White Stilton & Apricot Scones

On Sunday, I tackled my dreaded to-do list of things around the cottage that needed to be done. Although the things lacked in importance, they made up in sheer volume.

I fixed a broken photo frame, washed the net curtains, sorted out some clothes for fabric scrapping or the charity shop, put all the books away, laid out a template for a crochet hook holder, sent some emails, sorted out and filed my study materials got my boots fixed, transferred photos to storage, updated and synced various electronics, came up with an idea to use a huge lump of white Stilton with apricots that had been lurking in the fridge...

Adapted from here

Ingredients

250gr self raising flour
Small pinch of salt and ground black pepper
1/2 tsp mustard powder
50gr cold butter
100gr white Stilton with apricots
150ml milk

Method
1, Preheat your oven to 200o/c and line a baking sheet with grease proof paper.
2, In a large bowl, sift together the flour, salt, pepper and mustard powder.
3, Rub in the butter with your fingertips until its no longer lumpy.
4, Crumble in the Stilton, try to keep some largish chunks as it will break down a bit further.

5, Stir in the milk slowly until it forms a smooth ball. Shape into a round flat disc about six inches in diameter, place on the baking sheet and cut into eight segments. Put them slightly apart so they bake a bit quicker.
6, Bake for 20 minutes until golden brown. Serve warm with butter.

Brunch: Waffle Sticks

Butcher, Baker, Waffle Stick Maker.

My sister bought me a waffle stick maker for Christmas and these may be my new favourite thing.

You could have them with coffee and maple syrup. Like an adult.

But let's face it. If I can get away with eating chocolate for breakfast, I'm going to do it.

A little fresh clementine zest is good too.

Recipe adapted from here. The below recipe yields a huge amount.

Ingredients

Waffles

Makes 30 (ish) waffle sticks

250g self raising flour
1tsp baking powder
1tbsp caster sugar
Small pinch of salt
400ml milk (semi-skimmed - I haven't tried with almond/hazelnut/soy/rice milks yet)
2 Eggs
20ml rapeseed oil

Chocolate Sauce

250ml double cream
200gr milk chocolate, chopped

Method

1, Preheat your waffle stick maker as per the manufacturers instructions. I brushed mine lightly with a little rapeseed oil on a pastry brush first.
2, Make the waffle batter first by whisking the dry ingredients together so they are through mixed.
3, In a separate bowl, beat the milk, eggs and oil together.
4, Make a well in the dry ingredients and slowly beat in the wet. Whisk together until you have a smooth batter.
5, Fill the waffle maker with batter and clamp down the lid. Each batch takes around 3-5 minutes. I flipped over some of the ones at either end of the waffle maker as they didn't seem to cook as well as the ones in the centre.
6, Keep them warm in a low oven until you're ready to serve.
7, Whilst the last couple of batches of waffles are cooking, make the sauce by bringing the cream to a light boil in a small saucepan. Remove from the heat and stir in the chocolate until melted. You can add in flavourings like lemon/orange zest at this point.
8, Serve waffles with the warm sauce.

Champagne Cakes

Happy New Year!

Adapted from allrecipes.com

Ingredients

Champagne Cakes
75gr butter
160gr caster sugar
2 drops vanilla extract
170gr self raising flour
1/2tsp baking powder
100ml champagne (or sparkling wine)
3 large egg whites

Champagne Syrup
100ml champagne (or sparkling wine)
35gr caster sugar
1/2tsp lemon juice

Method

1, Preheat the oven to 160o/c and grease and flour 6 small ramekins, or a six hole muffin tin.
2, Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Beat in the vanilla extract.
3, Sift in the flour and baking powder and mix in with the champagne. It'll be quite stiff.
4, In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs whites to a stiff peak. Add in about a third to the champagne batter to loosen it.
5, Fold through the rest of egg whites gently to keep as much air in as possible.
6, Divine between the ramekins and bake for 20-25minutes until just lightly browned and risen and an inserted skewer comes out clean.
7, Unmould as soon as they are cool enough to handle.
8, Make the champagne syrup while the cakes are in the last 10-15minutes of cooking by combining everything a small saucepan. Bring to a gentle simmer and reduce until you have around 50ml of syrup.
9, Poke a few holes in the tops with a skewer and pour on the syrup.

I used pink champagne in my cakes, so added a little pink glacé icing on top too.

2012

2012. It's been a big one.

I've seen some amazing things...

Eaten some amazing things.

This was, by far, my favourite part. I married my best friend.

I just wanted to say thank you. To all my family and friends. To everyone who has read and commented on this blog. To everyone who has made this year amazing. Here is a champagne cake for you. (Recipe to follow tomorrow).

We Should Cocoa: Cinnamon Cocoa

This month's spicy We Should Cocoa is hosted by Choclette from Chocolate Log Blog. Last month's bread challenge round up can be found here. You can find out more about We Should Cocoa on Choclette and Chele's blogs.

It's very quiet. It's that peaceful moment on Christmas Eve when everything is done and you can just sit. Eat a mince pie. Drink cocoa.

Ingredients

(Per Person)

Ingredients

200ml milk
2tbsp double cream (plus extra for whipping and serving)
1tbsp cocoa powder
Small pinch of cinnamon
Sugar to taste

Method

1, Whisk the milk, cream and cocoa powder together and heat in a small saucepan until simmering.
2, Pour into mugs and add sugar to taste.
3, Top with whipped double cream or marshmallows.