‘EASY PEASY’ CHOCOLATE ÉCLAIRS

Chocolate Éclairs. Buy or not to buy? (Not to buy). These were surprisingly simple to make – not to mention cheap (especially when you can make a batch of 10). Chocolate and cream between a lovely classic, delicate Pate a Choux pastry. – Which by the way took exactly 5 minutes to make.

Mama Bee Reassurance – If you don’t own a piping bag, simply use an ordinary plastic sandwich bag and cut the corner to pipe your Choux buns! – and perfection isn’t vital if you like the rustic home-made look. – People will love this! (Alternative fillings) – Fresh cream and strawberry jam / strawberries thin cuts).

Basic ingredients for a classic Pate a Choux Pastry:

Half a cup of butter
4 eggs (whisked in separate bowl)
1 stick of butter (make sure it’s butter)
Pinch of salt
1 cup 1/4 of Plain Flour
Vanilla Powder (or essence) – Powder is more expensive however stronger in taste.

Making this pastry shocked me how quick it was! All you have to do is add your water and butter in a medium pan – pop the lid on and wait until boiling point. As soon as it reaches boiling point, turn off the heat. Add your flour and salt and mix, mix, mix (using a WOODEN spoon!) This will eventually turn into a dough and your pan will look like you’ve not even used it once it’s all combined! (wait about 3 – 4 minutes to cool, but not completely.

As I own a mixer, I have attached the whisk for the next step. I added my Choux dough and gently added my whisked eggs (setting my machine on medium-low). Once all my egg mixture was added I set my mixer on high for about 3-4 minutes. It may look curdled at the beginning however it eventually turns into a ‘sticky’ paste.

Preheat your oven to 200’C/400’F making sure you’ve add baking paper to a flat tray for the next step. Grab your piping bag/plastic sandwich bag (cut the corner) and add your mixture.
This step is fiddly so if you can have someone to hold the paper down (maybe your son/daughter or anyone else around you!) unless your an expert at piping 🙂
My Éclairs where about 4-5 inches long but you can do them however you like. – They rise and expand in the oven. – Neat or not neat- they will be delicious filled!
When your happy, put the Éclairs in the oven and let them cook for about 15-20 minutes. (Longer if they are really big).

Mama Bee Tip: Don’t be tempted to open the oven halfway as this will only deflate your Éclairs!

Your Éclairs should be delicate and have risen nicely! I recommend letting them rest, don’t touch them just let them cool and pop them in the fridge to make it easy to cut them!

Filling Recipe: Scroll down

For the filling of my Chocolate Éclairs, of course contain Chocolate & Cream. As mentioned before you can add whatever filling you like (great combination, strawberries and cream).

I removed my Éclairs out of the fridge and used a bread knife to cut them. Sideways or in the middle your choice! I then simply poured some double cream into my mixer and whisked for a good 3 minutes until stiff/fluffy but not overly done!
Once again I used a sandwich bag to pipe.

For the shiny chocolate topping and inspiration for this recipe please visit the following link:
No Biggie: Chocolate Eclair 

Enjoy!

Mama Bee

Pancake Day

Happy Pancake Day! We just had our crepes and they tasted delicious! What did you have with your pancakes? Did your children cause a mess? It’s the taste that makes it all worth it!

All the best,

Mama Bee

Pancake Day

Happy Pancake Day! We just had our crepes and they tasted delicious! What did you have with your pancakes? Did your children cause a mess? It’s the taste that makes it all worth it!

All the best,

Mama Bee

CHOCOLATE BLUEBERRY BITES

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Low in sugar, high in fruit content & toddler approved! If you don’t have children this is a great quick recipe to enjoy with a cup of tea or on the go.
With so much fruit in our household it’s hard to eat it all without them going off or becoming too ripe. One solution we all love at home is my famous surprise moist fruit cake. It take 10 minutes at a push to prepare and a great surprise to see what fruit you used! It can literally be any fruit you like – the best kind are the ones with lots of juice! (peach/berries/pears). They come out really fresh and moist!

Ingredients:

2 eggs

1/2 cup sugar (I sometimes use brown)
2 tablespoons of oil

1/2 cup Cocoa Powder (Bournville)

Vanilla (extract or seeds) -optional

1 cup of milk

2 teaspoons of baking powder

2 cups of flour

Blueberries (2 cups) – or any fruit you like (as much as you like!)

I use my mixer when making this recipe however of course you can do it by hand. Like I mentioned before, this is so quick the instructions are going to be basic!

Firstly, add your eggs and sugar into a bowl and mix well. Sieve your flour , cocoa powder and baking powder into the egg mixture. Depending on how chocolatey you want your Blueberry bites, adding a little more cocoa powder will create that. Now you want to start pouring in your milk until a cake like consistency is formed. When your happy with your mixture, wash, cut or peel the fruit your adding. (In this case blueberries) , and fold in the mixture.

Add your mixture into a cake tin or a square tin and bake at 180 degrees for 40 minutes.
Let it cool and rest before cutting (I use a Pizza cutter and make miniature bites for a packed lunch dessert). Children love these!

Enjoy

Pinwheel Bites

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My ‘Pinwheel Bites’ are great for any occasion. Half chocolate, half lemon, these biscuits are loved by the whole family! Moist in the middle and a crisp-snap on the outside, this recipe will give you 20 biscuits that can be stored in an airtight container to keep it’s freshness. (They will probably be gone before you even think to store them!) Really simple and really quick, time to pop the kettle on!

Ingredients:

85g unsalted butter
150g caster sugar
1 egg
180g plain flour
20g dark chocolate (melted & cooled)
Grated rind of half a lemon

Making these biscuits are really fun to do and even your children can help you! Grab your nearest mixing bowl. With your mixing bowl, cream together your butter and sugar. Once the mixture looks light and fluffy, add your egg and mix well. Sieve your flour into the mixture and mix until you have formed a soft dough.
Separate half the mixture into another bowl and add your melted chocolate. (Make sure it has cooled so the egg doesn’t cook!) I melted mine using my microwave at 20 second bursts. Mix well until your dough is a brown colour.
To make the ‘Pinwheel’ effect, return to your original dough and add lemon rind. (mix well). Lightly flour your surface and roll out your lemon dough into a rectangular shape. Do this also with your chocolate dough and place on top of the lemon. You want to roll this dough into a sausage shape, making sure your using your time. Place in the fridge for half an hour.

Preheat your oven to 180 degrees. Find your baking tray and add some baking paper. Carefully cut your dough until you have cut around 20 biscuits. Place in the oven for 12 minutes but make sure you keep an eye at the oven as all ovens can be slightly different!
When they are done, cool them on a cooling rack and store in an air-tight container.
Enjoy!

OLD ENGLISH APPLE PIE

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Bramley Apples, the sour fruit we all love to cook with. Commonly used in desserts like pies, crumbles and tarts, the Bramley apple is the most important cooking apple in England and Wales. The traditional ‘Apple Pie’ has been going since 1381! Eaten hot or cold, this classic British and popular dessert can be served with custard or ice-cream.

If you have ever cooked with these dessert apples, you will know that preparing them are extremely simple and mostly cooked this way. You start off by peeling and coring the apple, followed by slicing them and adding lemon juice to stop them from browning. Finally, you add sugar. Depending on which recipe you make, I would add cinnamon to my apples for my Apple Pie. (Also raisins or sultanas would be included in this recipe however in our family we prefer without).

Here is my take on this recipe. Simple, quick and ready to serve:

You will need an apple pie dish tin, or a quiche tin will do.

Pastry ingredients:
250g plain flour
2 tsps of caster sugar
100g of butter (softened)
3-4 tbs of cold water

Apple Pie Filling:
2 large Bramley Apples (can use 3 if you like it packed!)
(Peeled, cored & sliced).
150g soft brown sugar
2 tsps of cinnamon
1 tsp of nutmeg
Juice of half a lemon

To finish: Milk or Egg White glaze.

To make this simple pastry I used my mixer, however by hand is just as good. Firstly, sift your plain flour and salt. Add your sugar until everything is mixed well. Once you weighed out your butter, gently with your fingertips rub into your flour mixture. Mix well until the butter resembles fine breadcrumbs. Carefully (so you do not over do it), add your cold water to the dry ingredients. Keep adding the water until the mixture has formed into a smooth dough ball. Finally, wrap into greaseproof paper or cling film and chill for at least 30 minutes.

For the apple pie filling, as I explained earlier it is very simple. Peel, core and slice your apples into a mixing bowl. Followed by your sugar and spices and squeeze of lemon juice to stop the apples from turning brown. Let is rest until the pastry is ready to come out of the fridge.

When your pastry is ready, divide them into two. One for the top, one for the bottom of your pie. The best part about apple pie is that really, there aren’t too many rules how you decorate the topping! On a floured work surface, roll out your bottom part of the pie, simply place into your tin. Add your apples and spread them around the base of the tin. When your happy, roll out the top part of the pastry and place on top of the apples. You can crimp the edges together or fold over the bottom and top together to create a ribbon effect. This will seal the pastry completely. Finally with a brush, add milk on the top to give the pie some colour or egg whites work just as well. I like to cut 2 holes in the middle of my apple pie to let the steam come out, these apples cook really well in the oven and it’s important you let them some air to cook! If you feel you have more dough left over, make some leaves or maybe a message on top as an additional take or maybe to impress someone!

Bake in the oven at 200 degrees for 15 minutes, then 180 for 20 minutes. Rest for 5 minutes before serving. You can serve this with custard or anything you’d like. We sometimes use Greek yoghurt on the side, delicious! Also served cold is really lovely, maybe bring it along to a picnic in the park!
Enjoy!

Too Many Yorkshire Puds?

This can only mean one thing. Pancakes! Sunday Roast’s usually end up having leftover’s for the next day or even the day after that! Unfortunately I made far too many Yorkshire puddings yesterday so kept the batter left in the fridge overnight. Luckily I had some white chocolate chips left in the cupboard, I know I usually go for healthy however tomorrow is going to be a busy day at the zoo with my son and his friend so I thought I’d prepare some white-chocolate chip pancakes as a snack/dessert after all that running around!
Customise your pancakes! Plain? Blueberry? Pecan & Berries? Lemon & Sugar? Go on, indulge!