Flourless chocolate cake with lemon creme fraiche

Chocolate chocolate chocolate! I know there's other types of cakes out there but despite my best efforts to cook something else, chocolate beats everything for me, (unless it's coffee-chocolate in which case, I go into a frenzy of caffeine and need to be stopped.)
This cake is rich, grown-up dessert. It's low in sugar, wheat-free and gluten-free, and extremely quick to make requiring only 15 minutes in the oven! And the filling is a very smooth process as well, requiring no icing sugar.
It's a squidgy, moussey, truffley dream with a consistency that means you will leave teeth marks in, which I love. It might need a bit more sugar to make it palatable to everyone, but if you are a fan of dark, bitter cocoa flavours then give it a shot unchanged. The most challenging part of making this is seperating the eggs - so it is a cinch! It also survived going to a picnic in Hampstead Heath without any trouble, as even if it gets a bit squished, it's still just fine. It's even nicer, if I dare say it...

Ready to be baked

Flourless chocolate cake with lemon creme fraiche

• 8 medium eggs
• 400g chocolate (the more cocoa the better, 70% is suggested)
• 150g butter
• 2 tbsp caster sugar
• 300ml creme fraiche
• 1 lemon (zested)
• Pinch of sea salt

Mine never looks as good as the picture :(

You're going to eventually mix everything in the bowl that you melt the chocolate in, so bear this in mind when mixing and cracking.
Pre-heat your oven to 180C and line the base of your cake tins with greaseproof paper. I have to stress this - greasing is good too, but importantly the lining will save you a disaster with a cake like this. Separate your eggs into two clean bowls, with yolks in one and whites in another, and quickly whisk the yolks with the salt. Meanwhile, put a heatproof bowl over some simmering water and melt the chocolate and the butter together. If you're careful, you can just do this directly in the pan, but I think the double-boiler method is better. Be wary of the chocolate burning - stir often and don't forget about it, then take off the head and leave to cool (or transfer to a cooler mixing bowl if melted directly in the pot.)
While it's cooling down, beat the egg whites with an electric whisk until stiff, then fold in the sugar. You can double or even triple the amount you use to make the cake sweeter, depending on who you're cooking for. Then fold the egg yolks into the chocolate and butter mix, followed by the egg whites. 
And you're done! Divide the mixture into a large cake tin, or two or three smaller ones. The original recipe suggests 2x18cm. I did 3x14cm I think. Put in your oven, and take out after 15 minutes or so, or when cooked through. To make the filling, put the creme fraiche and lemon zest and mix, using it to sandwich the cakes together when cool. Finally, If you feel fancy, cut out a shape in paper and scatter icing sugar over so it leaves a nice picture on top. 

Mmm, HEALTHY

Credit: Leon - Naturally Fast Food (Book 2)

Butternut squash, pomegranate, feta and mint salad with pine nuts

Now HERE is a salad that will bring a smile to your face on a sunny summer's day, and just in time for the London heatwave. I came across it in an issue of the Sunday Times Style supplement, which I normally never read.
Admittedly this is soooo North London, and the very fact that I am able to waltz into my local supermarket and pick up a pomegranate year round is a serious luxury, and one which I don't take lightly.
That said, the original recipe has said that you can happily replace this one ingredient with another sharp, sweet fruit, like a handful of juicy black cherries is what. I also think slices of orange could work.
It is a fantastic mixture of flavours - deep earthy spices roasted, then tempered with creamy feta and sharp, sweet pomegranate, rounded off with the refreshing mint, with the texture of the squash delivering a lovely big bite. It works well with some nice crusty bread, and I think couscous would be equally nice. It's also a nice counter to the more traditional tomato-cucumber-rocket-leaf. It also looks divine, and when we brought it to a picnic last weekend, it was one of the first things to get finished! Yum, yum, yum.

Butternut squash, pomegranate, feta and mint salad with pine nuts (serves four people)

• 1/2 to 3/4 of a large butternut squash
• 2 tbsp crushed chilli flakes (less if you like it with a milder kick)
• 2 tbsp coriander seeds
• 2 tbsp cumin seeds
• 2 tbsp pine nuts (dry toasted)
• 150g feta cheese
• 1 pomegranate
• Bunch of fresh mint

For the dressing:

• 1/2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• A good pinch of caster sugar
• Leftover pomegranate juice (1-2tbsp, taste as you go)
• A small pinch of cinnamon
• 2 tbsp olive oil

Grinding spices

As always, pre-heat your oven. Something in the region of 200C is good. Next, peel your butternut squash, and chop into semi-circle slices (carefully, squash is very slippery and can be tough to chop!) about 1/2 a cm thick. 

Grind your spices in a pestle and mortar with a decent pinch of rock salt and ground black pepper. The mix doesn't have to be perfectly ground into the same texture, mostly just try to crush the coriander seeds. I sadly don't own a pestle and mortar, so I put whatever I'm crushing into a small plastic bowl, and use a rolling pin. It largely works but the spices tend to fly out everywhere. 

Spread the butternut squash across two roasting trays - you don't want to crowd them too much, so do use two trays, and drizzle with about 1 tbsp oil for each tray. Then divide over your spice mix, and use your hands  to make sure it gets a nice coating. Then put it in the oven for about 25 minutes, and check in every now and then, agitating the tray so it doesn't stick and maybe flipping the squash over so they brown on both sides. 

Meanwhile, you can dry toast your pine nuts. Keep an eye on as they don't sizzle, so you forget about them more easily than you think! You can also start picking your seeds out the pomegranate. The best way to do this, I find, is to slice the fruit cleanly in half, then over a bowl, use your hands to break each half apart, and use your fingers to root out the pockets of seeds. Try to save as much juice as possible for the dressing (and don't wear anything white while you're doing it.)

When the squash is done, remove from the oven. It should look somewhat like the below, and not too dried out. 

Butternut squash, ready to come out of the oven

To make a dressing, the original recipe invites you to use that most North-London of all ingredients, pomegranate molasses. I had no such thing, so into a jar I put the juice of the pomegranate that was reserved in the bowl (crushing seeds with a teaspoon if I needed more juice, around 1 or 2 tbsp), 1/2 tbsp balsamic vinegar,  1 tbsp lemon juice, and a small pinch of cinnamon. To add some sweetness, a pinch or two of caster sugar did the job, then top up with 2 or so tbsps of olive oil, and shake or whisk well.

Next, take your squash, scatter over a large plate, then crumble over the feta, leaving decent sized chunks. Add the pine nuts, and top with the mint and pomegranate. Drizzle dressing over just before service, and enjoy outside in the lovely sunshine (if possible!)

Pomegranate seeds, so pretty

Credit where credit is due: Modified from recipe by Gizzi Erskine in the Sunday Times

Strawberry pavlova with chocolate cream

Strawberries could easily be considered to be heavily overdone in terms of summer puddings, and initially, this pavlova might sound no different to your standard Eton mess fare, or even strawberries and cream. But there's a reason for that - they're utterly delicious and beloved by almost all. And for a make-ahead dessert, what goes more perfectly together than crispy, chewy meringue, leaving-teeth-marks-in-it-so-thick cold chocolate cream, and juicy sweet strawberries? This is also heavenly when leftovers are rescued from the fridge then crammed into a tupperware box then carried by bike to Regent's Park to be eaten with greed by friends sharing forks. Lovely for posh picnics.  Plus I hear it's going to be a bumper year for straws, so you might as well!

This is a wonderful summer dessert for whenever you're entertaining, again - I've fed my whole family on this during my graduation in 2009, when I cooked a huge vegetable lasagna, with leftovers. So don't make if it's just the two of you - for health-related reasons!
The original recipe suggests raspberries, my absolute favourite food. But I've always gone into the shop intending to buy but flinch at the last minute at the cost. The recipe also calls for the meringue base to be rolled up into a roulade, which I've never managed - this is basically Nancy's meringue pie with a chocolate cream filling and strawberry topping. And good god it looks seriously impressive. 


Strawberry pavlova with chocolate cream
Serves about 6 to 8 people

• 250g strawberries
• 2 tbsp caster sugar
• 150g plain chocolate
• 400ml double cream
• 5 egg whites
• 275g caster sugar
• Mint, optional garnish

Avoid doing this too much while cooking

Before you begin, 'mascerate' your strawberries. Cut off the green, and any other bits that would inhibit you from eating them whole, slice them all in half or quarters, then scatter over the 2 tbsp caster sugar. This will really bring out the flavour of the strawberries, and ensure that the fruit is gloriously sweet.
Meanwhile, get to making your meringue. Pre-heat your oven to 200C and line one of your biggest baking trays with greaseproof paper (suggest 33cm by 23cm swiss roll tin.) 
Whatever plastic mixing bowl you have knocking about in the back of your cupboard, rewash it with a non-skimpy amount of detergent to get any grease off and dry it with a clean tea towel. Carefully seperate your eggs - I like to have three bowls on  the counter. A mug to catch the white, one to catch the yolk, and then the bowl to tip the white into - meaning if you balls up one seperation, you don't lose contaminate most of your egg whites with yolk. 
Now, the whisking - get your electric whisk (and how I feel for you if you don't have one) and whisk on high until the peaks of the egg white are standing up stiff. Turn the setting on the whisk to low, and gradually add the caster sugar, stirring all the while until the mixture is nice and glossy. 

Fresh out the oven

Carefully spread the meringue mixture in the tin, and try to make as even as possible, then pop in the oven for 8 minutes. Don't forget! After this time lower the oven temperature to 160C for another 15 minutes, or until golden and firm on top. When it's done, take it out the oven, flip it over then peel off the backing paper, then put right-side-up again.
Chocolate cream time (you can do this while the meringue is cooking.) Whisk the cream now (avoid eating TOO many strawberries dipped in them), until it's a nice thick consistency. Meanwhile, melt your chocolate using a double boiler method, or if you're lazy like me, put it into a pan on a low heat and stir frantically until melted. Pour the now-melted chocolate off into a cold bowl and leave to cool down for ten minutes or so, so it doesn't curdle when you mix it. Fold the chocolate into cream (then sigh heavily at how gorgeous this looks), reserving a little chocolate for drizzling. 

Then it's just assembly: when the meringue is cooled off, use a big spoon to smear the lovely cream all over the meringue, then arrange the strawberries on top. Use a little teaspoon to flicky-flick little dribbles of dark chocolate all over the top for a nice effect, add a sprig of mint if you're using, then put it in the fridge until you're ready to serve it big indulgent slices to happy people. 
Credit where credit is due - Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall in The Guardian

Spicy pancetta pasta, Penne Amatriciana

Blogger unhelpfully ate this post, with the comments too. Thankfully, I had a cache of it, so here it is again. 

To take a bit of a departure from my usual "oh so good, yet so healthy, plus vegetarian!" shpiel, here is a fatty, gorgeous, meaty pancetta pasta, Penne Amatriciana, which has such deep flavours, that even though I've made it countless times, I always go "oh god" everytime I take my first mouthful. It's the incredibly simple ingredients that make it, red onion with pancetta being a winner, plus some red wine, rosemary and chilli.
This one is a real crowd pleaser as well. If you're ever trying to get people round for a non-fussy Italian-style dinner with some garlic bread and salad and 5 bottles of red, this is a perfect, utterly PERFECT main.
I first saw the recipe, I think, on Saturday Morning Kitchen when I was a student, and I can't remember where I scribbled down my version from, but I've used it ever since four years ago and time and time again it's been perfect. The original invited you to let the sauce thicken for 40 minutes. 40 minutes!! That's way too long! This version is much quicker and still insanely delicious. Seriously, invite your friends round for dinner, make this, be popular. I recommend it.


Penne Amatriciana (serves 2)
Just double the quantities for 4, etc.

• 200g penne pasta
• Half a pack of pancetta from a supermarket (100g), or lardons or even a few rashers of smoked bacon chopped
• 1 large red onion or 1.5 small ones (peeled and chopped)
• One tin of chopped or plum tomatoes
• 1 tbsp (ish) of dried chilli flakes
• 2 tbsp dried rosemary
• A handful of grated Parmesan cheese (or two handfuls if you like it extra cheesy-creamy)
• A good few glugs of red wine

Note - I understand completely if you don't feel like buying a bottle of wine just to make a meal, but honestly, the difference it makes, plus having some wine to drink while eating this makes it outstanding for a simple plate of pasta. However, I've made this several times without and it's still wonderful.
Heat up a pan on a fairly high heat, and chuck in your pancetta dry. The fattiness of the meat, as it melts, will mean that there's more than enough oil in your pan to cook your onions later. Cook it for a while and don't be impatient, this is as crisp as the pancetta will get, so you may as well let it get quite well cooked. What you're looking for is the golden edging appearing around the outside of the chunks.

Once that's done, turn down your heat to medium and add the onions. Keep an eye on them at first, see if they're looking like they might burn, adjust the heat accordingly and then stir every now and then over the next few minutes until wonderfully soft and approaching translucent.

Mix in your chilli flakes next - depending on how spicy you like it, obviously, you can add less or more. I use the amount shown in the picture for two and it's just about right. Not too hot, but not too bland either. Awesome stuff.This is the part I really screwed up the first time I made this - so be ready! Have your tin of tomatoes open, and ready, so you don't have to fuss with opening it up. Then turn the heat up super high, add your glugs of wine, and it should hiss as it goes into the pan. Stir rapidly with a spoon and you can see the alcohol evaporating off, which is what we want, and make the sauce quite liquidy. After a short period, 30 seconds, although you can judge yourself, quickly add the tomatoes, give a good stir, and turn down the heat so the sauce simmers briefly.
Add rosemary - quite a lot, maybe double the amount of chilli that you used. The pungent rosemary is one of the main flavours in this, so don't be afraid to add a lot. Then stir. Now, bring the sauce up to boiling point, then turn down and let thicken. The thickening is really crucial, it's the sticky oily goodness that makes this sauce which you can't appreciate if the tomatoes are still watery and runny.

I put my pasta on at this point, in well salted water, and let boil. You can grate your Parmesan now if you like. When the sauce has thickened enough, add the parmsean, then mix through with the pasta. Serve with some red wine, and if you're feeling like being fancy you can garnish with some parsley or basil.

As you can see it goes down a treat. The wine bottles in the background have candles in them - promise!

Thin crust pizza for weekdays

For the record, I only ate half of this! Plus cold homemade pizza is great as lunchbox-fodder the next day.

Whoops - it's been a while! January and February got the better of me and combined with getting a bit cooked-out for my boyfriend's birthday and just trying to get through that last dark shivery part of winter I failed completely to update this. And I've had the pictures all along. But now look what it looked like over Camden when I got home tonight! Light! And sunsets!

This pizza is pretty fantastic stuff in any case. You can easily make this weeknights for supper, you can add whatever toppings you do or don't like, although it's nice with some pepperoni (not very veggie though) and a handful of rocket salad on top with a nice glass of wine on the side. Although don't go too crazy on the toppings, otherwise it doesn't cook properly and stays all soggy in the middle - my boyfriend always finds this out this hard way.

Flat crust pizza (makes 2 large pizzas) 

• 175ml (3/4 of a cup) of lukewarm water
• 1/2 tsp yeast
• 2 cups of plain flour (or strong flour)
• 1/2 tsp salt 

Plus, a tin of chopped tomatoes and rosemary for a tomato pizza sauce, plus toppings - mozzarella, pepperoni, peppers, onions, tomatoes, capers...

 The secret to this, apparently, is preheating your oven to some insane temperature then getting the pizza in quickly on a very hot baking tray so it crisps up perfectly, but I am nowhere near dextrous enough for that. I do pre-heat very hot, but, I tend to lay my pizza on the back of a tray, then 'decorate' it (hah) carefully before putting in the oven. Basically, step one, pre-heat your oven.

In a bowl, mix the flour and salt. Sometimes I like to try putting dried herbs in at this point - you can experiment as much as you like, it's just dough! If the yeast needs to be activated, stir into the water. Otherwise you can just add the yeast into the flour and mix well. I have spent my entire cooking life up to very recently not using a tbsp/tsp measurer and just kind of winging it, but I have to say this little spoon-device is pretty handy if you're a little on the perfectionist side.

Make a well in the centre of the dry and pour in the water, then use your fingers to mix. When the dough starts to begin to stick together, tip the whole lot onto a well floured surface. Here's how it looks before you tip it out. 

Knead for five minutes or so, the texture will change rather dramatically and get all smooth and tacky and elastic. Then using a chopping knife (I love this part) slice the ball in two. Et voila. Now all you have to do is find a handy method for making it into a nice thin pizza - I find a combo of rolling pin - well floured!! - and using my hands to pull it out is the best way.

At some point, you'll need to make a tomato-sauce to spread on top, so chop two or three cloves garlic or onion, whatever you feel like, and put into a sauce pan. Fry lightly in olive oil, maybe add a bit of rosemary or oregano, and then the chopped tomatoes. Give the sauce a stir, just bring to boiling, then take off the heat. Spread over the two pizza bases. Then add your toppings - leaving off the cheese - and put in the oven for five minutes. 

 This gives the base and toppings a chance to cook. Then after the time is up, remove from oven, add the cheese, and put back in the oven for about ten minutes until it's looking nice and crispy. Yum. If you have the oven space maybe this would be nice for guests, it's always fun letting someone top their own pizza.

Credit where credit is due: The Kitchn

Awesome chocolate sponge birthday cake

This is my classic, fail-proof and always popular chocolate birthday cake, and it's survived being carried in the tube to Ealing, and on the overground to Barnsbury, and once all the way to Gloucester for my Aunt's 60th. I make this for nearly every single birthday - the beauty of the icing means that even if your sponge turns out terribly crumbly or dry, it will still be a hit. That said, this sponge is easy-peasy, slightly dense, and has been given the thumbs up by so many of my friends I've lost count.
I found this recipe in a now-unknown website place way back when I was first a student in London, to make for my flatmate on his birthday and I just kept going back to it. It's the creamy Philadelphia icing which does it, pushing it over into that amazing cheese-cakey flavour territory.
I've made this particular batch as cupcakes, as taking a birthday cake to a pub can be quite messy, and make the bar staff hate you. We enjoyed these in the Southampton Arms off Highgate Road, and it is a brilliant pub.

Makes 12 cupcakes. Maybe 13 but  who has a 13-case cupcake tray?
Awesome chocolate sponge birthday cake (in cupcake form)  

• 175g unsalted butter, room temperature
• 175g caster sugar
• 30g cocoa
• 150g self-raising flour
• 3 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla extract 

Preheat the oven to 180C, and crack your three eggs into a smallish bowl. I like to use a jug or something, anything that my electric hand-held beaters can sit in. Add the vanilla to the eggs, and mix until frothy and pale.

Give the beaters a quick rinse, chop your butter up into a few small chunks and throw into a nice-sized mixing bowl, and combine the caster sugar and butter for a fair amount of time until mixed together. This usually takes a bit longer than I expect it to every time, but eventually it will come together in a nice consistent mixture. 

Slowly drizzle the eggs into the butter and sugar, a bit at a time, stirring all the while until it's all combined nicely. Now the messy part: measure out your 150g of flour and your 30g of cocoa (I normally make up 180g) and put it into a sieve. Hold it nice and high up above the bowl and gently tap it down - it does go a little bit everywhere, but the more air in it the better. Then fold in! Yummy chocolate batter.
Put them in the oven - I normally spread the batter thinly between two cake trays and make sure its greased and lined - and check frequently. Sometimes this cake only takes 10 minutes, so check crazy often! When a skewer is coming out clean, take the cakes out.
Meanwhile, you can start on your icing while the cakes are baking.

Rich cream-cheesey chocolate icing

• 70g unsalted butter, room temperature (the remaining bit of your 250g pack from pack used in the cake)
• 70g cream cheese 
• 225g icing sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 4 tsp cocoa, sifted

Mix together your unsalted butter with the cream cheese and the vanilla until blended, using the hand-held mixer again. This might end up smeared up the sides of your bowl, so just scrape it down. Then carefully sift in the icing sugar and cocoa. This can make a HUGE mess if you use the hand-held mixer, so maybe mix through half using a wooden spoon, then the remainder.

Then try not to eat it with your hands. I know it's a challenge for me.

Wait for your cake to cool (crucial step or your icing will melt and look tragic), and if you're doing cupcakes, smear liberally on top, otherwise coat the top of the lower sandwich half, place the second sandwich half on top, then cover the whole lot in icing. And if you're feeling fancy, sprinkles or whatever you feel like - it's a basic chocolate cake so you can spruce it up a little.

 I guarantee you will be very popular indeed!