Millefeuille (Layer Cake)

Sometimes I find the best recipes come from the old, traditional books. In one of my grandma's dusty, ancient book of bakes, I found a recipe for this treasure: Millefeuille (more commonly known as cream slices). You can make it out of puff pastry; I'm going to put the recipe for rough puff (a more simple and faster type) but there is still nothing wrong with just buying frozen puff pastry.

               Ingredients

For the Rough Puff:

A squeeze of lemon juice

9 oz. Plain Flour (sifted)

6 oz. Cold, Cubed Butter/Lard

Cold Water

For the Filling:

1 Medium-Sized Carton Whipping Cream/Double Cream (or just a can of whipping cream)

Sugar

1/2 Jar of Raspberry/Strawberry Jam

For the Glace Icing:

Icing Sugar

Water

Cocoa Powder (optional)

Recipe

1. Line a baking tray, and heat oven to 220C/Fan 200c/Gas 7. Mix the butter with the plain flour well, but being careful not to break the cubes of butter. Add the lemon juice while stirring, still not breaking the butter, then slowly, bit by bit add some cold water, all the time mixing, yet still not breaking up the butter, until you get a stiff dough. If the dough is too sticky, add more flour.

2. While handling the dough as little as possible, roll the dough out on a floured surface into an oblong shape three times it's width. If you see the lumps of butter really melting, or if it's sticking too much, refrigerate wrapped in cling film for half an hour. 

3. Fold the top third of the dough down, and the bottom third over it, and rotate 90 degrees. Roll out to the oblong shape again, and repeat at least 3 more times. Leave aside wrapped in grease proof paper for half an hour before the next step.

4. Roll dough out on floured surface into a rectangle about 1cm thick, 6'' across, and the length of your tray (you may have to cut your dough so it fits). Place your dough on the tray and cut into 2'' strips across, and keeping them together, and put in the oven until golden brown, and bubbles can be seen on the surface. Leave to cool.

5. If using cream from a carton, add some sugar (but not too much - taste as you are doing it) and whisk until stiff. Then, once the pastry is completely cooled half each strip. Gather the strips in groups of three, and spread two of each group with jam (only on one side). Then spoon some cream onto the two, and sandwich together with the third.

6. Once finished arranging your Millefeuille, mix some icing sugar with a few drops of cold water to form a thick paste. Spread over the tops of your Millefeuille, and if needed make more. You can also make a small batch of chocolate icing, by adding some cocoa powder, and then to make a little motif, spread it in lines over the white icing, then cut through it with a toothpick.

Apple Swan

Whether you need a center piece for your fruit platter, or just want to make fruit fun, the Apple Swan does the job. It's really simple, yet looks complicated. I recommend using big apples for this, as you can get the wings as far back as is did. Also, you should brush lemon juice onto every part without skin to prevent browning.



Ingredients



All you need is a preferably big apple, washed.

Method
1.Make two slices, each equal thickness, from the top of the apple down, leaving about 1cm from the core. Discard/eat the end slice, and put the other aside.

2.Place the apple with the now flat side down, and cut along the apple horizontally until just before the core. Then cut straight down from the curved side until it meets the end of your first cut, producing a segment. Repeat with the other side, so it looks like the picture. Both these segments are now called 'segment A'.

3. Take the first 'segment A', leave 1/2cm gap, and cut down and across like before to create another segment. This is now called 'segment B'. Repeat on the other side so it looks like the picture.












 4.Repeat as many times as possible. On a big apple you should manage to create 3 segments, but 2 is fine. Align the segments with a small space inbetween to create the look of layered feathers.

 5.Cut out a small rectangle from the top of the apple, around 1cm deep.

6.Take the slice of apple you put aside, and cut a head and neck out of it, using the apple's curvature to create the curved neck. 












7.After a little carving and chipping away, push the base of the neck into the hole on the top and your swan is ready.

Egg Separator

'Gone are the days of egg yolk being passed over eggshells'

Today I would like to share something that has made my life so easy. Don't be fooled by the simplicity, it's an incredible kitchen gadget. You crack an egg into it, and it leaves the yolk on top, letting the white drain into a bowl. It saves time and effort, and is really worth the cheap price tag. I recommend getting a stainless steel one, because the others are hard to wash. 
I don't know what brand my one is, but this one looks similar.

Double Chocolate Gateau with Lime Cream and Chocolate Ganache

This recipe is originally by Gordon Ramsey found in the BBC Good Food magazine (which my mum has old copies of stashed away - my goldmine), which I have altered in certain places such as the topping. My recipe for the chocolate curls was found in my trusty Chocolate Bible by Christine McFadden and Christine France. For a teenager like myself it takes a lot of stress - you may have to try out the ganache a few times as it separates easily. Keep clear of your mother for this one - the mess caused mine a bit of a head ache.

Ingredients:

120g Dark Chocolate

5 Eggs, Separated

220g Caster Sugar

200g Butter, Softened

90g Plain Flour, Sifted

Filling:

284ml Pot of Double Cream

200g Pot of Half Fat Creme Fraiche

Grated Zest of 2 Limes

Ganache:

150g Dark Chocolate

142ml Pot of Double Cream

25g Grated Dark and White Chocolate

Curls:

100g Dark Chocolate

4tsp White Vegetable Fat (Margarine)

Recipe:

1. Grease and dust a 24cm cake tin. Heat oven to 160C/gas 3. Melt 120g dark chocolate. Cool for 5 mins. Beat in yolks. In a bowl, beat the butter and 100g sugar until soft and creamy. Mix in the melted chocolate and yolks.

2. Whisk the egg whites to firm peaks then beat in remaining 120g of sugar in 3 batches and continue whisking until stiff. Beat a third of the meringue into the chocolate mix. Then gently fold in alternate spoonfulls of flour and remaining meringue.

3. Spoon into tin and bake for 40-45 minutes. Test center with metal skewer, it should come out clean. Remove, cool for 10 minutes, before turning it out of the tin. When cooled completely, cut in half carefully with large serrated knife.

4. To make filling: in a bowl beat the double cream until thickened, then mix in the creme fraiche and zest. 

5. Spread one half of the cake with all the zesty cream and sandwich together with the other half.

6. To make the ganache icing: break up the chocolate into a pan and add the double cream. Melt over the lowest heat, stir continuously until smooth. Then cool and pour over cake. 

7. Spread icing evenly over the top of the cake and around the sides using a palette knife. While the icing sets, sprinkle the grated chocolate on top and around the sides. 

8. Making the curls: Melt 100g of chocolate with 4 tsps of white vegetable fat and pour into a lined ramekin. Put in fridge to set.

9. Remove chocolate from ramekin and use a swivel-bladed peeler to produce short, chunky curls.

10. Once the icing has set, place a large ring cutter in the center of the cake and fill with chocolate curls. Carefully remove the ring and allow the curls to cascade gently out.