Speed sweet – rubble, dollop, crush and trickle

Here's my latest concoction … remember when I said that I had something else, “cherry-wise” up my sleeve – here it is.

Before I begin with chapter and verse I should say that this sweet is to go with your “slob” night, nay weekend sweet treat. It fits the bill because it's simple and easy and you can make it as fancy as you like or as messy as you like!

I would make one suggestion – the same as always – set your stall out before you begin. There are four elements – two to make and two to “short cut” if you wish. Actually you could short cut all four if you prefer - none are difficult.

The clue is in the text :

Cherry Chocolate Eton Mess

One serving

6 Amaretti biscuits, crushed to rubble, not dust!

A dollop of chocolate truffle (aka ganache)

3 meringue kisses crushed to a rubble, uneven

sizes even better

100g Cherry compote to trickle

This is definitely in the “fly by the seat of your dessert pants” category. It's good fun to get creative. Decide on the glass or dish you're using to serve your mess. Here's a thought … for a slob night or for an informal supper you could make these in tall sundae glasses and serve one between two guests, it might be an idea to make sure they know one another or may be not!

Read on ...

The brutal truth … the calzone and the bread sticks

I served the bread sticks as an appetiser, the traditional way, with bowls of balsamic vinegar and extra virgin olive oil – if you don't hear anything other than silence – I know that sounds really strange but you know what I mean, then all's well!

Then came the calzone … more silence, later the comment was “loved it, layers of lusciousness!”

Hold the front page – there's another version of the dough :

wholemeal – yippee!

I've not finished yet … watch this space.

The divine dough – breadsticks photo guide

cut your dough into eight pieces – in this

case four!

roll between your hands into a sausage

shape

leave your breadsticks to rest and

then brush with melted butter and add

garlic salt and finely grated Parmesan

the breadsticks – fresh from the oven

Tempted?!

Whilst I'm on the subject of divine dough …

Bread Sticks

Using my favourite new product – pizza dough from The Northern Dough Co. - here's another idea and it's not pizza. The fastest bread sticks ever.

One dough ball

15g finely grated Parmesan

30g of unsalted butter

garlic powder or garlic salt to sprinkle

Take one dough ball and defrost in your fridge.

When defrosted lightly flour a baking tray and your working surface - cut the dough into 8 similar sized pieces. Roll each piece of dough between your hands to create a sausage shape. As a guide I rolled out each piece to 12cms in length (4½”) making sure to leave space between each piece. Cover the bread sticks with cling film until you're ready to garnish and bake.

Leave at room temperature for your bread sticks to prove – in other words to “rest”. I left mine for an hour.

When you're ready pre-heat your oven as high as it will go – in my case 220fan/240c/Gas 9.

Melt the butter and brush each bread stick, sprinkle with garlic powder or garlic salt if you prefer and finish with finely grated Parmesan.

Bake on high for 4 minutes.

Serve with pesto, or, my personal favourite the classic mixture of Balsamic vinegar and extra virgin olive oil and turn it into a help yourself starter with Italian meats and cheeses – yum! You could try a little fusion and serve with a baked Camembert.

Photos coming up ...

The pizza photos completed

the divine dough folded then egg washed

the divine dough baked

the Calzone cut in half

The verdict … I am my own worst critic and I loved it. It was too big for me so I ate half and then wrapped the other in foil and re-heated for supper the following evening – it was excellent.

One thing is for certain, I'll be repeating my wacky idea and serving it to friends – stand by for the brutal truth!

Lets talk about pizza and see the photos!

Quorn pieces, cooked and left

to marinade

The divine dough on the pizza mesh

The divine dough with sauce

The divine dough – the loading begins -

the Quorn

the sliced mushrooms, the black olives

and the mozzarella

There's more ...

A handful of this and a sprinkle of that

I did say I was going to have some fun with flavours and textures I liked – eek.

First things first, place your base on a mesh pizza mat or a pizza stone if you prefer. You'll be very upset when you realise you've not - having loaded your base with ingredients – too late was the cry, unless of course you're a champion juggler! 

My “tomato sauce” is hoi sin and spring onion sauce and for the purpose of this experiment I used a ready made stir fry sauce - spread 2 tablespoons over the base. We'll come to a home made sauce later.

I'd rather choose say three or four toppings and see how it goes and I'm loading half the pizza base. You'll also need one egg, beaten to glaze and help glue the edges of the calzone.

I'm using Quorn pieces which I've cooked from frozen – 100g, cooked in hoi sin and spring onion sauce, a couple of of tablespoons of sauce is fine – 12 minutes cooked ahead and fridged when cool and the pieces continue to marinade.

Next a sprinkle of mini portabella mushrooms, peeled and finely sliced. I used six or 60/70g.

I then added a handful of torn pieces of Mozzarella cheese – approximately 75g or half a ball.

Finally I added a sprinkle of pitted black olives, sliced – my handful is about 30g.

Let your inner Jackson Pollock go and create your own masterpiece!

Fold the unfilled half over and twist the edges to seal. Glaze the calzone with the beaten egg and bake in a pre-heated oven 220fan/240c/Gas 9. I baked mine for 12 minutes to suit my taste. Add another couple of minutes if you prefer a darker colour.

It's time to back up my mouth – and a wacky idea – step by step photo guide is on its way.