This was supposed to be low calorie, using low fat creme fraiche, but Mr Rice had trouble locating it on his shopping trip. So there were a few more calories than I’d originally intended. The full fat creme fraiche made it lovely and rich though.

Recipe for Lemon tart

250g sweet dessert pastry (Sainsbury’s is sweet and buttery)
200g creme fraiche
2 eggs
4 egg yolks
175g caster sugar
2 lemons, juice only
icing sugar for dusting
raspberries for decorating

Preheat the oven to 190°C and grease a 9 inch loose bottomed tart tin. Roll out the pastry and carefully drape it over your tin, and press it down into the tin, but don’t cut the edges off at this point. Prick the surface gently with a fork, fill with baking beans (or baking paper and rice) then chill it in the fridge for at least 20 minutes, or until you need it.

Bake the pastry blind for 15 minutes until it’s just getting a bit of colour, then remove the baking beans or paper and rice. Brush the pastry with the beaten egg yolk, and bake for another 10 minutes until the pastry’s golden. Let it cool for a bit. Now you can trim the edges as you like.

Turn the oven down to 110°C. Whisk up the eggs, egg yolks and sugar, then stir in the creme fraiche, and finally the lemon juice. Transfer it into a jug so it’s easy to get into the tin.

Put the tin onto the oven shelf and pull it so you’ve got enough pouring room, then pour your mixture slowly into the tin, slide it back into the oven and cook for 1 hour 10 minutes. Check the centre is a little wobbly, and it’s ready.

Leave to cool, dust with icing sugar, scatter with a few fresh raspberries and serve. For extra decadence, drizzle with some single cream. Yum.

© Katheryn Rice 2010

Perfect for light Sunday lunch, and a great way to use up last night’s sweet potato mash.

I have to admit, the Whoopie Pies you see here were my third attempt. The first attempt, I inexplicably used bicarbonate of soda instead of baking powder, and poor quality marshmallows. The result was quite crunchy, biscuity with a jelly-like filling. My lovely colleagues were generous and complimentary.

The second attempt went much better, but took me a long time, and got eaten before I managed to take any snaps! That time though, I did get to perfect the piping and the flavours.

So, attempt three: Passion fruit filling and icing and light, spongy pies, hooray!

My advice is, these will make a big impression, but make sure you have a good few hours to make them, as they have several stages. Just one more thing, those who like to think they set trends may say they are the new cupcakes, but unlike cupcakes, they are not so quick and easy to make.

This recipe is an adaptation of one from the king of baking, Mr Dan Lepard.

Recipe for Passionfruit Whoopie Pies

For the pies
75g unsalted butter
1 egg
150g caster sugar
125g soured cream
25ml cold milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
¾ tsp bicarbonate of soda
275g plain flour

For the filling
50ml milk
100g white marshmallows
125g very soft unsalted butter
Pulp from two passion fruit

For the icing
Pulp from two passion fruit
200g icing sugar

Line a few baking trays with greaseproof paper and get your piping nozzles at the ready. Preheat the oven to 180ºC.

Melt the butter in a bowl, then put it to one side. Then whisk the egg with an electric hand mixer until it’s light and fluffy, then add the sugar a third at a time and whisk it up until it’s thick and glossy. Add the cold milk to the egg, plus the soured cream and vanilla and stir to combine, then beat this into the egg and sugar bit by bit. Then sieve the flour and bicarbonate of soda into the mixture and gently mix until it’s smooth.

Get your piping nozzle out and spoon about a third of the mixture into the piping bag. Then pipe small balls, about 3cm apart onto your trays.

It’s important to leave this space as they will grow while they’re cooking, and if they are too close, they’ll end up with flat edges, which spoils the effect.

Cook the pies for about 12-14 minutes, until they’re just turning golden, but not too dark or they’ll be a bit too hard. Cool them on a cooling rack.

And then put them into pairs.

For the marshmallow cream, heat the milk in a pan on a low heat, then add the marshmallows and stir continuously until they’re melted and the mixture is smooth. Then transfer to a bowl to cool. Beat the soft butter until it’s creamy and soft, then gradually mix it with the marshmallow mixture until it’s all smooth. Finally, stir in the passionfruit pulp and then put the marshmallow cream in the fridge to set.

To make the icing, mix 200g of icing sugar with the rest of the passionfruit pulp and put in the fridge to set.

Ok, now to make the pies. Make sure the cream isn’t to runny, or it will just squidge out of the sides. Sandwich the pies together and put them in the fridge to set. After about half an hour, get them out of the fridge and top them with the icing, then finally back into the fridge one more time to set.

Yes, that really is the last stage. Finally, they are ready… get them out of the fridge and keep them at room temperature to serve.

© Katheryn Rice 2010

I never used to like Eccles Cakes when I was a child. The thought of all those currants in stodgy, cold puff pastry was not a pleasant one. But those miserable, dry old husks were a million miles from these fresh, home made delights. These Eccles Cakes have crisp, sugary pastry encasing a sweet and delicious filling of moist currants with an irresistible crunch, courtesy of the demerara sugar in the mix.

Even Mr Rice confessed that when I told him I’d made him some Eccles Cakes, he was dreading having to taste them, but he was relieved to say he loved them (well, that’s what he told me). They are best served warm from the oven, and if you fancy adding a blob of vanilla ice cream, go for it.

Just a word of warning though, they do take a little while to put together, so make sure you’ve got time. And also remember, it’s important to carefully seal the bottoms, or the lovely juices and filling will leak out, thus spoiling the effect. Bite into one, crunch the pastry and then revel in the sweet, juicy filling. Yum.

Recipe for Eccles Cakes
75g butter
150g soft brown sugar
175g currants
pinch of ground cinnamon
zest of ½ an orange
275g puff pastry
75ml milk

Melt the butter, then mix it with the sugar, currants, cinnamon and orange zest together in a bowl. Then roll out the pastry on a floured surface and use a cookie cutter to make rounds about 10cm wide.

Then this is the fiddly bit. Get your milk to glaze, a pastry brush and a non-stick baking tray ready. Take a pastry round in the palm of your hand and curl your hand up a little so you make a dip in the pastry. Then dollop a heaped teaspoon of the currant mixture to the middle of the pastry and fold all the edges to the centre. Now add the milk – which you need to seal the pastry together – and press down until you think it’s sealed.

Carefully place the Eccles Cake, sealed side down onto the baking tray, brush with milk, sprinkle with sugar and then make a little cross in the top with a sharp knife. You need the cross in the top to let the steam out during cooking, which helps prevent the bottom coming open.

Bake the Eccles Cakes in the oven at 190°C for 12 – 15 minutes, until the pastry is golden. Cool on a wire rack for about five minutes, then serve with vanilla ice cream.

© Katheryn Rice 2010

I suppose most parents go overboard when it comes to first birthday parties, and we were the same. It fell to me to make the cake, and my celebration cake of choice at the moment is the cupcake, so that’s the way I went.

I’ve posted this recipe before. It’s tried and tested, so why change it?

Recipe for Vanilla Cupcakes
125g unsalted butter (room temperature)
125g caster sugar
2 eggs
100g self raising flour
25g plain flour
3 tbsps skimmed milk
1 tsp vanilla extract

Butter cream
150g unsalted butter (room temperature)
300g caster sugar

Preheat the oven to 200ºC and put 16 bun cases into a muffin or bun tin. Then beat the butter, sugar, eggs and vanilla in a food mixer until well combined, followed by the sifted flour and beat again until it’s all smooth. Then add the milk 1 tbsp at a time, with the mixer on, until the mixture is soft but not runny.

Get two teaspoons and get a heaped spoonful of the mixture on one, and carefully push it off the spoon and into the bun cases with the other until all the bun cases are equally filled. Make sure they are no more than half full or they will overflow when they cook.

Cook the cupcakes for 15-18 minutes until the tops are golden brown and then let them cool fully on a wire cooling tray before you ice them.

To make the butter cream, just beat together the butter and the icing sugar until nice and smooth. Then you can smooth it or pipe it onto the cupcakes however you like, and of course you can add a little colour and other accoutrements too to give them the perfect finish!

For more information, here’s the original post, Just cupcakes.

© Katheryn Rice 2010

Four seed banana bread

There are many recipes floating around for banana bread, and I’ve tried a lot of permutations, but this is by far the best. Because bananas are naturally sweet, there are some recipes without sugar – they are ok but not amazing. I say, in for a penny, in for a pound; get some sugar in there and make it not just ok, but damn good! As well as enhancing the bananas’ sweetness, the brown sugar gives the freshly baked loaf a light, almost crunchy crust. Slice carefully through the warm loaf and you get the moist, sweet bread that’s ready to eat.

Yes, I do add seeds to a lot of my recipes, but I reckon if you can get away with it, do it. They add goodness and protein and give you licence to eat cake with impunity…

Recipe for four-seed banana bread

200g self raising flour
50g wholemeal self raising flour
1 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt
150g soft light brown sugar
100g butter
75g raisins
1 tbsp linseeds
1 tbsp poppy seeds
1 tbsp pumpkin seeds
1 tbsp sunflower seeds
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla bean paste (or vanilla extract)
4 bananas, mashed (fresh or frozen)

Get a large bowl and add the sifted flours, baking powder and salt, then mix in the butter and sugar, either rub it in with your fingertips, or – much easier – mix it all up in the food mixer. Whisk up the eggs, bananas and vanilla with a food mixer or by hand, and carefully fold into the flour mixture, finally adding the raisins and seeds.

Pour the mixture into a large silicone loaf tin, or a greased and lined metal tin, and cook at 175°C for  1 hour. Do the skewer test after and hour; it should be golden on top when it’s ready and a little moist inside, but if the skewer’s too sticky, turn the oven down to 170°C and give it five more minutes.

Tip: I usually make a large loaf and a little one too, in a small loaf tin. This is a really good gift for someone, or an alternative to the bog standard wine if you’re invited round for dinner etc.

© Katheryn Rice 2009

Thai Pork Meatballs with coconut curry

Recipe for Thai Pork Meatballs with coconut curry

1kg pork mince
fresh ginger, grated
2 lemongrass stalks, chopped
Handful of fresh coriander, chopped
1 red chilli, chopped
Juice and zest of 1 lime
3cm fresh ginger, grated
5 spring onions, chopped
1 egg 

Coconut curry
4 tbsp Thai red curry paste
2 tins reduced fat coconut milk
5 spring onions
2 red peppers, thinly sliced 
1 sweet potato, peeled and chopped into batons
Handful of green beans
2 lemongrass stalks, chopped
Juice of 2 limes
200g ground almonds 

Egg noodles to serve

Mix all the meatball ingredients together in a large bowl – mixing with your hands gets everything properly combined, so prepare to get your hands dirty and sticky. Then form them into small golfball-sized meatballs, then put them in the fridge to firm up, for a minimum of 20 minutes.

Fry the meatballs in a large frying pan with a little splash of olive oil until they are brown all over, then remove them from the pan and add the red peppers, sweet potatoes and green beans and stir-fry them for 5 minutes until they are nice and soft. Put the noodles on in a separate pan, then stir in the curry paste and cook for a couple of minutes, followed by the coconut milk, chillies, spring onions, lemongrass and lime juice and cook for a few minutes. Finally, add the ground almonds and cook for 5 more minutes.

Add the meatballs into the mix and cook for five more minutes to make sure they’re lovely and hot.

Drain and serve the noodles, then spoon the curry on top, making sure everyone gets their fair share of meatballs.

© Katheryn Rice 2009

Ok, so all we had were some frozen blueberries and some nicely ripe bananas. I think cooked banana is delicious and under-rated, so I thought I’d give it a go, combined with some low-GL antioxidant-rich blueberries for a little extra colour and flavour.

Banana and blueberry crumble

It worked fantastically well, the bananas took on that softer, creamier texture and a subtle, deep flavour, which means there’s no need for butter with the fruit. The blueberries added sweet little kick. The great thing about this pudding is that it’s so easy and tastes amazing…

Recipe for banana and blueberry crumble
300g blueberries (fresh or frozen)
3 bananas, ripe is best
100g golden caster sugar
Crumble
100g wholemeal plain flour
80g oats
50g golden caster sugar
50g demerera sugar
100g butter, chilled

Throw the blueberries into a 7-9 inch pie dish, then slice the bananas into the mix, add the sugar and combine well. Level out the mixture in preparation for the crumble.

To make the crumble, grind the oats until quite fine, but still with a bit of texture, then add them and the sieved flour into a large bowl. Then chop the butter into the mixture into inch-size pieces. Rub in the butter until the mixture looks like breadcrumbs and then add both sugars. Rub the sugar in until it is completely blended.

Pour the crumble onto the fruit mixture and then cook at 180 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until the mixture is bubbling and the crumble is golden brown. Serve with fresh custard.

© Katheryn Rice 2008