Sweet treats and paying debts

Ok, so I'm nearly done for today.  I swear I don't usually make this much in one day; this is the effect that Christmas has on me.

So, I'm planning on making biscotti for part of the Christmas packages.  I found a rather excellent recipe on the BBC good food website which I planned on adapting slightly.  I am excited about this for two reasons.  The first is that I love biscotti, the second is that you can freeze this recipe half way through baking.  This means that I can freeze half and fully bake the rest to take to work and test on the boys there.  Win.

If it turns out ok, I'll need to make some more before Christmas, and then re-bake the frozen half, but it wasn't a particularly taxing recipe and I think looks fairly impressive.

I actually stuck fairly strictly to the recipe, except I cheated slightly by flinging everything in the food processor rather than rubbing it in by hand.  I also switched out the cherries for some cranberries.


Then comes the paying debt part of the post.  I have a big conference coming up at work next week, it's been thrown together at fairly short notice and further complicated by my boss being off work last week.  Finance have pulled me out of a hole by doing an extra payment run to get all my suppliers paid in time.  So to say thank you, I've knocked together some caramel cupcakes for them.

I've used a Hummingbird bakery recipe. I love the Hummingbird bakery cookbooks, I wish I was better at making up recipes rather than following other peoples.  Again, I cheated slightly by flinging everything in the food processor.

No laughing at my ancient food processor.  My Grandpa gave it to my Granny many years ago, it's been around longer than I have and I can't bear to throw it out however much I would like a brightly coloured Kitchenaid mixer.

Things were going swimmingly well, until it transpired that I had run out of icing sugar.  Something is always going to go wrong at this time in the day for me.  A quick trip the shop later and I'm all done.  I particularly enjoyed decorating these with the *ahem* artistic squiggles of caramel.  I couldn't find my piping bag, so I used a plastic freezer bag with the corner snipped off.  It shows.

If life gives you lemons...

Next up for the Christmas packages is Lemon Curd.

I'm using a Nigel Slater recipe.  I've always like Mr Slater, not because his recipes are good (which they are) but because of the way my mother talks about him.  "Well Nigel says...." she'll start, as we discuss the dinner she's just cooked.  She talks about him confidentially, as if they were best friends.

My mother I should add at this point is an outstanding cook.  If I ever grow up I want to be able to cook like her.

Mr Slater's recipe makes two small jars and I need four, so I am doubling up the quantities.  I can't see that this will present any problems, on a recipe I've not made before.

Lemon Curd

Most lemon curd recipes instruct you to stir the mixture with a wooden spoon. I find that stirring lightly with a whisk introduces just a little more lightness into the curd, making it slightly less solid and more wobbly.

Makes 2 small jam jars
zest and juice of 4 unwaxed lemons It turns out that 8 lemons is rather a lot to zest and juice.  I immediately lose concentration and zest part of my thumb off.  I decide to sulk, put on some loud music and have a diet coke break before carrying on.  Obviously this is to prevent me bleeding into the lemon curd and NOT because I am a massive child.
200g sugar
100g butter
3 eggs and 1 egg yolk

Put the lemon zest and juice, the sugar and the butter, cut into cubes, into a heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water, making sure that the bottom of the basin doesn't touch the water. Stir with a whisk from time to time until the butter has melted

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Mix the eggs and egg yolk lightly with a fork, then stir into the lemon mixture. Let the curd cook, stirring regularly, for about 10 minutes, until it is thick and custard-like.  It should feel heavy on the whisk. I cooked mine for slightly longer as I've doubled the quantities.  I have no idea if this is a good idea or not.  I also use this time to skim out any pips that escaped into the mixture earlier.

Also I am not really sure what he means by "Heavy on the whisk", but it looks ok when I take it off the heat to cool.

  
Remove from the heat and stir occasionally as it cools. Pour into spotlessly clean jars and seal.

This actually made three and a half jars, which is fine as the forth was really only for quality control purposes.  I shall hand the half jar over to Phil to see what he makes of it.  As with the chili jam, I used wax paper circles before putting the lids on.  Hopefully this will prevent the whole lot rotting before Christmas comes.  I also managed to break a jar while sterilizing them.

Christmas is coming - bah humbug etc

So it may still be November, but in my family we have to make our Christmas presents, which means I am forced to think about it slightly earlier than I would otherwise like to.  So before 24th December.

Now let's get something straight, I actually quite like Christmas.  I just don't think it should start until maybe 20th December.  And of course the shops have been full of red glittery, jumbo chocolate boxes since at least late August.  By the time it actually gets here I have mild Christmas fatigue.  Which makes it look like I don't like Christmas, which by that stage I don't. 

Anyway - I'm starting my first Christmas present project.  I am going to make chili jam as part of the family's Christmas packs.  This isn't a particularly original idea, my lovely friend Charlie made this last year.  But it was delicious and (she claims) idiot proof, so I'm giving it a whirl.

I'm using Nigella's recipe, it looks fairly straightforward - what can possibly go wrong?

• 150g long fresh red chillies.
• 150g red peppers, cored
• 1kg jam sugar
• 600ml cider vinegar
• 6 x 250ml sealable jars, with vinegar-proof lid, such as Kilner jar or re-usable pickle jar  WTF???  Seriously I just noticed this!  What is a vinegar proof jar? I suspect it is not the honey jars that I bought.  Am I going to poison my entire family by not using kilner jars?

Serves: Makes approx. 1.5. Litres

1. Sterilize your jars and leave to cool.
2. Put the cut-up chillies into a food processor and pulse until they are finely chopped. Add the chunks of red pepper and pulse again until you have a vibrantly red-flecked processor bowl. I rammed them both in at the same time.  What could possibly go wrong with this?
3. Dissolve the sugar in the vinegar in a wide, medium-sized pan over a low heat without stirring. Hold on - without stirring?  That doesn't sound right, what if it burns at the bottom and wrecks my pan?  It doesn't look right either....

 

4. Scrape the chili-pepper mixture out of the bowl and add to the pan. Bring the pan to the boil, then leave it at a rollicking boil for 10 minutes.

 

5. Take the pan off the heat and allow it cool. The liquid will become more syrupy, then from syrup to viscous and from viscous to jelly-like as it cools. I notice that nothing is mentioned about the bright red scum that's currently floating on the top of my chili jam.  I wonder if I should skim it off as it seems to contain all the chili seeds that my slapdash prep has missed.  

I think it will probably go away on it's own if I ignore it for long enough.  Yes, that seems like a sensible option.  I am going to go and have a coffee while this cools down.

6. After about 40 minutes, or once the red flecks are more or less evenly dispersed in the jelly (as the liquid firms up, the hints of chili and pepper start being suspended in it rather than floating on it), ladle into your jars. For the love of god DO NOT DO THIS.  Decant the jam into a measuring jug and use this to pour into the jars.  There was extensive spillage before I decided on this course of action.

7. If you want to stir gently at this stage, it will do no harm. Then seal tightly. Stir now?  I stirred it when I took it off the heat!  When I was debating what to do about the red, seed containing scum.  Is my premature stirring going to break the chili jam?


Well it kind of turned out as a success.  It looks ok, the bit I tasted, tasted ok.  I'll see whether or not anyone dies over Christmas after yet again, failing to properly read the recipe before starting a project.  I'm just waiting for the jam to cool so I can see if it sets properly, while I start on the next part of the Christmas project.

Also, if you're going to try this, wear gloves when prepping the chilies.  Or at the very least wash your hands afterwards.  I didn't, as usual, and rubbed my nose. Which now hurts.  Lots.