Wordless Wednesday - Chocolate Covered Toffee Popcorn

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This content belongs to Nic at Cherrapeno. All writing and photography copyright N Fowers © 2007-2011 unless otherwise indicated. All rights reserved.
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Preserved Lemons

Preserves and Pickles is a book dedicated to jam and jelly making, preserving and pickling. Not only are there recipes for the classic raspberry jam, lemon curd and apricot chutney, there are some exciting new recipes such as tutti frutti jam and lemon & fig marmalade. The book is by Gloria Nicol, a journalist and photographer living the good life in rural Britain. She has a online shop selling vintage homeware and linens, plus a blog with categories from foraging to canning.



The book takes us through the basics of jam-making and preserving techniques, there's also a problem solving section - did you know that your jam can shrink in the jar because it has been inadequately covered or sealed, or hasn't been stored in a cool, dark, and dry place?

Many of the recipes will come into their own during the summer months, when ripe fruit is in abundance. There is something rather satisfying about popping open a jar of jam or pickle, that amazing scent providing us with memories of bountiful past seasons.



I chose to make something new to me, preserved lemons. Basically, you just carefully slice into the lemons, and open them out slightly before filling with coarse sea salt. Pack them into a sterilised jar, you can flavour with chilli peppers or coriander seeds, then press down on them for a few days before adding more lemon juice and then leaving for a month to soften. How easy is that! Mine have been in the jar for a couple of weeks now and I'm itching to use them in some Moroccan recipes.



If you grow your own fruit and vegetables, or come home from the farmers' markets with overflowing bags of fresh produce, this book will show you how to make the best of the glut, and come Christmas, you could be opening a jar of crab apple & vanilla curd!



The book can be bought directly from Cico Books, Ryland Peters & Small, or from Amazon.

Preserves and Pickles
£9.99 / Hardback, 64 pages, 40 colour photographs
Publisher: Cico Books
March 2011
ISBN 13: 9781907563379

With thanks to Sarah at Ryland Peters & Small

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This content belongs to Nic at Cherrapeno. All writing and photography copyright N Fowers © 2007-2011 unless otherwise indicated. All rights reserved.
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Macarons with White Chocolate Cream and Raspberries

I know, it's like trying to catch a bus around here, you don't get one for ages and then several come along in quick succession! I'm talking about my macarons though, and these are filled with white chocolate cream and fresh raspberries, perfect timing for 'V' day!



I tried a new recipe, using the Italian meringue method and it made the smoothest, most beautiful macarons I have ever turned out + the messiest stickiest kitchen I have ever had! The recipe was from Not So Humble Pie, a fabulous blog with a great macaron trouble-shooting guide.



♥ Macarons with White Chocolate Cream and Raspberries ♥

1 quantity of macarons coloured pink, I used this recipe from Not So Humble Pie
1 small carton of double cream
3 oz good white chocolate
Fresh raspberries

Melt the chocolate and leave to cool, but but don't let it set hard.
Whip the double cream until stiff and fold in the cooled white chocolate.
Pipe the cream onto the macarons and add a raspberry. Top with another macaron.

These can be refrigerated for a couple of days.






♥ ♥ ♥ This is my entry for the Mac Tweets monthly challenge and this month it's Valentine Macs, need I say more? ♥ ♥ ♥



Other Macarons on Cherrapeño:
Lemon Meringue Macarons
Black Forest Macarons
Chocolate Macarons with Chilli Chocolate Ganache
Banoffee Macarons
Christmas Macarons (Cranberry & Pistachio with White Chocolate & Vanilla Cream)
Chocolate Macarons with Caramel Cream
Coffee Macarons with Nutella Cream


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This content belongs to Nic at Cherrapeno. All writing and photography copyright N Fowers © 2007-2011 unless otherwise indicated. All rights reserved.
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Nutella Cookie Tarts

It's HERE! World Nutella Day 2011!



Sara from Ms. Adventures in Italy and Michelle from Bleeding Espresso solemnly declare Saturday, February 5th “World Nutella Day 2011″ – a day to celebrate, to get creative with, and most importantly, to EAT Nutella.



And to celebrate I've made some little Nutella cookie tarts. I saw this idea over at Tulip's Kitchen ages ago, here is my version made with Nutella cream.



Nutella Cookie Tarts
Just a rough recipe, quantities depend on how many you want to make.

Chocolate chip cookie dough - I made half of this recipe, from Savory Sweet Life, but you can use your favourite recipe or buy the packaged cookie dough from the supermarket
1 small carton of double cream
A couple of tablespoons of Nutella
A drop of hazelnut liqueur, optional

You need a mini muffin tin for this recipe.
Preheat the oven to 180ºC.
Make the cookie dough and roll it into 1" balls, size depends upon your muffin tin. Put the dough balls into the tin and bake for about 10-12 minutes.
Take out of the oven and while still warm, indent the dough with a round implement - I used a small pestle from a pestle and mortar set - to make the tart shells. Leave to cool.
Whip the double cream and add the Nutella. You can add the hazelnut liqueur at this stage if using.
Pipe or spoon the cream into the cooled cookie dough tart shells and serve, or put in the fridge to serve later.



Other Nutella recipes on Cherrapeño that you may like to try:
Chocolate Covered Ritz Crackers, Filled With Nutella & Peanut Butter
Nutella Snowball Cakes
Nutella Filo Cups
Coffee Macarons with Nutella Cream

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This content belongs to Nic at Cherrapeno. All writing and photography copyright N Fowers © 2007-2011 unless otherwise indicated. All rights reserved.
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