Cherry, Chocolate & Almond Bread Ring

After watching Great British Bake Off this week, there was no doubt in my mind what I would be making. It definitely wasn't going to be the Dampfnudel technical challenge as they really didn't look very appealing, and the showstopper was a bit too showstopping for my liking. I love adding flavours to home made bread but I must admit that I used my bread maker to make the basic dough for this loaf (sorry Mr H), but I'll use my frozen shoulder as an excuse for that!

I knew that any type of bread with chocolate in would go down well with the kids, and this loaf, with it's crisp exterior and gooey filling, was no exception.

Cherry, Chocolate & Almond Bread Ring

500g Strong white bread flour

1/2 tsp salt

50g caster sugar

50g butter, softened

7g dried yeast

1 egg

225ml milk (room temperature)

filling

50g ground almonds

50g +20g butter

10g caster sugar

200g dark cherries (I used frozen ones), chopped

100g dark chocolate chips + extra for drizzling

• add the bread flour to a bowl (if you're using a breadmaker, add the ingredients in the order that your instructions state)
• add the salt, sugar, butter, yeast & egg 
• add approx 200ml of milk & start mixing everything together, adding more milk if necessary
• once the dough has come together, take it out of the bowl & knead for 10 minutes, until smooth & elastic 
• place in a large bowl & cover with clingfilm
• leave in a warm place to double in size
• once the dough has proved, turn out onto a lightly floured surface
• Roll into a large rectangle, approx 40cm x 30cm
• mix the ground almonds with 50g softened butter & spread over the dough
• scatter the chopped cherries and chocolate chips evenly over the dough
• roll up along the long edge into a tight sausage 
• form into a ring and pinch the ends together
• snip the dough with scissors approx every 2" around the ring
• place onto a lightly buttered baking sheet, cover with clingfilm and leave to rise for approx 1 hour
• brush generously with 20g melted butter
• bake in a preheated 200C oven for approx 15-20 minutes
• leave to cool on a wire rack before drizzling with melted chocolate

I am joining in with the Mummy Mishaps Great Bloggers Bake Off

Berry Chocolate Cheesecake

My kids love fruit and we get through loads each week. They particularly like fruit salads and smoothies (as it avoids them doing any peeling as I've done it for them!), which I like to add some fruit juice to. Cherry juice is not only a great looking (and great tasting) juice but it also contains antioxidant properties, and some research has shown that a daily glass of cherry juice can help reduce symptoms of inflammatory disorders such as gout and arthritis. 

Cherry Good juice is made from Montmorency cherries, grown in the 'cherry belt' around the shores of Lake Michigan, which are picked in the summertime and squeezed in a specially designed cherry press to produce a vibrant red juice.

There are many ways to use cherry juice in sweet or savoury dishes (recipes can be found on the Cherry Good website here), and I've used some to make a delicious topping for a rich chocolate cheesecake.

Berry Chocolate Cheesecake

berry filling/sauce
200ml Cherry Good cherry juice
75g caster sugar
1 tbsp cornflour
150g frozen Morello cherries (or mix of cherries & raspberries)

cheesecake
18 Oreos (approx 1.5 packs), crushed
50g butter, melted
600ml double cream 
200g good quality dark chocolate, broken into small pieces
400g full fat cream cheese

to decorate
whipped cream

• Make the berry filling/sauce first by adding the Cherry Good, sugar and cornflour to a pan
• Bring to the boil and add the cherries (if using raspberries add these later)
• Simmer for approx 10 minutes to thicken (if using raspberries add them at this stage & then bring back to the boil)
• Remove from heat & allow to cool
• Make the cheesecake base by mixing the crushed Oreos and melted butter together
• Press into the base of a loose bottomed 20cm cake tin
• Place in the fridge whilst the filling is made
• Heat the cream until it just reaches boiling point
• Add the chocolate to a large bowl and pour over the hot cream
• Leave for 10 minutes before whisking until smooth
• Whisk in the cream cheese, until smooth
• Continue whisking until it's thick enough to coat the back of a spoon
• Pour into the cake tin & place in the fridge for a few hours or overnight before removing from the tin
• Finish off by piping whipped cream around the edge of the cheesecake & spooning the sauce into the middle

This recipe has been commissioned by Cherry Good

Seasonal Recipes - Cherry Buns

One of the great things about Summer is the abundance of fresh local fruit. We have a small strawberry plant in our garden that has produced a handful of berries and a rhubarb plant that has provided us with enough for a couple of crumbles so far. We also have an apple tree that should be ready for picking soon and I'm lucky to have friends with allotments that supply my with more rhubarb and produce throughout the season.

Unfortunately I don't have my own supplier of cherries, but as the cherry season is in full swing they can be picked up very reasonably priced in shops. I have recently started writing for Great British Chefs and, as National Cherry Day is coming up this week, I decided that my first recipe would be cherry buns, made with fresh juicy cherries.

Cherry Vodka

In preparation for Christmas I've been making a few of my own flavoured vodkas. Two years ago I made up a large batch of Cranberry vodka which we drank the last of last Christmas. My brother still had his bottle up until this year and said it was amazing when they eventually got around to drinking it, therefore this Cherry Vodka is not really something that you should be making for this Christmas, but maybe next or the one after!

I made 2 small bottles at the weekend and although they are good enough to drink now they will definitely improve with age over the next few months or so, and turn syrupy like a liquor. If you're feeling really generous you could tie some ribbon around the neck, pop a label on and give as a gift.

For each 250ml bottle I used approximately the following quantities :

Cherry Vodka

100g Cherries (I used frozen cherries)
100g caster sugar
150ml vodka

• Pop the cherries into the bottle
• Pour the sugar in carefully
• Top up with vodka
• Place the lid on and gently agitate to dissolve as much of the sugar as possible 
• Gently agitate each day until the sugar has dissolved completely
• Leave to mature

White Chocolate and Cherry Muffins

It's a very sad month as it's the final month of the Swallow's Charity Recipes for Life challenge on Bangers and Mash. I've really enjoyed the monthly challenges since the start in February and I hope the guys from Swallow have managed to achieve what they set out to do, which is to find some simple recipes to go in their cookery book which will be used to help adults with learning difficulties lead more independent lives.

Did I also mention that I won the challenge in March, April and May!

This month the challenge has 3 basic ingredients - milk, eggs and flour. So what can be made with these ingredients? My first thought was pancakes...and my second thought was muffins...there is still plenty of time for pancakes but for today we have muffins. I rummaged through the cupboard to see what I could put in them and found a bar of Green & Black's white chocolate and half a tub of glacé cherries, so the decision was made.

White Chocolate and Cherry Muffins - makes 10

100g caster sugar

2 eggs

75ml milk

75g butter, melted

150g self raising flour

120g white chocolate

10-15 glacé cherries

• Beat the sugar, eggs, milk & melted butter together
• Chop the chocolate and cherries and stir into the flour
• Mix the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients until just combined
• Spoon into a muffin pan lined with muffin cases
• Bake in a preheated 180 C oven for 18-20 minutes
• Remove from the pan and cool on a wire rack