Franco Manca - Masterclass in Reading, Berkshire {restaurant review}

Last June/July time Franco Manca opened up a branch in Reading and I was kindly invited along to an evening of pizza and limoncello drinking! I have been back since and I will say what I said then that the pizza from Franco Manca is one of my favorites. The sourdough base is everything and because the menu changes with the seasons it's toppings are always top notch. 

So, when they asked if I'd like to come along to try out one of their masterclasses I was there! This time around I was allowed to get in the kitchen and make my own pizza! Our instructor aka Master Pizza Maker Andrea was full of knowledge and showed us how the sour dough was made before giving us our own blob to turn into our own masterpiece! 

First you have to press it down gently and firmly with your finger tips, it's sometimes referred to as knocking it back, but this is a small piece so it doesn't need as much pressure or energy if you were making a loaf of bread. 

Then gently folding it over your hand you toss it gently back and forth - this does two things. One it knocks the excess unnecessary flour off and two it stretches the dough out ready to be pizza shaped. 

Once it's, as I said, pizza shaped they have a perfectly sized ladle to pour on the tomato sauce and spread in a circle. Then the fun part. Putting whatever you want on it! I choose lots of cheese, some garlic, olives, and mushrooms. 

Very gently you move it on a paddle which then gets placed into their special wood burning oven that is kept at something ridiculous like 500 degrees - it literally takes minutes. Then using another fun tool you check to make sure the bottom is properly cooked before gently sliding it out and turning it around and putting it back in and giving it another minute to make sure it's perfect and then you place it on your plate and enjoy!! 

I couldn't recommend the pesto more, it's seasonal so varies visit to visit, it's perfect to dip crusts in. It's essential, if you like lemons and liquor, to finish your meal with a shot of their limoncello, which is sourced in Italy and brought to the UK just for them! 

If you would like to experience making your own pizza masterclasses, in Reading, are held on the second Tuesday of every month. Classes are two and half hours and cost £30 including food, wine/soft drinks. Book or find out more: reading@francomanca.co.uk or 0118 995 2086.

Classes are also held at their Chiswick, Richmond, and Bournemouth to find out more of the details for those locations check the Franco Manca website here!  

Before we left they gave us a little goody bag with a bottle of wine, some pizza toppings, and a bottle of chilli oil for if we ever get the courage to try making pizza's at home! The book below was from my first visit and if you want to read that full review with more pictures check it out here! 

*I was invited to attend, but I was not asked to write a review positive or otherwise, no other compensation was given. Please see my contacts/policy page above for more information. 

Easy Choc Dip and Drizzle Cookies from Dr Oetker {recipe/product review}

I don't have a microwave. Some people find that weird and others don't have them either and so can relate. It really hasn't affected my kitchen life. 

Until I agree to try out a recipe from the Dr. Oetker website and even picked the recipe I thought looked great, only to find out that the White Easy Choc pot suggests it to be microwaved. It was at this point I was annoyed with myself for not paying attention to all the details. 

However, as I re-read I was excited to see I didn't need a microwave at all because I could just put the pot in a bowl and then pour hot water around it just like a bain marie aka water bath aka double boiler type situation. Perfect! 

This recipe is one of the easiest cookie recipes I have tried and would be a great one to make with kids, once the cookies are dipped you could easily let them decorate them with all sorts of sprinkles! I kept mine plain because I was lacking in sprinkles... I should really stock back up..... 

Back to what I was saying these are easy cookies to make and what I haven't said yet is that they are soft and chocolatey! They would make a perfect treat after school or dinner or bake sale! As Dr. Oetker are the proud sponsors of the Great British Bake Off I think I can safely say .... 

Get ready, set, bake! 

Easy Choc Dip and Drizzle Cookies

100g unsalted butter

75g dark brown sugar 

1 medium egg yolk 

100g plain flour

25g cocoa powder

1 tsp baking powder

1 pot of Dr. Oetker White Easy Choc

Heat the oven to 190˚C (170˚C fan oven, 375˚F, gas 5). Line 1-2 baking trays with baking parchment. In a mixing bowl, beat together the butter and sugar until creamy and well blended. Beat in the egg yolk.

Sift the flour, cocoa powder and baking powder into the butter mixture and beat until just combined. Divide the mixture into 16 rounds approx. 4cm (1 ½ inches) in diameter and place on the baking trays, spaced slightly apart.

Bake for 10-12 minutes until just firm and lightly cracked on top. Cool on the baking trays for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Melt the Easy Choc as directed on the pot, and leave to cool for 10 minutes. Arrange the cookies on a board lined with baking parchment. And, using a teaspoon, thickly drizzle half of them with the melted Easy Choc. Half dip the remaining cookies and place back on the parchment to set.

*Dr. Oetker got in touch with me and sent me a few of the products mentioned above to bake these cookies from their website, the recipe can be found here  link no longer available. There was no other compensation given - all opinions are my own for more information please see my contact/policy page above. 

Win a trip to Buenos Aires with Cau {Cau - Reading, Berkshire {review}}

Cau restaurants are giving away a trip to their homeland Buenos Aires and all you need to do to enter is to visit one of their many locations order any Hero dish on the menu, upload a picture with their special Insta-frame and hash-tag #BuenosHeros!

Cau opened up in Reading a few years back and I have to honestly say it's one of the best places in town to get a good steak! Therefore when they invited me in to try out some of their dishes from their menu marked with a "hero" stamp there was no way I could say no!

Best place to always start a meal is with a starter! My friend and I tried the Shrimp Chicharron, which is crispy fried shrimp in an aji amarillo sauce which is a sort of spicy cheese sauce. It was delicious and if you are a seafood lover like my friend and I definitely give it a go!!

The other starter we tried were the Empanadas (I still don't think I pronounce them right) one filled with Spanish chorizo & cream cheese and the other with Spinach, ricotta & date there were two other choices Spicy beef and Spicy creamed corn & Taleggio cheese. I have to say for the ones we tried they were good and I can with all confidence say to try the chorizo one it was so good!

Then of course came the main attraction - Beef! My friend went with Tapa De Cuadril one of their signature dishes cut from the top of the rump and served thinly slice and ash grilled, this apparently is how it melts in your mouth.

Unable to decide I asked the waitress for help and eventually with a little guidance I went with The ULTIMATE Steak Sandwich. And boy am I glad I did! This sandwich has everything you could ever want! Three types of beef - flash grilled tapa de caudril, salt beef, and BBQ brisket served in a toasted ciabatta with crispy onions, dill pickles (my favorite part next to the beef) with a spicy mayo and melty Monterey Jack cheese!

Not being able to leave with out a dessert I tried the Dulce Volcano. It is basically an old-fashioned chocolate volcano except it's not chocolate it's more of a caramel flavor and it's served with an amaretto cream which paired perfectly with it. (see my video on instagram)

The only thing not stamped with a "hero" sign was the Choco Blondie. If you don't know what a blondie is I am not sure why you are reading my blog, however if you don't it's basically a brownie made with white chocolate. They are generally super rich, but this one had just the right amount of sweetness and balanced with a peanut butter frosting how could you go wrong!

Everything we tried was stamped with "hero" and it was all so good I wish I was eating it right now! However there was so much more on the menu to try out!

Follow these steps to enter:

1. Take a selfie with their Insta-Frame (above)

2. Upload to Instagram using #BUENOSHEROES

3. Tag who you'd like to take along

4. Enter as many times as you want by ordering a hero dish when dining!! 

They will also be giving away weekly prizes - Find out more on how to win and the T&C's on their website for more information! 

The Oracle, Bridge Street,

Reading,

RG1 2AQ

If you have never been to Cau before now is the time to visit and try the amazing dishes - as an added bonus you can enter their Buenos Heroes competition!

*I was invited to Cau in Reading to try the Hero menu and to help promote the competition. I was not compensated in any other way - all opinions are my own please see my contact/policy page above for more information. 

Lola's: A Cake Journey Around the World {book review}

Traveling around the world is a dream a lot of people have, but very few get to experience. I have been a few places here and there and I would love to go more places, but in the mean time I will live vicariously through this cook book! 

They take us to Northern and Southern Europe, the Middle East and Africa, to the America's and the Caribbean, and to Australasia and Asia! Sharing with us classic recipes of cakes and bakes we all know and love like England's classic Victoria Sponge, Black Forest Cake from Germany, Nanaimo bars from Canada,  and Lamingtons from Australia! As well as new and adventurous recipes such as Sacher torte that comes from Austria and Paris brest from France! 

The authors have reassured us that all these recipes are capable of being made in the home kitchen, but not every recipe is created equal and they have given each recipe a number of whisks to let us know the level of difficulty or the amount of effort that will be needed for each recipe! I like it when cookbooks do this as it allows you to gage the amount of work and time you will have to commit too to recreate the recipe! 

Here are a few of the recipes I found interesting and calling my name to try out sometime! 

Banoffee cake - England

Stout cake - Ireland

Speculoos cake - Netherlands

Dobos torte - Hungary

Lemon olive oil cake - Greece

Mosaic cake - Turkey

Baklava cake - Saudi Arabia

Brazil nut cake - Bolivia 

Black cake - Trinidad

Jelly cake - New Zealand

Matcha cake - Japan

Sesame cake - India

That's only the tip of the iceberg, there are so many other recipes in this book that sound and look delicious. The photography is beautiful and some recipes even warrant an extra page or two of it's history! 

Food and culture go together hand in hand and if either of these things interest you this is definitely a book worth checking out! 

*I was given a copy of Lola's: A Cake Journey Around the World  to review by the publisher, Ryland Peters & Small. Retails at £18.99 and available now from your local book retailers or online! All opinions are my own, I was not given any other compensation nor was I asked to give a positive review, please see my contact/policy page for more information.