by Martin -

Vanilla Custard

This is a classic basic recipe for british custard. Some recipes do not call for thickening agent but this one is fool proof by using cornstarch. I personally do not like to struggle in the kitchen, so this makes making a custard so much easier than just expecting the eggs to thicken your custard. If you add even more cornstarch than mentioned in the recipe below, you can use the cream to fill cakes or donuts. However the basic recipe is quite runny and I love to use it with ice cream and pour over desserts and cakes of all kinds.

Ingredients (1 small jug)

  • 2 egg yolks
  • 50 g caster sugar
  • 20 g cornstarch
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla paste
  • 500 ml milk

Preparation

Bring the milk slightly below boiling point in small pot. Small bubbles should appear at the edges of the pot. In the mean time, mix the egg yolks with sugar in a bowl. Once the yolks are mixed, add the warm milk to the mixture in very small batches. If you rush this phase, the eggs may curdle, so take your time. Mix with a wire whisk after each addition until you use up all the milk.

Return the mixture to the pot. Start mixing over medium-high heat. The mixture should start thickening within couple of minutes. The custard can be used immediately, but we usually let it cool down to room temperature before serving. It can also be used straight from the fridge for couple of days.

We have used this custard also in our previous recipe for rhubarb crumble and we have loved this combination! Check the video below for step by step instructions. Please consider subscribing to our Youtube channel. Thank you!

by Martin -

Rhubarb Crumble

Rhubarb season is here! I love spring. It’s 20 degrees Celsius outside and you can see how everything starts to grow in the garden. I can already feel myself munching on first peppers or homegrown watermelons. But then the reality sinks in. It’s April and I will not taste my own peppers for at least two more months! Fortunately we have a hero to save the day. Rhubarb. Even though it’s technically a vegetable, in my mind it’s first fruit of the year that I can taste from my own production. Hooray!

Ingredients (1 small tray)

  • 800 g rhubarb
  • 160 g caster sugar
  • 80 g brown sugar
  • 200 g all-purpose flour
  • 120 g butter

Preparation

Preheat the oven to 180 °C. Rinse the rhubarb and chop into thumb sized pieces. Add the rhubarb to small baking dish, sprinkle with caster sugar and bake for 15 minutes.

While the rhubarb is being softened, we can go ahead and prepare the crumble topping. Add cubed cold butter to flour and rub between your fingertips. Add brown sugar and mix between fingers couple more times.

After 15 minutes in the oven, the rhubarb should be slightly softer and should have released some juice. Take the baking dish from the oven, sprinkle with topping and return to oven for about 45 more minutes or until golden. Every oven is different, so watch the crumble closely.

Once the crumble is nice and golden, take it out of the oven and let it cool. The crumble is best served at room temperature (or even straight from a fridge) with ice cream, whipped cream or vanilla custard. Recipe for our homemade custard is coming up next on the blog. The crumble is great even the second day and lasts up to three days in a fridge easily.

The whole process can be seen in video below. We have included a couple of shots from our humble garden. If you like the content. Please consider subscribing to our Youtube channel and giving us a like. Thank you!

by Martin -

Creamy Spinach Soup

Easter is here and our garden is coming alive. We usually eat our first spinach leaves raw, but there’s more spinach every day. I can’t think of a recipe which would be a better celebration of spring than this spinach soup. It’s so green, fresh and vibrant. For those who grow some of their food, this is an ideal dish. Basically all you need to buy is cream. But don’t feel bad if you need to shop for the ingredients. They are in season right now!

Ingredients (2 servings)

  • 20 g butter
  • 1 clove of garlic
  • 2-3 spring onions
  • 1 potato
  • 500 ml stock (vegetable or chicken)
  • 250 g spinach
  • 200 ml cream (around 12% fat)
  • salt and pepper to taste

Preparation

Melt the butter in a pot over medium heat. Add chopped garlic and spring onion. Let soften and make sure the garlic does not burn. It could turn bitter. Add chopped or grated potato and stock. I suggest to use homemade stock. Boil for about 15 minutes until the potatoes get soft. Add roughly chopped spinach and boil for 10 more minutes.

Once spinach is soft, blend with immersion blender. You can pass the soup through a sieve at this point, but this is optional. Add cream and salt and pepper to taste. You can heat the soup up at this point, but do not bring to boil again. You can serve the soup with croutons. We’ve served it with mustard flowers.

The whole process can be seen in video below. We have included a couple of shots from our humble garden. If you like the content. Please consider subscribing to our Youtube channel. Thank you!

by Martin -

Chocolate & Walnut Cookies

When I started writing down text for this recipe, I was wondering how am I going to call it. I was thinking in superlatives. Best, quick to make, tasty, simple. I really hate clickbait-y names though.

Nevertheless. I think once you try this very basic recipe, you won’t look back. Our household of two does not eat a lot of sweets. But the whole batch only lasted us for three days. However you can store them for much longer than that, if your will is stronger than ours.

Ingredients (16 cookies)

  • 100 g butter
  • 200 g caster sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1 teaspon vanilla paste or extract
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 generous pinch of salt
  • 200 g all-purpose flour
  • 100 g chopped chocolate or chocolate chips
  • 100 g chopped walnuts

Preparation

The cookies are going to taste the best when you get your hands dirty. When you use your hands, your dough will be nice and soft to the touch. First mix butter and sugar. Once you create this paste, add your egg, vanilla and generous pinch of salt. Mix well. Add in chopped chocolate and walnuts. At this stage your dough will be extremely sticky, but your ingredients evenly distributed. Add flour and baking soda as your final ingredients. Form a dough ball.

Roll the dough into a giant sausage and use knife to create around 16 pieces of dough. In my case it turned out to be 18. Or 9 per batch. Form each piece into a ball, press in with your hand and then transfer onto cookie sheet. Make sure to leave plenty of space between individual cookies, Otherwise your cookies may stick together and you will endup with one giant cookie mess. Bake the cookies for around 12 to 15 minutes at 180° C (350° F).

Picture is worth a thousand words. So I suggest to watch a video below. If you liked the video, please consider giving us a thumbs up, comment or a Subscribe on Youtube. It helps us a LOT!

by Martin -

Simple no-bake cheesecake with berries

This recipe is special for me for two reasons. First of all it’s a classic that I can prepare quickly one day before an event or a party. Second, the cheesecake is always a hit and it’s ready in minutes. On top of that, you can improvise and use topping of your choice (as long as you let it cool to room temperature).

This is also a first recipe for me, where we made a youtube video for you. Please let me know if you like it!

Ingredients

  • 150 g digestive biscuits
  • 80 g butter
  • 150 g whipping cream (at least 30% fat content)
  • pinch of salt
  • 600 g cream cheese (for example Philadelphia)
  • 100 g icing sugar
  • 1 teaspoon lemon extract
  • 200 g berries (I had some leftover raspberries and blackberries from my garden)
  • 2 tablespoons of icing sugar or to taste

Preparation

Line your round cake tin with baking paper. I prefer to use a tin with removable bottom. The baking paper is there to prevent the cheesecake from sticking to the tin. Smash your digestive biscuits with a rolling pin or grind in a food processor. Mix with melted butter. Put the mix in the tin, firmly pack it in and then put in the fridge to chill for at least 30 minutes.

To make the cheesecake mix, first whip the cream to soft peaks with a pinch of salt. Then gradually mix in the cream cheese in batches. In the end mix in the lemon extract and sugar. Whip the whole mix until stiff peaks form. Look at the video for reference. Finally spread the cheesecake mix on top of the chilled base. Cover the cheesecake and return to fridge for at least one hour. Cheesecake can be served without topping at this point if needed.

Topping can be prepared a day ahead or just before serving. Just make sure to let the topping cool down to room temperature before pouring over the cheesecake. The topping for this particular recipe is a 50:50 mix of raspberries and blackberries. Mix the berries in a small pan with a couple tablespoons of water and let it come to boil. Once the fruit is soft, add about two tablespoons of icing sugar or to taste. Let the topping cool down to room temperature.

Once you are ready to serve, spread the topping over the cheesecake! Simple as that. If you liked this recipe, please give us a like and/or Subscribe to our Youtube channel. It helps us immensely.

Thank you.