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YOGURT COVERED RAISINS: Dressed to impress.

I'm back - feeling relaxed and rejuvenated - and ready to commence the final stage.

The raisins
250g raisins
50g whole hazelnuts
Place raisins in a steamer over boiling water, without touching the water. Steam with lid on for 5 minutes.

Stir in raisins and hazelnuts to the yogurt mixture gently. Drop by teaspoonful onto wax paper or a greaseproof sheet. Let them dry, uncovered for 4 hours or overnight.


A rather glorified way of frosting a few raisins, but an fun experiment none the less. And if it weans me off cakes, then the toil will have been worth the trouble.

YOGURT COVERED RAISINS: PART TWO

YOGURT CREAM CHEESE STAGE TWO:

The drained yogurt (no way of making it sound better, really) is now ready for the mixing stage.

Yogurt Cream Cheese
20g butter
500 g icing sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract

Combine Yogurt Cream Cheese and butter in heavy bottom saucepan. Stir over low heat until butter is melted, cheese is soft and the mixture is well combined. Transfer to mixing large bowl Add the icing sugar, 100g at a time, until frosting is thick and creamy but not dry. Add vanilla extract.

DIPPING POSTPONED UNTIL SUNDAY. MEANWHILE I'M OFF FOR A MINI WEEKEND SCAMPER. THAT'S THE BEAUTY OF BACTERIA. IT CAN WAIT...

LET THEM not EAT CAKE.

Ironic that the last blog is about cakes, isn't it? When, just two days ago, I gave up everything to do with them.

Usually I don’t go near tying myself to such a binding promise for 40 whole days and 40 whole nights, but this year I have. And the pain has begun.

No cakes. No flapjacks. No biscuits. Nothing that looks like something that you might eat when you aren’t hungry, but do because it just looks SO GOOD.

So this week, I thought I’d help myself out. My rumbling pudding stomach, for the fourth time today, made me think...What alternatives are there to cake that can still satisfy my greed?

I've searched high and low and found a recipe that I could make at home, and eat out.

Yogurt covered nuts and raisins.

YUM! The perfect little morsels to take to the library, discretely nibble, and ease the void...

This recipe is slightly long-winded - a massive 2 day affair. So, I'm going to split the blog in two.

Today I am making the

Yogurt Cream Cheese

500g natural yogurt

1 muslin cloth

1 piece strong string (to reach the cabinet from the kitchen side)

1 bowl

Pour the yogurt into the muslin cloth/cheesecloth and tie at top with string. Hang the string from a cabinet over a bowl.

Now sleep on it.

Let the yogurt drain overnight so that all of the liquid has dripped into the bowl. Whey!!

12 hours later.

After drainage, hold the cheesecloth and very gently squeeze any remaining moisture out of the cheese. Empty the whey from the bowl and let stand another 8 hours. Place the cheese in a clean container. The Yogurt Cream Cheese is now ready to use.

See you tomorrow for some damn good yogurt dipping!

This is not just any chocolate cake...

One always wonders whether it is the husky female voice on the Marks & Spencer advert that makes us want to reach out and demolish the gooey, steaming fondant on the television screen, or whether it is the longing for chocolate that is so irresistible, making us flash back to the last time we indulged in such a dreamy dessert...

It seems that everyone likes chocolate - some once in a while, some very often and many of us, A LOT. That is why I have chosen a pudding of the chocolate variety to round off my Last Supper, that hopefully will suit all creatures: great and small.

Oui. C'est un fondant au chocolat. Or chocolate fondant. Or hot chocolate sponge pudding with unbearably mouth-watering molten centre.

I had never made one of these before this blog - having heard how wrong they can go nerved me a little - but, as practice makes perfect, I thought it was time to dip my toe into the frozen lake.

Like all the most reputable chefs say, make a spare one - and good thing I did:


This recipe is adapted from Waitrose Chocolate Fondant Pudding Recipe.

INGREDIENTS:
SERVES 4.
125g butter, plus extra for greasing
25g plain flour , plus extra for dusting (or use cocoa powder)
200g good-quality dark chocolate, chopped
2 eggs, plus 2 yolks
100g caster sugar

Preheat the oven to 180°C, gas mark 4. Evenly brush individual metal pudding moulds (175ml) (I actually use the silicon non-stick ones which worked well) with butter. Evenly coat the buttered moulds with flour or cocoa powder, tapping off any excess. Transfer the prepared moulds to a baking sheet.

Place the chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of lightly simmering water - do not let the bowl touch the surface of the water. Once melted, stir until smooth. Then, take the bowl off the pan and allow the chocolate to cool slightly.

Crack the eggs with the sugar into a large mixing bowl. Using an electric whisk, beat on high for a few minutes or until very thick, pale and fluffy. Fold the cooled chocolate mixture into the eggs and sugar. Sift in the flour and gently fold it in.

Divide the mixture equally between the prepared pudding moulds. Place in the oven for 14-16 minutes. Remove from the oven and set aside for 2 minutes. Using a tea towel, invert onto plates and carefully remove the moulds.

Serve immediately with yogurt or a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Head straight for the centre and take in the ooze - try not to faint.

As it is coming up to Valentine's day, why not split the recipe for two people - or perhaps just one to share? Although I don't know why you would...