Chocolate and Raspberry Roulade

Being a teacher is a hard job.  It's all over the news these last few months that there is a shortage of teachers here in the UK.  That's because it's been getting more and more stressful with too much being expected of us.  Most people think it's easy taking care of about 30 kids from different backgrounds for 6 hours a day.  Most people tell us we're lucky 'cause of all those holidays we get.  Thing is, we work far beyond what we're paid for.  Planning, assessing and developing lessons for a wide range of abilities takes a lot of time.  And we fit all that around staff/cluster meetings, attending CPD training, running clubs, etc.  I love my job.  I do.  But I only work 3 days a week and am not tied down to a single class.  I don't have to do a lot of this extra stuff but I'm only paid for the hours I'm in school.  All the time I spend planning outside of school, I'm not paid for that.

What's the point of this mini rant?  Well, it was the starting point for this bake.  The mother-in-law is also a teacher and she's been feeling very down lately.  This is a big deal because she LOVES her job and this is the first time I've seen her so despondent because of it.  So on our weekly dinner at her house we were both ranting about our job and trying to cheer ourselves up.  The hubby bought us both some chocolate when he went out for bread, which was nice.  However, I was telling the mother-in-law about the brownies I made for the Hubby to take to his friends and she was quite disappointed that there weren't any leftover to be brought down for her.  So I decided I would bake her something just for her.  As long as there was chocolate, she would be happy.

I didn't want to do brownies again (I like having something new I can talk about) so I went hunting for a nice chocolate-y thing that I could bake.  Good old Pinterest is where I decided a roulade would be the way to go.  I always need more practise with those things, particularly getting a nice, tight swirl.  The recipe I found was also perfect, not just because it was simple and chocolate-y, but also because there is NO FLOUR in it at all.  Both the in-laws are trying to cut down on how much wheat they eat so this was fantastic.  An indulgent treat with no wheat in it.  Just sugar, eggs and lots of good quality chocolate.  And just for a bit of extra pizazz, I added raspberries into the cream.

I love this recipe.  You get a good amount of mixture to make a nice thick roulade with.  The number of times I've done a roulade recipe and the sponge is so so thin that I end up doubling the recipe up is ridiculous.  This filled the tray perfectly.  It rose well, and then sank slightly after it came out the oven but Mary Berry said to expect that.  She also said not to worry if it cracks, which it did, since that is part of the charm.  

Oh my goodness is the sponge on this delicious!  I'm not a big fan of chocolate cake but this was amazing.  SO LIGHT!  Seriously.  The Hubby compared it to eating a cloud.  The mother-in-law agrees.  And then the raspberry cream just melts in with it in your mouth and mmmmm!  It was loved and promptly demolished.  It was a perfect pick-me-up.

Recipe - adapted from Mary Berry via BBC Food

Makes 1 standard size roulade

• 175g/6oz dark chocolate
• 6 large eggs
• 175g/6oz caster sugar
• 2 tbsp cocoa powder
• 300ml/10fl.oz double cream
• 125g/4.5oz fresh raspberries
• Icing sugar for dusting

1. Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas Mark 4 and grease and line a 33x23cm / 13x9inch swiss roll tin with greaseproof paper.
2. Melt the chocolate in a bowl placed over a pan of just simmering water, making sure that the bowl is not touching the water.  Once melted, set aside to cool.
3. Separate the eggs between two large bowls.  Whisk the whites until they are stiffed peaked but not dry.
4. Add the sugar to the egg yolks and whisk for a few minutes until it is thick, pale and creamy.
5. Pour the cooled chocolate into the sugar and yolk mix and fold in gently until well combined.
6. Add two spoonfuls of the egg whites to the chocolate mixture and carefully stir in to loosen the mixture before folding in the remaining egg whites with a large metal spoon.  Be careful not to squash out the air.
7. Sift the cocoa powder in and lightly fold.
8. Pour mixture into the prepared tin and move the tin around gently until the mixture reaches all the corners and is level.
9. Bake in the oven for about 20-25 minutes until the roulade is risen and feels firm and slightly crisp to the touch.  Remove from the oven and leave in the tin until it has gone cold.
10. Whip the cream until it just holds its shape.  Cut the raspberries into quarters and fold into the cream.
11. Lay out a piece of greaseproof paper on a work surface and dust with icing sugar.  Turn the cooled roulade out onto the paper.  Its lining paper should be on top so you can peel it off.
12. Leaving a border of about 2cm all the way around the edge, spread the whipped cream evenly over the roulade.
13. Make a cut along one of the short edges that goes about halfway through the sponge.  Roll the cut edge over tightly to start the roll and then use the greaseproof paper to help continue a tight roll.  
14. Finish with the join underneath and place on a plate.  Dust with icing sugar.  

Chocolate and Raspberry Heart Brownies

The Hubby loves pen and paper roleplay games.  When I met him he was a part of his university roleplay society and it was a regular feature of his week to be away gaming with his friends.  When we finished university and first moved into our flat in Fife, he would travel up on the train for games.  He wasn't really able to play with the university anymore, due to timings of trains, but his friends still did a roleplay and he would go up for that.  Back in the early days of this blog, it became traditional for me to bake something for him to take along.  His friends are very willing guinea pigs and it really allowed me to stretch my creative juices and experiment.  No wonder 2012 and 2013 were such prolific years for the blog.
  
Then the Hubby changed from being a lifeguard with casual hours to one with part time hours.  And all those hours were in the evening.  And consequently, roleplaying had to be put on hold.  I felt so bad for him because it also put a big hold on getting to see his friends in general.  After we convinced him to quit because I was beginning my probation year, it became an issue of no one having the same free day for meeting up and limited funds.  Their game has been on hold for a couple of years now.

However, now the Hubby has passed his driving test and we have access to a (devil) car he is able to travel up to Dundee much more easily, with no restrictions on when he has to leave as he's not relying on trains.  He is so happy.  And there are plans to start the game up again, with some new people joining.  So once again he'll be regularly trekking up to Dundee.

That's where this bake comes in.  Last Saturday he went to Dundee.  I did not remember him telling me he was doing this until he mentioned it the preceding Monday.  So obviously I spent the week teasing him about abandoning me.  It was fine though.  I was glad he was getting to see his friends.  And at the fact I had guinea pigs to bake for again.  My day on my own was also enjoyable (despite feeling ill).  I bundled up under a quilt with my cats and watched a lot of movies.  It was lovely. 

I thought I would do something with a bit of a Valentine's theme, being that time of year and all.  Brownies seemed a good bet.  Traybakes are good to send along to a bunch of people.  I went with chocolate and raspberry because it's a classic, romantic combination.  Plus tastes really good together.  The brownie part was a Martha Stewart recipe, so there's a LOT of butter and sugar in these.  But that's what makes a good, moist brownie!  That and a good quality dark chocolate.  I added raspberries to the brownies (more moistness wasn't going to hurt) and then found a nice and simple raspberry ganache recipe that I thought I'd be able to pull off (since, ya know, ganache is one of my nemeses).  I have to say, I like using chocolate chips, it helps things to melt quicker.  I switched milk chocolate chips out for white chocolate in my version because I wanted a nice pink ganache and because white chocolate also combines well with raspberry.

The trickiest part of this was actually cutting out the hearts.  My cookie cutter was a bit shallow to go through cleanly and come back out again.  I need a fancy one with a handle.  So instead I pushed it in part way and used it as a stencil, cutting around the inside edge with a knife.  It gives the brownies a slight roughness but for the most part, they still looked pretty cute.

I packed both the brownies and all the remnants up and sent them along with the Hubby.  There was much excitement at the prospect when he had told them over Facebook.  Apparently everyone immediately started tucking into the leftover bits, saving the actual brownies for after tea.  Any brownies that remained at the end of the evening were divided up between them.  They are a wonderfully moist brownie but weren't too heavy.  They're very chocolatey and the raspberry is strong.  The Hubby describes it, "as being punched in the nose and tongue with flavour".  A weird way to put it but I'll take it.  Everyone really enjoyed them so I was happy.

Recipe - makes 12 brownies (plus leftover bits)

Brownie - adapted from Martha Stewart

• 225g/8oz unsalted butter
• 350g/12oz light muscovado sugar 
• 170g/6oz dark chocolate
• 4 eggs
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 240g/8.5oz plain flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 150g/5.3oz fresh raspberries 

Raspberry Ganache - adapted from Food.com

• 160ml/oz heavy cream 
• 60g/2oz butter
• 280g/10oz white chocolate chips
• 125ml/4.5oz seedless raspberry jam
• Pink food colouring (optional) 
• Sprinkles

1. Preheat the oven to 170C/325F/Gas Mark 3 and grease and line a 12x10inch, deep sided tray with baking parchment.  Make sure the parchment hangs high over the edge so that you will be able to lift the brownies out of the tray.
2. Put the chocolate, butter and sugar into a microwave-safe bowl.
3. Microwave for 1 minute and then stir.  Continue to microwave for 10 second intervals, stirring after each, until the chocolate is almost melted.
4. Beat in the eggs and vanilla extract, followed by the flour and salt.  Mix until just smooth.
5. Cut the raspberries in half and fold into the mixture.
6. Pour into the prepared tin and smooth the top.
7. Bake for about 35 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.  I recommend to start checking after 20 minutes because you don't want the brownie to overcook and dry out.
8. Leave in the tin to cool.
9. Whilst the brownie is baking, start making the raspberry ganache.  In a small heavy saucepan placed over a medium heat bring the cream to a simmer then remove.
10. Add the chocolate chips, butter and jam to the cream, making sure as much as possible is covered.  Let it stand until the chocolate has melted.
11. If using food colouring, add it here.  Whisk the mixture until it is smooth.  Chill in the fridge for about an hour.
12. Whip the ganache to soft peaks then spread over the top of the cooled brownie, smoothing over and making sure it goes right to the edges.  Sprinkle decorations over the top, cover with clingfilm and place in the fridge to firm up.
13. Once the ganache is fairly firm, use a 6cm/2.5inch heart cookie cutter to cut the brownies out.  (The scraps are worth keeping for nibbles).

Mini Jam Tarts with Homemade Strawberry Jam

I have to say, I find it quite surprising that this blog is nearly 4 years old.  I started it back in 2012 when I was home alone with very little to do.  It's grown a fair bit since then and so have I.  Jam tarts was one of the earliest things I attempted when I started.  Egged on my nostalgia after visiting my family I had a go at recreating a favourite of my Dad's.  Whilst the final product wasn't too bad, the tarts were more like Jammie Dodgers because I had them in the oven half an hour longer than I was supposed to (the pastry just would not change colour!!).   4 years later I decided to make them again.  I've gained quite a bit of experience by this point so it shouldn't be too hard.  In fact, I needed to give myself an additional challenge.  Not only was I going to make jam tarts, I was also going to make the jam to go in them!

I've never made jam before but have wanted to try it.  The thought of all that boiling sugar makes me a little nervous though.  But I decided, if I make a small batch that's not too scary.  It can't be too hard.  The Hubby's sister makes lovely jam after all.  I'm sure I can so the same.  Turns out, I can (thankfully).  Finding a recipe was easy enough (good old Nigella) and it was a lovely simple one too.  No worrying about sugar thermometers.  All you needed for testing was a plate that's been in the deep freeze.  I was a little concerned that I wouldn't find preserving sugar and initially grabbed jam sugar, but turns out even the tiny village supermarket sold it so I got that too.  Of course, it figures that I chose to use a fruit that is low in pectin and therefore not the easiest to make jam with.  However, lemon juice was going to provide the required pectin so once I had my fruit I was all set.  

The jam was the easiest part of the bake.  It really is a 'put-everything-in-the-pan' kind of recipe.  I used my biggest saucepan (3L) because I wanted to make sure it had enough space to boil.  I did also stick in my sugar thermometer so I had a second reference for 'done-ness' to go along with the saucer.  After about an hour on Friday I had a delicious jar of jam that I made all by myself.  I was very pleased.

But then came the tarts.  Oh the tarts.  I thought they would be so easy.  Make shortcrust pastry, fill with jam, bake.  I even got some Flower Cutters to make little flower tarts, inspired by images I'd seen on Pinterest..  I had...issues with my first batch that I made Saturday.  There was jam everywhere.  I admit, I read the recipe and thought '6 tbsp of jam doesn't seem like a lot for even large jam tarts' so I disregarded it completely.  I filled my pastry flower cups 2/3 full and popped them in the oven.  When I pulled them back out again, the jam had erupted up and over the sides and then down underneath the pastry.  They were not pretty.  They did still taste good so we've been eating them anyway but they weren't blog worthy.  Luckily I had enough jam left over for a do-over on Sunday.

So Sunday came and I whipped up a new batch of pastry.  I made sure to roll it thinner this time because after it had baked last time it puffed out quite a bit.  I then put a tiny amount of jam in each one.  1/2 tsp, which barely covered the base.  Turns out this is plenty though because when this batch came out the oven the jam had risen up (with some spilling over) and the pastry had shrunk.  Much prettier.  The ratio of jam to pastry when we ate it was also much more appealing and manageable.

All in all, I was quite pleased, particularly with my jam.  It all got used up over the weekend between making tarts and being used on scones.  It's something I hope to make more of in the future.  As for the tarts, now I have a better idea of how all the parts work (seriously, such a pastry noob) they're actually pretty easy and as delicious as I remember from being a kid.  Definitely going to make these again (though I'm still making my way through the two batches I already made) and maybe I'll get to make them for my Dad next time I visit my family. 

Recipe:


Strawberry Jam - adapted from How To Be A Domestic Goddess  
Makes 400ml (which is more than enough for at least 2 batches of tarts)

• 335g/11.8oz strawberries (get slightly more as you'll be chopping tops of the strawberries)
• 350g/12oz preserving sugar
• 1 tbsp lemon juice

1. Put a saucer in the deep freeze before you start.
2. Put a clean 400ml jam jar or two 200ml jars into an oven on its lowest setting.
3. Cut the tops off the strawberries, chop into quarters and add them to a very large saucepan, along with the sugar and lemon juice.  Set over a low heat and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally.
4. Allow the mixture to boil for about 5 minutes.
5. Take your saucer out of the freezer.  Remove jam from heat and put a scant teaspoon of it onto the saucer.  Let it cool for a minute or so then push it with your finger.  If it wrinkles up, you're done.  Otherwise put the jam back on the heat for another minute before testing again.
6. Once jam is done, remove from heat and let sit for 20 minutes to cool before removing the jars from the oven and decanting the jam into them.  Seal and let cool completely. 

Jam Tarts - adapted from The Great British Book of Baking  
Makes 18-20 mini tarts

• 200g/7oz plain flour
• Pinch of salt
• 1 tsp caster sugar
• 125g/4.5oz unsalted butter   
• 2 tbsp ice cold water
• Jam  

1. Sieve the flour, salt and sugar into a bowl.
2. Dice up the butter and add rub into the dry ingredients until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.
3. Using a rounded knife, stir in the water until it forms into a firm ball of dough. (If the mixture remains dry and crumbly, add an additional teaspoon of water at a time).   
4. Wrap the dough in clingfilm and chill in the fridge for about 20 minutes.  Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas Mark 4 and grease a two 12 hole mini muffin pans (or use silicone ones like I did).
5.  Roll the dough out on a lightly floured surface until it is about 3mm thick.  Using a pastry cutter that is slightly bigger than the holes in your tin, cut out shapes (I used a flower cookie cutter for mine) and place one in each hole, pushing down gently so that it forms a cup.  Keep gathering up trimmings, rerolling and cutting until you have used up the pastry.
6. Put 1/2 tsp of jam into each pastry cup (that may not seem like much but trust me, it's plenty.  The jam expands and the pastry shrinks.  Any more and it will overflow).
7. Bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes, until pastry is a light, golden brown.
8. Allow to sit in the tins for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool.  Do not eat straight from the oven. The jam is HOT.