Rediscovering Passione

Recently I've been reviewing my cookbook collection and have rediscovered an Italian cookbook that's been languishing at the back of the larder. I keep a few books close to hand in the kitchen; my most frequently used ones - Delia's Complete Cookery Course, Hugh's Everyday, Mary Norwak's baking book etc and in amongst these I found Passione from Gennaro Contaldo.  From the condition of the book I 've obviously leafed through it many times but I don't recall using any of the recipes until recently...

It's become one of my favourite books in less time than it takes to whizz up a torta alle pere - recipe to follow in another post.

So far I've been tempted by the chocolate and red wine cake (sounds so much better in Italian - torta al cioccolato e vino rosso); a lovely dense and rich, but not too rich, cake.  It makes an ideal dessert served with summer fruit compote and icecream. 



with a sauce made from Holly Grove's first raspberries of the season, yum, yum!

 On the savoury front we've tested the peperoni ripieni - stuffed baby peppers.  I'll definitely make this one again with a couple of tweaks to the recipe - simple and delicious with a green salad. 

Very soon I'm going to attempt the fagottini di zucchini when my courgette plants start to mass produce, any time now, and then there are the delicious sounding Italian salads: insalata di zucchine con menta fresca, insalata di arancie e finocchio.

So a book to keep us well fed through the summer months and dreaming of the Amalfi coast!

Torta al Cioccolato e Vino Rosso
Ingredients
200g unsalted butter, softened
250g caster sugar
4 eggs, beaten
25g cocoa powder
250g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon (I didn't include this)
100ml red wine
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
150g plain chocolate drops (I mixed plain, milk and white chocolate drops as I didn't have enough of the plain ones)

Method
Heat the oven to 180C and grease and line an 20cm cake tin.

Cream the butter and sugar together then gradually beat in the eggs.  Sift in the cocoa powder, flour and baking powder (and cinnamon, if using) and fold in gently.  Mix in the red wine and vanilla extract and then fold in the chocolate drops.

Pour the mixture into the tin and bake in the centre of the oven for 1 hour until the top of the cake springs back when gently pressed.  Remove from the oven and allow to cool in the tin.  Cut into wedges and serve with a summer fruit compote and good vanilla icecream.

Despite the Weather

After an incredibly dry Spring, the weather here is unseasonably cold and wet for June, we even had a hail storm on Saturday - poor garden!  Anyway I decided to ignore the weather and my cravings for winter-type baking (steamed puddings, custard etc) and adapted an easy all-in-one sponge recipe using some zingy citrus flavours.  I've also used a mascarpone icing; it's becoming a favourite icing as it is so soft and creamy and really adds a bit of luxury to an otherwise simple sponge.

The cake was light, fresh and very summery; I'll try it again with a few of our homegrown raspberries and a dollop of fresh cream on the side when we get our crop sometime in July - can't wait!

Lemon and Lime Sponge
Ingredients
for the cake
6ozs softened butter (if you don't have softened butter you can use a soft margarine such as Stork)
6ozs castor sugar
6ozs self raising flour
1 level tsp baking powder
3 free range farm eggs
juice of half a lime
zest of half a lime and half a lemon

for the icing
250g tub mascarpone
10ozs icing sugar
about 1 tbsp lemon juice
zest of half a lime and half a lemon

Method
Set the oven to 180C and grease and line two 7" sandwich tins. Place all the ingredients for the cake in a food mixer and mix together for 2-3 minutes until all ingredients are well combined and you have a smooth, light sponge mixture. Divide the mixture evenly between the tins and smooth out. Place in the oven for 20-25 minutes. The cakes will be golden in colour and the tops will spring back when lightly pressed. Remove from oven and turn out and cool on a wire rack.

Whilst the cakes are cooling, make the icing by sifting the icing sugar into a clean bowl. In a second bowl beat the mascarpone until it is smooth then gradually add the icing sugar beating in well after each addition. When all the icing sugar has been combined, add the zest and juice of the citrus fruits and mix well. Place the icing in the fridge until the cakes are completely cooled.

Finally sandwich the cakes together with just over half of the icing and then spread the remaining icing on the top of the cake – et voila! This cake is delicious with a cup of tea or coffee or served as a dessert after dinner with any orange liqueur.

Fishy Friend

On Friday with the prospect of a few days off from work I decided to treat myself with a visit to a local rose garden - more of that at Holly Grove Garden - on the way back home I took a detour via the Handyman's brother's house and stopped for a coffee and a gardening chat - C has just built a fruit cage; the subject of much conversation and another reason for my impromptu visit.

Unexpectedly we moved on to the topic of fishing, coarse or game?  Now I know little or nothing about the sport but have spent a few sunny afternoons with a good book on a riverbank in a previous life whilst my then in-laws did a spot of coarse fishing - lovely memories!

ready for the oven

C, on the other hand prefers game fishing, as he says you can eat what you catch!  And lucky us, he produced from his freezer two beautiful freshwater trout that he had caught a couple of days before from a fishing trip to Wales and gave them to me.  C prepares the fish, gutted and scaled, before freezing so all I had to do on Friday was pop one back into our freezer and let the other defrost whilst I found a suitable way of cooking it.

Jamie to the rescue...an unbelievably simple, quick and tasty way to prepare such a thoughtful gift for the table.  The Handyman and I shared the trout, more than enough for two, and are looking forward to the one left in the freezer!

Trout Roasted with Thyme and Lemon
Serves 2
Ingredients
1 large (or 2 small) whole trout
1 handful of lemon thyme (ours came from HG kitchen garden)
1-2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 lemon, cut into halves
2 bay leaves

Method
Heat the oven to 230C.  Line a roasting tin with foil.  Then wash the fish inside and out and dry with kitchen paper.  Put the thyme with the olive oil in a pestle and grind together.  Spread the thyme mixture on the inside and top of the fish and place in the prepared roastng tin.  Cut a small slit in the lemon halves and insert the bay leaves.  Add to the roasting tin.  Place the fish in the oven and roast for about 15 minutes (10 minutes if using 2 smaller fish).  And that's it!  The fish will lift easily off the bone and has a lovely delicate flavour; for those who don't like salmon, just try trout...much more subtle.

ready to eat

I made saute potatoes with garlic and red onion and a plain green salad to go with the fish, de..lic..ious!!!

Freshest of Fruit

Not enough to cook with, but so delicious...find out what I've been eating straight from the garden here...

Where Have We Been?

Busy in the garden at the moment!  See what we've been up to in Holly Grove garden preparing things for (hopefully, fingers crossed) bumper crops to use in the kitchen over the coming months...

Presto Pasta Nights Event

I'm going to try my hand at another blogging event - Presto Pasts Nights.  This is a weekly event hosted by Ruth at 4everykitchen.com and guest hosts.  This week's guest host is Jacqueline at Tinned Tomatoes, so how could I resist.

I've resurrected a pasta dish from my archive way back in August 2009 - Pasta Bake with Pepperoni, Tomatoes and Garden Herbs.  As you can see from the title this recipe contains pancetta and pepperoni but for vegetarians this could be left out and mushrooms and courgette added instead.

It really is a quick, simple and tasty supper - so wish me luck!

No Crouton Required - April

Well, I can barely believe it but I've won a second No Croutons Required badge: success with my Walnut and Rosemary soda bread recipe - hurrah!

Coffee and Cake

Just had the last piece of the most delicious coffee cake!  I made it a week ago and, apart from the miracle that there was still a slice left in the tin, I was amazed at how moist and fresh it had remained...definately worth the making and a post on the blog.

Another interesting thing about this cake is that there is no butter or margarine, corn oil is the magic ingredient. The recipe calls for the cakes to be baked in two 20 cm sandwich tins, just make sure that they are at least 4cm deep as my cakes spilled over the sides when baking. I managed to disguise the damage with the mascarpone topping - phew! Next time I think I'll make on large cake and slice it through the middle when baked.

The recipe came from 'baking with passion' by Dan Lepard and Richard Whittington.

Coffee Cake with Mascarpone Cream
Ingredients
for the cake
225g self-raising flour
2 tsp baking powder
225g caster sugar
225ml corn oil
2 eggs, separated
2 heaped tsp instant coffee granules dissolved in 2 tsp boiling water
75ml milk (I used semi-skimmed)

for the icing
250g mascarpone
quarter tsp grated lemon zest
350g icing sugar, sifted
2 heaped tsp instant coffee granules dissoled in 2 tbsp boiling water

Method
Preheat the oven to 180C. grease and line two 20 cm sandwich tins (at least 4cm deep).

Sift the flour, baking powder and caster sugar into a mixing bowl.  Beat in the oil, egg yolks, coffee and milk.  In a separate bowl whisk the egg whites to soft peaks.

Stir in a spoonful of the egg whites to the cake mixture and then gently fold in the remaining egg whites.  Divide the mixture between the tins and bake for about 45 minutes or until the sponge springs back when gently pressed int he centre.  Remove from the oven and cool oin a wire rack.

To make the icing, put the mascarpone and lemon zest in a bowl and mix together.  Slowly add the icing sugar, mixing in well, until you have a thick paste.  Finally beat in the coffee.

Sandwich the cooled cakes together with half the icing, then smooth the remaining icing on the top of the cake - delicious!

Back with a Challenge

Well, it's been a while but I'm back and the encouragement I needed was to be found in this month's No Croutons Required challenge.  Jacqueline at Tinned Tomatoes has been very generous this month allowing a choice of challenges and, as a July baby, I've gone back through my archives to find a delicious bread to enter the fray.



A reminder of July - beautiful sweet peas




Rosemary and Walnut Soda Bread - Yum!


The recipe of choice from my archive is Rosemary and Walnut soda bread, easy to make and bake and delicious with almost any soup - here's the link to the recipe.

Spring is in the Air!

Primroses, daffodils, seed sowing, sunshine and thoughts of light, crisp, fresh al fresco meals - with this in mind I've brightened up the blog with summer colour.

I'll be back from the winter gloom with some more recipes very soon.

HFW's Fish Fight

Having watched Hugh's Fish Fight programme on television the other evening I was so saddened by the damage and waste that I've signed up to the fish fight; as fellow food bloggers why not have a look at the issues and sign up to put pressure on the EU to stop these wasteful practices...

Cook Book Clearance

It's the new year and a tradition time for clearing cupboards and cleaning at Holly Grove.  During this process I came to the conclusion that I just don't have enough space for my ever expanding cook book collection; but what to do about it?

Well, I could sort through and take the less well used books to the local charity shop or I could pass them on to family and friends.  So with my mind set on reducing the library I spent a few hours going through the titles and the result was...I can't bear to part with any of them!  But as a salve to my conscience I'm going to give one book away to a reader of my blog. 

To be in with a chance to receive my copy of Second Helpings of Roast Chicken by Simon Hopkinson (in very good condition) all you have to do is add a comment to this post and/or become a follower of Holly Grove Kitchen blog, please provide your email address in the comment and I'll contact the lucky recipient for their address details.  

I'll select the winner at random on 31st January - unfortunately I have to restrict this giveaway to UK readers (postage costs and all that!).

First Post of 2011

I was wondering what my first post of 2011 might be: sweet or savoury?  Perhaps it's the winter weather making me long for summer days or just that I had some Holly Grove raspberries from our July harvest lingering in the freezer and some mascarpone cheese in the fridge, a remnant of Christmas plans, that made me consider a cheesecake.  The cheesecake recipe I usually follow is a no-bake version but this one is baked in the oven for an hour - which is where it is as I write this post.

It took about an hour to prepare for the oven and I've had to substitute a few ingredients, so I'm a bit nervous of the outcome - which I'll add to this post later.  In the meantime here's the recipe annotated with my substitutions in italics...

ready for the oven

Raspberry and White Chocolate Cheesecake
Ingredients
For the base
50g unsalted butter
225g ginger nut biscuits (225g digestives with 1tsp ground ginger)
50g chopped walnuts 

For the filling
275g mascarpone cheese
175g fromage frais (140g creme fraiche with 35g Greek yoghurt)
2 eggs, beaten
3 tbsp caster sugar
250g white chocolate, broken into squares
225g raspberries (frozen from July's harvest)

For the topping
115g mascarpone cheese
75g fromage frais (75g Greek yoghurt)
white chocolate curls and raspberries to decorate (white chocolate drops and raspberries)

Method
Heat the oven to 150C. Melt the butter in a large saucepan then mix in the crushed biscuits and nuts. Press into the base of a 9" spring form cake tin.

To make the filling beat the mascarpone and fromage frais (or substitutes) together in a bowl.  Then beat in the eggs and the caster sugar.  Meanwhile melt the white chocolate in a bowl over a pan of gently simmering water.  Stir the melted chocolate and the raspberries into the cheese mixture.  Pour on top of the biscuits base and place the cheesecake in the oven for 1 hour or until just set.  Switch off the oven but leave the cheesecake in the oven until cold and completely set.

Release the cheesecake from the tin and place on a serving plate.  Make the topping by mixing the mascarpone and fromage frais in a bowl, then spread over the cheesecake and decorate with chocolate curls and raspberries.

Here's the update on the finished item...

Above is the cheesecake as it came out of the cold oven.  I decided to forego the topping (this time) and just add a few raspberries - the very last of the HG harvest until July - and a dusting of icing sugar.  

The base of this cheesecake was lovely and crumbly, but needs a bit more ginger next time.  It is a soft set cheesecake, probably due to changing the fromage frais for the creme fraiche and yoghurt, and quite sweet, I think I'll reduce the caster sugar to 2tbsp when I next make it.  It turned out to be a lovely light dessert, less rich than I anticipated (a good thing) and very delicious.

Another Hogmanay

New Year's Eve again...how quickly the months go by!  And an eventful year for us at Holly Grove: a new roof on the Goat House destined to become a garden studio...

New windows for the house to keep out the winter chill...

Then all the garden produce through the summer and autumn...

Memories of sunny days and meals with friends...

 

And two little people very special to me...

Farewell 2010 and forward on to 2011...wishing you health, wealth and happiness (and lots more cooking) in the coming 12 months!

Ooh, Another Sweet Treat

'Tis the season of cakes and sweet things...well, it is here at Holly Grove and today's treat makes use of some raspberries frozen from our summer harvest. This makes a lovely fresh, zesty and moist cake..delicious and possibly one of your 5-a-day!

Raspberry and Blueberry Lime Drizzle Cake

Ingredients

For the cake

225g softened butter

225g caster sugar

3 large eggs

2 limes, zest and juice

250g SR flour

25g ground almonds

100g each raspberries and blueberries

For the drizzle

1.5 tbsp lime juice

70g caster sugar

Method

Line the base and sides of a 20cm/8in square cake tin (not loose-based) with greaseproof paper. Set oven to 180C.

Cream the butter and sugar together until light. Gradually beat in the eggs. Beat in the lime zest, then fold in the flour and almonds. Fold in enough lime juice - about 3 tablespoons - to give you a good dropping consistency (the mixture should drop easily from the spoon when tapped). 

Fold in three quarters of the blueberries and raspberries and turn into the prepared tin. Smooth the surface, then scatter the remaining fruit on top - it will sink as the cake rises. 

Bake for about 1 hour, a skewer pushed into the centre should be clean when removed.  

To make the syrup: put the lime juice, zest and sugar in a small saucepan. Put over a gentle heat and stir until the sugar has dissolved. As soon as the cake comes out of the oven, prick all over with a skewer then spoon the syrup over it. To store, cool before wrapping in paper and/or foil.

December Freeze and Christmas Fare

The weather outside remains frozen and white but it's cosy and warm in HG's kitchen and the thought of spending Christmas with loved ones makes it warmer still - so safe journey to those travelling and MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ONE AND ALL!

Holly Grove at Christmas time doesn't mean a traditional Christmas lunch; what it does mean is a Christmas table of home baked and cooked delights - all being well.  I moved away from the traditional raost turkey and all the trimmings some years ago when my boys and the Handyman's children were teenagers and we couldn't guarantee who would turn up when.  Add to that mix my sister and her vegetarian brood and the result is my, now much anticipated, Christmas buffet.

The core of the feast remains the same most years - people seem to like a bit of  predictability - so a capon and a gammon joint, mince pies and Christmas cake, the remainder of the food varies each year.  This year I'm adding two new dips - a white bean dip and an avocado and cumin dip - and some homemade parmesan biscuits.

The rest of the menu looks like this:

• roasted potato wedges
• vegetarian Christmas tart
• mushroom pate
• ginger and mustard cocktail sausages
• vegetarian 'sausage' rolls
• cheese straws
• assorted cheeses
• roasted pitta breads
• assorted nuts
• shortbread
• raspberry and blueberry lime drizzle cake (for those who don't like Christmas cake and even for those that do!)
• and, of course, Christmas pudding with brandy sauce

Avocado and Cumin Dip

Ingredients

1 tsp cumin seeds, toasted and then ground

2 cloves garlic, pressed and ground with 1/2tsp salt

2 avocados

3tbs tahini paste

juice of 2 lemons

2 tbs olive oil

Method

Scoop out the flesh from the avocados, clean out the skins and rinse and dry them - reserve for later. Place the avocado flesh and all the remaining ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth.  Serve the dip in the avocado skins garnished with strips of red pepper - very fast and very festive!

Festive Frost

At first I wasn't sure that this month's NCR challenge from Jacqueline at Tinned Tomatoes belonged on my kitchen blog - a festive photo challenge - it seemed more suitable for Holly Grove Garden.  Anyway after wrapping up like an eskimo and venturing out into the garden to take some winter wonderland photos I came back to a white onion soup and suddenly the challenge seemed most appropriate. There's nothing like an onion soup to warm the cockles of your heart and beat a nasty cold...except perhaps a delicious mug of hot chocolate!

Anyway the temperature here in the Shropshire countryside remains around minus 7 degrees and the hoar frost on the shrubs and trees makes a lovely picture...I hope you'll agree?

Winter Blue

And now here's the recipe for the white onion soup to warm us up after venturing out with the camera, yum!

Winter White

White Onion Soup
Serves 4
Ingredients
1 oz butter
4 large onions, thinly sliced
1 small leek, thinly sliced
3 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
250ml white wine
500ml vegetable stock
2 bay leaves
small bunch parsley, chopped 

Method
Melt the butter in a large saucepan.  Add the leek, onion and garlic and cook slowly with the lid on for about 10 minutes until softened but not browned.

Add the wine and bring to a fast boil.  Boil until the wine has reduced by about a third.  Add the stock, bay leaves and parsley and bring back to the boil, then turn the heat down.  Simmer for about 2 hours and then blend using a hand blender.  Seve with good brown bread.

Mushroom Magic

It's the season for mushrooms and I've bought another mountain of them, so having made soups and put them in almost all of my cooking I thought I'd try a mushroom pate...a trial run for an addition to our Christmas table.  The result was delicious, which is just as well as the recipe makes mountains of the stuff, fine for Christmas with lots of vegetarian visitors though!

Yummy Mushroom Pate
Serves 8
Ingredients
500g mushrooms, chopped
2 tbsp butter,
1 bunch spring onions, chopped
250g cream cheese
2 tbsp parsley, chopped
2 tsp brandy (optional)
4 tsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 tsp mushroom ketchup


Method
Melt the butter in a large frying pan.  Add the mushrooms and onions and cook gently with the lid off for about 10 minutes until soft.  Allow to cool.

Meanwhile put the cheese and parsley in a food processor and combine.  Add the mushroom mixture and all the remaining ingredients and pulse until the texture is fine but not completely smooth.  Put the mixture into serving dishes and chill for at least 2 hours.  Serve with toast or crackers or add to a baked potato for a tasty supper.

Slice of Delight

The Handyman and I love tray baked cakes, they are easy to pick up with a cup of coffee (for me) and tea (for him) without it being too obvious that slices are disappearing. So we can keep our greedy secret at least for a while until the cake tin is empty. 

I don't know why we feel guilty for eating lovely home baked cakes that contain no unnatural additives and we certainly work hard enough in the garden and around the house to use up the calories; probably just our culture that seems to say that if you enjoy something it must be naughty!

Recently I've discovered a couple of new tray bakes that have disappeared from the tin with alarming swiftness.  One was a chocolate bake from Jacqueline over at Tinned Tomatoes, Chocolate Tiffin, a no bake slice, very easy to make and to eat.  I used 70% cocoa chocolate for mine, a very adult taste; if I was making for children I'd probably use a milk chocolate...a good excuse to make another batch to try out the milk choc version, oh, and what about a white chocolate version with apricots instead of the raisins!

The second bake that we've had recently is an apricot and macaroon slice.  I made a half quantity in a 7" square shallow cake tin and it came out beautifully after a few anxious moments when the first layer of sponge was baked - it looked too thin but actually turned out really well in the finished cake.  Sweet,coconutty and generally yummy!


Apricot and Macaroon Slice
Makes about16 pieces
Ingredients

Base
100g unsalted butter, softened
80g caster sugar
1 egg
185g plain flour
half tsp baking powder 

Filling
250g dried apricots, roughly chopped
1 tbsp Amaretto
2 tbsp caster sugar 

Topping
100g unsalted butter, softened
80g caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs
270g dessicated coconut
40g plain flour
half tsp baking powder

Method

Heat the oven to 180C and lightly grease and line an 8"x12" shallow baking tin.

To make the base put all the ingredients in a large bowl and beat with an electric beater until smooth.  Press into the baking tin and bake for about 25 minutes until golden.

Meanwhile make the filling by combining the apricots, Amaretto and sugar in a bowl with 4 fl ozs boiling water. Cover and set aside for 30 minutes then puree in a food processor.  When the base has cooled slightly cover it with the apricot mixture.

Make the topping by creaming together the butter, sugar and vanilla extract.  Beat in the eggs and then fold in the flour and baking powder followed by the coconut.  Spoon on top of the apricot mixture then return to the oven and bake for 20 to 25 minutes until golden.

Note: Next time I make this I'm going to replace the apricot mixture with some Holly Grove jam in a thick layer.

Slàinte Mhath!

Unless you speak Gaelic or have a Scot in the family you may be confused by the title of this post...it's an old Scottish toast: 'slainte mhath' (pronounced slanj uh va) meaning good health. And the reason for toasting you all is that I've been busy making drinks, soft and otherwise, in the Holly Grove kitchen recently.

First off the bench is an update on the cider front; the first demijohn is now bottled. It has retained its deep pink colour and, if I can work out how the hydrometer works, I'll let you know the alcohol level.  I bottled the cider in 2 litre plastic bottles that had previously held sparkling spring water. They were sterilised with Milton sterilising fluid and then rinsed out with cooled previously boiled water. So approximately 5 litres of pink cider awaiting next summer.
 
The water bottles came in useful again for my first attempt at ginger beer. I love this spicy, refreshing drink and was tempted to try and make my own when I read of all the ingredients in the commercial brands compared to the simple ingredients in a homemade version, and it's made in a bottle, so no special equipment required! The result is a lightly sparkling, gingery, not too sweet, moreish drink; perfect for hot summer days and cosy winter evenings by the fire. I'll definitely be making lots more of this one and will slightly increase the ginger content next time.

Clockwise from the top - cider, ginger beer, apple liqueur, lemonade

Now on the shelf and ready for Christmas is my apple liqueur; two versions: one made with the rosy red dessert apples from one of the old apple trees and one made with Cox's from one of the newer fruit trees in the garden.  Some of this liqueur went into our Christmas puddings this year.  Both are a lovely amber colour, though more colour in the old apple tree version, and both taste divine. To be drunk in small quantities as they contain lots of alcohol, lovely with a festive mince pie or slice of Christmas cake. Can't wait!

And lastly for this roundup, lemonade.  This has proven very successful and like the ginger beer really easy to make. I made about 500ml of this and keep it in the fridge. We drink it diluted with sparkling water, about 50:50, so refreshing and tasty. I'm going to reduce the sugar content and increase the lemon next time as we like a sharper more lemony flavour.

Looking at this line-up I don't think I'll be buying much in the way of drinks from now on, if only I could make a decent Chablis and/or Merlot! In the meantime here are the recipes for the ginger beer and lemonade - cheers!

Ginger Beer
Ingredients
2-litre plastic bottle
quarter tsp champagne yeast
225g caster sugar
2 tbsp finely grated fresh root ginger
juice of 1 lemon
1 tbsp honey

Method
Add the yeast to the bottle then pour in the sugar. In a jug, mix the grated ginger, lemon juice and honey together. Pour this mixture into the bottle and fill to three quarters full with cold water. Put the top on the bottle and shake until the sugar is dissolved. Top up the bottle with water, leaving a 2.5cm gap at the top.

Cap the bottle tightly, then put it somewhere warm. Leave it for about 2-3 days. Once the bottle feels very hard place the bottle in the fridge for several hours to stop the yeast working. Pass the ginger beer through a fine sieve and re bottle.Your ginger beer is now ready to enjoy.

Lemony Lemonade
Makes about 500ml
Ingredients
half a cup caster sugar
1 tbsp honey
half a cup water
1 lemon, zest and juice
450ml cold water

Method
Put the caster sugar, honey and cup of water into a small saucepan and bring to the boil, simmer for 2 minutes, until sugar has dissolved. Put the lemon zest and juice in a large jug and pour over the syrup. Allow to cool slightly then put the lemon mixture into a bottle. Add enough of the 450ml of cold water to fill the bottle.. Cap and chill for at least 2 hours before serving. To serve, dilute the lemonade about 50:50 with chilled sparkling water.