Summer catch-up; a review of the Chilli Pickle, Brighton and a cupcakes recipe!

Well it’s official. The autumn equinox has come and gone, and I’m already preparing myself for the chilly season ahead (chillis- check. Root veg- check). While there are talks of a possible Indian summer, I feel it’s time to reflect upon my (rather English) summer, having published very little on this blog over the last few months!

The Chilli Pickle, Brighton

I spent most of my summer in Plymouth, and have therefore little to say on the dining out front! My gastronomical high point of the summer has to be a visit to Brighton’s ‘The Chilli Pickle’, where I indulged in some modern yet authentic Indian cuisine, in a vibrant and trendy environment. A typical curry house it is not, don’t go there expecting a korma or a vindaloo. The chilli pickle is a lot more adventurous than that! Expect the likes of a locally-reared braised oxtail curry served with cumin pilau and cucumber onion raita, or maybe you would opt for the venison seekh kebab with caramelised onion, plum chutney and cumin all served up on a butter naan.

Tom ordered the tandoori platter!

 As a seafood junky, I quickly ordered the  ‘Moilly seafood’, which was a fragrant and medium-spiced curry of crab claws (tricky to tackle but so worth it!), juicy king prawns, tender scallops and a fish that was new to my repertoire, known as huss. The flavours of the broth were perfectly layered with a mixture of spice and sweetness, while the samphire in the broth seasoned every bite. The coconut milk created a creamy and delicate base, while the additions of ginger, cardamom and curry leaf added that kick Indian food is so renowned for!

The side that my dish arrived with was an interesting coconut rice steam cake, a texture and taste not too familiar for my palate. Although I appreciated its authenticity and novelty, I decided to gobble up my curry with some fluffy pilau rice we all shared! As a big group, we ended up ordering all the items under the ‘nibbles’ section of the menu, and I found myself addicted to the deep flavours of the original chutneys that came with the poppadoms!

On top of the great food and the stunning decor, the staff were helpful and attentive;  the Chilli Pickle really does go that extra mile to fuse together the delicious flavours of India with the extravagant quirkiness of Brighton.

www.thechillipickle.com

Birthday cupcakes!

I’ve wanted to post this for a while now and I finally got round to doing it! I made these for my 21^st birthday for everyone to enjoy before a night out. My lack of scientific knowledge did give these cakes an unexpected look, but I love the quirkiness of them and felt they really represented my personality!

For the base

·         225g butter (softened for 20 seconds in the microwave)

·         225g caster sugar

·         225g self-raising flour

·         1 tsp vanilla extract

·         4 eggs

·         4 tbsp milk

For the icing

· 175g unsalted butter (slitly softened)

· 350g icing sugar
· 1 tbsp  condensed milk

· A drop of food colouring of your choice (my cakes were originally going to be pink but to my surprise turned orange when I added red colouring! woopsy) 

To decorate

This bit is entirely up to you! Be creative and let the cakes represent you! I used a combination of:

White, milk and dark chocolate chips, chocolate stars, coloured stars, edible glitter, edible silver balls, rainbow drops, sweets. You can also use desiccated coconut, nuts and jellied or dried fruits!

Method

Preheat the oven to 180C. Place cupcake cases in muffin holders and set aside.

Cream together the butter, sugar and vanilla extract in a bowl until fluffy before beating in the eggs. Add the flour and fold in the milk. Spoon the mixture into cases and bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes until they are looking lightly golden and well risen!

For the frosting, beat the softened butter in a bowl and gradually sift in the icing sugar. Beat together until well mixed and stir in the condensed milk and the colouring.

When the cakes have cooled, you can start decorating. Either put the cream in a piping bag fitted with a star nozzle and pipe the icing onto the cakes or spread the icing on the cakes and decorate the tops with chocolate chips etc.! Or you can mix the two methods by spreading the icing evenly on the cake and piping the outside in small concentric circles!

Tarte tatin!

If you have this image of tarte tatin as being this complicated French pastry dish that you wouldn’t dare make at home, this recipe will change your mind!

You don’t need any fancy ingredients, although if you have a vanilla pod, throw in the seeds! Cinnamon is optional but I think it gives it that gastronomical edge!

·         200g puff pastry (plus some flour for dusting)

·         4 eating apples

·         A squeeze of lime

·         100g caster sugar

·         100g butter

·         1 tsp ground cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 200C. Roll out and cut the puff pastry sheet to match the size of your pan, so that it fits perfectly over the top. Your pan must be suitable for use in the oven, so nothing with a plastic handle!

Peel, core and slice the apples in half. As soon as you’ve done each one, place in a bowl of water and lemon juice so they don’t go brown!

Melt the butter with the sugar in the pan over a low heat, stirring occasionally so nothing sticks! Increase the heat slightly once its blended and simmer for a few minutes until the mixture turns a golden-brown caramel colour but this will remain fairly frothy in consistency.

Very carefully, place the apples in the pan as snugly as possible, as they do shrink! Leave to simmer in the caramel for 15-20 minutes.

Once the apples have shrunk slightly and turned a slightly golden colour, leave to cool for a few minutes. Place the pastry over the top, use a wooden spoon to even out the surface and tuck in the edges! Place in the oven for 20 minutes, or until it looks something like this;

Take out and leave for a couple of minutes before very carefully turning out the tart onto a big plate, preferably with edges so the caramel doesn’t ooze out! Be very careful when doing this and always wear protective gloves and have a tea towel over your arm to prevent splashing! Decorate with icing sugar or some grated nuts!

Et voila!

Irresistible honey and almond cake

This recipe is perfect for a rainy day, when you just want to snuggle up with a cup of tea and a good book (I’m currently reading Bill Bryson’s At Home: A short History of Private Life). I made this cake with my boyfriend last week after moving back to Cornwall for the summer, and it filled the house with that delicious aroma of ‘something sweet is baking’! Despite a couple of setbacks, the cake turned out perfectly moist and delicately sweet!

You’ll need

·         200g self-raising flour

·         150g butter (unsalted)

·         115g brown sugar

·         175g honey (plus 1tbsp more for glazing)

·         Juice from half a lemon

·         2 eggs

·         Some flaked almonds for the topping

Pre-heat the oven to 180C, and find a cake tin (about 8 inch) to line with baking paper and grease with some butter.

In a small saucepan, combine the butter, sugar, honey and lemon juice and stir over a medium heat until melted and smooth. Take of the heat for about 5 minutes, giving it time to cool slightly before beating in the eggs and sifting in the flour. Stir until fairly smooth (some small lumps are fine!) and pour into your prepared cake-tin.

Just before placing in the oven, scatter the flaked almonds generously over the cake. Leave in the oven to cook for 30-35 minutes or until risen and golden brown. Pierce the cake with a thin skewer through the middle to check if it comes out clean (meaning its set and ready). Drizzle over some honey while still warm and leave to cool in the tin for 10 minutes before tucking in (it will be heard to resist, I know!).

 I enjoyed my cake with a generous scoop of honeycombe ice cream!

Happy pancake day!

Pancake day, or shrove Tuesday, is definitely one of the days in my foodie calendar that I look forward to. Not only does it mean that spring has almost sprung, but it also means you can indulge completely guilt-free.

I woke up with an awful cold this morning, but was determined to make some breakfast pancakes. I won’t bother with a recipe as they are circulating the internet like crazy at the moment, but I spiced my batter up a bit by adding 2 tablespoons of coconut powder and of course, a whole lotta sugar! My toping of choice was the not-so-traditional nutella, but I never understood the appeal of sour lemon and a soggy pancake.

As shrove Tuesday marks the start of lent, pancakes were traditionally used as one last bit of indulgence for all things you were meant to give up, including butter and eggs! Seeing as I won’t be doing that, I substituted my butter for some olive oil and only used butter to season the pan before each pancake, which gave me the same flavour but less calories!

I enjoyed my pancakes with some freshly brewed Fortnum and Mason’s Countess Grey tea, which I received as a present from my boyfriend’s family a few months ago.

The perfect breakfast!

Quick Bites: White chocolate brownies with dark, milk and white choc chips!

Brownies are everyones guilty little pleasure! This valentine’s day finally gave me an excuse to bake these calorific treats! As a cute little activity I thought it might be fun to bake them together with my boyfriend and I have to say I enjoyed the lack of mixing and stirring on my behalf!

You’ll need (makes 8-12)

·         400g of white chocolate

·         85g butter

·         1 pack of white chocolate chips

·         1 pack of milk chocolate chips

·         1 pack of dark chocolate chips

·         3 eggs

·         1 ½ cups of flour

·         2 teaspoons of vanilla essence

·         2 tablespoons of caster sugar

Preheat the oven to 190*C. Make a bain marie using a saucepan filled with boiling water and a heat proof bowl over the top. Add the butter and break apart the white chocolate bars into small chunks before melting it all together and stirring until smooth. In a separate bowl, beat the eggs with the sugar and vanilla essence before adding the melted chocolate and butter mixture. Stir well and sift the flower into the bowl, stirring well. Leave to cool for a few minutes and line a baking tray with some baking/greaseproof paper. Once the mixture is cool, fold in the chocolate chips so they are spread out evenly but do not over mix! Simply pour in all the batter into the baking tray and bake for 25 minutes! Leave to cool for 10 minutes before cutting into chunks and serve with some vanilla ice cream!

Tip: If you want to substitute the white chocolate base for regular chocolate, use plain chocolate but change the quantity of the sugar to a full cup to sweeten it up!

Chestnut, almond and cinnamon twists!

When my mum came back from her weekly food shop with a tin of chestnut puree, I was a little surprised as neither of us had any idea what it was, or what we are meant to do with it. While everything else was slowly getting eaten, it sat in lonesome in the fridge for a week after Christmas until we decided to put it to good use. I thought it might go well with cinnamon and consequently pastry came straight to mind (cinnamon + pastry = yummm). Along with some leftover ground almonds (which we originally used for our Christmas dessert) and a sprinkle of demerrera to sweeten it up, we created some perfect tea time treats.

·         1 sheet of puff pastry (I used Jus rol)

·         Approx 4 tablespoons of chestnut puree (ours had a hint of vanilla)

·         1 tablespoon of ground cinnamon

·         1 tablespoon of demerrera/brown sugar

·         A small handful of almonds, ground.

·         1 egg

Preheat the oven to 200C and line 2 trays with baking paper. Unroll the puff pastry sheet then carefully fold it in half as a guide to cut through the middle. Beat the egg and using a brush, egg wash one side of both halves of the pastry sheet.

One sheet should remain empty from any filling while you should spread the other half with a layer of the chestnut puree (just enough to cover the sheet but not too thick). In a small bowl, combine the brown sugar, cinnamon and ground almond and sprinkle over the puree, to cover the whole sheet.

Carefully pick up the empty sheet and place it egg washed side down (this will help it stick to the other half) on top of the filling half of the sheet, to make a sort of sandwich. Then with a cutter or sharp knife, cut about 3 cm thick strips across the sheet. Pick up each strip carefully and twist from the ends and place on the baking sheet. Once all strips are twisted, egg wash the top of each strip before placing in the oven for 12-15 minutes or until golden and puffed.

 
 For a guide on this technique, watch this youtube video, from Pepperidge Farm:

Enjoy!