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Christmas cake Recipe for Stir-up Sunday

20th November 2019

It may seem a little early to talk about Christmas cake but it’s stir-up Sunday this weekend and the best time to make your gorgeous Christmas cake so that it has time to mature and develop before the big day. I’m going to share with you my ultimate Christmas cake recipe for you to knock up this Stir-up Sunday and impress your family and friends this year.

Harrie Kivell – private chef

The key to a great Christmas cake is getting ahead – soak your fruits in festive booze for at least 24 hours (3 days is best) before you want to make your cake. I tend to do this in a big kilner jar so I can keep shaking the fruits to ensure they are all beautifully coated but a large bowl will work too.

Don’t be afraid to get creative and personalise your cake. Where I use hazelnuts and Cherries ; you could use cranberries and walnuts or you could up the orange zest and add some dark chocolate chips making a fabulous chocolate orange variation of a classic! On the recipe I shall put a star next to any ingredient that can be swapped along with some suggested alternatives. As long as you use the same weight it will be delicious!

Christmas cake ingredients

Usually when I make a cake I use an electric mixer but it seems prudent that such a traditional cake be made the old fashioned way – with a wooden spoon and some elbow grease! Get the whole family involved, taking turns to stir the cake and you shall have a wonderful cake in no time that everyone can feel proud of. Things really do taste better if you make them at home.

Harrie’s ultimate Christmas Cake

1kg mixed dried fruit
100g Glace cherries *
100g Mixed peel
350g Dark brown sugar
350g Butter
6 Eggs – I love Clarence Court
350g Plain flour
1tsp Mixed spice
1tsp Ground cinnamon
1tsp Ground ginger
Half cup Brandy/whisky/cherry brandy/cointreau/port
Juice and zest of 2 large oranges
50g Hazlenuts * (Almonds, walnuts, macadamia, pecans)
35g Ground almonds
2 Tbsp Black treacle

-At least 24 hours before making your cake put your dried fruit, cherries, mixed peel, orange juice and zest, spices and booze in a large jar/bowl and leave to mature.
-Preheat oven to 140’c and line a deep 8” cake tin with baking parchment
-Beat together the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy or until your arm aches!
-Add the eggs one at a time, beating the mix well between each addition.
– Sift in the flour along with all the fruit mix, the ground nuts, whole nuts and treacle and stir together until evenly combined.

-Spoon into your tin, press a disk of greaseproof on top of the cake and bake for 4.5 hours.
-Once out of the oven brush with some more booze and wrap well in cling film.
-Brush with booze once a week until christmas!

Christmas cake ready for its tin

All images created by Cook & Capture

Cook & Capture

5th July 2019

My latest venture; the why, the where, the who and the what…

I’ve had a lot of people asking me recently about Cook & Capture, my latest venture so I thought i’d jump on and write a quick blog post about what we do at Cook & Capture, explain how it works and answer the common questions I get about our new bussines.

So…what is this new business, what do we do? Cook & Capture provides styled images of food, ingredients and even drinks, showcasing a clients food product at their absolute yummiest for them to use in their marketing, social media etc. So basically, lets say you produce amazing cheeses, we create gorgeous recipes using your cheese and photograph it to show how wonderful the cheese in question is. It maybe something simple like a burger showing the oozy goodness dripping down over the delicious beef pattie. Or it could be a delicious baby carrot and goats cheese risotto to showcase just how versatile your product is.

OK so now i’ve explained a little more about my new venture; i’m going to answer some questions I get asked a lot about C&C.

You say ‘we’ when you talk about your new business…who are you working with? I started C&C with my wonderful friend and colleague, photographer Clare Buckingham. We both realised, whilst Clare was photographing a new menu of mine, just how much we love styling and shooting food. Clare is an amazing photographer with a real eye for detail and styling. I cook and recipe develop, Clare photographs, and together we style and curate the scene…it works fantastically and we have such a giggle in the process.

You seem very busy with BTAG, where do you find the time? Yikes this is a tricky one and the honest answer is, i’m not sure. It does however work really well. Whilst i’m fully booked all year around with BTAG, most of my work is for the weekends which leaves me with start of the week to work on C&C. The emails, paperwork, social media and all the other things that go with running a business just happen in amongst everything…I make it work and I love it!

Chicken tacos

Where do you take the photos? It entirely depends on what the clients want. Sometimes we go to the client, perhaps they have a cafe or restaurant and want some awesome shots of their menu. Other times our clients send us their products so we create the dishes and photograph them in our amazing kitchen studio- surrounded by all our gorgeous props – its the ultimate setup.

Is it scary starting another new business? YES!! I was extremely lucky with BTAG that one thing led to another and suddenly I had a business, almost without realising it. Starting a business from practically nothing, totally from scratch has been totally different, very daunting but extremely rewarding and a huge learning curb.

Victoria sponge for Stokes Sauces

Where did the idea for this business come from? We realised there was a big gap in the market for such a service. On the whole food brands that are in need of good images would have to find; a photographer, a chef, a stylist, some prop hire and probably a studio as well. They’d then have to coordinate these things, find a time that suited all, pay everyone individually and suddenly it becomes hugely complex and often stressful, if not unachievable. We realised that we could provide this complete, all in service by pooling our talents and making the process seamless and straightforward. In many cases we simply get sent the product and we send back an album of beautiful images – it doesn’t get much easier that that!

So there you have it… Hopefully you’ve enjoyed hearing all about the new venture and if you want to check it out further head over to our website .

    Chocolate and peanut butter brownies

    3rd July 2019

    Ready in under an hour and honestly the best brownie you will ever make!!

    OH MY LORDY. Stop whatever you are doing and look at these chocolate and peanut butter brownies. They are OUT OF THIS WORLD. No seriously. They have it all; a wafer thin crust yielding to fudgy dense chocolatey brownie filled and a crunchy layer of peanut butter and milk chocolate chunks – what could be better!!

    Chocolate and peanut butter brownie

    The best thing about these brownies is that you can totally make them your own! Perhaps you want to use almond butter and change out the milk choc chunks for whole almonds and add some orange zest in the batter to make delicious almond and orange brownies. (I mean – why wouldn’t you!!) Whatever you do with this recipe i implore you to give it a go – you WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED!

    Ok on the technical front I often get asked how I get them so fudgy and gooey. The secret is to take them out of the oven when they are still wobbly….now i don’t mean – fat arse in thin leggings wobbly- but I mean just ever so slightly underset when you gently tap the tray. Follow the timings and temp I give to the letter, or number rather, and you wont go wrong!

    • 500g Crunchy peanut butter (I use this one)
    • 150g Milk chocolate
    • 225g Unsalted butter
    • 400g Dark chocolate
    • 4 Eggs
    • 225g Caster sugar
    • 175g Light brown soft sugar
    • 1tsp Vanilla extract
    • 150g Plain flour
    • Line a 20cm x 30cm brownie tin with baking parchment and pre heat the oven to 180’c.
    • Melt together the dark chocolate and butter in a large saucepan very gently over a low heat until smooth and glossy
    • Remove from heat and stir in both sugars, the eggs and the vanilla, beating quickly until well combined
    • Sift in the plain flour and stir well.
    • Pour half of the mixture into the tin and spread evenly to cover the base of the tin – place in the freezer for 10 mins to firm up
    • Whilst the brownie base is in the freezer, warm the peanut butter in a small pan over a gentle heat until pourable.
    • Chop up the milk chocolate generous chunks
    • Grab brownies from the freezer and spread the soft peanut butter over the top, levelling and pushing right to the edge with a palette knife or back of a spoon. Top with chocolate chunks.
    • Pour remaining brownie mix over peanut butter and choc chunks and spread evenly to create a smooth top with no peanut butter showing.
    • Bake in a preheated oven for EXACTLY 30 MINUTES> I PROMISE THEY ARE DONE AT THIS POINT.
    • Leave to cool for 10 mins before putting in the fridge to completely set for at least 2 hours. Remove from the fridge and cut into pieces, place in your favourite cake tin or stand and keep at room temperature to serve and enjoy.
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    G E O R G I E
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My favourite cake to date.. created for my beautiful Sister in Law and Brother for their big day back in September… G gave me complete free reign and this was the result!
#bespokeweddingcake #cakereel #weddingcake #cakeartist #cakeart #weddingcakesideas
    J A S P E R
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A very precious Christening cake for gorgeous Jasper.
    Smoked salmon and creme fraiche blinis•Cauliflow Smoked salmon and creme fraiche blinis•Cauliflower cheese croquettes •Goats cheese and fig chutney tartlets••Glazed belly pork with butter seared scallop, celeriac purée and chorizo sourdough crumble••Honey and 5spice duck breast, potato gratin, creamed carrot, charred hispi and a port reduction•Chocolate brownie with feta cream and cherry compote•
    S T I R : U P : S U N D A Y
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Yes! It really is that time already… get those Christmas cakes and puddings done and dusted so they have time for a long soak in a booze of your choosing! For my tried and trusted CC recipe follow the link in my bio ❤️

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    Tavistock
    Devon
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    07791960116

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