Mini Chocolate Fondants

Today we went shopping for the last of our Christmas presents, including each others. We weren't really going to give presents... until we went in a fantastic shop in Brighton. It has discounted bits for the house, including the kitchen and the stuff is great prices. There was so much that I could have got in that shop but Gary kept me to a few items, one of these was a mini muffin tin. Earlier in the week I had seen the Hairy Bikers Christmas party and there was a recipe that I wanted to try using this tin, Mini Chocolate Fondants.

It's quite a straightforward recipe which involves mixing together the egg, flour and sugar. Melting the chocolate and butter and then combining the 2. I was surprised that it only used egg whites but I guess this makes for a lighter mixture.

The recipe made 72 mini fondants in my case but according to the website it describes 60, so bonus 12 I got there!! When I got them out the tin I thought they were such cute little sponges. I wanted them to have a soft gooey inside but I think leaving them to cool meant that this firmed up. It was softer just not as gooey as perhaps I would like. Maybe if I cooked them for a bit less time this happen, we'll see next time I try them.

Not got a gooey centre but a little softer

They came out the tin beautifully, which made my life very easy, and I had 2 racks of cooling fondants to tempt Gary with!!

Lots of cooling fondants

The topping is a marscapone, cream and sugar mixture which is divided in half and one half vanilla, one chocolate. I used two piping bags and combined these through a star nozzle to create the half and half look. The first tip I used was too small and struggled to get the mixture through, the second tip I used worked much better. It was much larger and the mixture came through easily.

Finished mini fondants

These little bites are delicious, they are a great little bite and a good size for a party. The topping balances the intensity of the bottom and lightens it nicely providing a little chocolate hit in the chocolatey top. I'm looking forward to making another batch of these soon and experimenting with the timing of the cooking. I hope they are enjoyed by others as much as we enjoyed them.

Bakewell Tart

After taking the mincemeat and almond tart to work, Gary came home with many comments that people were requesting a bakewell tart. One of his collegues is having a BBQ on Wednesday so I decided that our contribution would be a bakewell to keep everyone happy. I did my usual, when looking for a specific recipe, and search on the BBC food website. The bakewell tart I selected is by the hairy bikers and can be found here. 

The tart was very easy to make. The first step was to make the pastry and I just did this in my mixer. It involved mixing together butter, flour, salt, sugar and almonds until they are a breadcrumb mixture. Then add the egg and egg yolks until it forms a dough. This is then chilled for at least 30 minutes. 

Once ready the pastry is the rolled out to cover the dish, pricked and then baked blind in the oven for 15 minutes. 

For the filling mix together the ground almonds and caster sugar and then add the eggs, almond essence and mix it all well. Part of the reason I chose this recipe was the almond essence, I know what a difference that makes to the flavour. 

When the pastry is cool, spread the base with jam (I used strawberry but the recipe states raspberry) and pour the mixture on top. 

Jam filled tart

This is then cooked in the oven for 25-30 minutes. Mine was in there significantly longer than that but this is because I forgot about it whilst doing other things. I'll have to learn to set the timer!! As it turned out it just made the edges a little "crispy" as Gary called it!! 

Slightly "crisp" topped tart

The full view

The verdict: as yet I haven't tried this but will report back the verdict once we've been to the BBQ!! 

Moist Carrot and Sultana Cake

For Christmas my husband got a brand new cooking book, "The Hairy Dieters". We saw the TV series linked to it and found it very interesting, we are constantly trying to lose weight and be healthier so he was interested enough to ask for it. Whilst flicking through we found several recipes of interest, which will be documented, but we decided to start with the Moist Carrot and Sultana Cake. 

This cake fitted our requirements as my parents are visiting today and we had 3 carrots in the fridge that needed using up, perfect!! 

The cake states that it's healthier by using oil instead of butter, it's a strange recipe because the cake basically looks like carrots when it goes in the oven. Anyway some details and substitutions, instead of using plain sultanas I used a bag of mixed fruit which also contained some mixed peel. I had this in the cupboard and thought it might add a little flavour. I didn't put any orange zest in the cake, due to adding the mixed peel I didn't think it was necessary, plus we don't have a zester!! Instead of ground cinnamon and nutmeg I used mixed spice. My husband doesn't like cinnamon so I thought this would be a good alternative. 

The cake was very easy to make, firstly I peeled and grated the carrots and placed these to one side. Then it was to make the butter substitute so you beat the eggs together and add the oil and sugar to this mix. Then add the carrot, flour, fruit, spices and some baking powder and mix it all together. At this point the cake mainly consisted of carrot and look most unappetising!! The bikers said to oil the tin rather than the usual butter so I did this too. 

Cake ready to go in the oven

The cake was placed in the oven and cooked for the specified 30mins, as always the cake wasn't done and required further time in the oven, around 20mins but after this time it was pulling away from the sides as the recipe states it should.

Just out of the oven, it's slightly pulling away from the sides

 I then carefully got the cake out the tin, unfortunately not carefully enough as the bottom of the cake had stuck to the tin and so this was left behind!! I was rather disappointed but when I investigate why it looks like the option of oil on the tin was a bad plan but also the cake could have done with a little more time in the oven as it doesn't look quite done in the centre. 

The bottom stuck to the tin :(

Once the cake was cooled we decided not to place the icing sugar on the top, I didn't really see the point and we just wanted to eat it!! This also meant that we left off the orange zest on the top too. 

Ready to eat

The cake tasted really nice and moist, the spices were subtle but strong enough to taste. My mum felt that there should have been more fruit and nuts in it, however, for me the balance was perfect. I didn't think it tasted any different being a healthy cake and I'd certainly enjoy eating it again. 

Lovely moist slice

I got my mum, husband and I to mark the cake this time and we have a slight range. I'm always the generous one and gave the cake 9/10, I thought that the recipe cooking time wasn't correct and oiling the tin didn't work. My husband gave it 8/10, he said it was borderline 9 but he decided to round it down. My mum gave it 7/10 as she thought it could have done with more fruit, as mentioned previously. 

Overall this recipe has got a very good score and is something I'll definitely add to my list, really enjoyed it.