Dessert | The Mindfulness Kitchen

Kaiserschmarrn with Spiced plums

By Emma Hawkins | November 29, 2017 | Comments 0 Comment

We’re almost into the excitement of Christmas, but here’s one last autumn recipe before the winter warmers come in. I first came across Kaiserschmarrn when I was browsing in the cook book section in a massive book shop. I’ve always loved foreign dishes that I haven’t heard of before, and so I made a note to look it up when I got home. It’s not the prettiest or most refined of dishes, but it tastes really good which is just as important. If you’re not Austrian, Kaiserschmarrn essentially means cut up pancakes with rum and dried fruits. It’s then sprinkled with sugar and put under the grill to caramelise. All in all this elevates the classic pancake to a perfectly delicious dessert.

I’ve paired this with spiced plums, as the first time I made it it came out pretty dry. The plums and the juices from them hydrate the dish and bring some warming fruity flavours which work really well with the soft pancakes and rum. I think traditionally this is made with thin pancakes, more similar to a french crepe, but I’m using thick Scotch pancakes for this as I think the light, fluffy texture works really well. They also soak up the juices and rum a lot better, but you can go for crepes if you prefer.

Recipe

Serves 8

Time 45 minutes

Ingredients

For the pancakes

300g Self-raising flour
1 ½ tbsp Baking powder
60g Caster sugar
2 Large eggs
200ml Milk
Vegetable oil for greasing
4 tbsp Rum
190g Raisins
80g Butter
100g Flaked almonds
2 tbsp Icing sugar
1 tsp Ground cinnamon

For the plum sauce

8 Plums, halved and stoned
125g Caster sugar
65ml Orange juice
65ml Water
1 Cinnamon stick
1 Vanilla pod

Method

Begin by making the pancakes. Put the flour, baking powder and caster sugar into a bowl. Mix to combine and then make a well in the centre. Add the egg and milk in the well and then whisk until combined and smooth.
Put a large frying pan with 1 tbsp of vegetable over a medium heat. Using a ladle pour a neat circle of batter into the middle of the pan. Leave to cook for 1-2 minutes, until bubbles start to form on top, and then turn over and cook on the other side.
Once cooked on both sides transfer onto a large plate. Repeat with the rest of the mixture to create a large stack of pancakes.
Cut the stack of pancakes into 5 strips and then cut these strips into 5 to get squares.
Now make the spiced plums. Put the all the ingredients for the sauce in a pan over a high heat. Bring to the boil, cover with a lid and then leave on a low heat to gently simmer until the plums soften – about 20 minutes.
Take the sticks and vanilla pod out of the pan and then set aside for later.
Now finish the kaiserchmacchan. Heat the rum in a small saucepan. Add the raisins and then leave off the heat to soak.
Pre-heat the grill on high heat. Melt the butter in a large frying pan. Add the pancake squares, the raisins and rum mix, and the almonds. Cook for 3-4 minutes whilst stirring until warmed through and starting to brown.
Sift the cinnamon and icing sugar over the top and then put under the grill. Once the sugar starts to caramelise, take out from under the grill and serve immediately with the plums and vanilla ice cream.

Thanks for reading!

Emma x

Pear Tart Tatin

By Emma Hawkins | November 26, 2017 | Comments 0 Comment

Here’s another french classic – pear tart tatin. Soft, juicy pears, sticky caramel and crisp, caramelised pastry – it’s a classic for a reason. Unlike most tarts, this one’s unusual as it’s baked upside down. The caramel is made in the pan, then the pears go on top, the pastry on top of that, and then it’s all whopped in the oven. Then when it comes out it’s turned over to show the deliciously caramelised pears. As well as giving the pastry a beautiful flavour, this way of cooking it all also helps to keep the pastry crisp, as the juice from the pears doesn’t have the chance to rest on the pastry when it’s in the oven, and make it soggy.

The first time I ever made this I used shop bought puff pastry and roughly chopped apples. These are two great alterations to make if you want to save time or if you’re just starting to learn how to bake. On the other hand, if you haven’t made your own puff pastry before I’d recommend giving it a go. It takes a bit of time, but it’s not so much time that you have to work on it, more just that you have to leave it a lot to chill in between turns. This recipe is for rough-puff which is a slightly easier and quicker variation on full-puff pastry, but it still gives a beautiful light and crispy pastry.

Recipe

Serves 8

Time: 2 hours (plus time for chilling) – much shorter if using shop bought puff pastry

Ingredients

For the rough-puff pastry

225g Plain flour
½ tsp Salt
250g Unsalted butter, cut into small cubes
150ml Cold water

For the Filling

3 tbsp Water
100g Caster sugar
60g Unsalted butter, diced
4 Conference pears, peeled, cored and quartered

Method

Put the flour and salt into a large bowl. Add the cubed butter and stir until each piece is coated in flour, trying not to break the butter up too much.
Pour in the water and then stir with a round-bladed knife to bring the dough together.
Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and shape into a rough rectangle. Wrap in clingfilm and then chill in the fridge for 15-20 minutes.
Roll the pastry out onto a floured surface into a long rectangle until about 1cm thick. Fold the bottom third up onto the middle third of the pastry. Then fold the top third down onto the other two thirds to make a block one third of the original long rectangle.
Turn the pastry 90˚ so that the folded edge faces you, not the smooth edge. Press the ends down with a rolling pin to seal. Chill in the fridge for another 15 minutes.
Repeat steps 4-5 another 4 times.
Chill the pastry in the fridge for at least an hour, ideally overnight.
When the pastry is ready you can begin to assemble. In a large frying pan (which can go in the oven) put the water and caster sugar. Leave for 5 minutes so that the sugar absorbs the water.
Put over a medium heat and gently bring to the boil. Leave until a golden caramel forms – be careful not to stir during this process and the sugar will crystalize. Add the butter and stir to melt and combine. Leave to cool slightly.
Meanwhile roll out the pastry on a floured surface until about the thickness of a pound coin. Cut out a circle 2cm wider than the diameter of the pan.
Add the peeled and cored pears to the caramel in a spiral, all facing the same way. Then add the pastry on top, pressing the excess around the side of the pears so that the pastry snuggles everything in.
Put into the oven and bake for 20-25 minutes until golden brown and crisp.
Once ready take it out of the oven and get ready to turn it out. Take a toasting tin or large bowl and a large plate. Put the plate over the pan so that when turned over the tart will be on the plate. Hold the pan and plate together, and turn 90˚ over the roasting tin to let the juices drain – this will prevent the pastry from going soggy when turned out. Once the juices have stopped dripping, turn over completely, tap a bit to release and then take the pan away.
Serve immediately with double cream or ice cream.

Thanks for reading!

Emma x

Mississippi Mud Pie

By Emma Hawkins | November 22, 2017 | Comments 0 Comment

It’s thanksgiving tomorrow, and how better to celebrate it than with a huge Mississippi mud pie. Being a Brit I don’t normally celebrate, or even know when thanksgiving is. Yet luckily last Sunday I was at one of my drama rehearsals, and when we were trying to work out who was free for a rehearsal this Thursday a fellow cast memeber, who’s American, replied ‘yes, even though it’s Thanksgiving’. The convo then spiralled off into talks of pumpkin pie and pastry crusts, but this got me thinking. Why not look into classic American dishes and make one to celebrate? I know Mississippi Mud Pie isn’t strictly traditional for thanksgiving, and the Americans out there will be gritting their teeth that I haven’t made a pumpkin or pecan pie. But personally I find the later overly sweet and not suited to my British palette, whereas this chocolate binge of a pie is heaven on a plate to me.

I’m not sure why it’s called Mississippi mud pie – the name unfortunately doesn’t do the dish justice. I’ve been skipping past it in cook books for years, not even looking to see what it is, and stupidly I think it’s probably because of the name. There have been many variations from the original, but it’s essentially a chocolate biscuit base, a gooey chocolate brownie on top, then a smooth chocolatey creamy mousse thing, and finally topped off with freshly whipped cream. I’m a huge chocoholic, and as I was making this I was getting way too excited with each layer I was putting on. You might be looking at it and thinking that’s way too much chocolate, but it’s actually not overpowering. Think of it as an ombre cake where each layer is slightly more subtle than the last. The Oreo and Bourbon base is really rich, then the brownie is slightly sweeter and less rich, then the next layer is chocolatey and creamy, and the top layer of cream is a great break from the chocolate.

With the days getting darker at the moment I’m constantly struggling to make my dishes before the light dims and so I was a little rushed making this. As I wanted to photograph this before the natural light started to go, to avoid the yellow wash that comes from my kitchen lights, I took it out of the mould after only two hours of resting. When you read the recipe you’ll see that I recommend at least 4 hours, or even better overnight, which is why in some of the pictures the chocolate filling is pouring out everywhere. Trust me though, if you leave it for long enough it will set and look beautiful when cut. I left mine in the fridge over night and this morning the chocolate filling had set and gone all beautiful, so be patient. That said, it still tasted amazing after 2 hours, so if you can’t wait, and you don’t need it to look neat and elegant when cut into, an hour is long enough for chilling.

Recipe

Serves at least 8

Time 1 hour 15 minutes, plus lots of time for chilling

Ingredients

For the Chocolate crust

160g Oreos
200g Bourbon biscuits
100g Unsalted butter, melted, plus extra for greasing

For the Chocolate brownie

150g Butter
210g Dark chocolate
3 Medium eggs
210g Caster sugar
40g Plain flour
100g White chocolate, roughly chopped

For the Chocolate filling

100g Dark chocolate
290ml Whole milk
3 Egg yolks
60g Caster sugar
15g Plain flour
1 tbsp Cocoa powder
20g Cornflour
150ml Double cream

For the Topping

350ml Double cream
1 tsp Vanilla bean paste
Cocoa powder for dusting

Method

Pre-heat the oven to 180˚C. Grease and line a 24cm loose bottomed cake tin with butter and baking paper.
Put the biscuits into a large bowl and crush with the end of a rolling pin to make into a fine crumb. Pour over the butter and mix to combine.
Tip the mixture out into the tin and smooth out into an even thickness with a spoon. Put into the oven and bake for 5 minutes to firm it up.
Now make the brownie mix. Put the butter and chocolate into a bowl over a pan of simmering water and leave to melt.
Take another bowl and whisk the eggs until pale and fluffy with an electric whisk. Add the sugar and continue to whisk until it leaves a trail when the whisk is taken out.
Fold the chocolate into the eggs, sieve in the flour and add the chopped white chocolate. Fold everything again until combined.
Pour the mixture into the biscuit case and bake again for about 15-20 minutes until a crust has formed on top and it feel slightly firm. Set aside to cool.
Now make the chocolate filling. Put the chocolate into a heat-proof bowl and melt over a pan of simmering water. Put the milk into a pan and heat until just boiling.
In another bowl whisk the egg yolks, sugar, plain flour, cocoa powder and cornflour until smooth. Pour in the milk whilst whisking until smooth.
Pour the mixture back into the pan and cook gently until just starting to thicken. Take off the heat, stir in the melted chocolate and leave in the fridge to cool completely.
Take the filling out of the fridge and whisk to break up. In another bowl whisk the double cream to soft peaks. Fold the cream into the chocolate mix and then pour this over the cool brownie. Put this into the fridge to chill for 2 hours.
Finally whip up the double cream and vanilla into soft peaks. Spoon this into a pipping bag with a round nozzle and pipe in blobs over the chilled chocolate filling. Put all this back into the fridge to chill for at least another 2 hours, or even better overnight.
When ready to eat, take it out of the mould and dust with cocoa powder before serving.

Thanks for reading and happy Thanksgiving for tomorrow!

Emma

The Almighty Sticky-Apple-Ginger-Praline Cake

By Emma Hawkins | November 5, 2017 | Comments 0 Comment

This is the third cake in our trio of big cakes – and I think I’ve saved the best till last! This kinda snowballed until it became what we see here, which is why I’ve named it ‘the almighty…’ – as it’s jam packed with flavours and textures. As always it began as just a simple ginger cake. Then I thought why not add apples and dates to make it extra sticky and moist. Sticky cakes work really well with crunchy pecan praline, so that got added in, and then some sparklers were clearly needed to put the cherry on the top.

That said, I did have bonfire night in mind, and I wanted to make a cake which encompassed all flavours of the occasion. From warming ginger to caramel apples, this cake is everything you could want for a cold autumnal evening. If you don’t have a crowd to feed, and trust me this cake will feed a crowd, you can use 2/3 of the cake mix and do a two layer version which will work just as well. Similarly, if you want a cake that’s easy to transport and share you can use 2/3 of the mix and do a large tray-bake, or even make cupcakes, so that you can distribute it easily.

Recipe

Serves 14

Time: 2 1/2 hours

Ingredients

For the sticky apple and ginger cake

500g Chopped dates
500ml Water
6 Large eggs
300g Light brown sugar
75 Dark brown sugar
50g Golden syrup
3 tsp Vanilla extract
300g Butter, melted
4 Medium cooking apples, peeled and cored (about 600g)
525g Self raising flour
5 1/2 tsp Ground ginger
3 tsp Bicarbonate of Soda
Pinch of salt

For the icing

140g butter
400g cream cheese
1kg icing sugar

For the pecan praline

100g Sugar
75g Pecans

To decorate

1 Granny Smith apple
100g Caster sugar
1 Can of Carnations Caramel (about 375g)
Sparklers (optional)

Method

Pre-heat the oven to 180˚C. Then line three 7.5inch tins with butter and baking paper.
Put the chopped dates and water into a saucepan and bring to the boil. Leave to simmer for 5 minutes and then take off the heat and set aside.
With an electric whisk, whisk the eggs, sugars, syrup and vanilla together until pale and fluffy. Then, whilst whisking, slowly pour in the melted butter.
Using a large spatula, fold the date mixture into the egg mixture. Then grate the peeled and cored apple into the main bowl and fold this in.
Sift the flour, ginger, bicarb and salt into the wet ingredients and fold with a large spatula until fully combined.
Pour the mixture into the three lined tins and bake for 35-45 minutes, until a skewer comes out clean when inserted into the centre of the cakes.
Turn the cakes out onto cooling racks and leave to cool completely.
Now make the cream-cheese frosting. Put the butter into a large bowl and beat until smooth and soft. Add the cream cheese and half the icing sugar an beat again until smooth. Add the rest of the icing sugar and beat again until smooth. Leave in the fridge until needed.
To make the pecan praline put the sugar into a saucepan with 60ml of water. Put the pan over a medium heat and bring to the boil, without stirring, and leave until a golden brown colour has developed.
Put the pecans onto a baking sheet, pour the caramel over them and then leave to cool completely.
Once cooled, break the praline up, either with a rolling pin or by hand. Then put it into a food processor and blitz into a coarse crumb.
Now start to build the cake. Put a dollop of the icing onto the board you’ll present the cake on, and put the base sponge onto this blob – this will stop the cake moving around. Spoon some of the icing onto the cake and spread over, making the side slightly more raised than the centre. Sprinkle ½ of the praline into the centre of the cake, and then put the second sponge on top. Repeat the icing and then praline on this second cake, and then top with the final cake.
Using a palette knife, spread the frosting over the cake, trying to make as smooth a surface as possible – this is called the ‘crumb-coat’. I find putting a big blob on the top of the cake and then working it over and round the sides a good way of getting the icing on. Keep enough of the icing to do another coat and to pipe rosettes on top (about 1/3 – 1/2 of the original amount). Put the cake in the fridge until the icing has set slightly.
Meanwhile make the apple decorations. Quarter the apple and core it. Then slice each quarter into 3 to make 12 apple segments. In a pan put the sugar and 50ml of water, like you did above for the praline. Bring to the boil and heat until a golden caramel forms. Add the apple segments and shake in the pan to coat fully (don’t stir as this may crystallise your caramel). Turn the apples out onto a greaseproof sheet, and leave to cool completely – if you can separate them before they cool this will make it easier later!
Take the cake out of the fridge and make a second coat of icing, making sure it’s really smooth as this will be on show. Heating a palette knife slighting under hot water or with a blow torch can be a good way to get a smooth finish. Leave in the fridge to set.
Pour the caramel into a bowl and heat in a microwave or pan until just starting to loosen. Stir to make an even consistency, and then pour into a jug or pipping bottle – anything that’s easy to operate and will give you control when pouring.
Pipe the caramel around the edge of the cake so that it just drips over the edge. You want the drips to be slightly uneven, so you can vary how much is squeezed over the edge in various places. Fill the middle of the cake with the rest of the caramel and then leave in the fridge for 15 minutes to set.
Take the pipping bag with the frosting and pipe rosettes around the edge of the cake. Sprinkle the rest of the praline into the centre and then top with the caramelised apples. Finish with some sparklers to bring some extra bonfire magic!

Thanks for reading and happy bonfire night!

Emma x

Snicker Spiderweb Cheesecake

By Emma Hawkins | October 22, 2017 | Comments 0 Comment

With my art course in full swing now I’m constantly in need of quick snacks to keep me going, and for some reason I keep on turning to Snickers, (I think it’s due to the relatable adjectives now on the packaging – grouchy and sleepy in particular). I’m also a big cheesecake fan, and so I thought it was about time that I made a Snicker cheesecake thing.

I’ve named this a ‘cheesecake’ as it’s technically classifiable as one, but I should say now that it’s not your classic cheesecake. As usual I’ve gone pretty OTT with this recipe, and so it’s evolved into more of a cheesecake, torte, puddingy block. We don’t just have some biscuits, cream cheese and icing sugar. We have a peanut base, a liquid salted peanut caramel centre, surrounded by a caramel cheesecake layer, topped with a chocolate torte mixture and finished with a chocolate mirror glaze and chocolate buttercream rosettes. But this is the time of year to go all out with indulgent foods, so why hold back?

If you do want to make a simpler version though, you can leave out the chocolate torte and buttercream, and rather than doing a caramel peanut centre, mix the peanuts into the caramel cheesecake instead. This way you have peanuts, caramel and chocolate (the essentials), but it’ll take half the time to make.

It can’t have escaped anyone’s notice that Halloween is creeping up on the horizon, and so I’ve decorated this with a spider’s web to get in the mood. If you’re making this when spiderwebs are out of season you can pipe the chocolate in spirals over the glaze, rather than in this pattern, to create a more multi-seasonal design that way.

Recipe

Serves 16

Time: 2 1/2 hours (plus lots more time for chilling)

Ingredients

For the base

300g Peanut biscuits
100g Digestive biscuits
170g Butter

For the peanut caramel

310g Caramel (I used Carnations)
100g Peanuts (if salted don’t add the extra 1/2 tsp of salt)
½ tsp Sea salt

For the caramel cheesecake layer

125g Marscapone
125g Philadelphia
½ tsp Vanilla bean paste
50g Icing sugar
80g Caramel
150ml Double cream

For the chocolate torte layer

150g Good quality dark chocolate (at least 70% solids)
300ml Double cream
13g Icing sugar
1tsp Vanilla extract

For the chocolate mirror glaze

150ml Double cream
135g Caster Sugar
55g Cocoa powder
3 ½ Leaves gelatine

To decorate

100g White chocolate
2 tbsp Double cream
200g Butter
100g Icing sugar
75g Cocoa powder
1 Bag Snicker bites

Method

Line a deep round 20cm loose-bottom cake tin with butter and acetate (or baking paper), making sure that the strip around the sides comes above the top of the tin.
Begin by making the biscuit layer. Put the two types of biscuits into a large bowl and break up into crumbs using the end of a rolling pin. Don’t worry if there’s chunks of peanuts because of the peanut biscuits, this’ll just create some texture.
Melt the butter in a pan and then add this to the biscuits. Stir to combine, the biscuits should start to clump together slightly.
Pour this mix into the lined tin and even out with the back of a spoon until an even thickness. Chill in the fridge for 20minutes until firm.
Meanwhile prep the caramel. Put the caramel, peanuts and salt into a small bowl and mix to combine. Spoon this onto the prepare base, leaving a 1-2cm boarder around the edge , so that the caramel forms a smaller circle in the middle. Leave in the fridge to set for 20 minutes.
Now make the caramel cheesecake layer. Using an electric whisk, whisk together the mascarpone, Philadelphia, vanilla, icing sugar and caramel until smooth. Then add the double cream and continue to whisk until smooth and the mixture is thick enough to hold it’s shape – this will only take 1-2 minutes so be careful not to overwhisk.
Pour or pipe around the side of the cheesecake, to seal the peanut caramel in. Then spoon over the caramel, to completely cover it. Leave in the fridge to set for at least 2 hours.
Once set you can move onto the chocolate layer. Put the chocolate into a heatproof bowl and gently melt over a pan of simmering water. Take off the heat and stir in the cream until the mixture is smooth and glossy. Sift and stir in the icing sugar, and then stir in the vanilla extract. Let the mixture cool for 10 minutes.
Pour the chocolate on top of the caramel cheesecake and then put into the fridge to chill for at least 3 hours, until firm.
Once the chocolate layer has set you can make the chocolate mirror glaze. Put the cream, sugar, cocoa, and 150ml water into a small pan. Heat whilst stirring until all the sugar is dissolved, I find using a whisk is a good way to get rid of lumps of cocoa.
Bring to the boil and simmer for 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and leave to cool for another 2 minutes. Meanwhile take a bowl of water and soak the gelatine leaves until they’re squidgy. Take the gelatine out of the water and squeeze to remove excess water. Put into the chocolate mix and stir to dissolve.
Leave the glaze to cool for 20 minutes. Pass through a sieve and then test with a thermometer to make sure it’s cooled down enough not to melt the chocolate layer in the cheesecake (below 38˚C should be enough).
Pour the glaze over the cheesecake and leave to partially set in the fridge for 30 minutes. Meanwhile melt the white chocolate in a heat-proof bowl over a pan of simmering water. Add the double cream and stir to combine.
Pour the white chocolate into a piping bag with a small nozzle and set aside until needed.
When the glaze is just starting to firm up you can start to pipe. Pipe the white chocolate in 8 lines, each coming from the middle of the cheesecake. Then join the straight lines with curved lines to make a spider-web shape – I find having a picture of a spiderweb in front of me helps with this. Leave in the fridge for 2-3 hours to set completely.
Now make the chocolate buttercream icing. Mix the butter, icing sugar and cocoa powder together until smooth and uniform in colour. Each butter varies in water content, and so will produce different consistencies of buttercream. If your mixture is too soft to hold its shape add 50g icing sugar and 25g cocoa and then mix to combine. Do this as many times as is needed until a thick mixture is reached. Spoon into a piping bag with a star nozzle.
Once the mirror glaze is set, pipe rosettes of the icing round the edge of the cheesecake, before topping with halved snicker bite pieces. Leave in the fridge until ready to serve!

Thanks as always for reading! I hope you liked this one, any comments or questions just let me know.

Emma x