summer pizza.perfect.

London weather's been on good form the last six weeks which means alfresco coffee, lunch, din, drinks...and as mentioned before the bbq. it's been a while since i last made pizza on the grill but it's a fun, light and yummy summer nosh. embarrassingly, i was excited like Adam on man vs food when everything kept turning out as planned..I was expecting a mess and quick hands during the cooking but the dough was perfect and all went smoothly! i combined ingredients from previous recipes and this is by far the best turn out. if you don't have access to a barbecue, don't worry you won't be left out. just pop your masterpiece into the oven for about 15 min at 200C/400F

why not whack on some veg while you've got the grill hot?! Eggplant (aubergine) and goats cheese is my fave.. What's on your summer pizza?

the ingredients 

1 sachet of yeast (7g)

1c warm water

1/2tsp sugar

a bit of beer or white wine (1/4c?)

1/2tsp salt 

3c plain flour 

1tbsp olive oil 

the method 

combine the yeast, sugar, warm water and alcohol and let sit to dissolve for about 5 minutes or until it starts to fizz. add salt and olive oil and stir. add a cup of flour, mix well then slowly add the rest of the flour (i think we used just about 3 but see how it feels, it was a little sticky when we took it out to knead) place the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead for about 5-8 minutes (or enjoy the rest of the wine while someone else does it for u ;) 

lightly oil a bowl, moving it around so all sides are covered. place the dough in the bowl, cover with a tea towel or cling film and place in a warm part of the kitchen for about 45 minutes. 

prep your toppings and heat your barbie while the dough rises! 

once dough has risen divide into 3 and roll it out to your desired shape. 

then...

bon appetit!

red velvet.

Millsy b is the biggest red velvet fan i know so for her birthday i didn't even have to ask but was excited to try out an ombré style for the occasion. I realized as I started that it wouldn't be an entire red velvet due to the gradiated colours but nevertheless knew she (and everyone else) would love the surprise once the first piece was cut. have a go with any color combo or rainbow!  oh and the mascarpone cream cheese frosting was a good call.

I made the recipe below as instructed minus the cocoa powder and then divided it into three bowls, 1 1/4c each. the colors don't change much while baking and make them each a shade darker so to blend once cut. next time would probably make a regular vanilla cake for the lighter colored cakes.

ta-dah...

the last layer needed a little more red but the other colours were spot on. 

adapted from joyofbaking.com..

for the cake

the ingredients

2 1/2 cups (250 grams) sifted plain flour

1/2 tsp salt

2 tbsp (15 grams) regular or Dutch-processed cocoa powder

1c (226g grams) unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 1/2 cups (300 grams) granulated white sugar

2 large eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup (240 ml) buttermilk

2 tbsp  liquid red food coloring

1 tsp white distilled vinegar

1 tsp baking soda

1 cup (2 sticks, 226g) unsalted butter at room temperature

the temperature 170C, 350F for 20 minutes

the preparation

in a mixing bowl sift together the flour and salt and set aside.

beat the butter until soft (about 1-2 minutes). add the sugar and beat until light and fluffy (about 2-3 minutes). add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. scrape down the sides of the bowl. add the vanilla extract and beat until combined.

add the buttermilk. with the mixer on low speed, alternately add the flour mixture and buttermilk to the butter mixture, in three additions, beginning and ending with the flour.

in a small cup combine the vinegar and baking soda. allow the mixture to fizz and then quickly fold into the cake batter. 

divide into bowls and add colouring as desired.

for the mascarpone cream cheese frosting from epicurious

the ingredients

1 cup (227g) cream cheese at room temperature

2 cups icing sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

Pinch of kosher salt

1 cup (227g) mascarpone 

the preparation

beat the butter, cream cheese, and powdered sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the mascarpone on very low speed until just combined. (be careful; once you've added the mascarpone, excessive beating can make the frosting curdle.) stir in the vanilla extract.

whatever you want.

here's a recap of a few birthday cake requests I've had since the beginning of the year. I'm more than willing to try something new so love when I get a specific request.

march:

"something with peanut butter and chocolate"

my dear friend mima usually only requests this combo (who could blame her?!) although the cake collapsed a bit while cooling it was easy to hide. Will definitely try this one again!

Barefoot Contessa's Beatty's chocolate cake, peanut butter icing with a chocolate and peanut butter ganache. garnished with bronze edible crunch from Waitrose 

may:

while it wasn't a birthday..or a cake I was putting together for this time, it was so much fun prepping these sweet thank yous for the first bachelorette/hen, of the group! 

june:

"a large cupcake cake"

for my sweet friend kitty's birthday I made as requested and all i can say is 'phew' when the cake came out of the pan easily! (Grease well with butter then dust lightly with flour)

I mixed the tiniest bit of rose water to the buttercream frosting which complemented the rich chocolate cake and chocolate frosting. I had fun experimenting with different piping techniques and voilà, giant cupcake cake! no arguing over cake for this birthday girl and boy!

july:

"whatever you think!"

busy mom of two is getting ready for the second round of 'first birthdays'. having friends with little ones means i can test out cute character cakes such as this one! can't wait for the next one to turn 4! 

hummingbird bakery chocolate and vanilla cupcakes with cream cheese frosting.. chocolate eyes and Cadbury fingers for antlers

not the greatest photo but you know who it is...

august:

i don't even need to ask the august princess-i'll be creating another (but slightly different of course) red velvet treat. stay tuned!

you win some you lose some.

it seems I've hit a point where I have no 'recipe I'd like to try' list so when Mills and I decided to have (yes another) barbie I turned to my pavlova loving friend Sarah for suggestions. the fact that i refer to her as pavlova loving should've been a hint as she suggested a baked alaska. the thought was daunting but i love trying something new and it seemed easy enough so went with it. a cooling, refreshing summer passion fruit dessert, mmm, the girls will love that. (And if pulled off right looks quite impressive too) 

well, turns out in this moment of time an electric whisk would've been perfect. I thought I could whip egg whites by hand but the combination of the heat and my weak arms got me no where..the bowl also went around the table for all to join in too.

I finally gave up put all was not lost. I still cut out rounds from the flan sponge (will obvi bake my own next time if serving this way) served with vanilla ice cream and passion fruit sauce (which did turn out well, yippee!).. and dessert was served. 

so lesson learned: 

•don't attempt beating egg whites by hand 

•definitely don't attempt it in the heat!

•arrowroot is key in thickening sweet sauces. (Texture gets thick not so much the sauce like cornflour) win!

rosemary sprigs dress kebabs up nicely...cheers Jamie O

Millsys delicious salad with beetroot, goats cheese and caramelised onions