Rum & Sugar, West India Quays

Situated in an old Grade 1 listed warehouse in West India Quay, Rum & Sugar offers one of London's most extensive rum collections. Showcasing our Dockland history, this is exactly where rum and sugar was stored in London when it was shipped over from the Caribbean. Now reincarnated into a rum bar with a modern British menu, you couldn't get a better location.

Last week I was invited over to try out their new Spring menu and to try my hand at making some rum cocktails. Sounds pretty harmless, right?

We settled in with a little initiation to our evening with a cocktail made with rum, vermouth, apple and ginger. Some bar snacks including pulled chicken twists, chilli cheese fritters and sweet potato crackers. Anywhere with snacks before the main event is a winner in my books.

Then to actually start we had beetroot cured salmon, smoked potato salad with a beetroot and spiced rum purée. Beetroot has a natural affinity for salmon, perfectly earthy and great with smoked potatoes and the tang of the purée.

Next up, herb crusted cod, red pepper ragù with a peppered leak velouté. Deliciously tender cod with a fresh lift with the piquant ragù. Who needs fish and chips when you can have crispy leaks like this.

Sweet cajun glazed chicken salad: avocado mousse, crispy shallots, semi dried tomatoes, grilled baby gem and parmesan crisps. I'd eat salad every day if it could be like this one. 

And my absolute favourite, baked chocolate ganache, orange caramel, salted nut brittle and clotted cream. There's no doubt that I'm going to try and recreate this at home.

Suitably stuffed, we moved up to the bar to learn some cocktail making tips. It turns out that free pouring isn't as easy as it looks but great fun for giving generous measures! We started off with a dirty mojito made with Ron Barceló Gran Añejo, a dark rum aged for 4 years in an oak barrel and then passed through a charcoal filter. Mixed with equal parts of sugar syrup and lime juice, some slapped mint (a little trick to intensify aromas) and muddled with crushed ice.

Then onto another favourite of mine, Cosmos. Instead of the regular Cointreau we went for an apricot  white rum, shaken with two parts lime juice and one part cranberry juice. I may need to practice my Boston Shaker moves but my drinks cupboard is definitely going to be stocked with more rum now so I can recreated this at home.

My night at Rum & Sugar reminded me of a holiday in the Dominican Republic a few years ago, rum-soaked and full of great food. I shall most certainly return to try the rest of the menu. Its been a long time since I've been this excited by a restaurant in London.

Thanks to the fabulous Rum & Sugar team and Shy PR for inviting me and for their hospitality. All rum-soaked opinions are my own.

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Chicory, Bacon & Comté Cheese Tart

Comté is a new addition to the cheese drawer in my fridge. I'm not entirely sure where its been all my life but in a bid to make up for lost time I set out to make something to showcase its brilliantly nutty flavour. I hear its particularly brilliant for fondue, but I'm waiting for the Swiss Queen, Flick to show me that. 

Depending on where the farms milk is from, how long and where its aged, comté can have such a diverse taste. Anything from nutty, creamy or more sharp and fruity. That's what makes it so perfect to melt, grate, shave or bake. Any which way you want it! When comté sent me some samples and asked me to come up with a recipe for Mother's Day I was excited for the challenge. 

This tart balances the natural crisp bitterness of chicory with the smooth buttery comté. Packed with crispy bacon, lashings of mustard and thyme. Serve with some buttery potatoes and a crisp green salad with some Sancerre because its practically Spring now. Perfect for a weekend catchup with my Mum.

C H I C O R Y,   B A C O N   &   C O M T E   C H E E S E   T A R T
(makes one 9 inch tart)

1 pack of ready rolled shortcrust pastry

2 tbsp butter

250g chicory, about 2-3 heads

100g bacon

3 eggs

240ml double cream

1tsp mustard, english or dijon

1tsp fresh thyme leaves

pinch of salt

1/4tsp freshly ground nutmeg

150g grated comté cheese, grated

• Heat the oven to 180 degrees and lay the shortcrust pastry into the tart dish, using a ball of dough to gently push into the edges. Use a knife to trim any excess from the top.
• Chop the chicory into quarter inch slices and remove the core whilst melting the butter in a griddle pan. Cook the chicory for 5 minutes until tender. Remove from the pan.
• Roughly chop the bacon and cook the bacon in the same griddle pan until golden and crisp.
• In a bowl, whisk together the eggs, double cream, mustard, thyme, salt and nutmeg.
• In the prepared tart dish, layer the chicory, bacon and comté before pouring over the egg mix.
• Bake in the centre of the oven for 45-50 minutes until the crust has turned golden. The centre of the tart will look a little wobbly but this will firm as the tart cools.
• Leave for 20 minutes before removing from the tart dish to serve.

This post is in collaboration with Comté who sent me some samples to try as part of their #MothersDayTheComteWay campaign.

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Gizzi's Chicken Pho with Rice Noodles

When I first tried pho last year I was absolutely amazed how something seemingly so simple could have so much flavour and need very little work. This is now my go-to lunchbox recipe, so much so that I ate it for 4 consecutive evenings at work last week. Cooking for one, hey?

As Gizzi suggests, I take a jam jar full of stock to work, heat it up in the microwave and throw it over some shredded chicken and whatever veg I have in. Rice noodles are ideal as they cook in a minute or two but you could also replace them with spiralized veg if you're looking to up your five a day even more.

You could make your own stock from scratch if you like, but I just pop in some fresh stuff from the butcher's counter. I prefer chicken but you can also do beef if you like. Cooked this way the chicken is so tender it just falls off the bones so makes it so ridiculously easy to shred. Particularly if you have a stand mixer, bung it in on a low speed for 30 seconds and pho's your uncle.

I'm so tempted by every single recipe in Gizzi's 'Healthy Appetite' book, next up has to be the Korean fried chicken which looks pretty special. I just have to make sure I can organise myself in advance so I can leave the wings to brine the day before. 

G I Z Z I ' S   C H I C K E N   P H O   W I T H   R I C E   N O O D L E S
(Recipe adapted from Gizzi Erskine's Healthy Appetite, serves 4)

1 whole medium chicken
400ml fresh chicken stock
2 onions, roughly sliced
3cm piece of root ginger, peeled and sliced
1 bulb of garlic cut in half horizontally
6 black peppercorns
1 star anise
1 cinnamon stick
1 lemongrass stalk, bashed
1tsp salt
2tbsp fish sauce
2tsp palm sugar
400g rice noodles

To serve:

2 red chillies, finely sliced
2-3 spring onions, green part finely sliced
1 onion, finely sliced into rings
small handful of coriander
a few sprigs of Thai basil
a handful of beansprouts
1 lime cut into 8 wedges

1. Place the chicken in a large casserole dish with the stock, onions, ginger, garlic, peppercorns, star anise, cinnamon, lemongrass, salt, fish sauce and palm sugar. Top up with water to cover the chicken. Bring to the boil then cover and leave to simmer for 1 1/2 hours.
2. Once cooked, take the chicken out and set aside to cool. Strain the stock from the vegetables and reduce down in a saucepan for 30 minutes until it reaches a rich broth. Taste and add more fish sauce or seasoning if required.
3. Shred the chicken once cool enough to handle. Or use the dough hook or beater attachment on a stand mixer and beat on a slow speed to shred the chicken whilst warm. 
4. To serve, place a bundle of noodles into each bowl, pour over the stock and add chillies, onions, herbs, beansprouts and a squeeze of lime. 

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McVitie's Chocolate Digestive Truffles

There is no limit to the ways in which I'll justify the use of a biscuit. I love them so much that they're a very close runner up to my beloved brownies. Of course homemade biscuits are lovely, but did you know just how many ways there are to elevate regular shop bought ones? Its a lot.

We're not talking regular biscuit bases for cheesecakes, we're talking cakes, tiffins and my personal favourite, truffles.

 Yes, you can absolutely use the humble Digestive in truffles and yes, it tastes even better than you can imagine.

McVities sent me a stash of biscuits, some of which I may have eaten as a warm up, and some chocolate in order to make these truffles which have rapidly shot up my list of go-to recipes.

M C V I T I E S   C H O C O L A T E   D I G E S T I V E   T R U F F L E S
(Makes 20 regular sized truffles, scale up or down as required)

150ml double cream

250g dark chocolate, chopped

125g unsalted butter

15 McVitie's Digestives (around half a large pack)

150g chocolate spread

150g white chocolate

50g milk chocolate

1. To start, make a chocolate ganache base for the centre by gently heating the cream over a low heat in a small pan. You don't need to boil or simmer the cream, just heat it until you can only hold a fingertip in the cream for a few seconds.
2. Remove from the heat and add in the dark chocolate and butter, continually stirring until fully melted. Add the chocolate spread and mix again until well combined.
3. Allow the mixture to cool down a little whilst blitzing the biscuits in a food processor or smashing in a sandwich bag with a rolling pin. You'll need something that resembles breadcrumbs or finer. 
4. Add the crushed biscuits into the chocolate and stir well until everything is well coated. Chill this in the fridge for an hour to firm up.
5. Line a tray or large plate with baking paper and use a teaspoons worth of mixture to roll into truffle shapes by hand. If the mix starts to become too soft to work with then pop it back in the fridge for 10 minutes to chill again.
6. Place the truffles in the fridge once rolled to firm up again.
7. Meanwhile, over a pan of barely simmering water, melt the white chocolate (or use 150g of milk chocolate if you'd prefer).
8. To cover the truffles, remove from the fridge and use a skewer to dip them into the melted chocolate. Place onto the prepared tray and allow them to set a little, around 5-10 minutes.
9. Melt the milk chocolate over a pan of barely simmering water also and pour into a piping bag or sandwich bag with the corner chopped to drizzle over the tops of the truffles.

I think these truffles are perfect served just from the fridge, but wherever you store them just ensure to keep them cool and they'll last up to a week.

These truffles aren't the speediest of things to make but you don't need to be Willy Wonka either. I made them over two days where I made the centres and left them overnight to firm up then covered them the next day. 

Thanks to my biscuity pals McVities for sending me a stash of chocolate!

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Avocado Chocolate Bundt Cake

Each week's recipe planning is starting to turn into a challenge of what I can make with the leftovers in my fridge. I won't quite get to the the stage of using vegetable peelings to make cakes, I've seen it done before, but I definitely like to try and get the most out of everything.

You know when you bulk buy underripe avocados because its cheaper and they just take so damn long to ripen, then before you know it you have a whole bowl of ripe ones and eat guacamole every day. I wanted to try something a little different in using avocado as a replacement to fat or butter.

Strange it may sound, but it turns out avocado is great at making really light textured, moist cakes. This chocolate cake could be vegan, if you used the right milk and chocolate. Or it could be a almost, sort of lighter version of your regular chocolate cake.

Healthy-ish things aside, still perfectly fudgy and covered with a rich dark chocolate ganache.

I'm not quite up to changing my favourite brownie recipe to use avocados yet but apparently its pretty impressive too! Anyone else tried it?

A V O C A D O   C H O C O L A T E   B U N D T   C A K E
(recipe adapted from Ambitious Kitchen, makes one small bundt)

85g dark chocolate, chopped

160ml freshly brewed coffee

240g plain flour

60g caster sugar

90g dark brown sugar

70g cocoa powder

1tsp bicarbonate of soda

1/2 tsp salt

50ml vegetable/sunflower oil

1/2 large ripe avocado, mashed (approx. 80-100g)

2tsp vanilla extract

170ml almond milk

Dark chocolate ganache:

150g dark chocolate, chopped

300ml double cream

1. Heat the oven to 180 degrees and thoroughly grease a bundt tin.
2. In a small saucepan, gently melt the chocolate with the coffee, gently whisking as you go. Once fully melted, take off the heat and leave to cool.
3. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugars, cocoa powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt together to remove any lumps. Set aside.
4. Beat together the avocado, oil and vanilla until smooth. Pour in the cooled chocolate mix and continue to beat until well incorporated.
5. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and gently fold together until just combined.
6. If the batter is too thick, add a few splashes of milk to loosen. 
7. Pour into the prepared tin, smooth the top and bake for 35-45 minutes. Once cooked, a skewer inserted into the middle will come out clean. Remove from the oven and allow to cool fully in the tin before tipping out onto a plate.
8. For the ganache, gently heat the cream over a low heat to warm. Just until you can hold your fingertip in the cream for 3-4 seconds. Take off the heat and add the chocolate. Continually whisk until smooth and glossy. To start, the mix will look spotty but once the chocolate is fully melted.
9. Leave the ganache to cool and thicken slightly before drizzling over the cooled cake.

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Double Chocolate, Peanut Butter and Banana Cakes

For those times when you absolutely need cake and you need it pretty sharpish.

Forget mug cakes because unless you have an absolutely huge mug, they just won't cut the mustard. Instead you need a blender cake. Throw in a little of what you have in the cupboard, quickly blitz in a blender and bake for 10 minutes. Utterly simple and super speedy.

My favourite combination is banana, peanut butter and double chocolate. But you could substitute the peanut butter for Nutella, Speculoos or any other biscuit spread. Swap the cocoa and white chocolate for whatever chocolate you like and some malt milk powder like Horlicks.

I can't proclaim that these are guilt free, but they are flourless, free of processed sugars and can also be dairy free.

D O U B L E   C H O C O L A T E   P E A N U T   B U T T E R   &   B A N A N A   C A K E S
(Makes 8-10 muffins or mini loaves)

1 medium/large ripe banana, peeled

150g peanut butter, Nutella or biscuit spread of your choice

40g cocoa powder, malt milk powder or custard powder

170g honey (approx. 3tbsp)

1 tbsp vanilla extract

1tsp bicarbonate of soda

pinch of salt

50g white, dark or milk chocolate, chopped

1. Heat the oven to 200 degrees. Fill a muffin tray with cases or grease a silicone one.
2. Throw all ingredients except the chocolate into a blender and blitz until smooth, about 60 seconds.
3. Divide evenly between the muffin cases, about two thirds full and scatter over the white chocolate chunks.
4. Bake for 8-12 minutes. Nearer 8 minutes for a small banana and up to 12 for a larger banana. Keep your eyes peeled!

Muffins improve with moist banana goodness over a few days but they can also be frozen for up to 6 months. You can always defrost in the microwave in emergencies...your future self will thank you!

I'm looking to test out some banana alternatives now, like cooked apple, sweet potato or pumpkin!

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Cinnamon Bun Doughnuts

After running a Twitter poll, the Internet told me that I should either bake cinnamon buns or doughnuts on the weekend. Not am I always only going to make all important decisions via Twitter polls from this point forward, it's also reassuring to see that, like me, many people can't choose between the two. They both had pretty much the same number of votes.

I mean, cinnamon buns or doughnuts? How can you possibly choose between the two?

And so, like many other fully fledged adults, I chose the sensible, responsible answer. That answer being trying my very hardest to combine the two. Life is about balance and compromise afterall.

Without further ado, I present to you...cinnamon bun doughnuts.

Soft cinnamon baked doughnuts covered in a cinnamon glaze, cinnamon crumbs and maple vanilla drizzle.

Whilst cinnamon buns are still pretty fancy, I'm kind of sold on the idea that you can make baked doughnuts in under 30 minutes. No folding and overnight proving required here.

C I N N A M O N   B U N   D O U G H N U T S
(Makes 6 regular or 12 mini doughnuts)

Cinnamon doughnuts:

175g plain flour

2tbsp corn flour

1tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

75g caster sugar

1tsp ground cinnamon

80ml buttermilk

1 egg

1tbsp butter, melted

Cinnamon crumbs:

1 1/2 tbsp brown sugar

1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1tbsp unsalted butter, softened

Cinnamon icing:

240g icing sugar

2tbsp milk

1tsp cinnamon

Maple vanilla icing:

240g icing sugar

1 1/2 tbsp maple syrup

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1. Heat the oven to 180 degrees and thoroughly grease a doughnut pan.
2. Whisk together the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl to remove any lumps. Set aside.
3. In another, smaller bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, egg and melted butter until bubbly.
4. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and whisk together until smooth.
5. Pour the batter into a piping bag, snip off the end and fill the doughnut pan, about two thirds full.
6. Bake in the oven for 7-9 minutes, until the doughnuts have puffed up and start to turn golden.
7. Remove from the oven and leave to cool in the pan for 2 minutes for the doughnuts to firm up. Then tip onto a wire rack to cool fully.
8. To make the cinnamon crumbs, combine the ingredients and rub between your fingers until the mix comes together into a breadcrumb type form.
9. For the cinnamon icing, sift the icing sugar and cinnamon into a bowl before whisking in the milk.
10. For the maple vanilla icing, again, sift the icing sugar into a bowl before whisking in the maple syrup and vanilla. Pour into a piping bag ready for drizzling.

To assemble:

Dip the cooled doughnuts into the cinnamon icing and sprinkle over cinnamon crumbs to stick. Leave for 15 minutes for the icing to set before finishing with a good drizzle of the maple vanilla icing. 

These doughnuts are best served fresh, but at a push can be made the day before and assembled on the day needed.

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London Pride Fruit Bundt

After a baking disaster on the weekend I needed something failsafe and simple to make as an emergency Plan B for my Grandad's birthday. His favourite is fruit cake, nothing too sweet and something that will last through the week to squirrel away chunks when he thinks my Grandmother isn't watching.

Pre-secondary school he'd take me to an after school tutor and always bring an apple for the car journey. So this year, in honour of our apple tradition, I'd originally decided to make an apple and cinnamon cake from Mary Berry's Baking Bible. With some gentle spice and currants I thought it would be a winner.

Trust your gut people.

I thought the recipe sounded a little daft as I was working through it. With hindsight I'd have actually read the method before getting all the ingredients out and starting. The recipe asked to sandwich a big pocket of slushy, grated apple between layers of the cake batter instead of folding into the mix. Within the first 20 minutes of its hour in the oven I could already smell it burning so had to stealthily make a tin foil hat for it.

Once cooled, I crossed my fingers and went for the upturn. The first part smashed out onto the plate followed by raw apple stodge and the rest of the cake stuck to the bottom of the tin.

With burnt sides and a raw centre, it was completely inedible. The Baking Gods have reaffirmed to me that they are in control and that like my mother says, trust your gut and read the method first!

Here's when an old favourite bundt fruit cake recipe comes into play, with a little twist. I swapped the regular tea for the same amount of London Pride Ale and upped the spices. Grandad's love ale! And you know what? It turned out of the bundt beautifully! Sorry Mary.

L O N D O N   P R I D E   F R U I T   B U N D T
(makes 1 bundt cake or 2 loaves)

370g plain flour

2tsp bicarbonate of soda

pinch of salt

1/2 tsp ground cloves

2tsp allspice

2tsp ground cinnamon

260g soft light brown sugar

200g unsalted butter, softened

2 eggs

480ml London Pride

80g chopped pecans

130g dried fruit (dates, cherries or currants)

1. Heat the oven to 170 degrees and thoroughly grease a bundt tin.
2. In a mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, bicarbonate of soda, salt and spices and set aside.
3. Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add each egg one at a time, beating well after each addition.
4. Continue to mix whilst alternating between spoons of the flour mix and London Pride until everything is just combined. Fold in the fruit.
5. Pour into the prepared bundt tin and bake in the oven for 50 minutes - 1 hour. The top will be golden and a skewer inserted into the middle will come out clean.
6. Leave to cool in the tin for 15 minutes before upturning onto a wire rack to fully cool.

Once cooled, this cake will last up to 5 days in an airtight container.

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Brownie Layered Loaf

Perhaps I should dust off the cobwebs and say hello. Its been a little while since I've done any baking and what better way to get back in the groove than with brownies. 

Festive times are over and there are no recipes sitting in my drafts so I get to start this year of blogging completely fresh. My aim for the year is to only publish what I'm completely happy with and not to worry about posting to any particular schedule. Admin aside, this frees up more time for trying out new recipes and for eating burgers. Everyone's a winner.

Brownies are my thing. Sometimes I make them and they're great, and sometimes not so good. And when they're not so good, I freeze the batch and eat them warmed up with plenty of custard another time. Or I roll them into little balls, cover them in more chocolate and have them like brownie pop truffles. No brownies are ever wasted.

But this time I wanted to try something a little different. I couldn't decide between two things to bake so threw them both together and hoped for the best. This combination absolutely works. Ultra rich and fudgey brownie topped with a moist sponge, means you can have bigger slices!

B R O W N I E   L A Y E R E D   L O A F
(makes one 2lb loaf)

For the brownie layer:

140g dark chocolate (minimum 70% cocoa)

50g unsalted butter

50g soft light brown sugar

1 egg

35g plain flour

For the cake layer:

120g unsalted butter, softened

90g soft light brown sugar

2 eggs

120g plain flour

1tsp baking powder

50ml whole milk

1. Heat the oven to 180 degrees and line a 2lb loaf tin with baking paper.
2. Gently melt the chocolate and butter over a pan of barely simmering water. Set aside to cool slightly. 
3. Stir in the brown sugar until it starts to dissolve. Gently beat in the egg and fold in the flour.
4. Pour into the prepared loaf tin, smooth the top and bake for 15 minutes until the top is slightly firm. Remove from the oven and leave to cool slightly.
5. For the cake layer, turn the oven down to 150 degrees.
6. Beat together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
7. Add in the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
8. Fold in the flour and baking powder and stir in the milk. Gently pour on top of the brownie layer and bake for 40-45 minutes until golden and a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean. 
9. Leave to cool in the tin fully before taking out to serve.

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Food in December

Happy New Year all!

Another month and year has flown past and there's been plenty of great food. Perhaps a little too much, but that's what January is for. I don't expect January to be full of wheatgrass and yoga, just maybe fewer mince pies and cream. Sadly, no festive Christmas burgers either. I have no real plans for January as yet in terms of baking, I should probably devise a form of plan, but for now here's the end of 2015...

At the start of December I popped over to Brighton for Afternoon Tea in Blackbird Tea Rooms, home to the best scones you'll find. Starbucks helped to spread the festive cheer and get me in the holiday mood by dropping off some #StarbucksBakes treats. I'm looking forward to recreating their fig and cinnamon loaf cake at home. Sadly I can only recall one burger this month, but at least it was an old favourite from Honest Burgers. The Christmas special burger included smoked bacon, deep fried brie, cranberry sauce and rocket - I'd have quite happily eaten it in lieu of Christmas dinner it was that good! I headed to Truc Vert with the girls for our first Raclette experience. Plenty of melted cheese and charcuterie, check out their Raclette Wednesdays through January for a great night out. I'm not one for takeaways, unless its Eat First. Homemade meals delivered straight to you to, all you need to do is heat up when you're ready. I ordered a turkey dinner with pigs in blankets for a work lunch treat on Christmas Eve, Eve! (Use my code  'DQ5FPASX' for £10 off first orders). And for something extra special, Williamson Tea's Kenyan Earth, a bright, full-bodied English Breakfast tea. The festive elephant caddie would make a great gift, or is great to keep for your festive brews.

And whilst we're rounding up the year, my favourite and most popular posts of the year:

• Food photography tips - a few little tips and tricks in food photography and styling ideas
• Super simple Churros DIY with Tefal Optigrill - grilled doughnuts are heavenly and if you haven't tried them already, they really should be a new year's resolution
• Cookie dough marshmallow brownies - perhaps the most lengthy recipe ever, but it involves cookie dough, marshmallow and brownies, gloriously good
• Bake Off Bake Along series - baking along with all 10 weeks of this year's GBBO, at times I felt like giving up even with only one recipe a week, but it was a great challenge to try new recipes

So that's it!

Here's to another year packed with fabulous food and lots of fun for you all xxx

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