EASTER EGG FUDGE w LAVOLIO

When I was sent some Lavolio nutty Easter eggs recently I was asked to bake cupcakes using them, but had another idea. So I've got two recipes for you today - the cupcakes I should've made, and the other naughty Easter treat that I came up with. You should really try both recipes - the cupcake recipe is from the wonderful Bake with Maria - a baking lab where you can book private group classes (perfect for birthdays, hen parties, office outings etc) to learn how to make the most delicious cakes, bread, pizzas, macarons and all sorts of baked goods. I've been on a chocolate workshop there and learnt so much, as well coming away with lots of goodies.  

Lavolio are the perfect brand to pair with Maria's recipe. All of the Lavolio chocolates are lovingly handmade, and take up to five days to make starting with the heart - toasted almonds, which are then coated in dark chocolate, hazelnut gianduia chocolate or white amaretto chocolate, one layer at a time before being delicately spun to form a crunchy sugar shell that preserves the chocolate coated nut inside. These are their Easter special Nutty Easter Eggs, but other products in the range include Fruit Garden - a collection of decadent confectionery inspired by the classical Roman spice routes using cinnamon, saffron, hazelnuts, almonds, pistachios and a selection of other fine flavours from East and West; and Arabian Nights -  roses, violets, lemons, almonds and pine-nuts wrapped in a delicate sweet shell.

The recipe I've made is for a nutty, peanut fudge which I've jazzed up by adding the Lavolio Nutty Easter Eggs to create the perfect post Easter indulgence which is super simple to make.

Makes 24 squares

200g coconut butter
150g smooth peanut (or almond) butter
4 tbsp. maple syrup
Lavolio Nutty Easter Eggs

Melt the coconut butter, nut butter and maple syrup in a saucepan over a low heat, stirring constantly, until it's completely melted and combined. Grease a small square Tupperware with coconut oil and pour the melted mixture into it. Once it's started to cool poke a few eggs into the mixture, then refrigerate for 2 hours or more. Turn the Tupperware upside down to tip the block of fudge out, then using a sharp knife cut into small squares. Keep the squares in the fridge until you're ready to eat/gift them.

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CHOCOLATE...

Who doesn't love a bit of chocolate now and again? I'm personally only really a fan of dark chocolate, though will try others, especially if they're part of a luxurious dessert. But normally, the darker the better, and I've recently become a fan of raw chocolate, which is made by cold grinding beans, rather than roasting them, meaning they retain all of the goodness and antioxidants that are so prevalent in cacao beans. You can read all about how chocolate is actually made here in a previous post I wrote.

One brand I've become particularly fond of is Lovechock - a new-ish to market raw chocolate bar. It's 100% organic, sweetened with the dried nectar of coconut palm tree blossom (which is the most sustainable sugar available and is packed with nutrients and antioxidants), and is flavoured with superfoods, like nuts, goji berries and actual cacao nibs. It comes in various flavours including my favourites - almond and fig, pecan and maca, raw and nibs, and mulberry and vanilla.

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CHOCOLATE AT THE PROVIDORES AND TAPA ROOM

I've got a really exciting event to tell you about! Throughout July one of my favourite restaurants is teaming up with my favourite chocolatier to serve a menu of chocolate inspired cocoktails, mains, desserts, brunches and petit fours. New Zealand born, fusion chef Peter Gordon of The Providores and Tapa Room is joining forces with Paul A Young to create a unique and exciting chocolate themed menu, and it's all kicking off with a very special event. On Wednesday 1st July, the pair are hosting a four course, wine matched dinner at The Providores for 40 lucky guests.
 

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WIN A CHOCOLATE CLASS w BAKE WITH MARIA

Do you like chococate...? Silly question!? I'm pretty sure most people like chocolate, and if not all types, then they at least have a favourite type. I'm a dark chocolate person myself - I love the rich, slightly bitter flavour. And while I know what I like, I didn't actually know that much about how it's grown and where it comes from. So spending an evening at Bake with Maria was exactly what I needed to fill in the gaps.

The evening started with homemade bread, cheese and lemonade (a good start) before we settled down to learn more about chocolate.

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GODIVA ICE CREAM

There's nothing like a sunny day in London to make me want ice cream. Unfortunately it's not that sunny today, but at least we've been blessed with sunshine between the showers in the last few weeks. It was on one of these less sunny days that I popped into Central London to visit the Godiva chocolate shop on Regent St and try out their new soft ice cream parlour.

Godiva have always been a favourite chocolatier of mine - I adore their boxes of chocolates and they're the perfect treat for a special occasion. I was really excited to try their ice cream as I'm not normally a fan of chocolate ice cream - I like each of them separately but find the pairing together too sweet - however, this all changed when I tried the Godiva chocolate ice cream. It is rich and decadent but it tastes of real chocolate, not saccharine sickly sweetness.

The Godiva ice cream parlour allows you to add your own toppings to your ice cream of choice - dark chocolate or vanilla (we tried both, both were delicious). Toppings include milk, white or dark crispy pearls (like mini malteasers), chocolate syrup, chocolate flakes or bresilienne (a caramelised hazelnut crumb). You can choose between a cone or a cup (I always go for the cup - cones are too messy) and prices start at £4.50.

 

 

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HONEYBEE CHOCOLATES

There are so many great things that come out of doing my own pop up restaurants, and going to other people's. I'm constantly inspired by food and always full of ideas of what to do next with it. But I think the best thing about the whole experience is the people I get to meet. I've had such a range of guests at my pop ups, from pop stars, to professional food writers, to bloggers, to food suppliers themselves. A couple of months ago one such food producer came to my pop up, and loved it so much that he booked the next one as soon as he got home. It was only when I got talking to him that I found he has just started a very special company - Shaun produces his own honey in Ealing, West London, and uses the honey to make his already much sought after HoneyBee chocolates.

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THE APPLE TREE - PATISSERIE IN ACTON!

I live in Acton. It's not the most happening place in the world, and the little strip of shops near where I live used to be made up of a few grotty corner shops, an electrics shop, a funeral parlour (!) and not much else. In the last year however we've had a mini Sainsburys open, as well as a really good fish and chip shop, and most recently a great pizza place that does small pizzas for a very reasonable £4 each. And then a few weeks ago I noticed something else had appeared - a tiny café called The Apple Tree. We popped in for a chat with the owners and to see what they were selling, and I was thrilled to find out that they sell fresh juices and patisserie cakes! I would've never thought we could get such nice cakes right at the top of our road, but now we can. I must've been in nearly 10 times since they opened as they are now my go to for cakes to take to parties, or just for a lazy pudding to have at home on the rare occasions I really crave something sweet.

The Apple Tree is run by a lovely husband and wife team, and the wife's mother makes most of the cakes at her local bakery. They sell a wide range of biscuits, tarts, cream cakes and slices, and also do sandwiches during the week. They've got good, proper coffee, fresh juices, and my favourite, a frozen lemonade which is like a fresh lemon slushy - perfect for the hot weather.

I picked up a few cakes for a friend's baby shower yesterday and they all got eaten, so that can only be a good sign! I snapped a few photos of some of what's on offer, but just with my iPhone so excuse the quality.

Crunchy buttery biscuits - think delicious homemade jammy dodgers:

 

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MY NEXT POP UP - 26th APRIL

Another month, another pop up! I thought I should let you know about my next pop up restaurant, as there are still tickets available, but they do start to sell out around now.

I've got a bumper Spring menu, full of some of my favourite produce for my pop up on Saturday 26th April. The event is at our lovely house in West London, and starts at 7.30pm, and is kind of similar to a dinner party - a large table filled with guests, eating my four course menu, and having a great time. I've had guests from age 11 up to 60+ in the past, from all walks of life, and from all over the world. You can come with a group of friends, in a pair, or on your own, and it's bring your own booze, so you can bring a bottle or 2 of your favourite. I also serve either a welcome cocktail, pudding wine or port to go with the cheese, and there's homemade soft drinks for anyone who wants.

Every component of the food I serve is made from scratch, in my kitchen, with as much as possible being British, seasonal ingredients.

The menu for 26th April is:

 

Hand picked Dorset crab, homemade mayonnaise, remoulade, crusty white bread

 

Slow cooked shoulder of Spring lamb, savoy cabbage, Jersey royal new potatoes, with watercress and wild garlic salsa verde

 

Lemon posset with rhubarb compote and vanilla shortbread biscuits

 

Somerset cheeseboard, tomato chutney and herby salted crackers

 

Coffee/herbal tea served with sticky chocolate balls

If you'd like to come but can't eat or don't like something on the menu, that's fine - when you book there's a comments section where you can mention this. I don't think I've yet done a pop up where I haven't done at least 2 different main courses to cater for everyone's needs.

To find out what my previous guests have thought of the evenings you can see reviews of my last event here or a review written by another of my guests here.

Tickets for my pop up on 26th April are £30 each and can be bought via Grub Club.

And here's a couple of pics of the food my from the last event (although I always forget to take proper photos!)

Crusty white bread:

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CHOCOLATE CHERRY COOKIES

Cookies are something I rarely eat. I never buy them from shops, and hardly ever make them, but I whipped up a batch to take with us to a rented cottage in the New Forest a couple of weeks ago. And they were really yummy! They're full of nuts, fruit and chocolate and are nicely soft and chewy.

You want to make the cookie dough about half an hour before you cook it, as the dough's better after a quick chill in the fridge.

Makes 15 palm size cookies

130g unsalted butter
125g light brown soft sugar
75g caster sugar
1 large egg
Zest of 1 orange
200g plain flour
1 slightly heaped teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1 flat teaspoon table salt
20g almonds
30g orange chocolate
20g golden sultanas
20g dried cherries

Mix the butter with the sugars and beat until light and creamy. Add the egg and stir in with the sugar mix. Zest the orange into the mix. 

Put the flour, bicarbonate of soda and salt in a separate bowl and mix. Pour into the sugar mix and stir until all combined. 

Chop the almonds, chocolate orange, sultanas and dried cherries and add to the cookie dough mixture.

Lay a piece of cling film out and tip the cookie mix onto it. Flatten out and roll into a long cylinder, wrapping the cling film tightly around it. Refrigerate this for half an hour or so.

Preheat the oven to 180C.

Once chilled, slice the cookie dough into discs, about an inch thick. Place 6 discs on each well greased baking tray, spread out as much as possible.

Cook for 8-9 mins until lightly golden at the edges.

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BAKE SALE - SATURDAY 9th FEB at THE VIBE BAR

This Saturday coming I will be selling cakes, sweets and treats at the brilliant Jumble and Pearls vintage fair, at The Vibe Bar on Brick Lane. I will be there from 11-6 on Saturday 9th February, so do come along if you're in the area, and say hi! There are over 15 stalls, selling vintage ladies clothes, men's ethical clothing, jewellery and much, much more.

I will be selling - banana cakes, blue baked cheesecake, berry cheesecake, ninja bread men, salted caramel peanut brownies, fruit and chocolate brownie slabs, pecan choccy bites, coconut ice, salted chocolate truffles, caramel flapjacks, and heart shaped shortbreads.

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SALTED CARAMEL PEANUT BROWNIES- by Andy Bates

If you read my blog, you'll know I was sent Andy Bates new cook book to review, and try some recipes from. I literally have hardly been able to put the book down, and have already cooked several recipes from it. The chorizo sausage rolls are incredible, and the belly of pork with creamed beans is pretty good too, but so far, my favorite recipe is this one. I do like a good brownie, and these are almost better than my boozy prune brownies - http://alittlelusciousness.blogspot.co.uk/2011/03/chocolate-rum-brownies.html !!

I doubled the mixture stated in the book, as I knew they wouldn't last long, but this is the recipe with Andy's quantities. I was also lucky enough to have been given a jar of real, proper French dulce de leche just before I made these, but if you can't find dulce de leche, a tin of condensed milk will become dulce de leche (caramel) if you cover it with water and boil for 3 hours. Make sure you allow to cool before opening!

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A WONDERFUL NIGHT IN WILDERNESS WOOD

Ever since I was invited to the candlelit dinner in the Wilderness Wood over a month ago, I was counting down the days to Friday 3rd June. And when that day came last week I was not disappointed.

We left London at 6 on Friday (BIG mistake) and were stuck in the car for 3 and a half hours. All the time, all I was worried about was that we would miss the food! I really had been waiting for this meal for a very long time! However, my concern turned to calm, when our gorgeous hostess, owner of the beautiful Wilderness Wood, Joanna Yarrow, texted us to check on our progress and assure us we would still get some food, whenever we showed up!

We arrived at 9.30, and having missed out on the choice of seating, we were given our own little table for 2 - everyone else sits on two long tables, but it was actually quite special to have our own corner of the beautifully lit barn. With in a minute of sitting down we were brought a glass of organic wine, and our starter to eat whilst the evening's speaker, Lucy Siegle, Observer columnist and ethical champion, continued with her talk.

An amazing smelling stuffed mushroom was presented to us, a lovely pearl barley and preserved lemon surprise that had not featured on the dinner's website. The fresh, zesty taste of the lemon complimented the woody mushroom so well. The whole thing was delicious.

As we finished our starter it was nearly time for everyone's main course, and we hadn't missed as much of the meal as I'd thought we would. This was thanks to the brilliant scheduling of the evening. Lucy Siegle gave great mini talks between each course, not only educating us on sustainable and fairtrade fashion and entertaining us with question and answers sessions, but letting the guests digest each course, instead of galloping on to the next.

The main course was better than I'd ever hoped. Rare roast fillet of beef with incredibly smooth and creamy dauphinoise, British asparagus and yummy hollandaise. Absolutely divine. Jonathan, who runs Wilderness Wood with Joanna, told us the next day that Joanna and he sit down with their chefs once a month to choose their menus, and always go for something that would be just a bit too difficult to cook for everyone themselves. What a wonderful idea. Nothing was pretentious or too 'cheffy', just big, bold, fresh flavours.

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CHOCOLATE RUM BROWNIES

These brownies are SO good, every time I've made them they've been devoured (once one person ate 8 of them in half an hour!) They are gooey and boozy, and delicious warm with a scoop of organic vanilla ice-cream.

1 tin of prunes, destoned
4 shots of Captain Morgan dark rum
250g caster sugar
200g soft salted butter
3 large eggs, plus 1 yolk
150g organic fairtrade dark chocolate
100g organic fairtrade milk chocolate
60g plain flour
60g cocoa powder, or dark drinking chocolate
1 tsp baking powder

Drain a tin of prunes and put them in a bowl. Cover the prunes with dark rum. Leave to soak for up to an hour.

Pre-heat the oven to 180C.
 

A food processor is helpful but not essential for the next stages. Mix the sugar and butter. If you don't have a processor do this with a spoon, and mix until light and creamy. Add 3 large eggs and the extra yolk to the mix and beat lightly.
 

Bash the dark and milk chocolate so it breaks into little pieces (the best way to do this is to leave it in its wrapper and bash with a rolling pin). Place all the chocolate in a dry bowl over a saucepan of simmering water (make sure the bowl doesn't touch the water). Leave over a low heat until most of the chocolate has melted - it's nice to have a few bits unmelted as they make chocolate chunks.
 

Once the chocolate is nearly all melted, slowly add it to the butter and egg mix. Then, by hand, mix in the rum soaked prunes. The final stage is to add the dry ingredients. Sift the flour and cocoa powder (or organic drinking chocolate) with the baking powder into the chocolatey mix. Gently fold the flour and cocoa into the wet mix.
 

Pour the mixture into 20cm baking tray, greased and lined with greaseproof paper, and cook for 30 minutes.
 

Remove from oven - even though they might not look cooked, they are! Leave to cool in the tray you cooked them in. Do not try and take them out of the tray. Once the brownies are cool, put them in the fridge, still in the tray they were cooked in. You can remove them from the tray once they have been in the fridge for a few hours.
 

These brownies keep for up to a week and you can re-heat them just before serving.

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