The Rainbow Cake

Around about a month ago I texted my good friend Rose to check that she was free on the 10th March for a very important baking mission. I had seen the rainbow cake doing the rounds for a good few months on the blogs and just knew that I had to make it. After visiting countless sites and watching plenty of videos I felt prepared enough to try it out for Ben's Birthday. 

Rose arrived at 1pm and it wasn't until 5pm that we were finished (and thats with using the trusty KitchenAid too). Thankfully, we managed the whole thing with just one minor hiccup, the second batch of frosting just wouldn't whip, but this was quickly solved with five minutes cooling time in the fridge. 

19 egg whites, 750g of butter and a whole kilo of sugar, this cake is not good for you in any way shape or form, but it just looks soooo pretty!! The cake itself is moist and tasty, and the Vanilla Swiss Meringue Frosting is to die for (definitely my frosting of choice from now on). Simply white with a few sprinkles on top, the cake appeared unprepossessing from the outside, and it was not until Ben had cut a slice that its true wonder was revealed. Beautifully defined and vibrant stripes of colour, this cake was famous on Facebook within 5 minutes, and I think Rose will agree that we make a dream baking team. 

We followed the original Whisk Kid recipe, following the tutorial on the Martha Stewart website for pointers. We made the cakes in three batches (I only have two tins), they came out pretty flat, which is totally fine. To create the colour we used a combination of gel colours (available in Sainsburys) and liquid food colouring which also worked perfectly (you will need ALOT). To make Vanilla Swiss Meringue Frosting we swapped the lemon for a couple of capfuls of vanilla essence, and we assembled the whole thing on some baking parchment, sliding it on to a clean plate when finished. 

Thank you for all your help Rose, and Happy Birthday Ben xxxxx

Herby Lamb Burgers with Beetroot Mayo and Goats Cheese

It seems beetroot is having a bit of a moment in my kitchen. Having not really incorporated it into recipes previously, the earthy flavour and vibrant colour of beetroot is sneaking in to salads, risottos and now burgers too. As with the Beetroot Risotto I made a few weeks back, here the beetroot mayonnaise is accompanied by goats cheese. Like lemon and meringue, pork and sage, lamb and rosemary, goats cheese and beetroot really do compliment one another perfectly, and in this instance they both compliment my lovely homemade herby lamb burgers perfectly too.

A bit more interesting then your regular ketchup or barbecue sauce accompaniment, a dollop of this beetroot mayonnaise on your burger tastes great and looks stunning too. Served with some spicy sweet potato wedges and you’ve got yourself one of the most colourful and pretty plates of food out there.

Serves 4

Pack of lamb mince, about 400g

1 red onion, half grated, half thinly sliced

handful roughly chopped mint

2 tsp dried oregano

a good glug of Lea and Perrins

salt and pepper

olive oil

3 tbsp low fat mayonnaise

2 cooked beetroot (from a vacuum pack), finely chopped

goats cheese (either a soft roll to spread or the kind with the hard skin to slice)

4 burger rolls, halved

salad leaves and fries to serve

1. Mix the lamb, grated onion, mint, oregano, lea and perrins and some salt and pepper in a bowl, and form into 4 burgers.
2. Prepare the beetroot mayo by mixing the beetroot and mayonnaise together in a bowl.
3. Heat a large frying pan until hot, rub the burgers with olive oil (as you would a steak) and cook for about 6 to 8 minutes on each side, or until they are cooked through.
4. To assemble the burgers, spread the goats cheese on to each inside of the burger rolls (or place slices on to the inside of the rolls), place the burger on the bottom half of the rolls, add a handful of salad leaves if you wish, then a dollop of beetroot mayo, and a few slices of onion. Top off with the top of the roll and serve. 

Dough Balls with Garlic Butter

I am of the opinion that if you go to Pizza Express for dinner, its pretty much the unwritten rule that you order the dough balls with garlic butter to start. Ben on the other hand thinks that, along with a pizza, this equals dough overload, and by the time I actually get to the main I’m pretty much full. Now this may be true, but he really can’t deny that dough balls are wonderful, especially with copious amounts of garlicky butter (or even Nutella).

So on Saturday night we found ourselves in dough heaven/hell, depending on your dough stance, with some big Hawaiian pizzas and plenty of dough balls to go with. Yum. I served mine with the King of all garlic butters, which consisted of not one but two cloves of raw crushed garlic. If you’re not so keen on the zing of a lot of garlic, and don’t want to repel all those within a 1 mile radius, perhaps opt for a more conservative one clove..

Makes enough for 2 greedy people

200g strong white bread flour

¾ tsp instant yeast from the tub

¾ tsp salt

¾ tbsp olive oil

a large wedge of softened butter

1 or 2 cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed

1. Preheat the oven to 240C. Put the flour in a large bowl, and stir in the yeast and salt using a wooden spoon. Make a well in the centre and add 150ml of warm water and the olive oil. Bring together with the spoon until you have a fairly wet dough.
2. On a lightly floured surface, knead the dough for around 5 minutes until smooth. You can leave the dough to rise under a tea towel in the bowl, but this is not essential.
3. Roll the dough into evenly sized balls and place on a baking tray. Place in the oven on the top shelf and bake for around 15 to 20 minutes, until the balls have puffed up and browned.
4. Meanwhile, soften the butter further with two forks in a small bowl before adding the crushed garlic and mixing.
5. Serve hot.

Spicy Egg Curry

This past week I have eaten a lot of food, and none of it was made by me. Not so great when you have a food blog… But here I am, back with a student staple, curry. Unhealthy as it may sound, I cook curry at least once a week; it’s just too simple to make, and always delivers on flavour and price. As my diet becomes increasingly vegetarian I have looked to find tasty alternatives to chicken and lamb. Chickpeas, paneer and tofu have all proved perfect substitutes, and the addition of the whole boiled eggs here work nicely too. The chilli paste adds a punch of heat, and I find just half a tablespoon the perfect amount, but feel free to add more or less depending on your preferences. The coconut makes this curry creamy and the spices and ginger create a really unusual, but very delicious, flavour.

Serves 2/3

2 tomatoes

1 tbsp olive oil

2 garlic cloves, peeled and chopped

2 shallots, peeled and finely sliced

2 cm piece ginger, finely chopped

½ tsp ground coriander

½ tsp ground cumin

¼ tsp ground turmeric

½ tbsp chilli paste

1 tbsp brown sugar

200ml coconut milk

4 eggs, boiled and peeled

large handful mange tout

1. To peel the tomatoes, cut a cross in the base of each, place in a bowl and cover with boiling water. Leave for a couple of moments then drain, peel and roughly chop.
2. Heat the oil in a deep frying pan or sauce pan and add the garlic, shallots and ginger. After a minute, add the spices, paste and tomatoes and stir for a few minutes more.
3. Add the coconut and sugar, bring to the boil and simmer until the sauce has thickened. This should take around 5 minutes. Add the eggs and mange tout and simmer for another 4 minutes or so, until the mange tout are cooked and the eggs are warmed through. Serve with steamed rice. 

Beetroot and Goats Cheese Risotto

Considering the main ingredient of this post, you may be surprised to hear that I have not always been the biggest fan of beetroot. I suppose its just another example of how my palette has ‘grown up’ over the last few years. Back when I was at school, which still feels like it was yesterday but was in fact half a decade ago now (possibly the most depressing thought ever), I turned my nose up at salads, would poke a chopped anchovy around the plate, and screw up my face eating olives. I hated coffee, and the mere hint of spice in curry would deem it uneatable. Thankfully my taste buds have matured somewhat and I now actively enjoy some of the food stuffs that would have previously turned my stomach (I still refuse to eat raw tomato though, yuck).

Beetroot is one such flavour that I hadn’t really been able to get to grips with until relatively recently, I find it has an almost grimy flavour and I still wouldn’t choose to eat it on its own. However, I have found that when mixed in salads, or pureed with some lime juice, it can really compliment a dish. In this instance, more then complimenting the risotto, the beetroot is the main ingredient and flavour, but with the addition of yoghurt, goats cheese and white wine, it is not so overpowering, and is deliciously creamy. Its pretty great to look at too, I really ought to have posted this one for Valentines Day!!

 Serves 2

3 ready cooked vacuum packed beetroots (about 250g), half of them chopped and half pureed in a food processor

125g risotto rice

knob of butter

half a red onion, finely chopped

1 garlic clove, peeled and finely chopped

small glass of white wine

500ml vegetable stock

dollop of natural yoghurt

around 60g goats cheese, finely sliced

1. Melt the butter in a saucepan then add the onion and garlic and soften over a low heat for around 5 minutes.
2. Add the rice, and mix together, then pour in the wine and reduce. Add the pureed beetroot and stir.
3. Slowly add the stock, a little at a time, stirring constantly after each addition and ensuring that the stock is absorbed before adding more. Continue until all the stock is used and the rice has plumped up, is fluffy and retains a slight bite. This should take around 20 minutes.

Nutella Brioche and Butter Pudding

I first made this dessert by mistake, at the humble age of 11 or so. Back in the first few years of senior school I was lucky enough to have Food Technology lessons; we shared kitchens in pairs and got to eat everything we made. Obviously I didn’t realise how great they were at the time, but in hind sight, and in the knowledge of how difficult it is to find evening cookery courses (that aren’t either too academic, extortionately priced, or about cupcakes) I really wish I had made the most of them. Each week we were given an ingredients list for the following lessons recipe, and each week I would lose it in the bottom of my satchel until around about 5 pm the night before said lesson. On one such occasion the only kind of bread available in the grocery shop down the road was brioche… and so the Brioche and Butter Pudding was born. 

I remember Mrs Grist, the scary FT teacher, being infinitely impressed with my (read my mums) cleverness at substituting brioche for bread, and this happy accident became a firm favourite in my household.

The sweetness that the brioche brings to the pudding is complimented by a generous amount of Nutella, which melts all over the bread. Delicious. So quick and simple to make, I serve mine with double cream, custard or ice cream.

Serves 4 to 6

Loaf of Brioche, sliced and cut into triangles

Lots of Nutella

1 egg

half a pint of milk

1 tbsp caster sugar

handful of raisins

1. Preheat the oven to 180C. Spread the Nutella on each slice of brioche and arrange in a greased tin or pyrex dish, sprinkling over raisins on each layer. 
2. Mix the milk and sugar, then add the egg and beat until all mixed together. Pour mixture over the brioche, ensuring that the bread is soaked with the liquid. Cook in the oven for half an hour, until the pudding is nicely browned on top.

Padana Pizza

I am so excited to share this recipe with you. I don’t know about any one else but I think the Padana Pizza at Pizza Express is just about the best pizza ever created. Consisting of goats cheese, caramelized red onion and spinach on a thin crust base, I can’t remember a time when I’ve ordered anything other then the Padana. Well, you can imagine my excitement at managing to recreate this delicious pizza at home and for a fraction of the price, I’m pretty much over the moon. The caramelised onions would be delicious with burgers too (don’t tell anyone, but I may have actually eaten quite a bit straight from the pan, they are just so sweet), and the pizza base recipe I followed was quick and simple to make with no resting time required.

Serves 2

Pizza base recipe available here (remember to roll the dough really thin to ensure it crisps up nicely)

-Pizza Toppings-

4 tbsp passata

2 tsp dried oregano

a long round of goats cheese, sliced

caramelised onions (see recipe below)

fresh spinach leaves, wilted

olive oil, to drizzle

1. On the prepared pizza bases, spread the passata and sprinkle with oregano. Add the remaining toppings, drizzling over the olive oil, and bake in the oven for around 10 to 15 minutes, on a high shelf and on a preheated up turned baking tray, at 240C.

-For the Caramelised Onion-

One large red onion, thinly sliced

A large knob of butter

1 ½ tbsp light muscovado sugar

½ tbsp balsamic vinegar

1. Melt the butter in a saucepan. Add the sugar and onions and cook over a low heat. After 15 minutes, add the balsamic vinegar and continue to cook for another 15 minutes or so, until the onions have softened.