weezl and friends Phase 4 - recipe testing christmas treats!

shanks77

Hi bob good to hear from you. I have also been trying to run down my store cupboards but have a long way to go before that will happen. I will need to go and buy some meat soon but will hold out til next week. Tonight i had the HM pizza always a favourite here and i try to have some in the freezer just to pull out. Tomorrow will be the spicy tomato pasta and hope to have the risi this week as well so very CFR for me xx

shanks77

Wow so quiet on here these days hope everyone is well. I am still on storecupboard supplies prob more so just now as all i seem to have done recently is spend spend spend some of it planned (new suite just not so soon) some not (new windscreen little toerags) so got some CFR planned for next few meals, panzanella tonight, pizza tomorrow and have a chicken out so will try and rubberize it as much as poss. Have about 7lb of various pasta (thanks mostly to Approved Foods) so not much danger of running out of food anytime soon.
Look forward to hearing from you all soon xx

Lesley_Gaye

I keep trying to run down my cupboards / freezer too, somehow, no matter how much I use, it doesn't seem to get any emptier

I'm determined to get it down, and will do some fierce menu planning using up what's in there

shanks77

Well have done pretty well with my storecupboard challenge. Like Lesley says it doesnt seem to matter how much i use its not going down much (ie pasta). Will need to buy some food in for xmas time and want to do it sooner rather than later when the shops are mobbed. Am going to try and be sensiblish this year but no promises. Hope to hear from you soon xx

Lesley_Gaye

have a 'do' to go to next week where I need to take a pudding, so am going to do Delia's Squidgy Chocolate Log (very popular whenever I make it) it is a light chocolate swiss roll filled with chocolate mousse and whipped cream

have just bought some Sains basic choc, 1 bar of plain, 1 bar of milk, to make it with, 35p a bar

shanks77

mmm that sounds lovely Lesley and cheap to boot could you share the recipe when you have time please?

shanks77

Hope everyone is organised for xmas. For once i am it must be a xmas miracle. Weather dependant i am going out to my mums this year so she will have a houseful with me and my dog, my sis her hubby and 2 kids and her 3 dogs so while it will be enjoyable it certainly wont be quiet.
Is everyone sticking with the xmas planner or are we all doing our own thing this year?
If i dont hear back from anyone i hope everyone has a great xmas and look forward to catching up when things have settled down a bit xx

SusanC_2

Ours is preprepared stick in the oven type stuff because I'm ill but OH has taken details of CFR to work today to give to colleagues as they haven't been paid (bit of a fiasco with the outside recruitment company royal mail used for Christmas jobs) and some are struggling to feed their families.

shanks77

Well thats all the celebrations over with I hope everyone had an enjoyable time over the festive period. I had a really good time this year the best in a long time. Now back on the CFR bandwagon. Have a small amount in the freezer to use up and still have that heap of pasta from before lol so will try and use up what i have before i buy more stuff. Will have to get some fruit and veg but hopefully thats about all. Look forward to hearing about everyone elses time and how they are going to save over January/rest of year xx

Lesley_Gaye

shanks77 wrote: »

mmm that sounds lovely Lesley and cheap to boot could you share the recipe when you have time please?

woops, have only just looked at this page again and it doesn't seem to be notifying me via email of new posts any more

the recipe is from Delia Smith's Cookery Course

Roulade
150g sugar
6 large eggs, separated
50g cocoa

Filling
225g plain chocolate
2 large eggs, separated
225ml double cream
icing sugar

pre-heat oven to 180C
a tin 29cm x 18cm and about 2.5cm deep, oiled and lined with greaseproof paper, also lightly oiled

roulade
whisk egg yolks until they start to thicken, add sugar and whisk until mixture thickens slightly. Sift in cocoa (it must be sifted, I have learned the hard way that lumps never come out).
whisk egg whites in a grease free, dry, bowl to soft peak and fold in. Pour into tin, level out and bake for 20-25 mins
it will rise dramatically in the oven, then fall back when you take it out
leave in the tin until cool

meanwhile, make the choc mousse
melt the chocolate with 2 tblsp water, in a bowl over warm water, beat until smooth. Beat the 2 egg yolks, then beat into the choc mixture. Whisk the egg whites until stiff and fold into the chocolate mixture, leave until cool

whisk the cream to the soft peak stage

Assembly
I have found this works best if you do it when the roulade still has the memory of warmth and the mousse hasn't set completely solid

put a sheet of greaseproof on the worktop and sift over some icing sugar, tip the cake top side down onto it and peel off the greaseproof from the base of the cake

spread over the choc mousse, then the whipped cream. Now using the greaseproof to help you, roll the roulade, long side facing you, into a roll, using the greaseproof to help you to keep a firm roll. If it doesn't manage to stay in a roll, but cracks into layers, it doesn't really matter. Use the last bit of paper to ease the roulade onto a serving dish and sift over more icing sugar

If this is for adults only, I use all plain choc. The 35p Sainsburys basics bar was lovely. 2 bars is 200g, not 225g, but that was plenty. If children will be having some, they often find plain too strong, so I use either half milk and half plain (again, Sains basics milk is lovely, have also used Asda milk and plain), or all milk

you can do lots of variations of this. This version is gluten free, so good for coeliacs

you can add orange zest to the roulade &/or choc mousse
do a black forest version with bottled cherries (Lidl) and maybe a splash of liquer
sub flour for cocoa and do chopped fruit and cream
use raspberries in the choc version with the cream
etc etc

it always disappears very rapidly!