Recipe: Carrot and Coriander Soup

When it’s cold and wintery outside, all I want to do is snuggle up on the sofa with a blanket and a bowl of comforting home-made soup. The following recipe is for a delicious carrot and coriander soup, with added leeks for extra flavour. If you haven’t made soup before, and find it easier to buy, I promise you, you won’t turn back once you have tried your own!

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Ingredients:

• 450g carrots, peeled and chopped
• 2 leeks, chopped
• 1 potato, peeled and chopped
• 2 tablespoons fresh coriander, finely chopped
• 1.2 litres (2 pints) vegetable sock
• Ground black pepper
• Pinch of salt
• 30g butter
• 3 tablespoons greek yoghurt

Method:

1. Melt the butter in a large saucepan, and add the carrots and leeks. Cook for 10 minutes until they  begin to soften.

2. Add 1 tablespoon of coriander and mix through.

3. Add the potato to the saucepan, and pour in the stock. Stir and season to taste. Bring to the boil, cover, and simmer for 20 mintues.

4. When the vegetables have softened, blend the mixture in a food processor, with the extra tablespoon of coriander.

5. Pour the soup back into the saucepan, and stir through the greek yoghurt. Return the soup to the hob to gently heat through before serving.

6. Enjoy with some freshly warmed bread for the perfect winter warmer!

 

Recipe: Orange and Ginger Marmalade Muffins

Jam is commonly used in a number of baking recipes to add flavour, sweetness and colour, but how about using marmalade as a tangy alternative instead? The following recipe is for delicious orange marmalade muffins, which would perfectly accompany a breakfast feast or act as a delicious mid-morning treat.

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Ingredients:

• 175g plain flour
• 25 porridge oats, plus extra for sprinkling
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
• 1 ½ teaspoons ginger
• 175g light soft brown sugar
• Zest and juice of one orange
• 1 tablespoon sunflower oil
• 150g plain yoghurt
• 1 egg
• 9 teaspoons chunky orange marmalade (this could be switched for alternative flavours

 

Method:

1. Pre-heat the oven to 180°C, and line a muffin tin with 9 paper cases.

2. Sift the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, and ginger into a large bowl, and add the oats and sugar. Mix to combine.

3. In a jug, whisk the orange zest and juice, oil, yoghurt and egg together. Then, add this to the flour mixture and stir until just combined.

4. Spoon one tablespoon of the mixture into each muffin case, and then spoon one teaspoon of marmalade into the centre. Cover with the remaining muffin mix and a sprinkling of oats.

5. Place the muffins in the oven and bake for 15-20 minutes until golden brown.

 

Recipe: Christmas Yule Log

Looking for a last minute centrepiece to give your Christmas table the ‘wow’ factor? Try my yummy Christmas yule log - easy to make within 3 hours, and perfect to enjoy with afternoon Christmas nibbles.

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Christmas Yule Log

Ingredients:

• 100 caster sugar
• 75g self-raising flour
• 30g cocoa powder
• 4 medium eggs

Chocolate Ganache: 

• 500g chocolate (I used milk chocolate - 30% cocoa solids)
• 500g double cream

 

Method:

1. Pre-heat the oven to 190˚C, and grease and line a swiss roll tin with baking parchment.

2. Crack the eggs into a large mixing bowl, and add the sugar. Mix using an electric whisk for 5-10 minutes until the mixture doubles in volume, becomes very pale / almost white, and thickens to leave a trail.

3. Sift the flour and cocoa powder into the mixture and fold in carefully until combined. Be careful not to over-mix as this will knock out air.

4. Pour the mixture into the lined tin and tip to spread the mixture evenly. Place in the oven and bake for 10-12 minutes until the sponge is slightly darker in colour, springy to touch, and coming away from the edge of the baking tray.

5. Meanwhile, place a sheet of baking parchment on top of the work surface and sprinkle generously with icing sugar.

6. When the sponge is baked, loosen the edges from the tin with a knife if necessary, and turn it on to the sugared baking parchment. Peel off the baking parchment and neatly trim all four edges to remove crispy bits and to make them straight.

7. Carefully roll up the sponge, like a swiss roll. To be extra safe, you could place a sheet of baking parchment on top of the sponge before rolling to prevent the rolled layers sticking together. When rolled, leave the sponge to cool.

Hint: There are a number of videos on YouTube to guide you through this stage if you are unsure of what to do and how to roll.

8. When the sponge is cooling, make the chocolate ganache. For this, heat the cream in a saucepan so that it is almost too warm to keep your finger in the liquid. Then, remove it from the heat and gradually add the chocolate, mixing it through until it has all melted. You should achieve a smooth and glossy consistency.

 

9. Allow the ganache to cool to room temperature and then refrigerate for an hour until it thickens.

Top Top: If the ganache cools but does not thicken enough to spread, whisk the mixture using an electric whisk until a spreadable / pipeable consistency is achieved.

10. Un-roll the sponge and evenly spread a generous amount of the ganache onto it. Re-roll the sponge so that the join is on the bottom, and place it on a cake board or serving plate.

11. Carefully and evenly spread or pipe the remaining ganache on the log so that all of the sponge is covered. If desired, use a fork to create a ‘bark’ effect, then dust with icing sugar and decorate if desired.

12. Enjoy your Yule Log and have a very Merry Christmas!

Recipes: Christmas Biscuits

The festive season provides the perfect excuse for a good old baking session, and the following biscuit recipes can act as delicious treats, home-made gifts, or perfect tree decorations. So don your festive apron and favourite Christmas album, and let the smell of Christmas spices fill your house. After all, ‘tis the season to be jolly. Enjoy!

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Christmas Spice Biscuits

Christmas Spice Biscuits

Ingredients:

• 200g self-raising flour
• 100g butter
• 100g caster sugar
• 1 teaspoon of spice (cinnamon / ginger / mixed spice, or a combination)
• 1 egg
• Decorations

Method:

1. Pre-heat the oven to 180°C/gas mark 4.
 

2. Rub the butter into the flour until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.

3. Add the sugar and spice and mix through.

4. Beat the egg in a small jug, and gradually add to the mixture until it comes together to form a dough.

5. Knead the dough gently until it is smooth, and then turn it onto a lightly floured work surface.

6. Roll out the dough so that it is 3-4mm thick, and use Christmas-themed cutters to create festive shaped biscuits.

7. Place the biscuits on a baking tray lined with baking parchment, making sure that they are not too close together. If making tree decorations, make a small hole near the edge of each biscuit using a chopstick, or the end of a teaspoon. Ribbon can be threaded through the hole to hang the biscuits once they are cooked!

8. Place the biscuits in the oven, and bake for 10-12 minutes until golden brown.

9. When cooked, remove the biscuits from the oven and allow to cool for 2 minutes, before transferring them to a wire cooling rack.

10. When cool, the biscuits are ready for decorating! I tend to use a thick icing (made from icing sugar and water), with edible sparkly bits sprinkled on top.

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Gingerbread Biscuits

Ingredients:

• 250g butter200g dark muscovado sugar
• 7 tablespoons golden syrup
• 600g plain flour
• 2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
• 4 teaspoon ground ginger
• Decorations

 

Method:

1. Pre-heat the oven to 180°C/gas mark 4.

 

2. In a pan, melt together the butter, sugar and syrup.

 

3. In a large bowl, mix together the flour, bicarbonate of soda, and ground ginger. Add this to the melted mixture to form a stiff dough.

 

4. Roll out the dough until it is 4-5mm thick, and then cut out the biscuits. If easier, roll the dough on baking parchment to avoid it sticking to the work surface.

 

5. Place the biscuits on a baking tray lined with baking parchment, making sure that they are not too close together. If making tree decorations, make a small hole near the edge using a chopstick, or the end of a teaspoon.

 

6. Place the biscuits in the oven for 10-12 minutes. When cooked, they should be a little darker at the edges –they will become firmer as they cool.

 

7. When cool, decorate the biscuits.

 

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Please Tweet photos of your baked goodies to @LDN_Foodie, or share them on Facebook. I would love to see them, and I am sure my followers would too!

 

Recipe: Easy Peesy Cheesycake (White Chocolate & Honeycomb)

Dessert is always my favourite part of a meal, to eat and make, and one of my favourite puds is cheesecake!

The following cheesecake is super easy to make, and as it only needs a couple of hours to chill before serving, it is the perfect sweet treat when you are hard-pressed for time.

White Chocolate and Honeycomb Cheesecake

Ingredients:

• 250g soft cheese
• 250g lighter/reduced fat soft cheese
• 300ml double cream
• 300g white chocolate
• 200g chocolate coated honeycomb
• 300g digestive biscuits
• 100g butter/margarine
• 50g milk chocolate

Method:

1. Place the biscuits in a food bag, and bash them with a rolling pin to form crumbs. To speed things up, you could blitz them in a food processor.

2. Melt 100g butter /margarine, and stir in the biscuit crumbs.

3. Evenly press the biscuit mixture into a 23cm spring form cake tin, and chill in the fridge while making the cheesecake topping.

4. In a bowl, beat the two types of soft cheese together, until the mixture is smooth. Add the double cream and beat through.

5. Melt the white chocolate, and gradually add to the cream cheese mixture, ensuring it is fully combined.

6. Mix in the chocolate coated honeycomb so that the pieces are evenly distributed.

7. Spoon the mixture on top of the biscuit base and smooth out.

8. Melt the milk chocolate and drizzle it over the cheesecake.

9. Cover the cheesecake and chill for a minimum of two hours before serving.

 

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For a bit of extra colour and a sharper flavour, you could switch the chocolate coated honeycomb for raspberries. You could also switch the white chocolate for milk or dark chocolate, and change the biscuit base too, e.g. for ginger nuts, cookies, chocolate digestives, etc.

 

If you are after something more refreshing, you could switch the chocolate for something more ‘citrusy’, and add lemon zest and juice to the cream cheese mixture. I have also tried a dark chocolate and orange combination before, which worked really well.