I’ve been trying to expand my baking this year. After a while, the constant rotation of cakes and cookies can leave me stuck for inspiration and I’ve enjoyed trying new things this year, such as the tablet and pannacotta. Jelly is really reverting back to proper childhood or nursery food – I have memories of traffic light jellies with different fruit suspended in the layers – but I think the addition of vodka in today’s jelly brings it up to adult level! However, I still lack the patience required waiting for jelly to set…
This jelly took a long time to set, and for a while I was afraid that I’d be serving vodka cocktails with dinner. However, eventually they did and my friends were super excited when I told them what was coming up! Forced rhubarb gives this jelly such a pretty pink colour and the addition of the cointreau adds another layer of flavour, reflecting the classic combination of orange and rhubarb. The vodka only adds a slight kick (2tbsp are in the 3 jellies I made) and if you didn’t want it you could easily substitute it for something else, even just water. I hadn’t poached rhubarb before this – always roasted – and I thought it might lose some of its flavour but the sugar syrup that forms the base of the jelly really absorbs the rhubarb flavour and colour well. I really enjoyed the final result, it had a good smooth texture, refreshing taste and I liked the look of the poached rhubarb suspended in the jelly. You can find the recipe here – I halved it and still managed to make 3 decent sized jellies. Enjoy!
January is always a tricky month. It’s that after Christmas feeling, the broken new year resolutions, the rain and the freezing cold, the return to work and school. Citrus bakes seem to dominate the blogosphere at the beginning of the year as people use fresh flavours and bright colours to forget about the grey outside. The vitamins and zing of fruit desserts also fit into the spirit of January detox that some crazy people undertake. Today I stuck with the fruit theme, but used tropical pineapple to transport me away from the London grey to a Caribbean island beach far away.
This dish really did transport me far far away. The meringue was delicious with a marshamallowy centre and packed full of coconut flavour. The pineapple was sticky and caramelised, strongly spiced with cinnamon and mixed spice. The spices also added some warmth to the dish, which works really well for this time of year. The Cointreau cream added more tropical flavour and toned down the bite of the spice in the pineapple. The black sesame seeds added unexpected nutty crunch and contrasted with the colours of the rest of the dish. Perfect!
The dish was also really easy to make, so I think it would make a really pretty summer dinner party dessert. I made the meringue and the pineapple the day before, then whipped the cream and assembled the meringue right before eating. I halved the recipe so it was just a two-egg white meringue (it worked perfectly) that made four meringues, but I kept the full quantities of pineapple and cream. I loved the roasted pineapple and that alone with its sweet caramel spiced sauce would be a gorgeous breakfast treat once the meringues are finished. If you’re feeling a January low, or even if not, I would truly recommend this sunny sweet dessert – find the recipe here. Trust me, it will make you smile. Enjoy :) 
One of my major weaknesses as a baker is baking times. As my Mum will happily tell you, I burn things. A fair bit. Mainly cookies. I like to blame it on my oven, but I’m not too sure what the reason really is. Generally I start by putting whatever it is in the oven for 5-10 minutes less than suggested, but then I just spend the last ten minutes putting the timer on for two minutes more, then two minutes more, then two minutes more etc etc. So I knew when I attempted brandy snaps it would be a good challenge for me because they rely so much on perfect timing. And yes, I did burn the first mini batch – but who’d want to break a tradition?
Before last weekend, I’d seen but never eaten a brandy snap, let alone made them, so it was definitely a learning experience all round! I was inspired to make them after seeing them on the Great British Bake Off and then thoroughly explained on a follow up programme, the Masterclass. The idea of crisp, caramelly biscuit filled with softly whipped cream definitely appealed so it wasn’t long before I started baking.
I was nervous about making them but once you’ve started the process is fairly simple and repetitive so you can get a little system on the go. My mixture went very strange and not at all like what it was meant to be like – you’re meant to drop it off a teaspooon in to the baking tray whereas mine was pretty solid and had to be rolled into balls. However, I don’t think this affected the final product and was probably down to inaccurate liquid measuring because I think digital scales are really important in this recipe and I don’t have any – yet! Overall, despite the mishaps, I was pleased with how these turned out for my first time. I flavoured my whipped cream with Cointreau which worked really well with the crisp biscuit. Definitely a bit of a fancy biscuit – perhaps for a treat with coffee after a dinner party – but the taste is well worth it! You can watch the masterclass and get the recipe here – enjoy :)
This jelly took a long time to set, and for a while I was afraid that I’d be serving vodka cocktails with dinner. However, eventually they did and my friends were super excited when I told them what was coming up! Forced rhubarb gives this jelly such a pretty pink colour and the addition of the cointreau adds another layer of flavour, reflecting the classic combination of orange and rhubarb. 
