Lay the table » nuts

Honey pistachio muffins with chocolate cardamom eggless custard

Becs — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 21:27:27 +0000

What I love about blogging and chatting to fellow foodies is that it gets me started in all sorts of hair brained creative ideas. I found this wonderful blog post: Food Endeavours of the Blue Apocalypse: Chocolate and cardamom soft centred pudding and I thought hmmm, chocolate….and cardomom. I also had a chat with Mike of Indie Ices at the Leeds Loves Food festival a few weeks back and that gave me a few ideas too! I tried his mango kulfis at one of the TestSpace events last year and since I found out he makes pistachio kulfi AND it’s won prizes at The Great Taste Awards, I’d been dying to try even just a spoonful of this magic frozen treat. I wasn’t wrong about how delish it was, and guess what? It had cardomom in!

Last weekend it was Mr Laythetable’s friend’s birthday. I was set the task of “make him a cake, the more chocolatey the better – something I won’t like” (because Mr Laythetable likes chocolate, and cake, but not chocolate IN cake!) and I knew just the recipe! How many recipe books are sitting on your shelf gathering dust? Quite a few in my house, but they’re taking up real estate on my book shelf, so damn it I’m gooing to use them! I made the Brooklyn Blackout Cake from the Hummingbird Bakery cookbook and happened to have some of the eggless custard left over – I’m in denial that this was a deliberate move. I totally didn’t lick any off the spoon either, you didn’t see me do it so you can’t prove anything.

So what else do you do when you’re left with a surplus amount of eggless chocolate custard and a need to bake something tasty? When in Rome, or, when in the kitchen, bake muffins. Spoon a bit of the custard inside, slap a bit on top and don’t get fussy about the way you put it on, they’re not meant to be the prettiest things in world! A bit of a sprinkle of pistachio and you’re done…enjoy

{Makes 15 muffins}

Ingredients

For the eggless chocolate custard

Adapted from Hummingbird Bakery book

125g caster sugar
¼tbsp golden syrup
35g cocoa powder
50g cornflour
25g unsalted butter
3 cardamom pods

For the muffins

310g plain flour
250ml full fat milk
130g granulated sugar
110g unsalted butter
1tbsp baking powder
4tbsp honey
2 eggs
40g shelled pistachios

Instructions

Soak the cardamom pods in boiling water for about 5 minutes until the pods soften, then pop open and remove the seeds. Dry on a kitchen towel then crush with a pestle and mortar.
Put the sugar, golden syrup, coca powder and cardamom seeds in a large saucepan with 150ml water and bring to the boil. Mix cornflour with 50ml water in a bowl then stir into saucepan, whisking vigourously. It should thicken fairly instantly. Bring back to the boil then leave for a minute or so to cook. Turn off the heat and stir in the butter.
Take a baking tray and line with foil, then spread out the custard. Leave to cool.
Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F/Gas Mark 6 and line muffin tray with muffin cases.
Melt the butter in the microwave then leave to cool but not solidify. Place the pistachios in a blender and pulse until nearly smooth but not quite. Remove two tablespoons of the finest bits in a separate dish for garnishing the muffins.
Mix the flour, ground pistachio, salt and baking powder together and in a separate bowl mix the eggs, milk, honey and sugar. Bit by bit, add the butter to the flour mixture, then add the eggy milk mixture until it has just mixed – it will be quite a lumpy mix but that’s exactly how we want it to be!
Spoon 1 tablespoon of mixture into cases, then take a teaspoon of the chocolate custard and spoon into the centre of the muffin. Then add another tablespoon of mixture over the top. Bake in the oven for 20 minutes, then remove from the oven and leave to cool on a wire rack.
Once cool, load the spatula end with the custard then slap down on the middle of the muffin and pull spatula backwards, giving it that “wiped on” look. Top with a sprinkle of the reserved pistachio to finish.

Chicken satay

Becs — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 15:55:15 +0000

These make a great party snack or even a tasty supper when served with rice! Good quality chicken is a must, and don’t forget, the longer you marinate these the better they’ll taste! So if you have time to prepare these the day before, even better.

Tip: Add 1tbsp curry powder when adding the peanut butter and brown sugar to the pan for a spiced up version

{Serves 3 people when served with rice as a dinner}

Ingredients

For the marinade

3 chicken breasts
2 cloves garlic
2 tbsp fresh coriander
2 tbsp oil

For the satay sauce

200ml coconut milk
2 heaped tbsp peanut butter (I find smooth works better but if you prefer crunchy, go ahead)
2 tbsp brown sugar
1 tbsp oil
Dash of pepper

Instructions

Crush the garlic, roughly chop and coriander and mix with the oil in a large bowl/tray.
Using a meat tenderiser, gently bash the chicken between cling film. This stops it moving about and ensures even tenderising! Then cut into small 2cm wide slices.
Mix the chicken with the marinade, cover and place in the fridge for at least one hour, preferably overnight.
Soak wooden skewers for 30 minutes in a bowl of water, this stops them burning. Then gently push the chicken onto the skewers. We used approximately 10 skewers, using about ⅔ of each skewer.
Cook the chicken for around 12-15 minutes, turning halfway to ensure even cooking.
To make the sauce: Put the oil in the pan and warm slightly over a medium heat before adding the peanut butter and brown sugar. Allow the sugar to dissolve and the peanut butter to become runnier before mixing in the coconut milk bit my bit. Bring to the boil then leave to simmer gently for 5 minutes.

Brown sugar & cinnamon cashews and pecans

Becs — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 23:17:27 +0000

These make a perfect bonfire treat, especially when served still warm. My mother always brings me these back from Belgium when she visits as she knows I love them so much. You should eat a handful of nuts and seeds every day, so this is just a tasty way of doing it. I’ll be making some more of these for my Christmas food hampers, wrapped in cellophane with a ribbon.

15mins – Prep time: 5mins – Cooking time: 10mins

Ingredients

150g pecan halves
150g cashews, unsalted
100g golden caster sugar
1 tbsp ground cinnamon

Instructions

Line a large frying pan with foil (this saves on washing up!)
Put the cinammon and the sugar in the pan and heat until it just starts to melt.
Add the pecans and cashews and stir to ensure even distribution. Cook until nuts have browned a little.
Remove foil with nuts from the pan and allow to cool a little. Then tip onto a plate to prevent the nuts sticking to the foil