The Donut Burger

Insta: @daintycook

A homemade spiced lamb burger topped with cheeses, gherkins, lettuce and tomato in a fresh, homemade ring-donut bun. Need I say more?

Its been a while again folks, but I promise to be posting often soon!

So, many a time had I seen this burger circulating on the Internet and I could only have dreamt to go to the BB Kitchen in Cardiff to eat it. And then a local diner opens and promises a donut burger too. My cravings for this had gone cray. And when I crave, boy do I crave! 

With it being the month of fasting, I had a bit of extra time on my hands so I thought I'd make this bad boy myself.

The Burger 

Ingredients:
Lamb mince (for four greedy people)

2 and a half tsps coriander powder

2 and a half tsps cumin powder

1 tsp paprika

2 tsps garlic paste

1/2 tsp ginger paste

1 tsp chilli powder (and grinded chilles for extra heat)

1/2 tsp garam masala
2 tbsps breadcrumbs

Salt and pepper

(Feel free to add more or less depending on your taste buds, You don't want the spices too overpowering though.)

Method:

• Mix all together and leave for 30 mins. Shape the burgers quite fat (I used a home burger press) and fry in oil on a griddle pan until slightly charred.

Donuts

Ingredients:

250g strong white flour

7g yeast

75ml warm milk

30g caster sugar

30g butter

1 egg

Pinch of salt

Glaze

150g icing sugar

3-4 tbsps milk or water
Vanilla extract (optional)

Method:

• For the donuts, combine all ingredients together stirring with your hands. Then knead for 10 mins until you get a dough like consistency. Add a bit more flour if kneaded (hehe, like my pun there! Okay sorry I'll stop).

• Shape into a big ball and place in a bowl covered with cling film. Leave it in a warm place for an hour to let it rise or double in volume.

• Once risen, shape into circles and cut a hole out in the middle. Widen the holes so they don't close.

• Let the dough prove and rise again for about another hour.

• Now they're ready to fry! Make sure the oil is hot (but not too hot so they don't burn) and fry on each side for about a minute or two.

• Once fried, combine the icing sugar and milk and mix to form a glaze. Dip the top half of the donuts and let them set!

• To assemble the burger, cut the donuts in half and add whatever fillings you like! I topped it with cheddar, added the burger which was coated with Red Leicester just before I finished frying them. Then lettuce, a slice of beef tomato, sliced gherkins, onions and the glazed donut half. I also squeezed some lemon on top of the meat.

This was served with fat chips, onion rings and Mayo and ketchup, obvs! Think I'd add jalapeños next time too.

Best. Burger. Ever. 

Seriously, my stomach would gladly be in a committed relationship to it.

I wanted to take some good shots of this on my camera, but sorry guys, my stomach couldn't wait! 

Fat and juicy with some incredible toppings AND a donut bun. What more could you want in life?!

Insta: @daintycook - get following!

Dainty Cook xox

Halloween Inspired: Ghostly île Flottantes

A floating poached egg white amongst a pond of creamy vanilla crème anglaise, topped with a crunchy caramel shard - decorated as a ghost of course.

This truly is a fancy dessert and really quite simple to make, with a pinch of patience. So why don't you try this out and stun your Halloween party guests with this ghostly version? It's cute, it's tasty and definitely fits in with a scary theme.

île flottante has been one of those desserts I've been wanting to make for a long while but just hadn't got round to it. Whilst wondering what I could make for halloween without using the usual ingredients, such as pumpkin, the thought of making spooky floating islands literally just popped into my head.

But what are île flottantes I hear you ask! Well, french for floating islands (I didn't just randomly mention islands earlier for no reason incase any of you were confused) is a very well composed dessert should I say. It's usually made up of three components, each of which emit complimentary textures with every mouthful you have. It's absolutely brilliant. You get the smooth cold creaminess from the crème anglaise and then this light, almost melting, meringuey, moussey, marshmallowy even, taste along with a satisfying crunchy caramel topping that I believe is vital to finish the dish off with. 

So you think you want to have a go? Let me tell you how it was made then!

Ingredients:
Crème Anglaise:
300ml milk
80ml double cream
3 drops of vanilla bean paste/1 tsp good quality vanilla extract
70g caster sugar
4 large egg yolks

For the meringue:
4 large egg whites
100g caster sugar
4 drops lemon juice

Caramel topping:
80g caster sugar

Poaching liquid:
500ml milk
500ml water
2 tablespoons sugar

Decoration:
Googley eyes/marshamallow
Black food colouring paste

Method:

• For the crème anglaise, add the milk, cream and vanilla paste in a saucepan and let it simmer on medium heat for 3-4 minutes, do not let it boil.
• Meanwhile in a mixing bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and sugar until it turns pale in colour.
• Slowly pour in about two tablespoons of the hot milk mixture and whisk away. Keep adding the milk slowly while whisking away to incorporate the eggs and to avoid it turning into a scrambled omelette!
• Put this back on the heat and stir continuously until the mixture thickens slightly and coats the back of the spoon. Do not leave the saucepan or the creme anglaise will split if not stirred and over heated!
• Strain the mixture into a bowl using a sieve and leave to cool, then refrigerate. 

Poaching liquid:

• Combine the milk and water in a large pan and add the sugar until it dissolves. Make sure the liquid doesn't boil as it will ruin the outcome of the meringues.

Meringues:

• Whisk the egg whites in a clean bowl and add 3 drops of lemon juice.
• Gradually add the sugar a tablespoon at a time and whisk until its thick and glossy and stiff peaks form.
• Using 2 large serving spoons, shape the egg whites in an oval shape. To add heigh and make them as 'ghosts' use a serving spoon and a spatula (or butter knife) and keep adding egg white at the top of the oval and smoothen it out with the spatula. I made mine quite big and were harder to poach because of the shape, but you can make your smaller.
• Poach the whites for around 4-5 minutes until stiff and cooked and then turn them over for the same time. Any longer and they tend to collapse!
• Remove them from the pan and place on some baking paper or a wire rack to drain them off.

Caramel:

• Put the sugar in a saucepan and heat until melted and golden brown in colour. Be sure to keep an eye out so it doesn't burn.
• Drizzle over a piece of baking paper and leave to set. 

To assemble:

• Pour some creme anglaise into a bowl (i used spoon rests just to achieve a different look) and place the smaller flat side of the poached egg white on top. Add the googley eyes at the top - if you don't have these don't worry. Cut out two small circles from marshmallows and paint with black food colouring paste and leave to dry. Make sure they're dry or they will run onto your meringue! 
• For the mouthes i used black food colouring paste and lighlt dabbed them onto the back of a palette knife and made a roundish mouth shape.
• Peel off the caramel shards and add on top.

Your ghostly île flottantes are ready to be eaten now!

Any issues, feel free to drop me an email. Happy Halloween everyone :) 

Dainty Cook x

Rose and White Chocolate Ganache Macarons

Macaron shells filled with a light, white chocolate ganache and a hint of rose.

For the more sophisticated of taste buds.

I've got to tell you something. I'm not a lover of rose flavoured edibles. So I guess my taste buds aren't sophisticated as I thought! I don't hate it, but I don't love it either. If I could avoid it, I would. So why did I make these then!? My momma loves rose and white chocolate actually (tbh, I've found that many of the er, older generation tend to prefer these!) So I thought I'd make these ones for her :)
Okay so maybe they actually are for the more refined taste buds?

I just think they're pretty to look at and I love the colour.

I made the choco-lemon macarons for me though, it's all gravvy.

Ingredients:
118g ground almonds
118g icing powder
pink food colouring paste/gel/powder
41g and 70g egg whites (divided)
58g water
118g granulated sugar

Filling:
2 tbsp rose water/flavouring
200g white chocolate
200g double cream
pink food colouring paste/gel/powder

Method:

• Sift the ground almonds and icing sugar together in a bowl and combine.
• Place them in a food processor and process until fine and combined.
• Sift again in a medium bowl.
• Make a well in the centre and add the 41g of egg whites then mix thoroughly until well combined and you've end up with a thick paste or 'gloop' as I like to say. (I like words with double o's okay, I don't even know why.)
• In the mean time, place the sugar and water in a saucepan with a 'candy' thermometer and switch the heat on. When it gets to 200 degrees Farenheit, start whisking your egg whites slowly with a pinch of sugar up until the temp reaches around 245 degrees Farenheit.
• Quickly whisk in the sugar mixture and continue whisking the eggs until thick and glossy. If you want to add colour then this is the time. After or just before pouring the sugar mix, add the yellow food colouring gel. It lightens so add a tad more than you'd like it to be.
• Fold in the egg whites into the almond gloop a couple of times. *Do the macaron-a* (I hope one of you laughed at that.)
• Then add the rest of the egg whites slowly and fold a couple of times until combined. I don't count my fold, but you want the texture to be thick and ribbon like, if you overmix, the mixture will turn flat and super runny, you definitely do not want that! Also mix too much and it may end up with a slightly chewy texture. The texture should be soft on the inside and hard out the outside (like a man!) Remember?
• Pipe small rounds onto baking paper on a tray or a silpat mat or moulds and let it ret until a thick skin forms. Around 30 mins to an hour.
• Preheat the oven (I do this now guys!) to 147 degrees C. I use an electric fan oven so add 20 degrees if you're using a traditional gas one. Place in the middle of the oven one sheet at time and bake for 15 minutes - mine take 25 - never know why. Just keep checking after 15 mins.
• Let them cool and voila!

Filling:

• Melt the white chocolate in a double boiler/water bath just until half melted.
• Heat the cream until warm and add to the half melted chocolate.
• Very quickly stir the two together until the white chocolate thickens and both are combined. If they don't combine, put it back on the double boiler for a minute or 2, the mixture will become runny, but will set later (takes longer though!)
• Add in your rose flavouring/water to your preference. I only added a teeny bit because, even though they weren't for me, I didn't want them to emit a strong rose flavour, which they should do!
• Next, stir in a drop or two of pink food colouring and stir.
• Let it set in the fridge for a few hours or over night. The longer the better, I was impatient and found it hard to pipe my shells as white chocolate ganache takes longer to set.

Sit back relax, have an apple martini and enjoy these macarons!

Any help, I'm a message away :)

Dainty Cook x

Choco-lemon Macarons

Sunshine yellow macaron shells, filled with a decadent lemon curd and semi-dark chocolate ganache.

Sunshine in me belly!

The first time I went to L'adurée was a long while ago with my cousin. Out at a day in London, we stopped by the café for some afternoon tea. A step inside and I felt like a kid in a candy store, such a pretty little sight! They had a vast array of flavours and many other sweet items on display.
I wanted to eat, yet also bake everything I had witnessed there.

As we finally sat down, I ordered about 4-5 macarons with my vanilla tea. I know I know, fatty I hear you cry! But if you've been there, you know how hard it is to simply choose the one or two. And they had - at the time -  limited edition ones, or was it specialities? I can't remember. All I remember was that the one that made my stomach summersault was the lemon and chocolate macaron. To die for. 

If you think about it, the two flavours are so repelling as individuals. Lemon and chocolate? Ergh - that's probably what you're thinking right!? You've just got to try it to understand where I'm coming from. Together they become something else. And since then, it has become one of my best chocolate combos. It's magical.

I was testing out a smaller batch than my usual step-by-step recipe:  which actually takes a tad more egg whites when halved. It's all about playing around and seeing what's best for you that works. 

Here's how I made it!

Ingredients:

118g ground almonds

118g icing sugar

yellow food colouring paste/gel/powder

41g egg whites and 65g egg whites (divided)

58g water

118g granulated sugar

Filling:

Lemon curd

200g 53% dark chocolate (I used Callebaut)

100g double cream

2 tbsp butter

pinch of salt

Method: 

The first bit is probably the most tedious, but it has to be done to ensure a nice smooth macaron!

• Sift the ground almonds and icing sugar together in a bowl and combine.
• Place them in a food processor and process until fine and combined.
• Sift again in a medium bowl.
• Make a well in the centre and add the 41g of egg whites then mix thoroughly until well combined and you've end up with a thick paste or 'gloop' as I like to say. (I like words with double o's okay, I don't even know why.)
• In the mean time, place the sugar and water in a saucepan with a 'candy' thermometer and switch the heat on. When it gets to 200 degrees Farenheit, start whisking your egg whites slowly with a pinch of sugar up until the temp reaches around 245 degree Farenheit.
• Quickly whisk in the sugar mixture and continue whisking the eggs until thick and glossy. If you want to add colour then this is the time. After or just before pouring the sugar mix, add the yellow food colouring gel. It lightens so add a tad more than you'd like it to be.
• Fold in the egg whites into the almond gloop a couple of times. *Do the macaron-a* (I hope one of you laughed at that.)
• Then add the rest of the egg whites slowly and fold a couple of times until combined. I don't count my fold but you want the texture to be thick and ribbon like, if you overmix, the mixture will turn flat and super runny which is what you definitely do not want! Also mix too much and it may end up with a slightly chewy texture. Soft on the inside and hard out the outside (like a man!) Remember?
• Pipe small rounds onto baking paper on a tray or a silpat mat or moulds and let it ret until a thick skin forms. Around 30 mins.
• Preheat the oven (I do this now guys!) to 147 degrees C. I use an electric fan oven so add 20 degrees if you're using a traditional gas one. Place in the middle of the oven one sheet at time and bake for 15 minutes - mine take 25 - never know why. Just keep checking after 15 mins.
• Let them cool and voila!

For the Filling:

To be honest, I made this lemon curd beforehand for a cake and I can't remember precisely how I made it (sorry), I will post the recipe once I find it - it was from a YouTube vid! Meanwhile, I suggest you get a good jar full from your local deli, the fresh good quality stuff is always best.

• To make the ganache, heat the cream and butter in a saucepan until hot and add to chopped chocolate in a bowl, do not stir.
• Once you see the chocolate melting, add the salt and gradually stir quickly until well combined.Let it cool and add 4tbsp of lemon curd and mix. Add as much as you like to get the right lemony flavour, this part is all about preference.

And there you go! Make sure you try this flavour out, it's just so tantalising to the tongue.

Any issues, feel free to ask. :)

Dainty Cook x

Giving for Gaza: The Mass Macaron Make

Deeply touched by the news, I couldn't sit idly while fellow innocents were being killed.

I've given to charity and aided with fundraising before, but this time I wanted to do more as an individual. To give more to the Palestinians. Without any prevalent source of income however, (excluding student loans and bank of mum and dad!) I felt that utilising my baking skills to singlehandedly raise money would help me achieve this.


After all, food is a universal language.

The Palestine-Israel conflict; we've all heard about it on the news and read about it in the papers, it's not easy to ignore. The majority of us have been effected by the horrific images plastered all over the internet of harmless children laying on the bombed remains of Gaza: unworthy of being labelled as their deathbed. Most of us feel for the victims of Israel's rockets, the innocent civilians who live every moment in caution.

Indeed, there are other wars going on, others in dire need. But when you hear of this war, when you specifically see an image of a group of Israelis gathered to cheer the bombings in Gaza - composed against an image of an injured child clutching onto a paramedic, desperately crying for it's father, you know something needs to be done, pronto.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jul/20/israelis-cheer-gaza-bombing

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2699846/This-desperate-young-boy-face-tragedy-Palestinian-child-clutches-shirt-hospital-worker-screaming-I-want-father-bring-father.html

My reason for this post is to primarily share a brief experience of this fundraiser. I'm not aiming to discuss who's side I'm on, who's right and wrong in this post, but the journalist in me, the heart in me that has emotions, the heart that is human - as obvious as I have made it - would fervently defend the Palestinians if I were to write a coherent article or even an opinion piece about the ongoing conflict.

You've only got to be human to know that what's going on in Gaza right now is simply, well...inhumane. 

And so, came the challenge: making macarons in mass.

I decided on making macarons because they're not widely available in my city, thus believed they would be popular. It also meant that I'd be able to customise the packaging. I really enjoyed adding dainty little ribbons and colourful tissue paper, you know, just giving it that personal touch. It was actually quite exciting for me (sad I know).

Where do I even start with these babies though? If anyone has read my post: Temperamental Twats: The Macaron, or has attempted to make them themselves, you'd know exactly how difficult they can be. Macarons require time, effort and a certain level of patience to produce. The most I had previously made was for my sibling's henna-do. Let's just say, post-do I was renamed the "macaron monster." 

I went a little bit mental and vowed, never again.

I knew my insanity would reach to a higher level this time round. Perfectionist problems! And I was somewhat correct.

This time, I think it was mainly tiredness from fasting, being in the kitchen baking for other occasions and incorrect calculations of ingredients that made it all the more strenuous. It made me realise how poor I am at math (there's a reason why I study English) and I might have overestimated how many I'd make per day, discounting failed batches.

As exciting as it was, it was daunting too. I had a batch that cracked, a batch that took forever to cook, as prior to this, I had 3 test runs which were all perfect! Usually when baking on the whim, my goods turns out fine, but in mass these just weren't meeting my normal standards. What if no one liked them? I had many worries, but I reminded myself that people would acknowledge that their money wouldn't have gone to waste, helping me get back in the groove.



I managed to make roughly 600 shells in three different flavours! Raspberry cheesecake, salted caramel with semi dark chocolate and white chocolate ganache with coconut. I just felt that these were 'universal' flavours, giving slightly more than your average stand-alone filling, whilst suiting a range of taste buds.

I'm glad many enjoyed their assorted boxes and expressed their favourite flavours! Those of you reading this who bought my macarons, helped me to spread the word or gave me advice, thank you so much - I cannot express that enough!



Ultimately, my motive for blogging this particular experience is to share what I learnt. Initially, I didn't think I would learn anything, (apart from that I often have a tendency to go mental.) But I learnt a lot. Especially personal 'realisations':

- I learnt that if I put my mind to something and believe in myself, I CAN do it.
- I learnt how lucky I am to have a roof over my head, to have food on my plate, to be able to walk out of my house without any anxieties of being bombed.
- I learnt that raising money to give to those who are in urgent need of it - to help and give to others - brings on this, I can't explain, this inner sense of happiness. This specific instance gave me a lot of that - just knowing that you've possibly made a huge difference to someone's life. Or saved one even.

Personally, the fact that I organised the fundraiser by myself was a great achievement alone.

I (potentially) helped a Palestinian and that in itself couldn't give me more internal peace than I have needed to experience in a long while.


Dainty Cook x