We were in the supermarket this week, when I noticed cartons of pasteurised free range egg whites reduced from £3.10 down to just 93p. I immediately thought I could do something with that… hazelnut chocolate meringue.
I only needed the equivalent of 7 whites for this recipe, so I used the rest to make a couple of egg white omelettes for lunch the following day.
I’ve never used ‘pre-separated’ egg whites before, so I was surprised by how quickly they formed stiff peaks -barely a couple of minutes… and my mixer wasn’t even going full pelt!
I had a bit of leftover meringue, so I made a couple of tiny ones to use as garnish. They’re also lovely as a little nibble to accompany a cup of coffee.
I like my meringue quite gooey and not at all chalky – these rounds were just that. The added ground hazelnuts gave it a little extra bite and a lot of extra nutty flavour.
The addition of the Nutella chocolate sauce carried on the hazelnut flavour; if you don’t have any in your store cupboard, you can make your own!
Click here to save the recipe to Pinterest
- 150g/5¼oz chopped hazelnuts, toasted and ground
- 385g/13½oz caster sugar
- 7 large free-range egg whites
- ½ tsp white wine vinegar
- 600ml/21fl oz whipping cream
- 3 tbsps caster sugar
- 3 tbsps Nutella
- 1 tbsp of the whipping cream
- 20g chopped hazelnuts, toasted and/or 8 chocolate-covered whole hazelnuts
- Pre-heat the oven to 175°C/350°F/Gas mark 4
- Draw 4 x 18cm/7" diameter circles on baking/parchment paper, then use to line 4 lightly-greased baking sheets
- Put the egg whites in a spotlessly clean mixing bowl and whisk with an electric hand/stand mixer to to the stiff peak stage
- Add the caster sugar to the whites a tablespoon at a time, whisking back to stiff peaks each time Once you've added half of the sugar, start adding in larger quantities, whisking back to stiff peaks each time
- Once all the sugar has been added, whisk in the vinegar to form stiff peaks, then fold through the ground hazelnuts with a metal spoon or balloon whisk
- Spoon or pipe the meringues forming circles onto the baking paper to give 3 flat circles and the fourth circle swirled a bit thicker (this will form the top layer)
- Bake for 40 minutes until the edges are crisp and set and the insides are still gooey
- Take out to cool for 20 minutes on their trays, then carefully transfer to wire racks to cool fully
- Before whipping, reserve 1 tbsps of the cream (it will be used in the chocolate sauce)
- Using the whisk attachment of an electric hand/stand mixer, whip the cream and sugar to stiff peaks
- Set aside
- Soften the Nutella by pinging it in the microwave on a couple of 10-second bursts or over a bain-marie
- Gently stir in the whipping cream until combined
- Set aside
- On a large serving plate/cake stand, dab a spoonful of the whipped cream into the middle to hold the stack firm
- Place one of the meringue rounds on top of the dollop of whipped cream
- Pipe/spoon a ¼ of the whipped cream on top of the meringue
- Drizzle a ¼ of the chocolate sauce over the cream
- Repeat stages 2-4 until all the meringue rounds, whipped cream and chocolate sauce is used up
- Garnish with a sprinkling of chopped, toasted hazelnuts and/or chocolate-covered whole hazelnuts
- Keep covered and refrigerated
Cakes & Bakes: Vegetarian Christmas Pudding
Stir-up Sunday happened to fall on my birthday this year, so I prepared my vegetarian Christmas pudding on the following Monday instead.
I’m a bit of a fussy eater, so I often prefer to prepare my own food – like the mincemeat for mince pies and Christmas pudding. That way, I know that it’s made using vegetarian suet and contains no orange or lemon zest/juice, no candied peel and no whisky – none of which I like.
I had various packets of dried fruit and nuts already in my store cupboard so made a mixture containing raisins, sultanas, dates, dried apricots, almonds and pecans. Any dried fruit & nut combo will work – there’s no right way or wrong way. Also, I had a bottle of dark rum gifted to me by my sister last year; but brandy, sherry, Calvados or Armagnac would also be fine alternatives to the more traditional whisky and stout.
The pudding needs to be tightly sealed using a layer of parchment paper and pleated tin foil (to allow for expansion) and secured using string. A nifty little string handle is optional, but very useful for extricating the hot pudding. You can see how it’s done here.
I have a useful vintage aluminium pudding basin that has hinged fasteners and a handle incorporated into its design.
If you don’t have a steamer, put an upturned (heat-proof) saucer in the bottom of a saucepan, sit your pudding on top of it, fill the saucepan with hot water to about halfway up the sides of the basin and cover the saucepan with a lid. As the pan will be simmering away gently on the stove for about 5 hours, lift the lid every so often to check and see if the water level needs topping up.
Once cooked, the pudding should be stored away somewhere cool and dark until the big day. Some people prepare their puddings a year in advance; i.e. the one they prepared on this year’s Stir-up Sunday will be put away until Christmas Day 2020. They swear by the superior flavour that develops from giving the longer resting time.
There are as many preferred accompaniments to Christmas pudding as there are Christmas pudding recipe variations; brandy butter, pouring cream, clotted cream, custard or ice cream. Lots of people comment about having leftover pudding on Boxing Day, fried in butter, with bacon or with cheese (a Northern thing, apparently).
Save my Christmas pudding recipe to Pinterest by clicking here
Vegetarian Christmas pudding
Ingredients
SOAK FOR 1-7 DAYS
- 75 g/2⅔oz raisins
- 75 g/2⅔oz sultanas
- 200 g/7oz dates finely chopped
- 50 g/1¾oz dried apricots finely chopped
- 50 g/1¾oz almonds chopped
- 50 g/1¾oz pecans chopped
- 150 ml/5¼fl oz dark rum
CREAM TOGETHER
- 2 eggs
- 75 g/2⅔oz muscovado sugar
- 50 g/1¾oz butter
- 1 lime zest & juice
SIFT TOGETHER
- 50 g/1¾oz self-raising flour
- ½ tsp mixed spice
- a little fresh grated nutmeg
COMBINE ALL OF THE ABOVE THEN ADD
- 25 g/¾oz vegetarian suet
- 100 g/3½oz wholemeal breadcrumbs
- small cooking apple peeled & grated
Instructions
- Generously grease a 1.5 pint pudding basin with a little butter. Cut out a small disc of parchment paper an lay it on the bottom of the basin
- Spoon the mixture into the pudding basin, pressing the contents down firmly with the back of the spoon
- Lay a circle of parchment paper over the top of the filled pudding bowl so that there’s a 2cm overhang
- Cover the parchment paper with a pleated layer of tin foil, also with a 2cm overhang
- Secure the parchment/tin foil overhang with string tied around the circumference of the pudding bowl, under the lip
- Attach another piece of string to act as a lifting handle
- Simmer the pudding in a steamer (or lidded saucepan with a trivet/upturned saucer and hot water that reaches halfway up the sides of the bowl) for 5 hours topping up the water level when necessary
- When cooked, allow to cool completely, remove the parchment & tin foil cover and string and replace with new. Store in a cool dry place, ready for reheating on Christmas day. Reheating will take about 90 minutes, steaming using the same method
- Once reheated, invert on to a serving plate and remove the disc of parchment paper. Just before serving, pour over a couple of tablespoons of rum that has been warmed in a little saucepan. Carefully set it alight
Serve with thick cream, rum or brandy butter, custard or vanilla ice cream
Cakes & Bakes: Spiced plum crumble
Our garden has an abundance of fruit at the moment; especially apples, damsons and plums. The plums are beginning to go over and rot on the tree, but that’s OK – butterflies, wasps and other insects have been feasting.
Every time I walk past the tree, on my way to the compost heap or washing line, I grab a couple of the low-hanging fruits. A quick snack on the move! Yesterday, I took a colander out into the garden and picked as many of the just-ripe plums as I could reach. I had in mind to make a spiced plum crumble.
The fruit was given just a hint of flavour with some mixed spice. You could try, instead, a smidgen of cinnamon, clove or ground ginger, or leave the spice out entirely – whatever is your taste preference.
I like a chunky crumble topping that doesn’t go all wet & claggy from the fruit syrup. Simply squeeze handfuls of the mixture in the palm of your hand and gently prise them apart until you get the size of morsel you prefer. Adding oats and hazelnuts to the flour/butter mix helps create the crunchiness and gives a nutty taste. Chopped almonds, Brazil nuts or pecans will work equally well.
It’s such a hearty, comforting, autumnal dessert; served piping hot with a pouring of creamy custard or dollop of cool, thick cream… mmmmmmm!
Save my spiced plum recipe to Pinterest to try later!
Spiced plum crumble
Ingredients
For the plums
- 1 kg/2.2lbs plums; washed halved & de-stoned
- 100 g/3½oz Demerara sugar
- ½ tsp mixed spice
For the crumble topping
- 125 g/4½oz plain flour
- 125 g/4½oz rolled oats
- 50 g/1¾oz hazelnuts; roasted & roughly chopped
- 50 g/1¾oz Demerara sugar
- pinch of salt
- 100 g/3½oz cold butter cubed
Instructions
- Pre-heat the oven to 200ºC/400ºF/Gas mark 6
For the plums
- Put the plums, sugar and mixed spice into a saucepan over a low heat, stirring until the sugar has dissolved. This should take no more than 10 minutes
- Spoon the mixture into a large, oven-proof casserole dish. Set aside while you make the crumble mixture
For the crumble topping
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, oats, hazelnuts, sugar and salt
- Rub in the cold butter until the mixture is lumpy
- Turn out the mixture on to the spiced plums and spread evenly over the top. It's not important to cover the entire surface
- Bake for 45 minutes to an hour - until the topping begins to turn a golden brown colour
Serve with thick pouring cream or hot custardCakes & Bakes: No-bake Nutella cheesecake
I’ve been pining for my stove and oven; there’s been no home-made bread, cakes or biscuits for almost 2 months.
Consequently, when I came across Nigella’s no-bake Nutella cheesecake recipe, I knew it was the one to make for this week’s Cakes & Bakes recipe.
I’ve not unpacked many of my kitchen appliances – just the yoghurt maker, toaster, microwave and slow-cooker. I had to grind my digestive biscuits with a pestle & mortar; they did a ‘fine’ job!
Surprisingly, Nutella is something that, we only discovered today, neither of us remembers ever buying or tasting before. What’s wrong with us? What a treat we’ve been missing out on!
Even without the aid of electrical appliances to do all the hard work, this recipe was quick and simple to prepare. And it’s just so delicious and morish… definitely one that will be made again & again.
Click here to save the recipe to Pinterest
- 250g/8¾oz digestive biscuits
- 75g/2⅔oz soft unsalted butter
- 1 x 400g jar Nutella (at room temperature)
- 100g/3½oz chopped toasted hazelnuts
- 500g/17⅔oz cream cheese (at room temperature)
- 60g/2oz icing sugar (sifted)
- Break the digestive biscuits into the bowl of a processor, add the butter and a 15ml tablespoon of Nutella and blitz until it begins to clump
- Add 25g/3 tablespoons of the hazelnuts and continue to pulse until you have a damp, sandy mixture
- Tip into a 23cm/9" round spring-form cake tin and press into the base either using your hands or the back of a spoon. Place in the fridge to chill.
- Beat the cream cheese and icing sugar until smooth and then add the remaining Nutella to the cream cheese mixture. Continue beating until combined
- Take the spring-form out of the fridge and carefully smooth the Nutella mixture over the base
- Scatter the remaining chopped hazelnuts on top to cover and place the tin in the fridge for at least four hours or overnight
- Serve straight from the fridge for best results