Showing posts from August, 2016

Earl Grey Infused Chocolate Pots

Chocolate Pots have to be one of the easiest desserts to make (you would have to try really hard to get them wrong)....and unfortunately for the waistline, they are even easier to eat. These Chocolate Pots do have a little twist though, which sets them apart from other chocolate pot recipes and ensures a bit more of an adult taste. The Chocolate Pots here have been infused with a hint of Earl Grey tea and taste absolutely divine, especially if you're a fan of the chocolate orange combo. O-Teas, a UK based speciality tea company, sent me some of their tea range to sample recently (I'm in love with their ginger tea which is so warming) and challenged me to use their Earl Grey tea in one of my recipes, hence these Chocolate Pots were born. This quintessentially British tea is typically a black tea, flavoured with oil from the rind of a bergamot orange. If you didn't know, bergamot is an intensely flavoured citrus fruit somewhere between the flavour of an orange and lemon,


Strawberry Honeycomb 'Cheesecake' Sundae

Kelly's of Cornwall, makers of yummy Cornish ice cream got in touch recently to see if I'd like to get involved with their Summer Scooping Challenge...er yes! The aim of the challenge was to create an Ice Cream Sundae recipe using some of their products, that would act as the perfect summer dessert. If you know me, you will know my absolute favourite summer dessert is cheesecake - I could it eat it for breakfast, lunch and dinner given the chance....and I did once! So with cheesecake firmly in mind I set about making a Strawberry 'Cheesecake' Ice Cream Sundae and ended up creating something truly amazing. They were so good I ate both myself - the kids didn't get a look in. I used a Honeycomb Crunch ice cream for this recipe to give it some added crunchiness but a normal vanilla or strawberry would work well too. I also wanted the ice cream to be quite soft, to try and emulate the texture of a traditional cheesecake, so I took the ice cream out of the freezer


Cornish Splits with Jam and Clotted Cream

Traditional Cornish Splits ..... just a little bit yummy don't you think? Being Cornish I'm obviously biased but they really do tickle my taste buds with the sweet doughy-ness of the roll, the silky smooth clotted cream and the tangy fruit jam. These beauties are super easy to make too, especially if you've got a breadmaker handy, but the dough can be made by hand if you prefer. There is just something really comforting and homely about splits. The sweet, yeast levened rolls were traditionally piled high and wrapped in tea towels then 'split' with finger and thumbs ready for their glorious crowning with jam and clotted cream. Understandably they were everyone's favourite tea time treat in these parts but have lost favour in recent years due to the popularity of the scone. It's definitely time for a split revival! If jam and clotted cream doesn't tickle your fancy as a filling, you could always try a thunder and lightening split, which is clotted cre


Sweet Potato Macaroni Cheese

Foolishly, I've been trotting along quite happily thinking there was nothing I could do to better my classic Mac n Cheese recipe . It tastes great, it's never let me down, it's a great carrier of leftover ham and all sorts of vegetables, the kids like it, hubby likes it, I love it....turns out though, I could better it. THIS little beauty is my new favourite Macaroni Cheese recipe, containing the quite unlikely ingredient of sweet potatoes. It has an unusual but highly addictive smoky sweet flavour, thanks to the sweet potatoes and smoked paprika in the sauce, but it's also intensely creamy and indulgent. Not one, but two cheeses are used in this one, the classic extra mature cheddar and also crumbled salty feta which contrasts so well with the sweetness of the potatoes. The colour is a rather vibrant orange, which makes it look like it's been made with fake plastic burger cheese, but if you can get past the lurid colour you wont be disappointed. There is a


Smoked Haddock and Garlic Prawn Kedgeree

Torrential downpours have been pretty much the order of the day here. It's rained solidly for 11 hours and heavy enough to interrupt the satellite signal. This meant I had to deal with three over-tired children (we were at a music festival until very late last night) with no Peppa Pig to help me out. On a positive note I did receive a couple of nice parcels in the post today, one of them being a great little gadget from Joseph Joseph to try out - the M Cuisine Egg Poacher . I love eggs, but poached eggs are my downfall. They NEVER go right. I've tried all the tricks. I've even asked my Mother to watch me make them to understand where I'm going wrong...but no, still not got the knack. Hopefully then, the arrival of the microwaveable egg poacher will mean I can put my past failures to bed! Instructions are simple. Just fill the compartments with water, crack in an egg (you can make 2 at a time), cover with a bit more water and microwave for just over a minute....