Pumpkin Pie with Crunchy Pecan Topping

I love Thanksgiving and it’s such a bummer that I have to go to work each year. I would love to stay home and cook all day! Maybe I can stay home on our newly minted bank holiday, April 29th, and bake cupcakes in honor of the royal wedding.
I love Thanksgiving even more now. When I was studying to to be an accountant one sitting of the exams always fell on Thanksgiving. Between going to work all day, studying at night and on the weekends there was no time to bake pie. Now that I’ve been finished for some time I enjoy this time of year even more (really makes you appreciate your free time).
This is a basic Pumpkin Pie recipe but instead of evaporated milk I used vanilla soy milk to make it dairy free and it tastes exactly the same. I can only eat Pumpkin Pie with some kind of biscuit base. I think all the spices in the pie are complimented by the cinnamon in graham crackers or the ginger in ginger nut biscuits.
I love this topping (from Bakerella). It’s so amazing. The chocolate chips and the pecans are just heavenly. I should have maybe put some aluminium foil over the top towards the end so the edges didn’t get so crisp.
Dairy Free Pumpkin Pie
adapted from Sunset
Ingredients
Pie
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
1/8 tsp ground cloves
1 can (15 oz) pureed pumpkin
1 1/4 cups vanilla soy milk
2 eggs
Crust
Graham Cracker shell purchased
or Ginger Nut biscuit base (300g ground biscuits mixed with 80g melted butter and pressed into a pie shell)
Topping
1 cup chopped pecans
1/2 cup chocolate chips
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
2 tbs maple syrup
1. Pre-heat oven to 425 F/ 220 C. In a large bowl, mix sugar, cinnamon, salt, ginger, nutmeg and cloves.
2. Add pumpkin, soy milk and eggs. Whisk until well blended. Pour into the pie shell. I had a little leftover so don’t overfill your pie.
3. Mix all of the ingredients for the topping in a small bowl and set aside.
4. Bake the pie for 15 minutes then reduce temperature to 350 F/180 C and gently pour the topping mixture evenly over the top of the pie and bake for 45 more minutes until a knife inserted in the middle comes out clean (place a piece of foil over top towards the end if getting crisp on top. (I meant to make mine a bit crisp…).
5. Set the pie to cool on a rack for at least 2 hours.

M&M Cookies

m&m cookies were always a staple at our house during Christmas. My mom always made them in addition to snickerdoodles and those peanut butter cookies with the Hershey kiss on top.
They just this Christmas season started having the red and green only m&m’s in the UK. Only about 20 years behind the rest of the planet! I couldn’t find an exact date they were released but the first TV advert where the m&m “spokes candy” put out a bowl of green and red m&m’s for Santa was 1990.
I could only find peanut green and red ones at Waitrose and they were packaged in a special tube. I couldn’t find regular red and green ones in just a regular bag!
I had to settle for the regular colors instead this time
I had a check on the net and there are a minimum of 11 different kinds of m&m in the US (not including the “premium”, minis or ice cream). There are 3 in the UK: plain, peanut butter and crispy. The crispy ones are apparently the most profitable and strangely aren’t sold in the US any more. What’s your favorite kind? I’m partial to peanut and the new pretzel ones which I had when I went home in August. I hope they come to the UK soon!
M&M Cookies
adapted from Martha Stewart makes 3 dozen
Ingredients
2 1/4 cups plain flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup light brown sugar, packed
1 tsp salt
2 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
2 cups plain m&m’s
1. Preheat oven to 350 F/180 C. Whisk together the flour and baking soda in a small bowl and set aside. Put the butter and sugars into a large bowl and cream with an electric mixer on medium speed for 2 minutes.
2. Reduce speed to low and add the eggs, vanilla and salt. Mix well until blended.
3. Mix in the flour and then fold in the m&m’s with a spoon or spatula.
4. Drop a tablespoon of dough onto a non stick baking sheet, spacing each 2 inches apart and bake for 10-12 minutes until golden brown. Let cool for 2 minutes before transferring to a wire rack.
my sister sent me this cute cookie scoop.

Masterclass at Dri Dri Gelato Notting Hill

I was invited for another gelato masterclass! This time by Qype. What a lucky girl am I? I’ve been to two gelato making classes now! Click here and here to read about my previous lesson. I took a lot of pictures. Click here to see them all.
Dri Dri Gelato opened on Portobello Road in summer 2010. They use organic and seasonal ingredients to make authentic Italian gelato. Even though I’ve already been on a class the two places are different and I learned a few new things!
Dri Dri serve their gelato in a traditional pozzetti counter. This type of counter is strictly temperature controlled. The gelato contains no emulsifiers or thickeners and would melt in the usual open case freezer you typically see.
They also serve coffee and traditional Italian hot chocolate. I love this stuff. It’s so thick and chocolaty.
Gelato is apparently a more healthy choice than ice cream. It uses milk rather than cream. Gelato is 6% fat compared to ice cream at 18-24%
For our class we were making Granny Smith Apple Sorbet.
Roughly chopping up the apples
The apples are then thrown into a juicer. Obviously, I was too excited about all that gelato to remember to not turn my camera so if you have a laptop flip the screen around!
The apple juice, lemon juice and sugar mixture are all whisked together with some water.
The mixture is then poured into the gelato maker.
Adriano has an authentic 1960′s Italian gelato makeer which was pretty cool.
It’s cool how it churns. It only takes about 20 minutes for the gelato to become thick and creamy!
But how to get all the gelato out of the machine? A giant paddle of course!
There’s Eamon who works at Qype giving it a go.
The finished product! It tasted amazing. The flavor of the apple was so clean and crisp. It really did taste natural.
Adriano was nice and let us pretty much taste every flavor. The William and Kate was not only cute it was also one of the best tasting! My only regret is not tasting more gelato! I left hungry and not stuffed like I had hoped.
I enjoyed my class at Dri Dri. It’s a cute shop that has a nice friendly neighborhood feel. It’s more expensive than your average ice cream shop but you can taste the quality and it’s worth a trip to Notting Hill if you’re ever in the area. The gelato flavors change with the season so expect to be amazed!
Thanks to Qype and Adriano for inviting me! Can’t wait for more Qype food events!

Cupcake Camp Bournemouth

I attended Cupcake Camp Bournemouth recently. The event successfully raised over £1,800 pounds for Macmillan Cancer Support. I took a lot of photos on the day, click here to see them all. A lot of hard work into organizing the event.

I donated Chocolate Pretzel Man Cakes. There aren’t any cupcake shops in Bournemouth (as far as I know) but there are plenty of home businesses in the area. Nearly all of the cakes donated were from professional bakers. I really wanted to take a picture of each kind donated but it was too busy and the cupcakes dissapeared really quickly!

Here are some of my favorites from the day (if anyone knows who made these let me know and I’ll update each photo).

Bournemouth Beach Hut by Lucy’s Sugar Shack

Fish n’ Chips also by Lucy’s Sugar Shack

Mother’s Day Cupcakes

This was the best tasting cupcake of the day I think! It was a nut and spice combination.

On the whole I left the event feeling a little disappointed. When I left the last cupcake camp I attended, I left on such a high (not just a sugar high). This event had a different vibe.

I felt it was over before it even started. The event was advertised to start at 2pm and run until 5pm. When I arrived at 1:40pm to set up my stand people were already taking cupcakes. I wasn’t pleased when people kept trying to take them before I’d finished getting my display ready! The judging competition was also finished before the start and by 3pm all the cupcakes were gone and it was over. The good news is that people seemed to enjoy themselves and there were lots of kids having fun.

As a baker, in my opinion, I was disappointed that the businesses gave themselves a big profile and I thought the charity seemed to take second place. The event was organized with good intentions however.

I am excited for the next cupcake camp and I’m already thinking about some mind blowing creations!

Willie’s Easter Egg Factory

Willie Harcourt-Cooze “transported” his chocolate factory from Devon to The Tabernacle in London for the day shortly before Easter. He gave a Bean to Bar talk, let everyone make their own Easter egg and hosted a reception with drinks and canapes from his new book ‘Willie’s Chocolate Bible’. Click here to see all the photos I took.
There were loads of people at the event. It was free and open to the public.
Willie started with his “Bean to Bar” talk. He is very passionate! He is the UK’s only independent grower and producer of cacao.
Raw Cacao
The talk consisted of him simultaneously telling us how he got into producing chocolate, the process of how it’s made and making a chocolate mousse cake all at the same time!
Roasted Beans
Beans grown in different regions will have different under tones. Just like with wine. Grapes grown in different regions will taste different.
100% Cacao
We were tasting the different stages as Willie discussed them, which was fun. The raw cacao bean was not very tasty!
Willie made a chocolate mousse inside a chocolate case. He lined the tin with parchment paper and spread the chocolate all up and around so when it was removed it had a bit of a ruffled look.
We got to taste a sample. Willie bought the molds for the mousse from the old Terry’s of York factory after it closed.
And a hot chocolate sample
After that the Easter egg making, chocolate tasting and book signing began.
I bought a copy of the book and look forward to making the chocolate and porcini risotto.
There was a row of chocolate fountains with different types of chocolate to taste. Of the 6 there were two that I really loved!
The Indonesian 69 Javan Light Breaking – Sourced from the Island of Java, these bars are made from a highly prized strain of cacao. The beans are visually striking as they are exceptionally light in color and they have a slightly higher cacao butter content than usual. The beans produce a surprisingly light dark chocolate with soft caramel notes.
The Peruvian 70 San Martin – The beans are sourced from the Departmento de San Martin in Northern Peru in the foothills of the Andes in the lush Amazonian rainforest’s. The beans are grown by small farmers, who are part of a cooperative who provide them with technical and marketing assistance and credit to help increase productivity and profitability. The beans from this region are naturally fruity with tropical fruit flavor notes.
Giant Easter Egg for Great Ormond Street
The staff spent over five hours helping everyone make Easter eggs! They were still going when I left at 8.30pm. Chocolate is poured into the mould. The two halves of the mould are put together and closed with some pins and shaken vigorously. It was then popped into the freezer to set quickly.
It’s a little dark but you can see how the foil is applied to the egg.
Chili and Cacao Nib Tea while we waited for all kids to finish making their Easter eggs.
Malambo provided the entertainment by playing South American music.
Then came the cocktails! Chocolate Sloe Vodka.
The guy sitting next to me thought drinking 8 in one go was a good idea.
It’s not a party without some bubbly.
Willie’s Bloody Mary. I’ve never actually had one before and I loved it.
Cacao and Olive Bread with Smoked Salmon
Wild Mushroom Stew (this was fantastic)
Roe Deer with Chocolate Gravy and Spiced Red Cabbage
Mole Negro with Chicken Breast. The moistest chicken I have ever tasted I think.
Chocolate Cake
This might have been White Chocolate and Orange Blossom filled chocolates.
Willie’s Walnut Whip
Completely stuffed and happy I left and took my Easter egg home!
During Willie’s demonstration he also while making the mousse whipped up his favorite South American breakfast. I made it at home and it was pretty good!
Willie’s South American Breakfast
1 serving
Ingredients
1 egg
half an avocado
1 piece of bread
chili oil
1. Toast the piece of bread and spread the avocado on top (it’s a healthier replacement for butter).
2. Fry the egg and place on top of the avocado and sprinkle with some chili oil. I used some chili infused olive oil from Waitrose.

How To Use Cheese In Cooking

I usually have at least three (3) and as many as five (5)cheeses. Having at least 3 to 5 cheeses allows me to offer an interesting variety without being too extravagant.
I allow about 3 ounces of cheese per guest if we are just tasting or it's an appetizer plate before a meal. If I want these as a main course I allow 6 to 7 ounces per person.
The other thing I like to do is select ones that combine styles, textures and colors (see "pairings" below). I like to offer different looks, tastes, and feels such as one soft-ripened, one hard and probably a blue. And if I am serving more than three, I like to add one or two with different flavor and color.
Occasionally I'll have a theme tray, such as all blues or all local ones.When I have guests coming I realize some are great cheese lovers and some are "beginners." I try to offer a variety of flavors, with enough mild ones available so everyone can be accommodated. If my tray offered all "stinky" selections, some of my guests would have to stop at a fast food place on the way home.

I usually have a couple kinds of artisan breads or baguettes and interesting crackers, as well as apples, pears, nuts and dried fruit as part of the tray.
I arrange my tray at least an hour or two before my guests arrive. Cheese needs to sit at room temperature for full flavors to be enjoyed. I provide one knife for each selection so flavors don't mingle.
· Serve all soft ripened cheeses in wedges
· Serve fresh soft cheeses like Brie, in the entire form and have a knife to cut and spread it onto crackers or bread
· Semi-soft cheeses should be served pre-cut in the size you desire
· Semi-hard cheeses should be cut into wedges or cubes that expose the cheese to the air
· Hard cheeses should be pre-cut into pieces
· Bleu cheeses should be served in chunks created by your cheese knife
· Arrange cheeses with seasonal fruits cut into bit size pieces (this is also an opportunity to have a few nuts as part of your Fruit and Cheese Tray as well.
· Don't forget your tongs, cheese knives, cheese forks, utensils and/or wooden picks and serving plates and ...don't forget to have a great time!