For me, I spent last Saturday in the perfect place – in the kitchen, listening to sport on BBC Radio 5 on our digital radio and baking.  It was the turn of Hermé’s Raspberry And Chocolate Tart.  The end result was sheer perfection – bittersweet flavours from 72% cocoa dark chocolate  from Trinatario cocoa beans (a natural cross between the traditional Criollo and Forasteros cocoa beans), with the succulent, melting richness of the chocolate filling that only just holds itself together; these are balanced against the tart, fruitiness of raspberries.  What is perhaps even more amazing is that it is actually really quite simple to make. 

I don’t have much more to say, except just make it for someone special and wow them, but make sure it is for someone you want to impress.

For the crust:

Prepare and bake a 22cm / 8¾ inch tart shell from Sweet Tart Dough, cooled to room temperature per previous blog

For the filling:

55g / ½ cup ripe raspberries
145g / 5oz bittersweet chocolate (I used Green & Black’s dark cooking chocolate)
115g / 4oz unsalted butter, chopped into cubes
1 large egg, at room temperature, stirred lightly with fork or whisk
3 large egg yolks, at room temperature, stirred with a fork
2 tbsp caster sugar

Preheat oven to 190^oC / 375^oF.

Sprinkle the raspberries into the cooked tart crust.

Baked Tart Pastry With Raspberries

Melt the dark chocolate in a bowl over boiling water and carefully melt the butter separately in a pan.  Allow them to cool to a touch warm temperature or 60^oC / 104^oF.

Using a small hand whisk, gently stir the egg into the melted chocolate; don’t be vigorous as you are not trying to get air in, just to mix thoroughly.

Pouring egg into melted chocolate

Mixing eggs into melted chocolate

Next, add the caster sugar and stir that in.

Finally, work in the melted butter.

Pour the chocolate mixture over the raspberries in the tart shell.

Pouring chocolate ganache over raspberries

Bake the tart for 11 minutes.  This gives you a tart that is still a bit wobbly in the centre.  Leave to cool on a rack.  Serve warm after settling for about 10 minutes or cool and have cold.  I actually prefer it cold and a bit more dense the next morning – great for breakfast on a Sunday morning!

Raspberry & Chocolate Tart Just Out The Oven

Serve with extra red raspberries and/or cream or crème anglaise.

Raspberry & Chocolate Tart With Raspberries & Cream

Flavour wise, this is honey sweet with a massive umami kick from the soy sauce, plus some savoury bite coming through from the Southern Fried Chicken Seasoning and grainy mustard.  I like to add beer or wine to the sauce to layer in an extra flavour to compound up the taste, but you could omit this should you wish. 

Barbecued Chicken Drumsticks

Ingredients:

10 chicken drumsticks (get the best quality you can afford as it really does make a difference)
2tbsp organic tomato ketchup
2 tbsp dark soy sauce
2tbsp Fairtrade runny honey (this is quite sweet so you might want only 1tbsp)
2tbsp lager or white wine
1tbsp organic sunflower oil
1tsp Steenbergs organic onion granules (or quarter onion very finely chopped)
1 clove garlic, thinly sliced and crushed
1tsp Steenbergs organic Southern fried chicken seasoning
1tsp grainy mustard (I used a balsamic mustard from Edinburgh Preserves) 

1.  Put all the marinade ingredients together in mixing bowl and whisk together.

2.  Cut a couple of slices into each of the chicken drumsticks and place onto a roasting tin.  Drizzle the marinade over each of the chicken drumsticks and twist them through the barbecue marinade.  Cover and then put into the refrigerator for 1 hour to let the flavours infuse through the chicken drumsticks; if you remember, twist them through the barbecue marinade part way through the marinading time.

Marinading Chicken Drumsticks In Barbecue Sauce

3.  Preheat the oven to 180^oC / 350^oF.  Roast for 30 minutes; try and twist the drumsticks after about 20 minutes.  If barbecuing, cook for 20 minutes in the oven then brown off over the barbecue.

4.  Serve immediately.  We ate ours with saffron boiled rice and boiled broccoli and runner beans.  You could leave to cool and then enjoy cold in a picnic or for packed lunches.

Barbecued Chicken Drumsticks

Well, the difference is as much about perception as it is about any real change – cup cakes are bigger and to fit in with that extra size the toppings are more indulgent and rich than a classic fairy cake.  In addition, the texture and mouth feel of the cake is moister and richer while a fairy cake tends to be lighter and more springy.  This is partly to do with the ingredients that add in milk and some plain flour to increase the richness and reduce the airiness of a Yorkshire fairy cake.  What do I prefer – I think the answer is a classic one of “horses for courses”, i.e. it depends on the event.

Here’s a good version of a cup cake – a Fairtrade Coffee Cup Cake. 

Four Fairtrade Coffee Cup Cakes

Ingredients for the cup cakes:

• 250g/9oz unsalted butter, softened
• 250g/9oz Fairtrade golden caster sugar
• 4 free range eggs
• 45ml/1.5 fl oz espresso coffee or strong Fairtrade black coffee
• 185g/6.5oz organic self-raising flour
• 60g/2oz organic plain flour
• 140ml/5 fl oz milk (full fat please)

Ingredients for the icing:

• 100g/3.5oz mascarpone at room temperature
• 50g/1.75oz Fairtrade milk chocolate
• Chocolate drops or chocolate strands

How to make Steenbergs Fairtrade coffee cup cakes:

Preheat to oven to 180^oC/350^oF and oil lightly a dozen hole muffin tray.

Make the strong Fairtrade coffee – I used an Ethiopian coffee from Grumpy Mule – and add to the milk.  Sieve the organic flours together.

Getting The Ingredients Ready For Fairtrade Coffee Cup Cakes

Put the butter and caster sugar into a mixing bowl and beat until pale and creamy.  Add the free range eggs, one at a time and then add the strong Fairtrade black coffee flavoured milk, and beat until well mixed together.  Fold in the sieved organic flours and ensure well mixed through.  Stir until smooth.

Divide the cake mixture about two-thirds up a muffin hole (or a muffin sized case and place on baking tray) and bake for 20 minutes.  Enjoy the remaining mixture taste by sharing with the kids, or just enjoy yourself while (in this case) the children were playing outside in the garden.  Remove from the oven and leave to sit for 10 minutes, then tip the muffins out of the muffin pan onto a wire rack to cool, or just place the muffin cases straight onto the wire rack.

For the icing, melt the milk chocolate over simmering water.  Leave to cool down and then gently beat in the mascarpone until you have a thick creamy icing.  Spread the mix over the cooled muffins and sprinkle with a Fairtrade chocolate drops or Steenbergs dark or light chocolate strands – I used dark.

Fairtrade Coffee Cup Cake

Then it’s up to you how to enjoy them – whether with a cup of strong coffee or some delicious freshly brewed Steenbergs organic Fairtrade Peace Tea in a mug.

“Thanks for your email.  I have looked into the issues you have raised and have found Sainsburys did not directly compensate Fairtrade supliers [sic], or farmers during the Volcanic ash disruption period.

We did however try extremely hard to get the flowers into stores and we looked at every possible travel option to get products into stores.  At the beginning of the flight ban we had flowers flown into south Spain, as the ban didnt apply there and we then drove the produce by truck into the UK.

We thoroughly enquired into every possible supply route to get these items into store.  We are not aware of any products being destroyed due to the flight ban.”

Which conflicts with all the reports about the impact of the ash on Fairtrade flower farmers in Kenya where Benjamin Gatland of South African Fairtrade Network said “Kenyan Fairtrade rose growers alone lost approximately one million flowers a day” – see http://www.ipsnews.net/africa/nota.asp?idnews=51229.

Who’s correct? I think I know who…

So I say if you care about Fairtrade, start asking the major retailers what they are doing about it?  Ask them are they compensating the Fairtrade flower growers for trashed flowers?  Are they working with the flower growers to find a solution, eg flying into Spain and then road haul?  Will they pick up any incremental costs or will it be passed onto the consumer, ie the retailer never pays for anything really?

Or is Fairtrade just skin deep for them – we’ll (that’s Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Interflora, Waitrose, Interflora etc) love Fairtrade when its on message for our strategy but stuff it when events get in the way!  I’m asking so why not email, blog, Tweet or whatever you fancy to their PR departments and show you care and so should they.

So I asked our good friend, Anthony Sterne to come up with his easy pastry recipes and then for us to have a go at them ourselves.  Anthony used to be a development chef at Pret A Manger in London before setting out on his own, originally making pies and pastry with exotic fillings and has now branched out into quiches and (very successfully) into delicious cakes.  His business is called Independent Foods – originally I’s Pies – and his great creations are available in Booths, Morrisons and Waitrose, but in our opinion should be more widely available.  You can check his web site out at http://www.independentfoods.co.uk/

In Anthony’s words “this recipe creates a crisp, biscuity pastry that is perfect as a base for tarts or mince pies.  As long as the oven is well preheated it generally works really well without blind baking.  The most important consideration is to make sure all the ingredients are at room temperature (especially the butter and eggs) before starting.”

400g / 14oz plain flour
160g / 5.5oz good butter (softened)
140g / 5oz caster Sugar
2 large eggs (we only ever use free-range)
1 tsp Steenbergs Organic Vanilla Extract 

Use an electric mixer with the beater attachment or a bowl and a wooden spoon to cream the butter and caster sugar together.  The mixture should be light in colour and slightly fluffy in texture.

Beat the eggs and add gradually with the teaspoon of Steenbergs Organic Fairtrade vanilla extract, mixing all the time.  If the mixture starts to split, you can add a tablespoon of flour, however it shouldn’t split as long as everything isn’t too cold.

Once all the egg has been incorporated, you can add the flour and continue to mix until a smooth dough is formed.  The pastry should be soft but not sticky, if it sticks to your finger when poked just add a bit more flour.

You can leave the pastry in a cool place (not the fridge) for half an hour to relax although it is fine to use it straight away.  Roll out on a well floured surface.  It doesn’t keep well in the fridge as it becomes hard and unworkable although any excess is fine to make into shells and freeze for later use.

Hot cross buns grew out of traditional Lenten yeast buns that started being popular in England in the mediaeval times, when these small enriched bread buns were served at the end of Lent to be eaten while drinking a good quantity of celebratory wine.  They became popular throughout Lent during the Elizabethan times, when wealthier people loved to show-off their money and sophistication by spicing these buns up with expensive, rare and luxurious spices and dried fruits that were really hard to come by during the cold, winter months.

It had also been traditional in the mediaeval period to mark the loaves with a cross cut into the top of the buns to ward off evil spirits and so encourage the bread to rise.  This was abandoned for most of Lent during the Reformation (in the 17th Century) when such behaviour was regarded as too popish, however they were still made with crosses on them for Good Friday in token of the crucifixion, so the tradition did not completely die out.

Because of the wide availability of storecupboard staples like spices and dried fruits nowadays, we have all lost the excitement and awe that used to arise from cooking with these things to enrich your breads and cakes, while the fact that they seem to start getting into the shops immediately Christmas is past means that we are inured to the religious significance of hot cross buns as a Lenten tradition. 

I really hate this drifting of traditions by the supermarkets with Easter eggs and buns being available for months before Lent and Christmas getting into stores from somewhere towards the end of the summer holidays.

These home-made hot cross buns have a lovely mild spiciness unlike the heavy-handed flavours of the high street bakers, while the texture is great; they have a soft, silky mouth-feel – it’s a bit like the difference between a feather and a foam pillow, where the supermarkets’ hot cross buns are the chewy, rubbery foam pillow.

Ingredients

For the hot cross buns:

210ml / 7½ fl oz milk
1 free-range organic egg
450g / 1lb white bread flour (unbleached bread flour, please)
1½ tsp organic Fairtrade mixed spice
½ tsp organic ground cinnamon powder
½ tsp sea salt
50g / 2oz organic Fairtrade caster sugar
50g / 2oz organic butter or lard or margarine
1½ tsp quick yeast , or easy-blend/ rapid-rise yeast
100g / 4oz organic currants
25g / 1oz organic sultanas
25g / 1oz organic mixed peel

For the pastry crosses:

50g / 2oz plain flour
25g / 1oz butter (or if you prefer margarine)

Tip: you can cheat by using 50g / 2oz shortcrust pastry from the freezer section in a local shop, which you then cut into narrow strips, or add enough water to make it runny enough so that it can be piped as below

For the glaze:

30ml / 2tbsp milk
25g / 1oz organic Fairtrade caster sugar

Stage one – making the dough

Using a bread machine:

Pour the organic milk and free–range egg into the bowl of the breadmaker.  Reverse the order if your bread machine tells you so to do.  Sprinkle over the white bread flour, ensuring that it covers the liquid.  Add Steenbergs organic Fairtrade mixed spice and the organic cinnamon powder.  Then place the sea salt, caster sugar and butter in separate corners of the bread pan.  Finally, make a small indent in the centre of the flour and put the yeast into there.

Set the bread machine to the dough setting; use the basic raisin dough setting if that option is available on your machine.  Press start.   Lightly grease 2 sheets of baking paper.

When the machine beeps or 5 minutes before the end of the kneading period, add the organic mixed peel, organic currants and organic sultanas.

Stage two – making the hot cross buns

Hot Cross Bun Dough

When the dough is made, remove the dough from the bowl and place it on a lightly floured surface.  Knock it back gently, then divide into 12 pieces.  Cup each piece between your hands and shape into a ball.  Place these balls on the prepared greased baking sheets, and cover with oiled clear film, and leave for 30 – 45 minutes or until it has doubled in size.

Preheat the oven to 200^oC / 400^oF.

Make the pastry crosses either cheating by using some frozen shortcrust pastry cut into strips or making your own pastry.  In a bowl, rub together the plain flour and butter until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.  Bind together with a little bit of water to make a soft pastry which can be piped.  Spoon the pastry into a piping bag fitted with a plain nozzle and pipe a cross onto each bun.

If you want to be more ”ye olde breadmaker” about it, you could cut into the buns rather than put on the pastry crosses.  You do this by cutting into each pastry ball through the surface by not all the way down.

Bake the hot cross buns for 15 – 18 minutes, or until golden brown.

While the hot cross buns are in the oven, heat the milk and sugar together in a small pan to make the glaze.  Stir thoroughly until the sugar has dissolved.  Brush the glaze over the top of the baked hot cross buns, turn them onto a wire rack to cool, then serve immediately or leave to cool, reheating them when you want to eat them.

Home Made Hot Cross Buns

This recipe and some of the spiel was based on a recipe from a great book on baking bread, called “Bread” by Christine Ingram and Jennie Shapter.

However, I think he misses the point which is that Prime Ministers must have vision and focus on the “whys of life” rather than the details of the “what and how of specific policies”.  This made Tony Blair more inspiring for the electorate as a whole rather than specific Labour interested groups, i.e Blair could look outside to the wider electorate rather than just look inwards to his core voters – in fact, Blair perhaps made mistakes by sometimes appealing more to voters outside his Labour core base and hence got kicked out by his own. 

In fact it is vision that seems to be missing in politics generally at present and I need something to stop me joining the most popular party of all – the non-voters!  Even Obama in the US does not seem to be really living up to his hype, and may just be about to repeat the policies of former US Presidents by continuing with policies on nuclear weapons largely unchanged from the past. 

That’s a fairly waffly introduction to stating that the General Election will be soon whatever the details of the actual timing.  So we thought we would look to the Green Vision that will be hidden inside the main parties’ manifestoes and will read through the political programmes of all major parties plus a few extra, so that will be Conservative, Green, Labour, Liberal and SNP, doing them in strict alphabetical order.  That will be hard enough work I reckon.

We thought we would look at a few major things:

1. How much space is given over to green ideas?
2. How plausible are policies on the Environment, Energy and International Development?
3. What money (if any) is given over to support Sustainable Development, Renewable Energy etc?
4. Are there any surprises lurking in the text, eg on Afghanistan or Genetically Modified Crops or Nuclear Weapons?

We’ll have a go, but perhaps we will have bitten more off than we can chew on this one.

The article in The Times is unfortunately in part true as child labour is one of the big problems with vanilla in Madagascar and the developing world.  I am not sure about widespread employment of children below the age of 8 years old, but it certainly might exist in pockets and will tend to happen around harvest time on family farms. 

Other major problems include: very high levels of general poverty and low levels of development within Madagascar where GNI per capita is $410 for 2008 compared to $45,390 for the UK, ranking Madagascar 145^th out of 182 countries; and environmental issues such as degradation of the rainforests for slash & burn agriculture and massive losses of unique biodiversity in Madagascar. 

These issues are being addressed in a small way by Steenbergs through a focus on (a) organic agriculture and (b) Fairtrade vanilla, but the fight must still go on to improve further the development prospects of the Malagasy people.

Steenbergs vanilla beans come from three Fairtrade projects in North Eastern Madagascar with about 1000 farmers structured into co-operatives.  Employed staffing is low at 60 people with a large amount of seasonal workers, reaching up to 400 people.  Child labour is prohibited.  All workers are paid above the minimum Malagasy wage and lunch is provided for free and is not deducted from wages.  All employees work 8 hours a day from Monday to Friday and 4 hours on Saturday morning.  If additional work is needed, overtime is paid at a higher rate.  The working week is no more than 60 hours.  Employees are provided with work clothes. 

Here are some basic facts relating to financial status of region:

• Vanilla represents over 90% of agricultural income of planters’ families with rest coming from sales of coffee and some rice, but perhaps more importantly it is these cash crops that enables farmers to generate income above pure subsistence farming; the rest of their farming is cassava, rice and vegetables for their own consumption.  Each planter produces on average 400kg a year of green vanilla (unprocessed vanilla) every year which generates income of roughly $600/year per family.  Switching to organic Fairtrade vanilla generates income of over $2,000 for the same crop, an increase of $1,400 per year per family. 
• So without Fairtrade and organic, vanilla farmers only earn less than $2 a day to live on and so their standard of living is miniscule, and even with Fairtrade and an income of $5.5 a day there is still a long way to go.  On top of this, a typical Malagasy family comprises 8 people plus sometimes some additional grandparents, and they live in  a bamboo hut of 20 – 30m².
• As for schooling in the vanilla growing regions, 80% of children aged 6 – 11 go to the local state school, but only 10 – 15% continue to middle school (12 – 15 years old) and 3% continue their schooling beyond the age of 15 years old.  Schools are usually about 100m², which is then used to teach 4 grades, i.e. 300 children, in the same space.
  

  Vanilla Planters Walking Along Track

• Other social information: with a few exceptions, mains drinking water is not available nor is electricity.  Transport is by foot along country tracks and average distances of travel to various places are: 5 – 8km to middle school; 25km to high school; 25km to nearest dispensary for pharmaceuticals; and 90km to nearest hospital with first 20km by foot.

The Fairtrade premium has been used in the last year for the following:

• Purchase of land and construction of silos for storage of rice
• The repair of bridges and other small structures
• Improvement of school facilities

Other projects being looked at include:

• Drinking water supply and sewerage infrastructure
• Improvement of country tracks to make walking easier
• Irrigation systems to aid rice farming and stop “slash & burn” farming techniques
• Plan on AIDS awareness to be conducted at school

For me, even Fairtrade seems like a drop in the ocean and more needs to be done.  But the key is to start taking those small steps towards greater economic stability and social improvements and to halt environmental degradation (stop the slash and burn of the forests). 

Vanilla Flower

Fecondation or Hand Pollination of Vanilla Flowers

Initial Heating To Kill Green Vanilla Beans - Echadaudage

Curing and Testing the Maturing Vanilla Beans

Sorting And Packing Fairtrade Vanilla