IN SEASON A sweet treat...
End the night on something sweet with a selection of sweet canapés
MINI CHOCOLATE TARTS
175g plain fl our Half tsp baking powder 50g cocoa powder 50g icing sugar 140g unsalted butter, diced 3 egg yolks
YOU WILL NEED Pastry pusher Mini Morsel Canapé Tin
1 Sift the fl our, baking powder, cocoa powder and icing sugar into a bowl. Rub in the butter until crumbly.
2 Quickly mix in the eggs until everything comes together. Wrap in cling fi lm and chill for 30 mins.
3 Divide the dough into small balls and use the pusher to form cases in the Mini Morsel Canapé Tin.
4 Heat the oven to 180C/gas 4 and bake blind for 15 mins.
5 When cool, fi ll with the fi lling of your choice.
www.lakeland.co.uk
Creating a sweet mezze board
eff ortlessly put together a sweet mezze board of simple canapés full of sugar, spice and all things nice...
W
What are the fundamental elements on your sweet mezze board? "Well, you have to cater for every taste. Believe it or not, some people are not big fans of chocolate. So I always make a good mix. I like to include mini shortbread pieces, mini tiffi n pieces (maybe malteser, rocky road or peanut butter fl avours) and mini chocolate orange brownie 'bites'. For the real chocolate lovers, I like to treat them to double chocolate or Oreo brownies. Mini meringue nests with fresh fruit and, of course, for me, it has to be mini scones with jam and clotted cream, are also fundamental to a full and varied sweet mezze board."
What can you make in advance so you can be the perfect host and stay out of the kitchen? "If you want to be prepared you can make the tiffi n and meringues a few days before and store in an airtight container. T e brownies can be made the day before, as can the shortbread. So all that you need to do on the day is whip up some mini scones,
e asked owner of the Cornish Scone Company and master baker, Karen Gilchrist, how to
display your treats and impress your guests."
What are your favourite festive fl avours and ingredients to add a Christmas twist?
"For a Christmas twist, I would put some chocolate chunks and cranberries into the shortbread mix and use a Christmas cutter – perhaps a star or a Christmas tree. Fruity tiffi n with the addition of ginger nuts and Christmas spices adds a great festive twist. I love making meringue snowmen instead of nests which are just great for kids. Simply make small meringue rounds and stack three on top of each other for the body using melted chocolate to make them stable. Decorate with more melted chocolate and sweets for the snowman's features. I do like my scones traditional, but if you would like to put a Christmas twist on them, I would suggest mixing some mincemeat in when making them and topping with a spiced apple jam and Rodda’s brandy clotted cream."
What are your top tips for creature things in miniature – the perfect canapé size?
"If you want to do things in miniature it is sometimes easier to make a traybake of brownies or tiffi n, and cut into canapé size pieces then decorate them individually. Obviously, to make mini scones and shortbread, you simply need to use a smaller cutter."
30 | THE WEST COUNTRY FOODLOVER
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