No bake, Vegan Chocolate Tart

 

Some plans are never going to happen, creating an impromptu gift guide with 12 entries and no preparation was a bad-bad idea. That doesn't mean that something else wonderfully useful can't happen instead. 

It's the time of the year when it's so easy to be a little over-ambitious, just to realise that there will be no time left for making that showstopper dessert you had planned a month ago. So, let's scale down and with the help of the first-ever GBBO, Edd Kimber, create a dessert that will be loved by all, vegan included.

I'm a great fan of chocolate mousse but, the attraction of this recipe is that it takes no time to make, no pastry to take care of, no baking with all the anxieties that brings. Aren't no plan the best plans after all?

Merry Christmas 

No-Bake Chocolate Tarts

Recipe created in partnership with recipe creator Edd Kimber and Lizi's 

INGREDIENTS FOR THE TART CRUST

175g Lizi’s Original Granola (other granola are available)

80g coconut oil, room temperature

INGREDIENTS FOR THE VEGAN GANACHE

265g dark chocolate, finely chopped

50g light brown sugar

115ml almond milk* (*you can use any plant-based milk for this recipe but almond or coconut milk both have flavours that can complement chocolate)

METHOD TO MAKE 4

1. To make the crust place about 2/3 of the Granola into a food processor and process until fine and crumbly.

2. Add in the remaining granola, the oil and salt and process until everything is evenly combined and the mixture is clumped together. Divide this mixture equally between four loose-bottomed 10cm tart tins and press firmly into the base and up the sides of the tin. 

3. Place the tart cases in the fridge whilst you work on the ganache. 

4. Place the chocolate into a bowl and set it aside. Add the almond milk and sugar to the pan on medium heat and gently heat until just steaming.

5. Pour the hot milk over the chocolate and set aside for a couple minutes before stirring with a whisk until a silky smooth ganache is formed.

6. Pour the ganache into the chilled tart cases and place them into the fridge until the ganache has set, which will take at least a couple of hours. 

7. Serve with a little vegan whipped cream or sour cream if you're not vegan. Kept refrigerated these will keep for 3-4 days. 

Gail's Bakery Kits for your Baking Friends

 Very belatedly, I decided to share with you, presents ideas for Christmas. I thought of calling this series the Twelve Days of Christmas. But, reading about the history of the Twelve Days, I found out that they are not these leading to Christmas day but rather those following it, ending with the arrival of the 3 wise kings on Epiphany, the 6 of January. 

Change of name was necessary and there you have it, the series is now called Pebble Soup's Advent Calendar. Today we are gifting our Baking Friends. 

During lockdown one, in 2020, when the hospitality industry was struggling like mad to find a way to survive, we witnessed the first of the '.... in a box'. My very own first was a French Christmas in a Box and I was definitely impressed. 

Baking kits are far from new. Many of us recall making our first biscuits, cakes, and flans 'out of a box', the modern twist involves recreating a chef recipe with lush ingredients, here 23% dark chocolate, 11% dark couverture chocolate. What baker wouldn't like such a pressie?

The Chocolate and Pecan Gail's Brownie Baking Kit make 20 gooey squares, I've not made mine yet but head towards the #gailsbrownies page on Instagram to see some examples. Order online or by phone and collect from your nearest Gail's bakery. The kit cost £18. My devious mind tells me that it could easily make four or five lovely bags .....just don't pass the creations for yours....if you can help it.

See you in a couple of days with a present for your Vegan Baker friends.

Disclaimer: I was given a kit as a kit but received no further remuneration to write this post.  I was not expected to write a positive review – I retain full editorial control.
 

Humble Poire Belle-Hélène meets Flamboyant Gelato

We are all familiar with images of poached pears, fragrant with winter spices and standing proud on a sweet reduction of red wine, such as the one pictured in The Guardian by the talented Felicity Cloake.

Picture by Felicity Cloake

The name 'Poire Belle-Hélène' is intriguing enough, one could imagine that the creator of this glistening dessert was an admirer of a beautiful lady called Hélène but, this is far from being the case. The reality is far more prosaic: renowned restaurateur and recipe developer, Auguste Escoffier, 19th century, was commissioned a dessert for Jacques Offenbach's satirical operetta La Belle-Hélène which premiered in Paris in 1864. The dish was simply named to promote the operetta that told the story of Helen of Troy. No secret love affair, but a job to do and a job well done as this dessert looks opulent, taste delicious, and can be made easily...and cheaply, as I found out.

Not always inclined to use red wine in cooking because cheap wine tastes...well...cheap, even when reduced to the maximum. I decided to replace it with a fruit syrup leftover from cooking apples, but a light sugar syrup will do nicely. To give it its colour, I used the juice of half a pomegranate. In spite of looking like a pear recently run over by a train at high speed, the result tasted delicious.... partly due to the gelato.

To complement this dish, I used two Hackney Gelato flavours: Mince Pie and Chocolate (the latter for the less adventurous member of Pebble Soup HQ). The brand was created six years ago by a couple of chefs who met at the Michelin-starred Locanda Locatelli. They make everything in their East London kitchen and won 22 Great Taste Stars in the last three years. Their beginnings were a little bumpy but they now provide gelati and sorbets to restaurants and supermarkets. Consumers can be found tubs of Hackney Gelato, in Tesco and Waitrose. In my opinion, this is a brand to watch.

Poire Belle-Hélène in Sugar Syrup

How to make a sugar syrup for this recipe?

Dissolve 80g caster sugar in 350ml water over low heat. 

Add cinnamon, cloves, vanilla, peppercorn, pick one or any combo, personally, I like cinnamon and peppercorn. 

If you want to get the colour closer to wine replace the water with pomegranate juice.

Once dissolved, peel the pears and cut them in half, then add them to the syrup and simmer until the fruits are tender, it could take up to 30 minutes.

Serve cooled with a topping of your choice.

The traditional method using red wine requires 700ml of wine for 125 gr sugar

Coffee Mousse Recipe & Personalised Piqant Coffee

 

I first published this recipe in 2017. Back then, coffee drinkers were outnumbered by tea-lovers and in these days the UK was number 11 on the international coffee drinkers chart, with three kilos of coffee per capita per year. The Fins topped the list, with 12.5 kgs per capita per year. Forwards to 2020 and the Fins are still up there when the Brits have fallen off the chart.

So if you are a coffee enthusiast like me, the 1st of October is an important date, it's International Coffee Day and it signals the start of a fortnight of coffee celebrations and with this a voyage of discovery in the coffee beans world.

But where do you start? Only the other day, I was contacted by a family firm called Piqant that offers personalised coffee. My first reaction was 'Whatever next???', but since I'm almost addicted to caffeine, I gave it a go and after filling up a Piqant quick questionnaire, I received two nicely sealed pouches, a Colombian and an Ethiopian espresso coffee.

Worth it? definitely. Not only because it removes the decision process from you but it helps you in your future choices. The selection is vast and the quality excellent so your high expectations from the service will be fulfilled

Downside?  The price but that also should be expected, it is not any pricier than at another independent roaster companie's with pouches starting at £9.50 for 250g.

What did I do with my 'old coffee'? an old favourite:

Coffee Mousse – Mousse au café

Ingredients

• 60 g caster sugar with a couple of gelatine leaves or a mix of 50g sugar 10g pectin sugar if you prefer
• 1 small cup of coffee brewed with any of the 28 varieties.
• 

  3 eggs
• 150 g cream (double or whipping)

Method

Beat the egg yolks with the sugar until the mix looks whitish. Prepare the gelatine leaves if using

Add the cream and transfer to a saucepan. Cook on low heat until the mix thickens, don’t let it boil

In the meantime beat the egg whites to a soft peak

When the cream is thick, cool it for a little while, add the gelatine leaves and add the egg whites, a spoon at the time.

Pour in your chosen serving glass or return a large bowl. Keep in the fridge for 4 hours before serving

Disclaimer: I received two samples to review, words are my own, I wasn't asked to write a favourable review. Recipe is my own.

Organic Coconut Milk Powder Review & Rice Pudding Recipe

Organic Coconut Milk Powder Review

What is Indigo Nutrition's Organic Coconut Milk Powder? It's an evaporated coconut milk in powder form which doesn't contain casein, therefore, perfect for vegans

How does it work? The powder can be made into coconut milk or cream, by adding hot water to the ratio of 3/4 tablespoons for 250ml of water.

How organic is it? As we now know, when considering how organic a product is, not only do we have to consider the origin but, also the packaging. This product comes in a pouch which we hope is recyclable. Although, nothing indicates this on the packaging. The coconut powder is 100% organic. 

Pay attention, here come the stats. (from BBC News)

A quarter of British people are now drinking non-dairy milks, according to market research firm Mintel, who spoke to 2,000 people.

The biggest users of non-dairy milk are 16-24 year olds - 33% are drinking them.

But plant-based milks make up just 4% of the milk market, with 96% of milk sales in 2018 being for cow's milk. "Concerns around health, ethics and the environment" are driving sales of plant-based milks, says Emma Clifford, who looks after food and drink research at Mintel.

Health was the reason why 37% of 16-24 year olds said they'd reduced how much cow's milk they've been drinking in the last 12 months. The impact on the environment was also a concern among that group - with 36% saying dairy farming isn't good for the environment. 

So plant-based kinds of milk are on the up and quite rightly so. 

At Pebble Soup HQ, we have been using coconut milk a lot, added to curries or dahl such as this Prawn Sambal recipe. But it has always been coconut milk in a tin.

How does the powder differ from the tin?

The first thing I noticed was the waste management. This resealable airtight foil pouch eliminates the leftover half tins problem. It's easy to control the amount required. Tin milk appears richer but only because it is more concentrated. The powdered milk is light and doesn't overpower the other ingredients in the dish. However, for my taster recipe, I would add desiccated coconut to the dish next time to showcase the coconut taste.

Rice Pudding with Coconut Milk 

In India, rice pudding is flavoured with cardamon, in France with vanilla, For classical rice pudding, nutmeg is the spice of choice. Using Arborio rice didn't add to the taste but it baked as it absorbs more of the milk better than ordinary rice.

Ingredients
500ml of reconstituted coconut milk
70g of Arborio rice
1 tbs of sugar
a little coconut oil to grease the oven-dish
nutmeg (optional) see other options above

Oven temperature 160C

Method
Simmer the milk until hot, add the sugar.
Then the rice, let it cook for a minute

Prepare the ovenproof dish by lightly greasing the sides and bottom

Transfer the content of the pan to the dish

Slide the dish in the oven, after half an hour, take it out and give the mixture a swirl with a tablespoon.

Put back in the oven and let it cook for 45 minutes to an hour.

Serves with compote or jam.

Can be eaten hot or cold.

Disclaimer: This is a sponsored post. The words are my own and this post reflects my opinion.

Pear Frangipane Tart

 

There is something definitely something a little quaint about Frangipane (butter, eggs, ground almonds creamed together). The sweet smell of ground almonds seems to be engrained in our collective memory if that makes sense. I read somewhere that in medieval times ground almonds was an essential ingredient and cooks used to sculpt marzipan into fantastic shapes.

In France, frangipane is best used on Epiphany for La Galette des Rois. Did I have the King's galette in mind, was it the meal at Drakes, or simply the few pears languishing in the fruit bowl? whichever it was, using a few shortcuts, a Pear Frangipane Tart was quickly whipped up.

                                              Pear Frangipane Tart
Ingredients

I used a shop-bought sweet pastry and I used it chilled, It's much easier all around.

For the Frangipane
175g soft butter
175g caster sugar
175g ground almonds
3 eggs
1 teaspoon almond extract
3/4 pears cut, cored and sliced.

Other recipes use plain flour. I didn't.

Method
Preheat the oven to 190C/gas 5

Roll out the chilled pastry and line a 28 cm flan tin. Use a deep one if possible.

Cream all the ingredients together using a mixer, starting with the butter and sugar, then the sugar and last when it's all creamy add the eggs and the almond extract.

Spoon the frangipane mixture into the pastry case, level and arrange the pear slices on the top.

Cook for 45 minutes or until the filling is golden brown.

Enjoy with cream or vanilla ice-cream.

You may fancy something a little different, but still with pears, try this Pork Burger with Pear recipe


this recipe is link to

Quince Tatin : an Inheritance Recipe

Cooking with quince can get a little daunting. First, you need to source the fruits. Best think outside the box. High-end supermarkets or fruits and vegs shops should carry them in the autumn but, your best bet is to befriend a person who has a quince tree in their garden. 

The Quince tree saving grace is the beauty of its blossom. I often think that people don't cut quince trees down because they make such a beautiful show in the spring, When autumn arrives, the fruits are often ignored so you'll do your new best friend a favour by offering to pick her quinces and then there is a world of lovely, quirky or traditional recipes for you to try out. Here is one I prepared earlier.

The next stage is to peel the quinces. That could be a bit of a dangerous exercise, the skin is tough and it's best done slowly with a paring knife. When all this is done, the fun starts: poach your fruits. Quince has a delicate flavour which often needs a little pick me up. Keep your spicing simple by using one of the following, maximum two: vanilla, few cinnamon sticks, allspice berries, slices of fresh ginger, 5-star anise. Place fruits and spice (if used) in a saucepan with enough liquid to cover the fruits, poach till soft. Once poached you can keep your fruits and juices in a Kilner jar.

The Tatin is made in the same way you'd make an Apple Tatin. 

Quince Tatin: an Inheritance Recipe

Preheat the oven to 190C / 375F

Roll out a sheet of puff pastry and cut it to the outside size of the pan you'll be using

Ingredients

3-4 poached quince cut in quarters

85g white or brown sugar

1 sheet of puff pastry (cut to size)

50g of unsalted butter

Method

First make a wet caramel in a pan which will go to the oven. On medium hob heat sprinkle 85g sugar add enough water to dampen the sugar, that will not take much turn the pan frequently to stop the caramel burning.

Stir in the butter, remove from the hob, add the slices of quince in a pretty pattern (usually in circles of various sizes) place the pan in the oven for about 10 minutes.

Remove from the oven, place the puff pastry circle on the top of the fruits and bake for 40 minutes. 

Remove from the oven place a plate on the top of the pan, keep one hand on your plate and flip.

This is a bit of a labour of love and it was made for our arrival in Lyon, last week by my best friend. She also taught me how to cook when I had no idea that food existed outside tins of ravioli. Thank you my lovely, I won't name you as you know who you are but, I'll enter your recipe in the September Inheritance Recipes hosted by Coffee and Vanilla

Coffee Mousse– Mousse au café

When I first arrived in London, all these years ago, ask for a cup of coffee instead of tea and you may as well have had two heads. People would whisper, “she is French, you know.” Sadly, the tea/coffee swap was not always possible. Later on, when coffee became a more familiar brew, I made do with mugs of coffee. I have to say, at times it was difficult to discern what I had been handed over, was it a mug of tea or coffee?


Enter coffee capsules, a charismatic actor, a series of brilliantly managed ad campaigns and Expresso got the wind in its sails, it becomes “The” coffee to be seen sipping. Suddenly, new machines allow cappuccino, macchiato without too much effort. The UK gets it own “Coffee Week”. Every April coffee lovers flock to their favourite haunts to enjoy what is by now a staple of modern British culture.

The fact is that coffee is so popular that it is replacing tea in many UK households. Millenials are by far the least passionate about tea and the coffee-shop culture seems here to stay. According to a commercial survey, people aged 50-64 are the biggest coffee lovers, spending £52 on coffee each year. I can tell you that at Pebble Soup HQ, we spend 3 times that much. The growth of coffee culture in the UK goes further than just the drink as we like to treat ourselves to a slice of cake too. Tiramisu anyone.

It’s great to see an industry grow so fast and not showing signs of abating but there is another side to the coin: Coffee jargon can make you feel like a bit of a jerk. Can you, hand on heart, differentiate between a Cubano, a Cortado and a Babyccino. How do you decide which coffee is best for your machine(s)? A friend of mine buys samples at the time or a different type of capsule every now and then, he tries them, notes them in a little book, marks them out of 10 before moving to the next one. That seems like a lot of work to me.

But don’t get me wrong I am not complaining, nobody looks at me like if I was from another planet anymore when I ask for a cup of coffee so, I thought this could be a good time to step it up and introduce Coffee Cuisine starting with Coffee Mousse if you want to play coffee-snob at their own games “Mousse au café”.

Coffee Mousse – Mousse au café

Ingredients

• 60 g caster sugar with a couple of gelatine leaves or a mix of 50g sugar 10g pectin sugar if you prefer
• 1 small cup of coffee brewed with Gourmesso coffee capsule any of the 28 varieties.
• 

  3 eggs
• 150 g cream (double or whipping)

Method

Beat the egg yolks with the sugar until the mix looks whitish. Prepare the gelatine leaves if using

Add the cream and transfer to a saucepan. Cook on low heat until the mix thickens, don’t let it boil

In the meantime beat the egg whites to a soft peak

When the cream is thick, cool it for a little while, add the gelatine leaves and add the egg whites, a spoon at the time.

Pour in your chosen serving glass or return a large bowl. Keep in the fridge for 4 hours before serving

Disclaimer : This post is sponsored by Gourmesso -the recipe is my own and as usual, so are the words

Chocolate Truffles with Japanese Flavours

These sophisticated chocolate truffles developed by Yutaka Japanese food experts come with a warning and you'll soon see why.

The same way, one will keep champagne truffles out of reach of little sticky fingers. Pickled Sushi Ginger, Wasabi Furikake and Yuzu flavoured chocolate truffles might be best kept among adults.

The basic recipe is as we know it. To make 30 - 36 truffles, you'll need

• 200g dark good quality chocolate
• 60ml double cream
• 80g unsalted butter

Please note that when I try this recipe out I halved the proportions

Method for all truffles

In a double saucepan (or a Pyrex bowl in a saucepan), place chocolate, butter and cream. Heat through slowly until smooth whilst whisking. Remove from heat and divide into 3 equal portions, adding the various flavourings to each individual portion as below. Place in the fridge to set – overnight if possible. Get the mixture out a little before using it so that the hard layer which has formed overnight has time to soften.

I'll start with my favourite if you don't mind.

Yuzu chocolate truffles

 Yuzu is a citrus. It always surprised me that it's yet to be widely used in Europe. Maybe we are waiting for the arrival of Yuku which is a sweeter version of this fruit as Yuzu is very tart. The flavour is akin to mandarin-orange and marries ever so well with chocolate. Yuzu is never eaten as a fruit but used in cooking only.

       To make Yuzu truffles, add 2 tsp Yutaka Yuzu to one of the bases before refrigerating.

Wasabi Furikake Chocolate Truffle

Furikake means shaking. These truffles are now known at Pebble Soup HQ as Wasabi Shaky Shaky. 

• You'll need 2 tbs of the Yutaka ready mix which is a mixture of sesame seeds and Wasabi. 

This is a chocolate truffle for the more adventurous palates, on reflexion, He decided that though very pleasant, the wasabi mixture would be put to better use in a cracker recipe.

Pickled Sushi Ginger Flavouring

I'm very partial to ginger, however before now I never had the pleasure to cook with sushi ginger, it is so very different. I don't think I'll ever buy any other type of pickled ginger from now on. This sushi ginger is thinly sliced rather than Julienne (that's the long thicker stripe).

• You'll need 2 tbs of chopped Yutaka sushi ginger

If you decide to make only one type of truffle out of these three, this is the one you should try out. On two accounts:

       1- you'll be able to use the sushi ginger in other recipes. Let's face it we don't want to end up with yet another jar in the fridge.

       2- most of us are already familiar with the taste of ginger. Delicious.

For the coating the choice is yours. I used Vermicelli, icing sugar and golden sugar nuggets as it's what I had in the pastry box. The recipe sheet recommended drinking chocolate, cocoa, melted white chocolate, pink salt crystal and dark chocolate.

This post has been shared with

 We Should Cocoa hosted by Chocolette over at Tin and Thyme

Disclaimer: I was sent a voucher and the ingredients by Yutaka to recreate these recipes. No other payment was exchanged. As usual, words are my own.

Cadbury's creme eggs mini brownies cupcakes

 Mini brownies cupcakes with Cadbury's creme eggs (sponsored post)

Before moving to London, I spend half a decade travelling to and fro from Lyon. It is said that long distance relationships are difficult. Ours wasn't but it was emotionally challenging.

Parting, of course, was the most difficult bit and I had to hold on very hard to what was waiting for me, in Lyon, in order not cry so much, that the train would become a blur. The image, I relished the most was the three little faces of my friends' children as they would throw themselves....on my bag at the first opportunity. Would it or wouldn't it this time round contained Cadbury Creme Eggs?

Forward twenty years and I were yet again at a transport hub, this time I was doing the waiting. Number three of these little boys was coming back from eighteen months around the world, looking all tanned, sporting a beard and all together very different from the toddler in home-made dungarees but, still adorable.

After a week, readjusting, it was time for him to return to Lyon but not before, getting hold of half a dozen of Cadbury's creme eggs.... for his friends' children.

So when Cadbury asked me to participate in their #CremeEggHuntingSeason, I smiled at the memories, chose my recipe and baked happy.

Mini Brownie Cupcakes with Cadbury Creme Eggs

Ingredients

125g dark chocolate (70% cocoa solids)

100g unsalted butter

125g light muscovado sugar

2 large Free range eggs

75g plain flour, sifted

1/4 tsp salt

Method 

Preheat oven to 160C fan, 180C conventional, 350F, gas 4.

Melt the butter and dark chocolate together either in the microwave or in a bowl over boiling water or in a large saucepan at very low temperature

when completely melted stir in the sugar and the 2 Free range eggs one by one. Fold in the flour and salt and spoon into the cupcake cases so they are nearly full. 

Pipe the fluff onto each cupcake and bake in the centre of the oven for 12 minutes. Leave to cool.

Then crush the cadburys creme eggs just add them to the top making sure they are evenly spread!

Read about Cadbury's world - a guest post review -

Cauliflower Cake - Choux-Fleur Cake

My Beetroot and Chocolate muffin recipe was a runaway success and I am hoping that this Cauliflower Cake will be the same. Though one can imagine quite readily the taste of the former, the latter might be a little more complex to conjure.

Choux-Fleur Cake is moist with a crunchy nut topping. It smells slightly of cauliflower but when I bought it The Queen's Orchard where I volunteer, nobody was able to name the secret ingredient. This cake is a dessert and not a savoury cake. 

Besides cauliflower, this cake contains 1 Bramley apple, the old favourite cooking apple. The original Bramleys were propagated in Nottingham in the early 1800's, things you learn when volunteering!

There are only a few cooking apples (proper). Of course, any apple can be cooked with a varied degree of success. Blenheim Orange is another, it has a nutty flavour and goes way back to the 16th century.

He first spotted the recipe in Garden News whilst on a visit to his mum. I have not modified it much.

Ingredients

175g plain flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

2 1/2 tsp cinnamon

110 salted butter, diced

110g golden granulated sugar

50g ground almonds

110g peeled, cored Bramley cut in small pieces

2 tbsp lemon juice

110g cauliflower floret grated

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 medium eggs beaten

50g chopped walnuts

1-2 tablespoons Demerara sugar

Method

Preheat oven to 160C fan oven / 180 conventional

grease 20cm cake tin (pref loose bottomed)

1- sieve flour/ baking powder/cinnamon into a food processor

         note that using a food processor will produce best results

2- Add butter, sugar, ground almond and whiz

3- Then eggs and vanilla to the mix

4- mix the cauli and the apple in a bowl with the lemon and add to the mixture, give it a quick pulse and transfer to the baking tin.

5- Combine walnuts and sugar and scatter on the top. Bake for 40-45 minutes do the skewer trick to see if it's cooked, if not leave it to cook for another 5 minutes. Let it cool before turning out.

Click on the picture to see the recipe of the Chocolate and Beetroot muffin

I am sharing with Cook Blog Share hosted by Hijacked by Twins.

Tahini and Chocolate Brioche

An unusual combo which I love for its richness. Served warm at breakfast and the day looks somehow already much better. I found this recipe in Bethany Kehdy's book: Jewelled Kitchen

The hard back version featured in UK national press, was The Telegraph’s Cookbook of the Week (July 2013), one of the New York Times’ Notable Cookbooks of 2013, and won the Gourmand World Cookbook award for best Blog-to-Book. There is a recent paperback edition

Heritage is one of the main ingredients in this book, and the author’s multinational upbringing enables her to seamlessly bring together cultures and flavours, to create inspiring, contemporary, but deeply authentic food.