a non-stick one then you probably won’t have to use flour but still liberally brush with butter.

6, Bake in the middle of the oven for 5-10 minutes depending upon the size of your Madeleine tin. I like watching the first lot, timing it and then the next batch wont have to be under surveillance!

7, Remove from the oven and let cool for a couple of minutes. A sharp tap on the worktop made mine slip out before cooling them on the rack. They are delicious warm!

8, Dust with a little icing sugar and serve!