Sunday 30 May 2010

Garlic Mushrooms - Halogen Convection Oven


ok - so I've gone blogging mad today. Actually - this is about 3 days worth in one.... I simply haven't had time to catch up before now

I've had various people e mail me this week saying I don't post enough about what I cook in my halogen oven. Truth is, I use my halogen oven pretty much every day for something or other. But it's the normal, mundane sort of thing that I don't think twice about doing.

However, there are lots of halogen cooker users out there searching for cooking times and recipe ideas. There are few publications or websites with this sort of stuff online and I'm told our website is coming up quite highly on search engines for the few things I've blogged about.

Therefore - I need to apologise to those who want to see photos of sweet things or baking. I'll put HALOGEN OVEN in the titles so you can choose to ignore !

-------------------------------------------------------------------
Recipe

Remove the stalks from the mushrooms and rub the outsides with olive oil.
Add some chopped herbs and a piece of butter to the middle of each one. I used parsley, garlic, thyme and oregano.


Preheat the oven to 250deg C for a couple of minutes with the bottom rack in. Place your mushrooms on the baking tray onto the rack and place the steamer plate / heat diffuser on top upside down oven the mushrooms
Cook for approx 10 mins until browned and juicy.

Smartie Cakes (cooked in the Halogen Oven)

These pretty little cupcakes were cooked this morning in my Sarah-Jane's Halogen Oven using silicone cup cake / muffin cases. Of course, you could easily use them in an ordinary gas or electric oven. They are safe for use in aga's too.

The thing with halogen ovens is that the body is a round glass bowl. Most traditional muffin moulds don't fit. That's why these little silicone cup cake / muffin cases are ideal for use on top of the baking tray. As you will see from the picture below, paper cases on there own are pretty useless as they cannot support the weight of the cake mix. The silicone cases in comparison hold up well and the cakes come out easily too which is a double bonus !


If you are not familiar with a halogen cooker, it's a table top oven / cooker. It uses halogen technology which basically cooks your food from above using a halogen bulb which shines up like a halo and brings a cheery glow to your kitchen. At the same time, it's also powered by a fan which enables cooknig by convection.

Most conventional fax ovens are 4500W, whereas our halogen ovehttp://www.siliconemoulds.com/1400w-halogen-oven-capacity-incl-accessories-p-181.htmlns use just 1200 > 1400w of power and also cook considerably faster with little or no preheat time. That means you save a whole lot of energy !

The only time I preheat my halogen oven is for baking bread / cakes or things that cook at pretty much warp speed. Even then, 2 > 3 minutes preheat is plenty.

Here's the recipe. They're not overly sweet so aren't over -the- top should you decide to ice them

SMARTIE CAKES

300g self raising flour
1 tsp baking powder
130g caster sugar
80  > 100g smarties
100ml sunflower or vegetable oil
200ml milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 beaten egg

sift the flour and mix in the sugar and baking powder into a big bowl

Mix the milk, oil and beaten egg together. I like to warm the milk to blood temperature before using, as I think it makes my cakes rise better

Add the wet to the dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Do not overstir. Add the smarties in the last couple of strokes.

Spoon into muffin cases. These will make 12 standard muffins or 16 if using the silicone muffin / cup cake cases.

IF YOU DON'T WANT TO MAKE THEM ALL AT ONCE, SPLIT THE WET AND DRY INGREDIENTS INTO TWO LOTS AND KEEP SEPARATE. The mixed wet ingredients will keep in the fridge for 2 > 3 days and the dry ingredients will be fine for weeks. You can then make as two separate batches.


Here's my first batch going in the oven.

Preheat halogen convection oven / halogen cooker (1200 > 1400W) to 160deg C with low rack in - or conventional fan oven to 180deg.


These took 13 minutes to cook and came out looking and smelling great. They'll take about 20 mins for a conventional oven.



Hope you all enjoy these as much as Oliver !





Have a lovely weekend

Sarah-Jane (silicone bakeware and blogging fanatic) & Oliver the little cake tester  - http://www.siliconemoulds.com/

Sweet Eggy Bread - Sunday Breakfast Treat


Oh - I had a craving for something sweet for Sunday breakfast. I really fancied pancakes - it''s literally been years since I had them. Bleary eyed, I was not awake enough to be bothered with the hassle of weighing out flour etc .... so eggy bread it was.

Eggs bread is one of those things that I loved as a child. My grandmother would make it for my brother and I. As quick as she could cook it we children were queing up for more !

It's wonderful with brown sauce or tomato sauce - but also drizzled with golden syrup for a sweet and almost  thick crepe pancake like taste and texture.

Allow one egg and some milk per slice of bread. Beat egg and milk together.

Pour your eggy mix into a container with a flat bottom. I normally use my 10" round silicone cake tin mould as I can get two slices in to soak in the eggy mix at a time. Put the bread in and let it sit for a little while. Then, turn over and do the other side.

Remaining eggy mix will do following slices - so excess is never an issue.

Fry with a little sunflower oil in a hot pan on both sides until browned.

Serve as you like - with golden syrup, tomato ketchup or brown sauce

Sarah-Jane Nash - May 2010 - http://www.siliconemoulds.com/

Cockrell / Chicken Sugar Cookies


It's been a while since my first attempt at sugar cookies. I thought I'd make some more as they are easy trasnportable and keep quite well. The recipe is exactly the same as I used last time - although I decided that this attempt I'd use rolled fondant instead of flooding with liquid icing. I baked them on silicone baking tray liners.

Unfortunately, my new paint brush is totally useless and the bristles stick out in all directions and made rather scratchy looking marks. I managed some basic decoration painting food colouring on to the icing - but it wasn't fit for fine detail

Sugar cookies transport well as little boxed gifts in the post. I actually made a whole batch of these and they're going to the retired gentleman up the road when I collect Henny Penny from him. Henny Penny took very poorly a couple of weeks ago and I'm very thankful he's managed to nurse her back to health.

Thursday 27 May 2010

Sectional Soap Colour Wheel


Cor - it's been a while since I blogged - but everything has mounted up on me all at one time and I'm really trying to do too much. I'm sittin here yawning my head off and can barely keep my eyes open. It was nearly 4am before I finally went to bed this morning and then was up with a colicky Oliver two or three times before 7.30am.

Apologies therefore for keeping it short. I'm still trying to photograph and catalogue all the new moulds just in and need to get up to speed as soon as possible as we'll have so so much more coming in another few weeks. This ISN'T normal - it just so happens I went a bit bonkers on new stock. More so than I've ever done before !

Anyway - one of our new moulds is a sectional 10 portion mould as you can see below. I think it was Emma who convinced me that this would be a really good idea - specifically for bath fizzles / bombs and also for soap. She wasn't wrong either....


All our siliconebakeware moulds are suitable for use with soap, chocolate, ice or plaster of paris amongst many other things. Whilst this mould is mainly aimed at cake portions, I've been dying to try it out with soap and the results have been a huge success. We've got customers using our moulds with bitumen tar and concrete too. Also for moulding Orgonite.




Each cell takes 200grams of melt and pour soap base. Add a few drops of colour and some fragrance and that's just about all it takes. Sure - you could get really fancy.... but a simple colour wheel is VERY effective and would make a lovely display piece if you are selling at craft fairs. The one above is going to make a very nice present for a dear friend of mine. Every piece has a different fragrance and makes a good sized bath soap.


The best bit is that they are SO easy to release from silicone molds. Simply push and it'll come out. No swearing and sweating, huffing or puffing here ! Of course, you don't HAVE to make all 10 - if you want nice wedge shaped soaps with rounded edges - this is ideal. You can make just one soap at a time if you like !

Sarah-Jane Nash, keen baker and soap maker - http://www.siliconemoulds.com/ May 2010

Saturday 22 May 2010

Bonkers - Totally BONKERS !


I've been making soap in one of the new silicone moulds tonight - and couldn't help but snigger when taking this photograph. Yup - you've guessed it - we've got a mould in stock that now allows you to make replicas of dentures !

Can you just imagine having guests visit and finding these by the sink when they are looking for the soap ?!?



This flexible silicone mold will work just as well with chocolate or ice. Apart from the fact that I can't work with white chocolate to save myself - (it always ends up with a bloom and very crumbly) - I'd love to try this in white chocolate.... leaving the teeth just white chocolate and using a little food colouring in the rest for the gums.


Perhaps it's time to become an inmate at the madhouse.

For those of you waiting on all the new photos and sizes etc of the new moulds we're bringing out - I'm so sorry for the delay. I'm adding them all as quick as I can. There have been a few unexpected surprises - but nothing nasty !

Wednesday 19 May 2010

How to cook a Perfect Soft Boiled Egg (in a Halogen Oven !)


The beautiful eggs pictured above have been laid by my own pretty hens. It's such a pleasure to keep chickens and they are happy to repay us with their eggs. Oliver adores them and they love him too. One particular chicken called Korma follows Oliver everywhere - including into the kitchen if he's been outside and the back door is open !

Really fresh eggs are fantastic. Nothing beats them. Eggs should always be stored and cooked at room temperature, somewhere out of bright sunlight.

We all know that boiling for 3 > 4 minutes should give the perfect soft boiled egg. However, that's not always the case and sometimes shells crack or the middle goes "over" done.

I'm pretty sure I've worked out how to do the perfect boiled egg in my halogen oven / cooker and it's worked faultlessly so far.

Set the temperature on the halogen oven to 125deg C. Put the low rack in and set the timer to 10 minutes. Allow it to heat for 2 mins whilst you go get your eggs.

Remove the top and lay however many eggs you want to cook on the rack. After 8 minutes, they're PERFECTLY done. You'll need 9 mins for a large egg

Leave in for an extra 2 minutes for hard boiled.

Do NOT add any water. This is not required.

I should state - our 1200 > 1400W halogen ovens may cook quicker than less powerful models, so you may need to adjust cooking times if you have a much lower powered unit

Other halogen oven recipes can be found here

Typically - I work this out AFTER I recently bought a new egg boiler. Oh well - that's something else now I no longer need in my kitchen !

Tuesday 18 May 2010

Fabulous Fudge - 5 minute fix !




I've been promising to post fudge recipes for a little while now. Problem is, in doing so - it means I have to make some to take photographs ! I've finally made some and am going to send it home for my parents and brother to enjoy.



Sitting in our house, it's too easy to munch.... and I want to cut back on sweet stuff rather than increase.

Anyway, we had a HUGE delivery of new silicone moulds yesterday - so I'm like a kid at Christmas. Of course, I've also got to make things in all these new mould designs in order to show them off.

Fudge is very very easy and relatively inexpensive to make. Unlike Scottish tablet, it only takes 5 minutes to cook instead of 20  > 25, and 2 minutes to beat instead of 15+ !

In a traditional bakeware cake / brownie tin - it's hell to get out. It doesnt matter how much you butter it. All my tins have loads of big dents in the bottom where I've been whacking them trying to get it to come out. When I've failed, I've often poured boiling water over the base and have burnt myself a fair few times. I've been waiting and WAITING for the right type of silicone mould for making fudge and this really revolutionises fudge making

Fudge is very versatile and it's so easy to make different flavours and textures. We'll start with the basis recipe....

You will need a large, heavy based saucepan and a WELL buttered 8" square tin - or an 8" square silicone mould (unbuttered). It's also VERY important that you prepare your ingredients in advance for this recipe so everything is to hand. When you need them - there is NO time to spare !

Ingredients

125g butter
3/4 cup of evaporated milk
2 cups of granulated sugar
12 marshmallows
200g white chocolate - chopped
1 cup of dry additions - ie fruit / nuts
2 tsp vanilla extract

Put the butter, evaporated milk, sugar and marshmallows into your saucepan. Melt together on a medium heat and bring to the boil - stirring constantly.

Set your timer - or check your watch. Keep at a boil for EXACTLY 5 minutes if you want a soft fudge leaves teeth marks as you bite in. This is how I prefer it.... However, if you prefer it crumbly as pictured above, boil for 7 minutes. Don't worry about darker coloured flecks rising up. These disappear totally later. Just don't forget that you need to constantly stir as soon the ingredients are all melted.

Take it off the heat and immediately add and beat in the chocolate and any dry additions. Quickly pour in to your square silicone tray mould or tin, scraping as much as you can fron the sides of the pan.

Leave to cool. I like to refrigerate overnight after cooling before cutting into squares.



Ok - so that's vanilla fudge recipe. With or without added fruit and nuts.

There are loads of other things you can do with it.....

Flavour ideas :

cranberry and macadamia
maple and walnut (reduce sugar a little and add some maple syrup)
blackforest fudge - sub bitter chocolate for the white chocolate and use dried cherries and a splash of liquer.
coffee, hazlenut and raisin (pictured) - reduce evap. milk and add a couple of tbsp of camp coffee
baileys irish liquer - with or without raisins. Again - just adjust evap milk and add liquer
strawberry shortcake double decker - milk chocolate and broken shortbread biscuits in bottom fudge layer. Strawberry flavoured fudge topped with mini marshmallows on top.
Minty duo - dark chocolate fudge base with mint flavouring, white chocolate mint flavour for the top, sprinkled with crystalised sugar

Monday 17 May 2010

Marinated Chicken Thighs & Potato Wedges



There is nothing to this. It's hardly worth blogging !

However, I've had loads of emails recently asking if I cook fancy evening meals. The answer is - only rarely. Generally it's something quick and easy .... unless it's a special occasion or one of us fancies something rather out of the ordinary.

I use my halogen cooker a lot. It's generally used at least an average of 5 days a week. Oliver loves fish fingers and I can cook those in 6 > 7 minutes with a few chips (no preheat) - so my halogen oven is fab for things like that. I can also do fish on the baking tray with steamer plate over the top to diffuse in a similar amount of time. Saves tons of energy and I don't feel guilty about putting the normal oven on to cook just two fish fingers for a toddler and then later again for our evening meal.

For example, tonight I marinated some chicken thighs with garlic and lemon juice and tiny bit of olive oil. I cooked those in the halogen oven at 200deg C for about 15 mins until cooked through. I then decided to make some potato wedges with cracked black pepper and a sprinkle of paprika and popped those in on the top rack for about 10mins. Everything was beautifully browned.



 I could have cooked everything together on the baking tray on the bottom rack. However, if you use a tray on the top rack, the low rack then cooks by convection as it does not get the direct infra-red glow to "speed cook" and takes a good bit longer. I could also have cooked faster if I'd put the wedges on the bottom and chicken on the top rack (letting juices drip onto the wedges - yum yum) as the fan blows the hot air round everything that way.

Truth is, I'd a toddler to bath and get ready for bed and wanted to know our dinner was on the way without rushing bathtime ! That's the thing with the halogen oven - it cooks a lot faster than a normal oven and often faster than I expect. It's also far more energy efficient. The normal oven is 4500W at maximum, whilst the halogen oven is 1400W at maximum. BIG difference - especially with drastically reduced cooking times too. It's much faster cooking for the majority of things and easy to wash up.

Our halogen ovens are arriving back into stock on Friday. I think there are about 800 arriving ! Unlike most retailers, we importantly also stock replacement halogen bulbs for our ovens. Surprisingly few stockists do and a halogen oven with no bulb is pretty useless...

You'll find some recipes on the website here . I promise to try and get round to doing some more - it's just that I forget when I'm using it on such a regular basis !

Oliver Goes Whoopie !



I've been hearing about Whoopie Pies for some time now - yet not tried one or made any. This month's (June - in May) Sainsbury's magazine has some stunning photos of whoopie pies and a good variation of ideas for flavours and toppings. I'd link to it - but they don't seem to have a website for readers or post their recipes online.

The magazine is really cheap and it is worth buyin for the Whoopie article alone. However - I must say that I wasn't bowled over by the marshmallow filling, nor was there quite enough. Next time I attempt whoopie pies, I'd make my own mallow filling from scratch. The cake batter part of the recipe however was not bad at all.

Basically, you make the mix and pipe it into rounds on to baking parchment on a tray. I used silicone baking tray liners instead. I can't remember last time I used greaseproof paper or baking parchment - the silicone baking tray liners are just so versatile !

Our baking tray liners / sheets have two sides. One matt finish and one shiny sleek finish. I like to use the matt side for chips / fish fingers etc and the shiny / sleek side for cakes and biscuits


Here are the little cake domes, just out the oven, for the Whoopie Pies.

Basically, they are two little cake domes, sandwiched with a mallow filling and topped with icing. I decorated ours with some chocolate icing and some edible gold glitter.

Oliver was rather pleased with them and needless to say, the chocolatey bit went first !



Sarah-Jane, http://www.siliconemoulds.com/ - May 2010

Pimento Cheese



This recipe is from Pam's MidWest Kitchen Korner 

It sounded VERY similar to something I ate and loved whilst studying many years ago in Louisville, Kentucky. It's tasty served as a dip or sandwich type spread, but I decided to grill it on toast for a quick and simple supper (as photographed above)

I made a 1/2 quantity of Pam's recipe - which you can find here http://pamsmidwestkitchenkorner.blogspot.com/2010/05/pimento-cheese-heaven.html

It's very tasty - but although I used hot cherry bell peppers and added a few extra - it wasn't as hot as I remember. I fully intend making it again - but think I'll substitute red jalapeno chilles for the hot cherry bell peppers.

Here is Pam's recipe :

Ingredients:
1 pound extra-sharp Cheddar cheese
1 (4-ounce) jar pimentos, drained
½ medium onion, grated
½ cup mayonnaise,
approximately2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
Method:
Cut the cheddar cheese into large chunks. Place in food processor and pulse long enough to make small chunks.Do not process it smooth into a puree.Remove to a bowl. Add remaining ingredients, how ever much mayo you desire.Blend well.Serve

Thursday 13 May 2010

Homemade Chocolates - GUEST POST


Today's Guest Post is from Jill of Jillispaiges.blogspot.com

My name is Jill, I'm a Mum to 2 girls and I have the most delicious 3 year old Grandson. I have been crafting and creating things for as long as I can remember, with my main passion being card making which I've done for the last 4 years. With money being tight I am always on the look out for ideas for cheap handmade gifts, which seem to be appreciated a lot more than shop brought ones.

I decided to dabble in chocolate making after a friend of mine told me all about her unsuccessful Easter egg making with moulds brought from QVC, which were the rigid ones. I just had to try it out myself, but with silicone moulds ... I figured these would be easier and searched EBay for the cheapest around, which brought me to www.siliconemoulds.com - so with my son-in-law's 30th birthday approaching we (my daughter and I) thought handmade chocolates would be a good thing to put in his party favor bags and help keep the costs down!


I can't do anything easy though and these chocolates had to have different flavoured centre's in. That was the biggest mission I had - finding a fondant crème recipe. Google is a fabulous thing and after hours of trawling the internet I found the one I liked the look of, which also told you how to make different flavours http://www.wrenscottage.com/kitchen/recipes/candy/creamfondant.php.


It's turned into a bit of an obsession - and close to 400 chocolates later I still have a passion to make more. I've just sold some of my rubber stamps to help finance the purchase of 3 new moulds and have brought the ingredients ready to make 4 new flavours when they arrive .... brandy crème's, raspberry crème's, fudge and almonds! Of course I'm going to need a few more mould's so that I can tell the difference between each flavour (well that's what I've told my hubby ;) !)

I've had a few requests for boxes of chocolates for gifts and have been approached by a couple of friends to make chocolates for their wedding favors but that's still under discussion at the moment.

The biggest compliment I've received was from my son-in-law's Dad who said my chocolate's were as good as Thornton's!
 
 
Jill uses the 24 chocolate truffle mould in the photos above - which is a semi sphere. We also do a larger version of the same mould which is called the 15 bonbon. Our other chocolate moulds can be found following this link. We are due to add a number of new chocolate moulds to our collection in the coming weeks.

Tuesday 11 May 2010

Scottish Tablet - Seriously Yummy & Tooth Achingly Sweet !


If you have a sweet tooth - this stuff is going to send you to seventh heaven....

Tablet is like a very smooth and crumbly fudge. There is no chewiness to it and it should be smooth in texture and melt in your mouth. One piece is NEVER enough.

Although there are few ingredients, it's a bit of a hassle to make and requires a lot of stirring and is fairly time consuming. As it also involves boiling sugar, do take extreme care and keep little ones well out the way.

Whilst Oliver was sleeping this afternoon, I made a batch as a present for a friend.

Ingredients

2lb of granulated sugar
1 cup of water
125g butter (I used salted)
1 can of condensed milk
2 > 3 tsp vanilla extract

Put the water and butter in a large, heavy based pot. If you have a pressure cooker - the pot from that is ideal. Better too big a pot than too small !

Melt the butter into the water. Add the vanilla and sugar and slowly bring to a simmer stirring constantly. Do NOT put on a really hot heat - if you get it too hot too fast, your tablet will go all gritty.

Once all sugar is disolved, add the condensed milk and bring to the boil. Don't stop stirring this stuff.


The pot above was the largest one I have - apart from my pressure cooker pot - which I'll use the next time instead. This was very very near overflow !

Boil the mixture for approx 20 > 25 minutes until it becomes a butterscotch colour. When dropped into cold water, it will start to ball. Temperature should be soft ball stage.


In the picture above - it's almost ready to come off the heat. It bubbles like a volcano and needs constant stirring to keep the frothy bubbles under control.

Remove from the heat and beat with a wooden spoon until it becomes thick and sugary. This takes a long time - about 15 mins of constant stirring.... so don't get fed up with it too quickly !

Pour into a WELL BUTTERED TIN - or alternatively, a silicone lasagne mould works a dream and needs no greasing. This stuff can be a horror to get out of a tin, and silicone really does make a breeze of the job.

Leave to cool or several hours - preferably overnight.


Turn it out of the mould or tin (as pictured above) and slice into squares. It will be crumbly and break up a bit - but the rustic look is the sign o good tablet.

If it doesn't set, you've either not boiled it long enough or not beat it long enough (or both !) Better a little over done than under done. My dad reckons boil for 20 mins - I find it needs 25 mins - nearer 27mins this time as I had to remove from the heat a few times to prevent volvanic eruptions all over the cooker

After you have chopped it up, it's ready to put into a tupperware box to be kept in a cool, dry place - or gift boxed / bagged.


I've used my Top Score Board to make this card board gift box (see blog entry re massage bars for more info).

I've recently discovered vellum. Vellum is a glassine type material that is used by crafters for card making. However, it's also greaseproof and comes in lots of pretty colours or patterns. It's lovely for lining gift boxes for cakes, cookies and sweets. The vellum I've used has a pink foiled paisley pattern on it.


I blogged about some stunning butterfly Kanban card last month. Coudn't resist it and bought some. The butterflies on the card are in different hues of pink and varying sizes. It adds a lot of depth and looks really classy made into a gift box


This is it - all wrapped and ready to go....

Well - when I say ALL - only about half of what I made. There was a lot in this box too - it was a fair size !

Foodie Candles by Paula - GUEST POST

Teacake candle photographed above.

I thought you might like to see the lovely candles that Paula has been making with our moulds.
-----------------------------------------

My name is Paula. (GUEST POSTER) and I am a mum of 4. I run my business called Cracking Creations from my home in Leicester.

Since November I have turned my hand to making scented candles and have produced a range of realistic looking cup cakes and tarts along with a selection of drinks candles. Every candle is unique as they are all individually hand made, something not often found in this era of mass production. These have been well received by shops and public alike and the business is keeping me very busy.

I am always on the lookout for new shapes to conjure with which is what brought me to the wonderful moulds supplied from siliconemoulds.com. The moulds are easy to use and it has to be said that the resulting candles are fast becoming my best sellers at the candle parties I run. These moulds are perfect - easy to use, easy release etc etc. I have just bought some proper candle moulds and one split the second time I used it, the others are so hard to release from that after a week of trying I have 1 saleable candle and a bin full of rubber moulds...not good !

More recently I have been asked to produce a range of candle designs as wedding favours for a wedding organizer as the flexibility offered from a colour matching point of view is invaluable to the brides to be. For more information on my candles you can visit my website on http://www.crackingcreations.co.uk/ (currently being rebuilt) or they will available for purchase from http://www.giftwrappedandgorgeous.co.uk/ as of May 2010.

Sunday 9 May 2010

Visit to the Sea Life Sanctuary & A Stroll Along the Coast


I'll apologise in advance for those who don't like baby photos - but these are for family checking in ;-)

We went to Hunstanton to the Sea Life Sanctuary today with Oliver and my in-laws for a day out.

Oliver was a complete whirl-wind and SO excited. He had a marvellous time looking at all the fish - followed by taking Daddy for a walk along the beach. Despite trying - I didn't get many photos worth keeping. In most, there are arms, legs or heads missing ..... or no Oliver at all ! He's just too fast to get many photos of these days :-)


It was Oliver's first visit to the seaside and I'm looking forward to taking him back when the weather is somewhat better. He was rather amused at getting his shoes wet and "chased" by waves.


Saturday 8 May 2010

Mini Rolo Tarts - Too Simple ?


Thank you to the girl I was chatting to in Lakeland the other week for this recipe.... I met you next to all the baking equipment as I looked for a pastry tamper. I'm sorry I couldn't stay - but when a toddler wants fed ... it's URGENT.

For the rest of you - I think you are starting to get the picture. Oliver had been SO good but was starting to get rather hungry for his lunch. Toddlers are not keen on shopping of any description. The pastry tamper shown above did not come from Lakeland - they did not have such a beast. Instead, it came from Looses Cook Shop in Norwich.

The girl I spoke to who was also shopping in Lakeland suggested I give this recipe a go and waxed lyrical about it. She swore Oliver would love it - and I really think he will.... (IF there are any left in the morning !)

These little Rolo tarts are so easy to make. Get your pen and paper ready - you may want to write down the ingredients incase you forget.

1 pack of sweet shortcrust pastry (I used Sainsbury's)
3 packets of Rolos (there are 10 in a pack)
1 packet of white chocolate buttons

THAT'S IT !!

You'll need a 24 hole mini muffin silicone mould, or equivalent in traditional tin.

Divide pastry into 24 balls and place each ball in the cell of a mini muffin tin. There is absolutely NO need to grease or line the cells. Press down with a tamper and mini cases miraculously appear.


I then put my whole tray in the freezer for an hour or so as this helps the cases stay in a nice shape. I never bother blind baking anything these days - and cases this small would be a real fiddle otherwise.

Remove from fridge / freezer and pop a Rolo into each pastry case.


Then put the mould on a tray into the oven at 200deg C fan for approx 12 mins.

When you take it out, put a white chocolate button on top.


That's it.... but believe me - they are little mouthfulls of yumminess. Somebody's been at them already - there are 4 empty ones in the tray. Wonder where they went to :whistlesinthewind: -  Who me ????


Sarah-Jane Nash, http://www.siliconemoulds.com/ -the silicone cook shop. Cookware and bakeware. May 2010