Raspberry cuts

Well tonight is Eurovision night, and it is one of those things that I have a bit of a mixed feeling about, but tonight I am going to embrace it and be a bit nostalgic, remembering how it use to be a bit thing when I was young.
And if you are going to do Eurovision, you need to do it right, have baked Danish Hindbærsnitter (raspberry cuts),  lit a few candles and have set up the sofa with pillows and blankets, just like we were young.
And this time around we are even more lucky, we now have 2 changes of winning, kind of, being Danish but living in England must entitle you to root for both countries I think :-)

Raspberry cuts:
400g Plain white flour
300g dairy free margarine
100g icing sugar
1 egg
300g raspberry jam

Icing:
200g Icing sugar
6 teaspoon water

multicoloured sprinkles

1. first layer, 2. raspberry jam, 3. second layer, 4. after baking

Mix together flour, sugar and margarine together.
Wisk up egg and ad to the mix to bring it all together.
The dough will be a bit sticky, but not to worry, just cover the bowl with cling film and let it rest in the fridge for minimum of 30minutes.
Divide the dough in half, and roll out one part between two pieces of backing paper till about 1/4 inch, ½ cm thin (helps to get the right shape if the baking paper on top is the same size as the baking pan). Remove one piece of backing paper and transfer to the baking pan, backing paper down.
Spread the raspberry jam onto the rolled out dough, and leave ½ inch of dough all the way around.
roll out the second piece of dough to the same size and shape as the first one, remove one piece of backing paper, and gently lay it on top of the raspberry jam, then peel off the baking sheet and press down the edges all the way around for the jam not to run out during cooking.
Cook for 18-20 minutes in a 200 degree oven till golden brown.
If it has bubbled up, press down with a piece of kitchen town, being careful not to get burned  on steam that might come out from the middle.

When raspberry cuts have cooled down a bit but still a bit warm, mix icing sugar with water and spread on the cake and sprinkle the sprinkles.
Let the icing set and cut into wanted size pieces and enjoy with a hot beverage.

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Moo Free

For all of you who have been missing dairy chocolate like me, because sometimes it need to be dairy chocolate, but haven’t really liked the taste of the ones where milk have been replaced with soy.
Well here is the answer Moo Free Organic Chocolate bar, it is melt in your mouth delicious and every bit as good as old fashioned milk chocolate, though a bit on the sweet side. 
Even Harrods are now stocking this chocolate, and if the fine pallets behind Harrods give it the tombs up you know it has to be good.

For more information go to www.moofreechocolates.com 

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Make your butter and eat it too

I was so excited when I heard that Lactofree was bringing out a lactofree cream, and the first idea I had was to see if I could make butter with it, which would mean I would get two of the products I have been missing for so long, and do you know what……. IT WORKED.

Besides not being very difficult to make and only taking about 15 min all in all, it taste amazing as well.

I started out with 125ml to begin with, just to see if it would work and it made 55g of butter, and not to forget ¼ cup of buttermilk to use in baking.

All you need is:
Lactofree cream
a jar with a air tight lid
Salt (if you want to make salted butter)

Fill a jar halfway with cream and screw the lid tight on.

Shake the jar up and down until the cream thickens and begins to stick together, don’t get distressed if you feel like it is stuck on the sides and not moving, just keep shaking and eventually it will start to come off the sides and start splitting. When it has started separating into butter and buttermilk, shake for a minute or two more till you get more of one firm ball shaking inside the jar.

Open the lid and drain the liquid into another container, this is buttermilk and can be used for cooking.

Knead the butter under cold water and changing the water a few times till you get clear water, this will insure the butter will not spoil as quickly. Let it rest in a sieve for a few minutes to let access water drain off.

Knead in salt if needed, I used 1/16 teaspoon salt to 125ml cream, but ad a little at a time till you get the taste you want.

Refrigerate and enjoy.

A video I found useful, click here to see. 

And a video that can be useful if making a bigger batch, click here to see.

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Basic Pesto with four variations.

Basic Ingredients

50g pine nuts or walnuts
20g fresh basil leaves
1 garlic clove, pressed (can be left out)
75ml olive oil

Toast the nuts in the oven on 200C/400F/Gas Mark 6 or on a medium pan, until golden brown and allow to cool.
Combine nuts, garlic and olive oil in food processor and pulse for a few times till you get a grainy consistency.
Ad the Basil and pulse for a few times till you get wanted consistency.

Variation one:
100g Lactofree soft white cheese
Just mix in with the pesto and season with salt and pepper, for a creamy pesto.

Version two:
100g Lactofree semi hard cheese
Blend the cheese in the food processor before making the pesto and set aside.
Mix together and season with salt and pepper, for a more traditional pesto.

Version three:
50g Lactofree semi hard cheese
50g Lactofree soft white cheese
Salt and pepper
Follow version two and combine all three and season with salt and pepper at the end, for at pesto that is creamy but with a bit more flavour from the semi hard cheese.

Version four:
25ml olive oil
Lemon juice
Salt and Pepper
Ad the olive oil and season with lemon juice and salt and pepper, for a pesto dressing, good for salads.

Tip: I quite often make a big portion of the basic Pesto recipe and freeze it in an ice cube container, for easy portion control. Just pop one or a few out when needed, thaw and mix with cheese or make as a dressing.

Oat pancakes and fresh fruit syrup

There is just something about a bank holiday Monday that makes you want to relax and really enjoy a day off, not that bank holidays are any different than Sundays, but think it is just the fact that is a Monday where you should have been at work.

I started my bank holiday Monday with oat pancakes and fresh fruit syrup.

1 cup/2 dl porridge (fine) oats
1½cup/3 dl lactofree milk (use a dairy substitute, like oat, rice or soy milk, for a dairy free version)
2 eggs
1 tablespoon oil (flavourless like light olive oil)
½ cup/1 dl plain white flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar

Fresh diced pineapple (or any other preferred fruit).
Maple syrup
dairy free margarine or oil

Mix oats and milk together and let it stand for 10 minutes.
Mix the eggs in the bowl with the oats and milk.
Mix flour, baking powder, salt and sugar in a bowl and ad it gradually to the wet ingredients.
Let it stand for 10-15 minutes.
Stir, and ad small batches to a blini pan or a normal pan, letting them bake 1-2 minutes until the edges starts to firm and bobbles appear, turn and bake for another 1-2 minutes on the other side.
Roast the diced pineapple for a few minutes in a bit of margarine or oil, then ad a splash of Maple syrup, and let the pineapple pieces caramelize.
Serve the pineapple on the pancakes, and drizzle on some more Maple syrup.