Ring Cake Presentation

A suggestion for a way to present your ring tin cake that is so easy and cheap.
Fill the centre circle with a little shallow dish containing fresh flowers, here there are a few Japanese windflowers but daisies or roses would look great-up to you!

This is a type of Carrot Cake

Any type of cake would do.

Carrot and Orange Soup.

Serves 6.

Yummy enough for the start of a special dinner.

1. 50g butter
2. 500g carrots, peeled and sliced
3. 1 large onion, thinly sliced
4. 2 teaspns grated orange rind- you need 1 orange for this soup.
5. 1 Tblspn plain flour- or for gluten free- rice or corn flour.
6. 1/2 a cup fresh orange juice
7. 5 cups of chicken stock- granules or powder are fine.

Heat the butter in a large saucepan-add the carrot, onion and orange rind. Stir over a low heat until onion is transparent.

Add the flour, stir, add the juice then gradually the stock. Stir over higher heat till mixture boils.

Reduce heat and simmer, covered, for 30mins.

Allow soup to cool a little, then using a stick blender process until soup is smooth.

Return soup to heat .

Serve with a few zested orange strips and some finely chopped chives, parsley or basil.

 Zest the garnish strips of orange before squeezing it: much easier, stand them in a little water to stop them drying out before draining them and adding just before serving. A small swirl of light cream looks good too.

Simply Beautiful Panna cottas

Loved by everyone. Easiest classiest dessert. Perfect dinner party ending.

serves 6

These are lovely made with UHT cream

or, of course whipping cream.

Light milk works well.

1. 1 and 1/2 cups milk
2. 3 teaspns gelatine
3. 1 and 1/2 cups cream
4. 1/4 cup caster sugar or alternative sweetener.
5. 1 teaspn vanilla essence or almond or rosewater essence.                             

Using a light oil spray, smear lightly around the inside of small moulds or bowls.

• Place 3 Tblspns of the milk in a small dish.
• Sprinkle gelatine [powdered] on top.
• Put the remaining milk, cream and sugar in a pan on low heat, stir till nearly boiling.
• Remove from the heat, whisk in the softened gelatine, add the essence.
• Pour the mix into the moulds.
• Chill about 4 hours or overnight.
• Turn out by sliding a knife around the edge of the moulds and loosening.

Serve with a berry coulis, or berries in a little juice, or fresh strawberries that have been cut up and sprinkled with a little icing sugar, covered and left for a couple of hours to produce juice. Rhubarb is nice too, sweetened with honey or passionfruit pulp from a tin or a fruit.

             Serve with a little light cream or Greek yoghurt and cream combined.

                                       You will love these!

Scrumptious Oat Hotcakes.

These are really delicious and have been a family tradition for over 25 years.
Very easy to make, ingredients can be doubled or tripled etc. Lots of fibre.

For 6 hotcakes[smallish fluffy pancakes]

1. 3/4 of a cup rolled oats
2. 1 cup of milk [low fat works well]
3. 1/2 cup of flour [ have used wholewheat but you need to add a little more milk if you do]
4. 2 teaspns baking powder
5. 1/2 teaspn salt
6. 2-3 Tblspns sugar [or stevia equivalent,or Splenda etc ]
7. 1 egg
8. 2 Tblspns melted butter.           Pour the milk onto the oats and let it stand for 5 minutes.Sift flour and B.P.onto mix.Add salt. Add sugar or substitute and egg to milk mix.Beat with a fork. Melt the butter in the hotcake frying pan and tip it into mix. Stir till smooth. Add a little more milk if mix too thick. Pour into pan on medium heat [I use two small pans- as these are the right size and makes 2 at a time]. Turn when bubbles appear, they only take another minute. Sandwich with stewed apple,bananas, berries[defrosted and heated- thicken with cornflour] cream, Greek yoghurt, fresh strawberries in season Top with maple or golden syrup to taste. O M Goodness!

Turkish Pide Bread and Pizza.

Pide-Turkish flat bread

chewy and delicious.

Makes enough for 2 pide

or 1 extra large pizza and 1 pide.

Dough keeps in the fridge for a few days

so, they can be baked on separate occasions.

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon dried yeast granules

1 teaspoon of sugar or honey

1/2 cup warm, not hot, water

1 cup high grade flour, 00 if you have it.

Another 3 1/4 cups of high grade flour

1 teaspoon of salt

200ml warm water

50ml olive oil.

1. Stir dried yeast granules and sugar into
2. Just over 1/2 cup warm[not hot] water.
3. Leave 10 minutes til frothy.
4. Work just under 1 cup of high grade or 00 flour into the yeast mixture to make a sloppy paste.
5. Cover and leave in a warm place [sunny bench or kitchen] 30 minutes.
6. Put 3 and 1/4 cups of flour and 1 teasp salt into a large bowl-make a well
7. Add yeast paste, 200ml warm water and 50ml olive oil.
8. Use fingers to make a sticky dough [fun!]
9. Knead [throw a little flour first] until elastic- springs back when you pull it- 10 minutes.
10. Leave it to rise in an oiled bowl, covered, rest bowl in a sink of warm water, 20 -30 mins.
11. Punch it down gently, cut into 2,  roll into balls, for pide roll out to approx 20 cms, press your fingers in to make indentations. Put them on a greased flat oven sheet.
12. Paint with olive oil, sprinkle lightly with sea salt, sesame seeds or snipped rosemary. leave to rise for 30 mins cover with a plastic wrap, draped lightly or a cloth raised above the tops of the pide so as not to stick. They can be made any shape of course, rectangles, for example.
13. Bake in a preheated oven 450deg / 230C.
14. 7-10minutes.  Bottoms should be golden.   See other recipe for  making the pizza, on this site.