Not a bad effort!

As soon as you've completed your circles release (as I know I'm fond of saying) your inner Jackson Pollock and scatter your fruit and nuts where you may – it doesn't matter at all if they spill – they'll land on the tray.

Here they are :

Now for the difficult bit – resist the urge to prod and place the baking sheet in a cool dry place for 2 – 3 hours – NOT in a fridge. The chocolate discs will lift easily from the parchment :

If there are any left – of course you need to sample – place in a box with a tightly fitting lid and keep in a cool, dark place – NOT the fridge. They'll keep a week – tee hee.

A really useful sweet morsel – I hope you'll agree.

Here goes nothing!

The instructions are straight forward and the base unit easy to understand. You preheat the base unit with a melting pot inside for 10 minutes, then add the chocolate, stirring occasionally until melted :

  

Remove the melting pot from the base and pour a small blob of melted chocolate onto each circle on the parchment :

Using the back of a spoon – I used a dessert spoon – in a circular motion gently ease the melted chocolate out to fill the circle :

Do not panic if you overrun the circle – it's not the end of the world – practice makes perfect, it's like using a piping bag for the first time – give yourself a break.

The end product!

It's always a good idea to decide on an end product when road testing kit and my advice would definitely be don't choose anything too complicated – it will only end in tears with you covered head to toe in chocolate – a slight exaggeration may be! It should be a fun exercise with something to show for it.

I thought I'd have a shot at what we used to call “petit fours” they could be used with a dessert or, as they were originally served, a sweet hit with an after dinner coffee and/or liqueur – very 1970s. You know you've always wanted to produce your own version of an After Eight Mint!

So, have a look in your store cupboard/pantry and grab a handful of whatever takes your fancy – in the fruit and nut line that is … I chose my usual favourites because they are staples in my pantry – tart cherries, apricots and pistachios. Chop them, finely – you can mix them if you wish or leave them in individual heaps, ready to scatter later.

A final tip – don't experiment with new pieces of kit, or recipes for that matter, if you haven't got the time – if you put yourself under pressure you'll rush and chances are you won't be happy with the result.

My new piece of kit.

Those of you who follow the blog regularly will know that I'm not one for spending dosh on kit for it to gather dust. With that in mind I thought I'd treat myself to a chocolate melting machine.

I melt chocolate frequently and I'm an old fashioned kinda gal and always use the steam method – saucepan with the bowl on top – never a microwave, personally I don't think you can control the chocolate and microwaves vary. The only downside to the old fashioned method is that it creates washing up. When I saw the Chocolate Melting Pot in Lakeland, I thought it looked neat and, reasonably priced at £19.99, it wouldn't break the bank.

Here it is :

Never let it be said that I don't have your best interests at heart - for the purpose of its inaugural outing I'm keeping it simple.

The plan :

You'll need :

a baking sheet measuring 30x30 cms

a piece of baking parchment measuring 29x29 cms

- slightly narrower than your baking sheet

4 large paper clips

the chocolate melting pot base and one melting pot

Before you begin

Secure your parchment to the baking sheet with the four paperclips

Draw circles on the parchment measuring approximately

6 cms in diameter – I used a straight sided pastry cutter – anything

circular will do

As a guide you'll get approximately 9 circles on the parchment.

Leave space between each circle.

When you've drawn your circles turn the parchment over

so that the pencil side is face down, then secure again with

the paperclips

Off we jolly well go!

Sides and asides!

Sides

You don't have to serve the fishcakes with the slaw.

Asparagus is in season and would make an excellent companion. If you wanted to serve a mixture of veggies – how about a stir fry – you can buy punnets of small sweet peppers - orange, yellow and red. De-seed and slice the peppers – blanch and refresh your asparagus and stir fry for 2/3 minutes in a drop of rapeseed oil, add salt and black pepper and a pinch of sumac would work really well. Use anything that you like – a sliced sweet onion, courgettes.

Samphire is just coming into season. For those who are wondering, samphire is classed as a sea vegetable – I think of it as a type of seaweed. It's salty if you use it raw. It needs to be either boiled or steamed for a minute or two.

Try it mixed with baby asparagus – steam them both together for a couple of minutes and serve with the fishcakes and a sauce.

Two notes :

Don't forget to snap your asparagus – any woody inedible ends will snap naturally – discard them or, if feeling virtuous you can turn them into soup.

To save your aching feet – samphire is usually found on the fish counter.

Asides

Here's what the girls said about the class :

“The most amazing Coronation Slaw and Fishcakes. Pudding delicious!”

“The mushrooms were so flavoursome and would make a fantastic dinner party starter.”

“A totally wonderful meal. Mushrooms so tasty, fishcakes and coleslaw a delight, sweet – unusual mixture and terrific.”

“Wonderful food and ideas!”

The recipes for both the Champignon au tartines and the Hazelnut Hodgepodge are posted on the blog.

Went down well I thought!

A fishcake post script

Here's my variation on The Ivy's fishcake recipe.

Stuff it!

In this case with a cheese that will melt, for example, taleggio – an Italian soft cheese with a crust. It smells strong but is quite mild and has a fruity tang to it. I use taleggio in arancini instead of mozzarella - it's personal taste.

Cut a slice of cheese 2x3 cms and squidge it into a square. This is easy to do provided you do this straight from the fridge – if you leave it lying around it won't work, as fast as you try to cut it it will stick to your knife.

Divide the mixture into 8 round cakes as per the recipe and stuff the middle of the fishcake with the square of cheese, seal and mould, then fridge to chill.

When you're ready to serve pre-heat the oven 180fan/200c/Gas 6. Lightly flour the fishcakes and fry them until they are coloured on both sides. Bake for 10/15 minutes.

The finished fishcake looks like this :

You might even convert the fish sceptics!

Spring Bank Holiday …

… is not far away.

So I thought you'd like a lunch/supper suggestion, taken from my most recent class – here's the menu :

Champignon au tartines

The Ivy Fishcakes with Coronation Coleslaw

Hazelnut Hodgepodge

A word of warning – the fishcakes are filling and so I don't think you'll need any additional potatoes. A drizzling sauce would work well. The sauce that is used in The Ivy is Sorrel Sauce and, by chance sorrel is in season from April through to September. Sorrel is a herb that has a sharp lemon flavour – it's the leaves that are used in cooking.

Here's the recipe, courtesy of The Ivy :

Sorrel Sauce

500ml fish stock

50g butter

30g flour

50ml white wine

250ml double cream

15g fresh sorrel, shredded

salt and pepper

You'll need two medium sized saucepans.

Bring the fish stock to the boil in one of the saucepans. In the other melt the butter and stir in the flour. Cook very slowly over a low heat for 30 seconds, then gradually whisk in the fish stock. Pour in the white wine and simmer gently for 30 minutes until the sauce has thickened. Add the cream and reduce the sauce until it is of a thick pouring consistency, then put in the sorrel and season.

A note from me :

The recipe is as written in the book. I would use unsalted butter and plain flour. I'd use a medium dry white wine.

Knorr make a fish stock pot – it's a great product.

You could make larger fishcakes if you're concerned about filling tummies but I don't think you need worry!