Moose

Just in case I don't get the chance to bake something this week, I thought I'd share this with you. If you ever get the chance to go to Liverpool, never mind visiting the docks or the Beatles museum...be sure to visit Moose Coffee for brunch (check out the website here) as I did this weekend. Because it was possibly the best brunch I've ever had and I'm already planning my next trip back to Liverpool, purely so I can revisit this wonderful eatery: an American-style diner that serves the most incredible breakfasts. 

I spent the weekend with my friend who's studying in Liverpool and she'd already mentioned that we might be visiting Moose before I'd even arrived. As we usually spend most of our time talking about food, it was no surprise that our weekend revolved around eating! And ohmygosh, this place was definitely worth the hype! For a start, the place was jam packed when we arrived, which just shows how popular and successful it is and secondly, it took me a good fifteen minutes to decide what to eat (although in the end, I think I would've been impressed with anything!). I chose the grande bouche, which was a brioche served with crispy bacon and maple syrup and I was certainly not disappointed. Whoever decided that bacon and maple syrup should go together does not get enough recognition in my opinion. It is a combination that should appear on menus more often! And the brioche that it was on top of was light and fluffy and there was so much of it. So basically, it was probably one of the best breakfasts I've had in a long time. Thank you, Alex, for introducing me to this wonderful place and thank you, Moose, for providing me with a wonderful breakfast. I will be back soon!

Sticky Toffee Pudding

So on a snowy Sunday night, what better way to spend an evening than snuggled up on the sofa watching a film and gorging on Sticky Toffee Pudding? That's my idea of a perfect night in right there. And that's exactly what I was doing last night. Bliss. I'd also like to point out here that Sticky Toffee Pudding is undoubtedly my favourite dessert. Ever. It even outdoes anything chocolatey-related in my opinion and I know that's quite a statement. So maybe now you'll understand why staying in was definitely my preferred place to be last night! 

Surprisingly, considering it's my all-time fave dessert, yesterday was actually the first time I'd ever made Sticky Toffee Pudding. I'm not entirely sure why, but I think I thought you had to make it by steaming it in a pudding dish and as I don't have one, it would have proved a bit tricky! But apparently, that's not always the case, as I soon found after a quick look in my Food Bible - Mary Berry's Complete Cook Book. You just make it like you would any other cake mixture and cook it like you would any other sort of cake. Easy. The only difference is that I cooked it in a square tin. On top of that, the toffee sauce is even easier to make and is oh-so-deliciously more-ish! Just extremely calorific, but we won't think about that right now! (Next time, I promise to make something a little more on the healthy side...) And actually, having said that, the sultanas (that I used instead of dates) and nuts surely go towards some of your five-a-day....? Maybe that's wishful thinking. Anyway, this dessert certainly lived up to my expectations and I can safely say that it still holds the number 1 spot in my list of favourite desserts. And as well as being light, spongy and wonderfully sweet, it warms you up on a chilly January evening! I shall look forward to another bowlful after a frosty walk home from dancing tonight. 

Sticky Toffee Pudding   (serves 8)

Ingredients:

For the sponge:

90g Butter

150g Light Brown Sugar

2 Eggs, beaten

1tbsp Coffee Extract

175g Self-Raising Flour

1tsp Baking Powder

175g Sultanas

90g Walnuts, roughly chopped

175ml Warm Water

For the sauce:

125g Butter

175g Light Brown Sugar

6tbsp Double Cream

60g Walnuts, roughly chopped

Method:

1. Grease a square tin and preheat the oven to 180 degrees.
2. Put the butter, sugar, eggs, coffee extract, flour and baking powder into a large bowl and beat until smooth and thoroughly combined (don't worry if it's very stiff and in one big blob at this point - it will loosen when you add the water!).
3. Stir in the dates and walnuts, followed by the water.
4. Pour the mixture into the tin.
5. Bake for 45-50 minutes until the pudding is well rise, browned and springy to the touch. 
6. About 10 minutes before the pudding is ready, make the sauce.
7. Put the butter and sugar into a saucepan and heat gently until melted.
8. Stir in the cream and walnuts and heat gently to warm through. 
9. Cut the pudding into 8 and transfer to bowls.
10. Pour over the toffee sauce and enjoy!

Lemon Meringue Cupcakes

 

What better way to finish off the perfect weekend than baking lemon meringue cupcakes with the housemates? And they are literally THE most incredible things ever. Which actually isn't that surprising really, because the recipe was from one of the Hummingbird Bakery recipes books, so obviously I would have expected nothing less. One of my housemates got 'Cake Days' for Christmas, which doubtless to say I am extremely jealous of (Mum, take note!) and perhaps our challenge will be to work our way through it by the end of the year. I don't know how they manage it, but the sponge is possibly the moistest I've ever tasted and it's not even difficult to make.

No words are needed to describe this book. 

However, perhaps the best part of making these cupcakes was that we got to use my other housemate's blowtorch...! Now that was exciting and it worked a treat!! And it's made them look so professional. I'm very impressed with it anyway. This is what I wished I'd had last year when I made the raspberry version of these. The blowtorch was far more effective than baking the meringues in the oven and gives them that golden finish that makes them look so attractive. 

Charlotte in action with her blowtorch!

And of course, the hidden lemon curd inside makes a delicious attempt at balancing out the sweetness of the meringue topping. Which is virtually impossible considering the amount of sugar that's in them - you could really only have one of these at once. Actually, that's a lie. I could definitely persuade myself to have another. And it wouldn't take much persuading! These will not be in our kitchen for much longer. So, basically, you must give these a go and treat yourself to a little sugary goodness to brighten up your day!

Lemon Meringue Cupcakes (makes 12)

Ingredients:

80g Unsalted Butter

280g Caster Sugar

240g Plain Flour

1tbsp Baking Powder

1/4tsp Salt

1tsp Finely Grated Lemon Zest

2 Large Eggs

240ml Whole Milk

200g Caster Sugar

4 Egg Whites

70g Lemon Curd

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees and line a muffin tin with muffin cases (or use silicone ones as I did).
2. Beat together the butter, sugar, flour, baking powder, salt and lemon zest until they are incorporated and resemble breadcrumbs. 
3. Break the eggs into a jug and whisk in the milk. 
4. Pour three quarters of the egg mixture into the dry ingredients and beat together (using an electric whisk if you have one).
5. Pour the remaining egg mixture in and beat again until combined and the batter is smooth.
6. Spoon the batter into the cases so they about two thirds full. 
7. Bake in the oven for 18-20 minutes until they have risen and are springy to touch.
8. Leave to cool on a wire rack.
9. To make the frosting, put the sugar into a saucepan along with 150ml water and bring to the boil. 
10. Meanwhile, whisk the egg whites until just foamy.
11. Allow the sugar to boil for 5-10 minutes, until when a drop of the syrup is placed in cold water, it forms a small ball on the surface.
12. Pour the sugar syrup onto the egg whites and beat with an electric mixer on high until the meringue has quadrupled in size and is velvety smooth. 
13. Once the cupcakes are fully cooled, hollow out the middle about 2cm deep and wide, using a knife.
14. Fill the hole about half full with lemon curd and then place the hollowed out sponge back in. 
15. Place about 1tbsp of meringue on the cupcakes, swirling it on.
16. Using a blowtorch, lightly brown the meringue so it is golden in colour.
17. Repeat with each cupcake and enjoy!

Very chocolatey chocolate brownies

New Year's Resolutions aren't usually my thing, as firstly, I can never normally think of any and secondly, I can never stick to them. But this year all that is about to change, because I'm going try and make a bit more effort to keep up with my baking and blogging, despite the fact that this term is probably going to be the busiest and most stressful yet. So I've more than likely set myself a challenge which is going to be a bit impossible to achieve, but I'm going to try and blog at least once a week. And actually, baking something yummy and having the pleasure of eating it afterwards is definitely one of the best de-stressing methods ever invented. In my opinion anyway.

So I have started as I mean to go on and yesterday, all I wanted to do was bake the most chocolatey thing I could think of. For my birthday I got Mary Berry's Complete Cookbook, which will be my food bible from now on I think, because it has literally every recipe imaginable in there. Including perhaps THE best chocolate brownies that I've ever made. In fact, she does call them 'Best-ever brownies' and I can vouch that this is definitely true. (Although I did make a few little alterations of my own to them!) Gooey and chocolatey and nutty and just so so delicious. You really have to make them and believe me, if you do, you will not be disappointed. Bake these brownies and all those stresses that suddenly appear again after Christmas will vanish instantly in a mouthful. Honest. 

 

Chocolate Brownies (makes 16)

Ingredients:

100g Milk Chocolate

200g Plain Chocolate

230g Margarine

2tsp Instant Coffee

2tbsp Hot Water

2 Eggs

250g Sugar

1tsp Vanilla Extract

90g Self-Raising Flour

150g Chopped Hazeknuts

100g Plain Chocolate Chips

Method:

1. Grease a tin and preheat the oven to 170 degrees.
2. Melt the chocolate and margarine in a pan on a low heat (in a bowl over a pan of boiling water is better if you have a heatproof one that is the right size!).
3. Put the coffee in a bowl and pour in the hot water, stirring to dissolve.
4. Add the eggs, sugar and vanilla extract.
5. Gradually beat in the chocolate mixture.
6. Fold in the flour and hazelnuts, followed by the chocolate chips.
7. Pour the mixture into the prepared tin and bake for about 40-45 minutes (until firm to the touch but still gooey in the middle).
8. Leave to cool in the tin, then cut into pieces and enjoy!