Naan Bread

The inspiration for this weeks new recipe was a forgotten cheat item on the shopping list. I was making my Chicken Korma for friends on Sunday Night and forgot to buy any Naan Bread or Poppadoms to accompany the meal! So to Google I went to see if I had the ingredients at home to make some myself. Luckily I did and with the addition of my own flavouring here is my recipe for Naan Bread;

Ingredients

• 250g of Flour
• 2tsp of Sugar
• 1tsp of Salt
• 1/2tsp of Baking Powder
• 130ml of Milk
• 2tbsp of Vegetable Oil
• Seeds from 6 Cardamom Pods

Naan Bread

Method

1. Sieve the flour, sugar, salt, baking powder and cardamom seeds into a bowl
2. In a separate jug mix the milk and oil together
3. Make a well in the dry ingredients and gradually pour in the milk and oil whilst working together with your fingers
4. Bring all of the flour into the wet ingredients from the outside of the bowl and work until the mix forms a dough and roll into a ball
5. Oil a clean bowl and place the dough in it
6. Cover with cling film and put somewhere warm to rest for 15 minutes
7. Preheat your grill to a medium heat
8. Once the dough has rested divide into 4 equal parts
9. Roll out each piece thinly into your desired shape
10. Place onto a baking tray and grill for 3 minutes either side until the bread starts to brown
11. Serve warm

I was so pleased that not only was this recipe really simple but they actually tasted like proper Naan Bread. Easily impressed maybe but learning to cook new things and expand my own recipe book still excites me! I must say that my decision to add some Cardamom seeds, because I had them in the cupboard, was a delicious addition and added to the authentic taste! Now I have this recipe I certainly will not be buying pre-made ones again.

What is your favourite pre-made replacement recipe?

Lasagna

This is one of my good old reliable recipes to have on stand by, especially if you have loots of people coming for dinner, I once fed 9 with this Lasagna and the addition of chips, salad and garlic bread on the side. It can be prepped in advance an left to be put in the oven for serving and if I don’t say so myself it tastes pretty good, here is my recipe;

Ingredients

• 500g of Minced Beef
• 12 Lasagna Pasta Sheets
• 250g of Creme Fresh
• 1 Tin of Chopped Tomatoes
• 1 Onion Finely Diced
• 1 Red Pepper Finely Chopped
• 8tbsp of Sweet Paprika
• 2 Pressed Garlic Cloves
• 1tbsp of Dried Chilli Flakes
• 3tbsp of Mixed Herbs
• Salt and Pepper to Season

My Lasagna Ready for the Oven

Method

Preheat your oven to 200C

Heat olive oil in a pan and add the mince and pressed garlic cloves

Fry until the mice is almost completely brown then add the onion and stir for 2 minutes

Then add the pepper, paprika, mixed herbs, chilli, salt and pepper and fry for a further 2 minutes

Then add the tinned tomatoes and simmer for 10 minutes

Whilst this is simmering soak your pasta sheets in hot water to soften

Then you can begin layering your lasagna, start by placing pasta sheets on the bottom of the oven dish and pouring on one third of the tomato mixture then repeating until you place your last pasta sheets on the top

The place your creme fresh and spread evenly

Put the Lasagna into the oven to bake for 20-25 minutes until the creme fresh is lightly browned

Serving Suggestions

Serve with chips, salad, or garlic bread or all of the above, it tastes good on its own too!

This recipe for Lasagna  is quick, reliable and delicious, if you make it let me know or I would love to hear about your ’go to’ recipes!

Lemon Cream and Mixed Berry Compote

I once had this in a restaurant such a long time ago that I cannot even remember which restaurant it was, but I had not forgotten the dessert. It was so scrumptious and more-ish that when I was deciding what to make for our dinner party dessert this weekend there was no other choice.  I am always making things full of chocolate which in my opinion can only be beaten by a delicious lemon dessert. So on the menu this week; Lemon Cream and Mixed Berry Compote served with Home-Made Shortbread Biscuits and this is the recipe:

Ingredients

• 600ml of Double Cream
• 350g of Sugar
• 5 Lemons
• 250g of Mixed Berries (this time I used Blackberries and Blueberries)

My Lemon Cream Drizzled with Mixed Berry Compote and Shortbread for Dipping!

Method

1. Firstly, zest and juice the 5 lemons and set aside
2. Then bring the double cream to the boil in a saucepan
3. Once the cream is boiling turn down the heat to a simmer
4. Add 250g of sugar whilst continually stirring for 2-3 minutes or until the sugar has dissolved
5. Continue to stir as you add the lemon zest and juice
6. Simmer for a further minute before removing the mixture from the heat
7. After 10 minutes of cooling pour the mixture evenly into 4 serving glasses and leave to cool down for 50 minutes
8. After the 50 minutes ensure the mixture is cool before putting into the fridge to chill for at least 2 hours
9. When the creams have chilled for 2 hours you can prepare the compote
10. Put the berries and 100g of sugar in a pan and stir well as you heat them
11. As the sugar dissolves and the berries breakdown bring the mixture to a simmer
12. Simmer for 5-6 minutes / stirring well
13. Remove from the heat
14. Take a spoon and drizzle a small part of the compote over the top of the creams and put back in the fridge to chill for a few minutes
15. Let the compote cool before placing into a jug for serving

Serving Suggestions

Drizzle the Mixed Berry Compote over the top of the chilled Lemon Cream and serve with Home-Made Shortbread Biscuits

I served my Lemon Cream and Mixed Berry Compote in 4 individual mini desserts but this dessert would also be great as one cream that could then be served out into individual bowls if you wanted to split the dessert between more people or even save some for later. Either way this dessert was divine and it was great for me to try baking something a little bit different and I am really proud of myself that this came out so well! Having the shortbread biscuits to dip in were a really great idea and broke up the strong flavours of the lemon and berries, which were surprisingly more sickly than I had anticipated, I suppose fruit is not always healthy!

If you have any other delicious Lemon based desserts I would love to hear your recipes!

Lemon Cake with White Chocolate Frosting

Last night we had a friend over for dinner to unfortunately say goodbye as he is leaving Berlin later this month so it was my prerogative to make sure he left remembering how amazing at cooking I was!  I had dinner and dessert all planned but as we know things never go to plan, after spending the day enjoying the sunshine here in Berlin watching my boyfriend play football and an end of season BBQ, we were running extremely late. I was very proud of myself for whipping up the lasagne in 30 minutes and having it cooking in the oven when our guest arrived but their was no time for me to prepare dessert. So the pressure was on as our dining table is in our kitchen, so I had to bake in front of everyone, something I usually try to avoid. Especially when making a recipe that I had ‘adapted’ myself – on the menu tonight Lemon Cake with White Chocolate Frosting;

Ingredients

• 100g of Sugar
• 100g of Butter
• 100g of Flour
• 2 Large Eggs
• 100g of White Chocolate
• 150g of Icing Sugar
• 3tbsp of Water
• 5tbsp of Lemon Juice

My Lemon Cake with White Chocolate Frosting

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 190
2. Mix the flour and sugar in a bowl
3. Add the butter and mix until the mixture is crumbly
4. Add the 2 eggs and stir until the mixture is smooth
5. Finally add the lemon juice and stir
6. Pour into a greased (with butter) cake tin (the one I use is 18cm)
7. Put into the oven for 15-20 minutes until cooked
8. When it is baked allow to cool for 15minutes
9. Mix the icing sugar and water into a bowl
10. Then in a glass bowl melt the white chocolate over a pan of boiling water
11. When melted add the white chocolate to the icing and stir thoroughly – this needs to be done quickly before the chocolate hardens
12. Then pour the frosting onto the cake and spread evenly over the top
13. Allow to cool for a further 15 minutes and serve

The cake was really delicious and thankfully successful. The result was a dense lemony sponge that is much lighter to enjoy than a chocolate cake. This was the first time that I had made this recipe this way and I will be doing it again as it is the perfect accompaniment to a summer’s evening.

Eton Less Mess

This weeks dinner party dessert was a trifle come Eton mess concoction that I juist made up, however it tasted delicious. I have only attempted to make meringue once since I was taught my boyfriend’s mum who is the queen of delicious meringue. The last attempt was successful; and tasted great but I was feeling a bit more inventive this weekend so I went for something a little different.

My Eton Mess/Trifle

This was the final result and as you can see I layered the pieces of broken meringue, whipped cream, strawberry’s and kiwi to make a trifle style dessert, even though my aim was an Eton mess (in reality I did not know how to make that) but regardless it was really yummy and this is how I made it;

Ingredients

• 4 Egg Whites
• 8oz of Sugar
• 1 tbsp of Lemon Juice
• 400ml of Whipping Cream
• 2 Kiwis
• 250g of Strawberrys

My Meringue Ready to go into the Oven

Method

1. Pre heat the oven to 150
2. Separate the egg whites into a large bowl
3. Whisk until stiff (use the holding over head test)
4. Add the sugar in stages through a sieve whilst continuing to stir, until all the sugar has been added and the mixture is still stiff
5. Add the lemon juice and whisk again
6. Pour the mixture onto a baking tray lined with baking paper
7. Put into the oven and turn down to 130
8. After 1 hour turn off the oven and leave the meringue to cool overnight
9. When your meringue is cool remove from the baking paper and place into a large bowl
10. Break the meringue up into smaller pieces, but make sure you are not just left with crumbs
11. Set aside for now and prepare the whipped cream and slice up your fruit
12. Then place half of the meringue into the bottom of a glass bowl and push down to create an even layer
13. Then top with cream and fruit in separate layers
14. Repeat again, but at this point place the fruit in a decorative manner so your dessert looks pretty
15. Serve into individual bowls

The recipe says to leave the meringue in the oven over night, this is how I was taught to make it, this weekend however, I was out on Saturday evening so I made mine the morning before I needed it, I still gave it 3-4 hours to cool but my meringue was a little stickier than it should be, although I like it that way. Just make sure when you are making this dessert that you have set aside enough time for it to cool properly!

My Beautiful Presentation

You can use as much or as little fruit as you like, and really whichever fruits are your favourite, I think that strawberry’s taste great with the cream and meringue pieces and I added kiwi as I only tried it for the first time a few weeks ago and discovered that I like it and had been avoiding it for no apparent reason! I would love to hear your suggestions for toppings for this dessert.

White Chocolate Cheesecake Recipe

I spent yesterday afternoon baking a delicious White Chocolate Cheesecake for dinner at a friends that never actually happened. But nonetheless it was delicious and hey, more for me!

This recipe was a mix/adaptation of my Triple Chocolate Cheesecake and my White Chocolate Cheesecake Cups and is just as tasty. Here is the recipe;

Ingredients

• 400g of Chocolate Digestives
• 75g of Butter
• 600g of Cream Cheese
• 4 heaped tbsp of Icing Sugar
• 350g of White Chocolate

My White Chocolate Cheesecake Ready to Serve

Method

1. Ground the chocolate digestives until fine
2. Melt the butter and allow to cool slightly
3. Mix the butter and ground biscuits into a bowl and squeeze together with the back of a wooden spoon
4. Tip into your spring form tin (mine is 26cm but slightly bigger or smaller is OK too)
5. Push down gently in a flat even surface
6. Mix the cream cheese and icing sugar together gently (this does not take long)
7. Melt 250g of the white chocolate in a glass bowl over boiling water
8. Add the cream cheese dollop by dollop into the chocolate, continually stirring until you get an evenly coloured mixture
9. Poor on top of the biscuit base then smooth and flatten
10. Chill for 1 hour
11. Now grate the remaining 100g of white chocolate and sprinkle evenly over the top of the cheesecake
12. Chill for a further 30-45 minutes before serving

This recipe is time consuming and the washing up part is not my favourite but it is relatively easy to make and once you have made one it gets even easier. It is also a versatile recipe that can be adapted to suit your own taste. I have made them with chocolate but you can also use flavouring if you want to make a vanilla or strawberry one!

A Delicious Slice of my White Chocolate Cheesecake

 

If you have tried out any of my recipes or adapted it in any way I would love to know how they have come out!

Triple Chocolate Cheesecake Recipe

Every Sunday my boyfriend and I take it in turns with our friends to host dinner. We alternate week by week who hosts and cooks dinner and who bring dessert and wine. It has become our own little tradition and has been going for over 5 months. This has meant that the challenge has become finding new and delicious things to cook each week. This week it was my turn to make dessert so I made a Triple Chocolate Cheesecake for the first time.

My Triple Chocolate Cheesecake

The cheesecake was a great success and so delicious, although a little sickly, after an amazing Ukrainian dinner of perogy’s nobody was asking for a second piece. However it made a delicious snack the next day (for each of the four of us). Here is the recipe;

Ingredients

• 400g of Chocolate Digestive Biscuits
• 75g of Butter
• 800g of Cream Cheese
• 4 heaped tbsp of Icing Sugar
• 100g of Dark Chocolate
• 300g of Milk Chocolate
• 100g of White Chocolate

Method

1. Ground the chocolate digestives until fine
2. Melt the butter and allow to cool slightly
3. Mix the butter and ground biscuits into a bowl and squeeze together with the back of a wooden spoon
4. Tip into a 26cm spring form tin
5. Push down to compact in a flat even surface
6. Mix the cream cheese and icing sugar together gently (this does not take long)
7. Melt 3/4 of the dark and milk chocolate together in a glass bowl
8. Add the cream cheese dollop by dollop into the chocolate, continually stirring until you get an evenly coloured mixture
9. Poor on top of the biscuit base then smooth and flatten
10. Chill for 2 hours
11. When it has cooled melt the rest of the dark, milk and white chocolate in a glass bowl, as it melts stir as little as possible to get a swirl in the colouring
12. Pour on top of the cheesecake and move the tin around to spread the topping evenly
13. Chill until the chocolate topping is set
14. Before taking the cheesecake out of the tin run a knife that has been heated by warm water around the edge to ensure it does not stick

The recipe is really simple, but it is time consuming and extremely messy! However I can promise you that the results are more than worth the effort for a delicious cheesecake.