Cheese and Marmite Straws & Bryndza Cheese Straws

Before Christmas I saw a cooking show on ITV, while running on the treadmill in the gym. Even since I wanted to try this quick, easy recipe that would be perfect for unexpected guests. I never liked Marmite on a toast, but I love the Marmite coated cashew and Marmite crisps you can buy in the supermarket, so I tough to give it a go. And I was right, it was delicious. For the other half of the puff pastry I used bryndza cheese (we call it brindza in Hungary) which is made from sheep and goats milk, usually soft, spreadable, "smelly" cheese. It is also you either love it or hate it, so basically I placed two "love it or hate it" ingredients together and we loved them both.

Cheese and Marmite Straws & Bryndza Cheese Straws

Ingredients for the Marmite Straws

250g puff pastry

20 g butter, melted

1 tbsp Marmite

50 g parmesan cheese, grated

50 g mature cheddar cheese, grated

Ingredients of the Bryndza Straws

250g puff pastry

20 g butter, melted

100g bryndza cheese

50 g mature cheddar cheese, grated

Preheat the oven to 190C.

Whichever filling you choose the preparation is identical.

Roll out the puff pastry on a lightly floured surface to roughly 4 mm thick and achieve a rectangle shape. Brush the melted butter on the surface of the pastry than spread the Marmite on one half. Sprinkle  3/4 of both cheeses on the Marmite covered half, then fold the pastry over lengthways.

 Using your rolling pin compress the pastry (gently, but firmly) so you have the filling in between the pastry layer tightly. This will help retain the nice filling line when you twist the strip. Roll until the pastry is 3-4 mm thick.

With a pizza cutter, cut 1 cm wide strips and twist. Arrange on baking sheets (and chill for 10 minutes before baking-if you have the time). Spay some vegetable fat on the strips, sprinkle on the rest of the cheese and bake for 10-12 minutes, until golden brown and puffed up. 

If the strips don't want to stay twisted on the baking sheet, just lightly press down the two ends with your fingers, so the pastry "sticks" to the baking sheet.

To do the bryndza Straws just repeat the same process, but replace the Marmite with Bryndza.

Cornbread Loaf

I bought a new book.....I know.... again. This time the author was unknown for me at the time, but I really liked the pictures and the recipes were unique, well presented. So first I tried this Cornbread Loaf from Annie Bell, to reduce the our white flour consumption from bread. It turned out quite nice and tasted yummy.

Cornbread Loaf

Ingredients

15 unsalted butter

1 onion, peeled and chopped 

125 g tinned sweetcorn kernels

sea salt and black pepper

125 g cornmeal and polenta

140 g self-raising flour, shifted

10 g golden caster sugar

1 tbsp baking powder

2 medium eggs

200 ml whole milk

Preheat the oven to 170C and prepare a 22 cm loaf tin with baking paper.

Melt the butter in a large frying pan over a medium heat. Add the onion and fry for several minutes until softened, without colouring, then add the sweetcorn and fry for a little longer, seasoning the mixture.

Combine the cornmeal or polenta, flour, sugar, baking powder and a teaspoon of salt in a large bowl. In another bowl, whisk the eggs with the milk, then stir in the fried onions and sweetcorn. Tip the wet ingredients into the dry ones and loosely combine, leaving the mixture, leaving on the lumpy side.

Pour the mixture into the prepared tin and bake for 30-35 minutes until golden and crusty on the surface and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Remove the ready loaf holding the edge of the baking paper and leave to cool on a wire rack. You can dust with a little more cornmeal or polenta if you wish.

Poppy Seed Cake With Sour Cherry Fillig

This is my first sweet cake in my 12 Slice Cake mould. I have to say baking sweet cake is more difficult than the savoury one, but it is only the case of practise. The cake was requested again by my poppy seed "addicted" husband. In the end he even persuaded me to serve the cake with poppy seeded sauce.

Poppy Seed Cake with Sour Cherry Filling

 For the sponge
210 g self-raising flour
210 g butter at room temperature
200 g golden caster sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
4 eggs
50 g poppy seed
1/2 lemon zest

For the filling
fresh or bottled sour cherries
200 g summer fruit sauce, or pie filling or jam+red jelly  (whatever you have at home)

For the decoration
150 g double cream
Kirsch 
a small strip of chocolate transfer sheet
20-30 g white chocolate

First I prepared the chocolate decoration.

Lay down an approx 6 cm wide chocolate transfer sheet, with the textured side up. Spread the melted chocolate with an offset spatula knife evenly on the transfer sheet. Put the transfer sheet with the board underneath to the freezer to harden up.

Heat the oven to 180C and spray the Zila tin with a vegetable oil based separating agent

Put all the cake ingredients except the poppy seed in a  large bowl. Beat them together with an electric mixer until you have a creamy mixture, then fold in the poppy seed.

Pour the cake mix into the prepared tin and bake in the oven for 20 -25 minutes or until the sponge springs back when pressed. Always check the middle of the cake as with Zila mould that is the most important thing. If you think it is ready and you turn it up side down, but the middle is sill a bit underdone just put it back to the oven without the silicone part(the cavities upside).

If the bottom of the cake is not flat, just level it so the cake will stand straight when you turn it up side down- just use the stainless steel ring as your guide. Pour some sauce to the cavities and fill the rest of the space with sour cherries. Pour the remaining of the sauce on top of the sour cherries.

To decorate, whip the double cream with some Kirsch (amount depending on your taste, but 2-3 tbsp should be enough) to soft peaks and pipe it around the cake. Take out the chocolate from the freezer, cut out triangles and insert 12, 1 in each part.

Caramelized Onion and Mushroom Cake with Egg filling

I made this cake for our vegetarian friend who come over last week. This time I had to create something without fish so I have chosen some great ingredients instead: onion, mushroom and egg.

Caramelized Onion and Mushroom Cake with Egg Filling

Ingredients for the cake

350 g plain flour
1 1/4 tbsp baking powder
8 tbsp sunflower oil or 100 g butter, melted and cooled
pinch of salt
freshly ground black pepper
3 eggs
300 ml butter milk 
3 onions finely chopped
1tbsp red wine vinegar
2 tsp sugar
150g tinned mushroom chopped or fresh mushrooms fried slightly on a knob of butter

Ingredients for the filling
7 hard boiled eggs
4 tbsp mayonnaise
3 tbsp soured cream (only 1-2 if you want to pipe the cream)
1 onion finely chopped
2 garlic bulbs
1-2 tsp english mustard
freshly ground pepper

cucumber to decorate

First prepare the filling so the mixture can intensify the taste with time. Peel the eggs and chop it to small pieces, you can use a food processor if you want. Add the mayonnaise, soured cream, finely chopped onion and garlic, mustard and season with pepper if needed.
Just mix together, cover with cling film and place it in the fridge for at least 2 hours.

Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a frying pan. Add the onions and cook for  3 minutes, or until beginning to soften. Add the vinegar and sugar and cook, stirring occasionally, for a further 10 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from the heat and leave to cool.

Meanwhile preheat the oven to 200C and spray the tin with a vegetable oil based separating agent.Sift together the flour, baking powder, salt and pepper to taste into a large bowl.

Place the eggs in a large bowl and beat lightly, then beat in the buttermilk and oil. Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients, pour in the beaten liquid ingredients and add the onion mixture and the mushrooms. Stir gently until just combined: don't over-mix  Spoon the mixture into the tin and spread evenly to be layered.

Bake in the prepared oven for 20 minutes, or until well risen, golden brown and firm to the touch. Leave to cool in the tin for 5 minutes then turn it upside down and remove the silicone cover  and the steel ring

.

 When it is cooled, all you have to do is to spoon the filling into the cavities, decorate and serve:)

In the end I served with some balsamic glaze and mixed salad with olive oil on top....The photo of the sliced cake not the best again.........hmm I have to learn how to use other function on the camera than the automate.