Pavlova with a twist

I have made this on loads of times at the restuarant and did it for a summer birthday party and it got rave reviews.

It is simple to make but the methods are important. You will need very clean equipment so make sure there is no grease on them if unsure, wash them in hot soapy water. You will need a mixer with the whick attachement.
A low heated oven and a oven proof tray lined with silicone, silicone is better if you have it and you can reuse it, by turning it over.

For me i also have a an 8" flan ring, large piping bag and plain 1" nozzle to pipe the meringue out but you dont have to. You can easily use a pallet knife to spread the mixture into a rough circle.

Ingredients serves 6-8

8 eggs whites
2 Tbsp corn flour
450g caster sugar
1/4 tsp cream of tarter

Method

Place the egg whites in the mixing bowl along with the cream of tarter and start to whisk on a medium speed. You want to wait until the whites start to foam before gradually adding in the caster sugar. When they have started to peak and have become all shiny you can add the corn flour and whish for a further 5 minutes on a medium steady spead. At this point it will become thicker in consistency. Your meringue will now be ready.

I place my merinuge in a piping bag with my nozzle and place the flan ring on the silicone. i then pipe in to flan ring to give me my 8"/20cm circle. I make 2 of the meringue circles because i make a stacked pavlova sandwich. Bake at 180c for a fan assisted oven or 160 for gas. for 1 1/2 hours

Filling
4egg yolks
60g caster sugar
2 tbs water
zest and juice of 2 lemons
500ml carton of double cream- whipped to just under stiff peak
250g seasonal berries - fresh or frozen

Method

In a heatproof bowl whisk the egg yolks, sugar and a tablespoon of water together over a pan of simmering water until thickened and frothy.
Remove from the heat and whisk in the lemon zest and juice. Whisk until cool.fold in the already whipped cream. and set aside ready to use.


Assembly 

The merginues should be baked and cooled before assembling. Place one 8" meringue on a plate and carefully spoon on the filling with a pallet knife. Add the berries on top of the filling and add a little more fillling of the top so you have a nice layer of berries running throught the centre of the pavlova cream. it doesnt have to be a perfect picture, in fact rustic looks a treat. finally add the 2nd merginue and sprinkle with icing sugar to finish. cover and set in the fridge until ready to serve.

The Avatar movie

I recently went to see The Avatar 3D with my OH and loved it. I would recommed it as an experience, i went there with no expectations of what the film would be like and enjoyed every minute.

There is lots of action in the movie and a love story entwined for the romantics, and its about one man who has nothing better to do with his life so he embarks on an adventure finishing off his brothers lifes work.

Although my niece thought it would be some kind of animation, mocking 2 grown up people for wanting to see it t the cinema she soon changed her mind.

If, you havent seen the trailer ill attached one at the end. I may try and model some of the characters to  see how hard it is. I would love to make a fantasy cake based on the Avatar theme of vivid colours as there is so much scope.

trailer

Fischers in Baslow south yorkshire

part and parcel of being a student chef you get to meet lots of different people, and it was nice to see what you can achieve when you work hard.

One of the things my chef tutor did was take us all down to Fischers which is a michelin star restaurant in Derbyshire. The food was fantastic the atmosphere is very quinticentially English and lovely. Its a good aspirational point for any aspiring chef. One of the guys in my class worked there and although it is hard work the dividends pay off.

If you like what you see so far, here is a link to the offical site.

SHEFFIELD UNITED CAKE

My very first cake for me was a sheffield united themed cake so, being new to it all i was very simplistic with what i made. Now i have another request for a blades cake and i am making the drawings up as we speak so i know what i am making.

Heres a picture of my very first united cake.

peppa pig models

My version of peppa pig and co.

It took me just over a week to make the cake from start to finishes as i was fitting in the modelling around my other job. I never make the cakes too early as i want them to be as fresh as possible when they get eaten.
The pick up is this friday and i am just making the finishing touches to my peppa pig themed cake today so will hopefully have more pictures to post.




Its a 10x10 sponge cake with vanilla buttercream and strawberry filling, i thought it best to keep it simple as it was for small children so i hope they will like it.

It took me a few hours to get the models right and i did them in advance before i started on my cake, the pick up is friday and i am looking forward to saying goodbye to a completed cake on time, as i know mayhem can happen at any moment. so i finished off my cake today and here is the end result. please let me know what you think and share your tips and ideas too.

Feedback from the family was great,the little girls loved it as did mum and dad.

Birthday cakes galore

Looking at my weeks ahead i am started to look at a business plan. I have 3 orders for birthday cakes. I am working on my first order which is for the twins who are 3, they are wanting a lovely peppa pig themed cake. I have the models on my table as we speak and Peppa is looking right at me.  It is my first time making them up from scratch so i had to do a bit of research of the characters. I was never that great when it came to modelling but i think i may have cracked it!

Pictures are coming up of all the cakes will be uploaded as i go along, so any feedback would be nice.

The 2nd which is coming up a week or so after Peppa pig, is a football themed cake and it is for Sheffield United. I have the logo to make and a few other things all drawn up so all i have to do is create them out of sugarpaste.

my 3rd is another peppa pig, so i should know the ins and outs of this one by then

Always another book i want to buy.

I think i have a good selection of cooking and baking books but i can always do with just one more. I dont know about you but there is something about them that i find hard to resist, i especially love looking at the old ones, i have one that belongs to my mum called the cordon bleu cookery book from the 60/70s and it was what got me interested in food to begin with.

These days i read alsorts and i used the a couple to get me through culinary school. I often refer back to these as its a good standard to work from. I use professional chef level3 and advanced pastry chef and the fundamentals of baking all well rounded books to get you through.

The best cupcake ever ???

I asked myself the other day what makes a great cupcake, to be fair i havent eaten a lot of cupcakes recently so i decided to go on a quest. To find the best cupcake out there recipe. These little things can be tasty and fun but barely promoted where i live so, i am jumping on the great bandwagon to see what all the fuss is about!

If you have one that you would like to submit by all means put the recipe, pic and details as to why you think its great and we will see who wins. Now i know everyone around the world has different tastes but it cant be that different can it?

When i was around 8 when i started baking, i remember the first ones i made they were small sweet sponge cakes with water icing spooned on top then maybe a sprinkling of hundreds nad thousand for a bit of colour. Of course thesee came out of a premade mix so all i added water. As i grew older the sprinkles turned into the rice paper pictures of my favourite cartoon characters you can buy in the supermarket.

These days i have a variety of recipes that cover a few flavour combos but can cupcakes ever be high class? The hummingbird and a few other baker shops in the UK sell tto the top end of the market consumer but, what is there appeal?

Masterchef 2008 in Cardiff

I had a great opportunity in my second year doing advanced patisserie. Chef took me and 6 other guys down to the fantastic Vale resort in Wales to help participate in the Masterchef awards. We managed to mingle at one point ans saw the welsh rugby team.!!

We were there for 2 days and at one point we were up at five am so we could finish on time for lunch!!!

It was great fun, and experience to just turn up in an alien kitchen, jump stratight into working with a bunch of guys you didnt know and turn out great food.

Our first day at the Vale we arrived and changed in to our whites and were working from 1pm until 8 that day. Here we are making the langoustine canopes amongst others.

I also made up the overnight sponges for the bread that accompanied the meal and turned out over 80 loaves.

An overnight sponge is a percentage of dough made up the day before so it has time to ferment and improve in flavour before you add it to the the bread you are going to make. It is simple and straight forward. However, you will need a large enough bowl that will give your sponge room to expand.

Overnight sponge:
5g fresh yeast
130g water (cold)
150g strong flour.

Disolve the yeast in to the water and then add it to the flour. Mix until it is blended and combined. Then you will need to cover the dough to prevent droughts getting to it. Leave over night.

Following day, make up the final dough with the following.

450g strong flour
5g salt
270g tepid water
15g butter
285g sponge dough.

You should be able to weigh up 285g of the overnight sponge, it will have a strong yeast/vinegar type smell it should have risen then at some point callapsed. Add this to the already weighed up ingredients. Just knead together until you have a soft dough that is elsastic and shinny in texture.

Place the dough in a clean bowl and rest covered for an hour. Meanwhile you should pre-heat your oven to 230c .

Once the dough has rested you can either make rolls or a loaf. the size of a standard loaf for me is 450g that way you can make 2 loaves with the dough mixture you have.

You will need to knock out the air and knead it lightly before shaping it. To make the plaits in the picture. Simply roll out the dough to ressemble an oblonge then make three incissions almost to the end of the dough, and then plait the strands together.

Pancakes Pancakes Pancakes

To make pancakes like you get in restuarants is easy. Up and down the United kingdon we vary how we make and eat them.

If your a savoury fan you can varfy the recipe with different flours and flavourings but, as i am a pastry chef i will use the sweet method instead.

You will need a small to medium fring pan, non-stick preferable, a laddle and some butter set aside for frying and a small  bowl.

For the pancake mix:
110g plain flour, sifted
pinch of salt
2 eggs
200m milk
75ml water
50g butter

method:
Sift the flour and salt into a mixing bowl. Make a well in the centre of the flour and break the eggs into it.start whisking the eggs into the flour then pour in the milk and water ensuring that you scarpe down the sides of the bowl as you do so.

The consistency that you are looking for is something along the lines of single cream without any lumps.
once you have made your mixture, you will need to get your frying pan hot, it should take around a minute both sides to cook you pancake over a medium heat.

Place your 50g of butter in to the pan allowing it to melt then pour out the excess in to the bowl you set aside previously. Use the laddle to estimate how much mixure you will need to make a 3mm thick pancake. As the pancake cooks the surface will start to bubble and set once it has set you can turn the pancake over to cook further. The colour should be golden brown.

If like me you make numerous amounts the best way of keeping them warm is in a warm over, cover the plate up with foil to prevent drying out until you serve them.

Serving suggestions- A favourite of one of my friends is fresh berries and whipped chantilly cream which is vanilla flavoured cream.
The classic is with a sprinkling of sugar and a squeeze of lemon.

celebration cake

A burning desire

Today i have created my business cards, hopefully this will promote customers to someone who will make them a cake, dessert or pie with a lot of love and passion.


I recently made truffle favours for a small wedding. The original process was to sit down and see what the bride wanted. Susanne wanted something different and to her taste. She liked the idea of white chocolate with a raspberry filling and the other a milk chocolate with a salted caramel filling.

Oddly enough things didn't run smoothly and couldn't make up her mind over chocolate orange, but then changed her mind again to finally have as her two final options after much deliberation and tasting sessions. White chocolate and raspberry centre and a dreamy Baileys Irish whiskey chocolate centre.

Thankfully i have another couple of wedding lined up and look forward to seeing what they bring.
I try and use fresh seasonal ingredients where possible, to give a burst of flavour to what i make and i cover traditional as well as modern dishes.

I work with the customer to provide a personal service for customers who want that special cake and am more than happy to take on board any ideas and concepts to what they would like in the end product.

Road To Discovery

I recently qualifed as a pastry chef, three long years of cakes, chocolates and bread. Now that my studying has finished i found myself wondering if i would like to jump back into working the hectic kitchens of a restaurant or be my own boss.

Having had some amazing tutors i have decided to go it on my own and see where it all takes me and not want to have any regrets in life, take one step at a time to achieving my dream.

I work part time (not food related) so aside from having a mortgage to pay my dream is on the slow burner. I have catering working coming through just not enough to finance a bakery.

Anyway, following on from many a great food blog, im making a journal of my love of food.