Toad in the hole with onion gravy and beans & chocolate, strawberry swiss roll

Today started off cold and raw, with heavy sleet as we walked the dogs.  I then went to see my therapist for the first time in 2 years, as I felt I needed some help.  She is a very caring person, but she comes armed with sharp, pointy sticks and poked me with them.  It was a very emotional session, leaving me feeling wiped out and in need of comfort.  Fortunately, the day brightened up and this afternoon was blue and silver and bright as we walked on top of the downs.  Anyway, comfort food for tea!


Toad in the Hole (Mary Berry Aga Cook Book)


8 large sausages
100g plain flour
sat
2 eggs
225 ml milk


Take 8 large sausages and place them in the small roasting tin, and hang the tin on the second set of runners in the roasting oven for approx 10 mins.  Turn the sausages over.


Meanwhile, prepare the batter.  Measure the flour into a bowl, add a pinch of salt, and stir in beaten eggs and milk to give a smooth batter.  Pour the batter over the sausages and return to the roasting oven for a further 25 mins until the batter is well risen, crisp and golden brown.


I am serving the onion gravy (from the chiller cabinet in Waitrose and Branston Baked Beans - much nicer than Heinz in MHO.


Chocolate and Strawberry Swiss roll (Secrets of Aga Cakes - Lucy Young)


4 eggs
100g caster sugar
75g self raising flour
25g cocoa powder


Filling


This recipe needs a proper Swiss roll tin (33 x 23 cm).  I find lining tins fiddly and annoying so invested in different sizes of bake o glide so I no longer need to do this.  If you don't have any, cut an oblong of non stick baking parchment just larger than your tin.  Grease the tin, then line with the baking parchment, pushing it nearly into the corners to fit.


Whist your eggs and sugar until the mix is light, frothy, increased in volume and when the whist is removed, the mix that drops off leaves a trail.  Sift the flour and cocoa into the mix, carefully folding in using a metal spoon.


Tip mix into prepared tine, spreading or tilting the mix into the corners.


Pop this onto the grid shelf on the floor of the roasting oven and bake for 8 mins until just shrinking away from the edges of the tin.


Take some more baking parchment a little larger than the size o the tin, place on the work surface and sprinkle with caster sugar.  While still warn, tip the cake onto the sugared paper.  Loosen your bake o glide or parchment and peel away.  Make a score mark 2 cm in from a shorter edge, but do not cut right through.


Roll the cake up firmly with the parchment inside.  Start the roll from the scored end and tuck this scored piece of sponge in tightly to make a roll.  Leave until stone cold.


When stone cold, carefully unroll the cake, remove the parchment and spread with jam.  Whisk the cream until stiff and fold in the strawberries.  Spread this mix over the jam.


Re-roll the cake tightly, in the same way you rolled in to begin with using the parchment to guide you.  Sprinkle with a little more sugar, if needed.


Keep in fridge, but eat as fresh as possible.