Hooked on cooking – Dessert design - a vertical split

 … with a twist

Sorry, couldn't resist an Olympics idea – this sounds like some sort of fancy dive with a degree of difficulty to make your eyes water.

Instant dessert or may be a treat for the cheflets to assemble themselves, this is a variation of a banana split but built vertically in your trusted picnic plastic – the smoothie cups would be ideal.

For 4 cheflets

4 bananas – peeled and sliced when

ready to assemble

4 scoops of vanilla ice cream

4 tbsp of chocolate sauce (see below)

2 tbsp of flaked almonds or chopped

pistachios

glacé cherries to decorate

Sticky Toffee Sauce

4oz unsalted butter

8oz soft brown sugar

10 fl oz double cream (or whipping cream)

Heat together the butter and sugar. When dissolved add the cream.

Simmer for 15 minutes, stirring.

When cooled decant into two squeezy bottles – 1 per 2 cheflets.

Squeeze a blob of sticky toffee sauce into the base of your Smoothie Cup or other picnic plastic of choice.

You have options with regard to your chocolate sauce. You can cheat and buy it but if you'd like the cheflets to have a go, make some ganache. You can make ganache to suit your recipe, see below. I would opt for the option underlined to create a more sundae effect in the cup but it is purely a matter of taste.

On that basis heat 250ml of double cream on a medium heat, bring just to the boil and then pour over 250g of dark chocolate chips – minimum 50% cocoa solids - whisk until smooth. Allow to cool. If you are not using chocolate chips, then chop your chocolate as finely as possible.

Ganache

There are 3 options :

Equal parts chocolate and cream. While still warm this ganache is pourable and can be used to drizzle chocolate ribbons or glaze cookies or cakes. It can also be used as a cake filling. As it starts to cool it thickens and takes on a more spreadable consistency.

Two parts chocolate to one part cream.

Increasing the percentage of chocolate makes for a thicker ganache. This ratio is used for truffles. Can also be used as a glaze or piped frosting.

Two parts cream to one part chocolate.

A ganache with more cream than chocolate is runny – warm and mousse like at room temp. When warm it can be poured over a cake to give a glaze.

The ganache and the sticky toffee sauce are easy elements with some supervision and could be done at the hob together i.e. 2 cheflets making the ganache and 2 the sticky toffee sauce.

You can use a shop bought vanilla ice cream or get the cheflets to make a batch ahead of the game from the recipe on the blog.

The cheflets can now build their vertical split, sticky toffee sauce, layer of bananas, blob of ice cream, large blob of ganache, repeat and finish off with a theatrical drizzle of sticky toffee sauce and chopped nuts.

I hope the idea of a vertical banana split might amuse - you can add anything you like, the cheflets are making a ganache and a sticky toffee sauce, not to mention the vanilla ice cream if so inclined!

The split should be decorated with a glacé cherry – do not forget the cherry!

Hooked on cooking – need a pudding?

This is another recipe that is suitable for everyone to do their bit – it should appeal to your cheflets since it requires assembly and looks the biz when it's turned out.

This version I know I've mentioned before on the blog but it's worth repeating - it uses fresh fruits in season and, more to the point in my view, it uses Madeira cake and not the traditional bread for the pudding. For those out there who have been kind enough to follow the blog since the beginning, you'll know already of my aversion to dishes like rice pudding, sago and semolina – wet bread joins that list! In my defence I think assembling a pudding with cake is a lot more attractive than bread, plus the fact cake is less inclined to break.

Summer Pudding

Use fruits that are in season or alternatively frozen fruits work well too.

Ingredients

Frozen fruits/berries – 400g bag (14oz) or similar quantity of fresh fruit

1 tbsp sugar

1 tin or carton of fruit pie filling – blackcurrant or fruits of the forest

Madeira cake – I use an inexpensive shop bought cake (265g) – sliced lengthways into quarter inch slices and neatened. Here's where it's difficult to predict whether you'd need one cake or two – cake size varies depending which supermarket you use. I'd err on the side of caution and opt for two. For the size of basin stated, it takes approximately 10 slices of cake.

1 litre (1&¾pt) basin.

A plain sided cutter slightly larger than the base of the basin.

Cling film

Method

If using fresh fruit, bring it to the boil with the sugar in a medium saucepan over a medium heat. Simmer for 5 minutes until the fruit releases its juices. Cool.

If using frozen fruit, defrost it and then add the sugar.

Line the basin with cling film ensuring that it overlaps the basin.

Cut out a circle of cake for the base and place it in the basin. Line the rest of the basin – I overlap each piece of cake – but it's whatever you'd prefer.

Add half the can of fruit pie filling to the cooled/defrosted fruit and then pour the mixture into the cake-lined bowl. Top with slices of cake to cover completely. Fold the cling film over the pudding to seal.

Place a slightly smaller plate or saucer on top of the basin and weigh down with a tin (the heaviest in your pantry/cupboard). Refrigerate for 12-24 hours.

To serve, remove the tin and plate, unseal the cling film, cover the bowl with a large plate. Invert the pudding onto the plate and remove the cling film.

With the remaining pie filling, warm it through, gently in a microwave. Pour over the top of the pudding to serve, adding cream, ice cream or custard.

Here's a photo of the finished pud :

This is great fun for the cheflets – weighing down the pudding with a tin of beans should bring a smile and the pleasure of turning out the pudding and surveying their efforts well worth it. Note to self – if you have cheflets who aren't that keen on fresh fruit they might even forget it's in the pudding, especially if they've helped make it and it's served with a scoop of home-made vanilla ice cream!

Hooked on cooking – need a cake?

… to feed 15?

I really must pay attention to recipes and try not to get carried away – it wasn't until I'd made this cake I realised – erm – it serves 15 – yikes, how much cake can two people eat! Thank goodness for a friend's birthday – 2 slices – two test slices and a spare slice for good luck - only 10 more slices to go. It's a good job another friend has family close-by and visiting family too during the holidays so it's a rapid cake delivery – panic over!

Whilst this cake may not be suitable for the cheflets to bake without help it's a definite candidate for all to pitch in and create together.

I don't normally make cakes – this one is here because of my passion for Hummingbirds. I thought the ingredients worked – a mixture of pineapple, banana and nuts.

So, continuing for a while with the potential summer gatherings, here it is :

Hummingbird Cake

375g plain flour

375g caster sugar

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

1 tsp salt

350ml rapeseed oil

3 eggs

1 220g tin of pineapple, drained and puréed

450g mashed bananas

120g chopped walnuts

Icing

1 x 200g cream cheese, softened

110g butter, softened

450g icing sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

Pre-heat oven 160fan/180c/Gas 4

Grease and line 2 x 23cms cake tins.

Sieve together the flour, sugar, bicarb and salt (the dry ingredients).

Using a large bowl mix together the oil, eggs, pineapple, bananas and nuts.

Add the dry ingredients, by hand – i.e. not a food processor.

Divide the mixture between the two cake tins and bake for 1 hour – test by inserting a skewer which should be clean when removed. Allow the cakes to cool on racks.

Prepare the icing by blending together the cream cheese, butter and vanilla extract and then gradually add the icing sugar. Spread between the cakes and then cover the top and sides too if you wish.

Have a look at the finished cake.

Icing tips that weren't in the original recipe and that you may find helpful.

Philadelphia full fat cream cheese works well.

Use unsalted butter.

Sieve your icing sugar into a separate bowl to remove any lumps, add it gradually to the cheese and butter and you'll be glad you did.

I used vanilla paste instead of extract – you can see the flecks in the icing in the photograph, it gives a great flavour.

The verdict ...”have just eaten delicious and yummy cake – 10 out of 10 – well actually 11.

Hooked on cooking – Dessert design… a blank canvas

The model shown measures 50x38 cms. The cake boards mentioned measure 25x25 cms for the square and 25cms in diameter for the circular.

What to do with the blank canvas – that's up to the cheflets. Here's a photo with a few bits and pieces :

The additions speak for themselves – the pile of logs are wafer rolls - the muddy puddle in the centre of the logs is the caramel glue. You could if you wished melt chocolate as an alternative. The flowers – I use the term loosely – are meringue kisses with a hole in the bottom – punched through gently with a cocktail stick and a chocolate mint stick cut in half inserted for the stalk/stem. The pink versions are mini raspberry macaroons.

In other words, fill all the remaining space on the boards and in between, directly on to your table cloth.

The list of what can be added is huge but here's a few ideas :

Fresh fruit – strawberries, cubes of fresh pineapple,

ditto of mango – convenient to dip into muddy puddles

any other fresh fruit of your choice

cubes of Madeira cake or lemon drizzle

meringue nests filled with blueberries and raspberries

Remember the squeezy bottles mentioned – you could make up one each of lemon drizzle syrup, orange syrup, sticky toffee sauce and strawberry coulis.

I mentioned in the original shopping list that you might like to include the ingredients for Rocky Road and Malteser cake. Have a look at the photos of each below and I hope you'll agree that either or both of these scattered creatively of course, would make a great addition.

The recipes for all of the above are on the blog.

Note:

If you decide you'd like to give the cheflets either or both of these then they'll need to be made ahead but neither are difficult or time consuming.

Now for the good news – when your party is over any leftovers can be boxed, fold up the table cloth and bin – Marigolds (aka washing up gloves) not required!

Ta Dah!

Just before I go, a big thank you to my mate Susie Q who helped me translate the idea in my head to the model – mwah.

Hooked on cooking – Dessert design… follow the yellow brick road!

Your road needs to be neat and to show definition so we need to create an edge of stones. Enter the mini marshmallow and the best glue ever – I give you “Carnation cook with caramel” (in other words condensed milk with added caramel) I've not seen it in smaller cans than 397g but it's not as expensive as buying a jar of posh caramel sauce – it makes great glue.

Now you know what the paintbrushes are for – one for each of your cheflets and in order to prevent any dispute it might be more practical to give each of them a small dish of caramel. You'll be able to pick up the brushes in your preferred “£1” shop.

Using the “glue” paint a line either side of the road. The marshmallows can then be glued into place. It matters not if the glue strays further on to the board - so not a problem for small hands – it will be covered soon enough with grass and soil!

You can buy bags of pink and white mini marshmallows so you could add more colour by alternating pink and white edging.

The story so far, a board each with a piece of road with edging stones and a bag of desiccated coconut grass.

The next step is for the cheflets to create the soil. Each should have a chocolate muffin and a plastic food bag. Place the muffin in the bag, secure the top and crumble into soil.

Back to the paintbrush - paint either side of the road with the glue – again it doesn't matter if they stray onto the cloth with the glue or grass or soil but they do need to bear in mind that their board should stay in its place.

Your cheflets can now scatter their coconut grass and muffin soil where they may on their respective boards.

Hooked on cooking – Dessert design… choose a theme

It can be anything the cheflets like – they may need inspiration – a word of warning though, it shouldn't be too ambitious – it needs to succeed.

To explain myself the example I've chosen is The Yellow Brick Road from The Wizard of Oz.

The road shown is made from marzipan, rolled quite thinly. The beauty of using marzipan is that if you do make a mess of it you just roll it into a ball and begin again. A small tip – a dusting of icing sugar on your surface will help. Give each cheflet a cake board together with a quarter of the block of marzipan and a rolling pin – their road should be rolled directly onto the cake board. They could reproduce the road shown or they could make a crazy paving, using circles made with cutters of different sizes. The road doesn't have to be straight, there are no rules.

When each portion of road is completed the boards should be placed on the paper table cloth, wherever they like. My only suggestion is that each board has roughly the same amount of space surrounding it.

The cheflets next job is to weigh 25g of desiccated coconut into a ziplok bag – squeeze a large blob of green food colouring into the coconut, carefully expel the air and seal the bag. Work the colouring into the coconut – this will take a minute or two, rubbing the bag between your hands – the coconut absorbs the colouring and the more you work it the more even a colour will result.

  

The table cloth on your shopping list IS the base for the dessert – no bowls, no plates – fingers only but, you might want to make sure you've plenty of serviettes/napkins or, if you must, then spoons or forks – it defeats the object of sticky fingers and I can testify that when I did do this, the grown-ups loved it too.

Hooked on cooking – having a party?

We're now three weeks in to “hooked on cooking” and I'm crossing my fingers and hoping that you've had a surprise or two and you now having budding “cheflets” eager and raring to attack the next challenge.

Will you be having a summer get together/party/BBQ – any or all of the above?

I know that lots of people bring desserts on such occasions, but I have an idea that your cheflets might like.

This might take a little organisation ahead of the game but nothing that will be difficult to get hold of, nor cost a lot of dosh!

Do you have a table going spare – it can be as big as you like – you'll see what I mean shortly.

First up, here's your shopping list :

Next time you're in the supermarket/cheap shop pick up a paper table cloth – the stronger the better, you don't want the sort you can see through, it'll just fall apart and won't be suitable for the purpose I have in mind.

Pick up three or four squeezy bottles – like the ones illustrated below.

As illustrated these are really handy for a drizzle of whatever takes your fancy.

To continue with your shopping list :

Cake boards - £1 each – square or circular, depending on the shape of your table. If you have four cheflets creating, then one each.

Marzipan – one 500g block should be sufficient, preferably the golden kind – to be divided between 4.

Desiccated coconut, green food colouring and 4 ziplok bags.

Pack of 4 large chocolate muffins and 4 food bags.

1 bag of white mini marshmallows.

1 can of Carnation cook with caramel.

4 small (cheap and cheerful) paintbrushes suitable for children.

Whilst not compulsory you might want to make sure you've the ingredients to make Rocky Road and Malteser Cake.

Okey dokey, lets get on with the masterpiece!