McFlurry® Mini Moment of the Month

 

No I’m not chatting about Mini McFlurry’s®, although I kind of feel they would take off! I am going to try the promotional Limited Edition McFlurry® from Maccy-to-the-D’s (McDonalds®…) every month and give a mini review about it!

The promotional McFlurry® of the moment is Flake with Chocolate/Raspberry Sauce. I chose the Chocolate Sauce variety, as raspberry and milk chocolate would not be the first combination I would ordinarily choose.

I actually really liked it! Sometimes if there are solid chocolate pieces with the ice cream they can get really hard, but the flake pieces didn’t! Probably due to their texture. And the chocolate sauce had a really nice flavour to it, which dark but not bitter, but definitely not too sweet.

As per, Maccy’s ice cream was lovely and I love the Mr Whippy-esque softness and creaminess of it. So all in all, definitely give the promotional Flake McFlurry® a go, because for £1.39 you won’t be disappointed!

 

Now this random employee is happy in her job!

Mary Berry’s Apple Pie- Guest Post by Hannah Wood :-) [How To Make]

 

This is another exciting first for my Did Somebody Say Pudding? After getting very excited seeing my friend Hannah on FB making a yummy looking Mary Berry pudding, I asked her if she would like to do a guest blog for me. A lovely way of getting a different perspective and spicing up my blog a bit! Luckily she said yes and this is her finished review! ENJOY!

AMY X

Date: 22/9/12

Background: As the apple tree in my garden was looking a bit full, I decided to make a pudding using my (mothers) own home grown. I always make a crumble with these apples so decided on trying something different. As I am totally obsessed with Great British Bake-Off, I dug out one of my Mary Berry cookbooks and found a very easy recipe for Apple Pie.. Bingo!

What: Classic Apple Pie.. sadly this was no Mr Kipling

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How To Make:

Serves 8

PASTRY

• 225g (8oz) plain flour
• 150g (5oz) cold butter, cubed
• 25g (1oz) caster sugar
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1-2 tablespoons water

FILLING

• 1.3kg (3lb) bramley cooking apples, peeled, cored and sliced into ¼”slices
• 175g (6oz) caster sugar
• ½ teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 egg , beaten for glazing

Method:

Pre heat the oven to 200C/180Fan/Gas 6. You will need a deep pie dish that measures 19cm (7 ½ “) base 24cm (9 ½ “) top and 5cm (2”) deep

1. To make the Pastry. Measure the flour, butter and caster sugar in to a processor and whiz until the mixture looks like breadcrumbs. Add the egg and water and whiz again until it forms a ball. The dough will weigh 450g. Divide the pastry into 250g and 200g pieces.
2. Roll out the 250g piece very thinly and line the base of the dish, including the sides and leave a little over hang.
3. Mix the sliced apples with the sugar and cinnamon in a bowl, spoon them into the base of the dish. The apples will be higher than the pastry as they will sink down during cooking.
4. Roll out the remaining pastry slightly bigger than the surface of the dish. Brush the edges of the pastry with water then sit the pastry on top and gently push down to seal the edges. Using a small sharp knife trim the edge and crimp the sides. Roll out any left over pastry and use for decoration. Brush the pie with beaten egg.
5. Bake in the pre-heated oven for 45-50 minutes until golden brown and crisp.
6. Remove from the oven and cool a little before sprinkling with a little extra caster sugar. Serve warm with custard, cream or ice cream!

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What was Good: The recipe is very simple and doesn't take long to make at all. As I haven't quite entered the 21st century yet I made the pastry using my hands, an extra personal touch! The pastry was the nicest I have ever made; I've never used egg before and I believe this gave it the extra something. The cinnamon also gave the apples a lovely extra kick.

What was Bad: The recipe didn't say to cook the apples slightly before; I would definitely recommend doing this because after the cooking time, they were still a little hard. It also didn't recommend a blind bake before the filling; therefore once it was cooked, the bottom was so soggy and actually started to disintegrate! It might as well of not had a base at all; I don't think Mary or Paul would be impressed!

Waffle-O-Meter: 

Lovely pastry but soggy bottom!

I REALLY REALLY REALLY want to try this! (Amy)

YES, YES A THOUSAND TIMES YES!

 

Date: 21/9/12

Background: As I  hope you have been following in my previous blog posts, my lovely group of friends have recently completed one of the hardest (but the most satisfying) courses in Midwifery. Because of this, me and my housemate Amy had a house party, complete with champagne, fajitas and the crowning masterpiece, Amy’s signature Sticky Toffee and White Chocolate Cheesecake!!!!

What: [see above ]

How much?: ~£12-14 ---yes expensive, but it is MASSIVE, and made with very delicious ingredients, and probably could serve about 32 people-ideal for big social occasions as a show stopper!

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How To Make:

(Recipe adapted from Come Dine With Me:How to Throw the Perfect Dinner Party by David Sayer)

Ingredients:

• 400g digestive biscuits
• 100g melted butter
• 1.2kg value white chocolate (less used if branded)
• 900mls double cream
• 500g full fat cream cheese- e.g. Philadelphia
• 500g Mascarpone

To decorate:

• Any nice toffee sauce- the thicker the better
• Broken toffee pieces

Method:

1. Whiz the biscuits in a  food processor until they resemble breadcrumbs. Pour in the melted butter and whiz again to amalgamate. Grease a 30cm in diameter, deep springfrom baking tin (Amy was also able to make two mini individual ones in ramekins)
2. Press the biscuit mixture down firmly to cover the base evenly and top with a layer of the toffee sauce. Refrigerate
3. Break the chocolate into small pieces in a bowl. Put the bowl over a pan of barely simmering water until it starts to melt. Take it off and set aside until it melts completely. Stir it once or twice to aid process but don’t overdo it. Allow to cool slightly.
4. Gently beat the cream, cream cheese and mascarpone in a bowl until well combine. Stir in the melted chocolate, Spoon over the base and refrigerate for at 24-48 hours.
5. When ready to serve, drizzle prettily with the toffee sauce and top with the broken toffee pieces.
6. Serve on its own in thin slices with/without pouring cream

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What was Good: Where do I start? One of the most important things to me, if you cannot guess already, was that it was stunningly beautiful! You can tell that it is Amy’s signature dessert, because it looks very professional, a beautiful colour and very attractively decorated! The texture combination was absolutely divine. With a smooth, luscious cheese element utter- perfection, especially when complimented with the firm, crunchy, crumbly buttery biscuit base (cue singing) and finally the sweet sticky toffee sauce and chewy toffee pieces. And the taste was very delicate, with the first obvious flavours being that of the crumbly digestive biscuitness and intense toffee flavoured sauce. All in all, to cut a potentially long story short, this cheesecake was even better than I was eagerly anticipated!

What was Bad: Amy, my housemate and the chef extraordinaire, is the only one making any kind of potential suggestion improvements. She thinks that perhaps a less crumbly base (therefore a little more melted butter needed) could have been welcome (actually no other guest agrees). Also some of the slices of cheesecakey deliciousness did not hold as well as others, BUT this is probably more to do with the fact that the server had actually had one too many alcoholic beverages . And personally I think the smoothness was perfect, it was soft and very creamy, and I can’t help but think that if measures were taken to make it firmer, that this could have a negative impact on the texture.

Waffle-O-Meter:

It has happened again 5/5!!!!

It feels so naughty… And tempting!

Look, just look at what is hiding in my fridge as we speak. My favourite [hint] housemate Amy has made what can only be described as her devilishly decadent signature white chocolate cheesecake. Trust me, if I was not on a night shift I would probably be sat in front of the the television with this beast and a spoon right now! Well I wouldn’t… only because she would probably not appreciate the fruits of her labour being consumed a) without her and b) not in the name of its designed purpose.

Tomorrow (Friday) we are having an epic gathering of our friends to celebrate passing our course and all becoming qualified midwives! There will be champagne, fajitas and the piece de resistance Amy’s Sticky Toffee and White Chocolate Cheesecake! Has there ever been a sweeter, more heavenly sounding dessert in existence? I doubt it!

So to tease you all I am allowing you a sneak peak, a naughty glance into my chilled white room of happiness (as opposed to red room of pain- for you 50 shaders out there) to leaving you wanting more. I will of course be reviewing it post-cheesecake tomorrow, probably with a warm fuzzy food baby, to tempt you even more into wishing you lived in a house with THIS as a resident! Hooray for cheesecake!

Where has the Great British Bake Off been hiding?!

 

Another non eating blog! I think my waistline is probably thanking me after the week so far! What with me working the past 4 nights as a babysitter, a very sedentary job when looking after a young baby at night, I have needed a distraction to stop me from sleeping or going insane, and if it involved eating I think would have gained about a stone by now!

I caught part of the last episode of The Great British Bake Off on Tuesday (8pm BBC2) and so I decided to catch up on the rest of the series, as it really intrigued me! I have never been a trendsetter, in fact I ALWAYS seem to trail behind in trends/obsessions. I bought 50 shades about 2 months after everybody else, I obsessed over F.R.I.E.N.D.S 4 years after is ended, and as ever I chose yet another programme to become excited over- this time a good 3 series in!

For those who do not know, The Great British Bake Off is a contest on its third television series with Mary Berry and Paul Hollywood as judges and who choose what the contestants make, and hosted by Mel and Sue. The series starts with 12 contestants, who have to make/bake/cook 3 different pudding/bakes per episode. The three categories are: Signature Dish-a set theme but with the contestant giving it their own twist, a Technical Challenge- a set recipe to see how technically correct they can be, and a Showstopper- as long as it follows a certain theme they make it as dramatic and amazing as they can to impress the judges. Each episode has somebody crowned Star Baker, and on the other hand somebody gets thrown out of the competition.

My Favourite Things about it:

• It is not over dramatic! A lot of TV contests are completely over dramatized, with the theme to Jaws playing in the background as contestants scream, shout and throw things, all in the name of attention to boost the ratings. Of course there is drama- if there wasn't then it would be a bit boring- but it is very British and not over done.
• It has Mary Berry! She is an absolute ledge! She is prim and proper, and is like an oracle of the pudding and baking world! I honestly think that if she doesn’t know a technique to make good pastry or sponge cake that it is worth knowing! The woman has written over 70 cookery books for crying out loud!
• The contestants are courteous! They are pleasant and friendly to their fellow contestants, but without fake sobbing and rounds of “She/He is such a hero” when they make a pudding better than them, or get voted off per week by Mary and Paul.
• IT IS AN ENTIRE SERIES PRACTICALLY JUST DEVOTED TO PUDDING!! I am shocked and appalled at myself for not noticing this series earlier if I am quite honest.
• Every contestant has the privilege of doing what I would love to do if my budget stretched to it- and that is bake pretty much constantly. And they do not just get to bake a Victoria sponge, or apple crumble with the scraps and leftovers they find in their store cupboard like I do. They get to experiment! I there is an aspect of envy here, but with this entire blog being dedicated to gluttony effectively, what is one extra sin among friends?!
• It is wholesome, aimed at everyone, and perfect for anyone with a passion for pudding and other baked goods!

Image Copyright of the BBC

Happy Sticky Toffee Ooey Gooey Times

 

When: 18/9/12

Background: Stacey being the darling she is, was a wonderful human being and bought me dinner After much deliberation, we decided on The Red Lion pub in Kings Heath, part of the Ember Inn’s chain. Can I just say, what a BEAUTIFUL pub it is! Built in 1904 it is a stunning building with a lot of character!

What: Sticky Toffee, Date and Walnut Pudding with Custard

How Much?: £2 when you ordered with any main meal! *£3.75 when bought separately

What was Good: The price! If I see a bargain, particularly a pudding related bargain I am all over it-as you well know by now. There was a choice of puddings to choose from as well which was nice, but as I seem to have reviewed a lot of chocolatey puds as of late, it was nice to have a change. It was warm, stodgy, stick to the roof of your mouth kind of sticky (or as my Black Count-ray companion says, “Its a bit cloying”…. Don’t ask..) As it approaches Autumn/Winter I hope to indulge in more hot puddings, because nothing really which beats them! Warm Custard with a warm pudding has a way of giving your tummy a hug, a kind of reassurance that everything is well with the world- if I have said this before I apologise, but it is true! Because you will always feel satisfied and satiated after a hot pudding. Regardless of what it is. Ok that is enough fanatic drivel.. On a less soppy obsessive note, the walnuts added a nice bite to the sponge, and the dates had almost melted into it, so texture-wise everything came together really well!

What was Bad: I can’t lie and say it was the most prettily put together dessert I have ever seen. There was something very home style, post Sunday dinner about it. Which is nice, but not what you expect at a pub really when the main meal was put together so nicely, and if I am honest, wasn’t incredibly appetising like most of the other puddings I have reviewed. Because they had already put the custard on, it meant that for people like our Stace-a bit on an-anti custardee- this was a bit disappointing. However I love lots of custard so it didn’t really bother me. Regarding flavour, I can’t say it really was overwhelming, in fact it hadn’t really got a distinct flavour! I think a nice cinnamon edge could have worked wonders here, to lift everything together, and if it was served with a sweet yet almost bitter tangy treacle toffee sauce this could also have gone down well!

Waffleometer

Stacey:

Amy:

See… Hardly a culinary visual masterpiece!

Starbucks Do It Better- With Stars!

 

When: 15/9/12

Background: Me and Stacey had a nice chillaxed day at the Bullring, Birmingham, and fulfilled our need for good pud by snacking in Starbucks there!

What: Velvet Chocolate Cake

How Much?: £2.50

What was Good: It was really pretty! This seems to be a common theme within my pudding-blog. But for goodness sake this cake has stars on! I mean actual stars! Sparkly, lovely stars. And it looked so so decadent! Me and Stacey had a very hard decision as to what piece of cake we were going to share. What is this I hear you holler? SHARE?! Since when do I SHARE cake?! On this occasion I was willing to make an exception! Mainly because Starbucks is quite expensive. If I am honest, one of the reasons that I chose this cake over any other, was that I really wanted to give the mystical chocolate fudge cake a chance to redeem itself after yesterdays unhappiness in the Sizzling Pub. This particular dessert did not wow me or knock me on the floor taste wise. The cake and firm frosting were tasty, but were more sweet than chocolaty. I would have loved it so be soft and moist with a rich cocoa flavour. If I am honest it did not match up to that.. But it was DEFINATELY better than yesterday’s poor excuse, and it was lovely to review a pudding with the co-founder of my blog!

What was Bad: It was dry. Not so dry as if it had been sat out for days on end dehydrating, but it did not taste as fresh as it could of. This is the mistake I think made when a cafe pre cuts slices of cake. As physics demonstrates, if the surface area is bigger, with more cut sides, then there is more room for evaporation to occur! The frosting itself was tasty, but was more firm than anticipated, so much so that I worried that cutting into it with the (plastic) fork would actually break it! All in all, I definitely think I need to expand my future pudding pool to probably exclude Chocolate Fudge Cake. Too much disappointment now!

Waffleometer:

Stacey:

Amy:

Dare I admit a “Sizzling” Pub let me down?

 

When: 14/9/12

Background: Me, Charlotte and Amy decided to go for noms at the Amber Tavern, Birmingham. Sizzling Pubs normally hit the spot!

What: Chocolate Fudge Sundae- chocolate fudge cake, vanilla ice cream, whipped cream, a drizzling of chocolate sauce and chocolate bits.

How much?: £2.99

What was good: The age old- Chocolate Fudge Cake! It must be good! Right? Usually, well you have seen my previous blog posts!- I am all over Chocolate Fudge Cake based puddings like cheese chunks in a pineapple hedgehog! It was one of the cheaper puds, which also ticked a happiness box in my mind, because if a pudding is cheap then it is even more justifiable! It was pretty to look at. There is something about those chalice’s that just makes you feel very indulgent and happy with life! Chalice does make it sound like that new Stella Cidre though… And of course it was lovely to spend time with two of my lovelies.

What was bad: It just did not set my pudding flame alight I am afraid… If I have said it once I have said it a trillion times, too much squirty cream can spoil a pudding!! It doesn’t particularly taste very nice and it is sickly! The ice cream was all icy and sad, with no flavour and upset my teeth. And the cake was stale, practically flavourless and was sat, moping dryly in the bottom of the chalice, the chalice that promised so much. And the cake wasn’t even warm!! As you can probably tell this angered me somewhat. To top it all off, the woman serving at the bar REALLY REALLY needs some lessons in customer service! Service with a smile, or at least service without a hateful grimace of loathing and misery wouldn’t go amiss!

Waffleometer:

(Sorry about Poor Quality)

Do you know the Muffin (Wo)Man? [How to Make]

 

Date: 9/9/12

Background: Basically, I posted a poll on my Blog to see what people would like to see me make/bake and review! Out of the selection Raspberry and White Chocolate Muffins won by leaps and bounds! So yeah, here is my interpretation of a nice recipe I found on Nigella Lawson’s website posted by one of her contributors- comfondida

What: Raspberry and White Chocolate Muffins

How Much?: ~£5 give or take- depending on what ingredients you have in your store cupboard

Ingredients:

• 300g plain flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 150g caster sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 225ml milk
• 50g butter
• approx. 100g raspberries
• approx. 110g white chocolate
• (muffin cases)

Method:

1. Pre-heat oven to 200/gas mark 6
2. Half the raspberries and chop chocolate into large chunks.
3. Sift flour and baking powder into large bowl. Stir sugar into flour mixture.
4. Melt the butter (I find this easiest in microwave for approx. 30 seconds [see attached photo])
5. In separate bowl crack the egg, whisk in the vanilla extract, milk and melted butter. Stir the liquid mixture into the dry mixture.
6. Fold in raspberries and white chocolate (Using a metal spoon is best as this avoids most damage to raspberries.) Be careful not to be too rough, as raspberries will be easily damaged.
7. Spoon the mixture into the individual muffin cases (I used silicon ones!). I used about 1.5-2 dessert spoons, to fill the cases to around 3/4s full
8. Cook for approx. 10 minutes at gas mark 6 (200) and then reduce to 150 for a further 20 minutes or until muffins are risen, firm and golden brown. 

To decorate

• Place a chocolate button on each muffin, place on a baking tray and warm in the oven (turned off and cooling) until the chocolate is melted.
• Once the chocolate is melted, place half a raspberry on top. Serve warm/cool

What was Good:

They were really pretty! Yes I sound like a proper girl, but I am a sucker for a pretty, aesthetically pleasing muffin. As a human species, we tend to to eat with our eyes. If we like the food we are about to eat, it can have a massive impact on how we enjoy the nommages we consume. They had a crispy crunchy crust, but were so so soft and fluffy on the inside. The raspberries had exploded like little sour/tart bombs within the muffin cakeyness and yet the chocolate chunks had melted and set, making a nice texture change as you bit through the confection. The muffins themselves were very moist but not soggy and were the perfect size to not overwhelm you or make you feel sick. Overall, I want to thank my readers for choosing Raspberry and White Chocolate Muffins, I cannot wait for you to choose me another pudding to make in the next poll!

What was Bad:

The first batch we did we cooked at 200degrees for 10 minutes then reduced to 150degrees for a further 20mins. These were perfect and crispy and light and fluffy, just as described above. However, the next batch we cooked at 150degrees for 30minutes, and these did not have as nice a texture. There were a bit cakey and not quite as fluffy. Therefore, I advise following the recipe as given above .

Waffleometer

Hints and Tips:

- Because Vanilla Extract can be quite expensive, I bought Lindt White Chocolate with a Touch of Vanilla. I think it was just as nice! (Lindt Picture Courtesy of Friars of Keswick)

- If you like a sweeter cake, maybe use an extra 50g of caster sugar

- The temperature suggestion given in the “What was Bad” section

- Use silicon muffin cases as they are really easy to turn out after cooking and do not require a muffin tin to cook them. They are re usable, but the only problem is that you cannot keep the muffins in them- so you end up with case-less cakes!

- Try lots of different flavours! Chocolate chip, Lemon and Poppyseed, Carrot cake… The list is endless!

- If you melt the butter in the microwave for 30secs, as it suggests… Then I have found this happens (aka butter-microwave explosion!)  >>>>>>>>>