Spinach and Ricotta Baked Pasta | Book of Elsa

Turmeric & Lemon Loaf | Chetna Makan

Ingredients:

150g room temperature unsalted butter in cubes

150g caster sugar

150g plain flour 

3 large eggs

3 tsp baking powder

1 tsp turmeric powder

zest of a lemon

1 tbsp lemon juice

pinch of salt

2 tbsp black poppyseed <optional>

Icing:

50g icing sugar

2 tbsp lemon juice

Preheat the oven to 180℃. Grease and line a 900g loaf tin having said that: I use a disposable liner.

Put the butter and sugar in a mixing bowl fitted with a paddle attachement and mix until it resembles softened ice cream. 

Add all other cake ingredients and  mix for 2 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and mix for a futher minute.

Pour the batter into the prepared loaf tin and bake for 40 minutes or until a skewer/uncooked spaghetti/knife comes out clean. 

Leave the cake to cool in the tin for 5 mintues before removing it.

Combine the icing sugar and lemon juice in a small bowl and pour onto the cake whilst it is still warm.

Serve warm or cold.

A Christmas Grinch | Book of Elsa

The forced cheerfulness, the crowds, the inevitable rain and anxiety about ones’ whole family gathering in one place can bring me out in hives if I’m perfectly honest. But I do love food and this year I’ve decided NOT to be a Grinch and it’s about time I try to embrace the Christmas spirit or just settle for finding it.
Right, so as I type it’s the 11th December and the shopping for presents is done, tick. The (real) tree is lit up, decorated and smelling lovely, tick. Oversized red stockings are on order and Amazon assures me they’re coming, tick. So far so good. However, the Christmas cheer isn’t spreading through me so much as I’m going through the motions… So last Sunday I went shopping in Manchester city centre. I wish I hadn’t, I thought the high street was dying, that no one shopped in stores anymore, that the consumer had moved online! Who were all these people?! Breathing became a challenge in one retailer such were the swarms, there was no stopping to enjoy beautiful lights; it was all elbows and rush, rush, rush. My friends and I managed a couple of hours before giving up and going home.
Which leads me nicely to this recipe: more tinkering per se rather than cooking. Please feel free to use shop bought puff or even shortcrust pastry if you’re not inclined to bring out the heavy machinery. Making mince pies is as close as I get to the spirit of the holidays and that is quite alright.

Tiramisu | Book of Elsa

Five ingredients make a light as air coffee dessert by the name of Tiramisu. Beware though: it has to be made the day before you need it but I find that useful. Also it helps the texture of the finished dish if all the ingredients are at room temprature before you begin. 

Gateaux Bananes | Book of Elsa

Believe me when I say this is the easiest snack I know. I'm not even sure it can be classified as 'recipe' per se as there are only three ingredients: bananas, flour and salt.

The bananas have to be very very ripe, mashing them with a fork. Add a pinch of salt and enough flour to bind into a something resembling a thick pancake batter. Then fry in batches using teaspoons. Eat whilst still a little warm so not to burn your mouth.

Book of Elsa

Sunday Apple Tart - Book of Elsa

Morning all,
My parents gitfted me a whole load of bramleys cooking appples, and buy gifted you understand they wanted me to bake a pie or tart out of it. For them!
Ofcourse I don't mind it's the weekend afterall, prime baking time. The recipe that follows is mine: trialled and error from years of practice.
I did however buy the pastry but if you want to make one (why???) then click for a recipe here

use butter to greas the pie dishe and line with coat to coat, lightly.

roll out the shortcrust pasty

Line the pie case with pastry and plug the holes so to speak with leftover pastry dont worry about it being neat it's meant to look homemade.

                                  Prick the pastry with a fork all over to stop it doming in the oven

Using non stick baking parchment line the base of the tart with baking beads or lentils or rice. Bake in a preheated oven at 200℃ for 10-15mins.

Take out the lentils and cool on a wire rack completely before filling.

Take a load of cooking apples

Peel 

Wash and chop 

Add the zest and juice of a clementine, 150g caster sugar and cook until mushy.

Peel and finely slice 2 eating apples and place in lemon water

Bubbling apples almost ready, take out the clementine skin

Let it cool a little off the heat

Beat an egg

Paint egg onto cooled tart shell

Fill the tart with the apple compote and add the sliced leftover apples on top

Bake for a further 10-15mins at 200℃ 

Finally, paint the tart with warm apricot jam. serve warm.

Food for Thought - Book of Elsa

Food is much more than just fuel; we use it to celebrate all major life events. Sharing a table laden with delicious things is our way of showing how much we care about the people in our lives. Be it by baking cupcakes for a boyfriend or making your sisters' engagement party cake. Not only that but we also use food as a way of caring for those less able than ourselves such as the elderly and infants.

Therefore, with this in mind when I'm told to stop talking/writing about food all the time I know that I can never stop. It is much too important to all of us. Indeed much depends on dinner; in my opinion food and the preparation of food either alone or in a group is the most basic way of showing we care.

Happy Eating :)

Book Of Elsa

xo

Gabriellas' Pavlova Book of Elsa

I've had a love affair with pavlova on/off for the last 10 years. Adjusting recipes in order to achieve crispy sides and bottom with marshmallowy insides has not been easy. My first attempt can only be described as a crispy egg white and sugar biscuit with over whipped cream and limp defrosted berries. 

Now please don't let the description above stop you from trying this. I mention it only so that YOU dear reader know that if for whatever reason the following recipe doesn't work the first time. PLEASE try again. 

The recipe below comes from How To Eat by Nigella Lawson (1998) p. 373 

Some words of wisdom before we begin:

1. Do wipe your mixing bowl and whisk with a segmented lemon or lime before you begin. The eggs just won't grow in volume if there's any grease.
2.  Any fruit/berries on top will do. I'm using strawberries here as they are my sister Gabriella favourite. Indeed this is her favourite dessert. But please no frozen defrosted ones. You'll just end up disappointed. Take it from me: it's not worth it.

Mickhaels' 12th Birthday - Book Of Elsa

October is here - Book of Elsa

October is here!!! For those of you new to this blog (welcome by the way) I'm a die hard autumn lover. This month in particular represents so much for me about life, change and of course Halloween. But more about Hallows Eve on my next post. The following represent in picture form why I'm such a fan of this particular season. Besos.

Book of Elsa

Pumpkin Spice Latte

Candles here

Ankle Boots here

Cosy Sweaters: Cape Cardigan here | Bardot Top here

Pumpkins | Couldn't resist...

Basically Good BBQ Marinade | Book of Elsa

The mush:

1 Red onion

1White onion

1inch piece of Ginger

4 cloves of garlic (or to taste)

Fish sauce

Olive oil

Rice wine vinegar

Dry Rub:

Jerk Seasoning

Chillie flakes

Ground Cumin

salt and Pepper

Vanilla Millefeuille - Book of Elsa

Vanilla Millefeuille

Have you made a recipe calling for puff pastry but then been left with strands, squares of puff that you just had to throw away because you had no idea how to use it all up? Well no more waste! All this pastry needs is a couple of tablespoons of vanilla sugar sprinkled on top then in a hot (200 degrees) oven for ten minutes. Et Voila! 

Also, if you don't have vanilla sugar, it works just as well with cinnamon sugar or just plain granulated sugar. The possibilities are endless...

Happy Baking :)

XO