The Great Cream Cheese Mystery...

My friend and Sugar Moon customer Deborah - you can read her beautiful blog here , where she writes about her life in West Wales (and takes fabulous photos!) - recently set me a challenge. She wondered why she (and several of her friends and neighbours) could no longer obtain good results when using Philadelphia cream cheese to make cream cheese frosting and recipes from U.S cookbooks, such as cheesecake. There was no problem with U.K recipes, just American ones. She wondered whether there was a different formula to the British product (and suspects it has changed recently, although she had no answer from Kraft when she contacted them to ask!) This really intrigued me, as I have never had a problem. At Sugar Moon , we don't use cream cheese in general...but I do when baking for friends and family and I almost exclusively bake from U.S cookbooks too. So I decided to experiment!

I made my usual cream cheese frosting - a staple of the Blue Angel Bakery repertoire, essential for Carrot Cake, Mango & Coconut Cake and many others. I used full fat Philadelphia ('light' versions just will not work as there is too much water and other ingredients in there...you need the fat!)

I always make the frosting in my trusty Magimix Pro food processor. I started with softened unsalted butter...

...added icing sugar....

...then I processed the two together to mix thoroughly before adding the cheese...

...now, it does tend to go a little runny to start with. But I just left the motor running and pretty soon (within a minute or two), it all came together to make a thick, smooth and shiny frosting...

Voila! As a balance, I also made exactly the same recipe but used a tub of Sainsbury's own-brand full fat soft cheese. Although this actually had a slightly higher fat content (25% as opposed to 21.5% in the Philadelphia) it didn't work nearly as well...

As you can see from the photo above, it 'split' slightly and had a grainy unpleasant texture.

Back to the Philly version. I wanted to check that it would pipe well and stand up as a proper frosting, so I filled a disposable bag and...

...it did the job perfectly. So I hope that helps, Deb? It kept well and was just as good texture-wise three days later (kept in a lidded plastic container in the fridge). I would say that several things definitely help; use a food processor if at all possible, because it works so quickly and seems to help with the mixing and texture of the finished frosting. Also, I think mixing the butter and sugar together first helps too. And lastly, perhaps, the proportions? The temptation when it's a bit runny is to add more icing sugar to stiffen it up, as this works so well with fondant or glace icings. But more sugar just makes cream cheese frosting runnier. It's the fat content that keeps everything firm...

The proportions I use are:

butter - 50g
icing sugar - 125g &
cream cheese - 1 family size tub which is 280g (and yes, Philadelphia, I have noticed that it used to be 300g for the same price....!)
Scale up as necessary depending on how much frosting you need!

I will test a US cheesecake recipe next and post it on our Facebook page for all those that are interested!

And after my last post ended with my lunchtime sourdough & tomato bruschetta, I thought I'd end this one with my Saturday (and many other) breakfast! More toasted sourdough - I really adore it - with homemade hummus (chickpeas soaked and boiled,plenty of flat leaf parsley, tahini, garlic and lemon juice) sprinkled with a little Maldon seasalt , lots of black pepper and a glug of olive oil. My favourite summery way to start the day (preferably eaten outside!)

We baked, packed and sent a LOT of Father's Day brownie boxes today...so their should be many smiling and chocolate-filled Dads on Sunday! If your Dad is still with you, or your children have a lovely one, or you have someone you think of as a Dad - make sure to give him a VERY big hug on Sunday. They are precious things!

Have a great weekend! xx

The weekend breakfast...

Like many people, we usually have a 'special' breakfast at the weekend...mainly on a Sunday. Paul takes over Alice- walking duties on weekend mornings and I usually stay behind to do some tidying, have a long bath & cook the breakfast! This Sunday, I had some celeriac & potato mash left over from dinner on Friday. It was mixed with chopped spring onion and just too good to waste...so I had the brainwave of making it into crispy cakes to go with the fried eggs & garlicky chili tomatoes & mushrooms that Paul loves. I divided the mash into 5 little patties (I didn't add anything to the mixture. except some chopped cooked brussels sprouts that were also leftover - so maybe they should be called Bubble & Squeak Breakfast Cakes?!)

then I coated them lightly on both sides with seasoned flour, to give them a crunchy coating...

 I heated a mixture of sunflower & olive oil in a large frying pan until sizzling hot, and dropped the patties in gently...

turning them over gently with a fish slice to cook the other side after about 5 minutes...

oooh, they smelt delicious! They kept very well in a low oven while I prepared the rest of the breakfast. Paul and Alice arrived home, chilly & hungry from their long walk... and while she tucked into a bowl of meat & biscuits, Paul ate the breakfast you see at the beginning of the post! I can't say who enjoyed their meal the most...but Paul did say that I should always make too much mash the night before, so he can have crispy celeriac & potato cakes again soon!

I made a little video so that you can hear my creations sizzling deliciously in their pan! I'm sorry that it's not in smell-o-vision...but in the background is the soundtrack to 'Becoming Jane'...which I hope will make up for it!

Have a great week xoxo

Breakfasts & feeding the monsters....

The past week has been a strange one....I've had to find a new rhythm to my days since I stopped supplying the Coffee Tree...and also something new to blog about here! Almost all of my day to day baking at the moment comprises trays and trays of brownies...and while these taste & look delicious, they're not the most interesting of subjects to photograph or to talk about!

So for the moment I'll head back into more personal food territory, and see where that takes me. I'm beginning with breakfast!
Paul is someone who really needs breakfast. By that I mean that he just doesn't have a good start to his day if he doesn't eat properly. I, on the other hand, have to force myself to eat anything - it just doesn't feel natural at all. Perhaps that's the legacy of such an early start to my working day - I'd just rather get up and get out and get going!
But there's no doubt that I feel better when I do have something...and so I'm trying to train myself to be better at cooking for both of us first thing. I try and vary things every day...and we both like different meals. Paul adores a grilled kipper (especially on Sunday mornings) with brown bread & butter...I love yoghurt, especially gooseberry or rhubarb. This morning he had no time to sit and eat so I got the frying pan out...

and cooked some dry-cured outdoor bred unsmoked back bacon (very important to get GOOD bacon from as happy-as-possible-in-the-circumstances pigs, I think) and made him a bacon sandwich to go...

He likes his sandwich on untoasted wholemeal bread, buttered on both sides, with the bacon cooked but NOT crispy! Very particular, my husband....
I had a bowl of porridge - my absolute favourite thing on a cold, dark November morning...

made with water, not milk...sprinkled with cinnamon, seasalt flakes and just a soupcon of real Canadian maple syrup. I'm quite particular myself, come to think of it! Absolutely delicious. I also have to have at least one cup of (real) coffee...in one of my favourite mugs...

See a pattern emerging there? There aren't many Mozart mugs, but between my Mum and I, I think we must have most of them. And it makes me so happy to drink my coffee from one...it doesn't feel right any other way. It's the little things like this that help to start my day in the right frame of mind, I've found!
Fridays at this time of year are also feeding time. For my Christmas cakes that is...
They are all baked and ready for the Christmas Farmer's Market and other orders...and sit, tightly wrapped in double layers of clingfilm and foil, at the back of a cool dark cupboard awaiting the time when they'll be dressed in their icing finery nearer to the Big Day! But for now, every Friday they are unwrapped and fed with either brandy or rum (according to the fruits they contain)

this keeps them beautifully moist and ensures that they taste gorgeous on the Christmas tea table. Of course, I do make some with no alcohol too - but these are the biggest sellers by far. They do have their personalities, it seems to me, as they sit and glower in their cupboard...the small and squat ones, the bigger taller ones....cakes are like my babies, as you can see!

I'm just eating a wonderful bowl of soup, made with the help of my youngest nephew William yesterday. Carrot, cumin & fresh pear. The pear was his idea - inspired, it is absolutely delicious. We cooks should listen to three year olds more often!

I'd love to know what your favourite breakfast is...leave me a comment and let me know? Thanks so much for reading and have a wonsderful weekend xoxo

Beautiful breakfast....

Firstly, the Coffee & Walnut Cake that was delivered to the Coffee Tree this morning. There was also a Date Slice, but the photos were too dark to post! This is one of the most popular cake flavours at the cafe, and true to form I received a call shortly after lunch to say that the whole thing had been sold and could I please supply an extra cake tomorrow! So that's made now...more in the morning!

I didn't make that delivery today...Paul dropped the order off on his way into the office, as I stayed last night in London so that this morning I could have breakfast with a friend at this restaurant....

NOPI in Soho. It's also partly owned by a friend, and I've been several times already (although it only opened officially a month ago) but this was my first breakfast there. As you can see, today was a gorgeous, sunny Spring day in London...the kind of day that makes perfect strangers smile and wish you 'Good Morning!' which is fairly rare in the UK! Everyone was happy as I walked from Marylebone through the bright shiny streets. I arrived first as my friend was caught in traffic on the bus...so I ordered a coffee as I looked at the menu...

everything looked gorgeous. I wsa deciding what to choose when my friend arrived, slightly breathless and apologetic! We're the sort of friends who immediately talk and talk...and forget that we're actually there to order and eat...so it took some patience and gentle prompting from the waitress to get us to make a decision! This was my choice...

Black Rice with Coconut Cream, Fresh Mango & Banana. There was also some palm syrup on the side in a beautiful little misshapen jug. Divine. My perfect breakfast (which is saying something as I don't usually eat first thing...) Like a nutty, flavourful, milkless rice pudding with zingy fresh fruit & tropical hints....beautiful. My friend chose...

Courgette & Manouri Fritters with a mint & dill salad and yoghurt dressing. Crispy, fresh, cool....a little salty for my taste, but savoury and good. We shared each others plates and were greedy enough to order a mixture of sourdough bread and pastries on the side as well (although we were good and only ate what we wanted - regretfully leaving what we couldn't finish!) It all sounded so lovely we didn't want to miss out!

We ended up catching up and laughing for longer than I thought - I had to run to catch the train home, face red from the heat! But I've been smiling all day, because of the lovely beginning to this Friday. A special treat, a special feast & special friends. And now the weekend! Perfection.

Enjoy your day too - I wish you sunshine and laughter! xoxo