4 MINUTE PIZZAS ON MY CHIMINEA. HAVE I FINALLY CRACKED IT?

I've done away with the top 'mini-oven' - and I'm cooking my pizzas BBQ style!

As regular readers will know, I've been making pizzas, and tweaking my methods, ever since I bought my chiminea a few years ago.

Here are some previous posts on the subject.

April this year.

August 2010 when I first acquired my new toy.

And there's a few more in between, links in those posts.

So to today!

VEGAN COFFEE MORNING FARE!

This was what I was left with: some GF carrot cake, couple of marzipan and apple tartlets, 2 Danish pastries, 2 Bialys  and some Pane al cioccolato

Every month or so, my friends and I hold a coffee morning - and this week it was my turn to play host.

I always do a bit of experimenting on these occasions, push the boat out a bit, and use the opportunity - I'll be honest - to show off a bit.

So the evening before, I set to and made a rich chocolate loaf,

following this recipe, followed by a gluten-free carrot cake.

I had intended to make a coconut cream topping on the following morning - but I ran out of time.

Although I did allow myself a couple of hours in which to do a bit of experimenting, making Danish pastries (using Pure soya spread), 

Bialys (bread shots) filled with marzipan and mincemeat or marzipan, dates and chocolate, and marzipan and apple tartlets.

The four Bialys on the left were filled with marzipan and mincemeat - the other four have marzipan, followed by chopped dates and topped with half a square of dark chocolate

All these were made from 400g white flour, plus 3 dessertspoons sugar, 15g of yeast and 240g water - in other words, a simple sweetened bread dough.

PANE AL CIOCCOLATO (Italian chocolate bread)

Tuesday 16th September 2014

And here's the pic

Monday 15th September 2014

Making one of these for my coffee morning tomorrow.

Ingredients:

200g strong flour (1/3rd wholemeal)

15g cocoa powder (about a dessertspoon and a half)

2 dessertspoons sugar

50g dates - chopped into quarters

60g dark chocolate - chopped roughly

25g walnuts - chopped into quarters

25g flaked almonds

100g sultanas - soaked for 30 minutes in hot water - use the water for the yeast liquid, but make sure it has cooled sufficiently

100ml yeast liquid made with 20g fresh yeast and 80g of the soaking water

50g olive oil (I used Lidl's Extra Virgin, which is all we have - but any olive oil is fine)

VEGAN CARROT CAKE

Monday 15th September 2014
Made a gluten-free version of this tonight, for tomorrow's coffee morning. No walnuts so I replaced them with  flaked almonds.

This time I baked it in the microwave! 

2 reasons for this:
1. Six minutes in there as against 30+ mins in an oven at 180C - talk about saving the planet!
2. And it rises about 25% more in the microwave than it does in the oven.

Also, if you're in a hurry, the microwave wins hands down!

I shall attempt to make a coconut cream topping for it in the morning.

[Pics to come]
31st August 2012

Ingredients:

165g s/r flour

200g sugar

1 tsp ground cinnamon

½ tsp ground cloves

½ tsp ground ginger

80g grated carrots

70g chopped walnuts
80g vegetable oil
220ml water

Method:

•       Preheat the oven to 180C

•       Measure the flour, sugar, spices,carrot and walnuts - stir to distribute 

•       Add the oil and water to the mix and stir – initially with a large spoon or spatula, then with a whisk

•       Pour in to an oiled and lined 20cm (8” inch) baking tin or cake tin

•       Put in the oven and cook for between 35-40 minutes, until a skewer comes out clean

•       Leave on a cooling rack in the tin for ten minutes

•       Turn out on to the cooling tray

The only way I’ve found not to gorge on this cake is to, as soon as possible, cut it into, say, 50g pieces, then put them in the freezer. This way I can allow myself one piece per day.

Variation: For a gluten free version of this, simply use Dove’s gluten free flour in place of the flour

BREADMAKING AT HADSPEN VH, 2014

Breadmaking made easy workshop, 10.00am - 4.00pm

28^th Sept and 5^th October at Hadspen Village Hall

Here's where I shall post everything about these two workshops - the planning, the breadmaking, the pics.

And here's the previous post about breadmaking at Hadspen.