Mini Pork Pies with Quails Eggs

Last month I mentioned that I tried hot water crust pastry for the first time. Quite a few of you have been wondering what I made. Well I decided to be brave and had a go at Paul Hollywood's small pork pies with quails eggs! If you've watched the Great British Bake Off, you will know that it was one of the technical challenges and has been on my 'to bake' list for a while. I have to admit I was a little nervous and kept reading the recipe to make sure I'd not missed anything. I can see why it's a technical challenge - it's not as simple as it looks! I followed his recipe exactly but found I had too much filling so I made another batch of the hot water crust pastry and baked 12 mini pork pies. You can of course make half the filling for 6 pork pies.

So what did I learn from this experience? I can make hot water crust pastry - yay! It was really simple and I followed the recipe exactly. However, as mentioned for this recipe I had to make 2 lots of pastry for the amount of filling stated. I might have to get a larger muffin tin or just halve the amount of filling. The part that I struggled with was sealing the lid of the pastry - I ended up using the top of a teaspoon to push it into the pie and to create a seal. You do  have to work quickly with the hot water crust pastry as it dries out and hardens the longer you leave it, making it more difficult to mould. I'm glad I made the batches of pastry one at a time instead of just doubling up the amounts. The other slight stumbling block was that the recipe said to make a hole in the centre of each pie - my pies were really full and there wasn't much space at all. The centre was where the quails egg was so the top of the egg got a little brown. In addiction, I could only get a small amount of gelatine mixture in but it worked and you can see it in the pie after it's been chilled.

All in all it was a great learning experience and I am really pleased with the final result. J was most impressed and we still have a few left in the freezer for a rainy day. We had these pork pies with a salad on a weekend and it was perfect. I am definitely making these again particularly in the summer for picnics or packed lunches.

I'm sending this to a few blog challenges this month.

AlphaBakes hosted by me this month and co hosted by Caroline from Caroline Makes. The letter this month is Q for Quails eggs!

The pastry challenge hosted by Jen from Jen's Food and Lisa from United Cakedom. The theme this month is picnics and thes mini pork pies are easily transportable plus you can bake them in advance.

Simply Eggcellent hosted by Dom from Belleau Kitchen. The theme this month is savoury.

Treat Petite hosted by Stuart from Cakeyboi and Kat from The Baking Explorer. The theme this month is Eurovision. These pork pies are very British and they are mini versions.

Tea Time Treats hosted by Jane from The Hedgecombers and Karen from Lavender and Lovage. The theme this month is Sandwiches, Wraps and Rolls. These are a sneaky entry but they definitely fit the savoury theme!

Biscuit Barrel challenge guest hosted by Alexandra from The Lass in the Apron on behalf of Laura from I'd Much Rather Bake Than ...  The theme this month is Party and these are definitely great for parties.

Bake of the week hosted by Helen from Casa Costello.

Recipe of the week hosted by Emily from A Mummy Too.

Cook Blog Share hosted by Lucy from Supergolden Bakes.

 bring water and salt to a boil then add the lard 

 rub butter in to the flour 

 the dough comes together nicely 

 

 adding the filling - you can see that it was a bit of a squeeze for my filling 

 you can see the quails egg poking out through the hole in the centre and there's not much of a gap for the gelatine mixture 

 baked and chilled overnight in the fridge 

 ta dah! 

 served with fresh green salad 

Recipe from BBC Food 

Passionfruit and Cream Cheese Filled Chocolate Easter Eggs

Happy Friday everyone! Life has been so crazy and hectic lately I'm really pleased that it's a long bank holiday weekend. There's lots planned for the weekend but at least I get to have a lie in and hopefully a chance to bake a few Easter themed treats. I saw this recipe on pinterest and immediately bookmarked it.  Last year I baked chocolate easter eggs with a twist which I also baked back in 2012 so I wanted something a little different this year. This recipe was perfect as it's a really quick and easy no bake treat which looks very impressive. 

You need to get hollow easter eggs - larger eggs will be easier to work with as you can just spoon the filling in. I bought these mini eggs so I used a piping bag to fill the eggs. The cheesecake mixture is really quick and easy to make and tastes great on its own. My favourite part is the 'yolk' which is a passionfruit and apricot curd. I also made some chocolate spoons to go with the eggs using my chocolate spoon mould. 

I'm sending this to a few blog challenges this month. 

Treat Petite hosted by Kat from The Baking Eplorer and Stuart from Cakeyboi. The theme this month is Hello Spring. 

Tea Time Treats hosted by Karen from Lavender and Lovage and Jane from The Hedgecombers. The theme this month is Chocolate! 

We Should Cocoa hosted by Choclette from Tin and Thyme. The theme this month is No Bake which is really fortuituous as I made these before finding out what the challenge was for this month. 

The Biscuit Barrel Challenge which is guest hosted by Alexandra from The Lass in the Apron on behalf of Laura from I'd Much Rather Bake Than... The theme this month is candy so I'm hoping that these ready made easter eggs will count! 

Food Year Link Up hosted by Charlotte from My Recipe Book.

Recipe of the Week hosted by Emily from A Mummy Too

Cook Blog Share hosted by Lucy at Supergolden Bakes

Bookmarked Recipes hosted by Jacqueline from Tinned Tomatoes. I bookmarked this as soon as I saw it and patiently waited until Easter to try it out.

Let's Cook for Easter hosted by Nayna from Simply Food.

 chocolate spoon moul, cream cheese, double cream, apricot jam, butter, passionfruit and mini chocolate eggs 

 making the 'yolk'  (This is a double recipe which is why the amount looks more than stated) 

 cut the tops of the chocolate eggs. I left the foil wrapping on so that the eggs don't melt into the container and make a mess. Plus it's quite nice unwrapping the egg and eating it. I used a quails egg tray to hold the eggs. If you have larger eggs then a regular egg carton should suffice. 

 Fill with cheesecake filling 

 Pipe the 'egg yolk' on top 

 This is a half filled chocolate egg (well one that I broke but waste not want not) 

 Happy Easter! 

Recipe from raspberri cupcakes 

Makes enough to fill 18 mini eggs plus extra to eat

For the cream cheese filling 

150g cream cheese

30g icing sugar

2 teaspoons lemon juice

1 teaspoon vanilla extract 

125mls double cream

For the 'egg yolk' 

1 passionfruit - sliced and sieved to get the juice only

1 tablespoon apricot jam

15g butter 

For the chocolate spoon (optional) 

chocolate from the tops of the chocolate eggs

approximately 75g milk chocolate 

• Prepare the chocolate eggs by peeling off the top bit of foil and cutting the tops off with a sharp knife.
• Place the eggs in a suitable tray and place in the fridge.
• (I melted the tops of the chocolate eggs plus some extra chocolate to make my chocolate spoons so there was no wastage) 
• Make the 'egg yolk' by placing the pasionfruit juice, apricot jam and butter in a small saucepan over a low heat. 
• Whisk continuously until the butter has melted and the mixture is smooth. 
• Allow to cool completely then place in the fridge to set. 
• Now make the cream cheese filling by placing the cream cheese, icing sugar, lemon juice and vanilla extract in a mixing bowl and beating until it's smooth and fluffy. 
• Beat the cream in a separate bowl until stiff peaks form.
• Scoop the beaten cream into the cream cheese mixture and beat until smooth. 
• Place the cream cheese mixture in a piping bag and pipe into the chocolate shells.
• Place in the fridge to set for about 15-20 minutes.
• Place the chilled 'egg yolk' mixture in a piping bag and pipe on top of each filled egg. 

Tea Bag Cookies

How's everyone feeling this first week of January? We've had a nice little break away and feel refreshed for the year although I'm pretty sure it won't last long! I mentioned in my previous post that I had an afternoon tea party on New Year's Day and as expected from a baking addict like me, I baked everything myself. The menu was quite extensive and it took hours to prepare but it was good fun and more importantly my guests enjoyed themselves and really enjoyed the treats. 

This is what the table looked like on the day. I had to cater for vegetarian and gluten free so I made sure there was a good selection for everyone. I've included links to recipes on my blog if available. The menu consisted of:

• Variety of sandwiches inlcuding vegetarian and gluten free options (corncakes and ricecakes instead of bread) 
• Homemade plain scones with strawberry jam and clotted cream
• Homemade cheese scones with bacon jam and cream cheese 
• After eight chocolate mint cupcakes (recipe to follow)
• Rocky Road (gluten free) 
• Lemon Meringue Kisses (gluten free) 
• Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups (recipe to follow) (gluten free)
• Earl Grey Tea Cookies
• Tea Bag Cookies
• Victoria Sponge Cake
• Black Forest Gateau
• Selection of teas

I came across this idea whilst googling afternoon tea ideas. As the saying goes, the devil is in the detail and I wanted the table to look perfect. I bought a mismatched china tea set from a charity shop and a lovely tea pot in the sale. I also got the cute disposable placemats on sale which look great on the table. My friend bought me a beautiful set of colourful dishes from Royal Doulton for Christmas which went well with our colourful napkins. 

These cookies are basically shortbread cookies cut to look like a teabag. I bought some craft supplies to make my own 'teabag tag' and finally dipped them in chocolate for extra indulgence. I found some really cute sparkly cupcake stickers which I used for the teabag tags and everyone was really impressed! 

I'm sending this to the Biscuit Barrel challenge created by Laura from I'd Much Rather Bake Than... This month it's guest hosted by Alexandra from The Lass in the Apron and the theme is Innovation and Discoveries. This is certainly a new discovery for me as I've never really tried decorated cookies before. They are time consuming but the final result is well worth it. 

 

 I used the tea bag as guide to cut out the cookie shapes 

 I used a straw to poke a hole at the top before baking 

 how cute is that? 

 a close up of my cupcake 'teabag tag' 

100g butter
250g flour
100g icing sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
50g chocolate

• Place the butter and flour in a bowl and rub together until it resembles breadcrumbs. Alternatively, you can use a food processor using the pulse function.
• Add in the egg, icing sugar, vanilla extract and vanilla bean paste and mix until a dough forms.
• It will be quite soft and sticky at this stage.
• Roll into a ball and wrap in clingfilm. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before using.
• Preheat the oven to 180C.
• Line a baking tray with parchment paper.
• Roll out the dough and using a tea bag as a guide, cut out the shape of a tea bag. 
• Place the cookies spaced apart on the baking tray.
• Use a straw to poke a hole near the top of the cookie as shown.
• Bake for about 12-15 minutes or until golden brown. 
• Allow to cool on a wire rack.
• Place the chocolate in a small bowl and melt in the microwave using 10 second bursts making sure not to burn the chocolate.
• Dip the end of the cookies in the chocolate and place on a piece of parchment paper to set,
• Once completely set, tie a tag through the hole.

Carrot, Ginger and Rum Spiced Cake

When I think of Bonfire Night treats, I immediately think of toffee apples or a variation of toffee apple desserts. Something sticky with caramel and something sweet. This year I've made something a little different but still perfect for this time of the year. I had some leftover crystallised ginger from making my Crystallised Ginger and Beer Cake so I started to think about what else would go well with ginger. I had a root round my cupboard and my fridge and they provided the inspiration for this recipe. I based it on my favourite carrot cake recipe with a few amendments. I found some rum at the back of the cupboard and decided to soak the dried fruits in rum overnight. I also dug out my tropical cake tin as the rum and dried fruits felt tropical. 

The combination of ginger, carrot, dried fruits, rum and spices was heavenly. The flavours worked really well together and there's a bit of a kick to the cake. The ginger was the predominant flavour and every so often you get a burst of fruit with a hit of rum. I used my speculaas spice mix which really added a depth of flavour to this cake. The spices smelt amazing and really complemented the ginger. 

The cake was so good I made it again when I needed some 'thank you' cakes. I've been having a nightmare with Ikea delivery so I had to rely on my friend's parents to house sit. I also needed a 'thank you' cake for a colleague who very kindly carved a gorgeous cat pumpkin for me for Halloween. Plus I gave some to my neighbours who we asked to put out our bins and keep an eye on the house whilst we were away. I baked them in mini loaves this time which are ideal for gifts and they were very well received. 

 The cat pumpkin carving

I actually baked these cakes just before November so I'm really pleased that I can enter them to a number of blog challenges this month. 

Tea Time Treats hosted by Jane from The Hedge Combers and Karen from Lavender and Lovage. The theme this month is Bonfire Night. 

Treat Petite hosted by Stuart from Cakeyboi and Kat from the Baking Explorer. The theme this month is Thank You and as I mentioned earlier these were made to thank various people for their kind deeds. It's very fortuitous that Stuart picked this theme for November!

Biscuit Barrel hosted by Laura from I'd Much Rather Bake Than... The theme for this month is Winter Warmers and this ginger, rum and spiced cake will definitely warm you up!

Baking with Spirit hosted by Janine from Cake of the Week. I rarely get to enter this challenge so I'm really pleased that this fits in November's challenge which is warming and alcoholic. This cake definitely fits the bill! 

Credit Crunch Munch hosted by Alida from My Little Italian Kitchen on behalf of Helen from Fuss Free Flavours and Camilla from Fab Food 4 All. This recipe used up leftover crystallised ginger, mixed dried fruit and the end of a bottle of rum. 

Extra Veg hosted by Helen from Fuss Free Flavours and Michelle from Utterly Scrummy. The carrots here are an extra portion of veg and it's well hidden in this cake.

Love Cake hosted by Ness from Jibber Jabber. The theme this month is 'In with a Bang' and this cake definitely fits the bill with the spices, ginger and rum!

Cook Blog Share hosted by Lucy from Supergolden Bakes.

 adding eggs and oil to the flour mixture

 the fruits plumped up nicely after being soaked in rum overnight 

 adding grated carrots, chopped crystallised ginger and rum soaked fruits 

  

 Add a sprinkling of icing sugar for definition and wow factor

 You can see the bit of ginger, carrot and fruits 

 Mini loaves baked as a thank you

An original recipe by bakingaddict

175g self raising wholemeal flour

150g soft dark brown sugar

1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

100mls vegetable oil

2 eggs

250g carrots, peeled and grated

100g mixed dried fruit

60mls rum

100g crystallised ginger, chopped

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon gound nutmeg

1 teaspoon allspice 

OR 2 teaspoons Speculaas Spice

• Place the mixed dried fruit in a small bowl and soak in rum preferably overnight or longer if you can. 
• Preheat the oven to 170C
• In a large bowl, mix the wholemeal flour, bicarbonate of soda and spices.
• Add in the eggs and vegetable oil and mix well.
• Stir in the grated carrots, chopped crystallised ginger and rum soaked fruits. 
• Pour into a tin and bake for approximately 50-60 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. 
• The mini loaves will take about 30-35 minutes - check with a skewer at 25 minutes.