Make it Monday - David's Eton Mess

 

 

David (7) likes to help out in the kitchen. He especially loves to help out if there are puddings or cakes involved!

 

Yesterday he wanted to help me make the pudding for our Sunday lunch and since it was such an easy pudding he was able to do it all himself.

 

Eton Mess is quite a popular dessert but this is our own version of it and I thought I would share it, although it's hardly a recipe. All you have to do is mix all of the ingredients together and serve! Don't make it more than a few hours before serving though as you don't want it to lose it's crunch.

 

The following recipe will feed about 4 - we made double - and quantities are only a rough guideline. Add more or less, depending on what you have and what you like.

 

Mix together:

300ml cream, softly whipped (not too thick or it's not a good texture with everything mixed in)

A punnet of fresh strawberries, halved or quartered (raspberries are equally yummy in this, or even both!)

About 100g mini marshmallows

Half a share sized packet of maltesers (whole, not crushed)

About 6 meringues, crushed.

 

After mixing everything together and sharing between the dishes, David topped each dish with a little more crushed meringue and some crumbled Cadburys Flake.

 

And there you have it, a super easy pudding for a summer's day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Weekend fun...

We didn't do anything special this weekend, but I thought I would share with you a few snapshots, taken on my phone, of a typical weekend in the housefulofboys.

You may notice that there seem to be quite a few food shots in there.

You may, or may not, find that surprising :0)

Friday night seemed a bit chilly, so I thought it was the perfect excuse to experiment with a new cosy pudding. Choc chip & banana, bread and butter pudding, only made with choc chip brioche rolls and not bread and butter. It was divine!

We usually have pancakes on Saturday morning, but on Friday I was out with a friend for brunch and we had the most delicious french toast, bacon and syrup. So, on Saturday morning I decided to try and make the same. (Our egg free boys had normal toast rather than the french toast.)

I need to feed them well on a Saturday morning you see, because the older three boys (and coach daddy) have shinty training later on in the morning.

While we watched the older boys, Alasdair and I had fun running around the park, pretending to be baddies and goodies.

Later on in the day the boys earned some pocket money by giving the car a well needed clean, both inside and out.

Sunday lunch is always a traditional roast in our house. Beef, chicken or ham. This week, I bought beef brisket and let it cook in the slow cooker overnight. By the time we ate, at about 2pm, it had been cooking for about 15 hours and was sooo tender. Although it wasn't technically roast beef, I still had to make yorkshire puddings to go with it!

Sunday lunch pudding might look a bit on the healthy side, but don't worry, there was a jug of butterscotch sauce to pour over the fruit!

After lunch we made life-sized soldiers by drawing round the boys and then drew on the Armour of God. They aren't finished yet, but are looking good so far.

Then in the evening, in order to compensate for all our treats, we cycled to and from church. 2.5 miles each way, if you're wondering. We are trying to cycle as much as we can before the weather gets too cold!

As are my brother and his family. We made up quite the gang as we all cycled off from church together, 4 adults, 6 boys all on bikes and one boy in a trailer! We went part of the way together and then had to head in different directions. They don't have quite such a steep hill to climb on the way back as we do either! 

And that was our weekend!

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Recipe of the Week - Berry Easy Cheesecake

OK, firstly, sorry about the name.

Well, no, actually, I quite like it.

After last week's picture of my cheesecake in my 'Things I'm loving' post, and all the comments it received, I thought it only fair to share the recipe with all my bloggy friends.

Especially since most of you live too far away for me to invite you round for a slice of the real thing.

This cheesecake is quite a soft set, so although you can make it in a spring-form tin and take the sides off, it won't be as firm as a baked cheesecake, or one that has gelatine in it.

You can use any berry you like. The quantity of berries doesn't have to be exact either. So far I have tried this with just blackberries, just raspberries, and a whole mixture of berries. Each time was delicious!

I've even done my research this week and checked what the American names for the ingredients are too! I've made the assumption (hopefully not wrongly) that in Australia and NZ there surely can't be a third name for these things, and that you guys either use the UK or US name! Do tell me if I'm wrong though!

You will need:

for the base:

8oz digestives (Graham crackers), crushed

3oz melted butter

~Nice and easy, just bash the biscuits to pieces then mix with the melted butter before spreading out and pressing down in your chosen dish, which could be a pie dish or a spring-form tin.

~Chill while you make the filling.

for the filling:

1 tin Nestles condensed milk (397g size, or whatever is the closest equivalent where you live!)

500g mascarpone cheese

the juice of 2 lemons

around about 500g berries of your choice

~Beat the condensed milk with the mascarpone until it is smooth then mix in the lemon juice.

~Now add the berries and mix them in well, leaving some to decorate the top, if you want.

~Spread over the top of the base and chill for at least 2-3 hours. Overnight is best though, if you can.

That's it!

Told you it was berry easy!

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Recipe of the Week - Butterscotch Sauce

Most of the baking I do caters for the allergy boys too, but there are a couple of things that are just so much better in the full allergy-packed version and so I make two batches.

That's not to say that the boys don't enjoy their allergy free version. Their taste buds are a little different, in that they have never tasted the 'normal' version.

Then there are those things (like pastry) that I haven't quite mastered in a gluten free version, or tray bakes that can't be adapted and so I only make the one milky version.

This week's recipe falls into the first category, I make two batches, but unless you are on a Dairy-free diet I would not recommend making this with anything but the 'normal' ingredients. Don't even be tempted to use some healthy margarine instead of the butter. You need the butter to give it that silky richness. Mmm, I'm getting hungry just thinking about this sauce!

You will need:

75g  butter

100g light brown sugar

 4 tbsp white sugar

 5 tbsp golden syrup

250ml cream

(to make the dairy free version, then obviously substitute dairy free margarine and soya/rice cream.

~Melt the butter, sugars and syrup in a pan over a low heat. 

~Once the sugar has dissolved, bring it to a gentle simmer and simmer for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. 

~Take off the heat and add the cream. Stir until it's well mixed in.

You can serve this hot or cold.

We like it hot (or cold, actually) with a quality vanilla ice cream, or to liven up a fruit salad, or with our pancakes. I'm sure the options are endless!

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