Thursday 31 December 2009

Happy New Year

I can't believe that it's New Years Eve today! I'm not feeling to well so Kenny, Sueling and I are staying in tonight. I've got some lovely little nibbles from M&S and Sue and I just picked up all the ingredients for home-made pizzas and shandy beers.

I just made a start on the pizza dough only to find that my scales have ran out of battery so I had to find an another recipe using cup measurements. I found this:

Recipe for Pizza Dough
Source: All Recipes


  • 1 (.25 ounce / 7g) package active dry yeast
  • 1 cup warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
  • 2 cups bread flour
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 2 teaspoons white sugar


I used my recipe for the tomato sauce base. We decided on a topping of fresh chilli, chorizo slices, mozarella and rocket mmmmm.

Here is the link to my original recipe I normally use: Saturday Night Pizza

We enjoyed a nice run up to Christmas. Ena and Ken came to visit on the 12th and brought me some treats including alphabet cookie cutters and a kitchen organiser! Thank you, I love them! We had a tasty lunch at Bodeans and then headed to the Winter Wonderland fair in Hyde Park. It's was lovely and festive but it was really busy. We did enjoy some Christams treats though including hot cider, mulled wine, hot chocolate, Spanish churros and waffles.

I haven't updated the blog in a while which I apologise for but I have been super busy with Christmas, working on the new events website and spending a couple of weeks at home. I know it's no excuse so will be adding 'update the blog regularly' on my NY resolutions list!

I had a fabulous Christmas and received some lovely pressies including a proper old fashioned pinnie, a wine tasting lunch at Swinton park, a fabulous giant teacup for growing herbs in, watering can shaped salt and pepper shakers, a beautiful caraf for all the red wine we drink and lots of cupcake themed stuff including the cutest cup with a lid! You'll also be pleased to hear I also got a new digital camera from my hubby for updating my blog so I don't need to faff on with using Kennys laptop anymore!!

Other news is that I got myself a lovely iphone today. I love it and have already downloaded lots of aps including the most addictive game called doodlejump.

I loved spending time at home with everyone especially the kids. We made some lovely glittery door hangers, salt dough tree decorations and cookies. For those of you I keep forgetting to tell, Meiling is pregnant with her 5th child! Fingers crossed it won't be too long until I'm with child ha ha!

Before I left for home I decided I wanted to make an old fashioned crochet blanket so I watched a couple of videos on youtube and taught myself. I managed to inspire Sueling, Meiling, Joling, Mum, Clare and Sarley to all start crocheting too and before I left to come back to London everyone had a blanket on the go! :-)

I have decided to make new years resolutions this year:

1. Manage money better
2. Wing Saturdays (try out different wing recipes for Kenny every other Saturday)
3. Keep on top of Birthdays and Special Dates
4. Tidy as I go (Kenny thinks I'm too messy!)
5. Weekly Food Plan (plan ahead so we don'r spend so much money on food every week)
6. Take more photos (now I have my new camera I want to make sure I capture everything)
7. Visit dad, Liquong and Yeling
8. Make cityholics a success
9. Make more time for friends
10. Update this blog regularly
11. Aim to have a dinner party once a month

I would like to wish you all a very happy New Year and hope it's filled with health, wealth, love and happiness. May all your dreams come true.

xx

Thursday 19 November 2009

Birthday Cakes Galore!

Congratulations to Jon and Hannah on your engagement!!! I'm so happy for you both :-)
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On the subject of happy occasions, Sharon asked if I would make a Birthday cake for her dad and her cousins girlfriend for a party they are had on Friday night. I jumped at the chance as it meant that I could have a play with my cake decorating stuff that's been sat in a box since January.
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I decided to make a simple sponge cake for the bottom cake and a chocolate cake for the top tier. .
I’m also making one for Dickys Birthday and his favourite flavour is lemon so I'm making a lemon sponge with lemon curd buttercream. Kenny wants me to decorate it in red and white though (as he supports arsenal) so that's a bit boring but we'll see how it pans out.
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I used the recipes found on the British Sugarcraft Forum, which gives you a high density cake. Thanks to everyone there who has been answering my questions this week!
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8" Round - Portions - 20
10oz Block margarine (softened)
11 ¼ oz Caster sugar
10 oz Sponge flour
10 oz Eggs (approx 5 large eggs)
2 ½ Water (Tablespoons)
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6" Round - Portions - 11
6 oz Block margarine (softened)
63/4 oz Caster sugar
6 oz Eggs (approx 3 large eggs)
6 oz Sponge flour
1 ½ Water (Tablespoons)
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OVEN: Fan assist oven 150, or normal elec 180 or Gas mark 3
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1. Cream butter and sugar
2. Add in eggs, one at a time. Also add in a tbs of the flour to stop the mixture curdling
3. Add in flour
4. Add in water
5. Put into a lined cake tin
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For lemon sponge
Add the zest of one lemon per 4oz mixture.
You can replace the water with the lemon juice.
Once the baked cake is emptied out of the cake tin brush all the surfaces of the cake with lemon
stock syrup.
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For 8" Chocolate Sponge
Substitute 3oz of flour with 3oz of cocoa powder
Tiny amount - less than 1/4 tsp of baking powder
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For 6" Chocolate Sponge
Substitute 1 1/2 oz of flour with 1 1/2 oz of cocoa powder
Tiny amount - less than 1/4 tsp of baking powder
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Simple Syrup
2 tblsp of sugar
2 tblsp of hot water
Dissolve sugar in the water and leave to cool.
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Lemon Curd Buttercream
250g butter
500g icing sugar
5 tbsp lemon curd
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Chocolate Ganache
1 Cup Double Cream
6 0z Chocolate (I used 3oz of milk and 3oz of dark)
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Put the cream into a pan on a LOW heat and add in the chocolate, all broken into pieces. Mix slowly until it's all mixed together. Cool in the fridge until it's set - it should be thick like the inside of a chocolate truffle!
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Mrs Hackneys Notes:
*Because I am a numpty, I’ve just realised that I baked all my cakes at 150 C instead of 180 C so my tip of the day is to read all instructions properly before starting! I also forgot to add in the baking powder when I made the choc sponge!
*Once the cakes were cooled, I split them, filled with buttercream and chilled. I then covered and decorated it with sugarpaste.
*It was hard work because I bought white sugarpaste from Somerfield and it was way too soft so it was hard to cover. Overall I'm happy with the end result.
*I used half block marg and half real butter as I like the richness of the butter but it was too rich using all butter.
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Dickys Cake:

Friday 13 November 2009

Welcome to the world little baby Jack!

Hurrah! Sharon gave birth to a healthy baby boy on Friday 6th November. Baby Jack weighed 6 lb 11 oz and she had NO pain relief! Not even any gas and air – that’s amazing since she wanted an epidural and a C section! Congratulations. Baby Jack is soooooooo lush.

I must say sorry for taking so long to update the blog. I have been busy cooking as always but I have been cooking lots of things I've already put on here so didn't want to repeat myself.

I was so excited to discover that my favourite food channel I watch when I go to America is now available here on Sky! It's called food network and it's channel 262. There's a programme called 'Throwdown with Bobby Flay' where he visits places that have a popular signature dish and challenges them to a throwdown. He challenged a baker from Charleston who makes the most amazing looking coconut cake and since then I've been itching to make a layer cake.

Sueling doesnt like coconut and I'm not a huge fan either so coconut was out. I went to one of my favourite websites, http://www.marthastewart.com/ to search for recipes. I came across a devils food cake cake recipe that looked so delicious I just had to give it a try.

Recipe for Devils Food Cake
Source: Martha Stewart


· 1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter, softened, plus more for pans
· 3/4 cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder, plus more for pans
· 1/2 cup boiling water
· 3 cups sifted cake flour (not self-rising)
· 1 teaspoon baking soda
· 1/2 teaspoon salt
· 2 1/4 cups sugar
· 4 large eggs, lightly beaten
· 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
· 1 cup whole milk

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter three 8-inch round cake pans. Line bottoms with parchment; butter parchment. Dust with cocoa powder; tap out excess. Set aside. Sift cocoa powder into a medium bowl; whisk in boiling water. Set aside to cool.
2. Sift together flour, baking soda, and salt into a large bowl; set aside. Put butter into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on low speed until creamy. Gradually mix in sugar until pale and fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes. Add eggs, a bit at a time, mixing well between each addition; mix until well blended. Mix in vanilla.
3. Whisk milk into reserved cocoa mixture. With mixer on low speed, add flour mixture to butter mixture in 3 batches, alternating with the cocoa mixture.
4. Divide batter evenly among prepared pans; smooth tops with an offset spatula. Bake, rotating pan halfway through, until a cake tester inserted into center comes out clean, 35 to 45 minutes. Let cool in pans on wire racks 15 minutes. Turn out cakes onto racks; remove parchment and re-invert. Let cool completely.
5. Using a serrated knife, trim tops of cakes to make level. Place four strips of parchment paper around perimeter of a serving plate or lazy Susan. Place the first layer on the cake plate. Spread the top of the first layer with 1 1/2 cups of frosting. Place the second layer on top and repeat process with another 1 1/2 cups of frosting. Place the remaining layer on top of the second layer, bottom side up. Spread entire cake with remaining 3 cups frosting.


*** To make the cake extra moist, brush each cake with the simple syrup uing a pastry brush.



Recipe for Chocolate Ganache Icing
Source: Mrs Milman (Martha Stewart)

24 ounces / 4 cups Nestle semisweet chocolate morsels
4 cups whipping cream
1 teaspoon light corn syrup (you can use golden syrup although I'd leave this out next time)


1. Place chocolate morsels and cream in a heavy saucepan. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly with a rubber spatula, until combined and thickened, between 20 and 25 minutes. Increase the heat to medium low; cook, stirring, 3 minutes more. Remove pan from heat.

2. Stir in corn syrup. Transfer frosting to a large metal bowl. Chill until cool enough to spread, about 2 hours, checking and stirring every 15 to 20 minutes. Use immediately.

Mrs Hackneys Recipe for Simple Syrup

½ Cup of Granulated Sugar
½ Cup of Water

1. Place the sugar and water in a saucepan.
2. Boil until the sugar has dissolved.
3. Remove from the heat and leave to cool completely.

Mrs Hackneys Notes:
To make cake flour, put 2 tablespoons of cornflour into a cup measurement and top up with plain flour. This gives you a cup of cake flour.

The icing takes about 4 hours to set so be patient. I didn’t have any corn syrup as this is only readily available in the US so I used golden syrup. Next time I’d leave it out as I later found out that Mrs Milman doesn’t even use this in her recipe – Martha Stewart needs to update the recipe on her website!

Overall, the cake is very moist and it hits the spot is your craving a sugar rush.

Enjoy :-)

Saturday 24 October 2009

Afternoon Tea

I was totally inspired to bake last week but didn't really get much time. I managed to make a batch of white chocolate chip cookies but not just any cookies, cookies that taste like Millies Cookies. There's something about a half baked, sweet, cookie that makes you just feel complete inside and for me, this is the cookie. They were so flipping good that I've even baked off half the dough that I froze! You have to make these....
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I found this recipe online and I'm so glad that I did!




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Chocolate Chip Recipe:
Source:
Laurens Recipe Book
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125g butter, softened
100g light brown soft sugar
125g caster sugar
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 tsp vanilla extract
225g self-raising flour
½ tsp salt
200g chocolate chips
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1. Preheat the oven to 180°C, gas mark 4.
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2. Cream butter and sugars, once creamed, combine in the egg and vanilla.
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3. Sift in the flour and salt, then the chocolate chips.
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4. Roll into walnut size balls, for a more homemade look, or roll into a long, thick sausage shape and slice to make neater looking cookies.
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5. Place on ungreased baking paper. If you want to have the real Millies experience then bake for just 7 minutes, till the cookies are just setting - the cookies will be really doughy and delicious. Otherwise cook for 10 minutes until just golden round the edges.
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6. Take out of the oven and leave to harden for a minute before transferring to a wire cooling rack. These are great warm, and they also store well, if they don't all get eaten straight away!
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Mrs Hackneys Notes:
*You can either ad din one flavour of chocolate chips or you can divide the batch in half and create 2 different types.
*They freeze well. Roll the dough into a sausage and cut into rounds. Freeze them in tupperware between sheets of grease proof paper then just pop them in the oven as required - they just need about 4 extra minutes! Remember to put a piece of paper in the tupperware box with the required oven temp and how long you need to need to bake them for in total as you may have forgotten by the time you come to bake them off. Although they are so good I don't think they'll last long in the freezer...
* I used the chocolate chips that Ena sent me.
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I decided to make afternoon tea on Sunday for Sharon, Dee and Suey. I made a selection of finger sandwiches, banana bread, cookies and scones. It was great to catch up with the girlies.
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Sandwiches:
Cheese & Onion
Tuna, Cucumber and Mayo
Egg Mayo
Cream cheese & Cucumber
Cucumber – you have to have some of these! If they’re good enough for the queen…

Don't forget to cut the crusts off the sandwiches. It's the law!
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I made Nigella banana Bread Recipe. I managed to get a huge bunch of bananas for £1 – you can’t say fairer than that!
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Banana Bread
Source: Nigella Lawson
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100g sultanas
75ml bourbon or dark rum
175g plain flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
125g unsalted butter, melted
150g sugar
2 large eggs
4 small, very ripe bananas (about 300g weighed without skin), mashed
60g chopped walnuts
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
23 x 13 x 7cm loaf tin, buttered and floured or with a paper insert
Serving Size : Makes 8–10 slices
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1. Put the sultanas and rum or bourbon in a smallish saucepan and bring to the boil.
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2. Remove from the heat, cover and leave for an hour if you can, or until the sultanas have absorbed most of the liquid, then drain.
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3. Preheat the oven to 170ºC/gas mark 3 and get started on the rest. Put the flour, baking powder, bicarb and salt in a medium-sized bowl and, using your hands or a wooden spoon, combine well.
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4. In a large bowl, mix the melted butter and sugar and beat until blended. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then the mashed bananas. Then, with your wooden spoon, stir in the walnuts, drained sultanas and vanilla extract. Add the flour mixture, a third at a time, stirring well after each bit. Scrape into the loaf tin and bake in the middle of the oven for 1–11/4 hours. When it’s ready, an inserted toothpick or fine skewer should come out cleanish. Leave in the tin on a rack to cool, and eat thickly or thinly sliced, as you prefer.
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Mrs Hackneys Notes:
* I used my mini cake pan tray that my mum got me last Christmas. I filled up 4 holes and then added chopped walnuts and sultanas to the remaining batter to fill another 2 holes.
* Suey was in charge of mashing these bananas! This would also be a great job for any kids to do if you have any! Not that I’m saying Suey is a kid. Well….
* Use really good ripened bananas for this.
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I used Rachel Allens recipe for the scones and they were really light and lovely. This will definitely be my go to recipe for scones from now on.
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Light Sweet Scones Recipe
Source: Rachel Allen Bake
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500g light Italian or plain flour, plus extra for dusting
1 heaped tsp
Bicarbonate of soda
2 heaped tsp cream of tartar
1 tsp
sea salt
125g chilled unsalted butter, cubed
25g caster sugar
1
Egg, beaten
275ml buttermilk or
Milk, plus extra for the egg wash
50g caster or granulated sugar, (optional)
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1. Preheat the oven to 220C/gas 7.

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2. Sift the flour, bicarbonate of soda, cream of tartar and salt into a large bowl. Using your fingertips, rub in the butter until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Add the sugar and mix well.
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3. Set aside about a third of the beaten egg and combine the rest with the buttermilk, then add to the flour mixture and mix briefly to combine into a moist dough. Place on a lightly floured work surface and knead ever so slightly to bring together, then press or roll out to a thickness of 2cm.
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4. Using a 6cm round cutter, cut out approximately 12 scones and place on a floured baking tray.
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5. Add about a teaspoon or so of buttermilk to the remainder of the beaten egg to make an egg wash. Brush the scones with the egg wash (and dip the tops in sugar if you wish) and bake in the oven for 10–12 minutes or until golden brown on top. Serve while hot.
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Mrs Hackneys Notes:
*I used a heart shaped scone cutter. Try not to handle the dough too much otherwise they get overworked and are not as light.
*I used milk for the recipe, not buttermilk.
I added a splash of milk into the remaining egg so that the scones didn’t go too brown on top.

* Serve with raspberry preserve and whipped cream. Yum.
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The girls were stuffed afterwards :-)

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Enjoy :-)

Monday 19 October 2009

Wooooo Hoooooo Presents from my New Mum in Law!!

How exciting! I received a box of goodies from my lovely mum in law, Ena, today! Woo Hoo!
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What a treat, there's cookie cutters, edible decorations, cupcake cases, chocolate, marshmallows..... What a way to start national baking week!
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Thanks so much, I love them! :-)
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I still haven't decided what I'll bake this week. Sue and Steve are staying at the hotel so I've got no-one to eat anything! Emma never eats anything sweet when she's trying to be healthy and Kenny keeps telling me off for trying to 'fatten him up for the pot!
My greenhouse arrived today. It was really easy to put together and looks great at the bottom of the balcony. I hope it's warm enough in there for the plants.


I've booked a ticket to go home for 4 days. I'm going on Wednesday 28th and don't get in until midnight so I wonder who might pick me up?! I'm looking forward to seeing little baby Elliot and also the party. I've been looking for fancy dress outfits but can't decide. I think I'm going to try and go as something totally random!

Friday 16 October 2009

Beef & Ale Pie, Panna Cotta and a Spot of Gardening!

I'm so happy it’s the weekend! It means a tasty food and X Factor...
I decided to make a steak and ale pie with mashed taters for dinner followed by panna cotta for dessert for Friday nights dinner.
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I used Rachel Allen’s flaky pastry recipe as it always turns put perfectly and is nice and buttery, yet golden and crispy on the top. It takes a good 2 and half hours to make because you need to let it rest in the fridge for 30 mins after adding each portion of butter. It’s definitely worth the wait though so give it a try!
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Flaky Pastry Recipe
Source: Rachel Allen Bake
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500g / 1 lb 2oz Plain Flour
Pinch of Salt
325g / 11 ½ oz Cold Butter
175 ml (6 fl oz) Cold Water
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1. Sift the flour and salt into a bowl.
2. Divide the butter into 4 equal parts.
3. Rub one of the portions of butter into the flour mix. Put the other 3 portions back into the fridge to keep cold.
4. Add in the water and mix to a dough.
5. Cover in cling film and put it in the fridge for 30 mins.
6. After the 30 minutes, roll out the dough into a rectangle.
7. Cut up the 2nd portion of butter into tiny cubes and dot on the lower two thirds of the dough. (see my pics below)
8. Fold the top over and the bottom over the top. Roll back into a rectangle and turn it at a 90 degree angle and repeat the folds (but without the butter). Wrap in cling film and put it in the fridge to rest for 30 mins.
9. Repeat step 7 and 8 for the last 2 lots of butter.
10. When all the butter has been rolled into the dough, put it back in the fridge for another 30 mins to relax again or until ready to use.
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I used the following recipe for the filling...
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Mrs Hackneys Beef & Ale Pie Recipe:
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Ingredients:
2 x Packs of stewing Beef or Braising Beef
Flour with salt and pepper added
Butter to brown the beef
1 x Bottle of Ale (500ml)
Onions x 2
Carrots – approx 6 - 8
Mushrooms – a pack, chopped into thirds
Fresh Thyme – 3 or 4 strands
Bay Leaf x 1
2 -3 cloves of garlic, roughly chopped
500ml beef stock (2 x stock cubes)
Red currant jelly x 2 tsp
Good splash of balsamic
Salt & Pepper
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1. Pre-heat the oven to 220 C / 425 F
2. Dust the beef in the seasoned flour.
3. Brown the beef in a good knob of butter and a splash of oil. Do this in batches. If you overcrowd the pan, the beef won’t brown properly. Remove when browned and put in a bowl. You may need to keep adding more oil and butter as you do each batch.
4. Once all the beef is done, add the onions and carrots to the pan.
5. Add in the garlic and herbs. Cook for 5 – 10 mins on a medium high heat until the onions have softened.
6. Add in the bottle of ale, the stock and a good splash of Worcestershire sauce.
7. Cover with a lid and simmer on low for approx 1 hour.
8. After it’s simmered for around an hour, add in 2 tsp of the redcurrant jelly and a good splash of balsamic vinegar to taste. This sweetens it slightly.
9. Cook for a further hour and then spoon into a pie dish.
10. Top with the pastry. Make sure you brush the edge of the pie dish with a bit of beaten egg so that the pastry sticks to the side.
11. Brush the top with the beaten egg. Bake for approx 30 – 40 minutes until golden and bubbling.
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For the mash...
For the potatoes, boil them until tender. Drain when ready and then put them back in the pan. Mash them and add a good splash of double cream, a huge knob of butter, lots of white pepper, salt and around 2 – 3 tbs of grated Parmesan cheese. Spoon into an oven proof dish, sprinkle some extra Parmesan on top and put in the oven until a bit crispy and golden.
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Mrs Hackneys Notes:
(I use one pack of each meat, which comes to 900 grams but you can put in 800g – 1,000g if you want)
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Panna Cotta Recipe
Source: Simon Rimmer
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For the panna cotta
3 gelatine leaves
250ml/9fl oz milk
250ml/9fl oz double cream
1 vanilla pod, split length ways, seeds scraped out
25g/1oz sugar
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1. For the panna cotta, soak the gelatine leaves in a little cold water until soft.
2. Place the milk, cream, vanilla pod and seeds and sugar into a pan and bring to a simmer. Remove the vanilla pod and discard.
3. Squeeze the water out of the gelatine leaves, then add to the pan and take off the heat. Stir until the gelatine has dissolved.
4. Divide the mixture among four ramekins and leave to cool. Place into the fridge for at least an hour, until set.
5. To serve, turn each panna cotta out onto a serving plate. Tumble some fruit around.
Mrs Hackneys Notes:
* I didn't have any gelatine leaves so used 3 tsp of powdered geletine. I put it in a cup and added on 2tsp of cold water to get it nice and soft. I actually think they could have been more softly set so I'd use 2 tsp instead next time.


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My onion sets, garlic and pea seeds have arrived! I planted some of the onions and some of the garlic out. I've also ordered my mini greenhouse for the balcony so that they can all sit on a shelf and be covered over winter but it won’t get here until Monday.
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Also, I checked my salad leaves on Thursday night and was so excited because they've started to sprout in just 4 days!!

My little gardening tools have also arrived! They were only £3.00 off Ebay including postage, which I thought was a real bargain!!



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Before I forget to tell you, it's National Baking Week next week - 19th Oct - 25th Oct so I have lost of things lined up that I want to bake. Danish parties, white chocolate chip cookies, pies....
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I think you should all bake something next week and send me a picture. I'll pick my favourite and will send a little prize!
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Sue and I went for a little jog this morning. We found an amazing shop up the road that sells everything for the kitchen. It’s amazing! I got a metal fish slice and lime green salt pig. It’s so cute! I also found Emma Bridgewaters shop on Fulham Road and got a new spoon rest, a veggie peeler and tea strainer.
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We also found a place called Pottery Cafe where you can paint a piece of pottery! It’s quite expensive though but Sure and I are going to go one day and paint something. I want to paint a teapot.
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We are very excited that Whitney Houston is on the X Factor! I made more homemade pizzas for Saturday night. I did the usual chorizo and chilli but also caramelised some onions so did one half spicy and the other half with the onions and some mushrooms on. Both flavours were delicious.
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It’s now Sunday today so Sue and went for another mini run. We managed about 1 and a half laps which is better than no laps at all. I also made a delicious roast dinner – pork with crackling, cabbage & bacon, roasted potatoes, carrots, cauliflower cheese for me and sue, yorkshires and cider and apple gravy.
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I forgot to take a photo sorry!

Thursday 31 December 2009

Happy New Year

I can't believe that it's New Years Eve today! I'm not feeling to well so Kenny, Sueling and I are staying in tonight. I've got some lovely little nibbles from M&S and Sue and I just picked up all the ingredients for home-made pizzas and shandy beers.

I just made a start on the pizza dough only to find that my scales have ran out of battery so I had to find an another recipe using cup measurements. I found this:

Recipe for Pizza Dough
Source: All Recipes


  • 1 (.25 ounce / 7g) package active dry yeast
  • 1 cup warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
  • 2 cups bread flour
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 2 teaspoons white sugar


I used my recipe for the tomato sauce base. We decided on a topping of fresh chilli, chorizo slices, mozarella and rocket mmmmm.

Here is the link to my original recipe I normally use: Saturday Night Pizza

We enjoyed a nice run up to Christmas. Ena and Ken came to visit on the 12th and brought me some treats including alphabet cookie cutters and a kitchen organiser! Thank you, I love them! We had a tasty lunch at Bodeans and then headed to the Winter Wonderland fair in Hyde Park. It's was lovely and festive but it was really busy. We did enjoy some Christams treats though including hot cider, mulled wine, hot chocolate, Spanish churros and waffles.

I haven't updated the blog in a while which I apologise for but I have been super busy with Christmas, working on the new events website and spending a couple of weeks at home. I know it's no excuse so will be adding 'update the blog regularly' on my NY resolutions list!

I had a fabulous Christmas and received some lovely pressies including a proper old fashioned pinnie, a wine tasting lunch at Swinton park, a fabulous giant teacup for growing herbs in, watering can shaped salt and pepper shakers, a beautiful caraf for all the red wine we drink and lots of cupcake themed stuff including the cutest cup with a lid! You'll also be pleased to hear I also got a new digital camera from my hubby for updating my blog so I don't need to faff on with using Kennys laptop anymore!!

Other news is that I got myself a lovely iphone today. I love it and have already downloaded lots of aps including the most addictive game called doodlejump.

I loved spending time at home with everyone especially the kids. We made some lovely glittery door hangers, salt dough tree decorations and cookies. For those of you I keep forgetting to tell, Meiling is pregnant with her 5th child! Fingers crossed it won't be too long until I'm with child ha ha!

Before I left for home I decided I wanted to make an old fashioned crochet blanket so I watched a couple of videos on youtube and taught myself. I managed to inspire Sueling, Meiling, Joling, Mum, Clare and Sarley to all start crocheting too and before I left to come back to London everyone had a blanket on the go! :-)

I have decided to make new years resolutions this year:

1. Manage money better
2. Wing Saturdays (try out different wing recipes for Kenny every other Saturday)
3. Keep on top of Birthdays and Special Dates
4. Tidy as I go (Kenny thinks I'm too messy!)
5. Weekly Food Plan (plan ahead so we don'r spend so much money on food every week)
6. Take more photos (now I have my new camera I want to make sure I capture everything)
7. Visit dad, Liquong and Yeling
8. Make cityholics a success
9. Make more time for friends
10. Update this blog regularly
11. Aim to have a dinner party once a month

I would like to wish you all a very happy New Year and hope it's filled with health, wealth, love and happiness. May all your dreams come true.

xx

Thursday 19 November 2009

Birthday Cakes Galore!

Congratulations to Jon and Hannah on your engagement!!! I'm so happy for you both :-)
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On the subject of happy occasions, Sharon asked if I would make a Birthday cake for her dad and her cousins girlfriend for a party they are had on Friday night. I jumped at the chance as it meant that I could have a play with my cake decorating stuff that's been sat in a box since January.
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I decided to make a simple sponge cake for the bottom cake and a chocolate cake for the top tier. .
I’m also making one for Dickys Birthday and his favourite flavour is lemon so I'm making a lemon sponge with lemon curd buttercream. Kenny wants me to decorate it in red and white though (as he supports arsenal) so that's a bit boring but we'll see how it pans out.
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I used the recipes found on the British Sugarcraft Forum, which gives you a high density cake. Thanks to everyone there who has been answering my questions this week!
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8" Round - Portions - 20
10oz Block margarine (softened)
11 ¼ oz Caster sugar
10 oz Sponge flour
10 oz Eggs (approx 5 large eggs)
2 ½ Water (Tablespoons)
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6" Round - Portions - 11
6 oz Block margarine (softened)
63/4 oz Caster sugar
6 oz Eggs (approx 3 large eggs)
6 oz Sponge flour
1 ½ Water (Tablespoons)
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OVEN: Fan assist oven 150, or normal elec 180 or Gas mark 3
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1. Cream butter and sugar
2. Add in eggs, one at a time. Also add in a tbs of the flour to stop the mixture curdling
3. Add in flour
4. Add in water
5. Put into a lined cake tin
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For lemon sponge
Add the zest of one lemon per 4oz mixture.
You can replace the water with the lemon juice.
Once the baked cake is emptied out of the cake tin brush all the surfaces of the cake with lemon
stock syrup.
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For 8" Chocolate Sponge
Substitute 3oz of flour with 3oz of cocoa powder
Tiny amount - less than 1/4 tsp of baking powder
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For 6" Chocolate Sponge
Substitute 1 1/2 oz of flour with 1 1/2 oz of cocoa powder
Tiny amount - less than 1/4 tsp of baking powder
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Simple Syrup
2 tblsp of sugar
2 tblsp of hot water
Dissolve sugar in the water and leave to cool.
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Lemon Curd Buttercream
250g butter
500g icing sugar
5 tbsp lemon curd
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Chocolate Ganache
1 Cup Double Cream
6 0z Chocolate (I used 3oz of milk and 3oz of dark)
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Put the cream into a pan on a LOW heat and add in the chocolate, all broken into pieces. Mix slowly until it's all mixed together. Cool in the fridge until it's set - it should be thick like the inside of a chocolate truffle!
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Mrs Hackneys Notes:
*Because I am a numpty, I’ve just realised that I baked all my cakes at 150 C instead of 180 C so my tip of the day is to read all instructions properly before starting! I also forgot to add in the baking powder when I made the choc sponge!
*Once the cakes were cooled, I split them, filled with buttercream and chilled. I then covered and decorated it with sugarpaste.
*It was hard work because I bought white sugarpaste from Somerfield and it was way too soft so it was hard to cover. Overall I'm happy with the end result.
*I used half block marg and half real butter as I like the richness of the butter but it was too rich using all butter.
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Dickys Cake:

Friday 13 November 2009

Welcome to the world little baby Jack!

Hurrah! Sharon gave birth to a healthy baby boy on Friday 6th November. Baby Jack weighed 6 lb 11 oz and she had NO pain relief! Not even any gas and air – that’s amazing since she wanted an epidural and a C section! Congratulations. Baby Jack is soooooooo lush.

I must say sorry for taking so long to update the blog. I have been busy cooking as always but I have been cooking lots of things I've already put on here so didn't want to repeat myself.

I was so excited to discover that my favourite food channel I watch when I go to America is now available here on Sky! It's called food network and it's channel 262. There's a programme called 'Throwdown with Bobby Flay' where he visits places that have a popular signature dish and challenges them to a throwdown. He challenged a baker from Charleston who makes the most amazing looking coconut cake and since then I've been itching to make a layer cake.

Sueling doesnt like coconut and I'm not a huge fan either so coconut was out. I went to one of my favourite websites, http://www.marthastewart.com/ to search for recipes. I came across a devils food cake cake recipe that looked so delicious I just had to give it a try.

Recipe for Devils Food Cake
Source: Martha Stewart


· 1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter, softened, plus more for pans
· 3/4 cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder, plus more for pans
· 1/2 cup boiling water
· 3 cups sifted cake flour (not self-rising)
· 1 teaspoon baking soda
· 1/2 teaspoon salt
· 2 1/4 cups sugar
· 4 large eggs, lightly beaten
· 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
· 1 cup whole milk

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter three 8-inch round cake pans. Line bottoms with parchment; butter parchment. Dust with cocoa powder; tap out excess. Set aside. Sift cocoa powder into a medium bowl; whisk in boiling water. Set aside to cool.
2. Sift together flour, baking soda, and salt into a large bowl; set aside. Put butter into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on low speed until creamy. Gradually mix in sugar until pale and fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes. Add eggs, a bit at a time, mixing well between each addition; mix until well blended. Mix in vanilla.
3. Whisk milk into reserved cocoa mixture. With mixer on low speed, add flour mixture to butter mixture in 3 batches, alternating with the cocoa mixture.
4. Divide batter evenly among prepared pans; smooth tops with an offset spatula. Bake, rotating pan halfway through, until a cake tester inserted into center comes out clean, 35 to 45 minutes. Let cool in pans on wire racks 15 minutes. Turn out cakes onto racks; remove parchment and re-invert. Let cool completely.
5. Using a serrated knife, trim tops of cakes to make level. Place four strips of parchment paper around perimeter of a serving plate or lazy Susan. Place the first layer on the cake plate. Spread the top of the first layer with 1 1/2 cups of frosting. Place the second layer on top and repeat process with another 1 1/2 cups of frosting. Place the remaining layer on top of the second layer, bottom side up. Spread entire cake with remaining 3 cups frosting.


*** To make the cake extra moist, brush each cake with the simple syrup uing a pastry brush.



Recipe for Chocolate Ganache Icing
Source: Mrs Milman (Martha Stewart)

24 ounces / 4 cups Nestle semisweet chocolate morsels
4 cups whipping cream
1 teaspoon light corn syrup (you can use golden syrup although I'd leave this out next time)


1. Place chocolate morsels and cream in a heavy saucepan. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly with a rubber spatula, until combined and thickened, between 20 and 25 minutes. Increase the heat to medium low; cook, stirring, 3 minutes more. Remove pan from heat.

2. Stir in corn syrup. Transfer frosting to a large metal bowl. Chill until cool enough to spread, about 2 hours, checking and stirring every 15 to 20 minutes. Use immediately.

Mrs Hackneys Recipe for Simple Syrup

½ Cup of Granulated Sugar
½ Cup of Water

1. Place the sugar and water in a saucepan.
2. Boil until the sugar has dissolved.
3. Remove from the heat and leave to cool completely.

Mrs Hackneys Notes:
To make cake flour, put 2 tablespoons of cornflour into a cup measurement and top up with plain flour. This gives you a cup of cake flour.

The icing takes about 4 hours to set so be patient. I didn’t have any corn syrup as this is only readily available in the US so I used golden syrup. Next time I’d leave it out as I later found out that Mrs Milman doesn’t even use this in her recipe – Martha Stewart needs to update the recipe on her website!

Overall, the cake is very moist and it hits the spot is your craving a sugar rush.

Enjoy :-)

Saturday 24 October 2009

Afternoon Tea

I was totally inspired to bake last week but didn't really get much time. I managed to make a batch of white chocolate chip cookies but not just any cookies, cookies that taste like Millies Cookies. There's something about a half baked, sweet, cookie that makes you just feel complete inside and for me, this is the cookie. They were so flipping good that I've even baked off half the dough that I froze! You have to make these....
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I found this recipe online and I'm so glad that I did!




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Chocolate Chip Recipe:
Source:
Laurens Recipe Book
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125g butter, softened
100g light brown soft sugar
125g caster sugar
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 tsp vanilla extract
225g self-raising flour
½ tsp salt
200g chocolate chips
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1. Preheat the oven to 180°C, gas mark 4.
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2. Cream butter and sugars, once creamed, combine in the egg and vanilla.
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3. Sift in the flour and salt, then the chocolate chips.
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4. Roll into walnut size balls, for a more homemade look, or roll into a long, thick sausage shape and slice to make neater looking cookies.
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5. Place on ungreased baking paper. If you want to have the real Millies experience then bake for just 7 minutes, till the cookies are just setting - the cookies will be really doughy and delicious. Otherwise cook for 10 minutes until just golden round the edges.
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6. Take out of the oven and leave to harden for a minute before transferring to a wire cooling rack. These are great warm, and they also store well, if they don't all get eaten straight away!
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Mrs Hackneys Notes:
*You can either ad din one flavour of chocolate chips or you can divide the batch in half and create 2 different types.
*They freeze well. Roll the dough into a sausage and cut into rounds. Freeze them in tupperware between sheets of grease proof paper then just pop them in the oven as required - they just need about 4 extra minutes! Remember to put a piece of paper in the tupperware box with the required oven temp and how long you need to need to bake them for in total as you may have forgotten by the time you come to bake them off. Although they are so good I don't think they'll last long in the freezer...
* I used the chocolate chips that Ena sent me.
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I decided to make afternoon tea on Sunday for Sharon, Dee and Suey. I made a selection of finger sandwiches, banana bread, cookies and scones. It was great to catch up with the girlies.
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Sandwiches:
Cheese & Onion
Tuna, Cucumber and Mayo
Egg Mayo
Cream cheese & Cucumber
Cucumber – you have to have some of these! If they’re good enough for the queen…

Don't forget to cut the crusts off the sandwiches. It's the law!
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I made Nigella banana Bread Recipe. I managed to get a huge bunch of bananas for £1 – you can’t say fairer than that!
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Banana Bread
Source: Nigella Lawson
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100g sultanas
75ml bourbon or dark rum
175g plain flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
125g unsalted butter, melted
150g sugar
2 large eggs
4 small, very ripe bananas (about 300g weighed without skin), mashed
60g chopped walnuts
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
23 x 13 x 7cm loaf tin, buttered and floured or with a paper insert
Serving Size : Makes 8–10 slices
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1. Put the sultanas and rum or bourbon in a smallish saucepan and bring to the boil.
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2. Remove from the heat, cover and leave for an hour if you can, or until the sultanas have absorbed most of the liquid, then drain.
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3. Preheat the oven to 170ºC/gas mark 3 and get started on the rest. Put the flour, baking powder, bicarb and salt in a medium-sized bowl and, using your hands or a wooden spoon, combine well.
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4. In a large bowl, mix the melted butter and sugar and beat until blended. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then the mashed bananas. Then, with your wooden spoon, stir in the walnuts, drained sultanas and vanilla extract. Add the flour mixture, a third at a time, stirring well after each bit. Scrape into the loaf tin and bake in the middle of the oven for 1–11/4 hours. When it’s ready, an inserted toothpick or fine skewer should come out cleanish. Leave in the tin on a rack to cool, and eat thickly or thinly sliced, as you prefer.
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Mrs Hackneys Notes:
* I used my mini cake pan tray that my mum got me last Christmas. I filled up 4 holes and then added chopped walnuts and sultanas to the remaining batter to fill another 2 holes.
* Suey was in charge of mashing these bananas! This would also be a great job for any kids to do if you have any! Not that I’m saying Suey is a kid. Well….
* Use really good ripened bananas for this.
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I used Rachel Allens recipe for the scones and they were really light and lovely. This will definitely be my go to recipe for scones from now on.
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Light Sweet Scones Recipe
Source: Rachel Allen Bake
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500g light Italian or plain flour, plus extra for dusting
1 heaped tsp
Bicarbonate of soda
2 heaped tsp cream of tartar
1 tsp
sea salt
125g chilled unsalted butter, cubed
25g caster sugar
1
Egg, beaten
275ml buttermilk or
Milk, plus extra for the egg wash
50g caster or granulated sugar, (optional)
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1. Preheat the oven to 220C/gas 7.

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2. Sift the flour, bicarbonate of soda, cream of tartar and salt into a large bowl. Using your fingertips, rub in the butter until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Add the sugar and mix well.
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3. Set aside about a third of the beaten egg and combine the rest with the buttermilk, then add to the flour mixture and mix briefly to combine into a moist dough. Place on a lightly floured work surface and knead ever so slightly to bring together, then press or roll out to a thickness of 2cm.
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4. Using a 6cm round cutter, cut out approximately 12 scones and place on a floured baking tray.
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5. Add about a teaspoon or so of buttermilk to the remainder of the beaten egg to make an egg wash. Brush the scones with the egg wash (and dip the tops in sugar if you wish) and bake in the oven for 10–12 minutes or until golden brown on top. Serve while hot.
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Mrs Hackneys Notes:
*I used a heart shaped scone cutter. Try not to handle the dough too much otherwise they get overworked and are not as light.
*I used milk for the recipe, not buttermilk.
I added a splash of milk into the remaining egg so that the scones didn’t go too brown on top.

* Serve with raspberry preserve and whipped cream. Yum.
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The girls were stuffed afterwards :-)

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Enjoy :-)

Monday 19 October 2009

Wooooo Hoooooo Presents from my New Mum in Law!!

How exciting! I received a box of goodies from my lovely mum in law, Ena, today! Woo Hoo!
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What a treat, there's cookie cutters, edible decorations, cupcake cases, chocolate, marshmallows..... What a way to start national baking week!
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Thanks so much, I love them! :-)
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I still haven't decided what I'll bake this week. Sue and Steve are staying at the hotel so I've got no-one to eat anything! Emma never eats anything sweet when she's trying to be healthy and Kenny keeps telling me off for trying to 'fatten him up for the pot!
My greenhouse arrived today. It was really easy to put together and looks great at the bottom of the balcony. I hope it's warm enough in there for the plants.


I've booked a ticket to go home for 4 days. I'm going on Wednesday 28th and don't get in until midnight so I wonder who might pick me up?! I'm looking forward to seeing little baby Elliot and also the party. I've been looking for fancy dress outfits but can't decide. I think I'm going to try and go as something totally random!

Friday 16 October 2009

Beef & Ale Pie, Panna Cotta and a Spot of Gardening!

I'm so happy it’s the weekend! It means a tasty food and X Factor...
I decided to make a steak and ale pie with mashed taters for dinner followed by panna cotta for dessert for Friday nights dinner.
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I used Rachel Allen’s flaky pastry recipe as it always turns put perfectly and is nice and buttery, yet golden and crispy on the top. It takes a good 2 and half hours to make because you need to let it rest in the fridge for 30 mins after adding each portion of butter. It’s definitely worth the wait though so give it a try!
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Flaky Pastry Recipe
Source: Rachel Allen Bake
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500g / 1 lb 2oz Plain Flour
Pinch of Salt
325g / 11 ½ oz Cold Butter
175 ml (6 fl oz) Cold Water
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1. Sift the flour and salt into a bowl.
2. Divide the butter into 4 equal parts.
3. Rub one of the portions of butter into the flour mix. Put the other 3 portions back into the fridge to keep cold.
4. Add in the water and mix to a dough.
5. Cover in cling film and put it in the fridge for 30 mins.
6. After the 30 minutes, roll out the dough into a rectangle.
7. Cut up the 2nd portion of butter into tiny cubes and dot on the lower two thirds of the dough. (see my pics below)
8. Fold the top over and the bottom over the top. Roll back into a rectangle and turn it at a 90 degree angle and repeat the folds (but without the butter). Wrap in cling film and put it in the fridge to rest for 30 mins.
9. Repeat step 7 and 8 for the last 2 lots of butter.
10. When all the butter has been rolled into the dough, put it back in the fridge for another 30 mins to relax again or until ready to use.
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I used the following recipe for the filling...
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Mrs Hackneys Beef & Ale Pie Recipe:
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Ingredients:
2 x Packs of stewing Beef or Braising Beef
Flour with salt and pepper added
Butter to brown the beef
1 x Bottle of Ale (500ml)
Onions x 2
Carrots – approx 6 - 8
Mushrooms – a pack, chopped into thirds
Fresh Thyme – 3 or 4 strands
Bay Leaf x 1
2 -3 cloves of garlic, roughly chopped
500ml beef stock (2 x stock cubes)
Red currant jelly x 2 tsp
Good splash of balsamic
Salt & Pepper
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1. Pre-heat the oven to 220 C / 425 F
2. Dust the beef in the seasoned flour.
3. Brown the beef in a good knob of butter and a splash of oil. Do this in batches. If you overcrowd the pan, the beef won’t brown properly. Remove when browned and put in a bowl. You may need to keep adding more oil and butter as you do each batch.
4. Once all the beef is done, add the onions and carrots to the pan.
5. Add in the garlic and herbs. Cook for 5 – 10 mins on a medium high heat until the onions have softened.
6. Add in the bottle of ale, the stock and a good splash of Worcestershire sauce.
7. Cover with a lid and simmer on low for approx 1 hour.
8. After it’s simmered for around an hour, add in 2 tsp of the redcurrant jelly and a good splash of balsamic vinegar to taste. This sweetens it slightly.
9. Cook for a further hour and then spoon into a pie dish.
10. Top with the pastry. Make sure you brush the edge of the pie dish with a bit of beaten egg so that the pastry sticks to the side.
11. Brush the top with the beaten egg. Bake for approx 30 – 40 minutes until golden and bubbling.
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For the mash...
For the potatoes, boil them until tender. Drain when ready and then put them back in the pan. Mash them and add a good splash of double cream, a huge knob of butter, lots of white pepper, salt and around 2 – 3 tbs of grated Parmesan cheese. Spoon into an oven proof dish, sprinkle some extra Parmesan on top and put in the oven until a bit crispy and golden.
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Mrs Hackneys Notes:
(I use one pack of each meat, which comes to 900 grams but you can put in 800g – 1,000g if you want)
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Panna Cotta Recipe
Source: Simon Rimmer
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For the panna cotta
3 gelatine leaves
250ml/9fl oz milk
250ml/9fl oz double cream
1 vanilla pod, split length ways, seeds scraped out
25g/1oz sugar
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1. For the panna cotta, soak the gelatine leaves in a little cold water until soft.
2. Place the milk, cream, vanilla pod and seeds and sugar into a pan and bring to a simmer. Remove the vanilla pod and discard.
3. Squeeze the water out of the gelatine leaves, then add to the pan and take off the heat. Stir until the gelatine has dissolved.
4. Divide the mixture among four ramekins and leave to cool. Place into the fridge for at least an hour, until set.
5. To serve, turn each panna cotta out onto a serving plate. Tumble some fruit around.
Mrs Hackneys Notes:
* I didn't have any gelatine leaves so used 3 tsp of powdered geletine. I put it in a cup and added on 2tsp of cold water to get it nice and soft. I actually think they could have been more softly set so I'd use 2 tsp instead next time.


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My onion sets, garlic and pea seeds have arrived! I planted some of the onions and some of the garlic out. I've also ordered my mini greenhouse for the balcony so that they can all sit on a shelf and be covered over winter but it won’t get here until Monday.
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Also, I checked my salad leaves on Thursday night and was so excited because they've started to sprout in just 4 days!!

My little gardening tools have also arrived! They were only £3.00 off Ebay including postage, which I thought was a real bargain!!



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Before I forget to tell you, it's National Baking Week next week - 19th Oct - 25th Oct so I have lost of things lined up that I want to bake. Danish parties, white chocolate chip cookies, pies....
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I think you should all bake something next week and send me a picture. I'll pick my favourite and will send a little prize!
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Sue and I went for a little jog this morning. We found an amazing shop up the road that sells everything for the kitchen. It’s amazing! I got a metal fish slice and lime green salt pig. It’s so cute! I also found Emma Bridgewaters shop on Fulham Road and got a new spoon rest, a veggie peeler and tea strainer.
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We also found a place called Pottery Cafe where you can paint a piece of pottery! It’s quite expensive though but Sure and I are going to go one day and paint something. I want to paint a teapot.
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We are very excited that Whitney Houston is on the X Factor! I made more homemade pizzas for Saturday night. I did the usual chorizo and chilli but also caramelised some onions so did one half spicy and the other half with the onions and some mushrooms on. Both flavours were delicious.
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It’s now Sunday today so Sue and went for another mini run. We managed about 1 and a half laps which is better than no laps at all. I also made a delicious roast dinner – pork with crackling, cabbage & bacon, roasted potatoes, carrots, cauliflower cheese for me and sue, yorkshires and cider and apple gravy.
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I forgot to take a photo sorry!