22 Apr 2015

My Best of "Picnic Food" recipes

Spring has started in full speed in London, and it is supposed to last for a while. Fingers crossed!
Time has come for picnics and party food, that you drop in a carrier bag with a bottle of Pimm's and a punnet of strawberries. 
So here you go, a little selection of my favourite picnic food recipes!









2 Apr 2015

Pretzel, French Glacé Cherry, Cranberry, Tea cake and Marshmallow Rocky Roads

Happy Easter everyone!
I'm not going home to hunt eggs with my family this year, but I'll still indulge in some chocolate (or go to my wonderful local baker and buy one of his Easter bakes).
For now, I leave you on a this recipe perfect to bake with kids during this long weekend, and wish you a great break!


Pretzel, French Glacé Cherry, Cranberry, 
Tea Cake and Marshmallow Rocky Roads  

These are rocky roads taken to the next step. I loved the mix of textures from the fondant glacé cherries, dense cranberries, crumbly tea cakes and crunchy pretzels, the chewy marshmallows, which makes it bite a surprise.

Ingredients 

125 grams soft butter 
300 grams best-quality dark chocolate (I used Valrhona chocolate) broken into pieces 
3 tablespoons golden syrup 
230 g or mix tea biscuits, chopped French Glacé Cherries, dried cranberries, broken pretzels
100 g mini marshmallows 

Method to prepare the rocky roads

1/ Melt the butter, chocolate and golden syrup in a heavy-based saucepan. Scoop out about 125ml / ½ cup of this melted mixture and put to one side.

2/ Put the biscuits into a freezer bag and then bash them with a rolling pin. You are aiming for both crumbs and pieces of biscuits.

3/ Fold the biscuit pieces and crumbs into the melted chocolate mixture in the saucepan, and then add the marshmallows.

4/ Tip into a foil tray (24cm / 9 inch square); flatten as best you can with a spatula. Pour the reserved 125ml / ½ cup of melted chocolate mixture over the marshmallow mixture and smooth the top.

5/ Refrigerate for about 2 hours or overnight.

6/ Cut into 24 fingers and dust with icing sugar by pushing it gently through a tea strainer or small sieve.


Recipe adapted from Nigella Lawson's rocky road recipe