Apple Galette with Toffee Sauce

A galette in French cuisine means flat, round or freeform crusty cakes. This simple, but effective dessert, utilizes that marvelous stuff known as puff pastry, that can make many a dessert or savoury treat look special.

If you are feeling particularly creative then go ahead and make your own puff pastry. I however, decided to use the ready made stuff. It really does make this dessert much simpler. You can compensate by making your own toffee sauce, like I did, or again you can pick up some ready made sauce.

You can use any dessert apple but I used Pink Lady, because it is firm, sweet and juicy. I chose to leave the skin on as the beautiful pink red skin looked pretty, but you can peel your apples too if you prefer.

Ingredients:

• 225g ready made puff pastry
• 2-3 firm apples, halved and cored.
• 1 egg, beaten
• 40g caster sugar
• ½ teaspoon cinnamon

Method:

1. Pre-heat oven to 200 C / 400 F / Gas 6
2. Draw yourself an apple template, slightly larger than the apples you are using, on some greaseproof paper and cut out.
3. Using a sharp knife, cut around the template until you have all the apple shapes cut out. You should be able to make at least 8
4. Mix together the sugar and cinnamon and set aside
5. Take a half an apple, and slice if very thinly.
6. Starting at the outsides, lay the slices moving inwards.
7. Use smaller slices or trim some down for the centre.
8. Brush with egg, then sprinkle generously with the cinnamon sugar.
9. Bake for 11-12 minutes until the pastry is puffed up and top is crunchy and golden brown

Serve with toffee sauce and a dollop of whipped cream.

 For the toffee sauce:

1. Put 50g of caster sugar in a pan with 1 tablespoon of water.
2. Heat gently until the sugar dissolves
3. Turn the heat up and boil until it goes golden and begins to caramelise. Swirl the pan to prevent burning but do not stir - this will form sugar crystals and make your sauce gritty.
4. Once it starts to caramelise, take it off the heat and whisk in a 140ml double cream until smooth.

Chocolate Chip Salted Caramel Cookie Bars

These decadent little treats involve a bit of effort, but believe me, it is totally worth it.

Not only is it a delicious chocolate chip cookie bar, but the addition of sweet sticky caramel with a hint of saltiness, makes this everything you could crave from a sweet treat.

They are rich, and gooey, and that hint of salt gets me every time. The cookie dough is made extra delicious with the use of brown butter. If you have read any of my previous posts, you will have heard me banging on about the delights of brown butter.

Ingredients:

• 300g Plain flour
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• 200g cooled brown butter 
• 180g light brown sugar
• 110g caster sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 egg yolk
• 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 250g choc chips
• 280g caramels (if you can get Tootsie rolls, these are perfect for this)
• 3 tablespoons double cream
• sea salt

 Method:

1.  Melt the butter in a thick pan over low heat. Once melted, turn up heat slightly and stir constantly until butter turns rich chestnut brown. Take off heat immediately, add to mixing bowl and allow to cool.
2. Preheat over to 325 F / 163 C / Gas Mark 4
3. Mix flour, salt, and baking soda together in a separate bowl and set to one side.
4. Whisk the egg, yolk and vanilla extract together.
5. Once butter has cooled, add in both sugars and mix thoroughly.
6. Beat in the egg mixture a little at a time, fully combining between each addition.
7. Slowly add in the flour mixture, then the chocolate chips.
8. Press half the cookie dough into the bottom of a small deep tray
9. Over a very low heat, melt the caramels in a pan, stirring to prevent burning. Once fully melted and soft, take off the heat and carefully mix in the double cream. 
10. Pour the hot caramel over the cookie dough in the pan.
11. Sprinkle with a little sea salt.
12. Using the palms of your hands, press small balls of the remaining dough and layer over the caramel. Use the last of the dough plug any gaps.
13. Bake for about 30 minutes or until the edges are starting to colour
14. Allow to cool in tray before turning out and cutting into squares

Makes about 24-30 bars depending how big you cut them.

Chocolate Whoopie Pies

Back in February 2011, Maine lawmakers were poised to make the "whoopie pie" the official state dessert - even though some claim the chocolate cake/cookie sandwich filled with white fluffy filling was actually invented in Pennsylvania.

In the end, they plumped for the far healthier option of the Wild Blueberry Pie as the state dessert, as blueberries represent a major industry there. Instead, the Whoopie Pie was awarded the booby prize of state snack.

Whatever its provenance, it certainly is a tasty treat. A delicious mixture of cookie and cake, sandwiched together with creamy vanilla filling, and it is growing in popularity. It's the new cupcake.

Ingredients:

• 230g Plain flour
• 75g cocoa powder
• 1 tsp baking powder
• ¼ tsp baking soda
• ¼ tsp salt
• 170g butter,softened
• 150g sugar
• 1 egg, room temp
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 60ml buttermilk
• 120ml coffee or lukewarm water

Method:

1. Pre-heat the oven to 350 F / 170 C / Gas mark 4
2. Beat the sugar and butter together until light and fluffy
3. Sift the flour and cocoa together in a separate bowl and put to one side
4. Beat the egg and vanilla extract together, then add to the butter & sugar a little at a time, blending well in between each addition
5. Mix the coffee/water and buttermilk together
6. Beat the a third of the buttermilk/water mixture into the butter/sugar 
7. Now beat in a third of the flour/cocoa mix
8. Repeat this alternating between the buttermilk and flour until all are fully combined.
9. Spoon small teaspoon sized dollops of the mixture onto lined baking sheet, and bake for 9-10 minutes, or until the top springs back when lightly pressed.
10. Once fully cooled, sandwich together with a vanilla cream, or for a more authentic filling, use Fluff, the marshmallow crème that can be bought online or from many department stores.

Makes about 12 sandwiched cookies.

Chicken and Butternut Stew

The weather has taken a colder turn again this week, and the ground has been covered in frost all day. What better way is there to finish the day than a nice warming stew.

This chicken stew is made extra special by the addition of warming cumin, that adds a mouthwatering fragrance to the dish.

If you want something to soak up all that delicious gravy, you could do a lot worse than some Cornbread Muffins.


Ingredients:

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 fresh chicken, cut into 8 pieces
• 25g butter
• 3 small red onions, cut into 8
• 2 cloves garlic, peeled and sliced
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 butternut squash peeled, deseeded, and chopped into 1" cubes
• 4 large tomatoes, cut into 8
• 500ml stock
• 3 strips of lemon zest
• handful of chopped parsley

Method:

1. Heat oil in a large pot
2. Brown all sides of the chicken pieces, then set aside
3. Reduce the heat, add the butter, and fry the onions till soft
4. Stir in the garlic, and cumin and cook for a further 2 minutes
5. Add the squash and cook for 5 minutes
6. Stir in the stock, then add the tomatoes and lemon zest and seasoning
7. Finally, submerge the pieces of chicken
8. Put on the lid, and simmer for 1 hour.
9. Stir in some chopped parsley, and serve.

Servings	4
Calories per serving	535

Cornbread Muffins

I have had a bag of cornmeal in the cupboard for a bit, as I had intended to make some Johnny Cakes. Still intend on doing, but not got around to it yet.

This afternoon, I was making a Chicken Stew, and wanted to make something to accompany it, and I have always wanted to have a go at cornbread.

However, I wanted to make individual ones. With an addition of finely diced onion, grated cheddar and some fresh sweetcorn, they were extra yummy.

One mistake I did make though - I used Muffin papers. The mixture doesnt really pull away from the paper too well. If made in a well greased non-stick muffin tray, you should not need the papers.


Ingredients:

• 85g Butter, melted, with a little extra for frying
• 1 sweetcorn cob, kernels cut off
• ½ onion, finely diced
• 140g cornmeal
• 140g plain flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 50g grated cheddar
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 eggs
• 284ml buttermilk
• 100ml milk

Method:

1. Heat oven to 400 F / 200 C / Gas mark 6
2. Melt the butter, and brush a little on the inside of a 12 hole muffin pan
3. Fry the onions and corn in a little butter until the onion is soft and translucent.
4. Mix the flour, cornmeal, baking powder, salt and cheese together in large bowl.
5. Add in the fried onion and corn.
6. Beat together the milk, eggs and buttermilk, then pour over the dried ingredients and onion.
7. Stir until all is evenly combined.
8. Divide between the muffin holes
9. Bake for 25 - 30 minutes until gold brown

Servings	12
Calories per serving	189

Zebra Biscuits

With some Amazon vouchers from a generous family member, I decided to use it as an opportunity to snag a couple of new baking books. I had recently seen an advert for the celebrity Great British Bake-Off, I remembered that I had been meaning to pick up their books for a while ... so I did.

Both books are crammed with many tasty treats, but the first one I wanted to try as soon as I saw it was zebra biscuits, a combination of dark chocolate and white chocolate biscuit. What could be better?


Ingredients:

• 50g Dark Chocolate
• 50g White Chocolate
• 125g Butter, softened
• 100g Caster Sugar
• 1 large egg
• ½ tsp vanilla extract
• 250g plain flour
• ½ tsp baking powder
• pinch of salt

Method:

1. Melt the white chocolate in a bowl over a pan of hot water, then put to one side to cool a little. The do the same for the dark chocolate.
2. Beat the softened butter until it starts to turn pale, then add in the sugar and beat until light and fluffy.
3. Mix the egg and vanilla essence, then add a little at a time to the butter and sugar mixture, mixing well in between each addition.
4. In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder and salt. 
5. Add this a little at a time, again mixing well between each addition, to the butter mixture. 
6. Stop mixing as soon as the dough forms, and divide it into two. Put half into a separate bowl
7. Stir (or knead) the dark chocolate into half of the dough.
8. Do the same with other half and the white chocolate

9. Form one of the pieces of dough into a brick shape in between two pieces of cling film
10. Using a rolling pin (I also used my hands) form the mixture into a 15x20cm rectangle. Fold the cling film around it, place it on a tray and chill for an hour.
11. Do the same for the other piece of dough.
12. To form the biscuits, peel one side of cling film off each piece, then carefully lay the dark dough on top of the white dough, and press together gently.
13. Using a sharp knife, trim and neaten the rectangle so that it forms a perfect 15x20cm rectangle.

14. Then, cut into three 5cm wide strips. Lay the edge strip over the middle strip, then repeat with the other edge piece. Wrap up your stripped brick, and chill for another 20 minutes.
15. Preheat the oven to 350 F / 180 C / Gas mark 4
16. Cut from one end in 5mm slices. Place a little apart on a lined baking tray and bake for 8-10 minutes or until the edges start to colour.
17. Leave to cool for about three or four minutes before carefully transferring to a cooling rack, or they will fall apart.

Servings	30
Calories per serving	93 kcal

Pretzel, Butterscotch and Chocolate Chip Cookie

Sometime ago, I ordered some Nestle's Butterscotch morsels from American Sweets Online, just because they sounded gorgeous. But to be honest, I was not sure what to do with them so they have been sat in my cupboard for a bit.

I had some pretzels left over from Christmas and so I thought why not combine the two along with the "Greatest Chocolate Chip Cookie in the World" recipe?

What makes it the "Greatest Chocolate Chip Cookie in the World"? It is the use of brown butter. Butter makes everything taste great,but when you melt it and cook it for a while, it becomes brown, nutty and caramelly and then things go from great to AWESOME.

Ingredients:

• 250g Butter
• 360g Bread flour
• 1 tsp Kosher (cooking) salt
• 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 60g Caster sugar
• 300g Brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 egg yolk
• 2 tbsp milk
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 40g pretzels, broken into small pieces
• 100g Butterscotch morsels
• 100g Chocolate chips
• Course sea salt (optional)

Method:

1. Place the butter into a large pan and melt over a low heat. 
2. Once melted, turn the heat up to medium and gently stir occasionally
3. Once the foam dissipates, it turns a deep golden brown but will burn quite quickly if not taken off the heat at this point.
4. Leave to one side to cool for 15 minutes
5. Put the cooled butter in a mixing bowl, and add both sugars and beat for 2 or 3 minutes
6. Mix the egg and yolk together along with the milk and the vanilla. 
7. Add this into the the butter sugar mixture a little at a time, beating well to fully combine.
8. In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, kosher salt and bicarbonate of soda
9. Add this a little at a time to the butter egg sugar mixture. 
10. You should have a soft, but slightly greasy dough formed
11. Carefully fold in the pretzels, butterscotch and choc chips.
12. Cover with clingfilm and chill for about 4 hrs.
13. Preheat the oven to 350F / 180 C / Gas 4
14. Once fully chilled, scoop rounded tablespoon size pieces of dough and roll into a ball and flatten slightly.
15. Place on a lined baking sheet, at least 1" apart. They should spread too much if they have been chilled properly, but will form a nice thick bake.
16. Sprinkle with a little sea salt if using
17. Bake for 10-12 minutes
18. Allow the cookies to rest for 2 or 3 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack to fully cool.

Servings	32
Calories per serving	184