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england on the union flag for those of you who aren t familiar with a battenberg this is what a normal one looks like typically those squares of cake are almond and vanilla flavoured held together with apricot jam and the entire thing held together with marzipan so bearing these things in mind i set to work first off i needed a blue cake and a red cake i used the typical british cake recipe what americans would call a pound cake or a 1 1 1 ratio by weight of flour sugar and butter plus a couple of eggs a little bit of milk and whatever flavouring was wanted i did the blue in french almond and the red in vanilla easy enough it took a whole tube of gel food colouring each to get the colours so strong plus some regular liquid food colouring the blue cake has just a touch of red colouring in and the red has a few drops of yellow gel food colouring dr oetker s if you re wondering when they were cool i trimmed and shaped the cakes appropriately as you can see i needed four quarters of blue then sliced diagonally and three thin sheets of red the cake was filled with buttercream icing most of it white but between 1 4 and 1 3 coloured red for the diagonal red stripes on each of those little squares of blue cake that had been cut diagonally one side was covered with a thin layer of white icing the other with red then they were put together refer to the two pieces on the right to the left in the above picture you can see the wedge of red cake put upright between two of the reassembled quarters of blue i did actually attempt to do diagonal stripes of jam but i found it far too difficult the pieces simply wouldn t stay together shaped as they are as wedges they slide everywhere when you try to put things together therefore at joel s suggestion i then coloured part of the buttercream red and used that instead next you frost the top of the bottom half of your flag and put a layer of red cake on top frost the top of that again then place the top half of the cake on like so at this point after checking and re checking that the cake was properly square and that nothing was sliding anywhere it went in the fridge for a couple of hours to get nicely solid at the end of the chilling time the cake was quite solid and easy enough to work with i rolled out a thin layer of ready roll marzipan frosted the outside of the cake one side at a time with the remainder of the buttercream and pressed the marzipan around the sides now comes the time when any baker is looking at what they ve made and hoping just hoping that it looks as good as they imagined i must tell you when i cut off the 1 4 inch from each end to reveal the inner pattern i about died beautiful not quite as clean as i would have liked it i wasn t as careful as i should have been about the cutting and some of the cooling times but i m extremely pleased with it anyway it certainly looks more like i wanted it to look like than some of the other union jack cakes i ve seen online especially the colours i m very proud of those colours here s me looking proud of my cake not only does it look nice it s very tasty almond and vanilla are sure winners in my book next time though i would love to try strawberry and blueberry or something that would be more fitting for those colours so to the lovely queen elizabeth ii happy anniversary of your coronation long may you reign p s maybe you ve noticed we re obsessed with the union jack a little bit see the potholder in the background of the photo and it s only a fluke that i m not wearing our union jack apron posted by jess at 4 6 12 1 comments email this blogthis share to x share to facebook share to pinterest labels cake diamond jubilee jubilee union flag union jack 03 march 2012 grilled mushroom risotto and baked spinach and mozzarella tomatoes this week i did some experimenting with a pair of new recipes that i thought would go well together i hadn t made risotto before and it was certainly a procedure that brought new meaning to the words slaving over a hot stove risotto is known for being difficult simply because of the amount of time you have to spend standing over the stove massaging the chicken stock into the rice and i have to say this reputation is well deserved make sure things are set up so you can reach everything and if anything do put a little extra stock in your pot as you don t want to run out of stock before the rice is finished cooking i would advise that you open a window in the kitchen if you have one it s a very steamy process and my little kitchen ended up much hotter than the rest of the flat by the time i had finished i love mushrooms so a grilled mushroom risotto was the perfect thing for me you can use any nice wild mushroom of your choice to go with the big pile of grated parmesan you ll need even though it took quite a long time to make this is quite a simple risotto the only frill being the grilled mushrooms that top it off i would say that you can add other things to make it more interesting but be gentle the onion and celery have a really great flavour as do the mushrooms and you wouldn t want to cover up all that niceness to go with the more difficult risotto i put a much simpler side dish of baked spinach and mozzarella tomatoes that only takes about ten minutes to put together start to finish here s a photo before it went into the oven i started the tomatoes first and simply waited until the risotto was resting to pop them into the oven that way they were nice and hot at the same time the risotto was all stirred up ready to go here are the recipes for the food minded note for this recipe please use wild mushrooms shiitake porcini anything except button mushrooms button mushrooms don t have much flavour and this recipe is best with something that does grilled mushroom risotto adapted from jamie oliver in a stockpot heat 2 l chicken stock and keep it on a low simmer sautee for 10 minutes at a medium low heat olive oil 1 small onion chopped fine 3 4 stalks celery chopped fine turn the temperature up and add 2 large handfuls chopped wild mushrooms more if you like 500 g risotto rice salt begin adding the hot stock to the risotto one ladle at a time to do this add one ladle of stock then stir the rise until the stock is completely absorbed turn the temperature down to keep the rice at a simmer and always be sure that you stir the rice thoroughly to get a good distribution of stock continue to add stock until the rice is soft but with a slight bite this will take about 30 minutes in a dry griddle pan grill 2 3 handfuls chopped wild mushrooms when mushrooms are soft put into a bowl and toss with 1 2 tsp lemon juice 1 t italian herbs or herbs of your choice pinch of salt when the risotto is soft remove from heat and check the seasoning add more salt and pepper if necessary stir in 1 2 t butter 2 medium handfuls grated parmesan cover the risotto and leave to relax for 3 minutes taste the risotto to see that the flavours are correct then plate with the grilled mushrooms more grated parmesan and perhaps a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil baked spinach and mozzarella tomatoes ingredients 4 5 beef tomatoes 2 3 cloves garlic chopped fine olive oil spinach mozzarella cheese fresh sliced salt and pepper balsamic vinegar reduction optional if you want to make a balsamic vinegar reduction to go with this it is not at all difficult and very delicious simply take about half a bottle of balsamic vinegar and cook it in a nonstick pan with a decent amount of sugar until it gets a kind of syrupy consistency use however much you want on this and the rest can be saved to make some really fabulous bruschetta the night i made this there was a bit of difficulty with the fire alarm going off down the hall someone else s cooking not mine and with all of the distraction i overcooked the vinegar and it caramelized that s basically the only way it can go wrong and if you re keeping even half an eye on it you should notice before it gets to that point i was even able to salvage some of mine with a bit of warm water slice the tomatoes between 1 4 and 1 2 inch thick and lay them out on a baking sheet lined with aluminium foil overlapping the edges slightly optional drizzle a small amount of balsamic vinegar reduction over the tomatoes in a hot pan sautee the garlic in a dash of olive oil then add the spinach and cook until wilted stirring constantly place the spinach and garlic mixture on top of the tomatoes then lay the sliced mozzarella cheese on top sprinkle with salt and pepper then place in a hot oven for 3 5 minutes or until the cheese is melted and starting to brown around the edges to serve cut through the mozzarella and pull the desired number of tomato slices free alternatively the tomatoes can be made in individual mounds rather than a sheet enjoy posted by jess at 3 3 12 1 comments email this blogthis share to x share to facebook share to pinterest 13 january 2012 mmmmm gravy biscuits ah what a lovely week there s something about the days getting noticeably longer and getting a new start with the new year that is extremely refreshing particularly when that is coupled with for me starting a new job on monday and having a nice bunch of things to do joel and i were very excited when early this week we had a knock at the door and a large box was delivered in that box sat most of the music the ward choir will be performing this year shortly followed by the delivery of a further large envelope of music when the regular post came we are so pleased to be in the music callings that we are and are having a great time choosing and rehearsing music i suppose our only wish is for more members of the choir especially as we re going to be doing some eight part music this year and we want more than one voice on each part for a sampling of the music we re going to try out this year check out the following links http www youtube com watch v zu7o0ojqbjq http www youtube com watch v o8og_kwv0as http www youtube com watch v scqmxiyeifs the only thing that would make it better was if we actually had the orchestra at temple square to complete the mix this week we had the fabulous opportunity to have some friends over for dinner angus emily and chauncy joined us for my very first ever quiche lorraine jacket potatoes and a nice rocket salad the quiche turned out really well i was very pleased with it and likely to make it again very soon angus and emily married in december had a bit of a mishap with their wedding cake so we pulled out the cake slice from our wedding and had them reenact the moment so i could capture it for eternity you can see chauncy hanging about in the left margin emily made the cake by the way and it was delicious also this week we had the epitome of southern comfort food the illustrious gravy biscuit i m not certain if joel completely understood what the fuss was about biscuits and gravy until i made these he wondered about whether you could use normal british gravy the thin glossy brown kind and why you would eat them as a main course naturally these are american biscuits and you must use american sausage gravy i am glad however that he persuaded me to use the good british sausages instead of something else as the gravy was perfect last time i made biscuits we had them with stew and joel could barely stop himself from eating them before dinner even though i hadn t worked out the timing in the oven completely and they came out rather brown and dry this time they were decidedly better so much so that when we followed up dinner with some biscuits and jam joel said it was almost a shame to have jam on the biscuits as they were so perfect indeed they were light fluffy and buttery perfection in bread they re actually very similar to plain british scones but with almost a more cakelike texture because i m a nice person i ll give you the secrets to this super easy meal really it cooks up in something like 30 minutes start to finish mom s buttermilk biscuits in a small bowl add 1 8 c warm water 1 2 t yeast let yeast proof while you mix the dry ingredients mix 2 1 2 c flour any kind seems to be fine 1 2 t baking powder 1 2 t salt 1 8 c sugar cut into the flour mixture 3 8 c of butter yes weird but this recipe has been cut in half from the standard to the flour butter mixture add the yeast mixture and 1 c buttermilk mix all ingredients and knead for at least a minute the dough should be cold soft and feel very light it will be moist add a little more flour if needed only until the dough holds together and doesn t stick too much to your hands when you knead it roll out to about 1 inch thick on a clean surface and cut out biscuits with a cookie cutter or cup this size batch makes about 16 medium biscuits bake at 200 c for 15 minutes to check doneness lift the top of a middle biscuit and look at the inside biscuits should be golden on top with the very littlest bit of golden brown brush tops with butter straight out of the oven the buttermilk is key don t try to replace it with something else unless you really can t find buttermilk if you can t find buttermilk you can put a little bit of vinegar in a cup of milk and let it rest for a few minutes and that will give a similar flavour the dough can be made ahead of time and refrigerated until you re ready to roll it out cut it and bake it which makes things even easier if you have a few minutes in the morning mix it up and stick it in the fridge to bake for dinner sausage gravy remove skins from 3 medium sausages 3 inches long and cook in a frying pan until brown chopping into smallish chunks with spatula if there is any fat drain it off in a small jug whisk together 1 c milk 1 t flour salt pepper when the sausage is cooked pour in the milk mixture with the sausage and cook over medium heat until it starts to boil cook another 2 3 minutes or until gravy starts to thicken remove from heat and serve immediately halve biscuits and ladle some gravy onto each half one cup of milk will do enough gravy to cover about 4 medium biscuits which is enough for two adults and by enough i mean that at that point you know you should stop eating though you may perhaps want to continue adjust the amount of liquid however you like to get the perfect balance of sausage to gravy gravy biscuits are such a staple of southern american life that i can t imagine going without them even though i am most certainly not southern they re simply too good to pass up unfortunately you can t skimp the butter or buttermilk in the biscuits and there s really no way of making the gravy less fatty so you re stuck with the calorie content unless you want to skimp on the flavour my advice don t make it too often it s simply not advisable for the sake of your arteries but oh they taste good posted by jess at 13 1 12 2 comments email this blogthis share to x share to facebook share to pinterest labels biscuits quiche sausage gravy 07 january 2012 woodstock today joel and i decided we should take a bike ride to get out and get a bit of exercise ...