New Year's Eve, a very quick canape!

Just when it feels safe to relax after the massive Christmas preparations and meal, New Year's Eve arrives!

We have spent the last 8 or 9 New Year's Eve here in Brittany, and because we are only here for a week, I try to keep things simple when it comes to preparing treats for Aperitifs.

One of my favourite canapes at this time of year is Blinis and Caviar.

Obviously there are issues with real Caviar, both with its availability, as the Strugeon is an endangered  fish,  and the huge cost of even a tiny quantity of caviar, so I prefer to use a substitute.  The one I have found most satisfactory is Avruga, or as it is now called Arenkha, which is made from herring roe.  (A jar can be bought in Waitrose for just over £5.00 and we found some in E. Leclerc for slightly less then €5.00.)

So when I was shopping I bought a jar of Arenkha, along with a small packet of blinis and a tub of creme fraiche, and I had a (virtually) instant canape.

I heated the blinis in the oven for about 5 minutes, and then allowed them to cool, this freshened them up and improved their taste.

I then spread some creme fraiche on each blini, and added a good dollop of caviar, the jar made 20 super little blinis and they were delightful with a glass of Kir and other tasty little treats.

The finished canapes

Popping the blinis in the oven

Cooling, then spreading with creme fraiche

A good dollop of Arenkha

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year to you all. 

I hope that 2012 is a wonderful year for you, full of delights and happiness.

Eating out in Roscoff

In the summer we are often so busy with swimming, fishing and visitors, that we rarely have time to treat ourselves to a meal in Roscoff.

The little town is just twenty minutes from our house, and is a delightfully pretty port, steeped in history.  Mary Queen of Scots landed there, when she left Scotland as a child to marry the Dauphin in France!

It is also a ferry port, with boats arriving from both England and Ireland, and the headquarters of Brittany Ferries can be found there.

We love going to eat in Roscoff, which has a super selection of restaurants and hotels, and on a drizzly dull day such as today, it is an extra special treat.

We went to one of our favourite restaurants, Le Surcouf , which can be found on the main street.  It is a typical French Bistro, featuring  the most  wonderful selection of delicious fresh fish dishes.

Today we ate  really well.

I had the most delicious Plat de Fruit de Mer, it was divine.  The crab and langoustine were so fresh, and the oysters were delicious.  I only managed to taste one of the prawns, as my little girl decided to supplement her children's menu (jambon frite) with my prawns, but they were also super.

This was followed by  sea bass with leeks,  which made  a perfect main course.

And of course, we just had to force ourselves to eat pudding!  My little girl ate a delectable Chocolate Mousse, my husband had the Creme Brulee and I had the (oh so slimming) Ile Flottante!



Scrumptious!

Plat de fruit de mer

And from the other side!

All the important tools to eat with

And bib!

Beautiful sea bass with leeks

Chocolate Mousse

Creme Brulee

Ile Flottante

If you are  ever in Roscoff.... you know where to go!

Soupe de Poissons

We arrived in Brittany on Tuesday morning.  The  weather was fantastic, the sun was shining and it was so warm walking on the beach I ended up carrying coats, hats and gloves.

But the house has been empty for a couple of months and was therefore cold. After the drive to Plymouth and the overnight ferry we were in need of a sustaining and quickly prepared, warm lunch.

At the supermarket we bought Soupe de Poissons:  Fish Soup.  These wonderful jars are full of the most delicious local fish soup made by  company in Roscoff, Algoplus.

The soup does not contain a long list of ingredients; it has water, fish, tomatoes, spices, onions, potatoes and seaweed.  There are no e-numbers or other additives, it is quite simply fish soup in a jar!

I serve it, as it is served in a typical French Bistro. The soup is very warm, but never boiled, accompanied by  a bowl of grated cheese, some crunchy croutons and a teaspoonful of rouille (a scrumptious mayonnaise type sauce, mixed with chilli and other spices).  All of which were purchased, with the soup, at the supermarket!

There are lovely jars of French fish soup available in English supermarkets, and it would not be at all difficult to quickly gather the ingredients for this delightful lunch (don't forget a glass of wine!)  Perfect for a Saturday Lunch as we settle back into routines over the next week or so.

A perfect bowl of fish soup

Soup, rouille, croutons and grated cheese

Delicious

Tuck in!

Needless to say the weather on Tuesday was an exception,  here in wintery Brittany.  We have returned to gale force winds and searing cold!

However, it hasn't prevented us getting out to gather clams, as there has been a very low tide, so  now I am deciding what to make with the clams tomorrow!

Thanks to everyone for their very kind comments on my last few posts, I hope to spend some time, over the next day or two,  catching up on commenting on all the wonderful blogs I follow.

Wishing You a Merry Christmas

*************************************

Yesterday I made my first ever Buche de Noel or Yule Log, using Nigella's recipe from Nigella Christmas.  My little girl helped decorate it, we have it sitting in the glass cake case waiting for tomorrow.

I'll be back in a few days, once we are in Brittany.

*************************************

MERRY CHRISTMAS

*************************************

Mini Christmas Cakes

Following my previous  post, where I mentioned the inspiration Karen had given me in decorating cakes with snowflakes, I thought I would show you the mini snowflake cakes I made.

My sons both made mini Christmas Cakes when they were in Year 2 at primary school, and I'm pretty sure the teacher is still doing them with the children she now teaches.  She always sent out a request for small baked bean tins to be sent into school and for years I have meant to try her idea.

After reading her post, I  thought about using  Karen's wonderful idea of a muffin tin to bake the cakes.  But as we had already eaten several tins of baked beans as well as Hello Kitty and Peppa Pig Spaghetti,  I felt I had better use the empty cans!

I used my favourite classic fruit cake recipe*:

12 oz currants
  4 oz sultanas
  4 oz raisins
  2 oz glace cherries
  1 oz mixed peel
  1 oz almonds (flaked)
  6 oz plain flour
  5 oz butter
  5 oz sugar
  2 large eggs (beaten)
a little lemon zest
1/4 tsp mixed spice
1/4 tsp cinnamon
a drop of brandy


Put all the dry fruits and almonds in a large bowl.

Cream the butter and sugar, add the lemon rind, and slowly add the beaten eggs.

In another bowl, sift together the flour and spices, fold into the butter/sugar/eggs mixture.

Now fold in the fruit.

Distribute among the tins, I made 6 mini cakes

I baked them for about 2 1/2 hours on a very low oven.

* This would make a 6 inch round cake


I know it may seem a little late to post this, but this cake is lovely even a day or two after baking, and the marzipan and icing are pre-made, so it (they) could be put together quite quickly!  And who says Christmas cake is just for Christmas day, we are often so full of Lunch that the Christmas cake waits patiently for a day or two before we eat it!

A  snow flake cake

Just out of the tin

using a tin opener, remove the base of the tin
and then put it back again,
making a loose bottom with the rim were the top was!

Like this!

Line each tin with parchment paper, and put the tins
on a baking tray, lined with brown paper

Put a reasonable amount of cake mixture in each tin

They should be golden brown, and I used a
cocktail stick to check they were baked through

I left them in the tins for about 1/4 hour, and then removed
them to cool

I stored them (and fed them) in a tin for a few weeks

A last feed of brandy

Just waiting for the marzipan

I used a pale marzipan for these little cakes

The stand in my cake box was very useful

I used the metal measures to ensure the icing was the
same thickness on each cake

Boiled and cooled water on the marzipan

Draping the cake

I cut out large snowflakes and covered them with gold lustre

I layered a patterned snowflake on top of the gold

Finally I added these very delicate, tiny snowflakes

They looked very pretty altogether

Icing a Christmas Cake

As well as the Gingerbread house, I also donated a Christmas cake to my daughter's school fair, though I have to admit icing and me are not the best of friends.

Luckily since I have started blogging I have been inspired by the skills and expertise of fellow bloggers, such as Karen (at Lavender and Lovage) and her delightful mini Christmas cakes, here.

Taking inspiriation from her snowflakes I decided that I would use a snowflake theme on my cake, but wanted to do something which was not too complex!

The finished cake

I used bought marzipan and icing

Don't forget to use plenty of icing sugar when you roll
our fondant icing, or you will find it very difficult to use

I covered the cake with warm apricot jam
 (which I had strained) and then applied the marzipan
To ensure the icing stuck, I covered the marzipan
with boiled and cooled water

I rolled out the icing and covered the cake

I smoothed the icing and made sure the cake was
 completely covered

I used the spare icing to cut out five snowflakes
the large one needed something, so I thought the
silver balls would work well
I used small sugar balls to make the snowy background
the four smaller snowflakes were cut using the
Patterned snowflake cutters, the pattern is just visible.

Once I had put some cellophane  and ribbon on the cake, it  didn't look too bad, and I was quite proud to see it sitting on the raffle prize table at the fair.

I do hope that whoever won the cake,  was pleased  with their prize!

Heston's Hidden Clementine Christmas Pudding! Yum! Yum!

Last Friday, we were out at my eldest son's Passing Out Parade, at Sandhurst.

Realistically, I was not going to be able to return home in the afternoon, and  cook  a complete meal from scratch.  So I opted for a casserole and a shop bought pudding.

When I was doing a grocery shop in Waitrose back in October, I had noticed one of the Heston Blumenthal Hidden Clementine Christmas Puddings, and after a few moments of indecision, I put it in the trolley.  (I had already made a Christmas Pudding and was worried that I was being extravagant!)

Of course, within a few weeks the pudding had sold out and some people were selling it on  eBay at ridiculous prices.  I must say I did feel rather  smug, as I had one sitting in my store cupboard!

So last Friday, in festive mood, I cooked the pudding and we sampled ate loads of it.

It was delicious.  In the past due to commitments with small children I have bought Christmas Puddings, from very prestigious London Food Halls, and they have always been disappointing, either too dry or not enough fruit.

This pudding was scrumptious, there were plenty of fruits and whole pecans, which were wonderful.  The clementine had cooked beautifully, the peel tasted like  the finest marmalade, and the juice mingled with the juices in the pudding to give the most delectable flavour.

If I see two next year I will buy them both!  However, I don't think it's worth some of the silly prices people are asking on eBay.

The photos aren't great, as they were taken at night, but they do give you some idea of the pudding.

I found a knife easier to serve the pudding with,
I really needed to cut into it to appreciate it visually!

The box, and I just followed instructions,
I steamed the pudding for 3 1/2 hours!

It was dark and round, no clue of how beautiful
and tasty it was inside

The clementine was still whole, but very juicy
the rest of the pudding had lovely, crunchy
nuts and fruits.

PS  We didn't eat the whole thing on Friday, so on Sunday, I baked what was left in tin foil, it was slightly drier, but still far more superior to any other bought pudding I have tried!

Christmas Tree Cake

I was amazed at the number of comments I received on my last post featuring the Igloo Cake.

I had a Twitter discussion with Karen at Lavender and Lovage about the christmas tree mould that Nigella featured in her Christmas book.  I had previously struggled a little with  Nigella's Spruced-Up Vanilla Cake recipe, and Karen and I  both thought we would try a Victoria Sponge mixture with Christmas spices.

I made an 8:8:8:4 mixture,  with a teaspoonful of mixed spice, half a teaspoonful each of cinnamon and ground ginger and pinch of ground cloves, but  found that this amount of cake mixture was not sufficient for the tin, so I added an extra 4:4:4:2,( with a little more spice) and that seemed to work.  I ended up with a very lovely cake.  I  had buttered and then floured the inside of the tin (as I had when baking the igloo cake), before I added the mixture, and the cake turned out beautifully, what do you think?

Of course, once it was cooled, I gave it a very good sprinkle of icing sugar!  Which does give a wonderful snowy effect, perfect for the week before Christmas.

It has been lovely to have a such a pretty 'cut and come again' cake sitting in a glass cake stand for the last few days, the spices have added a lovely visual texture, now that the cake has had some slices taken from it.


The cake was delicious eaten on its own, but tasted  even better as a pudding with fruit and cream. I think Vanilla Ice Cream would be great and  my Sister-in-Law suggested Cinnamon Ice Cream, which I think sounds like a perfect match (I'll have to get her recipe!)

A delicious, spicy Christmas Tree Cake

The wonderful mould
(I've just checked quickly online, and it is still  available
from various stockists)

The spicy mixture in the baking tin

Cake cooling

It fitted perfectly under the glass dome of the cake stand

Very Christmassy

I made sure it was thoroughly sprinkled with
icing sugar

It looks lovely even after it has been started

The mixed spices add a lovely depth of colour to the cake

Perfect for Breakfast, Lunch or Supper!

I do have a few more Bundt tins, so may well post some more recipes in the future.  Thanks for all the lovely comments and kind wishes for the weather on Friday.

It was very cold at Sandhurst, but the Passing Out Parade was wonderful and I am now a very proud mother of an Officer in Her Majesty's Armed Forces.

You can find some photographs here. 

I was just going to publish this when I realised that it would be great to link with Kate (What Kate Baked...) and Karen (Lavender and Lovage)'s great monthly blogging event Teatime Treats, which is being hosted by Kate this month, with the theme Christmas!  I do hope that  this cake fits the bill perfectly!