Pancake recipe by Philippa Vine, Bluebell Farmhouse Kitchen

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Ingredients

  • 100g plain flour
  • 2 eggs
  • 300ml milk
  • 25g butter, melted

Method

Sift the flour into a mixing bowl. Make a well in the centre & beat in the eggs using a whisk.

As the egg mixture becomes thicker, add a little milk to loosen it, then keep whisking & add the remaining milk. Whisk well until mixture is smooth. Then add the melted butter.

Check the consistency of the batter, it should be thin like single cream.

Ensure your ESSE hot plate is hot (200). Wipe the hot plate with kitchen paper dipped in a little melted butter or oil. Using a ladle, pour the batter into a circle, using your ladle to swirl it around. Cook for a minute or two until small air bubbles start appearing.

Using a palette knife to release and lift the edge of the pancake and flip over & cook the second side until golden, then carefully remove it from the hot plate to serve. (The pancakes won’t stick together when stacked up with the added melted butter to the batter.)

Note: Often the first pancake will either be too thick or will break. Check the consistency of the batter and add a little milk if too thick. As you become more familiar with pouring the batter and swirling it, the pancakes will improve. (The first pancake is for the cook!) Happy cooking!

Recipe provided by Philippa Vine, Bluebell Farmhouse Kitchen.

Florentines

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This recipe highlights the gentle method of melting of the butter and chocolate on an ESSE induction hob, no water bath required.

Ingredients

  • 150g flaked almonds
  • 50g butter, melted
  • 40g plain flour
  • 90g caster sugar
  • 120ml double cream
  • 30ml honey
  • 115g dried fruit
  • 50g dark chocolate

Method

  1. Cooking them in the ESSE oven at 170C / ESSE dial reading to be in the middle of MODERATE.
  2. Mix all the ingredients together.
  3. Spoon into round non stick tins, flatten down with the back of the spoon.
  4. Bake for about 15 to 20 mins until golden.
  5. Remove from oven, allow to cool.
  6. Remove from the tin and place on a cooling rack.
  7. Melt chocolate and coat the flat side of the florentine. Chill to set the chocolate.

Recipe provided by Philippa Vine, Bluebell Farmhouse Kitchen.

Bunny Biscuits

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Children will enjoy making these buttery biscuits with currants and spice for family and friends. They are also perfect to wrap gifts.

Makes

20 – 25

Ingredients

  • 125g softened butter
  • 75g caster sugar, plus 1-2 tbsp extra for sprinkling
  • 1 egg, separated
  • 200g plain flour
  • 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp ground mixed spice
  • grated zest of 1 lemon
  • 75g currants
  • 2 tbsp milk

Method

  1. Preheat the oven to 200°C/Fan 180°C/Esse Dial Guide HOT. (Aim for the dial reading to be in the middle of HOT).
  2. Beat the butter with the sugar until pale and fluffy. Beat in the egg yolk then gently stir in the flour, cinnamon, mixed spice, lemon zest and currants. Gradually stir in the milk until the dough starts to come together… you may need slightly less or more of the milk.
  3. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth. Roll out until about 5mm thick then stamp out the biscuits using a round 7.5cm cutter or shape of your choice.
  4. Place on 2-3 greased baking trays and cook in the oven for 10 minutes. Remove from the oven. Whisk the egg white just a little to break up, brush lightly over the biscuits and sprinkle with the caster sugar. Return to the oven for a further 5 minutes until just golden. Remove and cool on a wire rack.
  5. Store in an airtight tin for 2-3 days.

Get ahead!

The biscuits can be made ahead and stored in an airtight tin for 2-3 days. Freshen by placing them in a warm oven for 3-4 minutes.

Recipe created by Carol Bowen Ball the UK’s first bariatric cook.

Chicken Stock

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Makes

1 – 1.5ltrs

Ingredients

  • 1 cooked chicken carcass
  • the neck and giblets from the chicken, but not the liver
  • 1-2 onions, roughly chopped
  • 1-2 large carrots, roughly chopped
  • 2 bay leaves
  • a few black peppercorns
  • 3-4 celery sticks, roughly chopped
  • ½ a large leek, roughly chopped
  • a few chunks of peeled celeriac or parsnip (optional)
  • 1 sprig of thyme (optional)
  • a few parsley stalks (optional)

Apple on the bottom Creme brulee

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These lovely deserts are great cooked in a medium oven. The ESSE oven stays nice and moist when you cook these little custards in a bain-marie.

Serves

Six people

Ingredients

  • 1 kilo of Bramley apples
  • 400ml double cream
  • 100ml milk
  • 1 fresh vanilla pod
  • 100 g caster sugar plus extra for the topping.
  • 6 egg yolks

Method

Peel, core and slice about a a kilo of Bramley apples, then cook them over a gentle heat with a shake of caster sugar and just a dribble of water to prevent them burning. Simmer gently, stirring occasionally, until the apple pieces have completely dissolved. Go on cooking gently and stirring until you have a thick, slightly translucent purée. Add more caster sugar to taste – enough to achieve a purée that is still tart but not unpleasantly so. Leave to cool.

Divide the purée between 6–8 ramekins or other small heatproof dishes, you want about a centimeter or so of purée in each ramekin, chill thoroughly in the fridge.

Scold the cream, milk and split vanilla pod in a pan set over a medium heat. Allow to stand for 5 mins to infuse.

Carefully scrape the seeds out of the vanilla pod into the cream mixture.

Combine the egg yolks and sugar together in a large mixing bowl, but don’t over mix.

Pour the hot cream over the eggs and whisk well.

Strain the vanilla custard through a sieve into a jug.

Pour the custard gently over the apple compote being careful not to break it up to much; I pour it over the back of a spoon set just above the ramekin. Bake the crème Brulee’s in a roasting tin half filled up with hot water (This is called a Bain Marie).

Cook gently for 25 to 35 mins or until just set. You want a hint of a wobble in the centre.

Remove the crème Brulee’s from the oven and chill until needed.

To serve scatter a teaspoon of caster sugar over the top of each ramekin. Flash them under a hot grill or caramelise the sugar with a blow torch until golden and bubbling.

This will set to give a crisp caramel coating.

Wholemeal ESSE Hotplate Pancakes

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This recipe for my little hotplate pancakes is quick, easy and delicious. I use self raising flour which means they rise slightly on cooking, the result being lighter and more textured than traditional pancakes.

This recipe can be customised in many ways. Adding different flavours and spices is part of the fun. For instance, grating a little blue cheese into the batter and serving them with thick slices of roast ham would make a beautiful Sunday night supper. Alternatively adding some cinnamon and a little chopped apple to the batter would make a perfect desert, served hot with vanilla ice cream.

Cooking these pancakes directly on the plate is immensely satisfying and not at all messy. You can make big ones or small, it’s up to you.

I keep a tea towel by my ESSE for cleaning up the plate. Giving it a good firm rub will polish it up perfectly for cooking on.

Serves

Makes around 15 hot cakes depending on size

Ingredients

  • Whole meal self raising flour – 250g
  • Baking powder – 1 teaspoon
  • Caster sugar – 25g
  • Free-range eggs – 2
  • Fresh milk – 275ml
  • Butter (melted) – 25g
  • A pinch of salt
  • ESSE range cooker – simmering plate

Method

Sift the flour, baking powder and salt into a large bowl and stir in the caster sugar. Make a well in the flour and break the eggs into the middle. Pour in about half the milk. Whisk, gently at first, and then as you start to get a thick paste, add the more milk and the melted butter. Beat until you get a good, thick creamy batter – you might not need all the milk.

Lift the lid on the right hand plate. Check the temperature, the dial should be reading in the middle of hot. Use a spoon to dollop the batter directly onto the clean plate. You should be able to fit 3 – 4 on at a time depending on the size. After about a minute, little bubbles will start to appear on the surface of the cakes. As soon as they cover the surface, flip them over with a spatula or thin palette knife.

Cook the other side for a further minute or so, then transfer them to a warm plate and cover them with a clean tea towel so they stay soft – or hand over to those waiting eagerly to get stuck in. Cook the remaining batter in the same way, adjusting the area on which you’re cooking over if they are getting too brown too quickly.

Note: For the savoury variation omit the sugar before adding your cheese or chopped bacon or sauté onion etc.

Serve with: Butter and caster sugar, strawberry jam, honey, lemon curd or anything you like.

Traditional ‘flipping’ pancakes

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Pre-fire your ESSE to somewhere between hot and very hot

Serves

Makes around 15 pancakes

Ingredients

  • Plain flour – 250g
  • Free-range eggs – 2
  • Fresh milk – 500ml
  • A little Sunflower oil for frying
  • A pinch of salt

Method

Sift the flour and salt into the mixing bowl. Make a well in the middle of the flour and break in the eggs.

Pour in half the milk and start to mix the eggs and milk with the balloon whisk, whisking in the flour from the edges a little at a time. Add the rest of the milk and keep on whisking until there are no more lumps of flour. Pour the batter into the jug. It may still be quite thick at this stage so whisk in extra milk just a little at a time until you get the right consistency – not quite as thick as single cream, but certainly thicker than milk!

Put a non-stick frying pan on the hotter of the 2 plates. Add about a tablespoon of sunflower oil, swirl it round the pan and then pour the excess into the cup so that just a slick of oil stays in the pan.

When the oil is hot pour a little of the batter into the pan. How much to pour really depends on the size of your pan but you need to leave plenty of room for the pancake to spread out (use a ladle if it helps you to judge the right amount of liquid each time). Immediately tilt and rotate the pan so that the batter runs across the base and doesn’t sit in a big lump in the middle.
As the pancake sets, loosen the edge of it with the palette knife. Shake the pan gently so that you know the pancake hasn’t stuck (a bit of work with the knife if it has; don’t worry, the first one often does). Flip the pancake over and cook the other side for a few seconds – the second side is much quicker to cook. (Notice the intricate patterns left behind by the hot oil; each one different, like a fingerprint.)

Slide the pancake out of the pan and on to a warm plate. Cook the rest of the pancakes as before.

Note for ‘Flippers’: Flipping is the best bit so don’t be afraid to give it a go… give the pan a vigorous shake to make sure the pancake is not sticking, then use the side of the pan as a launch ramp and remember it takes less effort than you think. You want to ‘land it’ not attach it to the ceiling! Always use a non-stick pan and make sure it’s not too heavy otherwise you will find them hard to flip. Hopefully you’ll be up for giving the flip a go but if not, you can turn your pancakes with the palette knife or a wide spatula.

Serve with: Caster sugar, freshly squeezed lemon or orange juice, strawberry jam, honey, lemon curd or anything you like.

Lemon sponge puddings

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You will also need 6 individual ramekins

Serves

Serves 6 people

Ingredients

  • Juice and grated zest of 2 lemons
  • Up to 75g of golden syrup
  • 100g unsalted butter, softened, plus extra for greasing
  • 100g caster sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 100g self-raising flour, sifted
  • pinch of salt

To Serve

  • Double cream, chilled

Method

Stir together 2/3rds of the lemon juice and the golden syrup.

Heat the mixture gently over a medium heat. Tip it into the pudding basin. Cream together the butter, lemon zest and caster sugar until it’s really light and fluffy. Beat in one egg at a time, adding a spoonful of flour with each, then fold in the remaining flour. Finally stir in the last of the lemon juice.

Spoon this mixture into the ramekins, the lemon juice and Syrup mixture will rise up the sides of the basin – don’t worry about this, and don’t attempt to stir it in with the batter.
Half fill a roasting tin with hot water; it needs to be big enough to fit the ramekins’ in.

Place the puddings in the roasting tin, the water should be coming half way up the sides of the puddings, close the door. The top oven should be reading ‘Hot’ on the dial.

Bake gently 45 minutes or until the puddings are cooked and well risen.

The ESSE is perfect for this type of cooking as it keeps in moisture which is perfect for delicate baking.

Pear and almond cake

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This soft, moist, dense almondy cake can be served warm for pudding, with lashings of cream, or cold, with a cup of tea or coffee. Firm conference pears should work a treat here.

Serves

Six people

Ingredients

  • 350g unsalted butter, softened
  • 250g caster sugar, plus 1 tbsp
  • 4 eggs
  • 150g whole blanched almonds or ground almonds
  • 150g self-raising flour
  • 5-6 pears, firm but not too hard, peeled, cored and quartered
  • Cake tin about 20cm in diameter and 5cm deep (a springform one is best)
  • Baking parchment

Method

Preheat the oven to 160°C. Your esse dial wants to read hot but not the far side of hot. Grease a 20cm diameter, springform cake tin with a little of the butter and line the base with baking parchment.

Put a saucepan over a medium heat and add 25g of the butter. When it’s sizzling, add 1 tbsp sugar and stir until it dissolves. Add the pear quarters and fry in the buttery caramel for a couple of minutes, until they start to brown. Put the pan to one side to cool a little.

Put the remaining butter and sugar in a mixing bowl and cream together until light and fluffy. Beat in the two eggs, one at a time.

Whiz the whole blanched almonds in the food processor for about a minute to grind them. Tip them into the cake batter (or add the ready-ground almonds), then sift in the self-raising flour and fold in gently. Scrape the mixture into the prepared tin. Arrange the pieces of pear on top of the cake. Bake for about 45 minutes, or until a knife pushed into the centre comes out clean.

Place the tin on a wire rack to cool. Serve warm or cold.

Bonfire Toffee

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Yorkshire Bonfire Toffee (also known as treacle toffee, Plot toffee or Tom Trot) is a hard brittle toffee associated with Hallowe’en and Bonfire Night. It tastes strongly of molasses or black treacle and easy to make at home.

I think it is wise to make with a sugar thermometer since you can be assured of the brittle texture that comes with the hard-crack stage of cooking but it isn’t essential – patience is! The traditional version is hard, shiny and brittle but if you want a softer, chewier version (and have good strong teeth) then boil to the soft-crack stage.

Tip 1
Do take enormous care when preparing this toffee – the sugar syrup becomes extremely hot. It’s not a recipe for children to make although they can certainly help with measuring out the ingredients.

Tip 2
Cleaning the pan and the thermometer is made so much easier if you fill the pan with hot water and immerse the thermometer in it as soon after cooking as possible. Leave to stand for a while before washing in warm soapy water.

No sugar thermometer?
It is possible to make this toffee without a sugar thermometer but you will need to check that the correct stage and temperature has been reached. This is easiest done if you drop just a small amount of the cooked mixture into a bowl of iced water. When it cools (which is quickly) lift it out and bend it. If it snaps easily then the hard crack stage has been reached. If it bends into pliable strands then the soft crack stage has been achieved.

Makes about 500g

Ingredients

  • Oil for greasing
  • 450g dark brown sugar
  • 125 ml hot water
  • 1/4 tsp cream of tartar
  • 115g black treacle
  • 115g golden syrup

Method

Line the base and sides of a 30 x 21 cm shallow tin with non-stick parchment and then liberally grease with oil.

Place the sugar and hot water in a heavy-based pan and heat gently to dissolve the sugar. Don’t stir the sugar at any time just tile the pan from time to time to mix and move around.

Add the cream of tartar, treacle and syrup. Again tilt to mix but do not stir. At this stage add the sugar thermometer if using.

Bring to the boil and boil until you reach the hard-crack stage on the thermometer (149 C/300 F). This will produce a brittle toffee typical of that from Yorkshire. If you prefer something softer and chewier then boil until you reach the soft crack stage (140 C/279 F). This may take from 30 to 45 minutes so you need to be patient but do not leave the pan unattended as things can change quickly. When the desired stage is reached, pour into the prepared tin and leave to set.

Once cool, remove from the tin and break into pieces with a toffee hammer or rolling pin. Store in an airtight tin or wrap in cellophane for gifting if liked.

Hedgerow Jelly

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Ive already posted a Redcurrant jelly recipe but, as I’m trying to make the most of the wild larder here’s another one that can be made right now.

You can make great preserves on the Iron Heart.

The solid plates transfer a wonderful, consistent and even heat into the base of your preserving pan, and its at this time of year that ill have the fire going daily so perfect for the gentle simmering of preserves, jams and chutneys.

I love an autumn forage with the family, and its been a great year for it, crab apples, blackberries, rose hips, sloes and damsons, They have all be found in and around our garden and the woods that surround the us.

This preserve is amazing with pork and chicken but just as good spread on drop scones or crumpets. If you cant find enough crab apples you can makeup their weight in good old Bramleys.

Ingredients

  • Makes 4-8 small jars
  • 1kg crab apples or cooking apples
  • 1kg blackberries, rosehips, haws, sloes, elderberries or rowan berries granulated sugar

Method

  1. Roughly chop the apples (no need to peel or core them) and put in a preserving pan.
  2. Add the berries. If you are using rosehips, chop them roughly first (you can do this in a processor), taking care because the tiny fibres they contain are an irritant.
  3. Add enough water to almost cover the fruit.
  4. Bring to a simmer then simmer gently until all the fruit is soft and pulpy.
  5. Tip the mixture into a jelly bag and leave to drip for several hours or overnight.

Meringue Pudding prepared in the bottom oven

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Enjoy the best of British food with ESSE range recipes with the help of River Cottage head chef, Gill Meller.

Here, Gill Meller takes us through a step-by-step demonstration recipe. Learn how to make a delicious Rhubarb Meringue Pudding using the ESSE range cooker with companion.

Chocolate and Strawberry Brownies

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These are very moreish rich brownies made with fresh strawberries.

For this reason they need to be kept in the refrigerator after making and will only keep for 2-3 days (not that they will last that long!).
If you want them to keep longer then don’t add the strawberries to the mixture but serve with them instead.

Serves

Makes 16 squares.

Ingredients

  • 350 g dark plain chocolate, broken into pieces
  • 250 g unsalted butter
  • 3 eggs
  • 250 g dark brown muscovado sugar
  • 100 g plain flour
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 250 g strawberries, halved

Method

  1. Line the base of a 24-cm square cake tin with non-stick parchment and oil the sides if not non-stick. Preheat the oven if necessary to 170 C/Fan 150C/Esse Dial Guide MODERATE. (Aim for the dial reading to be in the middle of MODERATE).
  2. Melt the chocolate and butter in a bowl over hot water and stir until smooth.
  3. Whisk the eggs and the sugar together in a bowl for 2-3 minutes until light and fluffy. Fold into the chocolate mixture.
  4. Sift the flour and the baking powder together and fold into the chocolate mixture.
  5. Spoon about one-third of the mixture into the prepared tin and level the surface. Top with the halved strawberries. Top with the remaining chocolate mixture to cover the strawberries and level the surface.
  6. Bake for 35-40 minutes until the surface is set or when the top just starts to crack. Allow to cool in the tin, cut into squares to serve.

Recipe by Carol Bowen Ball.

Plums with Coconut Ice Cream | Tim Maddams

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Scotts Arms Stoves invited guests to attend a wonderful evening with River Cottage and Green Sauce chef Tim Maddams.

This video shows Tim demonstrating the ESSE EL 13Amp Range Cooker and a simple and succulent Plum recipe.

Almond Cake | Sea Bass & Herb Crumb – Frances Atkins

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ESSE has been a proud manufacturer of heating and cooking appliances since 1854. We work to embrace innovation and technology in all of our appliances.

Michelin-starred Chef Frances Atkins demonstrates how to bake a gluten free, fat free almond cake on her ESSE range cooker.
She also takes you step-by-step through a delicious Sea Bass & Herb Crumb recipe.

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