Croque Bateau and Chocolate Muffins for Alex.

We were down on the boat for the past week and weekend before. Hence the lack of posts.
Cooking on the boat is a little different from at home, mainy because the storage space is limited enough, so you have to know well in advance what you are making before the event.
These Croque Monsieurs are not technically perfect. I am not sure Julia Child or most of France would consider this an accurate representation. This is why I call it Croque Bateau, and anyway I think this way is nicer.
I don't do these at home as much as I do them on the boat. Anytime I do them at home, it reminds me that I am most definitely NOT on holidays and it does me no good.

They can be customised to have whatever topping you want. Mustard is a lovely addition as is Gruyere cheese or red onion.

Croque Bateau
makes 5 slices

First, beat 4 eggs in a decent sized dish, big enough to accomodate the slices of bread you are using.
Add a splash (1/4 cup is plenty) of milk and plenty of salt and pepper. (1/2 teaspoon of each perhaps.)
Beat well with awhisk and set aside.

Heat a frying pan and add a knob of butter and a little sunflower oil to stop the butter from burning.
Turn on the grill to high also and let it heat up.

Slice the bread you are using. I like the Tiger loaf they do in Tesco or a piece of Vienna loaf. But you can used any bread at all, with the exception of  brown soda bread, I expect it would not stay together.

Dip the bread into the egg a slice at a time and allow to soak up the egg on both sides. Not for too long or it will be too soggy and maybe disintegrate. You are talking 20 seconds on each side.

Lay 2 slices at a time in the pan and allow to cook to golden brown on one side and turn. This takes a couple of minutes only.
When golden side up and cooking on the other side, lay your toppings onto the bread. I use ham and grated cheddar cheese. Cover with plenty of cheese. Then remove to the grill tray and wait until all five pieces are done.
If there is any egg left in the bowl, I pour it over the cheesey side (making an unmerciful mess in the grill tray.

They grill under a high heat until the cheese is bubbly and golden brown.

Serve with a green salad (and a nice glass of white for the grown ups!)

Chocolate buns for Alex's birthday
This is my first blog request and it goes to Alex Twyford Mulligan who has a big birthday coming up in July! So Happy Birthday in advance Alex xxx
I make these a lot and have been popular with adults and children alike. This recipe is actually for a cake and so can be used as such in two 20cm sandwich tins or one 23cm springform tin.

This recipe makes about 12 cupcakes or 18-20 mini muffins.

Preheat the oven to 180c
Line your cupcake cases

First in a bowl over a saucepan of simmering water, melt

125g dark chocolate
3 Tbsp Milk

Then in a bowl or a mixer, beat until fluffy

150g soft butter
150g caster sugar

Add one at a time

3 eggs

and beat until combined

Then fold in the melted chocolate and
1 Tbsp of strong coffee cooled (this brings out the chocolatey flavour) and
1 tsp vanilla extract

Sift in and fold

200g plain flour
1 Tbsp cocoa powder
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp bicarb

Fold gently until combined.

(If you wanted chocolate chip muffins, add 150g chips to the mixture along with the flour. I would actually coat them in flour first so they don't stick together.)

Divide the mixture into the cases. Don't overfill the cases as they rise and are tricky to ice if they are too big.
I use one of those ice cream scoops that have a lever to scrape out the mixture. I use half a scoop for each muffin.

Bake  for 15- 18 minutes, but check them after 12 just in case your oven is more efficient than mine! You want a skewer to come out clean, that is when you know they are cooked.

Cool on a wire rack while making the icing of your choice.

Icing options

A nice simple and yummy option is just to pour over melted Dairy Milk chocolate.
For this many muffins you would need at least 150g. Although I would use 200g to be safe

You could make chocolate butter icing using 75g soft butter 175g icing sugar 1 Tbsp cocoa and a few drops of vanilla. Beat with a mixer until  smooth and fluffy

or my personal. favourite is Peanut butter icing from Barefoot Contessa (I literally just copied and pasted this from her page)

1 cup icing sugar


1 cup creamy peanut butter

5 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature

3/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup double cream

Place the icing sugar, peanut butter, butter, vanilla, and salt in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Mix on medium-low speed until creamy, scraping down the bowl with a rubber spatula as you work. Add the cream and beat on high speed until the mixture is light and smooth.


Enjoy the party Alex!


 

Pavlova buddies!

I made a pavlova today for all my friends in work, as a thank you for their lovely farewell gift. (I am leaving work you see) I had enough whites left over from all the patisserie cream, which was good and they were nice large eggs so it was a generous sized cake.
It went down well, so I reckoned i should put the recipe up, for you all to try it for yourselves! Technically this was not cooked with the kids, but seriously, it is a foolproof recipe, especially if you have a mixer.
I have no photos, i apologise but will add one the next time I bake a pavlova. This is my mother's recipe and I always have to call her for reassurance that I have the right quantities and oven temp! It's funny when a dish is linked to a person, it will always be theirs, and i always feel I need to make contact every time I make it. Although in this case it is because my mother is so good at it. I have yet to achieve the perfect form of a pavlova that she manages every time.
Maybe some day!

First, put 8 egg whites and a pinch of salt into a mixer, or into a bowl to be whisked with a hand held electric whisk, and beat for 4-5 minutes at least until in stiff peaks. Then add 250g of caster sugar gradually, a spoon at a time until the mixture is glossy and in stiff peaks. Turn off the mixer and add a further 250g of caster sugar and fold in.
You also need to fold in 1t of vanilla ext 1t of cornflour and 1t of white vinegar.
This addition is what stops the meringue from drying out and makes that marshmallow texture inside the pav.
When folding use a large metal spoon. Oh and by the way, the bowl you use must be spotless and grease free or the whites will not whip up properly.
(Also, I usually use golden caster for baking, but I use white caster for this to get the perfect white interior)

Thats it! Then dollop the mixture onto a parchment lined baking sheet, and form into a circle. Nice and deep. Although it rises in the oven, it collapses at the end in a heartbreaking manner. Don't despair, it will still be yummy. It will also crack and bits break off the side. Also stressful, but again, par for the course.

Allow 1 1/2 hours for baking at 140c and turn the oven off and leave it in the oven to cool. I didn't take it out until the next morning! It was just fine, albeit a little cracked like a drought-stricken landscape, but the whipped cream fixed that!
I whipped a whole 500ml of cream into a fairly thick whip, but not butter!
Then added 4, yes 4 punnets of raspberries.
This sounds extravagant and indeed it is. But there is no holding back when it comes to a pavlova, it is a diva of a dessert, it needs pampering.
It does serve up to 16 people depending on the lavishness of your portion sizes. But I reckon this one yielded about 12 very generous slices today.