Tag Archives: Black Garlic

Tia Maria Budino w/ Black Garlic crème

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feat. Tia Maria Cold Brew Coffee liqueur

Makes 4-6 (dependent on size of serving glass)

Ingredients

Vanilla Cream Topping

  • 1 cup heavy, or whipping, cream
  • 1 clove black garlic
  • 2 Tablespoon powdered sugar

Tia Maria Budino

  • 6oz semi-sweet chocolate
  • 2oz milk chocolate
  • 1 Tablespoon butter
  • 6 egg yolks, room temperature
  • ¼  cup granulated sugar
  • 2 Tablespoons cocoa
  • Pinch of salt
  • 1 cup heavy, or whipping, cream
  • 1 cup milk
  • 5 Tablespoon Tia Maria cold brew coffee liquor
  • 1 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

To decorate (optional)

Graham crumb, or cocoa, to dust

Method

Black Garlic Crème (ahead of time)

  1. Roughly smash the black garlic to a paste and combine in a small pan with the cream
  2. Heat over a medium heat until just starting to bubble at the edges
  3. Remove from heat and set aside to infuse for minimum 20 minutes
  4. After this time strain through a sieve into a small bowl, discard the debris, and cover with cling wrap
  5. Transfer the bowl with the cream to your refrigerator and chill the cream for minimum 2 hours, preferably overnight if you have the time

Tia Maria Budino

  1. In a large bowl combine the semi-sweet chocolate, milk chocolate and butter. Set aside until needed
  2. In a pan combine the egg yolks, sugar, cocoa powder and salt, whisking to combine. Over a low heat add the cream and milk, whisking to combine and cook for 8-9 minutes, until thickened and smooth. Take care not to overheat the mixture
  3. Remove the egg yolk mixture from the heat and pour over the chocolates/ butter, passing it through a strainer, or sieve, as you do. Let the combined mixture sit for 5 minutes
  4. Once the chocolate has fully melted add the Tia Maria liquor, olive oil and vanilla extract, stirring to combine until smooth and glossy. Set aside
  5. Portion ramekins, or rocks tumbler, with some of the chocolate budino mixture (in the region of 1/2 cup each). Place in the refrigerator to set for at least 90 minutes, preferably a few hours

To finish

  1. Towards the end of budino chilling time remove the infused cream from your refrigerator, combine in a medium bowl with the powdered sugar. Whip to medium peaks. Pipe, or spoon, the whipped cream over the tops of your set budino and dust with graham crumbs, or cocoa, if using
  2. Serve and enjoy!

Black Garlic Ice Cream Sandwich, with Fennel & Orange Donuts

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I can just bet your reaction upon reading the title of this recipe post. Furrowed brow, wrinkled nose…who knows…maybe even a snort of disbelief? “Garlic in a dessert? Well surely that CAN’T be right. He’s pushed fooling around with flavors too far this time!” Well for those of you who have been on this weirdly, wonderful flavor train of mine for while you might remember I have long been a advocate of black garlic and it’s uses in the sweeter side of things in the kitchen- check out my Living in the Black from a few years ago. Yes THAT long!

To give any newcomers a quick rundown-

Black garlic is fresh raw garlic that changes with time through the use of low heat and humidity of about 70% in a process called the Maillard reaction. During this process, the cloves turn a distinct black color. The garlic’s texture and flavor change as well. The flavor of black garlic has the slight tang of tamarind or balsamic vinegar and a mild sweetness that resembles rich molasses with the complexity and umami notes of soy sauce. Its cloves are much softer than fresh garlic, and stickier.

Thank you for coming to my TED talk.

Here I’ve initially paired the black garlic itself with some dark chocolate in an ice cream. The ice cream itself is left wholly unflavored save for a touch of sweetness from a little honey. This allows the flavor of the black garlic to shine through, and work really well with the bitter sharpness of the dark chocolate. for me it’s a wonderfully decadent, almost avant-garde treatment of the humble stalwart dessert. I should point out that for me this recipe is all the more appealing as it’s a “no churn” recipe, you just need to tale a bit more time in the planning of it.

As for the donuts (which are baked, not fried) the whole idea for this came from a quest to create an ice cream sandwich that was just “a little bit” different. Black Garlic was my “gimmick” in the ice cream and well off course something left of center was needed as the sandwich vessel itself. That’s where the donuts come in. The flavors of orange and fennel aren’t just a random selection for intrigue value. The fennel anise, citrus of orange and that molasses-like tang of black garlic work together in a combination that takes on a herbaceous-like quality that does indeed elevate this beyond your usual ice cream sandwich.

Be warned though- unique elevated flavors or not, this is still an ice cream sandwich- so be prepared to get messy!

Black Garlic Ice Cream Sandwich Recipe #recipe #greatchocolateshowdown

Ingredients

Makes 12 donuts and 1.25 litres ice cream

Black Garlic Ice Cream

  • 2 cups and 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream, separated
  • 2 cloves black garlic, squashed to a paste
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons honey
  • 1 can (14oz) sweetened condensed milk
  • 4oz dark chocolate, cut in to chunks

Orange & Fennel Donuts

  • ½ cup (1 stick) butter, softened at room temp
  • ½ cup sugar
  • ¼ cup light brown sugar
  • Zest of 2 large oranges
  • 2 ½ cups AP flour
  • 1 ½ teaspoon baking powder
  • ¼ teaspoon bicarb of soda
  • ¾ teaspoon salt
  • 2 teaspoons ground fennel
  • 2 eggs, room temperature
  • 1 Tablespoon orange juice
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 cup whole milk, room temperature

To Decorate

  • 6oz Dark chocolate, melted
  • Gold leaf, optional
  • Dragees, optional
  • Feuilletine, optional

Method

Black Garlic Ice Cream

  1. In a large saucepan combine 2 cups of heavy whipping cream and the black garlic paste
  2. Heat over a medium heat, stirring occasionally until small bubbles start to form at the edge of the milk
  3. Reduce heat to low for 5 mins
  4. After 5 mins remove from heat and leave to infuse for 15 mins. After this time strain the cream/ garlic mixture in to a small bowl to remove the garlic pieces
  5. Cover surface with plastic wrap to prevent skin and place in refrigerator to cool fully
  6. Once the cream mixture has cooled fully, transfer to a large bowl, add in the 1/2 cup of whipping cream and whisk to soft peak stage
  7. Fold in honey and condensed sweetened milk until fully incorporated
  8. Pour the mixture into a freezer-proof container, cover the surface with plastic wrap and freeze for 2 hours
  9. After 2 hours, remove ice cream from freezer and fold in chocolate chunks
  10. Return to freezer and leave until fully frozen, minimum 6 hours
  11. To serve ice-cream remove from freezer and leave at room temperature for 5 mins before scooping to serve

Orange & Fennel Donuts

  1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees C. Prepare donut pans with butter, or baking spray
  2. In stand mixer bowl with paddle attachment, cream the butter, sugars and orange zest until light and fluffy (apx 3 mins)
  3. In a separate medium bowl combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, ground fennel and whisk together
  4. Reduce mixer speed to medium, add eggs and vanilla extract and beat until combined, scraping the sides occasionally
  5. Reduce speed to low and add in flour mixture in 2 batches, alternating with milk. Mix until just combined
  6. Transfer batter to piping bag with an open nozzle (or just snip the end off) and pipe in donut pan. Bang to remove bubbles
  7. Bake for 10- 12 minutes until springy, skewer test until clear
  8. Leave to cool in pan for 5 minutes then remove to rack to cool fully
  9. To finish the donuts dip in the melted chocolate and decorate to you liking

*Serve the ice cream and donuts however you like. Single scoop on a single donut and dusted with some feuilletine, adding some tasty textural crunch (I highly recommend this!); single scoop in an epic double donut sandwich or double scoop in a double donut extravaganza. The choice is yours- go WILD!

#Recipe: Chocolate, Guinness & Black Garlic Bundt cake with Smoked Chocolate glaze

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So I’ve (eventually) gotten around to posting this recipe- massive apologies for the delay. This cake first started out as an experiment using black garlic and was finished with a salted caramel sauce and served with forest fruits. I wanted to create something that looked and tasted indulgent but had a slight edginess to it- nothing too frou-frou! For me it was a Gothic romance in cake form. Time moved on and so did the recipe development. I replaced the salted caramel with a chocolate glaze but wanted to still keep my (signature) twist. And so liquid smoke was added. Depending on how much you use, this wonderful ingredient adds a tasty smoky flavour and in this case married really well with the black garlic of the bundt. It’s availble online or from good food ingredient stores.

iness; Chocolate and Black Garlic Bundt

The original version of the Chocolate, Guinness & Black Garlic bundt cake

Bundt cake mixture

375g plain flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

70g unsweetened cocoa powder

225g butter, softened

110g unsalted butter, chopped and softened

600g caster sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

5 eggs

125ml milk

125ml Guinness stout (from a bottle as opposed to a can)

6 cloves black garlic, chopped

100g dark chocolate chips or pieces

Chocolate glaze

12 Tablespoons icing sugar

4 teaspoons whole milk

1 tablespoon liquid smoke

*this mixtures makes enough for a very ample bundt cake (using a 25cm tin) or 2 standard sized ones (I used Nordicwares Fleur De Lis and Anniversary tins)

2015-11-18 16.52.49

To make the bundt cake

  • Preheat the oven to 170 C. Grease and flour  your Bundt cake tin(s)- or if your like me spray the inside with cake release spray.
  • Sift flour, baking powder, salt and cocoa together into a bowl and place to one side.
  • In a jug combine the milk and the Guinness. Set
  • In the bowl of your stand mixer, cream butter, margarine, sugar and vanilla until light and fluffy. (A tip here is to keep beating until you can no longer feel the sugar grains between you fingers).
  • Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each. Add flour mixture alternately with the milk/Guinness mixture. Mix to combine.
  • Add in the chopped black garlic cloves and chocolate chips. Mix well.
  • Pour into your prepared Bundt tin(s). Bake in the preheated oven for 70 minutes or until a skewer inserted into cake comes out clean. Let cool for 10 minutes in the tin, then turn out onto a wire rack and cool completely before glazing.

To make the glaze

  • Combine all the ingredients in a jug and mix well to combine until smooth. The mixture should fall easily from  your whisk and leave a slowly sinking trail in the bowl. If you find the mixture too stiff add some more milk in 1/2 teaspoon increments.

To finish

  • Place the cake on a cooling rack with some foil or baking parchment underneath to catch the drips.
  • Drizzle or paint the glaze onto the fully cooled cake until coated.
  • Spinkle with finishing decoration of you choice.
  • Slice, serve and enjoy!2015-11-18 16.55.00-1

 

 

Living in the Black

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If you follow my social media feeds (Twitter; Facebook and Instagram) you’ve probably noticed I’ve been posting a lot of recipes lately featuring the little known ingredient that is Black Garlic. Whilst it might conjure up not so pleasing images (and not to mention smells!) believe me it’s completely unfounded.
Courtesy of the team at Balsajo Original Black Garlic I’ve been experimenting on both the sweet and savoury fronts with some very tasty results indeed.

bbglogo

If you haven’t heard of Black Garlic yet please, please don’ tbe put off by the name. Yes- it is garlic “…but not as we know it Jim“. Forget the hard, pungent, opalescent nuggets that give us one of the cornerstones of cooking. Black Garlic is instead a case of Kitchen Alchemy made true. By process of heat and humidity (and probably some trade secret) familar white garlic bulbs are transformed into dark, fragrant, nuggets of molasses-like jelly. Again I say stick with me here! Whilst some people might be quick lable it shrivelled and black (well I guess it is black- there’s no fighting nature there!) what you can do with this is practically limitless. I’ve tried using it as an ingredient in sweet and savory dishes (and some in between). Thus far it’s prooved to be a very versatile ingredient indeed. Soft and jelly-like in texture with a flavour which brings to mind treacle, molasses, truffle, and balsamic I definitely recommend getting some of this into your kitchen. Its available in some selected supermarkets and artisan food stores. The guys over at Balsajo Black Garlic have included a handy stockist locator on their website. 

I’ve been wanting to experiment with Black Garlic for a while in order to test the full breadth of it’s uses and here’s what I came up with:

Fennel Seed & Black Garlic Toffee

Originally this came about as some Twitter banter between myself and the wonderful Miss Kitty Hope (yes indeed, she of Hope and Greenwood – purveyors of all things fantastical and sweet!)- but more about that later. We nattered about bacon in sweets/ bakes and somehow ended up challenging each other to creating something with a none-too-common ingredient and so black garlic was suggested. The resulting Black Garlic & Fennel Seed Toffee is a sweet, creamy toffee with a subtle hint of anise from the Fennel Seed and the treacley flavour of the black garlic adding to the creaminess. Surprisingly moreish- even if I do say so myself!

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Blueberry, Balck Garlic & Corriander Traybake

I needed to try the dark beauty of black garlic in a bake. Well- I wouldn’t be Mr. Mom’s without baking something now would I? Blueberry and corriander is a little known combo that works really well. The citrus notes of corriander seed boosting the flavour of the fruity blueberries. Topping the traybake with a limoncello buttercream frosting added an indulgent alcoholic kick (okay I’ll admit it I thought they were sounding just a little too healthy!). The addition of some chopped black garlic baked into the sponge mellows what otherwise might have been citrus overload and layers in nicley with the graduation from mellow to citrus kick.

2015-01-20 14.07.30-1

The adapted recipe in cupcake form was featured in my stint on the Mel & Sue show and you can find the recipe here.

Mel & Sue Cupcakes

Black Garlic & Chilli Oatcakes

So enough with the sweet things I thought. How about a savoury bake? My husband and I are chalk and cheese; oil and water; Yin and Yang when it comes to tastes. Whilst I am a complete an utter sweet-tooth advocate, he’s marches firmly to be beat of the Umami drum. I’ll have pudding and he’ll have cheese. Ah hah! And so I had my next experimental idea for black garlic. The treacley earthiness of the black garlic combines well with the mellow oatiness of these biscuits, before a subtle kick of heat comes in from the chilli. I tried them with a fabulous Epoisses  cheese, while my other half couldn’t get enough of them with a mature cheddar. They’ve definitely been added to my “Must Bake Again” list!

BG Oatcakes

Black Garlic & Matcha Green Tea Cupcakes

As I mentioned earlier on, this trip through the looking glass into the Land of Black Garlic happened because of some rather impromptu Twitter banter between myself and my new BFF Miss Kitty Hope. We challenged each other (I rather foolhardily) to create a bake, or sweet….or something (?) with  an unusual ingredient. I threw black garlic into the ring and Miss Hope picked up the gauntlet. The “competition” was facilitated by the team at Taste PR and kindly judged by the incredible Lily Jones (of Lily Vanilli). My black garlic & Matcha green tea cupcakes draw inspiration from the Asian background of black garlic and combine a number of Oriental flavours. The complete offering was a Matcha green tea & black garlic sponge, with Plum Wine spiked frosting, topped with a Matcha green tea, black garlic & black sesame seed marshmallow, and a candied black garlic clove “dart”. Rather incredibly (and very much to my surprise!) Lily decided on my cupcakes as a winner. I do however have to give kudos to Miss Kitty for providing some rather excellent and challenging competition (not to mention some hilarious Twitter “reading”!)

BG Cupcakes

 

So enough preaching the wonders of black garlic. As they say, “The proof is in the pudding”…or rather in this case- the toffee. I in no way intend to compete with the skilful mastery of confection that Hope & Greenwood have but I will freely admit to Miss Kitty Hope being the inspiration behind my Black Garlic & Fennel Seed Toffee. After all without her initial challenge in my Twit-stream I’d never have ventured into the realm of boiled sugar at all. So if you’re feeling up for it and fancy a little black garlic experimentation why not try you’re hand at making…

Black Garlic & Fennel Seed Toffee (aka Miss Kitty’s Challenge)

Ingredients:

500g caster sugar

125g salted butter

1 tbsp treacle

3 tbsp golden syrup

1 tsp vanilla extract

397g tin condensed milk 90ml water

1 tbsp fennel seeds

5 cloves black garlic, chopped

 

You’ll need:

A deep sided pan

A sugar thermometer

A silicone tray, or a baking parchment lined & greased tray

 

Method:

– In a deep pan, place the butter, sugar, treacle, golden syrup and water into a pan and heat, stirring constantly.

– Once all the ingredients are well mixed and melted, add the condensed milk slowly, stirring occasionally until it boils.

– Continue at a steady boil until the mixture reaches the “Hard crack” stage on a sugar thermometer, again stirring occasionally. Test that the toffee is ready by dropping a spoonful into cold water – if it turns solid, it is ready.

– Remove from the heat and carefully stir in the fennel seeds and black garlic. (Note: The black garlic may clump together as it’s quite sticky. Separate into smaller pieces as you as you add to the toffee mixture.)

– Pour into the prepared tray.  Allow to cool for about 6-7 minutes then score into regular sized pieces with a sharp knife.

– Once fully cooled break along the score lines into pieces.

– The toffee can be wrapped in baking parchment or greaseproof paper and stored in an air-tight container.

 

If you try my toffee recipe I do hope you enjoy and meantime,

“Remember Mom’s the word- that’s Mr. Mom’s!”

 

Watchya’ got cookin’…

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As you may have noticed I’ve been a little quiet on here recently. Fear not! All is well in the kitchen. The start of the school holidays has meant the start of a new routine in our house and it’s finally finding it’s pace. Well- at least for the next few weeks!

However just because I’ve been quiet on here doesn’t mean I’ve been quiet elsewhere. Recent months have seen the PR engines of Mr. Mom’s step up a gear or two.  The month of July saw some wonderful coverage by the team at Kitchen Table Projects . These guys are working towards created a food hub for up and coming artisan food producers to showcase their wares, whilst providing help and guidance along the way. Needless to say I was over the moon when they interviewed me for their “Amazing Artisan” feature. If you missed it you can read all about it here. I’m very much looking forward to seeing what Kitchen Table Projects have in store and hope that our paths will cross again soon!

Following on from my work with Toast on-line magazine, July also saw another of my recipes published. The wonderful Andrea and Leigh at Brilliant Baking Magazine create a superb monthly e-magazine (a steal at just £2.99 from the iTunes store) which tips, tricks and fantastic recipes. I was dead chuffed when they featured my recipe for Bacon Breakfast cupcakes in their latest issue. And trust me a Bacon cupcake isn’t as weird as it seems – just think bacon and pancakes for breakfast! I’ve got some more work lined up with Brilliant Baking magazine so keep your eyes peeled!

Besides writing I’ve also been busy in the kitchen and trying out some new bakes. On the whole they’ve been pretty successful i.e. tasty! I can’t really go into too much detail at this stage- I’m saving that for some MAJOR news and hopefully it’ll be none too soon. Alongside my “Top Secret” bakes I’ve been merrily Bundt-ing along with the Twitter team who normally take part in Sunday Bake Club. Due to a brief hiatus of SBC we geared ourselves up, dusted off our pans and stoked up the ovens in a ridge-ridden celebration of all things Nordic Ware.  Thanks to the team at BakeTalk they deemed my latest effort-  “Guinness, Chocolate and Black Garlic” bundt a worthy recipient of their weekly Golden Mixer Badge award in the Twitter-sphere. I was happy with the bake itself but getting this acknowledgement was certainly the icing on the cake (or should that be the glaze on the bundt?).

Rich, dark and moreish it’s a Guinness and chocolate sponge studded with chocolate pieces and black garlic. In place of a regular glaze I used a salted caramel sauce and sprinkled sea-salt over to give some bite to contrast the richness of the sponge. If the photographs have you salivating and itching to have a go, don’t worry I’ll be posting the recipe soon!

In the meantime, “Remember Mom’s the word- that’s Mr. Mom’s!”

Mr. Mom

Guinness; Chocolate and Black Garlic Bundt- reminiscent of a Gothic fairytale.

Salted caramel anyone?

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Sweet sauce and juicy berries