Denise

I am a writer and a poet. I love to travel, and have lived in Belgium, Spain, Brazil, Chile and England. I love experiencing different cultures and their cuisine. I especially love Brazil, its culture and samba. And of course I love to bake!

The 91st Bake:Paul’s Ciabatta

I love Ciabatta but have never made it. I thought it would be a simple case of making bread, but his dough really was unique and different. It comes out so wet and gooey, it’s hard to believe it can turn into a loaf of crusty bread full of air holes! It’s New Year’s Eve, time to start thinking about New Year’s resolutions. And for me, it won’t be doing another baking challenge!!! With less than 30 recipes to go, I am starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel 🙂

Sir Andrew Motion an English poet and novelist who was Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom from 1999 to 2009 once said that what we very badly need to remember is that the things right under our noses are extraordinary, fascinating, irreplaceable, profound and just kind of marvelous.

Appreciating ourselves and our surroundings sounds like a fantastic way to bring in the new year. Trying something new is a good way to begin the new year too, like this ciabatta. So delicious to buy and eat but even funner to make, I have provided the link to the recipe below. I started by

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By Denise, ago

Chocolate Christmas Crunch

I made this last night. It took only 20 minutes and it’s delicious and healthy. If you are looking for a last minute present (homemade is always better you know, makes it look like you put in more effort!!) or just want another GF healthy treat for Christmas day, this is your answer. I got this idea from a video I watched on https://wickedwellbeing.com/ To make it all you do is

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By Denise, ago

The 90th Bake: The Tropical Manchester Tart

fresh and delicious

This one took a while, Luis’ Signature Bake.  I had to make the pastry first, then blind bake it, make the custard, double boil that, then pour it into the pastry case and bake!!!!  That sounded quick, it wasn’t.  It was a delicious bake though filled with yummy things like rum and grated lime zest, grated orange zest and pureed mango!  Mmmmmm delicious and fresh. It would make a great Christmas dessert. And here’s the recipe https://www.bbc.com/food/recipes/tropical_manchester_tart_55667

I was feeling bright and fresh as I got up to go to the last market of the year to sell my wares yesterday morning, until I smashed the car into the house backing out!  And I hadn’t even had any custard! That put me in a very upset and grumpy mood.  Then I heard on the radio about a woman coping with her 7 year old daughter diagnosed with leukemia and a woman slipped outside the market in front of me and had to be taken to hospital, and I thought, you know what, we’re lucky, it’s just a car.  There are people coping with a lot this Christmas.

By chance on the way home, I listened to the good old Band Aid track from 1984 organised by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure which was raising money for anti-famine efforts in Ethiopia. Great idea that was. Love that song. Have a listen 🙂 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bjQzJAKxTrE.

So for this bake, I made the pastry which involved adding butter to

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By Denise, ago

The 89th Bake: Paul’s Chocolate Volcanoes

delicious ooze with cream

It’s getting close to Christmas, only 7 days to go.  A bit frightening really with so much to do.  It’s a good time to put your feet up, take some time out for yourself if you can, take a bath, take a deep breath, take a walk, because all this stress isn’t good.  I like to try to do everything well in advance because I know just before the big day I’ll be making the dishes I’ve been assigned which this year are: trifle, cheese loghttps://thebakersdozenbakeoff.com/2018/11/21/cheese-log/ and cevichehttps://thebakersdozenbakeoff.com/2018/09/10/ceviche/ and be caught up in the mad rush.  Being organised hopefully will help but well rested too, hopefully. 
        Anyway this decadent little treat popped out at me from the page and not having any specific reason to make it didn’t stop me.  If you’ve never made a fondant, give it a go.  It’s fun though stressful waiting those 8 minutes for the puddings to cook and then pulling them out at just the right moment to get the gooey centre. Here is Paul’s recipe https://www.bbc.com/food/recipes/chocolate_volcanoes_37330

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By Denise, ago

The 88th Bake: Emergency Christmas Cakes

I made small ones to give away as gifts

If you haven’t already made your Christmas cake, don’t panic. It’s not too late.  If you’ve never tried making a Christmas cake, it’s never too late.  My cake https://thebakersdozenbakeoff.com/2018/11/10/mamas-christmas-cake/ is a fantastic recipe, very easy, pretty much no fail.  Give it a go.  The great thing about Christmas cake is it does get better with age but you can also eat it straight away.  This Emergency Christmas Cake was different as it used fruit mince and apples, so resulted in a much lighter but delicious cake, a bit like steamed pudding, YUM.  By the way here’s the link to the recipe book I am using if you want a great Christmas present https://www.amazon.com/Great-British-Bake-Book-Baking/dp/1849904839 As you can see, it has some fun, very successful recipes, well worth trying.  I have to shop differently this year for one of my daughters as she prefers op shop clothing and recycled ethical purchases.  Makes shopping for Christmas presents challenging that’s for sure but it does feel good to be contributing to a charity with your purchases as well as recycling and not adding to environmental waste. 

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By Denise, ago

The 87th Bake: Paul’s Chocolate & Cherry Loaf

It made a huge loaf 

How decadent is this, and so Christmasy.  Speaking of Christmas, I was at my annual Christmas writer’s lunch and returned to my parked car to find a parking ticket flapping on the windscreen.  I figured maybe it’d be for $12, as I had been 5 minutes late, but on closer inspection saw that it was for a whopping $200!! – expensive five minutes!  After driving around the neighbourhood to try and find the parking meter attendant to contest it, I realized the offense was for “no evidence of inspection” which I discovered later meant, No Warrant of Fitness, of which funnily enough I do have, a current one, that is!! Go figure!    

  • Good way to release stress!

Clearly the parking meter attendant was a bit trigger happy with their infringement notices.  I contested it of course.  It’s pending.

 The moral of the story is it’s Christmas time, we are all a bit frazzled, so let’s be nice to each other, please!  This of course has nothing to do with my Cherry and Chocolate Loaf except it is comfort food and a hot slice of this at least cheered me up.

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By Denise, ago

Christmas Mince Tarts

I make my own Christmas mince tarts each year, because homemade ones are so much better!!!  I have found the best sweet shortcrust pastry recipe in the world!!!! It’s from Annabel Langbein’s Simple Pleasures and it’s divine. https://www.annabel-langbein.com/recipes/festive-fruit-mince-tart/409/ I am giving you the recipe here now…so go to it, make your Read more…

By Denise, ago

The 85th Bake: Paul’s Roquefort & Walnut-Filled Loaf

 

Poet Laureate Selina Tusitala Marsh with students

It’s been a while since I made bread and this showstopper looks like a doozy.  That means “something outstanding or unique of its kind” btw. Old language but effective.  I recently went to a fundraising event with Victor Rodger, the playwright and scriptwriter as guest speaker, with the aim of promoting and supporting the Writers in Schools programme run by the New Zealand Book Council.  The objective is to get New Zealanders to read more and to spread the joy of reading and writing.  “Telling our stories enriches all of our lives,”  and as Victor said after reading his story, “that’s a piece that really resonates with the youth and I love that it does.”  It’s such important work promoting reading and writing, with so many stories to tell and so many stories locked away in words in books.  Our youth need to know the benefit of this easily accessible art form, and not have it lost to technology, Instagram and Netflix.  My daughter is currently reading and enjoying “One Hundred Years of Solitude” by Gabriel Garcia Marquez.  A hard read but undeniably funny.  Classics will never go away, but books have to be picked up to be enjoyed and that is what this program promotes and tries to facilitate.  Just like bread, reading takes time, but the whole process is enjoyable and the end result is well worth the effort.  Here’s the link to the book council if you are interested in following their programmes or supporting their efforts to inspire students to develop a love of reading and storytelling. http://www.bookcouncil.org.nz 

As for me, it’s back to the bread, which I have to say wasn’t uninspired by some of the food at this said event; devils on horseback (prunes with bacon on a toothpick!), and dates filled with blue cheese and wrapped in prosciutto, not to mention the ubiquitous and undeniably popular asparagus roll!!  Whoever came up with these classics was a genius.   My bake got underway with the purchase of copious quantities of blue cheese and walnuts, not a bad start as they are some of my favourite foods.  I measured out the white flour, the rye flour and

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By Denise, ago

Sweet potato and cheese muffins

These delicious muffins are from Jaime Oliver on Food TV which I watched while making my lemon and raspberry eclairs.  Delicious and healthy, he made them as breakfast muffins, but I think they would be great for any meal.  Sweet potato is full of Vitamin A and Vitamin B, “one of the most healthy veges on the planet.” I added mushrooms, courgette and onion and used cream cheese instead of ricotta as it was what I had in the fridge.  Here is his recipe : (more…)

By Denise, ago