Cider Battered Fish, Wedges and Mushy Peas

Enjoy this on a Friday! Or a Saturday or even Sunday if you don't want to cook a roast. It's up to you. If you want to cook for more people increase everything apart from the Sunflower oil.

Serves 1

Fish

175g Self Raising Flour

25g Cornflour

150ml Cider

1 Fillet of Sustainable White Fish (I used Plaice)

Salt and Pepper

2 tbsp Self Raising Flour
600ml Sunflower Oil

Wedges

1 Large Potato

2 tbsp Olive Oil

½ tsp Dry Mint

½ tsp Dry Rosemary

Salt and Pepper

Mushy Peas

Mug of Frozen

2 New potatoes, cut in half

Hanful of Fresh Mint, chopped

Knob of Butter

Salt and Pepper

1. Preheat the oven to 200c/180c fan assisted. To make the batter, sift the 175g Self Raising Flour and cornflour into a mixing bowl. Then gradually introduce the cider while whisking. You should have a thick consistency. Leave to prepare the rest of the meal.

2. Cut the potato into wedges. Par boil in a pan for 5 minutes. Then drain, add the oil, herbs and salt and pepper and shake in the pan. Then tip onto a baking tray. Cook for 40 minutes in the oven. Turn after 20 minutes.

3. For the peas. Boil the new potatoes and peas in a pan until cooked. In a deep pan add the sunflower oil and heat up to 200c. If you haven't got a thermometer drop a bit of batter in the pan and it should start to cook when dropped in the pan.

4. Put 2 tbsp of Self Raising Flour on a plate and cover the fish with the flour. Give the batter another stir. Then dip the fish in batter. Add to the pan with the sunflower oil. Cook for 2-3 minutes then turn over and cook for a further 2-3 minutes until the fish is golden brown all over. Place (Plaice get it) on paper towel so the excess oil comes off.

5. Mash the peas with mint, butter and bit of salt and pepper. Plate all parts of the meal on the plate and enjoy with a good cider.

Chocolate Orange Cake Explosion

Made this for my friends as a collective birthday cake. Went down a treat. Plus dark chocolate is good and it has an orange in it which is one of your 5 a day, so must be good for you (not a doctor).

125g Dark Chocolate, broken into pieces
1 ½ tbsp Cocoa Powder, sifted
1 tsp Baking Powder, sifted
250g Plain Flour, shifted
3 Large Eggs
250ml Sunflower Oil
275g Golden Caster Sugar
1 Juice and Zest of a Large Orange

Topping (Ganache)
200g Dark Chocolate
200ml Double Cream
25g Dark Chocolate, grated (optional)
Chocolate Orange Wedges (Popular Branded ones)

1.  Line a 8 inch cake tin with greaseproof paper. Preheat the oven to 180c/160c fan assisted.

2. In a bowl mix, mix the sugar, oil and eggs together. Then add the orange juice and zest to the bowl and give another mix.

3. In either a bain marie or a microwave, melt the dark chocolate. In a ban marie continue to stir so it doesn't burn. If you choose to melt the chocolate in the microwave, heat for a minute, give a stir and heat for a further minute, continue the process until the dark chocolate is melted.

4. Allow the chocolate to cool slightly and add this to the mixture. When combined add the flour, cocoa powder and baking powder. 

5. This should thicken the cake mixture. Pour into the cake tin and put in the oven for 45-55 minutes. Check the centre of the cake with a skewer to see if it's baked all the way through. Put on a rack to cool. 

6. While the cake is cooling make the Chocolate Ganache. To do this heat the cream in the pan. When it starts to boil take off the heat. Put the chocolate in a heat proof dish and pour over the heated cream and begin to stir until fully combined. Leave to cool slightly.

7. Decorate the cake by pouring the ganache over the cake (make sure you have a plate underneath the rack to catch the chocolate). Place chocolate orange wedges on the cake. Grate with chocolate. Place in container (on a cake board or plate). Place in fridge to allow ganache to harden. Serve

Garden Birthday Cake

So it was my partners birthday on Friday so I wanted to make a special Birthday cake for him.

Makes 1 Cake


Chocolate Cake
100g Dark Chocolate (Used 70%)
3 Eggs
300g Caster Sugar
250ml Sunflower Oil
25g Cocoa Powder
250g Plain Flour
Splash of Lemon Juice
2 tbsp Nutella

Spinach Cake
3 Eggs
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
2 Lemons, juice and zest
3 tsp Baking Powder
180ml Olive Oil
300g Plain Flour
250g Caster Sugar
200g Spinach, pureed

Filling
250g Mascarpone

50ml Double Cream

2 tbsp Icing Sugar

Splash Lemon Juice
Nutella

Decoration
Toothpicks
Food Colouring
250g Ready Roll Icing
Writing Icing
Chocolate Cake

1. Preheat the oven to 180c/160 fan assisted. Line 20cm Square Cake tins.

Making the Chocolate Cake

1. Put a pan over water over a hob and heat til it boils and reduce to a simmer. Put a large bowl on top and add the dark chocolate and allow to melt. Take off pan and leave to cool slightly.

2. When cooled enough add the sugar and give a good mix til the sugar and chocolate are combined. Then add the eggs, then the oil and mixing throughout.

3. Then add the flour, cocoa powder and lemon juice and mix well. When combined add the nutella, mix then pour in the cake tin

Spinach Cake

1. Mix the eggs and sugar til combined and then add the lemon juice and olive oil, give another mix. Add the flour, baking powder, and spinach. Then finally the vanilla. Mix throughout this process. This can be done in a food processor. Pour in the cake tin.

Put both tins in the oven for 45 - 50 minutes. Take out of the oven leave to cool before taking out of cake tins.

Filling

1. For the filling whisk the mascarpone with the double cream, icing sugar and lemon juice. . Then have the chocolate cake on the base, layer with nutella, cream then the spinach cake.

Decorate

To make the dirt effect breakup some chocolate cake. For the sugarcraft make sure you have icing sugar if the icing gets too sticky.

Sunflower
For these you need ready roll icing, yellow, brown and green food colouring and some toothpicks. Colour the icing with each colour. Wrap the green icing round the toothpick. For the flower, make a large yellow circle. Using a spoon press into it lightly around the edge to make a petal looking design. Have a smaller brown icing circle in the centre and poke with a toothpick.



Carrot Tops and Cabbage
You need green food colouring and ready roll icing. Mix the two. For the cabbage; shape into a small ball and cut another piece into three small triangles and place below the balls. For the Carrot tops, make 3 small sausage shapes and wrap round each other. Cover with the cake dirt.





Flower
For the flower that dots the I you need red pink food colouring and ready roll icing. Mix the colouring and icing til combined. With the ball of icing shave bits off with the tip of the spoon. Then layer  and eventually create a circular design. Smooth the bottom. Write the message using writing icing or piped icing and place the flower over the i.