Raspberry coconut scrumptiousness!

So, this is the last delicious recipe from the second meeting of Hot, Sweet and Yummy baking group. But don't worry as our next meeting is this Monday coming and will be a cracker...the theme is Indulgence to celebrate almost the end of lent when everyone can stock up on all the goodies they have been denying themselves. We actually just wanted an excuse to gorge ourselves again and indulgence seemed like a nice name for 'loads of calories'!!
Anyway Paul, as I've mentioned before is an expert in the kitchen and is always cooking up nice, tasty treats at any opportunity. His finger buffets are indeed sumptuous and I think  he should start a catering company but he'll just poo poo that idea. he is very modest. He made a plate of gorgeous little coconut sponge hearts for this meeting and they looked so cute and tasty. I think this was also adapted from a Delia recipe but I'm not entirely sure. You'll have to ask him yourself...well we delved in as we always do and I think the plate was empty within a few noisy minutes. The flavour of these little cakes was really yummy and you could pick out all the different ingredients no problem. Paul himself admitted this was the first time he had made this recipe and thought it need slightly less time in the oven or a little more liquid to compensate for the desiccated coconut he added! Some good tips there Paul - if anyone gives this recipe a go please let us know how it turns out. Anyway, Paul's yummy sponge hearts were a delight and we all munched them down hungrily even if we had already exceeded a week's worth of calories in half an hour! If you are curious what Paul will make for our Indulgence evening then just check back here next week as all our recipes and photographs of the evening will be posted here! In the meantime, here is the recipe for Paul's Raspberry and White Chocolate Coconut Sponge Hearts.

Swiss Roll Sponge Ingredients

3 Eggs, at room temperature

3oz (75g) Castor Sugar,
3 ox Self-Raising Flour, sieved
2 tablespoons of desiccated coconut

Filling

Tin of raspberries in juice

1 tablespoon of sugar

melted chocolate

grated white chocolate

• Pre-heat the Oven to 220c 425F Mark 7. Grease and line a shallow Swiss Roll tin 9inch x 12inch (23cm x 30cm) with greaseproof paper.
• Whisk the eggs with the castor sugar until the mixture is light and creamy. It should leave a trail when the whisk is lifted out. Then fold in the Self-Raising Flour and coconut using a metal spoon.
• Pour the mixture into the tin and smooth level with a palette knife. Place in the hot oven and bake for 7 to 10 minutes until the sponge is pale golden and begins to shrink from the edges of the tin.
• For the Raspberry filling I used a tin of raspberries and emptied the whole tin to a blender and pureed – then I heated this up in a saucepan, added 1 tablespoon of sugar, until it had reduced right down to a gooey consistency.
• I grated the white chocolate and mixed this into the raspberry coulis.
• I cut the heart shapes out of the sponge and sandwiched 2 together with the white chocolate and raspberry mixture, then drizzled some plain chocolate over the top.
•  This is the first time I have tried this sponge and must admit I found it a bit dry – doing it again I would maybe give slightly less time in the oven, or use a better baking tray.  I added the coconut to the original recipe so perhaps some more moisture was needed.

So, that's them all now! I hope you've enjoyed reading about our fab little baking group and I really hope you do try out some of our recipes. If you do or if you have any hot, sweet and yummy recipes of your own please email us or just post something here on the Blog. We'd love to hear from you.

Love Hot, Sweet and Yummy xxx

Cheesecake, banana fudge muffins and lots of cals!

I think its time we had a look at what else we sampled last week. I am still awaiting Jan's crumble cake recipe but I'm sure he'll give up his secret soon. Anyway, Paul arrived with his dish under tight wraps so nobody was getting a sneak peak before it was out, on the plate and looking good! And it was...all glossy and textured and looking as if it had about 3 million calories per square cm! It was a two tone chocolate cheesecake and it looked dangerously good. Paul is also an accomplished cook having run a successful restaurant for a few years until the long hours and having no life whatsoever took their toll. Well, we all benefit on a regular basis from Paul's lovely cooking and baking. His sumptuous finger buffets are renowned in certain circles and his veggie tapas dishes are to die for...not to mention lots of sweet treats that he rustles up at the drop of a hat. I always think Paul should have a little cafe but I'm sure he has different ideas! 
We all decided that we needed to slow down and not guzzle big portions of everything so we halved the huge slices that had already been cut for us  - good move! I think we could have all gone mad and eaten the whole cheesecake but we were all very well behaved. 
Paul told me later on that he makes this dish often and always keeps an emergency one in the freezer to administer to Harry when he needs something sweet and satisfying at short notice but this was the first time he had made it this way. Here is the recipe

Paul's two tone chocolate cheesecake

base

2/3 packet of Digestive Biscuits

1/3 packet of Ginger Nuts

200g Stork Margarine

4 tablespoons golden syrup

• Put the biscuits in a food processor until they are crumbs, then add the margarine (cut into smaller blocks)and the syrup and blend until all mixed together.  Put in a bowl and microwave for 30 seconds to soften, the press into a pre-greased tin (warming will help this process as the mixture is more pliable).  Put in fridge to cool.

Filling

1 tub Marscapone (think its about 200g)

1 200g bar plain chocolate

1 200g bar white chocolate

1/2 tin of condensed milk

• Place the broken up white chocolate into a pan on a very low heat and add 1/2 of the amount of condensed milk.  Keep stirring while chocolate melts then add 1/2 the marscapone, again keep stirring until the mixture is smooth.  Pour into previously refrigerated base and leave to cool - place in fridge when cool enough.
• Repeat the process again with the plain choclate and the rest of the condensed milk and marscapone, when cool keep cheesecake in fridge until serving.
• Then, enjoy............................

Normally Paul just uses normal digestive biscuits but he thought the gingernuts would add a little spiciness and he usually only uses one type of chocolate but I think using the plain and white was a stroke of culinary genius. Nigella would be proud! He also told me that the two mixtures could be swirled together to create a nice marbled effect, or a 3 tone cake could be made using milk chocolate too! At this point I was lusting after another slice but managed to hold off because I was eyeing up some banana muffins that were being brought in from the kitchen! 

Paul - you're cheesecake was first class and we can't wait to sample future delights!

So, the banana muffins had appeared and were quickly disappearing to lots of 'mmmms' and 'ooh yes'! I think Fee had come up trumps with the muffins! They were pretty delicious and sound surprisingly easy to make! In fact, fee told us she makes a batch of muffins most weeks as they are quick and relatively healthy and can be adapted to include many flavours both sweet and savoury. Her little monsters are always mooching about the kitchen looking for treats so this was the perfect way to make sure the treats were at least a little healthier than normal. In fact, Fee had wanted to join the baking group so that her baking skills would improve. She worries about all the salt, sugar, artificial additives and preservative that are in shop bought treats and is trying to cook and bake more things at home to eliminate these from the family's diet. Well, we didn't care whether they were healthy or not because they were very yummy. Fee said she takes a lot of inspiration from her friend Vivienne who makes really really delicious and unusual muffins but this recipe (a family favourite) was adapted from a very easy Nigella Express Recipe. Thanks NIgella! 

Fiona's banana fudge muffins

3 ripe bananas

125ml vegetable oil but can be replaced with apple sauce

2 large free range organic eggs

100g caster sugar but can use brown

1/2 teasp bicarbonate soda

1 teasp baking powder

150g of something naughty - Fee used fudge and chocolate chunks but you can use chocolate buttons, white chocolate, maltesers, butterscotch morsels or anything you fancy!

• preheat oven to 200C or gas mark 6
• line a 12 hole standard muffin tray with liners
• mash the bananas on a plate and set aside
• pour the oil into a jug and beat in the eggs 
• sift the flour, sugar, bicarb of soda and baking powder into a large bowl.
• make a well in the centre and add the oil and egg mixture, followed by the bananas
• fold the mix gently - this is very important - do not mix vigorously!
• gently fold in the naughty bits then scoop equal amounts into the muffin liners. 
• pop in the oven for about 20 minutes or until risen and golden

Fiona assures us that the smell will drive everyone within a 2 mile radius crazy! It sounds very easy and for a healthier alternative omit the naughty bits but I suppose that's a bit boring! Fee has promised to post some more savoury and unusual muffin recipes and photographs over the coming months!

Well, sadly that's all for today but if you do choose to bake either of these delicious things I doubt you'll be sad! If you do have a bash at them please get in touch via email to rate our recipes or leave us a comment here on the blog!

See you next time...

Love from hot, sweet and yummy xxx