Raspberry & White Chocolate French Toast

I was once a weekendless soul.  I'd lie and convince myself that time off through the week was worth much more than a measly weekend but when I thought no one was looking I would gaze at those who sit in their dressing gowns, drinking endless cups of tea and reading the weekend supplements with pure envy, deeply wishing I could be among them.  Now, thanks to the shop, I am!  I am now the person sitting in her dressing gown, cuddling cats and struggling through the times crossword.  Even better, I can now bathe in the sanctity that is the Sunday breakfast.  Something special you couldn't possibly have during the week, something time consuming and ridiculously indulgent.  

This raspberry and white chocolate french toast certainly ticks all of the above boxes.  Delicious, sinful and highly calorific.  Perfect for the first Sunday of Autumn.

Raspberry & White Chocolate French Toast

(adapted from Martha Stewart)

3 large free range eggs

100ml milk

Juice of 1/2 an orange

Zest of 1 small lemon

1tbsp maple syrup

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

Butter for frying

100g good quality white chocolate, melted over a pan of simmering water

Handful of raspberries

 

Whisk together eggs, milk, juice, vanilla, zest, syrup and cinnamon in a shallow bowl. Melt a knob of butter in a non stick frying pan over a medium heat.

Dip one slice of bread in mixture and allow to soak for 20 seconds, pressing the dry side like a sponge to allow it to suck up the mixture. Place slice dipped side down in the pan and fry for 2-3 minutes until golden brown. While frying, spread a layer of melted white chocolate on the top side of the bread and place a small handful of raspberries over the chocolate. Dip another slice of bread in mixture and press the dry side gently to soak up the mixture. Sandwich this slice over the raspberries, dipped side facing up and press down to seal sandwich together slightly. Carefully flip over and fry the other side of the sandwich for the same amount of time, until golden brown. Repeat with remaining slices of bread, adding another tbsp of butter to the pan for each sandwich. Serve immediately, dusted with a light coat of icing sugar.

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GBBO Showstoppers: Chess Board Cake

Oh blog dearest, how I have missed you.  First of all allow me to explain my absence.  If you follow me on Twitter or Facebook you'll understand why I have been so darned quiet. For the last few month I've been the busiest I have ever been in my whole life.  I opened a cake shop named Pet Lamb in the heart of Newcastle with my best friend and partner in crime, this would be enough to keep any normal person occupied but not me.  While pouring all of my heart and soul into my fledgling business I have also been spending every second I had away from the shop writing my book.  To say it's been tough would be a massive understatement but I battled through and I made it through to the other side.  My manuscript is now in the hands of my publishing house and the shop is thriving and growing every day.  I am a very lucky girl indeed!

Now, onto the main event, cake!  You'd think that being a baker by trade I'd be sick of the sight of sponge, I'm not.  Not even slightly, if anything the shop is pushing us harder to keep coming up with new and fresh ideas.  When I was asked if I'd like to receive a copy of the new GBBO Showstoppers book I jumped at the chance.  Show stopping cakes are just what I need for some delicious inspiration.  Upon my first flick through the book this Chess Board Cake caught my eye.  It looked so impressive and so complex but reading through the recipe I was surprised at the simplicity behind it.  

This is the perfect conversation piece that will have people gasping with delight.  Take this darling to a party and you'll have everyone believing your a baking extraordinaire.  Only you will know how simple it really is.

Chess Board Cake
(From GBBO Showstoppers)

Cake:

350g butter, at room temperature
350g caster sugar
3 tsp vanilla
6 eggs
350g self raising flour
pinch of salt
50g cocoa powder
4 tbs milk

Ganache

300g Dark Chocolate

300g Whipping Cream

 

Preheat the oven to 350 F/180 C and line 3 eight inch pans with parchment paper. In the bowl of an electric mixer beat the butter and sugar together for several minutes until creamy.

Add the vanilla and then the eggs one at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl if necessary.

Sift in the flour and salt and fold by hand to combine. Put half the batter in a separate bowl and sift in the cocoa powder and two tablespoons of the milk. Stir in 2 tablespoons of milk in the vanilla batter.

Put the two batters into separate piping bags. Pipe a ring of chocolate around the outside of two of the tins, then pipe a ring of vanilla. Keep alternating until the pans are full. In the third pan start with the vanilla first.

Bake for 22-25 minutes (12-15 minutes for a small cake). Run a knife around the edge of the cakes and invert onto a cooling rack.

To make the ganache heat the cream until near boiling and pour over the chopped chocolate.  Leave for a few minutes then fold the mixture until all of the chocolate is melted and the ganache is smooth and glossy.  Leave to cool until spreadable and use to fill and frost your cake.

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Pet Lamb Patisserie's Grand Opening!

So it's almost here, Pet Lamb is due to open its little doors to the adoring public at 9am Saturday 4th of August and we'd love it if some of my lovely local readers showed their faces!  We'll have fizzy wine and some super special offers for our Facebook fans, so get adding ;)

I hope we see some of your sweet faces on the 4th!  Help us celebrate the culmination of our hard work for the past three years.

Check us out at Unit 165, Grainger Market, Newcastle Upon Tyne, NE1 5QW.  Entrance by Grainger Games, opposite Wilkinsons.

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AWOL

I'm sure you've all noticed the distinct lack of posts or comments from myself these past few weeks.  Well, I have a reason, and a dammed good one I think.

I'm opening a shop!!  That's right, myself and my bff Kay are finally realising our dream and opening Pet Lamb in the heart of Newcastle.  There's been a lot of stress, a lot of excitements and a lot of hard work, especially since July is our busiest period for events but we're finally seeing all of our hard work take shape!  I can't wait to share some photos with you guys!

But wait, that's not it!  Not only am I opening Pet Lamb, working myself into the ground with fairs and events but I'm also writing a book!  Me, a proper book that's going to be on sale and everything.  I'm not sure how much I'm allowed to share with you at this point but I can tell you it's going to be a part of the already very popular Bake Me I'm Yours series.  It's all go right now and as hectic and stressful as my life is at the moment, I wouldn't change it for the whole world.

Keep sweet dear readers and I'll be back soon :)

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Mint Choc Chip Ice Cream

I know the weather hardly justifies ice cream at the moment but it's July damnit and I'll make ice cream if I want to!  Since being a little girl my ice cream flavour of choice has always been mint chocolate chip covered in chocolate sauce.  Something about the bright green treat just transports me back to sunny days at the beach, something which never seems to happen these days.

When I decided to have a crack at making my favorite frozen treat I took to the world wide web in search of recipe inspiration.  I settled upon the wise words of David Lebovitz, after all he is an expert in the subject.  I was originally planning on using peppermint extract to flavour my ice cream but after reading Davids article on fresh mint I decided to give it a whirl.  The resulting ice cream is a far cry from the green version I was so used to.  It had a much more sophisticated flavour and was delightfully refreshing.  I don't think this ice cream will ever overtake the synthetic version I love so dearly but it's certainly up there with the best of them.

Mint Choc Chip Ice Cream:

(Recipe from David Lebovits)

For the mint ice cream:

1 cup (250 ml) whole milk

3/4 cup (150 gr) sugar

2 cups (500 ml) heavy cream

pinch of salt

2 cups packed (80 gr) fresh mint leaves

5 large egg yolks

For the chocolate chips:

5 ounces (140 gr) bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped

Method:

In a medium saucepan, warm the milk, sugar, 1 cup (250 ml) heavy cream, salt, and mint.

Once the mixture is hot and steaming, remove from heat, cover, and let stand for an hour to infuse the mint flavor.

Remove the mint with a strainer, then press down with a spatula firmly to extract as much mint flavor and color as possible. (You can also use well-washed hands to do it as well, making sure the mixture isn’t too hot to safely handle.) Once the flavor is squeezed out, discard the mint.

Pour the remaining heavy cream into a large bowl and set the strainer over the top.

Rewarm the infused milk. In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, then slowly pour some of the warm mint mixture into the yolks, whisking constantly, then scrape the warmed yolks back into the saucepan.

Cook the custard, stirring constantly with a heatproof spatula, until the mixture thickens and coats the spatula. If using an instant read thermometer, it should read around 170ºF (77ºC).

 

Immediately strain the mixture into the cream, then stir the mixture over an ice bath until cool.

Refrigerate the mixture thoroughly, preferably overnight, then freeze it in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

While the mixture is freezing, melt the chocolate in a small bowl over a pot of simmering water, or in a microwave oven on low power, stirring until smooth. Place a storage container in the freezer.

When the ice cream in the machine is ready, scribble some of the chocolate into the container, then add a layer of the just-churned ice cream to the container. Scribble melted chocolate over the top of the ice cream, then quickly stir it in, breaking up the chocolate into irregular pieces. Continue layering the ice cream, scribbling more chocolate and stirring as you go.

When finished, cover and freeze until firm.

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