Category Archives: Recipes

Christmas Rocky Road

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Rocky road is one of my bakes that always goes down really well! It’s usually gobbled up in minutes whenever I put it out – which probably has something to do with the rich, buttery biscuit base and lots of chocolate. Yum. This time I’ve put together a rocky road with a Christmas twist, the biscuit base is a mix of warming ginger nut biscuits and digestives, plus a white chocolate drizzle for a snowy look.

I decorated mine with McVitie’s mini gingerbread men, and some christmassy sprinkles and M&Ms, but feel free to use any Christmassy decorations of your choice.

Ingredients:
Makes roughly 20-25 rocky road squares
Prep time: 25 minutes

  • 200g Dark Chocolate
  • 100g Milk Chocolate
  • 100g White Chocolate (this should be a ‘best for baking’ type of chocolate, to avoid curdling)
  • 100g mini marshmallows
  • 2 tablespoons golden syrup
  • 80g digestive
  • biscuits
  • 80g ginger nut biscuits
  • 125g unsalted butter
  • A handful of Christmassy cake decorations
  • 50g M&Ms

Method:

  1. Line a square cake tin with baking parchment.
  2. Melt your dark chocolate, golden syrup and butter in a saucepan over a low heat. 
  3. Place your digestive biscuits and ginger nut biscuits in a sandwich bag and smash with a rolling pin until the biscuits are around the size of 5p pieces. Add these to your saucepan and stir until all the biscuit pieces are covered in the chocolate mixture. Add half of the marshmallows to the mixture and stir so they are mixed together.
  4. Pour your mixture into your baking tray and pat down firmly with a wooden spoon. Add a few more marshmallows on the top but make sure there are still some left over for the topping.
  5. Bring a saucepan full of water to boil. Melt your milk chocolate in a glass bowl over the saucepan. Once melted, drizzle over your biscuit mixture in the cake tin, covering with a full layer of milk chocolate.
  6. Melt your white chocolate. Drizzle over your mixture in the cake tin to create a marbled effect.
  7. Add your cake decorations and M&Ms over the top. 
  8. Refrigerate for 2-3 hours, until hard. 
  9. Cut your Rocky Road into small squares and store in the fridge for up to 2 weeks (if they last that long!!)

Chocolate Orange Checkerboard Cookies

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Chocolate orange and Christmas go hand in hand for me. These checkerboard cookies are fun to make and look so pretty! Plus if you have a mini chess set you could probably play a game or two on these. They’re buttery biscuits that taste a bit like shortbread but with loads of flavour.

Ingredients:
Makes approx 25 cookies
Prep time: 3 hours (including chill time in the fridge)

  • 250g butter, at room temperature
  • 200g granulated sugar
  • 1 egg, plus one egg yolk
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 teaspoon orange extract
  • 1 teaspoon orange food colouring (I find the ‘gel’ or ‘paste’ food colourings work best – I used Sugarflair)
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 385g plain flour
  • 35g cocoa powder

Method:

  1. Beat together the butter and sugar, either with an electric whisk or stand mixer.
  2. Add in your egg, egg yolk, baking powder and salt and beat again. Add in your flour and beat until combined.
  3. Divide your dough in half and place in separate mixing bowls. Ideally weigh your mixture and divide accurately.
  4. To one mixture, add your orange food colouring and orange extract and beat until combined.
  5. To the second mixture, add your cocoa powder and vanilla extract and beat until combined.
  6. Place both mixtures in the fridge to chill for 30 minutes, this is just to make the batter easier to handle ahead of the next few steps
  7. Shape each mixture into a rectangular log (roughly 5cm tall and 15cm long) and cover in cling film. Make sure the logs are the same size. Chill in the fridge for 1 hour (or the freezer for 30 minutes)

8. Using a sharp knife slice the dough into thirds, longwise. Then turn the dough one turn and cut into thirds again. You will have 9 strips. Repeat the process with the other dough. You will have 18 strips total.

9. Lay 1 piece of orange dough, one piece of chocolate, and another piece of orange on a flat surface next to each other. Top the 3 strips with alternating colours. Repeat this in 3 layers so you have a square log. Press the dough strips together tightly, keeping the square shape. Repeat this with the remaining dough, you will end up with 2 logs looking like the photo below. Wrap in clingfilm and place in the fridge again for 30 minutes (or the freezer for 15 minutes)

10. Preheat your oven to 180c.
11. Slice your cookies into squares around 1.5cm thick and lay on a baking tray lined with greaseproof paper. Bake for 9-10 minutes.

Baileys Fudge

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Bailey’s fudge is the ultimate Christmas fudge! It’s part chocolate, part Bailey’s (I put quite a lot in so each piece is quite boozy!). I love making fudge as a stocking filler for friends and family – they’re a great gift, or something nice to put on the dessert table. It really does take minutes to make, and stores well in the fridge for up to a month (if it lasts that long!) so it can easily be made ahead.

Ingredients:
Makes roughly 40-50 squares of fudge
Prep time: 10 minutes

  • 397g condensed milk (one can)
  • 600g chocolate (I used 300g dark and 300g milk but you can mix according to preference)
  • 80g icing sugar
  • 150ml Bailey’s

Method:

  1. Line a square baking tin with greaseproof paper. I used a 9in x 9in brownie tin which creates a decent depth for the fudge squares.
  2. Melt your chocolate and condensed milk on a low heat in a large saucepan, stirring continuously so it doesn’t stick to the pan.
  3. Once melted, add your Bailey’s and continue to stir. The liquid should start to be absorbed.
  4. Add your icing sugar and stir through.
  5. Pour your mixture into your tin and leave to set in the fridge for at least 6 hours, preferably overnight so it’s easy to cut and not too sticky!
  6. Cut into squares and store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to one month.

Pistachio Rose Energy Balls

Posted in Recipes, Snacks by

Energy balls are such a fantastic snack – they are filling, tasty, and portable. Plus, they stay fresh for about 4 weeks when stored in an airtight container so can be batch prepped. However, I find that most recipes are hideously overcomplicated, requiring ingredients that can either be located in some niche health food store, or a long lost plant in a far corner of the earth. I’ve simplified the recipe using mainstream ingredients you’ll find in your local supermarket, but still taste great.

These energy balls mimic the Middle Eastern flavours you’ll find in baklava and other traditional desserts – pistachio, rose and cardamom – such a great combination. You’ll need a food processor for this.

Ingredients:
Prep time: 10 minutes
Makes 10 energy balls

  • 100g medjool dates, pitted
  • 50g pistachios, shelled and unsalted
  • 50g almonds
  • 1/4 teaspoon rose extract (or 1/2 teaspoon rosewater)
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
  • 1 teaspoon honey
  • 2 tablespoons mixed seeds – linseeds and sunflower seeds are good options (optional)

Method:

  1. Place your dates and nuts into a food processor and blitz for 1 minute on a high speed.
  2. Add your rose extract, cardamom and honey and blitz again for 1 minute on a high speed.
  3. Remove the mixture from the food processor and place in a mixing bowl and stir in your seeds (if using these)
  4. Roll into balls using your hands. Store in an airtight container for up to 4 weeks.

The Ultimate Fish Pie

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A fish pie is the ultimate winter comfort food. I’ve experimented with a few different recipes over the year, some of which really overcomplicate things with mixed results. I think I have come up with the perfect one – it’s very simple to make, doesn’t require masses of ingredients, yet tastes rich and creamy at the same time (and has a bit of a kick to it!).

The choice of fish and seafood I’ve mentioned in the ingredients is a suggestion, feel free to substitute these with your preferred fish. You could include squid for example, or any other types of fish fillet.

Ingredients:
Serves 4
Prep time: 30 minutes

  • 450ml fish stock (chicken or vegetable stock will also do)
  • 300g fish fillets, cubed (I use a combination of salmon, smoked haddock and cod)
  • 100g scallops
  • 200g raw prawns, peeled
  • 100ml white wine
  • 150ml whole milk
  • 100ml double cream
  • 50g butter
  • Dash of olive oil
  • 2 leeks, sliced
  • 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
  • 50g plain flour
  • handful of fresh parsley, roughly chopped
  • 200g potatoes
  • 80g cheddar cheese, grated
  • salt and pepper

Method:

  1. Peel your potatoes and parboil them (roughly for 10 minutes and drain once complete). You don’t want them to cook through completely, they need to still be firm.
  2. Bring your stock to boil, and add your fish fillets for 1-2 minutes, until cooked through. Remove with a slotted spoon and place in your pie dish. Repeat with your scallops and prawns for 1 minute. Don’t overcook them, your fish will continue to cook whilst in the pie in the oven. Season your fish with salt and pepper.
  3. Add your wine, double cream and milk to the stock mixture and leave to simmer.
  4. Add the butter to a frying pan on a low heat then add your leeks. You can add a dash of olive oil to prevent the butter from burning. Add your garlic, some salt and pepper and leave to cook for 4-5 minutes. The leeks should be soft and buttery but not browned.
  5. Turn the heat to medium-high and cover the leeks with the flour. Cook for 2-3 minutes.
  6. Start slowly adding your stock/cream/milk/wine mixture to the leeks and stir continuously as you do. Once you’ve added the whole mixture, leave to simmer for 2-3 minutes and then add half of your parsley to the mixture.
  7. Pour your creamy leek sauce over your fish in the pie dish.
  8. Slice your potatoes and position on top of the fish mixture, then season with salt, pepper and the rest of the parsley.
  9. Cook on 180C for 30 minutes. Remove, scatter your cheese on top and cook for another 15 minutes until the cheese is melted and golden brown.

Ferrero Rocher Cheesecake

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This no-bake Ferrero Rocher cheesecake is SO easy to make, yet looks and tastes fairly decadent so is great as a Christmas showstopper! There’s a biscuit base, some crunchy Ferrero Rocher pieces inside the cream cheese mixture, and a dash of Nutella.

I recommend using a springform cake tin or a tin with a removable base for this recipe, it just makes it easier to handle.

Ingredients:
Prep time: 30 minutes (plus overnight chilling)
Serves 10

Biscuit base:

  • 350g digestive biscuits
  • 200g unsalted butter

Cheesecake filling:

  • 500g full fat cream cheese
  • 75g icing sugar
  • 250g Nutella
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 350ml double cream
  • 12 Ferrero Rocher, roughly chopped

Decoration:

  • 10 Ferrero Rocher

Method:

  1. Crush your digestive biscuits. The best way to do this is either in a plastic bag and a rolling pin, or you can use a food processor.
  2. Melt your butter in a saucepan over a low heat. Once melted, add your biscuit mixture and stir until evenly coated with butter.
  3. Line your cake tin (springform or with a removable base) with baking parchment. lay your biscuit mixture over the base and pat down with the back of a spoon until smooth and compact. Leave to chill in the fridge whilst you make your cheesecake filling.
  4. With an electric whisk, whisk your cream cheese, vanilla and icing sugar together until combined.
  5. Add the double cream, and whisk on a medium-high speed until the mixture is stiff.
  6. Fold in your chopped Ferrero Rocher gently. Pour over your biscuit mixture in the cake tin then leave to chill in the fridge overnight (or at least for 4-5 hours).
  7. Once chilled, remove the cake from the tin, and decorate with your Fererro Rocher. You could also drizzle some melted chocolate or Nuttella over the top!

Chorizo & Sweet Potato Risotto

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This risotto is one of my favourite autumnal dinners. The chorizo and the smoked paprika work together to create a warming flavour, which goes really well with the sweet potato. It’s a really quick and easy dinner to prepare, that feels impressive! You can sub the sweet potato for butternut squash, or even swede, as these are all in season at the moment.

Ingredients:
Serves 2
Overall time required: 30 minutes

  • 100g arborio (risotto) rice
  • 100g chorizo, sliced
  • 10 mushrooms, finely chopped
  • 450g chicken stock
  • 150ml white wine
  • 2 teaspoons smoked paprika
  • 1 onion, finely chopped
  • 50g cheese (I like to use a combination of cheddar and manchego)
  • 1 sweet potato, cubed
  • 1 teaspoon dried oregano
  • Handful of chopped fresh parsley
  • 3 garlic cloves, minced
  • 25g butter
  • 1 teaspoon olive oil
  • salt and pepper

Method:

  1. Prepare your arborio rice according to the instructions on the packet. Whilst this is boiling, add the olive oil to a separate frying pan on a medium-high heat, then add the chorizo and fry for 1-2 minutes.
  2. Add your onion, sweet potato and mushrooms to the pan and fry for a further 5-6 minutes. Add your garlic, oregano and salt and pepper and reduce the heat to low.
  3. By this point, your rice should be boiled, add it to the pan with the chorizo and vegetables and pour in the white wine and add the smoked paprika. Leave to simmer for 1-2 minutes.
  4. Gradually add your chicken stock to the pan over the next 10 minutes, stirring throughout. You want the liquid to have cooked off before progressing to the next stage. If you find the risotto is still quite ‘soup like’, raise the heat slightly.
  5. Add your cheese and parsley and stir through until the cheese has melted.
  6. Serve, perhaps alongside some garlic bread, it makes a great side!

Herby Crepes

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Herby Crepe

Crepes are one of my go-to quick dinners. I love them because they’re light, quick to make, and can be filled with pretty much anything. For savoury crepes, I have found that adding a few simple herbs to the batter goes a long way in enhancing flavour. My favourite crepe filling is ham, mushroom and cheese (a French classic!) but you can adapt the filling to your choice. You could fill it will roasted veg, or shredded chicken, or smoked salmon and cream cheese, for example.

If you’ve never made crepes before, don’t be alarmed if the first few don’t quite go to plan. It takes a bit of experimenting to create the perfect pancake.

My top tips are:
1. Always make sure your pan is piping hot before adding the batter.
2. Use a non-stick pan, make sure it is well oiled.
3. Don’t overcook your crepe – they really are cooked through in a couple of minutes and can go from cooked to burnt quite quickly.

You can also batch cook a large pile of crepes and store in foil for a few days, you can just warm these up on a low heat in your frying pan.

Ingredients:
Makes 2 crepes

For the crepe batter:

  • 1 egg
  • 180ml milk
  • 50g plain flour
  • pinch of salt and pepper
  • handful of fresh parsley, roughly chopped
  • handful of fresh chives, roughly chopped
  • 1 teaspoon olive oil

For the filling:

  • 1 slice of ham
  • 6 mushrooms, roughly chopped
  • 35g cheddar cheese, grated
  • 1 garlic clove, roughly chopped
  • handful of fresh parsley, roughly chopped
  • salt and pepper
  • 1 teaspoon olive oil

Method:

  1. Make your crepe batter. Whisk your egg and milk and then add the flour. Whisk again until a smooth batter forms and then add your salt, pepper, parsley and chives. Cover with clingfilm and leave to stand for 1 hour.
  2. Prepare your filling by pan frying your mushrooms on a low heat for 2-3 minutes. Add the garlic, parsley and salt and pepper to the pan and cook for another 2 minutes.
  3. Prepare your frying pan for your crepe by oiling the pan, making sure the oil covers the entirety of your pan to avoid sticking. Heat your pan on a high heat for 2-3 minutes and ensure it is piping hot before you add your batter.
  4. Pour a ladle-full of crepe batter on to your frying pan (this should be roughly half of your mixture), ensuring that the batter is spread out evenly across your pan. Once one side is lightly brown (this should only take 1 minute or less), use a slotted turner to flip your pancake. Once the second side is cooked through, turn off the heat.
  5. With the crepe still in the pan, add your mushrooms, ham and cheese to one half of the crepe and fold in half. Lightly press down on the crepe to ensure the cheese is melted through for a couple of minutes.

Madelines

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Madelines are basically light airy teacakes originating from France. They are traditionally scallop shaped, and for this recipe I’d recommend investing in a madeline tray. The batter is made from the same ingredients as a traditional cupcake, but the quantities and process outlined below should be followed really carefully so you end up with fluffy and light madelines!

Ingredients:
Makes 20 madelines
Overall time required: 1 hour 30 minutes

  • 115g unsalted butter (plus another 2 Tbsp for the pan)
  • 2 large eggs, at room temperature
  • 100g granulated sugar
  • 2 teaspoons lemon zest
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 15g sifted all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/8 teaspoon salt
  • optional: icing sugar for sprinkling on top

Method:

  1. Melt the butter in a saucepan and set aside to slightly cool as you prepare the rest of the batter.
  2. Using an electric whisk beat the eggs and sugar together on high speed for at least 8 minutes. The mixture will be thick, pale, and form ribbons when you lift the whisk. Beat in the lemon zest and vanilla extract until combined.
  3. Whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt together. Using a spatula or wooden spoon, gently fold into egg mixture. The batter is quite delicate, so handle with care and don’t over fold!
  4. Stir the batter into the melted butter in small batches.
  5. Cover the batter and chill in the fridge for up to an hour (don’t chill for any longer than this as the butter in the batter will solidify!)
  6. Preheat the oven to 180°C.
  7. Melt the remaining 2 Tablespoons butter. Using a pastry brush, lightly brush the pan with melted butter.
  8. Spoon 1 generous Tablespoon of batter into the center of each scalloped well. You don’t need to spread it to the edges, just plonk in the centre of the shell.
  9. Bake for 10-12 minutes. The madeleines are done when the tops spring back after lightly pressed with your finger. Transfer the warm madeleines to a wire rack to cool.
  10. Dust with icing sugar before serving. Madeleines are best enjoyed right after baking, warm and fresh out of the oven!

Sweet Potato in a Mustard Cream Sauce

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I first tried a dish like this at Polpo, an Italian tapas restaurant in London. The mustard sauce was amazing, I’d never tried anything like it before and went really well with the sweetness of the sweet potato. It’s a great way to jazz up a traditional baked sweet potato.

Pumpkin, butternut squash or swede could serve as a good substitute for sweet potato in this dish, and they’re currently in season!

Prep time: 15 minutes
Serves 1

Ingredients:

1 sweet potato
250ml chicken or vegetable stock
1 teaspoon wholegrain mustard
1 tablespoon double cream
Salt and pepper
1 teaspoon honey
1 tablespoon olive oil

Method:

  1. Slice your sweet potato lengthways and brown in a pan with olive oil over a high heat for 2-3 minutes. Season with salt and pepper and transfer to a deep baking tray and pour the chicken stock over the potato and cover in foil. Bake at 200c for 45 minutes.
  2. Remove your sweet potato from the baking dish once cooked and pour the stock into a saucepan. Reduce on a high heat for 1-2 minutes and then add the double cream, mustard, honey and a dash of pepper. Simmer for 4-5 minutes until the sauce has thickened slightly.
  3. Pour the sauce over your sweet potato and serve.