REESE'S PEANUT BUTTER FUDGE

I am sure I have mentioned before that I am a HUGE Reese's peanut butter cup fan. In fact my greatest food find of this year is the Reese's chocolate peanut butter spread....it has revolutionised our weekend breakfasts as the whole family loves it. In fact I rarely had breakfast before.....now I can't get enough....which is really not good for my figure especially as I have it with both baguette and butter! 

Anyway my daughter Bella and I made a board on Pinterest last week dedicated just to Reese's and this is one of the recipes we came across. It was very easy to make, it took about 15-20 minutes and then needed to be chilled in the fridge overnight. 

Ingredients for 25 squares:

397g tin condensed milk
300g white chocolate
200g peanut butter
25g butter (can be salted or unsalted)
100g icing sugar, sifted
Around 200g mini Reese's peanut butter cups
Around 150g Reese's Pieces (You can add more or less if you want)

Line a tin/dish with baking paper. The recipe recommends one that is 9 x 9" however mine was 10 x 7". I don't think size really matters (this time!), just use what you have. 

In a heavy based saucepan, mix in the white chocolate, peanut butter, butter and condensed milk. Melt on a very low heat so the chocolate doesn't get stuck on the bottom and burn, and that all the ingredients combine together. It might take a while but it is important to do it over a low heat. Mine took around 10 minutes. Pour into a large mixing bowl.

Sift the icing sugar and beat well. I just used a spoon rather than an electric mixer. Once completely combined, add in most of the peanut butter cups and Reese's pieces and fold. Keep some left over to sprinkle on top.

Pour into the baking tin and smooth over the mixture. Sprinkle with the rest of the Reese's and press in. Put in the fridge for at least 3-4 hours but ideally overnight.

We did try the fudge after a few hours in the fridge and it was good but it was much better after it had set overnight. Once set, cut into squares and enjoy. Our squares were obviously very large!!

I love Reese's and I love fudge so this combination was the dream!! My only alteration I would make next time is I would probably add some big Reese's peanut butter cups too....in my opinion you can never have enough. I also added some of this fudge to my bowl of ice cream last night which I highly recommend if you are a little piggy like me!!

PIZOOKIE (A PIZZA SIZE COOKIE)

A couple of months ago I went to a fantastic restaurant on the Chelsea / Fulham border called Megan's and I had the most amazing pudding. It was basically a warm giant cookie with Nutella in the middle served with vanilla ice cream. The waiter tried to suggest it might be too much for just me but of course being such a piglet, I managed to finish the whole lot off and I have been dreaming about it ever since. Megan's isn't very pram friendly so I decided the quickest way I can have this pudding again is to make it myself.

This recipe is from Waitrose magazine and it took about 45 minutes to make. You need to leave it to cool for at least 10 minutes at the end.

Ingredients for 8-10 slices

125g salted butter, at room temperature
150g light soft brown sugar
100g golden caster sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
200g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1/2 tsp salt
250g milk chocolate, broken into chunks

Preheat the oven to 180C / gas mark 4.

Put the butter and sugars in a bowl and using electric beaters, beat for 3-4 minutes until light and fluffy.

Then beat the eggs in one at a time, followed by the vanilla extract.

In a separate bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt. Tip into the butter mixture, beat until just combined and then stir through the chocolate chunks.

Spoon into a 20cm ovenproof frying pan or similar size cake tin. I used a 23cm cake tin which I sprayed with cooking spray and then lined with baking paper so it was easy to remove.

Bake in the oven for 25 - 30 minutes until golden, (25 minutes yields a molten centre whereas 30 minutes will be slightly more set).

Cool for 10 minutes at least and then serve with a big dollop of ice cream if you like.

There are no words to describe how absolutely scrumptious this is.....it is so good I have made it twice this week! This pizookie is very easy to make and it tastes heavenly. Mine was incredibly soft, warm and gooey and it went perfectly with the ice cream. One word of warning, it is not good for the bikini body!!! If you manage to resist eating it all in one go, it will keep for a few days.

BLUEBERRY MUFFINS

My one year old Olympia tried a blueberry muffin the other day and she absolutely loved it so I decided I should bake some. I haven't made any since I was about 15 and so searched online for an quick and easy recipe. I feel I am cooking all the time at the moment. I like to cook in batches and then freeze it for Olympia but she seems to get through it all so quickly....a little piglet like her mummy!!

This recipe is from Inspired Taste website.

Ingredients for 10 muffins:

195g plain flour
150g granulated sugar
A pinch of salt
2 tsp baking powder
80ml vegetable oil
1 large egg
80ml-120ml milk (dairy or non dairy)
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
200g fresh blueberries

Preheat the oven to 200 C.

Line a muffin tray with 10 muffin / cupcake paper cups. Fill the remaining two cup holes with a couple of tablespoons of water to help the muffins bake evenly.

Whisk the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a large bowl. I just used a handheld whisk.

Pour the oil into a measuring jug, crack in the egg and then add enough milk to reach the 240ml line. I added about 120ml. Next pour in the vanilla extract and whisk to combine.

Add the milk mixture to the bowl with the dry ingredients and use a fork to combine. Do not over mix - you want the batter to be quite thick and "scoopable". If the batter is too dry, add a little bit of milk whereas if it is too runny, add a little flour. I had absolutely no idea whether my batter was the correct consistency, but I just went for it. Finally fold in the blueberries.

Spoon the batter into the muffin cups and bake for 15-20 minutes. I did 20 minutes. To check if the muffins are cooked, the tops need to dry, not wet and if you insert a toothpick, it comes out with crumbs not wet batter. Mine didn't come out with crumbs but it wasn't wet either so I took that as a sign they were cooked.

Transfer to a cooling rack and then tuck in.

I gave one of these to my baby Olympia to do the taste test....and I am proud to say they passed with flying colours. She devoured it in a matter of minutes. I loved how many blueberries were in each muffin (so they are not too naughty). They will only last a few days at room temperature before going stale but they can be frozen. A great snack for the baby (and me)!!

KID FRIENDLY RESTAURANTS - MUDDY STILETTOS

I recently worked with the lovely Joanna at Muddy Stilettos Wiltshire to create an article on the best kid friendly restaurants in London. It is not always easy eating out with kids, and if you are like me and want to branch out from the usual Pizza Express and Wagamamas, this should give you some inspiration.

In hindsight I should have posted this before half term but I have been away - my first sunny holiday with the baby. It wasn't as relaxing as previous holidays but it was lovely to have sunshine and family time and we discovered Olympia LOVES watermelon so expect some watermelon based recipes to come up!

https://wilts.muddystilettos.co.uk/health-fitness/food/perfect-eats-town-mudlets/

JOE ALLEN, COVENT GARDEN

Joe Allen opened 40 years ago following the success of its American sister restaurant and it has been a hit ever since. If you are going to the theatre, it has always been one of the places to dine. The venue is filled with theatre memorabilia (we loved ticking off all the shows we had seen on the back of the menu), the waiters are wannabe actors and the casts of the shows regularly frequent the restaurant. I loved that at 17.45 the restaurant was practically full to the brim and had a great buzzy atmosphere. 

We were immediately shown to our table and it bought back memories of my last trip to Joe Allen's over 20 years ago (eeek I am getting old)! I made my daughter Arabella order a Shirley Temple as that was my old favourite.

The menu is typically American - ribs, salads, chicken, steaks, eggs - a lot to choose from. We decided to start with crispy squid and tortilla chips with guacamole. 

The food came out very quickly. I was expecting more from the squid, it didn't taste particularly fresh and was quite chewy however we were all fighting over the tortilla chips and guacamole, it was delicious. Arabella licked the bowl clean!!

They had a great children's menu with all the usual suspects and it was no surprise to any of us that Arabella went for mac and cheese. The portion size was quite large for a kids' menu but we weren't complaining as it meant we could all tuck in and together we polished the creamy, cheesy dish off.

I completely forgot about the secret burgers that are off menu and so instead went for "Mac Ragu" which is a combination of beef and pork ragu with mac and cheese and my husband Pascal ordered crispy pork belly with spicy Boston beans.

We enjoyed the mac ragu but in our opinion it wasn't cheesy enough and was a little dry. Once we added a couple of spoonfuls of Arabella's mac and cheese, it was perfect. The crispy pork on the other hand was amazing, the pork was soft and succulent whilst crispy on the top and we loved the beans which I am happy to report weren't spicy at all. 

Despite being fit to burst, I still wanted a pudding so I encouraged Arabella to order the knickerbocker brownie from the children's menu. I was expecting something small but instead was presented with a huge sundae of ice cream, sorbet, chocolate, cream, brownie and caramel sauce - Heaven!!

I wonder how big the adult one is...I might have to research it one day, along with the secret burgers!!

Once I had scoffed the ice cream sundae, we ordered the bill and we were very pleasantly surprised at how reasonable the evening was - it made me like the restaurant even more. I was sad to leave as I loved listening to the pianist playing but it was time to hotfoot it to the theatre. 

If you are looking for a show, go and see School of Rock - it is AMAZING. The kids play all their own instruments and are outstanding - I am hoping it might encourage Arabella to practise her flute!!

Joe Allen

13 Exeter Street
London
WC2E 7DT
Tel: 020 7836 0651
Email: info@joeallen.co.uk