The Bowring Christmas and a Chocolate Meringue Roulade

Christmas is officially on it’s way.  We’ve placed our final orders for turkeys at Finns and it’s all steam ahead.  This weekend we’ll be making over 100 pints of gravy for our customers and somewhere in the region of 1000 mini mince pies; those rolling pins will be on fire!  I always find the quantities quite staggering for such a small shop.  Over the Jubilee weekend my body weight in raw chicken rolled through the door to be ‘Coronated’.  That’s a whole lot of Coronation chicken.  The kitchen this week has smelt wonderful with wafts of orangey cranberry sauce and spiced mince pies.

Each family has it’s own routine at Christmas time.  I have a little brother called Tom Bomb (as aforementioned for his panacotta prowess).  Until now, thankfully, we’ve all thought that he still believes in Father Christmas, and therefore must go through the ritual of letters to the the man himself on Christmas eve.  I think (and hope) that even if he doesn’t, we still will. Rather quaintly we all sit around the kitchen table, writing our letters on air mail paper on Christmas eve.  Thank you so much for everything last year, I hope your journeying wasn’t too treacherous and Mother Claus is on good form.  This year, please may I have…..  (it’s important to be polite!) some knickers, some socks, a calendar, a tangerine, a diamond necklace (always good to be optimistic)……. We then move through to the sitting room where Dad reads each letter out loud before battling with the roaring fire to send them up the chimney.

We always leave a glass of sherry, a carrot or two for the reindeer and a mince pie by the fire.  The big man is always very courteous and we find ‘Thanks’ written in the soot on the hearth on Christmas morning.  However, he’s sometimes a bit naughty when he’s in a rush and leaves sooty boot marks on the carpet in the sitting room.

However much I love Christmas pudding, there are many that  abhor the stuff.  This week, I thought I’d give you the recipe for the wonderful chocolate and raspberry meringue roulade that we make at Finns.  Throughout the year it’s really popular but it comes into it’s own at Christmas time as an alternative to a Yule log.  It looks fabulous and is remarkably easy to make.

CHOCOLATE & RASPBERRY MERINGUE ROULADE
You can make this beauty a day ahead and keep it in the fridge.  This recipe is in the brilliant new Finns cook book by Julia Bannister.  Email mail@finnsofchelseagreen.com if you’d like to order a copy or would like more info.

YOU WILL NEED:

3 large egg whites
200g caster sugar
1tbsp cocoa powder
4 heaped tbsp icing sugar
250ml double cream
150g raspberries
100g dark chocolate

WHAT TO DO

1. Preheat the oven to 180C
2. Line a shallow 30cm x 20cm Swiss roll tin with aluminium foil and brush with vegetable oil
3. Whisk the egg whites with an electric whisk until stiff, then start to add the sugar (whilst still whisking) tbsp by tbsp until the meringue looks glossy and creamy
4. Fold in the cocoa powder and transfer to the lined tin.  Make sure that the meringue is pushed into the corners
5. Bake in the oven for 30 minutes and cool in the tin
6. Softly whip the cream with 1tbsp of icing sugar
7. Dust a large piece of greaseproof paper with the rest of the icing sugar and turn the cooled meringue upside down onto the icing sugar
8. Peel the aluminium foil from the bottom of the meringue, spread with the softly whipped cream and dot with 1/ the raspberries
9. Melt the chocolate in a bain marie or in the microwave and drizzle some over the cream and raspberries
10. Now you need to roll the roulade.  Use the greaseproof paper to hep you and don’t worry if the meringue cracks because it will.  Start from the longer edge and try and roll the first bit quite tightly, I find it easier to do it quickly!  Make sure you have plate ready to transfer the roulade to.
11. Decorate with the rest of the raspberries and drizzle the rest of the chocolate over the roulade.  Allow to cool and serve.

The Finns Christmas and Mel B’s Chocolate Brownies

It’s the end of term.  Finns is looking lovely and Christmassy; full to the gunnels with mince pies, cranberry sauce and bread sauce mix.  The customers are placing their orders for Christmas eve; a fully stuffed and ready for the oven turkey here,  goose fat roasted potatoes for 12 there.  Lots of cottage and fish pies for the freezer, gravy to go with the turkey, extra stuffing and of course lots of mini mince pies.

There is a frisson in the air that somehow makes the world panic at this time of year.  The fear in some people’s eyes whilst they’re Christmas shopping is quite a sight, it’s as if the world will end unless they get little Araminta’s specially requested sold out limited edition furby.  The fear is similar to that of some of my customers at the thought of actually having to cook their turkey even though it is fully prepared, stuffed, wrapped in bacon and handed to them in their own baking tray with clear instructions.  We even make them the gravy, cranberry sauce, bread sauce mix, ready cooked roast potatoes, maple glazed sprouts, carrot and parsnip puree and braised red cabbage.  As a very nice and very busy lady who orders from us every year said to me yesterday; it takes the stress out, she was anything but terrified!

I don’t quite know how my Stepmother used to do it; 7 children, at least 5 cousins, aunts and uncles, 2 sets of grandparents and the odd tag along for Christmas lunch.  It always seemed to run like clockwork and that wasn’t just Christmas lunch.  Throughout the whole of the Christmas holidays when all of my sisters and brothers and I were home from school, meals would be presented as if from nowhere, the fridge would always be full and she’d often have a batch of brownies to snack on or serve as a pudding.

This is the most brilliant brownie recipe ever.  It’s a little more cakey than a traditional brownie but severely chocolaty and EASY.  They’d work as a great homespun Christmas present.

MEL B’S CHOCOLATE BROWNIES

YOU WILL NEED:
A 12 x 9 inch rectangular baking tin
275g Stork soft margarine
375g caster sugar
4 large free range eggs
75g Bournville cocoa powder
100g self raising flour
100g plain chocolate chips

WHAT TO DO:

1. Preheat the oven to 180C and grease and line the baking tray with baking parchment
2. Put all of the ingredients into a bowl and beat together with a hand held whisk (or a wooden spoon if you’re feeling strong)
3. Turn the mixture into the tin and spread out into the corners
4. Bake in the oven for about 40-45 mins until crisp on top and a skewer comes out clean
5. Allow to cool in the tin and then cut into squares. They’ll keep for about a week in an airtight container

Home-Made Christmas Presents, Pink Grapefruit Marmalade for Pappy

My Grandfather is a creature of habit.  Every morning he is in the gym by 6:00am, home by 7:00am and ready for breakfast in his suit at 7:30am.  My Granny sets the table every morning with a tablecloth and proper napkins, the papers are strategically placed so that my Grandpa can read them whilst he eats.  He starts with a grapefruit each day doused in sugar and a cup of coffee, then comes something cooked.  Whether he has bacon and egg or a boiled egg and soldiers, he will always have toast and marmalade afterwards, then he can begin his day.  He still works.

Sundays make for a different routine; the day of rest means a more leisurely start.  The table will still be laid for breakfast but Pappy will come down in his dressing gown, silk cravat and slippers.  Instead of something cooked he will have cornflakes with cream, milk and sugar and a cup of coffee, of course followed by the trusty toast and marmalade.

As Pappy is closer to 80 than 70 and has pretty much everything he needs, a couple of years ago I started making him marmalade for Christmas.  This recipe is easy and a good one to do if you have a few hours to spare on a chilly afternoon.  I’ve never made seville orange marmalade but I’ve heard it’s tricky.  This pink grapefruit version works a treat.

PINK GRAPEFRUIT MARMALADE

WHAT YOU WILL NEED:
Jam jars amounting to around 950ml
2 pink or red grapefruit
Around 5 cups of granulated sugar
Juice of 2 lemons
A large heavy based saucepan

WHAT TO DO:

1. Put the grapefruit into the pan and pour in enough water so they are bobbing around.  Bring the pan to the boil and simmer with the lid on for 2 hours.  During the 2 hours you may need to top up the water
2. Take the grapefruit out of the pan, discard the water and allow to cool
3. Once cool, cut the skins off the fruit and chop into whatever size chunks, slithers or slices you like.  Coarsely chop the flesh of the grapefruit and remove any pips
4. Put the chopped grapefruit skin and flesh into a bowl and weigh it.  Add whatever amount the fruit weighs in sugar (around 5 cups) along with the lemon juice
5. Return everything to the pan and bubble for around 15 minutes (it may take longer) until the marmalade is a lovely golden amber colour.  You can check if it is ready by putting  a teaspoon of the marmalade on a plate and chilling it in the fridge for around 5 minutes.  If the marmalade thickens in the fridge and creases if you push it with your finger  it is ready.  When you do this, remove the bubbling marmalade from the hob so as not to overcook it.
6. Decant into sterilised jars, put the lids on whilst it is still hot and use within a year