Winter is here, the pumpkins have been carved and cleared away and attention now turns to nutritious food to sustain us through the coldest time of the year.
Here, at Saturday Serving, TV chef and baking expert, Mary Berry shares three recipes from her new book, Love to Cook.
After years at the helm of Bakeoff, Mary has been busy building a new set of recipes guaranteed to brighten up any winter servings:
Makes 1 × 900g (2lb) loaf
Ingredients
Butter or oil, for greasing
4 large eggs
3 tbsp olive oil
50g (2oz) soft dried dates, finely chopped
5g (1/8oz) sea salt
75g (3oz) pumpkin seeds
75g (3oz) sunflower seeds
150g (5oz) pecan nuts, finely chopped
50g (2oz) sesame seeds
3 tbsp chia seeds
Method
Preheat the oven to 180°C/160°C fan/Gas 4. Grease the base and sides of a 900g (2lb) loaf tin and line with non-stick baking paper.
Break the eggs into a bowl and beat with a fork until combined. Add the remaining ingredients and mix well using a wooden spoon.
Pour the mixture into the loaf tin and bake for 45–50 minutes, until golden brown and firm in the centre.
Leave to cool in the tin for 5 minutes, then loosen the edges with a palette knife, remove from the tin and place on a wire rack to cool completely.
Slice into thin slices to serve.
Mary’s tips
Serves 6
Ingredients
1.8 litres (3 pints) good vegetable stock
5cm (2in) fresh root ginger, peeled and grated
1 red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
6 spring onions, sliced
1. tsp Chinese five spice powder
1 tbsp light muscovado sugar
1 tbsp sweet chilli sauce
1 tbsp soy sauce
150g (5oz) shiitake mushrooms, sliced
50g (2oz) fine egg noodles
1 pak choi, sliced
Juice of ½ small lime
Small bunch of coriander, chopped
Method
Pour the stock into a large saucepan and bring up to the boil.
Add the ginger, chilli, spring onions, Chinese five spice powder, sugar, sweet chilli sauce and soy sauce, reduce the heat and simmer gently for 5 minutes.
Add the mushrooms and noodles and simmer for 3–4 minutes until the noodles are cooked. Stir in the pak choi and lime juice and check the seasoning. Simmer for a further 2 minutes.
Ladle into bowls and sprinkle with coriander to serve.
Mary’s tips
Serves 8
Ingredients
120g (4½oz) Bournville dark chocolate, broken into pieces
30g (11/4oz) cocoa powder, sifted
4 tbsp boiling water
200g (7oz) baking spread, straight from the fridge, plus extra for greasing
3 large eggs
100g (4oz) caster sugar
100g (4oz) light muscovado sugar
175g (6oz) self-raising flour
2 tbsp milk
2 tbsp apricot jam, warmed
Ganache Icing
200g (7oz) double cream
200g (7oz) Bournville dark chocolate, broken into pieces
To Decorate
100g (4oz) Bournville dark chocolate
200g (7oz) Belgian continental white chocolate
Icing sugar, to dust
Method
Preheat the oven to 160°C/140°C fan/Gas 3. Grease and base line a 20cm (8in) deep cake tin and place a piece of non-stick baking paper on a baking sheet.
To make the cake, place the chocolate in a bowl set over a pan of gently simmering water, making sure the base of the bowl does not touch the water. Stir gently until the chocolate has just melted. Set aside to cool.
Place the cocoa powder in a large bowl, pour in the boiling water and mix to a smooth paste. Add the baking spread, eggs, sugars, flour, milk and melted chocolate and whisk using an electric whisk for 2 minutes, until light and smooth.
Spoon the mixture into the tin and level the surface. Bake in the oven for 1–11/4 hours, until well risen and coming away from the sides of the tin. Expect a crack on the top like a brownie. Leave to cool in the tin for 10 minutes, then carefully remove and finish cooling on a wire rack.
To make the ganache icing, measure the cream into a saucepan and heat until simmering. Remove from the heat and add the chocolate. Stir until melted, then set aside in a cool place to thicken to a spreadable consistency.
Brush the top and sides of the cake with the warmed apricot jam, then spread the ganache over. Use a palette knife to smooth the edges. Leave to set for about 2 hours.
To make the decoration, break the dark chocolate into one bowl and the white chocolate into another. Set each bowl over a pan of gently simmering water, making sure the base of the bowls do not touch the water. Stir gently until just melted.
Spread the white chocolate on to the prepared baking sheet and use the back of a spoon to make a thin rectangle about 25 × 18cm (10 × 7in). Using another spoon, drizzle the dark chocolate over the white chocolate to make a zig zag pattern. Place in the fridge to chill for 30 minutes.
Once the chocolate is hard, slice into wedges and stand them vertically on the cake. Dust with icing sugar to serve.
Mary’s tips
Mary Berry is a food writer, chef, baker and TV presenter. Extracted from Love to Cook by Mary Berry (BBC Books). Out now.
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