When it comes to the New Year, there is a lot of reflection on the previous year and planning for the future. In my last post I quickly reflected on the goals I had set myself at the beginning of 2017 and after a year of discovering more about my passion for food and my talent in the kitchen, I’m going to set myself some goals for 2018.
2018 Foodie Goals:
- Perfect the gingernut log – this is a dessert that my Grandma makes for my dad and I at Christmas. This year however, I gave it a go and it was an epic fail so I plan to practice and perfect it.
- Complete the recipes on my GBBO calendar – yes that’s right, I’ve got another one so I’m looking forward to trying new dishes I might not have ever considered.
- Bake a drip cake – these might be so last year but believe it or not I never attempted one, so this year I will.
- Enter the Mid Somerset Show for the third time and (hopefully) place in the top three.
- Visit a different foodie market/festival – I went to two last year, Totnes and Gloucester Quays and I found some great foodie treats, so I’m looking to see what other markets/food festivals have to offer. (If you have any recommendations please let me know in the comments below).
2018 Blog Goals:
- Better planning – due to one thing or another, I had a few ideas that I never got round to making so this year I want to try and ensure that this doesn’t happen again.
- Develop my photography skills.
- Enjoy it – I love my blog and I want this feeling to continue.
So there you have it, a few goals for this year. I may have other challenges in between but whatever I do, I will ensure to tell you here how I got on.
Now my first bake of this year was on New Year’s Day when I made these white chocolate, orange and ginger profiteroles from the Christmas edition of Delicious magazine. I wanted a showstopper of a dessert for my family and I to enjoy while we watched whatever was on TV at the time and with a gold square plate that I recently purchased from a local charity shop, I had the perfect serving plate.
The recipe was ever so slightly different to the one I tried last June and needless to say it didn’t quite work out, so I reverted to what I knew. Once baked it was time to make the filling (the easiest part). I couldn’t quite taste the ginger amidst the orange notes, but I didn’t mind and I was hoping the crystallised ginger decoration would provide that flavour. After filling the profiteroles it was time to melt the Lindt Lindor white chocolate truffles, dip the profiteroles and sprinkle finely chopped ginger on top.
Altogether the taste was delicious. Every aspect of the ginger was masked but the orange and white chocolate combination was quite refreshing compared to the norm. My family did enjoy them and the nine profiteroles (because I quartered the recipe knowing that healthy eating would start the next day) went incredibly quickly.
If you would like to give these a try then the recipe (as stated in the magazine) is below. If you want to try the simpler version of making choux buns then please see this profiterole recipe from last June (which was also from a previous issue of Delicious magazine). Happy Baking!
White Chocolate, Orange & Ginger Profiteroles, December Issue of Delicious Magazine, p.94
Ingredients:
For the choux pastry buns:
100g unsalted butter
150ml water
150g plain flour
1 teaspoon of caster sugar
¼ teaspoon of salt
4 large free range eggs (at room temperature), lightly beaten, plus 1 extra to glaze
2-3 tablespoons of milk
For the filling:
450ml double cream
Thumb-size piece of fresh ginger, finely grated
Finely grated zest of 1 orange
3 tablespoons of icing sugar
For the topping:
200g Lindt Lindor white chocolate truffles, chopped
50g crystallised ginger
How to…
For the choux pastry buns, put the butter and 150ml water in a pan over a medium heat and stir until melted
When the butter has melted, turn up the heat and bring to a rolling boil
Meanwhile, in a mixing bowl combine the flour, sugar and salt and then pour into the butter/water mixture – beat strongly with a wooden spoon until the mix clumps together to form a ball that fully comes away from the sides of the pan
Tip the dough into a mixing bowl and use the spoon to spread it up the sides (to help it cool) and then leave to cool to room temperature
Heat the oven to 220°C or 200°C if using a fan oven and line your baking trays with greaseproof paper
Once the dough has cooled, add the 4 beaten eggs, little by little, only adding more once the previous addition is fully mixed in. The mix will look as though it’s about to split but it will come back together after beating. You might not need all the eggs or you might have to add an extra splash of milk to reach dropping consistency
Transfer the choux mixture to the piping bag fitted with a 1cm nozzle, then pipe 18 buns, each a little larger than a 50p coin with a depth of roughly 3cm onto each lined baking tray
Use your finger to brush a little of the beaten egg over each one to smooth out any peaks
Bake for 20 minutes, then lift up the profiteroles and use a skewer to poke a small hole in the bottom of each one to let out the steam. Bake for 2-3 minutes more until golden and crisp before leaving to cool on a wire rack – mine were slightly overdone but they still tasted great
For the filling, put the double cream, grated ginger and orange zest in a mixing bowl
Sift over the icing sugar and whisk to soft peaks using an electric mixer
Poke a small hole in the bottom of each bun if the previous ones have closed up. Put the cream into a piping bag fitted with a small nozzle, then fill each choux bun
To make the topping, melt the truffles in a small heatproof bowl set over a pan of barely simmering water (don’t let the water touch the bowl)
Remove from the heat and let the melted truffles cool a little
Dip the top of each profiterole in the melted truffle mixture and put on a tray
Scatter over the crystallised ginger and leave the topping to harden and then stack to serve
Country Cottage Bakes 