Dan explains what you actually get if you order 'Aubergine in Manzanilla' in Sanlucar...

I'm writing this recipe up quickly before I forget. This really is the most delicious chocolate icing I've ever tasted.

I found the original recipe on this blog* while I was looking for a spiced chocolate cake recipe for a job. I was going to be making four different kinds of cake and had already picked out three buttercream recipes for the other cakes. I thought this cream cheese (and butter!) based icing would be great for the fourth cake.

After surviving without any sort of mixer at home or at the cafe for years and doing everything by hand, I now have a Magimix at home which has just been joined by a KitchenAid that Dan bought last week. It's mixer madness. I'd made all four batches of cake in the Kitchenaid during the morning but was unsure which bit of kit would be best for the buttercreams. I turned to Twitter for advice, as I so often do. Within minutes I'd got replies, including a very specific and useful answer from @TuHwntirBont (any guesses on the pronunciation of that one?? Or the town where they are - Llanrwst?!) who are are an award winning tearoom in North Wales. They helpfully told me;

'I use a Kitchenaid for all my buttercreams except the cream cheese frosting which is much better done in the Magimix'

There was a bit of a false start where I forgot what I was doing for a moment (I'd been baking for hours, gimme a break!) and started the icing off in the Kitchenaid. It went lumpy, full of unblended chunks of butter. Not good enough. I followed @TuHwntirBont's advice and ended up tipping the whole lot into the Magimix. I blitzed it for a minute or so with the blade attachment fitted and ended up with the silkiest, most amazing icing I've ever made. 

So, there you go. How to make awesome icing. Half in the Kitchenaid, half in the Magimix! Or, just in the Magimix. Or, like I managed for 30 years, by hand (although you won't get that silky quality, it will still taste fantastic).

*I have Anglicized the ingredients, converted all the quantities into metric and upped the vanilla quota.

Chocolate Cream Cheese Icing (enough to ice 24 cupcakes generously)

225g butter, softened

450g cream cheese

2 tsp vanilla essence

Seeds of 1 vanilla pod (stick the empty pod skin in a jar of sugar to make homemade vanilla sugar)

750g Icing sugar

120g cocoa powder

Blend the cream cheese with the butter until well blended and smooth. Add the vanilla essence and seeds. Mix. Add the icing sugar and cocoa powder and mix well until smooth.

Look, I've made it really easy for you!! Remember, you don't need to pick somewhere for every category, just the ones you think merit particular mention.... In fact, you know there's only one you really need to fill in! Cheers!

(PS It's Best Cafe Food, in case you hadn't realised)

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From www.guide2bristol.com

#BGFA2012 

Restaurants Nominations Form - Bristol Good Food Awards 2012 

 

WIN A NIGHT OUT IN BRISTOL!

 

Thank you for taking the time to help nominate the Bristol Good Food Awards 2012 for restaurants. Bristol Good Food Awards is shining the spotlight on the very best restaurants, cafes and delis in Bristol.

 

Please take a look below and nominate your favourites in as many of the categories you like. The top five in each category who get the most votes will be judged by mystery diners who include food and wine writer Angela Mount, Guardian food and drink writer Fiona Beckett, Telegraph food writer Xanthe Clay, Evening Post food reviewer Mark Taylor, Flavour magazine editor Nick Gregory, culinary guru Barbora Stiess of The Devilled Egg Kitchen Academy and Bristol Bites food blogger Emily Knight.

 

The winners will be presented with a wonderful trophy at the Bristol Good Food Awards gala evening, being held at the City Museum & Art Gallery on Tuesday 3rd July.

 

Simply choose your favourites below on this voting form and press submit. You’ll be entered into a draw to win yourself and a friend an all expenses paid Night Out in Bristol!

NOMINATIONS CLOSE: 01 May 2012

 

Name:
Email Address:
Telephone:
Best Restaurant
Best Family Friendly
Best Seafood
Best British
Best French
Best Asian
Best Chinese
Best Indian
Best Italian
Best Vegetarian
Best Pub Food
Best Sunday Lunch
Best Chef
Best Chain
Best Wine List (Not Fine Dining)
Best Fine Dining Wine List
Best Buffet
Best Burger
Best Cafe Food
Best Deli
Best Breakfast
Best Alfresco Dining
Best Newcomer (Established within the last year)
Best Supporter of Local Produce

I wrote a massive long post, with all the recipes from the demo and everything, and I lost it all. So, for now, here's some pics and the rest will follow.

Oh, and if anybody else says I should have saved it, I'll scream. Ta.

Thanks to Dan for all the help and the pics x

 

I first became aware of kaymak while doing a bit (a lot) of research before we left for Istanbul. I was trawling the Istanbul Eats website and found an article about a traditional Turkish dish that was written with such passion and desire, I was sure this was something I couldn't miss. They descibe Kaymak as a 'delicious Turkish version of clotted cream' and go on to say that it 'is the only food served in heaven, where angels in white robes dish out plate after plate of the cloudlike stuff to the dearly departed, who no longer have to worry about cholesterol counts and visits to the cardiologist.' How could I resist?

Before our trip, I looked up some of the places Istanbul Eats listed as their favourite spots to try this sublime creation. The comments under their post made me think that Istanbul's winding streets, partnered with my horrendous sense of direction would mean I had no chance at all of finding either of these addresses. How could I get so near but so far? I couldn't possibly come to Istanbul and miss out on trying the classic Turkish combo of kaymak served with honey and crusty white bread. As soon as I knew this dish existed I had to find a way of sampling what they described as 'one of the finest breakfasts anywhere'.

We had arranged to join the Istanbul Eats walking and eating tour on the second day of our holiday. A wonderful seven hours full of sampling many, many delights started with one of the most memorable breakfasts of my life.

Hardly without us noticing, our tour guide Angelis gathered bits and pieces from various market and street stalls as he lead us round, chatting and describing as he walked, the five of us following behind him like devoted fans, hanging off his every word, mouths slightly open and ready to recieve any tidbits he handed out. A bag of olives here, some cheese there. A bag of simit (Turkish sesame 'bagels'), his bag was filling up and we didn't even know it.

We'd been told to arrive hungry and we soon discovered why. Angelis led us down an alleyway and into a 'han' - the large warehouse / storage spaces that form a part of the markets of Istanbul. Here we arrived at a desk papered with a newspaper tablecloth and surrounded by stools. We were invited to sit and soon the cay man arrived and we were offered tea or coffee. Angelis started to unpack his stash and lay it out in the table. Bags were ripped open and dotted around. A plate was then placed in the middle of the table, a pool of honey cascading over the creamy contours of the kaymak. Everything else blurred into nothing as I realised I was going to be able to try this fabled stuff at last. 

I tore a chunk from the sesame simit and dragged it through the kaymak and honey. The toasted, nutty taste of the bread with the thick, creamy, sweet mixture was incredible. Utter joy mixed with mild panic when I realised this was like nothing I'd ever tasted before and was sure to be hard to find away from Turkey.  

We ate it a few more times during our stay and as we neared the end of our holiday I started to wonder whether I could get hold of it back in England. A quick Google and I came across details of a shop that apparently stocks it - The Turkish Food Centre in east London. I promised myself I would seek it out as soon as possible. I also started looking into how easy it would be to make. Kaymak, like so many of the good things in life, is wonderfully simple. It is made from milk (or some recipes list milk and cream) – preferably from domesticated water buffaloes, known as “manda” in Turkish – which is slowly boiled (we're talking all day - about eight hours). After chilling, a thick layer of very rich, pure white cream forms at the top and this is the kaymak. I can only describe it's consistency as similar to clotted cream, but a little more liquid. Perhaps like Greek yogurt mixed with clotted cream? It's also not as rich or sweet as clotted cream, but it's definitely not salty. Just thinking about it is making my mouth water, but it's very hard to describe. Will it be as hard to produce? I intend to find out. Stay tuned!

 

Thanks to @EssexEating for the first two photos

No disposable paper cups with plastic lids here... Small glasses of tea are distributed from small kiosks dotted throughout the souks and delivered to stall holders in the markets of Istanbul by men carrying large, handled metal trays.

 

 

Open 8am til 2pm, Monday to Friday in the old Sofa Riot building (junction of Stokes Croft and Nine Tree Hill)

After an absolutely perfect Sunday lunch at The 'Spoon a fortnight ago, we woke up on Saturday morning and the first thing Dan said to me was "I want to go for breakfast at The Runcible Spoon today". I had to agree.

The All day, every Saturday breakfast is a thing of beauty.
Two options (meat or veggie), both include a pot of tea or coffee and are ridiculously good value at £6.50 for the meat and £5.50 for the veggie.

Dan's breakfast consisted of fried egg, homemade sourdough toast, tomato, black pudding, sausage, homemade baked beans, bacon, mushrooms and fried potatoes. Instead of the three meaty components, I got sautéed kale and a pumpkin mash (and a £1 reduction!). I'd never considered kale or pumpkin to have a rightful place on a breakfast plate but as 'breakfast' at The Spoon doesn't serve til 1200, it's really brunch (or even lunch?) and anyhow, they were both delicious so I don't care.

Every element was spot on. Not a single point of complaint from either of us. Dan's eternal struggle with being given a leek and pork sausage at breakfast (and I quote "there's no place for a leek sausage at breakfast. It is not a breakfast sausage") enjoyed a beautiful respite, thank goodness. I've seen entire days wrecked after someone's placed the Wrong Sausage on his plate. It was, therefore, as much of a relief for me as him when the banger on Saturday was mercifully leek free.

We had a pot of Extract coffee and a pot of peppermint tea, a big dollop of homemade ketchup and a leisurely hour flicking through the cookbooks on the shelf (they've got some we haven't! Shock!). I feel very lucky to have such a great place so close to home. It really is wonderful. They never lets us down and at breakfast, lunch and supper, The Runcible Spoon keeps proving how bloody well they can cook.

Oh, The Runcible Spoon, how we love you.

A stumble out of our flat, into your warm and cosy basement. Free (gin) bloody marys. The papers. A brilliant and mercifully short menu. Perfect food. 3 courses for £16. A short stumble home to snooze on the sofa. Lush.

@runciblespoon1
www.the-runcible-spoon.com
0117 3297645
3 Nine Tree Hill
Stokes Croft
Bristol
BS1