Hazelnut Meringue Sandwich

Another spring/summer pudding for you - this time in the form of a Hazelnut Meringue Sandwich Cake. This is like a slightly more interesting and sophisticated Eton Mess, but thankfully just as simple to put together. The recipe is a slightly adapted version of the one in Rosie Lovell's book, Supper With Rosie, and is brilliantly easy and fresh with relatively few ingredients. Despite this it is still impressive to serve, and is a crowd-pleasing way to round off a spring supper - who doesn't like meringues and cream? I would also be interested to substitute the hazelnuts for pistachios and see how that worked, although uni work is preventing me from much kitchen experimentation at the moment so I haven't got round to that just yet…

You will need…

4 egg whites

125g hazelnuts

250g caster sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

275ml double cream

1 punnet of raspberries 

1 tsp vanilla paste or 1 vanilla pod

You will need to…

- Preheat oven to 200C.

- Line the base of two 20cm cake tins with foil. Grease the sides of the tins and the foil well with vegetable oil.

- Toast the nuts in a dry pan over a low heat for a few minutes until darkened and fragrant, then blitz them in a food processor or coffee grinder until chunky.

- In a large bowl, whisk the egg whites until firm then gradually whisk in the sugar.

- Gently fold in the vanilla extract and ground nuts until well combined, then divide the mixture between the two prepared tins.

- Bake for 12 minutes in the oven, then turn the temperature down to 170C and cook for a further 30 minutes. Leave to cool completely in the tins.

- When ready to serve, whip the cream to soft peaks with the vanilla paste or the seeds of one scraped vanilla pod. 

- Fold in the raspberries, then spread the mixture over one of the meringues and place the second on top.

Enjoy! C x

Rhubarb Crumble Ice Cream

Perhaps it is not quite hot enough to be sitting outside in the sun with an ice cream,  but this Rhubarb Crumble Ice Cream is a great 'prepare ahead' pudding when served with ginger biscuits - perfect if you are feeding family and friends over the approaching four day Easter weekend! It is a Delia recipe and a firm family favourite. This is an ice cream with a seasonal twist, ideal if you have rhubarb growing in the garden - I was lucky enough to use homegrown, but shop-bought works just as well.

To sever 6-8 you will need...

For the ice cream

450g trimmed rhubarb

425 ml whipping cream

225g sugar

1 tablespoon of lemon juice

For the crumble

75g plain white flour

50g butter

50g light brown muscovado sugar

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

You will need to...

-Preheat the oven to 190C.

-To make the crumble, combine all crumble ingredients in a bowl with your hands until the  flour and butter combine to form small balls of dough. Sprinkle evenly over a baking tray and leave to one side.

-Cut the rhubarb into 1cm pieces and place in a separate large baking tray, sprinkle the sugar and lemon juice over the rhubarb and place on the lower shelf in the oven, put the tray with the crumble on the shelf above.

-Bake the crumble for 10 mins, then remove and put aside to cool, the rhubarb will need 15-20 mins to cook until tender. Leave the rhubarb to cool before pouring into a food processor, blitz until you have a smooth puree, then pour it into a measuring jug, cover and transfer to the fridge to chill.

-Now break the crumble into small pea sized pieces (if they are too big, the pieces are unwieldy to eat in the ice cream, if they are too small they disappear). 

-Using an electric whisk whip the cream until soft peaks, then stir in the rhubarb puree, pour into a 2 litre Tupperware and place in the freezer for 3-4 hours.

-After this time remove the ice cream from the freezer, whisk again and then stir in the crumble pieces before it is totally frozen, return to the freezer until ready to serve.

Serve with ginger biscuits and enjoy!

Z x

Tomato Soup Cake

Student life and life during the war have one thing in common- the cupboards are always empty. This cake was originally made during the war as it lasts a lot longer than your average sponge cake, it comes somewhere between a carrot cake and a fruit cake - I think it gets better with age. 'Tomato Soup Cake' perhaps does not sound the most appetizing, however I discovered that a tin of tomato soup in this cake really does work - I enjoyed making my friends guess what the secret ingredient was! Originally I spotted the recipe on Food52, however after discovering that my student store cupboard ingredients were not quite up to providing all the spices in their recipe, I simplified it to make it more student friendly. I have since made the cake again with all the spices, both versions were equally delicious, so delicious that my dog tried to have a slice while I was photographing it! 

You will need...

250g plain flour

170g caster sugar 

4 teaspoons of baking powder

2 teaspoons of cinnamon 

3/4 of a tin of tomato soup

2 large eggs 

A mug full of raisins 

For the icing...

100g of cream cheese

200g icing sugar 

You will need to...

-Preheat the oven to 180C and grease two 8 inch cake tins.

-Mix together all ingredients apart from the raisins, this will make a smooth pink batter. 

-Fold in the raisins, then pour the batter into the cake tins.

- Bake for 35-40 mins, or until a skewer comes out clean.

- In the meantime, mix the cream cheese and icing sugar together in a mixing bowl, keep adding the icing sugar until you get smooth icing with a thick consistency- if you don't add enough icing sugar the icing will drip off the cake and look messy.

- Leave to cool on a wire rack before icing.

Enjoy Z! x

Sweet 'n Salt Popcorn Cheesecake

The lovely people at Metcalfe's sent us a rather exciting parcel recently - a sample box of some of their most popular healthy snacks. As we have been munching on their delicious sweet 'n salt topcorn (that's popcorn incase of any confusion)  for over a year now, we were more than happy to take a look at some of their newer products, and they even inspired us to incorporate some of their goodies into an impressive and inventive dessert.

Although their best-selling sweet 'n salt is undoubtedly our favourite, their newer skinny corncakes are also a hit. With a generous layer of milk chocolate coating each corncake, they taste considerably more indulgent than they actually are, totalling just 118 calories per bag! A really tasty snack for those of us already thinking about the bikini bod. Our favourite savoury snack would have to be the cheese louise skinny corn'ers, which are a bit like healthy, gluten-free Doritos, without compromising on moreish cheesy flavour.  Regrettably we weren't such big fans of the heat 'n sweet topcorn, however if you like a bit of spice they could be right up your street! Metcalfe's also do numerous other flavours of their skinny topcorn, corners and corncakes, ranging from wasabi to cinnamon, so make sure you check them out here: http://metcalfesskinny.com/

If snacking on them isn't enough for you, here is a rather more calorific way of consuming your favourite Metcalfe's topcorn. The sweet and saltiness of the caramel sauce and popcorn work well with the smooth, tangy cheesecake filling. Be warned though - unlike many of our recipes this one is quite time-consuming, although we think the end result is definitely worth it!

Salted Caramel and Popcorn Cheesecake

You will need...

80g butter

12 digestive biscuits

800g soft cheese

270g caster sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

A pinch of salt

4 eggs

150ml sour cream

150ml double cream

For the salted caramel sauce...

85g soft brown sugar

55g butter

3 tbsp double cream

Generous pinch of sea salt 

(basically the same sauce we used on our Salted Caramel Pancakes)

You will need to...

- Place the biscuits and butter in a food processor and blitz until sand-like.

- Press this mixture into a 7 inch loose-bottomed tin with the back of a metal spoon. Place the tin on a sheet of foil and fold upwards until it comes halfway up the tin. Repeat with another layer - this is to ensure that the tin is water-tight when cooking the cheesecake.

- Bake the cheesecake base in the oven for ten minutes at 180C

- Place the soft cheese in the cleaned food processor and beat until smooth. Add in the vanilla, salt and eggs - beating well between the addition of each egg.

- Finally blitz in the sour cream and double cream until smooth.

- Pour the mixture onto the now cooled buttery biscuit base. If there is excess cheesecake mixture save it to make another smaller one!

- Place the cheesecake tin into a high sided baking tray, and place in the oven at 170C. Fill the baking tray with boiling water until it comes halfway up the cheesecake tin. Leave to cook in the oven for 1 hour 30 mins or until the cheesecake barely wobbles in the middle. 

- Leave to cool in the tin, then place in the fridge to set for a few hours.

- When ready to serve, make the salted caramel sauce by melting the butter, soft brown sugar and cream in a small saucepan. Stir in enough sea salt to taste.

- Gently remove the cheesecake from the tin, place on a plate using a palette knife, and pour over the caramel sauce.

- Top with your favourite flavour of Metcalfe's Topcorn - we went for sweet'n salt!

Enjoy! C & Z x

Beetroot and Orzo Salad

A bit of experimentation with beetroots last week resulted in this colourful creation - an Orzo and Beetroot Salad, or risotto if you prefer to eat it hot. It is the perfect student dish - healthy, cheap and you can store it in the fridge for a few days to reheat or eat cold. Although not readily available, I managed to find some fresh beetroots in the supermarket, however to save time cooking it would also work with pre-cooked vacuum packed ones. 

To serve four you will need... 

6-8 fresh or vacuum packed beetroots

One onion

250g orzo

100g spinach

A splash of red wine

-To speed up cooking time, trim peel and chop the beetroots into 1cm thick discs, place on a baking tray in the oven for 1 hour at 180C or until soft.

-If using pre-cooked beetroot cut into small chunks.

-Dice the onion and sweat in a pan for 10 mins.

-Boil a pan of water and add the orzo cook for approx 5 minutes and then drain.

-Once the orzo is cooked add it to the onions along with the beetroot pieces, add a splash of red wine and stir over a low heat until the orzo is a vibrant pink colour then season to taste.

- Add the spinach to the pan at the last minute, or serve with a handful of fresh spinach

Enjoy Z x