Experimenting with Lakeland's agar agar (part two)

Well, after the success of the panna cotta recipe, I decided to give marshmallows a go! I've wanted to make these for ages, so this was the perfect excuse. Like the panna cotta, I thought it was going to be a difficult process and take a long time, but quite the opposite was true.

 

Homemade marshmallows are quite unlike ones that you buy in the shops. Soft, fluffy squidgy, melt-in-the-mouth clouds of sweet vanilla-y yumminess. I don't think I'd describe shop bought ones in the same way!

 

 

So here's the recipe:

 

Homemade marshmallows

3 egg whites (I used Two Chicks)

250g sugar

100ml water

1 tbsp. honey

1 tsp agar agar powder

1 tsp vanilla bean paste

icing sugar

pink food colouring

 

 

Method

1. In a small bowl, dissolve the agar agar powder in the water.

2. Pour this into a saucepan, with the sugar and honey and warm to a medium to high heat until the syrup mixture has reached 121 degrees.

3. Meanwhile, whisk the egg whites until they are firm.

4. Add the food colouring and the vanilla bean paste.

5. When the syrup is ready, pour it slowly into the egg whites and continue to whisk.

6. Line an 8" x 8" baking tin with parchment paper, and pour the marshmallow mixture in the prepared tin and use a spatula to spread it.

7. Allow it to dry for 10 hours. It's usable after a couple of hours, but will firm up more if you leave it for longer.

8. Cut it into squares and roll in the icing sugar.

 

I found that it was better if I allowed the icing sugar to dry off a bit, and then rolled again in the icing sugar.

 

Looks yummy doesn't it? I have to admit, it is quite sticky so if you were thinking of giving it as a gift, you might need to roll it in the sugar again, or even pack it in layers of sugared parchment paper.

And if you think squares are a bit on the boring side, how about cutting shapes instead?

I know, almost too cute to eat right? Almost....

You can buy agar agar from Lakeland here.

I was given the agar agar product to use by Lakeland, but all views are my own.


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Experimenting with Lakeland's Agar Agar (part one)

For those who haven't used or heard about it before, Agar Agar is a vegetarian gelatin substitute produced from a variety of seaweed vegetation. It can be used in a variety of dairy-free, vegetarian and vegan recipes as a stabilizing and thickening agent.

I have never used it before, heck I've barely used gelatin before, so it was time to have a play with new recipes.

I decided on giving panna cotta a try. It was MUCH easier than I thought.



This is the recipe I used:

Panna Cotta
360ml full fat milk
120ml whipping cream
2 tsp agar agar powder
2-3 tsp vanilla bean paste
Strawberry coulis (recipe further down)

And the method:

1. Put the milk, cream, agar agar powder and vanilla bean paste into a pan.
2. Heat the mixture over a medium heat until the agar agar powder has fully dissolved, stirring occasionally.
3. Heat to boiling point and let it bubble for a minute or two, then remove from the heat.
4. Let it stand for about ten minutes, then pour into 4 ramekin dishes or bowls.
5. When cool, refrigerate for 2-3 hours until set.
6. To release the panna cotta, run around the edge of it with a silicone spatula or sharp knife, place a plate upside down on top of the dish, and turn the plate and dish upside down to transfer the panna cotta on to the plate.

7. Pour the coulis around the panna cotta and serve cold.

Strawberry coulis
125ml water
125g caster sugar
300g hulled and halves strawberries

Method
1. Bring the water and caster sugar to the boil and stir, making sure the sugar is dissolved.
2. Add the strawberries and cook for 2-3 minutes or until the strawberries have softened.
3. Puree the mixture, and strain through a sieve.
4. Store the puree in the fridge for up to 2 days.

Looks yummy doesn't it? I could just eat the bit on that spoon. You know...just to test it....

 

Mmmmmmmmm!!!


A very easy recipe, but impressive- one that could be used to impress the in laws if the occasion required it!

And here's a sneak peek of experimenting with agar agar part 2!

Any guesses what I made this time??

You can buy agar agar from Lakeland here.


I was given the agar agar product to use by Lakeland, but all views are my own.


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Valentine's collection 2014

The Valentine's Collection for Marie's Bakehouse is now available for ordering.

 

Chocolate chip heart shaped cookies, available in white, milk or dark chocolate, and covered in heart sugar sprinkles.
6 wrapped in a gift box, £5, one flavour choice for order.

 

 3 fudge hearts wrapped in a gift box £6.50.

Available in many different flavours including milk chocolate, white chocolate, dark chocolate, milk choc and orange, white choc and lemon, milk choc with fruit and nut, dark choc and peppermint.......and many others besides.....one flavour choice per order.

 

 3 Tiffin hearts £6.50
Both available in a variety of flavours such as Malteser, Mint Aero, Orange Aero, Rolo, Smartie.....

or another one of your choice.
  Order consists of one flavour choice.

Tiffin hearts also available in a large size, same flavours available as before.

Gift wrapped for £13.

 

Large fudge hearts, flavours available as previously, gift wrapped for £13.

Large Brownie Heart- Crispy on the outside, dark and gooey on the inside.

My daughter's favourite thing that I bake!!
Gift wrapped for your Valentine! £12

and finally.....

 

Let me know if you would like to order! Last orders taken on Sunday 9th February.

 

Marie x

 

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Time to get organised.....

One of my many New Year's Resolutions is to get organised. Not that I'm a complete disaster zone when it comes to organisation, things do get done BUT I do tend to waste a lot of time 'faffing' (read 'largely wasting time on social media'). If faffing were a sport I'd probably win medals in it.

I need lists to function. Especially since I had children, my memory is not what it once was. And if I don't have lists to remind me what I should be doing, I just can't organise my time.

So that's where these KTWO products come in. They are going to help me get organised (here's hoping anyway).

I've previously had a file organiser bought for me by a lovey friend, and that has helped get me organised with my receipt filing for my business. And that, my friend, is a HUGE task. So I have high hopes for these!

Part of the plan is to build in time to blog more frequently. We'll all be the judge of whether that happens or not.

Any tips you'd like to share with me for getting organised? Any help gratefully received!

Marie x


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Review of Lakeland's Silicone Chocolate Box Shapes

Another Lakeland toy to play with? And it involves chocolate? Definitely count me in!

I've had experience with making chocolates with a hard plastic chocolate mould before, but not with silicone, so it required a bit of thinking about how to go about it, as the methods I used for a rigid mould wouldn't work so well with a flexible one.

I decided to apply the melted chocolate with a paintbrush which helped get the chocolate in all the places required, especially with the more intricate designs. In hindsight, it may have been better to let this harden, and then apply a second coat, as a couple of the chocolates didn't come out without breaking, but that's something to try next time.

I made a caramel sauce, and poured it into the chocolate mould once they had been in the fridge for about an hour (I was busy doing other things at the time, I don't think it necessarily needs this long). I left a space at the top of each mould- I didn't fill it completely to the top.  And then popped the mould back into the fridge.

After about half an hour, I melted more chocolate and added this on top of the caramel, then it went back in the fridge again to set. I tried to pop them out after half an hour, but this perhaps wasn't quite long enough as a couple of them cracked on coming out, so I chilled them for a bit longer (this could have been down to having too thin a coat and not the chilling time- I will need to experiment with this).

Second time lucky, the rest popped out without a problem, by pushing the mould from underneath.

I'm really pleased with how they look!

 

Not perfect, but pretty fab for the first attempt I think!

 

I'd definitely use this mould again. The chocolates would be great for presents, not just at Christmas time, but for birthdays, Mother's Day, and I'd also think about using them on my dessert tables.

I'm looking forward to trying out different flavour combinations- I think salted caramel and a chocolate orange ganache will be two I'll be trying out soon!

If you fancy giving them a go, you can buy them from Lakeland here: http://www.lakeland.co.uk/16442/Silicone-Chocolate-Box-Shapes

I was not paid to write this review, but was sent the mould free of charge. All views are my own.

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Peppermint Bark Mould from Lakeland

I love making new things in the kitchen. I get terribly bored doing the same thing over and over again. So an opportunity to play with a new toy is a definite winner. Team that with chocolate, and the fact it's from Lakeland, a shop that regularly does serious damage to my bank balance, well it's got to be a win-win situation!!

The Peppermint Bark Mould is incredibly easy to use. It comes with two sections, so you can make two lots at the same time, but do be aware that the instructions on the packet are for one side, not both, so double up if you are making two.

Melt 200g of milk chocolate, and pour half in each side of the mould, making sure it spreads out to all corners. Pop it in the fridge and go and do something else for a bit. Then melt 200g white chocolate and pour on top of the milk chocolate, half on each side. Bash up 4 or 5 candy canes in a plastic bag, and sprinkle the broken pieces on top of the white chocolate. Push it gently into the chocolate and pop it back in the fridge. After an hour it'll be hard enough to pop out of the mould.

 

And there you have it! And they fit perfectly in a clear Lakeland presentation/gift bag.

Brilliant for gifts this holiday season!

 

If you'd like to give it a go yourself, you can buy it here: http://www.lakeland.co.uk/18503/Peppermint-Bark-Mould

 

I was not paid to write this review, but was sent the mould free of charge. All views are my own.

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How to make a stripy vanilla and chocolate bundt cake

 

I've seen a few stripy cakes around recently, and after treating myself to a bargain bundt tin this week (£1.99 from Home Bargains!!!) I decided I needed to use it, instead of putting it in the cupboard and not using it for months. Not that I EVER do that with new equipment. NEVER. *ahem*

 

So here's the recipe for the stripy vanilla and chocolate bundt cake!

 

What you need:

280g butter or baking margarine

280g caster sugar

5 eggs

280g self raising flour

2 tsp vanilla extract

2 tbsp. cocoa powder

100ml double cream

200g milk chocolate (I used Cadbury's Dairy Milk for this recipe)

 

What to do:

 

1. Cream the butter/baking margarine and sugar together.

 

2. Add the eggs one at a time beating thoroughly.

 

3. Add the vanilla extract and the self raising flour and beat again until thoroughly combined.

 

4. Take half the mixture and put it in another bowl.

 

5. Add the cocoa powder to the remaining half and beat until it has mixed fully.

 

6. Grease the bundt tin. I used Wilton Cake Release, and can't recommend it highly enough.

 

 

7. Add a dollop of the vanilla mixture to the tin.

 

8. On top of the vanilla mixture, add a dollop of chocolate mixture.

 

 

9. Next add another dollop of vanilla, on top of the mixture already in the tin. The mixture will start to spread.

 

 

10. And then another dollop of chocolate. Keep adding alternate dollops of mixture until you have used all the mixtures in both bowls. If it doesn't spread as well as you need it too, just shake the tin a bit and encourage the mixture to spread round to the other side of the tin.

 

 

11. This is what it will look like when you have finished adding the mixtures.

 

12. Bake for around 30 minutes at 160 degrees. Check around 25 minutes- your oven may bake differently to mine.

 

 

13. Leave it to cool for about 20 minutes in the tin, then turn it out onto a wire wrack to cool fully. (How fab does that look?!)

 

14. Once the cake is cool, chop the chocolate into small pieces and put it all in the bowl, and heat the cream until it just reaches boiling point, and pour the cream over the chocolate. Leave it for about 30 seconds to start to melt the chocolate, then beat it together until it has combined to make a smooth ganache. Pour the ganache over the top of the cake and leave to set.

 

15. Stick the kettle on, cut and slice, put your feet up and enjoy :)

 

I am definitely going to make this again, but try different flavour combinations too. Chocolate and orange, coffee and caramel, white chocolate and lemon, dark chocolate and mint......so many new ones to try!!

 

If you make it, I'd love to hear what you thought!

 

 

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