Raspberry Eton Mess with Lemon Butter Biscuits

Sorry guys, I've had blogger-block this week. It could be due to the hectic weekend I had, and in particular the amount of food (and drink) I consumed....is it possible to overdose on double cream? Yeah. Maybe that's it. Toby and I went to stay with my family for Mother's Day. My sister cooked an enormous beef roast, and I contributed this eton mess-what I thought would be a light end to the meal. I didn't follow a recipe, mostly went with my eyes and tastebuds, and here's what resulted: Whisk 2 large cartons of double cream until thickened but not stiff (I know it sounds like loads BUT this does make about 10 portions) Crush in about 10 ready made meringues (you can make your own if you're feeling fancy, but hey give me a break, it was a Sunday and I was hungover).

Now add some raspberry coulis. This, you do have to make yourself. It's a doddle and tastes way better than anything that comes in a bottle. Oh, I love it when I spontaneously rhyme.

Take two 150g punnets of raspberries. Add to a small saucepan with 4 tbsp caster sugar, and simmer for 2 minutes, crushing them with the back of a spoon as you do so. Now strain through a sieve to remove the pips. Yeah, this is probably the least fun part..

Add two thirds of this to the cream and meringue mix. Swirl through but do not mix in completely. It's also nice to add some fresh raspberries at this stage (you'll need a third punnet).

Serve in glasses if you have them-as you can see, we had to use rather an eclectic mix! Spoon in some of the mixture, add a drop of the coulis in the middle, then top with another layer of the creamy mixture.

I also served them with these awesome buttery, lemony little biscuits. I used a Rachel Allen recipe which you can find here.

In other Mother's Day related news, check out these beautiful chocolates...

...they inspired my little artiste to draw some himself, including a "happy mummy chocolate and a happy Toby chocolate". His adorableness knows no bounds.

Hope all you fellow Mummy followers had an equally gluttonous day! x

Three courses for special friends..

Sorry I haven't posted yet this week,it's been a pretty hectic one!

We had our friends Dan and Steph round for dinner on Tuesday night, and had a good catch up. We ate bruschetta topped with sundried tomato paste, mozzarella,basil and olive oil to start.

For mains I just roasted a free range chicken with lemon,herbs,chilli and garlic and served with homemade chips and a salad made with asparagus, peas, thinly sliced fennel and salad leaves.

For dessert I made a white chocolate mousse from a Rachel Allen recipe, topped with strawberries, raspberries and pomegranate. Here's the recipe:

100g white chocolate, chopped

150ml double cream

1 gelatine leaf

2 large egg whites

50g caster sugar

1) Melt the chocolate in a bowl of over a pan of simmering water. Set aside, leaving to cool slightly.

2) In a seperate bowl, whip the cream until almost stiff and place in the fridge.

3) Place the gelatine in a bowl of cold water for 3-4 mins until softened, then drain the water off and add 4 tbsp boiling water and stir to dissolve the gelatine.

4) Put the egg whites into a medium sized bowl with half the sugar, whisk with an electric whisk until firm. Add the remaining sugar and whisk until the mixture is stiff.

5) Pour the dissolved gelatine into the melted chocolate and stir. Fold in the whisked egg white mixture and, lastly, fold in the cooled whipped cream. Pour into glasses or small bowls, cover and place in the fridge for a few hours until set.

Finish with seasonal berries.

Easy Blueberry Tart

I have to say I'm developing a slight addiction to cookbooks. Especially buying them online at Amazon, as you hardly notice you're doing it! Anyway, this week saw a new addition to my cookbook family land on my doorstep, Tana Ramsay's "Homemade". This is a beautifully illustrated book with recipes that really make you want to get cooking. And, unlike some of my more aspirational cookbooks ("Indian Food Made Easy"- you didn't make it that easy!), Tana has created recipes for real people and real families.

This Easy Blueberry Tart is the first recipe I have tried from the book, and I was very pleased with the results! It was quick and simple, yet felt like a really special Sunday dessert. Looking forward to trying more of Tana's recipes this week, so keep watching this space..

You will need:

plain flour for dusting

375g pack shortcrust pastry

300g blueberries (I used frozen)

1 tbsp golden caster sugar

200g mascarpone cheese

finely grated zest of 1 lemon

juice of 1/2 the lemon

1-2 tbs icing sugar, plus extra for dusting

Pre-heat oven to 200'C/Gas 6.

Line a large baking tray with baking parchment.

Prepare the cheese base: beat the mascarpone with the lemon zest and juice, and add icing suagr to taste. Keep in the fridge until required later.

Using a lightly floured rolling pin, roll out the pastry until its approx 1/2 cm thick. Use a small dinner plate or the base of a cake tin to cut out a circle approx 23cm in diameter. Put onto the baking sheet, prick over all the edges with a fork, and pinch around the edges with your thumb and forefinger. Chill the pastry base in the fridge for 10-15 minutes.

Meanwhile, put the blueberries into a pan with the caster sugar, and place on a low heat. You want to cook them for about 5 minutes - long enough to gloss the fruit with the sugar,and soften them slightly without making them go gloopy. Take off the heat to leave to cool completely.

Put the pastry into the oven for 15 minutes, until golden.

Remove from the oven and leave to cool completely.

Once the base is completely cool, spread the cheese mix evenly over it. Spoon the blueberries on top. Dust with icing sugar and serve.

Tasty Tarte Tatin

This is one of those desserts that I always thought was difficult to make, but it honestly isn't.

And once you've got the basic method, you can use other fruits such as pears, plums or peaches. For an extra dimension you can play around with spices such as ginger, cinnamon, star anise or cardomon. Give it a try!

For this, I use frozen ready rolled pastry. Tarte tatin can be made with puff or shortcrust. I think shortcrust pastry is the traditional option, and it's what I have used this time as I had some in the freezer, but having tried both I would recommend using puff.

So you need to take your pastry out earlier in the day as it takes a few hours to defrost.

Now pre-heat your oven to 200'C, Gas 6.

Peel 4 Granny Smith apples (keeping the nice round shape of the apple) and cut into quarters. Remove any bits of core. Put the apple pieces to one side.

Place 125g caster sugar and 100ml water into an ovenproof frying pan and place over a medium heat. Stir until sugar dissolves. Do not stir once the liquid starts to bubble or it will crystallise! Increase the heat and boil for 5 minutes until it starts to caramelise round the edges.

Once the syrup has turned a golden colour, add 25g butter and swirl it through.

Remove pan from heat. Place the apples, cut side facing up, in a nice pattern in the pan. Try and cover as many of the gaps as you can.

Place the pan back over a medium heat and cook for 10 mintues to slightly caramelise the apples. At this stage you can sprinkle over some cinnamon, if you like.

Get your pastry out of the pack and unroll. Make sure it is big enough to cover the pan-if not, roll out slightly.

Remove pan from heat. Place the pastry circle on top of the apples. Tuck the pastry, as well as you can, in around the edges of the apples (as pictured below). Brush with milk, then prick all over with a fork.

Bake in the oven for 25 minutes, until the pastry is turning a lovely golden brown.

Remove the tart from the oven. Leave the pan to rest for a minute or two. You can use this time to brace yourself for the tricky bit: that's right, you need to flip this pan over onto a plate. Sorry, that's just how it is. Blame the French. Put the plate upside down over the pastry, one hand on top of the plate (the other holding the pan!) and flip in one confident movement. Try not to think about the hot caramel that might scold you.

Now do a little Tarte Tatin boogie. You did it!