Orange Gelato

Ingredients
1 1/4 Cups Icing Sugar
1 1/2 Cups Fresh Orange Juice
2 Cups Water
1 Tablespoon Lemon Juice
2 Tablespoons Cointreau/Grand Mariner
2 Eggs (whites only)
1/4 Cup Icing Sugar

Equipment
1 Large Pan
1 Airtight Container
1 Wooden Spoon
1 Mixing Bowl
1 Balloon Whisk

The Good Bit

1. Place the largest amount of icing sugar in the pan along with the water, orange juice and lemon, Stir over a medium heat until the sugar has dissolved then bring to a rapid boil and then reduce the heat and simmer for 15 minutes.
2. Allow the mixture to cool before you pour it into your container, now's the time to add the booze, then place in the freezer and check from time to time. When it begins to form ice around the edges, whip your egg whites until they form soft peaks, stir in the remaining sugar then fold your eggs into the orange slush and freeze again.
   

Peaches in White Wine

Ingredients

4 Peaches (stoned and cut into small wedges)

2 Tablespoons Icing Sugar (sifted)

1 Orange (cut the rind off leaving behind as much of the pith as you can, then juice)

200ml Sweet/Medium White Wine

Equipment

1 SHARP Knife

1 ChoppingBoard

1 Juicer

1 Small Bowl

1 Serving Bowl

1 Sieve

Kitchen Paper/Towel

The Good Bit

1. Place the peaches in your serving bowl and sprinkle over the icing sugar, then cut your peelings of orange skin into matchstick size pieces, place in your small bowl and cover with water.
2. Now pour the orange juice and wine over your peaches and chill in your fridge for one hour.
3. In the meantime, dry your orange match sticks on the kitchen paper, sprinkle over the peaches just before serving and enjoy. (Double cream goes very well this, and maybe a sprinkling of grated chocolate)

Serves 4

Indulgent Easter Eggs (adults only)

Ingredients
100g Dark Chocolate
175g Icing Sugar
175g Ground Almonds
1 Egg (lightly beaten)
175g Dark/Milk Chocolate
175g White Chocolate
Edible Gold or Silver Decorative Balls

Equipment
3 Mixing Bowls
3 Pans (1/2 full with simmering water to melt the chocolate in)
1 Serving Dish
1 Sheet Greaseproof Paper
Cling Film
A Fork

The Good Bit

1. Melt the 1oog dark chocolate in a bowl set over a pan of simmering water stirring occasionally. Stir in the sugar, ground almonds and egg white to make a paste, next take walnut-size pieces of the paste (keeping the rest wrapped in cling film as you work), and mould into egg shapes.
2. Melt the dark and white chocolates in separate bowls and leave to cool for 5 minutes. Put an egg shape into one of the bowls and use a fork to turn until coated. Carefully lift out the egg cradled in the fork (not on the prongs) and lay it on its side on the greaseproof paper. Coat half the eggs in white chocolate and half in dark.
3. Once all the eggs have been coated and then left to set, place them in a serving bowl and drizzle the rest of the melted chocolate over contrasting coloured eggs. Sprinkle with the decorative balls and then leave to set at room temperature. Serve and enjoy, just don't eat too many

Makes 25ish

Chocolate Rice Krispie Cakes

Ingredients
1 Block of Your Favorite Chocolate (only)
or
2 Mars Bars (only)
or
2 oz Butter
1 Tablespoon Golden Syrup
2 Teaspoons Cocoa Powder
Icing Sugar
And
Rice Krispies or Corn Flakes or Broken Shredded Wheat

Equipment
1 Mixing Bowl
1 Pan (with enough water in to touch the bottom of your bowl when the water is simmering)
Paper Cake Cups

The Good Bit

1. OK we're doing 3 types here but they all work along the same principal. Melt your block of chocolate/2 mars bars/butter, golden syrup, cocoa powder in a bowl over the simmering water. If you are doing this the cocoa powder way, also add in enough icing sugar until you have a thick sauce.
2. Now add in the cereal of your choice, rice krispies, cornflakes or broken shredded wheat (this make excellent nests for easter treats) making sure to coat all the cereal, spoon out into your paper cake cups.
3. If you are going with easter treats, you may like to decorate them with a few mini eggs! chill in the fridge for 15 minutes before attempting to eat them, longer if you have the will power!

Bakewell Pudding

Ingredients
1x250g Pack Ready to Roll/Already Rolled Short Crust Pastry
2 Eggs
115g Caster Sugar
75g Butter
1/2 Teaspoon Almond Essence
115g Ground Almonds
Icing Sugar (for dusting)
Jam

Equipment
1x7 Inch Baking Tin (greased)
1 Mixing Bowl
1 Knife
1 Fork
1 Pan
1 Electric Whisk

The Good Bit

1. Lay the pastry out into your tin and prick the bottom with a fork then spread a good amount of jam over the bottom. Pre heat your oven too 200c 400f gas 6. Melt the butter in a pan then let it cool a little.
2. Whisk together the eggs and sugar until it resembles a mousse and holds soft peaks for about 5 seconds, whisk in the butter, almond essence and then gently fold in the ground almonds. Pour this into your now lined cake tin and place in the oven for 15 minutes then reduce the heat too 180c 350f gas 4 and cook for another 40-45 minutes.
3. Remove from the oven when golden and allow to cool for 15 minutes or so then dust with icing sugar and serve. (serve with a drizzle of cream for decadence)
   

Choc Tipped Biscuits

Ingredients
115g Butter
3 Tablespoons Icing Sugar (sifted)
150g Plain Flour
Vanilla Essence
75g Chocolate (broken into small pieces)

Equipment
1 Sieve
1 Mixing Bowl
1 Wooden Spoon
1 Baking Tray
1 Piping Bag with Large Star Nozzle (optional)
1 Wire Rack
1 Baking Tray
1 Pan (1/2 filled with water with a glass bowl inside to melt the chocolate)

The Good Bit

1. Pre heat your oven too 180c 350f gas 4. Mix the butter and sugar together in the bowl until soft and then mix in the flour and a few drops of vanilla essence. Pipe onto the baking tray, you should get about 10x5 inch biscuits. Cook for 15-20 minutes until golden
2. Allow the biscuits to cool slightly before moving them onto the wire rack, Melt the chocolate in a bowl that is being warmed gently in a pan of hot water, stir the chocolate until it is a thick creamy consistency then remove from the heat. Dip both ends of your biscuits into the chocolate then set back on the wire rack to set.
   

Lemon Slices

Ingredients
250g Butter
250g Plain Flour (sieved)
175g Caster Sugar
75g Icing Sugar
4 Eggs
1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
6 Tablespoons Lemon Juice
1 Lemon (zested)

Equipment
2 Mixing Bowls
1 12x9inch Baking Tin (greased)
1 Metal Spoon
1 Fork
1 Sieve
1 Zester

The Good Bit

1. Cream the butter, 2/3rds of the icing sugar in the vanilla extract together with a fork in one of your bowls until it is light and fluffy, then fold the flour into the mixture a little at a time, spread this mixture in your baking tin and bake for 20 minutes in a pre heated oven at 190c 375f or gas 5.
2. In the other bowl, stir with the metal spoon the eggs, sugar, lemon juice and zest, DO NOT BEAT TOGETHER, pour this mixture over your baked pastry and stick it back in the oven for 20 minutes.
3. Remove from the oven and sift the remaining icing sugar over the top. Cut into slices and serve.
   

Makes 36ish (or just 1 big one if you are me!!)

Champagne Sorbet

Ingredients
600ml Champagne (or sparkling white wine, I'm not a big fan of champagne)
300g Sugar
250ml Water
3 Tablespoons Lemon Juice
2 Egg whites
4 Tablespoons Icing Sugar

Equipment
1 Sauce Pan
1 Large Freezer Proof Box
1 Wooden Spoon
1 Metal Spoon
1 Fork
1 Mixing Bowl
1 Balloon Whisk

The Good Bit

1. Heat the water in the pan and add the sugar until it's all dissolved, bring to the boil and leave for 5 minutes (keep an eye on it here, you want the solution to thicken but NOT brown) Allow it to cool then stir in 350ml of the champagne and the lemon juice.
2. Pour into your freezer proof box and freeze until mushy (about an hour) then take out and beat well with a fork for 2 minutes, then every half hour for the next 2 hours you'll have to repeat this process.
3. On your last beating, whisk the egg whites up until they form stiff peaks, then gradually beat in the icing sugar, give the sorbet a really good beating this time then gently fold in the egg.
4. 30 minutes before serving (just before you serve your first course) take from the freezer and place in the fridge to soften, then as you serve divide the remaining champagne between each serving.
   

Serves 8

Yule Log

Ingredients
3 Eggs
75g Caster Sugar
75g Plain Flour
1 Tablespoon Hot Water
1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
Icing Sugar
175g Sugar
125ml Water
6 Egg Yolks
375g Unsalted Butter (softened)
250g Plain Dark Chocolate (melted and cooled)

Equipment
2 Large Bowls
1 Whisk
1 Spatula
1 13x9inch Swiss Roll Tin (greased)
Grease Proof Paper
1 Sauce Pan
1 Wooden Spoon
1 Balloon Whisk

The Good Bit

1. Pre heat your oven too 220c 425f gas 7. Place the 3 eggs in the mixing bowl and drop in the caster sugar, whisk together until it is thick and fluffy, now with a spatula or fork fold in the flour, vanilla and hot water, be gentle but mix it well, then pour the mixture into the Swiss roll tin and bake for 10 minutes until it is golden.
2. Tip the cake out onto some sugared grease proof paper, trim off any burnt and crispy edges then wrap in the paper and leave to cool.
3. In the sauce pan heat up the sugar and water until all the sugar has dissolved, bring it to the boil and heat up until it reaches 110c without stirring.
4. With the balloon whisk, whisk the egg yolks and then slowly pour on the sugar solution, whisking all the time, keep whisking until the mixture is thick and cool, then whisk in the butter and finally FOLD in the chocolate with a fork or spatula.
5. Unwrap your cake and cover with half the chocolate sauce mix, then place on whatever you are serving the cake on, cut off 1 end at a diagonal and then attach that piece back onto the top of the log to make it look like a branch (the topping will help it stick) cover with the rest of the chocolate sauce, then with a fork scrape lines along it to make it look real then chill until firm (a good couple of hours or over night, which is why I'm doing the recipe today on Christmas eve, so you can do this and mince pies!!)
6. When you are ready to serve, dust with icing sugar and enjoy. MERRY CHRISTMAS...

Something Fruity For The Weekend

Ingredients
250g Mixed Fruit (strawberries, apples, mango, whatever takes your fancy, if you have no time to prepare, shops do frozen bags of mixed summer fruit)
1 Tablespoon Caster Sugar
White Rum
50g Amaretti or Almond Macaroons (any biscuit will do though)
100g Caster Sugar
1 Lemon (zested and juiced)
250g Carton Mascarpone Cheese
2 Tablespoons Icing Sugar

Equipment
1 Zester/Juicer
1 Small Pan
2 Small Mixing Bowls
1 Wooden Spoon

The Good Bit

1. Put the fruit, 1 tablespoon caster sugar and 2 tablespoons of rum in the bowl and mix well and leave whilst you do the next bit.
2. Heat 100g caster sugar in the frying pan along with the lemon juice and a splash of water, keep stirring until the sugar dissolves then heat rapidly without stirring until it turns golden.
3. Whilst that is boiling rapidly, mix the mascarpone with 2 tablespoons of rum, the icing sugar and lemon zest.
4. now fill the bottom of 4 dishes with the biscuits, spoon over the fruit, then top with the cream and finally drizzle over the caramel sauce, allow this to set for a minute then serve.

Serves 4

Panettone Surprise

Ingredients
4 Slices Panettone (or any thick cake, like madeira or treacle)
4 Peaches Halved and Stoned (or indeed any fruit with a fairly high sugar content, apple/pineapple work just as well)
Clotted Cream
Cinnamon
Icing Sugar

Equipment
1 Griddle Pan (a frying pan will do)
1 Dessert Spoon

The Good Bit

1. Fry the peaches on each side until slightly burnt, this draws the sugar out and caramelises it, takes about 5 minutes.
2. Under a grill, toast the panettone for 1-2 minutes on each side until golden, do this whatever cake you use, treacle cake is lovely heated in this way.
3. Serve a slice of cake onto each plate, top with the fruit then dust over with the cinnamon, then dollop on the clotted cream (or whipped cream if you have to) and dust again with the icing sugar.
   

Serves 4

Meringue Magic

Ingredients
1 Box Meringue nest (usually come in sixes, some poor sod is gonna have to have two!! Chefs Bonus)
1 250g Tub Mascarpone Cheese
150ml Single Cream
1 Tablespoon Icing Sugar
Fruit of Your Choice (hardish fruit is better for cutting, strawberries work well as do peaches, it's up to you, as little or as much as you like, less makes it easier to decorate, say 2 strawberries each)
1 Bottle Toffee Sauce (or chocolate)
1 Bag Chopped Mixed Nuts (check nobody has a nut allergy, smack em if they have!!)

Equipment
1 Mixing Bowl
1 Fork
1 Spoon
1 Knife
1 Chopping Board
Imagination.

The Good Bit

1. This takes seconds but looks amazing!! mix the mascarpone with cream and icing sugar in a bowl, that's the hard bit done!
2. Slice the fruit however you like (strawberries 1/2 or 1/4 them, peaches cut into slices so 1 peach could do all four), fill 4 of the meringue nests with a good scoop of the cream, decorate however you like with the fruit.
3. Sprinkle over some of the chopped mixed nuts, then do something arty with the toffee sauce, serve and enjoy, if you are the chef there are 2 nests left over, a sneaky one for you and 1 for someone special!

Serves 4