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msconductI realised that I didn't post anything about Christmas. It was lovely: there was some rain, but not the wind we thought would happen and it was really nice sitting out on the deck. We spent all afternoon out there.
Now that we celebrate Matariki in midwinter with turkey, we found we didn't feel like turkey again, so for the first time I cooked a side of sesame and ginger salmon, with pickled fennel and sesame and ginger mayo. I served it with several salads and new potatoes with mint from my garden. It was delicious and felt just right for a summer's day. I'll definitely be doing that again.
While I was trying out new stuff I decided to make something I've always wanted to bake but have never got around to: a Yule log. I had a very specific idea of what I wanted to make, so I combined a few recipes. The cake was Nigella's chocolate log, which has six eggs in it and the only "flour" is cocoa powder (I use Valrhona). I filled it with cream flavoured with Kahlua and iced it with dark chocolate ganache.
I was really pleased with how easy it was to make. I've made a Swiss roll before, and the big deal with them is trying to stop them splitting when you roll them up. Normally you do this by rolling the cake up with parchment paper as soon as it comes out of the oven then gently unrolling it when it's cold, filling it then rolling it up again while holding your breath. If you see them doing this on the Great British Bake Off you'd think it was incredibly difficult, but this recipe rolled like a dream. Nigella didn't even suggest pre-rolling it, so I didn't, and it wasn't necessary. Nigella suggests a buttercream filling and icing, but I thought that would be too sweet, and the cream and ganache were perfect: rich but not too sweet. It was beyond delicious and I already have requests to make it again for birthday cakes.
You're supposed to sift icing sugar [confectioner's sugar] over it to suggest snow, but in the middle of summer that just seemed silly, so I prefer to think of it as a log destined for the barbecue.
Now that we celebrate Matariki in midwinter with turkey, we found we didn't feel like turkey again, so for the first time I cooked a side of sesame and ginger salmon, with pickled fennel and sesame and ginger mayo. I served it with several salads and new potatoes with mint from my garden. It was delicious and felt just right for a summer's day. I'll definitely be doing that again.
While I was trying out new stuff I decided to make something I've always wanted to bake but have never got around to: a Yule log. I had a very specific idea of what I wanted to make, so I combined a few recipes. The cake was Nigella's chocolate log, which has six eggs in it and the only "flour" is cocoa powder (I use Valrhona). I filled it with cream flavoured with Kahlua and iced it with dark chocolate ganache.
I was really pleased with how easy it was to make. I've made a Swiss roll before, and the big deal with them is trying to stop them splitting when you roll them up. Normally you do this by rolling the cake up with parchment paper as soon as it comes out of the oven then gently unrolling it when it's cold, filling it then rolling it up again while holding your breath. If you see them doing this on the Great British Bake Off you'd think it was incredibly difficult, but this recipe rolled like a dream. Nigella didn't even suggest pre-rolling it, so I didn't, and it wasn't necessary. Nigella suggests a buttercream filling and icing, but I thought that would be too sweet, and the cream and ganache were perfect: rich but not too sweet. It was beyond delicious and I already have requests to make it again for birthday cakes.
You're supposed to sift icing sugar [confectioner's sugar] over it to suggest snow, but in the middle of summer that just seemed silly, so I prefer to think of it as a log destined for the barbecue.
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Date: 2024-01-04 12:38 am (UTC)