Food Finds

This section consists of a combination of our favorite recipes from renowned chefs and products we've discovered.

Burgers of Marlow

I've been meaning to upload this post for ages but every time I try to I just can't bring myself to wax lyrical about chocolate ganache cake. It's difficult to do food posts without getting hungry, but add some pictures worthy of giving you diabetes just by looking at them and you can see my struggle. My cereal bar and cup of tea seems so inadequate in comparison- it takes serious strength not to dash straight to the co-op and buy the nearest celebration cake.
Anyway, onto the actual relevant content. For anyone that doesn't know Burgers of Marlow is an adorable little artisan bakery sitting just at the edge of town. Go inside and it's like a little chocolate dolls house. There's all sorts of pastries and delectables to have with your coffee, plus an entire other counter for handmade individual chocolates. After taking an age to choose and eventually engaging the Mother to go in and choose something random for me when I'd still failed to make a decision after 10 minutes and 2 individual trips to scrutinise the counter, I ended up with the the chocolate ganache cake. And wow, was it worth breaking my post-holiday diet for! There was a part of me that had thought I'll be good and just get a little coffee, but with the Mother offering to pay and pointing out that technically I'd ruined my diet a few days ago anyway, that was all the justification I needed. It had The 4 Gs which make the perfect chocolate cake: gooeyiness, glossiness and goddam goodness!
I did also take home a slice of the apple and walnut cake for my Dad, and obviously had to sample a little mouthful too. I can confirm that also makes an excellent choice!

Millionaire Shortbread 

This recipe is taken from "1001 Cupcakes, Cookies & other tempting treats" by Susanna Tee. We've been baking it for years now and every time the Twin visits me at Uni my house-mates put in an order for several boxes of these decadent treats. It's got to the point now that my house-mate's boyfriend magically appears at the house a few minutes after the Twin ever arrives, and a few minutes later he's already devoured about 3!
Note: although in the book it says makes 12 we've found it makes more like 20, depending on how big you want your shortbread.  We have also doubled the amounts for the shortbread base, otherwise the caramel can feel very thick in comparison.

Millionaire's Shortbread

Ingredients (Makes 12)

Shortbread:

• 230g butter
• 350g plain flour 
• 110g caster sugar 

Filling and topping:

• 175g butter
• 115g caster sugar 
• 3 tbsp golden syrup 
• 400g condensed milk 
• 200g plain chocolate/ dark cooking chocolate - the darker you can find the better! 

Method:

• Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Line a square 9-inch baking tin with baking paper, using butter to stick it if necessary. 
• Sieve the flour then place along with the butter and sugar into a food processor and mix until everything is bound together and you have a smooth dough. Press the dough mixture into the tin and smooth the top. Bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes until golden brown.
• Remove and leave to cool. 
• Whilst the shortbread is cooling you can get started on the caramel filling. Place the butter, sugar, golden syrup and condensed milk into a saucepan and heat gently until the sugar has dissolved. Once the sugar is dissolved bring to the boil then reduce the heat and simmer for about 10 minutes, stirring the whole time. The mixture should become thick and a deep golden brown colour which indicates it is ready. If the mixture is still quite thin after 10 minutes of simmering keep stirring and simmering for another 5 minutes or so. 
• Pour over the shortbread base and chill in the fridge overnight. 
• To make the chocolate topping, break up the chocolate into chunks and place in a heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water. Make sure the water in the pan is not too high- it should not touch the bowl at all. 2cm of water in the bottom of the pan will be sufficient. Stir the chocolate as it melts, taking the bowl off the pan and away from the heat when the chocolate is about 75% melted. Keep stirring and allow the heat of the chocolate to melt the remaining chunks. This technique should prevent the chocolate from burning.
• Allow to cool for a couple of minutes then spread over the caramel, then chill for a few hours. 
• Remove the millionaire's shortbread from the tin and cut into chunks. 

Taste of Korea 

Food Finds Being the master of persuasion that I am, when I found out that my Dad was able to get his mitts on VIP tickets to the Taste of London event back in June, I began a small-scale campaign to get him to take me. After a bit of email harassment the operation was accomplished. For the uninitiated, Taste of London is a pure foodie festival. It consists of row after row of street-market style stalls, well known food brands, and pop-up 'restaurant' stalls serving up a miniature tasting portion of their signature dishes. Not to mention the champagne tasting bars and cider stalls which rather took my fancy..
Anyway, the best part of the event is the fact that there are tasters on offer about every 5 paces- go with a VERY empty stomach! One of the dishes I sampled consisted of several meats marinaded in a delicious Korean sauce, pictured below. It's a soy sauce based marinade packing extra Asian punch and the added spiciness of chili seeds. Unfortunately I have no idea what the name of the stall selling it was, so it seems I will only ever be left to enjoy the sole bottle I purchased. The marinade can be used on a whole range of meats, but I served it up with pork loin steaks, butternut squash chips and long-stem broccoli. Ideally the meat should be left to marinade for a good 24 hours but if you're lacking time 5-6 hours is sufficient for the meat to absorb the flavours.