Category Archives: Recipes

Quiche Recipe, cheeky Molly!

February 22, 2010   Charlotte   2 Comments
I got my mum a Rachel Allen food processor for her birthday. Her birthday isn’t til March but she had her present early. She’s been baking all sorts recently, and her new speciality is quiches. They’re delicious!

The food processor is great because it can be used for mixing cakes, slicing & shopping ingredients, blending food, and even kneading dough.


We were only recently saying how Molly seems to enjoy playing with things around the house more than her own toys. She loves scrunched up bits of paper and sweet wrappers – we often find stashes of these under the furniture! She also likes hiding out in cosy places, so we thought it would be funny to cut a hole in the box that the food processor came in, leave it on the floor and see what she did.

She soon made it her own little hide out! Theres a blanket in there now, and sometimes all you can see if her tail sticking out of the hole!


Here’s the recipe my mum uses for her Roasted Tomato, Basil & Parmesan quiche:

Ingredients

For the pastry

  • 280g plain flour , plus extra for dusting
  • 140g cold butter , cut into piece
Method

  1. To make the pastry, tip the flour and butter into a bowl, then rub together with your fingertips until completely mixed and crumbly. Add 8 tbsp cold water, then bring everything together with your hands until just combined. Roll into a ball and use straight away or chill for up to 2 days. The pastry can also be frozen for up to a month.
  2. Roll out the pastry on a lightly floured surface to a round about 5cm larger than a 25cm tin. Use your rolling pin to lift it up, then drape over the tart case so there is an overhang of pastry on the sides. Using a small ball of pastry scraps, push the pastry into the corners of the tin (see picture, above left). Chill in the fridge or freezer for 20 mins. Heat oven to 200C/fan 180C/gas 6.
  3. In a small roasting tin, drizzle the tomatoes with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Put the tomatoes in a low shelf of the oven.
  4. Lightly prick the base of the tart with a fork, line the tart case with a large circle of greaseproof paper or foil, then fill with baking beans. Blind-bake the tart for 20 mins, remove the paper and beans, then continue to cook for 5-10 mins until biscuit brown.
  5. When you remove the tart case from the oven, take out the tomatoes, too.
  6. While the tart is cooking, beat the eggs in a large bowl. Gradually add the cream, then stir in the basil and season. When the case is ready, sprinkle half the cheese over the base, scatter over the tomatoes, pour over the cream mix, then finally scatter over the rest of the cheese. Bake for 20-25 mins until set and golden brown. Leave to cool in the case, trim the edges of the pastry, then remove from the tin. Scatter over the remaining basil and serve in slices.
There are loads of different flavour combinations to try out, these sound yummy too – goats cheese & watercress, cheddar & onion, leek & mushroom, rocket, mushroom & bacon, goats cheese, potato & onion. Enjoy!

Posted in: General, molly, Recipes
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Workspace Feature

February 05, 2010   Charlotte   4 Comments
I’ve kindly had my workspace and an interview featured on the Nottingham Craft Mafia blog. I really enjoyed writing about my workshop, it made me appreciate the space I’ve got, no matter how cold it is at the moment! Click here to read the interview with more images. Thanks to Helen for featuring me!

I also have another exciting feature coming up on the Craft Mafia blog soon, it will be all about my sketchbooks under the category ‘Sketchbook Peeks’, so be sure to look out for that!

The Nottingham Craft Mafia is a vibrant and creative place to find all sorts of interesting stuff such as book reviews, featured artists, local happenings, workshops, competitions, events, and loads more including yummy foodie treats! Take a look at this 5 Min Cake in a Mug recipe. Apologies if you are trying to diet :)
Posted in: nottingham craft mafia, Recipes, studio, Workshop, workspace
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Tasty Treats, Best Friends & New Lights

January 19, 2010   Charlotte   5 Comments
You will probably look at these photos and think I’m a greedy pig. And if you do, you are right!! I love food and trying out new combinations. My recent favourite was this bowl of nacho’s covered in salsa, chunks of chicken, red kidney beans, and topped with grated cheese. I microwaved it all for about 1 minute to melt the cheese, and I like the nacho’s to go a bit soft. It was very yummy but also very messy finger-eating food!

My mum has been baking a lot over the past few weeks. She’s been using the recipe from Dave’s mum to make loaves of poppyseed bread which are absolutely delicious. This weekend she made a sponge cake with vanilla cream icing and filling, with white chocolate chips on top. It was an alternative to the big chocolatey cake she made last week, but I find chocolate cakes too sickly.

Thanks to everyone who gave me some great ideas for my pastry fillings, I’m definitely going to try some of them out, they sound scrummy!

During the winter we always put a blanket over half of Alice’s (the cockatiel) cage so she can snuggle up under it. Molly seems to have made herself right at home up there! But I don’t think Alice minds, I think she likes the company. They have become quite good friends, although I’m not going to let Alice out of the cage to find out.


I had a successful shopping trip the other day, and found these lights to clamp onto my tables at craft fairs. The height of them looks good, and the shape of the bulb should shine the light a bit further across the tables.

I can’t wait to test them out at my first craft fair of the year on 31st January. It will be at the Northampton Franklin’s Gardens Conference Centre (centrally located, 4 mins from the M1, biggest suite in the region) from 10am – 4pm, an impressive venue with lots of high quality ‘handmade only’ crafts. Postcode for the venue is NN5 5BG. Drop by to say hello if you’re in the area, you could even do a spot of shopping!
Become a fan of Charlotte Hupfield Ceramics on Facebook here.

Posted in: General, molly, new lights, Recipes
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White yeast bread recipe – yum!

January 08, 2010   Charlotte   3 Comments

Dave’s mum made me a delicious loaf of poppy seed bread last week. It was perfectly round and quite flat, so each slice that was cut was extra long! It only lasted a couple of days, and after going back to ready-sliced shop bought bread it just wasn’t the same. I asked for the recipe and will be making some homemade bread myself, although I’m not sure it will turn out as good!

With this recipe you can be quite creative – from simple oval loaves to plaited masterpieces, or make a whole variety of rolls.

INGREDIENTS
  • 2 tsp caster sugar
  • 425ml (15fl oz) warm water
  • 2 ½ tsp dried yeast or
  • 20g (3/2 oz) fresh yeast or 1 1/2 x 7g sachets fast-acting yeast
  • 750g (1lb 10oz) strong white flour, plus extra for dusting (optional)
  • 2 tsp salt
  • 40g (1 ½ oz) butter or 4 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 egg, beaten, and poppy or sesame seeds, for the top of the loaf (optional)


METHOD
  • In a measuring jug, mix the sugar with 150ml (1/4 pint) of the warm water and yeast and let stand in a warm place for 5 minutes until frothy. If using fast-acting yeast, there is no need to let the mixture stand.
  • Sift the flour and salt into a large bowl. Rub in the butter and make a well in the centre. (If using olive oil instead of butter, pour the olive oil into the remaining water.) Pour in the yeast mixture and most of the remaining water (and the olive oil, if using). Mix to a loose dough, adding the remaining water if needed, plus extra if necessary.
  • Knead for about 10 minutes or until the dough is smooth and springy to the touch. (If kneading in an electric food mixer with a dough hook, 5 minutes is usually long enough.) Put the dough in a large oiled bowl. Cover the top tightly with cling film and place somewhere warm to rise until doubled in size. This may take up to 2 or even (on a cold day) 3 hours.
  • Preheat the oven to 220°C (425°F), Gas mark 7.
  • When the dough has more than doubled in size, knock back and knead again for 2–3 minutes. Leave to relax for 10 minutes before you begin to shape the bread.
  • Shape the bread into loaves or rolls, transfer to a baking tray and cover with a clean tea towel. Allow to rise again in a warm place for 20–30 minutes, until the shaped dough has again doubled in size. When fully risen, it should leave a dent when you gently press the dough with your finger.
  • Gently (as the bread is full of air at this point and therefore very fragile) brush with egg wash and sprinkle with poppy or sesame seeds (if using), or dust lightly with flour for a rustic-looking loaf.
  • Bake in the oven for 10–15 minutes for rolls or 30–45 minutes for a loaf, depending on its size. Turn the heat down to 200°C (400°F), Gas mark 6 after 15 minutes for the remaining cooking time. When cooked, the bread should sound hollow when tapped on the base. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Posted in: Recipes
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    I hope you enjoy my news and updates about Charlotte Hupfield Ceramics. My blog is home to my latest work in progress, new work fresh from the kiln, craft projects, favourite recipes, inspiration, trips and holidays, and a little bit of life in general. I like to think of my blog as a place where you can get to know more behind the maker of the work on this website. Please feel free to comment on any of my posts - I would love to hear from you!

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