Pancake Day

Ok so like probably nearly everyone else in the country last night I was making pancakes. I learned very quickly that my frying pan was not really up to the job so the first attempt need to be scraped off the bottom. I switched pans and got the butter nice and hot then we were in business. Savoury pancakes first made up of the ever traditional cheese and ham plus a splash of mustard, we used Emmental and a smoked cheddar and some wafer thin ham. They were very tasty indeed. However I also found pancakes are hard to photograph well, and make look appetising but you will just have to take my word for it.

For the dessert pancakes, although Rich had the most popular lemon and sugar, I bough some caramel dip and cream from Waitrose for mine to experiment with. I did also get some cherry compote but that will have to wait for another time. Rich decided to make his caramel pancake by using the sauce to caramelise the edges of the pancake to they were all chewy. This was sugar overload but it was so good.

This sauce was definitely worth buying it was so rich and indulgent. I shall use it up by making a banoffee pie at some point I expect, so go get some whilst you can. Tomorrow I am hoping to go to the Red Lion Wine House on Worrall Road for cheese, charcuterie and wine as part of my on going Birthday Week (TM)  celebrations will report back if I do. Wongs is the favourited birthday meal destination, let me know if any of you has been. Hope you all had good pancake days share your favourite toppings!

Jayne Bakes: Lemon Tarts

A guest blog post from my friend Jayne she likes to bake and experiment in the kitchen, it's all very yummy!

Firstly let me introduce myself, my name is Jayne and from time to time I will be writing about my latest adventure in the kitchen on Adventures in Eating. Like Abby I adore food. I will go to restaurants and dissect a dish as though it was my last supper savouring every mouthful and trying my hardest to work out how it’s been seasoned and what exactly is in the said dish.

Sadly unlike Abby, Rich and my boyfriend I am not a terribly great cook.(she is really, she's being modest-Abby) I cook reasonable meals, some times even lovely meals but this has never stopped me from inflicting my friends, family and extended family to my food whenever possible. However, my personal food joy is in baking and making anything sweet related.

This weekend, I attempted making the classic lemon tart. I made five mini tarts in 10cm flan tins and the results were wonderful, I can say this as my boyfriend’s sister informed me it was her best lemon tart yet.

The recipe is a mix of two recipes. The pastry is from AllRecipes and the filling is based on Rachel Allen’s Bake recipe:

Ingredients:

For the pastry: 

• 75g butter
• 40g icing sugar
• 125g plain flour
• 1 egg yolk

For the filling

• 3 eggs
• 1 lemon, grated zest
• 125 g caster sugar
• 150 ml double cream
• 2 lemons, juice only
• icing sugar, for dusting

For the pastry: Place the flour, icing sugar in to a bowl and rub the butter into the flour until it resembles coarse breadcrumbs then, using your hands, add just enough egg to bind it together.

With your hands, flatten out the ball of dough until it is about 2cm thick, then wrap it in cling film or place it in a plastic bag and leave in the fridge for at least 30 minutes or, if you are pushed for time, in the freezer for 10–15 minutes, before using.

Preheat the oven to 180C/gas 4.

Line a 23cm tart tin with the short crust pastry and cover the base with baking parchment. Fill the tin with baking beans and bake blind for 10-15 minutes. Remove the beans and parchment for the last five minutes of baking for a golden crust.

For the filling: Place the eggs, lemon zest and sugar in a bowl and whisk for a couple of minutes until the egg is all broken up.

Add the cream, lemon juice. Mix well; carefully pour the filling into the cooked pastry case.

Reduce the oven temperature to 160C/gas 3 and bake the tart for 30-35 minutes or until the filling has just set in the centre – it should only wobble very slightly when you take it out of the oven.

Remove from the oven and allow to cool for about 15 minutes before removing the tart from the tin and transferring to a plate or cake stand. When it is cool, put a dusting of icing sugar over the top to serve.  

Enjoy!

Jx

Mmm thanks Jayne yummy! Tonight I shall be making a variety of pancakes tomorrow I shall post how successful I am. Enjoy your pancake day!