Category "vanilla"

Experimenting with Lakeland's Agar Agar Panna Cotta

9th February 2014
by M-admin-bakehouse
agar agar, dessert, homemade, Lakeland, panna cotta, recipe, review, vanilla, , , , , , , , ,

For those who haven’t used or heard about it before, Agar Agar is a vegetarian gelatin substitute produced from a variety of seaweed vegetation. It can be used in a variety of dairy-free, vegetarian and vegan recipes as a stabilizing and thickening agent.

I have never used it before, heck I’ve barely used gelatin before, so it was time to have a play with new recipes.
I decided on giving panna cotta a try. It was MUCH easier than I thought.
This is the recipe I used:
Panna Cotta
360ml full fat milk
120ml whipping cream
2 tsp agar agar powder
2-3 tsp vanilla bean paste
Strawberry coulis (recipe further down)
And the method:
1. Put the milk, cream, agar agar powder and vanilla bean paste into a pan.
2. Heat the mixture over a medium heat until the agar agar powder has fully dissolved, stirring occasionally.
3. Heat to boiling point and let it bubble for a minute or two, then remove from the heat.
4. Let it stand for about ten minutes, then pour into 4 ramekin dishes or bowls.
5. When cool, refrigerate for 2-3 hours until set.
6. To release the panna cotta, run around the edge of it with a silicone spatula or sharp knife, place a plate upside down on top of the dish, and turn the plate and dish upside down to transfer the panna cotta on to the plate.

7. Pour the coulis around the panna cotta and serve cold.

Strawberry coulis
125ml water
125g caster sugar
300g hulled and halves strawberries
Method
1. Bring the water and caster sugar to the boil and stir, making sure the sugar is dissolved.
2. Add the strawberries and cook for 2-3 minutes or until the strawberries have softened.
3. Puree the mixture, and strain through a sieve.
4. Store the puree in the fridge for up to 2 days.

Looks yummy doesn’t it? I could just eat the bit on that spoon. You know…just to test it….

Mmmmmmmmm!!!
A very easy recipe, but impressive- one that could be used to impress the in laws if the occasion required it!
And here’s a sneak peek of experimenting with agar agar part 2!

Any guesses what I made this time??
You can buy agar agar from Lakeland here.
I was given the agar agar product to use by Lakeland, but all views are my own.
www.mariesbakehouse.co.uk
www.facebook.com/MariesBakehouse
 

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How to make a stripy vanilla and chocolate bundt cake

7th October 2013
by M-admin-bakehouse
birthday, bundt, cake, cake maker, celebration, cheshire, chocolate, Manchester, maries's bakehouse, pourable ganache, stripy, Urmston, vanilla, , , , , , , ,
I’ve seen a few stripy cakes around recently, and after treating myself to a bargain bundt tin this week (£1.99 from Home Bargains!!!) I decided I needed to use it, instead of putting it in the cupboard and not using it for months. Not that I EVER do that with new equipment. NEVER. *ahem*
So here’s the recipe for the stripy vanilla and chocolate bundt cake!
What you need:
280g butter or baking margarine
280g caster sugar
5 eggs
280g self raising flour
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 tbsp. cocoa powder
100ml double cream
200g milk chocolate (I used Cadbury’s Dairy Milk for this recipe)
What to do:
1. Cream the butter/baking margarine and sugar together.
2. Add the eggs one at a time beating thoroughly.
3. Add the vanilla extract and the self raising flour and beat again until thoroughly combined.
4. Take half the mixture and put it in another bowl.
5. Add the cocoa powder to the remaining half and beat until it has mixed fully.
6. Grease the bundt tin. I used Wilton Cake Release, and can’t recommend it highly enough.

7. Add a dollop of the vanilla mixture to the tin.

8. On top of the vanilla mixture, add a dollop of chocolate mixture.
9. Next add another dollop of vanilla, on top of the mixture already in the tin. The mixture will start to spread.
10. And then another dollop of chocolate. Keep adding alternate dollops of mixture until you have used all the mixtures in both bowls. If it doesn’t spread as well as you need it too, just shake the tin a bit and encourage the mixture to spread round to the other side of the tin.
11. This is what it will look like when you have finished adding the mixtures.
12. Bake for around 30 minutes at 160 degrees. Check around 25 minutes- your oven may bake differently to mine.
13. Leave it to cool for about 20 minutes in the tin, then turn it out onto a wire wrack to cool fully. (How fab does that look?!)
14. Once the cake is cool, chop the chocolate into small pieces and put it all in the bowl, and heat the cream until it just reaches boiling point, and pour the cream over the chocolate. Leave it for about 30 seconds to start to melt the chocolate, then beat it together until it has combined to make a smooth ganache. Pour the ganache over the top of the cake and leave to set.
15. Stick the kettle on, cut and slice, put your feet up and enjoy 🙂
I am definitely going to make this again, but try different flavour combinations too. Chocolate and orange, coffee and caramel, white chocolate and lemon, dark chocolate and mint……so many new ones to try!!
If you make it, I’d love to hear what you thought!
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