Loukoumades & A Honey Masterclass

Apart from Tigger who doesn't like honey! But did you know that even though it's popular, Britain comes rather low down on the list based on consumption per capita...maybe because we tend to only eat it on toast or drizzled over yoghurt.

 

On Wednesday evening I attended a honey masterclass at the home of the Culinary Anthropologist, Anna. The evening was run in conjunction with bee keeper and author Elizabeth Gowing. Elizabeth works and keeps her bees in Kosovo and has written several books on her experiences. It was a very informative evening as there are so many ways in which honey can be used in both sweet and savoury cooking. For example, we enjoyed a delicious Ragstone Goat's Cheese drizzled in honey which could become a serious addiction!

 

Some of the honeys we sampled included:

• Dandelion honey
• Propolis honey - propolis being a sealant the bees produce to plug any unwanted gaps in their hive.
• Vintage honey from 1991!
• Urban honey from Regent's Park - urban beekeeping and honey production is becoming increasingly popular. You may remember that Rachel Khoo visited a Parisian urban honey producer in her last series. 

We crammed a lot in to three hours, as well as trying the different honeys we also sampled honey drinks and made several honey based recipes. My favourite were the Loukoumades which are fried Greek doughnuts soaked in honey which you can see in the photo above. Another great recipe was the honey ice cream as it's a no churn recipe and it tasted delicious. Here's what we made and sampled:

1. Mead and Sbiten
2. A tasting of honeys
3. Goat's cheese with honey
4. Green beans with garlic and honey
5. Fried aubergines with honey and mint
6. Ethiopian spiced honey bread
7. Loukoumades
8. Honey ice cream with Polish Miodula

So what interesting facts about honey did I find out:

1. For a honey to be monofloral i.e. a single flower honey such as acacia honey or lavender honey it only has to contain 51% of the nectar from that plant type.
2. If you put a magnet next to a beehive then the bees will start to build cylindrical honeycomb rather than hexagonal!
3. Alexander the Great was embalmed in honey.
4. Top tip: you can reverse the crystallisation process of honey by putting the jar or bottle into a bowl of hot water for a few minutes. So no need to throw it away.
5. The world's most expensive honey is Sidr honey which is a Yemeni honey that is only harvested twice per year.
6. China is the biggest exporter of honey.
7. It is claimed that eating a spoonful of local honey a day is a cure for hayfever. Read more about the theory here.

You can find out more about Elizabeth and her books on her website. At the end of the evening I also purchased The Little Book of Honey which is written by Elizabeth and features a guide to different types of honey as well as lots of yummy honey recipes including some of those we tried on the evening.

Anna has very kindly allowed me to share her Loukoumades recipe with you here. This is a great recipe as it's so quick and easy to make and everyone will love it. You can make Loukoumades with store cupboard ingredients too so they're perfect to rustle up when you're in need of something sweet! You can see the ingredients in the picture below but I wouldn't recommend using skimmed milk and try and find a good quality honey...unlike mine in the picture!

Ingredients

120ml (170g) runny honey
zest of a large lemon and juice of half of it
220g plain flour
2 level tsp baking powder
A pinch of salt
20g butter, in small pieces
4 tbsp (60ml) hot water from the kettle)
4 tbsp. (60ml) milk
Sunflower oil for deep-frying
cinnamon or icing sugar to sprinkle (optional)

1. Stir together the honey, zest and lemon juice to make a syrup.
2. Pour oil into a saucepan to fill it by one third and start heating gently. Keep an eye on it!

3. Measure flour into a bowl and mix in salt and baking powder.
4. Put batter into a small jug or bowl and measure in hot water from kettle. Stir to melt the butter. Now add the milk.
5. Make a well in the flour and pour in the wet ingredients. Stir to combine then tip onto the work surface and knead briefly just to bring it together into a dough. If the dough doesn't come together or seems a bit dry, add a splash more milk.

6. Now check that the oil is hot enough - a small piece of dough should sizzle gently without any delay. Or if you want to you could use a thermometer and the oil should be about 170-180 degrees but this isn't strictly necessary.
7. Squeeze off little balls of dough the size of fat cherries, and carefully add them to the oil.

8. Fry in batches until puffed and golden brown all over.

9. Remove them with a strainer or slotted spoon.

10. Place on kitchen paper to absorb excess oil.












11. Finally, place them directly in the syrup, which they will absorb. Serve with a sprinkle of cinnamon or icing sugar.









For an even easier version, do not make the syrup in advance, but rather simply drizzle the fried balls with honey and then zest a lemon over the top.

* Recipe from Anna Colquhoun - The Culinary Anthropologist You can find more recipes on Anna's website and I'd highly recommend her courses.
 

Biscuity Lime Pie

Well the weather outside may be cold and dull but this Biscuity Lime Pie will certainly add some zing to your life! It has no less than the zest and juice of 4 limes and a lemon. This is a lovely idea for an easy to make dessert.

The case is made by blitzing ginger nut biscuits and then combining them with some melted butter. This mixture was then pressed into a fluted 10 x 34cm rectangular tin which makes this pie look really pretty and it definitely adds to the appeal. The case was baked on it's own for 15 minutes.

The zingy filling was made using sweetened condensed milk, sugar, egg yolks, the zests and juices from the limes and lemons. It's really hard to describe the result, it tastes quite like lime meringue pie filling but slightly more mousse like! Once the filling is added, it goes back in the oven for a further 20 minutes.

You only need a small slice of this pie, it's very sweet and citrusy but it's guaranteed to tingle your taste buds. It was alittle bit too much for me. If the citrus is a bit too overpowering, you could always reduce the number of limes to 2 or 3. So for a little slice of sunshine on a plate, give this Biscuity Lime Pie a go! :-)

I'm entering my pie into this month's Tea Time Treats as the theme is Citrus. Tea Time Treats is hosted by Karen at Lavender and Lovage and Kate at What Kate Baked. Karen is hosting this month and you can find out more by visiting her blog.

 

Ingredients

300g ginger nut biscuits (I had a 250g pack of gingernuts so I made it up to 300g with digestives)
100g butter
3 egg yolks
50g golden caster sugar
4 limes, zest and juice (this is extremely citrusy, if you prefer you could reduce the limes to 3)
1 lime to garnish if required
1 lemon, zest and juice
397g can condensed milk

Preheat the oven to 180c/160c fan/gas 4. Put the biscuits into a food processor and blitz so you end up with crumbs. If you don't particularly like gingernuts you could make this recipe with digestives. Melt the butter in a saucepan or in the microwave and then pour over the biscuit crumbs. Pulse the mixture until it is combined.

This recipe calls for a 10 x 34cm fluted rectangular tart tin which gives a really professional finish to this pie. Tip the biscuit and butter mix into the tin and press it into the base and up the sides. I ended up pressing it in initially with my fingers and then used the back of a spoon. Bake for 15 minutes until nice and crisp.

Next make the filling by beating the eggs, sugar and lemon and lime zests together in a bowl using an electric whisk. They should double in size. At this point mix in the condensed milk and then add the citrus juices.

Pour the filling into the baked case and then put back in the oven for another 20 minutes. When ready the filling should be just set and there should  be a little bit of a wobble in the middle. Place on the side to cool and set completely before removing from the tin. This needs to be done very carefully as the biscuits are quite crumbly. Chill until ready to serve. Slice to serve and to add aesthetic appeal, top with thin slices of lime.

* Adapted from the BBC GoodFood website

Lemon & Blueberry Surprise Pudding

Today's offering is not a cake but a pudding...I thought I'd branch out a little! :-) This is a lovely light pudding that would be perfect after a big meal, the lemon also gives it a bit of zing so it's quite refreshing too.

The surprise element of this dish is the lemon curd layer underneath the unassuming sponge exterior. It's one of those puddings where you mix up all the ingredients together and then when you bake it, it seperates out into two layers - one of sponge and one of lemon curd. You may have tried a lemon surprise pudding before but the blueberries here add an extra tasty element.

The reason this pudding is so light is the method. Egg yolks, lemon zest and juice, butter, sugar and a little flour are mixed together and then egg whites are whipped up and folded into the lemony mixture. Whipping the egg whites puts lots of air into the pudding which means it's not too heavy.

This pudding is really summery but would also be great at this time of year after a roast or when you want something warm on a cold day. This is certainly one that could be made on a regular basis as it's so quick and easy too!

Ingredients

100g butter (plus extra for greasing)
175g golden caster sugar
Zest and juice of 2 lemons
4 eggs
50g plain flour
125g blueberries
500ml milk

Pre-heat the oven to 180c/160c fan/gas 4 and prepare a 2 litre ovenproof dish by lighting greasing it with butter. Put the softened butter and golden caster sugar in a bowl and beat with an electric mixer until it's really pale and fluffy, this could take a good 5 minutes. Next add the lemon juice and zest to this mixture, along with 4 egg yolks. The yolks should be added one at a time until well mixed. There is a good chance that it will look curdled at this stage!

Next sift over the flour and stir before adding the blueberries and milk, again give it a good mix. In a seperate bowl whisk the egg whites until they form soft peaks, don't overbeat them. Using a large metal spoon gradually fold these whisked egg whites into the lemony mix. Be gentle and ensure you fold until they are just combined. Finally, pour the pudding mixture into the prepared dish and place it on a baking sheet. It should take about 40-45 minutes to cook and will be risen and golden when done.

This pudding serves 6 and can be eaten immediately but it also tastes good the next day!

* Adapted from Ainsley Harriott's Meals in Minutes

Alice's Teapot Cake

This post is a double whammy...not only is it my entry for this month's Random Recipes hosted by Dom over at Belleau Kitchen, but the cake was also my contribution to the inaugral Wandsworth Clandestine Cake Club.

To choose a random recipe for the month of March, we were instructed to count along our bookshelf to cookbook number 17, then flick through with our eyes closed and whichever recipe you land on you should make. Well, it seems Random Recipes is here to challenge me, as after making a flaky pastry fruit slice in January, this month I randomly selected 'The Birthday Cake Book' by Fiona Cairns, who made the Royal wedding cake no less.

Having flicked to the page with Alice's Teapot Cake, I hummed and harred over whether to join in. Then a couple of days later I saw a new Clandestine Cake Club advertised in Wandsworth...and the theme...Mad as a March Hare, cakes inspired by Alice in Wonderland. Obviously, Alice's Teapot would be perfect for this. A very fortunate coincidence...and I promise there was no cheating involved in choosing my Random Recipe!

As the cake is round in shape, I used an Alan Silverwood spherical pudding mould. However, I did have to make the cakes twice...the first time they stuck to the mould, despite the instructions saying that a liberal covering of butter would result in them turning out perfectly...it didn't! It did however, taste lovely and light. The second time I didn't take any chances, I used Wilton Cake release and lined the tins a little.

The cake itself is a lemon madeira which was really tasty. There was lemon juice and zest in the sponge and then the cake was brushed with lemon sugar syrup, and finally there was also zest and juice in the buttercream...it was certainly zingy! To decorate the cake it was covered in sugarpaste which was decorated with blossoms and then finished off with piped royal icing. The spout and handle were made in advance out of Mexican modelling paste as they needed sufficient time to harden. The final product is a lovely little teapot, perfect for Alice!

So, now to the Clandestine Cake Club. If you haven't heard of it before then check out their website. Every month in locations around the UK, CCC groups meet up. There's always a theme for your baking and the idea is you take your offering along and sample all of the other delights on offer. Since, appearing on the One Show last month, more and more CCCs have sprung up, including a number in London.

The theme for the first Wandsworth meeting, as already mentioned was cakes inspired by Alice in Wonderland...and I have to say there was an amazing array...the Queen of Hearts, a drink me bottle, a clock face, the white rabbit, roses painted red, a catepillar and many more. You can check some of them out below.I thoroughly enjoyed my first cake club experience, everyone who attended was lovely and the cakes were divine as there was also an array of flavours. I'm looking forward to next month already!

* I've just found a new decorating challenge too, the theme is 'Anything Goes' so my teapot has been entered into the Decorating Challenge