7 Minute Chocolate and Orange Fudge Truffles

Chocolate, Clotted Cream, Fudge, Orange, Butter....needless to say that weight watchers need not apply.  But for the not-so-feint hearted, these babies are utterly melt-in-mouth deliciously scrummy.  They take a tiny 7 minutes to actually make (though allow them to cool over night).  If I am strapped for cash (ahem...most of my time then...) then I make these for people for their birthdays/christmas, they make a great gift - they may not cost a lot but they show that a bit of thought and effort has gone into the person, and the best bit is that they are suitable for everyone...friends, grannies, boyfriends, mums, sisters.  And trust me, they won't complain being on the receiving end of these bad boys!

Ingredients:

1 tin Condensed Milk (14oz)

3 Oranges (zested, 2 juiced)

300g Dark Chocolate

200g Clotted Cream

200g Caster Sugar

200g Butter

Cocoa Powder to Dust

 



In a large pan, melt the butter and chocolate together on a low heat. Add all of the other ingredients, slowly stirring, simmer on a low heat for 5 minutes.  Voila - this is your truffle fudge mixture.  How easy was that?

 

Once cooled (best to cool over night), get a teaspoon and scoop into small balls (if they don't make perfect balls (pah) then with clean hands, roll in your palms to do so).  Coat in cocoa powder and serve!

 

It's best to present them in small little gift boxes lined with some grease proof paper to make it look like a grown up posh pressie.

 

 

 

Feel free to help them eat said gift....

 

Hx



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Spanish Tortilla

I don't know why more people don't make these, it is formed from the most humble (and cheap) ingredients: Potato, onion and egg.  It really is delicious and can be eaten hot or cold; a nice cold slice makes for a perfect lunch on-the-go, or alternatively, warmed and enjoyed as a side dish or with some salad for dinner. 

2 Onions

2 Potatoes

5 Eggs

150g Grated Parmesan

50ml Cream

100g Cream Cheese

2 Crushed Garlic Cloves

Bunch of Fresh Oregano

Very finely slice the onions and sauté in a pan in a good lug of olive oil on a very low heat in a large saucepan.  Using the slicer mechanism on a cheese grater, very finely slice the potato and put in the pan with the onions.  Crush your garlic in and stir.  Keep stirring occasionally to void the potato sticking to the bottom of the pan. Spoon your cream cheese in and stir in.  Tear the oregano and stir in.  When the potato is cooked, take off the heat.

In a jug, whisk the cream, eggs and parmesan together, season with salt and pepper.  Add to the potato and onion mixture and stir. 

In a frying pan on a medium/low heat, heat some olive oil and pour the potato, onion and egg mix and cook for about 5 minutes.  Use a large plate, place on top of the frying pan, and flip it, REALLY quickly.  Don't panic, just do it (using a knife to loosen).  Slide it back into the frying pan to cook the other side for a further 5 minutes.

Use a new clean plate, place on top and flip upside down to serve.

Serve straight away or cool and refrigerate for food on the go.

Yum.

Hx

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Lemon, Raisin and Maple Pancakes - American Style

These are great for a lazy weekend morning, to be enjoyed with good coffee and a decent weekend newspaper.  They make a fairly good batch, so half can be saved and refrigerated to be toasted and smothered in butter on a morning rush later in the week.  There's no reason why you can't sub the lemon and raisin for blueberries or your favourite pancake flavour.

Ingredients:

4 heaped Tbsp self-raising flour

1 Egg

100ml milk (give or take)

1 Tbsp Maple Syrup

Zest 1 Lemon

A handful of Raisins

Knob of Butter

In a measuring jug, beat the flour, egg and maple syrup together, gradually adding the milk until you have a thick but liquid batter, beat or whisk together for a further 2 minutes to make sure your batter is silky and light.  Stir in the lemon zest and raisins.

On a high heat, melt a little butter in a frying pan.  When bubbling away nicely, pour a circle of batter in the centre of the pan (it should be smaller than your fist), after about a minute, flip it over and cook for a further minute on the other side.

It is best to cook them one by one as they have a tendancy to merge together if you try two at a time.  Add a small pat of butter in between each pancake to make sure it doesn't stick.

When done, stack up, add some butter and drizzle maple syrup over.

Gorgeous.

Hx





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Salted Caramel Shortbread

This recipe is great as it makes so many little bites so can last for ages.  I found that the caramel didn't set as firmly as I'd quite hoped, although it tastes ridiculously good, but if you are one who hates sticky messy hands, I'd suggest you coat only half of each piece of shortbread by dipping it in the caramel then leaving to set.  Either way, you are in for a taste sensation!

Here's how:



For the Shortbread:

250g Plain Flour

275g Salted Butter

125g Castar Sugar

1 Tsp Vanilla Extract



For the Salted Caramel Topping:

450g Tin of Condensed Milk

125g Butter

100g Castar Sugar

1tsp Salt

1tsp Vanilla Extract

To make the shortbread, mix all of the ingredients until it forms a very stiff dough, press down into a lined 8" x 11" tray, prick all over with a fork and bake in a 200 degree oven for 5 minutes before turning down to 150 degrees and cooking for a further half an hour.

In a wide pan, on a very low heat, melt the butter then stir in the sugar, salt, condensed milk and vanilla, stirring thoroughly ensuring all of the sugar has dissolved.

Once cooked and cooled, either spread the caramel all over the top, leave in the fridge to set, then cut into small bites.

OR cut the shortbread into pieces, dipping half into the caramel then leaving to set

OR if you are entertaining people, why not cut the shortbread into strips and serve the salted caramel warm in a bowl or jug for guests to dip in or pour over and enjoy warm.

There's no reason why you can't melt some chocolate and smother over the top to have an indulgent salted caramel millionaire's shortbread.  Personally, I didn't feel it was needed, but if you are a chocolate lover...go for it!



Perfection

Hx

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Boozy Summer Snow

Wake up your taste buds! These are so easy to make but really impressive to the unknowing eye and tongue, they are essentailly frozen cocktail/sorbet/desserts that are insanely refreshing, perfect for an evening like tonight. 

By rougly following my recipes there is no reason why you can't try out your own favourite cocktail - say a creamy Piña Colada sorbet, or a tangy Cosmopolatin one with orange, cranberries and Vodka?

I introduce to you the Lemon, Elderflower and Limoncello, French Martini and Mojito sorbets...

For the Lemon and Elderflower

4 Lemons, zested and juiced

75ml Limoncello

75ml Elderflower cordial

250ml Sparkling water

200g Castar Sugar

For the French Martini

1 punnet (200g) Frozen Blackberries

100g Frozen Pineapple

100ml Pineapple Juice

150g Castar Sugar

50ml Gin

For the Mojito

1 bag (about 6) Limes, zested and juiced

1 Bunch finely chopped Mint

200g Castar sugar

50ml White Rum

250ml Sparkling Water

Make all 3 or make just one, but for each there is no method apart from thoroughly stir (or blend, in the French Martini's case) all ingredients BAR the sparkling water, which should be added last and gently stirred in to avoid it going instantly flat.  Try and resist the temptation to add TOO much extra alcohol as you will end up with more of a summer slush due to the high freezing point of alcohol.

Pour the mixture into large shallow tubs and put in the freezer.  After 45 minutes, stir and put back in.  After a further hour, stir and put back in, then leave to set for good. 

After about 6 hours, it shoud be properly set.  If it doesn't scoop up into perfect ice-cream like balls, don't worry! It's about flavour, not shape.  The main reason for this is because the ingredients are so pure and there are no thickeners or other nasty E numbers to pretty them up - hence the name Summer Snow!

Soak up the glory and enjoy!

Hx



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Courgette Fritters

I was mucking about this evening with a vague idea of cooking something courgette orientated, and after much adding of random ingredients I found myself with this batter-type mixture, so thought it would be rude not to fry it!  I must say it was a smash hit with the family so even though I wasn't planning to, thought I ought to share with everybody, and I will try to be as accurate as possible with measurements, so long as my memory serves me well!  

Here Goes:

2 Courgettes, Grated

2 - 3 tbsp Plain Flour

100g Cheddar

75g Parmesan

1 Egg

1 Finely chopped Small bunch of Mint

Juice of 1/2 a Lemon

2 Garlic cloves, grated

100g Mascarpone

100g Cream cheese

Salt and Pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 180 degrees

Literally just throw all the above into a mixing bowl, as I did earlier, it didn't seem to do it any harm!  Get a large frying pan and fill with about 2cm deep of vegetable oil and put on a high heat, when hot enough, using a spoon, gently spoon in small balls into the hot fat, there should be room for 3 or 4 fritters.  After about a minute, turn over using a spatula and brown the other side.  Remove and place on a tray and put in the hot oven.  Spoon 3 more into the pan and carry on until all batter has been used up.  

I think this would taste great with tzatziki, so feel free to use my recipe from a week or so ago http://the-student-housewife.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/greek-bbq-on-summers-evening.html

Enjoy :-)

Hx

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Roasted Tomato, Basil and Mascarpone Soup with Pesto and Parmesan Thins

This, in my eyes, is THE best tomato soup...although yes, I am biased. It's a great versatile meal as it's portable and can be eaten hot or cold.  The parmesan thins just melt in your mouth and are a less bulky alternative to your usual hunk of bread.

You'll need:

For the soup

1 kg mixed tomatoes (I used a pack of baby plum tomatoes, a pack of beef tomatoes on the vine and some medium sized ones)

2 carrots

2 onions

1 garlic bulb

A large bunch of fresh basil

Olive oil

Balsamic vinegar

Salt and pepper to taste

2 Tbsp mascarpone

1 Tbsp oregano

300g passata

For the Pesto topping

Large bunch of basil

1 1/2 Tbsp olive oil

1 1/2 garlic cloves

2 Tbsp grated Parmesan

For the parmesan thins

4 tbsp Grated parmesan

2 egg yolks

2 tbsp plain flour

50g Butter

Salt and Pepper to taste

For the croutons

Half a loaf of ciabatta, cut into cubes

2 garlic bulbs

Salt and pepper to taste

Olive oil

For the soup:

Cut all of your tomatoes in half (and the beef ones into quarters), chuck into a roasting dish and cover in olive oil, salt, pepper and oregano.  Peel 6 garlic cloves and dot them around, whole in with your tomatoes.  Bake in a 170 degrees oven for 1 1/2 hours.  (Patience, my friend, patience.)

Dice your onions and peel and roughly chop your carrots and cook in olive oil on a very low heat and slowly cook, stirring occasionally until soft.  When soft, add your basil, passata and a cup of water and leave on a low heat to reduce down (if it has reduced down and the carrots are still not soft, add more water - it will only evaporate away anyway so don't worry too much about losing flavour).

Once your tomatoes have roasted, pour into the pan including any juices and oils, add a splash of balsamic, 2 tsps of sugar and salt and pepper to taste.  Blend.

For the pesto:

Literally put all of the ingredients into a bowl and blend.

For the Parmesan thins:

In a mixing bowl, using your hands, combine all ingredients listed above.  On a tray lined with greaseproof paper, divide the dough into 8 small balls and push down onto the paper. Put into a hot oven (say 200 degrees) and cook until golden brown on top, take out and turn.  Cook until both sides are brown.  Do not remove from paper until cool!

For the croutons:

On a small tray, cover your bread cubes in olive oil, salt and pepper, add 2 halved garlic cloves and bake in an oven on 200 for about 10 minutes.

Absolutely gorgeous, trust me!

H x

p.s. I must thank my lovely boyfriend, Logan for being my sous chef this afternoon!

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Get ahead Mojito's

This way of making your mojito's is perfect as most of the preparation is done in advance.  Not your usual predrinking material (Echo falls or Glen's finest anyone?) but perfect for girly birthdays and special occasions.



To think I was in Puerto Banus this time yesterday sipping on this...wah

To make 6 Cocktails

8 Limes
A bunch of Fresh Mint
250g Caster sugar
A small bottle of white rum
1 Litre of sparkling water
Plenty of ice

The 'get ahead' tactic I use is to make your lime syrup in advance, literally squeezing your limes into a small jug mixing with the sugar and stirring....simples.  This is what takes all the time when fussing about making cocktails.  Keep some of the lime skins for decoration and an added kick for when you make the cocktails. Put in the fridge

When coming to make your cocktails, Tear off a small bunch of mint for each drink, put in the bottom of the glass and push down using the end of a wooden spoon.  Pour in a little lime syrup, say a tablespoon.  Fill the glass with ice, add your rum - I'll let you decide the strength ;) and top up with sparkling water.

So good!

Hx Pin It Now!