If the weather is anything like it is in Paris at the moment then I have the perfect antidote for it: homemade crumpets and long pepper spiced curd. Head over to designsponge where my recipe (and more pics) is featured in ‘in the kitchen with’ this week.
Tags: british, crumpets, curd, designsponge, long pepper, rainy weather, Teatime
What do you get when you cross a beetroot, a carrot and some ginger? A BEETROTINGER! Sorry that’s quite bad but when I saw this month’s in the bag challenge I wasn’t quite sure what to make of beetroot, carrot and celery. Maybe some sort of bloody maryesque cocktail but that defeats the purpose of doing a detox…After lots of hum and ar-ring. I decided to forget the celery and replace it with some ginger which is very good for detox aswell. And to be quite honest a cake is not very detox at all. So I suggest eating some celery to balance it out 
Celery is actually one of the few negative calorie foods which means that it takes the body more energy to digest than what the body consumes.
Beetrotinger cake
125g finely grated carrots
125g finely grated raw beetroot
10g finely grated fresh ginger
100g brown sugar
125g ground hazelnuts
50g flour
3 tsp baking powder
100g melted butter
2 eggs
Preheat the oven 180°c. Grease a tin 15 x 15 cm. Mix flour, hazelnuts, baking powder together add the grated carrot, beetroot and ginger. Mix again and then crack the eggs and add the butter. Combine all the ingredients. Spoon into the tin and smooth out. Bake for 20-25minutes or until a knife comes out clean.
Gung Hai Fat Choy! The year of the Ox kicks off today which means it’s going to be more of a conservative year: sure and steady. Apparently those who have sown seeds will see the benefits this year as long as they look after their business. This recipe was inspired by the tradition of making sticky glutinous cakes for Chinese New Year. Apparently offering sticky glutinous cakes to family signifies cohesiveness (represented by the gluton). These sweet treats are also offered to the kitchen god who resides in Buddhist chinese families in the hope that bringing sweet offerings the kitchen God will only have sweet things to give in the coming year.
I really went overboard with the red colouring as red symbolises good fortune in Chinese culture. Reduce the amount if you want something a little less in your face.
Chinese New Year delights
500ml water
450g caster sugar
100g icing sugar
1 tbsp red food colouring
150g cornflour
4 tbsp rose water
1 tsp ground mixed spice
1 tsp powdered agar agar*
Dusting mixture
2 tbsp cornflour
5 tbsp icing sugar
1/2 tsp ground mixed spice
Pour half of the water into a heavy based saucepan and add the sugars. Heat until the sugar has dissolved and then bring to the boil.
Reduce the heat and simmer until the mixture reaches 115°c on a sugar thermometer (soft ball stage). Remove from the heat.
In a separate saucepan, mix the cornflour and agar agar with the remaining water until the mixture is smooth. Cook over a medium heat until the mixture thickens.
Gradually pour the hot sugar syrup into the cornflour paste, stirring continuously. Make sure to stir well, so none of the mixture sticks to the bottom of the pot and burns. Return the mixture to the heat and simmer for about one hour, until the mixture is pale and feels stringy when a little of the cold mixture is pulled between the fingers. Stir in the rose water, mixed spice and red colouring.
Pour the mixture into the prepared baking tin and leave to set overnight.
Cut into squares. Mix the cornflour, mixed spice and icing sugar together and toss the delights in it. Store in an airtight container, between layers of greaseproof paper.
*Note: I found that the agar agar helps set the mixture as without it tends to stay gooey.
Check out Jugabandi Photography’s food blog event: Click for more red inspired food.
Tags: Chinese new year, click, turkish delight, Year of the ox
Here’s another christmassy biscuit…
This time last year my tiny studio turned into a mini biscuit factory. Like my aunts in Austria who bake tons of Christmas biscuits every year I like to carry on the tradition (maybe not as well and in smaller quantities). Unfortunately this year I just haven’t had the time to bake as much (slightly due to the fact that I’ve been baking about 500 biscuits a week at La Cocotte recently) so I came up with this easy but just as delicious recipe.
It’s the season of falling leaves and the markets in Paris are fall of lots of yummy seasonal produce. One of them being pumpkins. There are many different varieties and one of my favourites are “Potimarron”(transl. Pumpkin-chestnut). This particular type has a very nutty/chestnutty taste. I simply roast mine, chopped up, in the oven and eat with a little butter, salt and pepper. However if you fancy something more sophisticated or sweet you could try making a Pumpkin & Chestnut millefeuille.
Millefeuille means a thousand leaves in French which I thought was quite fitting with so many leaves falling at the moment. Traditional it’s made with puff pastry but I had filo pastry in the fridge which needed to be used. The chestnut comes in the form of a chestnut spread which is easier found in the supermarkets over here. It’s like a jam and often used as a filling for crêpes. My version is a little more rustic compared to the classic ones you find in the Parisian pâtisseries.
If you’re looking for some more pumpkin inspired recipes, take a long at the “In the bag” event on A slice of cherry pie’s blog.
Makes 2 large portions.
Roasted potimarron purée:
750g potimarron or regular pumpkin
2 tbsp spoons
100ml single cream
For the rest:
1 small tin of chestnut spread
100g melted butter
20 rectangles of filo pastry (15cm x 10cm)
To make the roast potimarron purée: Chop the potimarron into cubes (with the skin removed). Place in a roasting tray with 2 tbsp of butter. Roast at 180°c for 30 minutes or until tender. Stir the pumpkin pieces half way through roasting. Leave it to cool slightly. Blitz in a mixer with the single cream until lump free and very smooth (think baby food consistancy).
Preheat the over to 170°c. Melt the butter. Grease a baking sheet with some of the melted butter. Place 2 sheets of filo pastry on tray and then brush some melted butter on top of the sheets, repeat. Spread a layer of potimarron purée on top of the sheets and then place two more sheets of filo pastry. Making sure to brush butter in between the sheets. Then spread a layer of chestnut jam. Repeat by alternating layers of filo pastry and pumpkin purée/chestnut jam. For the top brush some more butter. Bake in the oven for about 15-20 minutes until the top is golden and the pastry is crisp. Eat while warm. You may want to serve it with some whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.
Tags: autumn, millefeuille, pumpkin, seasonal
