On 1st March it is St David’s Day in Wales, and these delicious Welsh cakes are the perfect way to celebrate! What better way is there to say Happy St David’s Day (or Hapus Dydd Gwyl Dewi as we say in Wales!) than baking these delicious treats!

This Welsh cake recipe is courtesy of the brilliant Jamie Oliver and he provides a twist on the traditional Welsh cake recipe. Normally they would be served with currants and sultanas and a sprinkling of sugar, but Jamie Oliver has taken the genius step to serve them with a delicious vanilla infused cream and some fresh strawberries!

 

Ingredients:

For the Welsh Cakes

  • 500g of self-raising flour
  • 75g of caster sugar
  • 1 tsp (heaped) of mixed spice
  • 250g unsalted butter (cold)
  • Sea Salt
  • 150g mixture of raisins and sultanas
  • 1 large free range egg
  • A few splashes of milk

For the Filling

  • 300ml of double cream
  • 1 tbsp of caster sugar
  • 1 tsp of vanilla bean paste
  • 400g of strawberries
  • 1 lemon

Instructions:

Step 1-To start, sieve the flour, caster sugar and mixed spice in to a large mixing bowl to start the mixture for the Welsh cakes. Cut up the 250g of unsalted butter and add it to the bowl with a bit of sea salt. Then get stuck in with your hands to mix it all together until it resembles breadcrumbs. Add in the dried fruit and make a well in the centre of the mixture for the egg. Add some milk and then use a fork to beat the mixture together. Once you are happy you have done this, use your hands to bind the mixture to make the dough.

Step 2-Place a large frying pan on a medium heat. While this is heating up, use a rolling pin and flour to roll the dough out to about a 1cm thickness. Use a pastry cutter to get as many rounds of dough as you can for the Welsh cakes. Test the temperature of your pan before cooking all of the Welsh cakes, try one first and if it comes out too dark, turn the heat down, and if it is still very pale, turn the heat up. The aim is to have a perfectly golden Welsh cake and this usually means about 3-4 minutes of cooking on each side.

Step 3-Cook the remaining pastry rounds in batches and repeat the same process of cooking between 3 and 4 minutes on each side.

Step 4-As the Welsh cakes are done, place them on a wire rack to allow them to cool and sprinkle with any remaining caster sugar. Cut each Welsh cake in half so you have an even top and bottom.

Step 5-In another mixing bowl, whip the cream, caster sugar and vanilla paste together until you have soft peaks.

Step 6-Place the strawberries in to a separate bowl with the juice of one lemon and a bit of caster sugar! Add a serving of the cream and strawberries to each Welsh cake, and they are ready to serve!

Step 7- So whether you are Welsh and celebrating St David’s Day or just want to bake some of these delicious treats, these Welsh cakes are perfect and are guaranteed to put a smile on your face!

Source: Jamie Oliver 

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Large Cooling Rack
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To celebrate Chinese New year, we thought we would release this delicious Char Siu recipe! It is also referred to as Chinese Barbecue Pork, and this recipe is sure to be a popular choice to help the celebrations!

Char Siu combines a host of fantastic flavours including garlic, hoi sin sauce and sesame oil, bringing a real mix of sweet and sour flavours to the dish. This Char Siu Pork dish may look rather daunting in terms of preparation and cooking, but it is in fact rather easy to prepare. So if you are celebrating the Chinese New Year or just fancy cooking something different at home, give this Chinese Barbecue Pork recipe (Char Siu Pork) a go!

 

Ingredients:

For the Pork

  • 800 grams of Belly Pork cut in to 3cm thick large strips
  • 100g of Malt Sugar
  • 25ml of Water (Cook water with the sugar until dissolved)

For the Pork Marinade

  • 1 egg
  • 1 tbsp of sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1 tbsp of yellow bean sauce (mince taucho)
  • 1 tsp of sesame oil
  • 1 tbsp of Hoi Sin sauce
  • 1/2 tbsp of chopped shallot
  • 1 tbsp of Oyster sauce
  • 1 tbsp of chopped garlic
  • 1 tbsp of black sauce
  • 2 tbsp of Chinese cooking wine
  • 1 and a half pieces of Reddish cheese

Instructions:

Step 1-To start making this delicious Char Siu, wash your pork belly and pat dry with kitchen towel once you have done so. To allow the marinade to penetrate the meat, use a fork to pierce some holes in to the piece of pork. Take all the ingredients for the marinade and place them in a mixing bowl. Stir together until they are well mixed.

Step 2-Add the 3cm strips of the pork belly to the marinade and ensure each piece has a good covering of the marinade. Allow the pork to sit in the marinade for around 2 hours, or if you have the time, allow it to sit in the fridge over night.

Step 3-When you are ready to cook, take the pork belly out of the fridge and allow it reach room temperature for an hour or so before you start cooking. Preheat your oven to 220 degrees celcius.

Step 4-Take the 3cm strips of pork belly and place them on a roasting rack. Be sure to put a baking tray or roasting tin underneath the pork to catch any delicious juices that fall while it is cooking. Proceed to cook the pork for about 15 minutes.

Step 5-While the pork is happily cooking away, take any remaining marinade and cook it with the malt syrup on a low heat to form the Char Siu sauce, stirring well to avoid it sticking. You will notice the sauce is done when it starts to thicken nicely.

Step 6-Once the pork has been in the oven for 15 minutes, remove it from the oven and start to cover it with the Char Siu sauce you have just prepared. It is important to cover all of the meat with the sauce, so don’t forget to flip the meat over and cover the other side! Once you have done this, place the pork back in the oven for roughly 7 minutes. Repeat this process 4 times and cook the pork until it starts to become charred at the edges.

Step 7-Allow the meat to cool before cutting in to thick slices. Serve with any remaining sauce.

Step 6-That’s it, all there is left to do now is enjoy this delicious Char Siu Pork for Chinese New Year!

Source: Yummly 

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Since it’s Pancake Day, we thought we would treat you to a second recipe courtesy of BBC Good Food!

Crêpes Suzette are one of the most popular pancake choices among the public, and now you can make them at home for Pancake Day thanks to this fantastic BBC Good Food Crêpes Suzette recipe. The zingy flavour of lemon and orange coupled with the deliciously sweet taste of caramel make you wish it was Pancake Day every day! So try this recipe at home and we guarantee your family won’t be disappointed with the results!

 

Ingredients:

  • 140 grams of plain flour
  • 200ml of whole milk
  • 2 eggs
  • 25g of melted, unsalted butter
  • 3 tbsp of caster sugar
  • 250ml of freshly squeezed orange juice
  • The zest of 1 large orange
  • 1 tsp of lemon juice
  • 1 tbsp of Cointreau
  • 50g unsalted butter

Instructions:

Step 1-Take a medium sized bowl and sift the flour in with a pinch of salt. Make a well in the middle of the bowl. Mix the whole milk with 100ml of water as well. Break the eggs in to the well and start whisking the mixture together. Pour in the milk and water mixture and slowly start to mix in the flour.

Step 2-Whisk the mixture until the batter is smooth. Allow the batter to rest for around 30 minutes then mix in the melted unsalted butter.

Step 3-Heat a frying pan over a medium heat and very lightly grease it with melted butter. Pour around 2 tbsp of batter in to the pan and move it around so the pan is evenly covered. You need enough batter for a relatively thin pancake.

Step 4-Cook the pancake on one side for about 45 seconds until golden brown and then using a palette knife or something similar, flip it and cook on the opposite side for around 30 seconds.

Step 5-Once you are happy the pancake is cooked, take it out of the pan.

Step 7-Take the 3 tbsp of caster sugar and it to a frying pan. Place over a medium heat and allow the sugar to melt without stirring it. You should do this until it turns a delicious amber-coloured caramel.

Step 8-Take the pan off the heat and add in the orange juice taking care to ensure the caramel doesn’t splatter over you. Then add the lemon juice, orange juice and Cointreau (you could use Grand Marnier as an alternative) then place the pan back on a low heat to re-melt the caramel to liquid form.

Step 9-Add the butter to the caramel sauce small quantities at a time and bring to the boil. Add the pancakes back to the pan and warm them slightly before serving these fantastic crêpes suzette!

Source: BBC Good Food 

We’ve all found ourselves in this situation, it's Pancake Day and you haven't really got time to make pancakes for you and your family before work, so you put it off and rush to make some when you get home! This easy blueberry pancakes recipe doesn't require any rushing around at all! All you need is a mixing bowl, frying pan and willingness to flip your pancakes!

Who doesn’t love pancakes, particularly blueberry pancakes? This recipe for one cup pancakes is simply brilliant and comes from the fantastic Mr Jamie Oliver! So why not give these a go and celebrate Pancake Day in style.

 

Ingredients:

  • 200 grams of blueberries
  • 4 tablespoons of natural yoghurt
  • Olive Oil
  • 1 large free-range egg
  • 1 cup of self-raising flour
  • 1 cup of milk
  • Sea Salt

Instructions:

Step 1-Start by making the batter. Add the self-raising flour, the egg, the milk and a pint of the sea salt in to a mixing bowl and whisk everything together until it is a smooth consistency. Fold in the blueberries once this is done.

Step 2-Place a frying pan on a medium heat. Once the pan has warmed, add around half a tablespoon of olive oil ensuring the oil spreads out over the pan.

Step 3-To the frying pan add a few ladles of the batter you have made. Leave space between each ladle of batter so the pancakes have room to spread out and cook properly. You can cook the pancakes in batches as they only take a few minutes each to cook.

Step 4-Cook each pancake for roughly 1 to 2 minutes until they turn a golden brown colour. Flip them carefully to ensure they are evenly cooked. Once they are cooked, you are ready to plate them up.

Step 5-If you plan on cooking a big batch of these delicious once cup pancakes, simply repeat steps 2 to 4 ensuring you add more oil if the pancakes look like they may stick to the bottom of the pan.

Step 6-Serve these easy blueberry pancakes with a spoonful of the natural yoghurt and some more of the berries as garnish.

Source: Jamie Oliver 

To celebrate World Nutella Day, we had to release a recipe! We’ve picked this delicious Nigella Nutella cake courtesy of, you guessed it, the fantastic Nigella Lawson! We found it on the Nigella Lawson website and simply had to share it with you!

This Nutella cake recipe is a fantastic way to celebrate World Nutella Day, and there is no excuse considering how straight forward this recipe is. The Nutella cake has toasted hazelnuts on top which complement the delicious taste of Nutella from the cake itself. Dark chocolate is used in this recipe which adds to the rich flavour of this fantastic cake.

 

Ingredients:

For the Cake

  • 400 grams of Nutella
  • 6 large eggs (separate the whites and yolks)
  • 125 grams of unsalted butter, soft
  • 1 pinch of salt
  • 100 grams if ground hazelnuts
  • 100 grams of melted dark chocolate
  • 1 tbsp of frangelico

For the Icing

  • 125 grams of dark chocolate
  • 100 grams of peeled hazelnuts
  • 125ml of double cream
  • 1 tbsp of frangelico

Instructions:

Step 1-Preheat your oven to 180 degrees celcius/350 degrees Fahrenheit/Gas Mark 4. In a large mixing bowl, mix the egg whites and salt until they start to stiffen. Be careful not to let it get too dry. In another bowl, mix the Nutella and butter together and then add the Frangelico, hazelnuts and egg yolks for the main base for this Nigella Nutella Cake. You don’t have to use Frangelico, rum or water is fine as well.

Step 2-Fold the 100 grams of melted dark chocolate in to the Nutella mixture and start to add in the whisked egg whites bit by bit. Beat this together, adding the rest of the egg whites as you go along.

Step 3-Grease a springform cake tin and line it with greaseproof paper. Pour the mixture in to the cake tin and bake for 40 minutes. If the cake starts to come away from the sides of the tin, it is a good sign that it is ready. Leave the cake to cool.

Step 4-Add the hazelnuts to a frying pan and toast them until they start to turn a golden brown colour, then put them on a separate plate to cool. The hazelnuts must cool or the cake may become oily.

Step 5-To a saucepan, add the 125 grams of dark chocolate, 125ml of double cream and the Frangelico(or whatever you are using) and start to warm on a low heat. Once the chocolate has sufficiently melted, take the pan off the heat and start to whisk it until you believe it is the correct thickness to ice your cake. Remove the cake from the springform tin if it is cool enough.

Step 6-Add the chocolate icing to the cake, smoothing it as you do so. Once the icing is on the cake, place the hazelnuts on the cake. That’s it, you are ready to enjoy this delicious Nutella cake courtesy of the brilliant Nigella Lawson, happy world Nutella day everyone!

Recipe found on the Nigella Lawson website 

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