Displaying items by tag: students

We really enjoyed having Amy, our work experience student from Thurston Community College, this week. She showed us her favourite recipe: Birdy's Brownies! 

Birdy’s Brownies!

Ingredients:

• 185g unsalted butter
• 185g cooking chocolate
• 85g plain flour
• 40g cocoa powder
• 100g best dark chocolate
• 3 large eggs
• 275g golden caster sugar

Method:

1. Cut 185g unsalted butter into smallish cubes and tip into a medium bowl. Break 185g cooking chocolate into small pieces and drop into the bowl.
   Melt over a pan of boiling water.
2. Turn the oven on to 160C/conventional or 180C/gas, so it has time to warm up. Using a shallow 20cm square tin, cut out a square of non-stick baking parchment to line the base.
3. Now tip 85g plain flour and 40g cocoa powder into a sieve held over a medium bowl until all lumps have gone.
4. With a sharp knife, chop 100g of dark chocolate into chunks (rough squares) on a chopping board.
5. Break 3 large eggs into a large bowl and tip in 275g golden caster sugar. With an electric mixer on maximum speed, whisk the eggs and sugar until they look thick and creamy, like a milk shake
6. Pour the cooled chocolate mixture over the eggy mousse and gently fold together with a rubber spatula. Plunge the spatula in at one side, take it underneath and bring it up the opposite side and in again at the middle. The idea is to marry them without knocking out the air, so be as gentle and slow as you like – you don’t want to undo all the work you did in step 4.
7. Hold the sieve over the bowl of eggy chocolate mixture and resift the cocoa and flour mixture into it. Gently fold in the powder, in the same figure of eight action as before. Finally, stir in the chocolate chunks until they’re dotted all of the way through.
8. Pour the mixture into the prepared tin, scraping every bit out of the bowl with the spatula. Gently ease the mixture into the corners of the tin and paddle the spatula from side to side across the top to level it. Put in the oven and set your timer for 25 minutes.
9. Leave in the tin until cool. Once cool, cut into small squares or triangles.
   • melt choc and butter
   • stir until glossy
   • sieve flour and cocoa
   • place eggs and sugar into bowl
   • whisk until fluffy
   • chop the chocolate
   • mix melted choc and eggy mixture
   • add flour, cocoa and chopped choc
   • pour into tin
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I was invited to the West Suffolk College this week to speak to the 1st year BTEC students in the morning and the Introduction to Catering students in the afternoon.  Which meant lunch at Zest Restaurant and a tour of the kitchens in the middle.  It never ceases to amaze me of the high standards and professionalism achieved by both the students and the lecturers in the Catering and Hospitalty Faculty. Bury definitely has got talent!

Wow!  I just ate Plaice Florentine at Zest; the training restaurant attached to West Suffolk College. It was absolutely perfect.  They have a sweet trolley too, and today it featured a Malted Chocolate Tart, Strawberry Bavarois, Rose scented Creme Brulee and a hot option of Sticky Toffee Pudding.  You can't buy the ingredients for the £9.50 charged for 3 courses. Book a table and see for yourself.  They also do a fabulous new takeaway menu.