Chocolate and Cherry Roulade

I made this over the Jubilee Bank holiday weekend when the intermittent rain meant everyone was going nuts inside - and clearly needed a sugar fix to send them right over the top! But seriously, it had been lousy weather, chocolate was much needed, and there was a can of cherries leftover in the cupboard from Hannah's cooking classes just begging to be eaten...

I started by whisking 6 egg yolks and 150g of caster sugar together, then adding 50g of cocoa powder and about 25g of plain flour. I then folded in 6 egg whites which had already been whisked (no that's not true - I was not that organised.  I had already mixed the egg yolks, sugar, cocoa and flour when I realised I still had to do the egg whites so had to wash up the whisking blades first which was very annoying - but writing it in the right order might help someone else avoid this mistake. But just in case not: you should start by whisking the egg whites!). This was baked in a square tin on greaseproof paper for about 20 mins on gas mark 4, taken out of the oven and left to cool.

Once it had cooled down enough - and its never fast enough where chocolate cake is concerned - I peeled it off the paper and slathered the 'wrong side' very generously with the canned cherry pie filling. I then chucked a load of whipped cream on top of this for good measure and began to roll it up.

You can see how generous I was with the filling - it oozed out of the end, but I think this makes the cake taste all the better.  I then sprinkled with a little icing sugar.  I would love to try this out with a bit of cherry kirsch or brandy in the mix too - it might cut across the sweetness quite well.

Milkshake Cake

Not really... it's just some smells and tastes transport you very vividly back to certain times in your childhood; when I tasted the raw mix of this cake it was like being a kid again drinking  raspberry-flavoured Crusha milkshake. I'm not even sure Crusha existed back then - but it made me feel like a child.

So we had a packet of those frozen berries you can get in supermarkets - bought to serve with some homemade meringues but as they were a bit of a disaster there was about 300g of fruit and they were steadily going softer and soggier in the fridge. There was also an absolute need for more cake as the weather was so lousy - BUT it needed to be a light(ish) cake as it is supposed to be summer - or at least late spring.

I mixed up (and apologies here but I rarely if ever actually measure out cake recipes nowadays - just bung it in a bowl, mix and hope - so all these weights are estimates) about 150g margarine, with a similar quantity of sugar, then beat in a couple of eggs. I then added the remainder of the fruit and all the juice at the bottom of the container and whisked it until all the fruit bits broke up and the mix went a very vivid bright pink colour.  I then added about 300g flour, baking powder, vanilla essence and a splash of milk so it was a good consistency. That went in the over for about half an hour.

I think I have now finally got the hang of the buttercream icing. This was taken directly from the Hummingbird Bakery cookbook - I have previously not managed to get it to go fluffy, but it did this time! I mixed 250g sifted icing sugar with 80g margarine until it resembled breadcrumbs (not that that is in the proper instructions for this) I then added 25ml of milk, but 5ml at a time with lots of whisking between additions, Once all the milk was added I also added a few drops of vanilla essence then whisked the whole lot for about 3 more minutes - it did go a bit fluffier than it previously has.  I then used some of it to sandwich the two halves together and used the rest to cover the top which was finished off with some blueberries.

The finished cake was a delicate pink colour inside.It didn't taste of milkshake at all, but as the raw mix did, and as everyone knows eating the mix is the best bit about making a cake - well it had to be called Milkshake Cake.

Yet more pasta

Six mouths in the house to feed so pasta was definitely in order.  But my favourite is what happens to the leftover pasta dough once I have made enough ravioli...read on

Goat cheese and tomato ravioli
A simple ravioli made with a stuffing of goat cheese, mozzarella and tomato puree.  Tossed in cream and cracked black pepper to serve

Broad bean tortellini
A puree of shelled broad beans mixed with cream cheese and a little mozzarella. Tossed in butter, hop shoots and basil leaves to serve.

...and finally the leftover dough. I roll this very thin then place a load of basil leaves on one half of it, fold the other half of the dough over it and then put it through the roller a few more times to the desired thickness. The leaves slowly flatten out and fragment, but leave a very clear leaf outline that looks really good as the pasta dries out.
I think these pieces will look really nice in a soup - but failing that will taste great tossed in some butter, pepper and lemon zest.