Matcha Oreos

Makes 20-25

Oreo Cookies
275g plain flour
40g cocoa powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp fine sea salt
200g unsalted butter
125g caster sugar
125g light brown sugar

Matcha White Chocolate Ganache
300g white chocolate
200ml double cream
2 tsp matcha powder

Preheat the oven to 180C (160C fan) and line two baking trays with parchment paper. 

To make the cookies place the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt into a bowl and mix together to combine. Add the butter and sugars into a large bowl and using an electric mixer beat together for a couple minutes until everything is combined. Add the flour mixture and on low speed mix until the flour has just been incorporated into the butter, stopping when the dough is still very crumbly but only once you can no longer see any flour. Tip the crumbly dough out on the work surface and carefully bring together into a dough. Divide into two equal pieces and working with one piece at a time roll out between two pieces of parchment paper until about 4-5mm thick. Place the dough onto a baking tray and refrigerate for am hour until firm. 

When chilled use a 5cm round cookie cutter to cut out as many cookies as possible, placing on the prepared baking trays, a couple cm's apart. You can gather the scraps together and re-roll as above once but any more and the cookies will become tough. 

Bake the cookies in the preheated oven for 10-11 minutes. As they are chocolate it is hard to tell when they are done but they will be set around the outside and a little soft. When they bake they also puff up a little so as soon as they are removed from the oven press with the back of a glass so they are nice and flat. 

Whilst the cookies are cooling make the ganache. Place the chocolate into a large bowl and set aside. Add the cream and matcha to a saucepan and bring to a simmer, stirring vigorously to dissolve the tea. Once the cream is at temperature pour over the chocolate and leave alone for a couple of minutes before stirring together to form a vibrant green ganache. Press a sheet of clingfilm onto the surface of the ganache and refrigerate for an hour or so until a pipeable consistency. Place the ganache into a piping bag fitted with a small round piping tip and use to sandwich the cookies together.

Kept in a sealed container these cookies will keep for up to three days. 

Montbeilard, Comte, and Caramelised Onion Quiche

It is hardly a surprise that I love France, I literally wrote the book on French baking (well one of them). I have been in love with the country across the channel since I was little and we would spend our holidays camping in Northern France. I have distinct memories of walking to the bakery in brittany was I was 10 to get the pastries for breakfast, trying to order canelé in St Emilion when i was 9 but only succeeding with a large amount of pointing. That love grew deeper when I was 18 and I visited Paris for the first time, spending my student loan on a eurostar ticker and a hotel seemingly miles from the centre of the city. On that trip I discovered macarons and started a life long love affair with the city of lights and its fabulous food. So when I was asked to come to Paris to delve deeper into the wonderful range of ingredients that France produces I, of course, jumped at the chance. To be honest I don't really need an excuse to visit Paris, I basically have to be stopped from jumping on the eurostar on a weekly basis. If you subscribe to my YouTube channel then you've already seen the adventure we had eating and cooking our way around the city and after coming back full of inspiration and ideas, and a suitcase full of ingredients, that was all turned into my recipe for that french classic, quiche. My version, in an attempt to modernise it in the way that french chefs are trying to modernise and lighten classic french fare, uses creme fraiche and single cream to give the quiche a little more tang and lightness plus it is jam packed full of flavour coming from montbeilard sausage (a slightly smoked sausage from the Franche-Comté region that was new to me), rich and sweet caramelised onions, Paris Brown Mushrooms that are grown in caves just outside the city, lots of nutty aged comte and of course a little dijon mustard to round it all out. It all came together to make a fabulous quiche and hopefully a nice representation of beautiful french ingredients. 

Now after that wonderful trip I wanted to give you guys the opportunity to visit Paris and enjoy all the food that city has to offer, so I am thrilled to be running a competition where the prize is a trip for two to Paris, including a meal in a michelin starred restaurant, 2 nights in a 3 star hotel plus a wine and cheese tasting in 17th century wine cellar. If you win can you take me with you? The competition is only open to the UK residents (apologies) and you have until October the 6th to enter. The way you enter is very simple, all you have to do is cook a dish using quality french ingredients and post a picture to Instagram, Twitter or Facebook using the hashtag #bonappetituk and list the french ingredients you used. You can find the full terms and conditions here http://bit.ly/2wPXulA

Montbeilard Sausage, Comte and Caramelised Onion Quiche

Shortcrust Pastry
225g plain flour
1/4 tsp salt
1 tbsp caster sugar
120g unsalted butter, diced and chilled
2-3 tbsp ice cold water

Filling
4 small onions
4 tbsp olive oil
175ml creme fraiche
175ml single cream
2 tbsp dijon mustard
1 tbsp finely chopped parsley
6 large eggs
75g aged comte cheese, grated
200g montbeilard sausage, diced

Topping
100g Paris brown mushrooms, sliced
2 tbsp unsalted butter
2 tbsp chopped parsley

To make the pastry place the flour, sugar and salt into a large bowl and toss together to combine. Add the diced butter and toss in the flour to coat, then using either your fingertips or a pastry blender cut the butter into the flour until it resembles coarse breadcrumbs. Drizzle in the water and couple tablespoons at a time, mixing together with a knife. Add enough water until the dough mixture starts to form clumps then get your hands in the bowl and briefly mix together to form a uniform dough. Press into a disc and wrap in clingfilm refrigerating for at least an hour before using. 

To make the filling place the oil into a wide pan and heat over a medium low heat. Add the sliced onions and cook, stirring occasionally, until they have caramelised and have turned a rich golden brown colour. After a few minutes of cooking sprinkle with some salt, this helps the onions to release moisture which prevents them from catching and helps along the caramelisation process. As the onions cook if you find they are sticking a little to the bottom of the pan add a splash or two of water, this will deglaze the pan and release any stuck on bit of onion. Once the onions are almost finished add in the diced sausage, so the flavours can meld together. Once fully cooked tip the onion mixture into bowl and set aside until needed. 

Take the dough from the fridge and on a floured work surface roll out until the pastry is a couple mm thick and is wide enough to line the base and sides of a 9-inch springform pan. Gently drape the pastry into the pan allowing any excess to hang over the sides of the pastry. Line the inside of the pastry with a crumpled sheet of parchment paper and fill with baking beans or rice. Refrigerate or freeze until the pastry is firm. Bake the pastry in the preheated oven for about 20 minutes before removing the parchment and baking beans and bake for a further 10 minutes or until the inside of the pastry is just starting to brown. Remove the pastry from the oven and brush the inside with egg yolk to form a water tight seal, which prevents the pastry from becoming soggy. Place back in the oven for a minute or two to set. Reduce the oven temperature to 150C an set the pastry aside for the moment. 

To finish the filling whisk together the creme fraiche, cream, mustard, parsley and eggs. Once combined stir in the comte, sausage and onion mixture. Pour into the blind baked pastry and bake in the oven for about 40-45 minutes or until the filling has just started to brown and the custard filling has just set. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool. Once fully cooled use a serrated knife to trim away the excess pastry. Serve at room temperature in big wedges.

This post was sponsored by the French Ministry Of Agriculture

Salted Caramel Cocoa Brownies with Burnt Meringue Topping

A couple weeks ago, I set up stall on Columbia Road Market to take part in Bake For Syria, a massive charity bakesale raising money for UNESCO, and to say I was a little overwhelmed by the response is most definitely an understatement. Not only did we raise over £10,000.00 (I havent heard the final figure yet) but most of the bakeries had sold hours earlier than expected and hours earlier than we had planned for; those of you who came down later, sorry we couldn't sell you cake! It was the first time I had sold my baking to the public since my short lived bakery Eddibles Bakery (its a pun, get it?) on Maltby Street Market a few years back. I baked liked a maniac for a couple days before the big day, using just one oven and one mixer. I cranked as much sweet stuff as I could manage and then promptly sold out in just few hours! Maybe stupidly I made a variety of things when big batches of one or two things would have been more sensible. On the day it became clear that one thing was, by far, ridiculously popular. The cocoa brownie laced with copious amounts of salted caramel and then topped with swathes of burnt swiss meringue sold out in record time, I think it took barely 30 mins! Every day since you guys have been asking for the recipe, so here it is! I also quickly want to say that the brownie recipe is my spin on the cocoa brownies from Alice Medrich, from her brilliant book Bittersweet. I have adapted the ingredient amounts to suit my tastes and I've changed the method but the idea and base of the recipe come from Medrich.

Rather than simply popping the recipe up here, I wanted to film it so I headed over to Cupcake Jemmas kitchen and we filmed the recipe for YouTube. So once you have fallen into a sugar coma from watching my video jump over to Jemma's channel and watch the video we made together, where Jemma tries to convince me to like cupcakes.

Salted Caramel Cocoa Brownie with Burnt Swiss Meringue

Salted Caramel
150g caster
25g unsalted butter
Large pinch flaked sea salt
125ml double cream

Cocoa Brownies
300g unsalted butter, diced
225g caster sugar
225g light brown sugar
175g cocoa powder (I used Guittard)
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
4 large eggs
140g plain flour

Swiss Meringue
3 large egg white
240g caster sugar
Pinch of salt
Pinch of cream of tartar 

For the caramel filling place the sugar into a medium saucepan and melt over medium heat until turned a dark rusty brown colour, stopping just before it starts to smoke. Remove from the heat and carefully pour in the salt and half the cream. The mixture will bubble violently so be careful and go slowly. Once the mixture has settled add the remaining cream followed by the butter. Place the pan back on the heat and cook another two minutes to thicken the caramel a little and ensure it is smooth. Pour into a jar and refrigerate until cooled and firm (this is best done at least a few hours in advance as the caramel will take a fairly long time to cool).

In a medium sized saucepan set over low heat, melt the butter, cocoa, salt and vanilla together. Once smooth remove from the heat and set aside for the moment. In a large bowl use an electric mixer to whisk together the sugars and eggs until slightly thickened and pale. Pour in the cocoa mixture and mix until smooth. Sieve over the four and fold together until combined.

Pour into a parchment lined 9x13 brownie pan and level out. Top with random dollops of caramel, about a teaspoon in size, using up the whole amount. This will look like a lot of caramel and it is, no one said this was a healthy recipe!

Bake at 180C (160C fan) for 30 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the brownie comes out with a few moist crumbs attached. When it comes to a brownies nobody wants a dry brownie so it is best err on the side of caution, better to underbake a brownie then overbake it. Allow to cool for an hour or so before transferring to a fridge for a few hours, this helps set the brownies and makes them easier to cut. 

For the burnt meringue topping place all of the ingredients into a heatproof bowl and whisk gently over a pan of simmering water until the sugar has dissolved. Take from the heat and whisk on high speed until the meringue hold stiff glossy peaks. Spread over the brownies and brown with a blowtorch.  

Before the meringue is added the brownies can be kept in a sealed container for up to four days but once the meringue has been added these are best within a day so these are best made for a event where there will be lots of willing recipients.

The Perfect Pavlova

This is one of those recipes that is great to have in your back pocket. Once you know the technique you can make dessert with a bare minimum of ingredients and such little effort. 

Pavlova supposedly gets its name from the ballerina Anna Pavlova, maybe she was a fan of meringue or maybe the restaurant owner was a little smitten and wanted to charm her with dessert. Whatever the origin the country of origin is a little controversial, some claim it can be credited to Australia, others New Zealand, some people even say it has it roots in the US. Wherever the dessert hails from it spread worldwide to become one of the most popular desserts. 

I generally tend to think of it as a summer dessert, pairing beautifully with summer berries, but there is nothing stopping this from being a great year round dessert, topping the meringue with whatever ingredients you have on hand. 

For some reason Pavlova has a reputation of being tricky and I think that is a little unwarranted. It is a very quick process with just a few ingredients. There are a few things to bare in mind though that will help make your pavlova a success every time. 

Use older egg whites. Very fresh egg whites dont whip as easily or to the same volume as older eggs, so dont pavlova with eggs straight from the supermarket. In a similar vein, dont use cold egg whites, they take longer to whisk up. 

Whisk slowly. When you are whisking the meringue with the sugar, if you whisk on high speed, you're likely get to stiff peaks before the sugar has had a chance to dissolve, which can lead to sugar leaking out of the baked pavlova. A more sedate medium speed allows the sugar to fully dissolve before getting to the perfect texture. 

Add an acid and cornflour. The perfect pavlova has a crisp exterior and a soft pillowy, almost marshmallow like inside. The acid (my preference is lemon juice, I dont really like a meringue that tastes of vinegar) helps to stabilise the meringue and the cornflour helps the pavlova retain moisture, creating the characteristic soft inside. 

Bake low and slow. To get that perfect pavlova texture you bake the meringue mixture initially at a relatively higher temperature to help set the outside of the pavlova and give a nice crisp crust. The temperature is then turned down low and baked slowly. This prevents the pavlova turning crunchy and also keeps it bright and white. 

Pavlova Recipe
6 large egg whites
350g caster sugar
2 tsp lemon juice
2 tsp cornflour
1 tsp vanilla extract

Topping
600ml Double cream
lots and lots of berries

To make the pavlova preheat the oven to 130c and line a baking tray with parchment paper, drawing an 8-inch circle on the back as a template.

Rub a cut lemon around the inside of your bowl, this adds a little acid to help stabilise the meringue but also remove any residual fat on the sides of the bowl. Add the egg whites to the bowl and using an electric mixer whisk on medium speed. When whisking the bubbles will start off large and the mixture will still look rather wet. When the bubbles have increased in amount but become smaller in size, slowly start adding the sugar a tablespoon at a time. Continue whisking at medium speed until the meringue is stiff and glossy. You should also be able to rub the meringue between your fingers and not feel any sugar grains. 

Add the cornflour, lemon juice and vanilla and whisk for a couple minutes to combine evenly. Scrape the meringue onto the parchment paper, pilling high in the middle of the circle. To create a decorative pattern carefully spread the meringue to the edges of the circle and like you’re a smoothing the buttercream on the sides of a cake, smooth out the sides of meringue so it is high and smooth. Use the back of your spatula to draw lines onto the sides of pavlova, at an angle, repeating around the whole side of the pavlova. Make these marks quite deep as they will lose some definition in the oven. 

Place the pavlova into the oven and bake for 10 minutes before reducing the temperature to 90C and baking for a total of about 90 minutes. Turn the oven off and allow the pavlova to cool fully in the oven. This slow cooling down helps prevent the pavlova from cracking too much. 

To serve top the pavlova with lightly whipped cream and lots and lots of fresh berries. Once topped with cream and fruit serve immediately.