Easter | Memoirs of an Amateur Cook

Tag: Easter
- Recipe: ‘Leftover’ Chocolate Brownies
  
  Posted at 9:10 am by Sarah @ Memoirs of an Amateur Cook, on April 10, 2012
  Easter can be a very tempting time, especially if you are attempting to watch your weight and eat healthy. I love chocolate but the amount in our house right now is a bit silly, especially as I am trying to limit myself to a small piece every few days…..I think I may be eating it all until next Easter!
  
  Have you ever been in the same position? Have you ever wanted rid of the chocolate you have squirreled away in the back of a high up kitchen cupboard but you don’t want to waste it? Andy from Andy’s Kitchen published an excellent recipe perfect for getting rid of excess chocolate in December’s Northampton Life magazine.
  
  “Leftover” Chocolate Brownies
  
  250g chopped chocolate
  
  200g Stork
  
  200g caster sugar
  
  3 medium eggs
  
  tsp vanilla extract
  
  125g plain flour
  
  50g cocoa powder
  
  1 tsp mixed spice
  
  Lots of assorted chocolates, chocolate eggs chopped into chunks
  1. Pre-heat your oven to 160 degrees and line a baking tin with foil or greaseproof paper.
  2. In a small pan, heat the Stork and chocolate until melted, stirring to ensure that the mixture is smooth. Transfer to a large mixing bowl and allow to cool slightly.
  3. In another bowl, whisk the sugar with the eggs until light and creamy.
  4. Add the sugar and eggs to the melted chocolate mixture. Add vanilla extract and stir until everything is incorporated.
  5. Sift in the flour and cocoa powder and mix well. Finally, stir in the chopped up chocolates and mixed spice.
  6. Scrape the batter into your prepared tin and bake for 30 – 40 minutes. Remember, the brownies will continue to cook in the pan when you remove them from the oven so you don’t want to over cook them. They should be a bit gooey on the inside still.
  7. Allow to cool and cut into squares.
  When testing out this recipe after Christmas I used a mixture of Celebrations and Terry’s Chocolate Orange….delicious!! In each rich, silky square you have bursts of differing flavours from the chocolates.
  
  Image courtesy of Google
  
  This is a really yummy indulgent recipe but also the perfect way to use up all the excess chocolate after Easter!
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  Posted in Baking, Blog, Celebrations & Occasions, Easter, Northamptonshire, Recipe, Series | 3 Comments | Tagged Andy's Kitchen, Baking, Celebrations, Chocolate, Chocolate Browne, Easter, Food, Food Blog, Leftovers, Northampton, Northampton Life, Recipe, Terry's Chocolate Orange
- Recipe: Quick and Easy Easter Chocolate Sponge Cake
  
  Posted at 6:55 pm by Sarah @ Memoirs of an Amateur Cook, on April 9, 2012
  As I am fortunate enough not to work on Easter Monday, I thought I would spend the day doing what I love the most – baking and cooking! Quite a few blogs will come out of today’s work; I am now pretty shattered but have had a lovely and very fulfilling day!
  
  Recently I have been trying to focus on eating healthy, fresh dishes with lots of fruit and veg. As I adore cooking, this is not an issue however, I also really enjoy baking. This is, of course, not quite so healthy and not so good for the waistline!!
  
  So that I can still practice and refine my baking skills and devise new recipes, I have recently begun baking for other people on a more regular basis.
  
  A work colleague who knows of my passion for all things foodie, recently bought his favourite tried and tested cookbook into work for my perusal. In the early 1920’s Be-Ro Flour, in a bid to make self-raising flour more popular, held a series of exhibitions were freshly baked scones, cakes and pastries were sold to visitors. Be-Ro’s bakes became so popular that people began to demand copies of the recipes so that they could bake at home. As a result, a free Be-Ro cookbook was distributed; there have been many versions since the original in 1923 with the latest being published in 2011 (for details click here).
  
  Image courtesy of Be-Ro
  
  After flicking through the cookbook for a while, I decided that I would make a sponge cake to try out some new cake tins I had recently purchased. As it was Easter, I decided a chocolate sponge with milk chocolate icing would be more fitting!
  
  Chocolate Sponge Cake with Milk Chocolate Icing
  
  200g self-raising flour
  
  225g caster sugar
  
  half tsp salt
  
  25g cocoa powder
  
  100g Stork
  
  2 medium eggs
  
  75ml evaporated milk
  
  75ml water
  
  A few drops vanilla essence
  
  For the icing:
  
  60g Stork
  
  Tbsp cocoa powder
  
  250g icing sugar
  
  45ml hot milk
  
  tsp vanilla essence
  1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees. Lightly grease two loose bottomed sandwich tins (20.5cm tins).
  2. Mix together the flour, sugar, salt and cocoa powder.
  3. Rub in the Stork.
  4. Beat the eggs and evaporated milk together. Add to the dry ingredients along with the water and vanilla essence. Mix well.
  5. Divide the batter between two tins. Bake for 30 minutes.
  6. Transfer the cakes to a wire rack to cool taking the cakes out of the tins after 15 minutes or so.
  7. Whilst the cakes are cooling, make the icing. First, measure out the icing sugar and vanilla essence in a bowl.
  8. In a small pan, melt the stork and add the cocoa powder, mix well. Add this mixture to the icing sugar and vanilla. Heat the milk and add this to the bowl.
  9. Beat the icing until smooth and thick.
  10. Once the cake has completely cooled, chose one cake for your bottom layer. Place on a plate and top with just under half of the chocolate icing. Place the other cake layer on top and spread on the rest of the icing.
  11. Top with a few mini eggs to make the cake Easter themed!
  This recipe was so quick and simple. I was able to bake the cake at the same time as making two other dishes so I would say the recipe was pretty much foolproof!!! Although I have not had a slice, I had a few crumbs of the cake when it came out of the pan and I sneaked a small taste of the icing; the cake was really moist and the icing was lovely and chocolatey! I think this recipe by Be-Ro appears to have been a success however, the proof is in the tasting so I will have to check back with the recipients of the cake just in case – I hope they enjoy it!!
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  Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments | Tagged Baking, Be-Ro, Chocolate, Chocolate cake, Easter, Easy, Food, Recipe, sponge
- Recipe: Dark Chocolate Truffles & Peanut Butter and Whiskey Truffles
  
  Posted at 6:55 pm by Sarah @ Memoirs of an Amateur Cook, on April 8, 2012
  Happy Easter one and all!!! Whilst taking a walk around a rather empty town centre today, my boyfriend and I were talking about how Easter has become less of a religious holiday and more of a celebration of all things chocolate and an extra two days off work; we were actually quite surprised the majority of the shops remained closed (the pubs seemed rather full mind you!).
  
  Image courtesy of Google
  
  So, on to a few facts about Easter eggs….
  - Easter became associated with eggs as historically, it was tradition to use up all the eggs in the house before the beginning of Lent as eggs were forbidden during this period of fasting.
  - The Spanish dish of hornazo is associated with the end of Lent as it contains hard-boiled eggs which were the surplus produced by chickens during the Lent period; in many Christian countries dishes featuring eggs are eaten at the end of Lent.
  - Easter eggs were originally dyed or painted chicken eggs; many were dyed red to symbolise the blood of Jesus Christ.
  - Chocolate Easter eggs were first made in France and Germany in the early 19th century; most early eggs were solid until suitable moulds were devised to make hollow ones although the process of making hollow eggs was very slow as they had to be created one at a time.
  - Cadbury’s first made Easter eggs in 1875, three years after John Cadbury made his first ‘French Eating Chocolate’.
  I really did intend to make Easter eggs for those nearest and dearest to me but Mr MAC talked me out of buying an egg mould. I then decided to make highly decorative Easter egg cake pops, I even bought the lollypop sticks, however I did not get around to doing this either! In the end, as we had people over for dinner last night, I made some chocolate truffles. Not very Easter themed perhaps but some of them look decidedly egg like and they were really very tasty so I thought I would share the recipe…
  
  Chocolate Truffles
  
  Makes 15 – 20
  
  150ml double cream
  
  225g dark chocolate, broken into very small pieces
  
  25g Stork
  
  25ml brandy
  
  Coco powder, ground almonds, icing sugar, edible glitter and chopped nuts for dusting
  1. Put the chocolate, brandy and Stork in a bowl.
  2. In a small milk pan, heat the cream until almost boiling.
  3. Pour the cream into the bowl filled with the chocolate etc.
  4. Stir constantly until all the chocolate is melted and the mixture is lump free.
  5. Pour into a small roasting tin/casserole dish and transfer to the fridge and allow the mixture to set overnight.
  6. Use a teaspoon to roll small amounts of the mixture into balls and then roll in the topping of your choice.
  7. Once rolled, pop the truffles in a dish lined with greaseproof paper and put in the fridge for a few hours to firm up.
  Recipe courtesy of Bridge 67 Cookery School.
  
  The above recipe is so simple and absolutely divine. The taste of the brandy is barely there but adds a certain sweetness to the mixture.
  
  Image courtesy of google
  
  And now for a second truffle recipe that I devised this weekend – I love peanut butter so just had to give peanut butter truffles a shot!
  
  Memoirs of an Amateur Cook’s Peanut Butter and Whiskey Truffles
  
  Makes 15 – 20
  
  150ml double cream
  
  225g milk chocolate, broken into very small pieces
  
  25g Stork
  
  25ml whiskey
  
  2-3 tbsp smooth peanut butter
  
  Coco powder for dusting
  1. Put the chocolate, whiskey, peanut butter and Stork in a bowl.
  2. In a small milk pan, heat the cream until almost boiling.
  3. Pour the cream into the bowl filled with the chocolate etc.
  4. Stir constantly until all the chocolate is melted and the mixture is lump free.
  5. Pour into a small roasting tin/casserole dish and transfer to the fridge and allow the mixture to set overnight.
  6. Use a teaspoon to roll small amounts of the mixture into balls and then roll in the coco powder.
  7. Once rolled, pop the truffles in a dish lined with greaseproof paper and put in the fridge for a few hours to firm up.
  Two truffle recipes, both absolutely delicious. The ‘grown up’ alternative to Easter eggs although you certainly get very messy making them!
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  Posted in Baking, Celebrations & Occasions, Dessert, Easter, Recipe, Wheat Free | 0 Comments | Tagged Baking, Chocolate, chocolate truffles, Easter, Easy, Eggs, Food, Peanut Butter and Whiskey Truffles, Recipe
- My name is Sarah, self confessed foodie and amateur cook. On these pages you will find lots of recipes, reviews and food related banter. Thank you for stopping by, happy reading!
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