Cocktail Making Masterclass at Gaucho

Erika got an email from the Gaucho mailing list the other week, containing a list of special events as part of their ’10 years in the City’ celebrations. One of those was a free cocktail making masterclass on the terrace of their Broadgate restaurant. We both like cocktails and I’m interested in how to make nice ones so we booked ourselves on.

To start, the bartender gave a brief history of cocktails including the spirits and mixers used and the different styles of drink that have come into popularity over the years. We then went on to make our cocktail – a cosmopolitan – apparantly made famous by Sex and the City (I’m not a fan so wouldn’t know!). It’s a mixture of 50ml raspberry vodka, 25ml cointreau, 25ml lime juice and cranberry juice to taste, all shaken with ice. Their cranberry juice was freshly made that morning – we were told that really fresh juice makes a much better cocktail. You only want to put in a dash of cranberry as you don’t want to overfill the glass; the perfect cosmopolitan should be bright pink.

After putting all the various ingredients into the mixer glass and filling it with ice we were taught how to correctly put the shaker on the glass. By putting the shaker on at a slight angle then hitting the top a few times, you create a seal which should be strong enough to let you pick up the glass holding only the shaker.

Next, shake the drink holding the base of the shaker in one hand and the base of the glass in the other. You really want to shake hard and should be trying to break the ice. You can stop when you can see that water has condensed on the outside of the shaker – this means that the cocktail is cold enough to drink.

To break the seal you do some magic involving putting two fingers on the glass and two on the shaker, then hitting the join between the two with your other hand. Very confusing and I’m sure a video would be more useful!

Finally pour the cocktail through a strainer into a martini glass. I’ve seen many bars chill the glass by filling it with ice before pouring the finished cocktail in, but it doesn’t seem to be necessary as the drink was perfectly cold and tasted wonderful. Not the kind of drink I’d choose (mostly due to the colour) but it made me realise that it’s not too difficult to make your own cocktails at home – you just need plenty of ice.

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Blueberry Pancakes

Blueberries are now in season and the plentiful supply at the greengrocers means that they’re about 1/3 of their usual price as well as being hugely plump and juicy. There are plenty of ways of using them, but for something really decadent it just has to be American pancakes. A thicker batter than their English counterparts, they are quick and easy to make and taste fabulous. Whilst in the pan some of the berries erupt, their purple juice tainting the pancakes; the rest burst in your mouth as you eat them.

Finish with lashings of sweet, sticky maple syrup, serve with some strong coffee and the Sunday papers and you have something I’d gladly get out of bed for.

The recipe is adapted from Momma Cherri’s ‘Soul in a Bowl Cookbook‘. This is the only recipe I’ve ever made from the book – if the rest of the food tastes as good as the pancakes then I definitely need to try more!

Blueberry Pancakes
Makes 6
Cooking time: 10 minutes
Preparation time: 15 minutes

75-100g blueberries, washed (add as many as the batter will hold if you like!)
50g caster sugar
150g plain flour
1tsp baking powder
125ml milk
45g butter, melted
1 egg
olive oil

Sift the flour and baking powder into a large bowl then stir in the sugar. Slowly add the milk and egg and whisk well until it forms a thick batter. Leave the mixture for at least 5 minutes (the longer the better), then add half the butter and the blueberries.

Dilute the remaining butter with some olive oil (this increases the smoke point) then add a few teaspoonfuls into a large, hot frying pan. Spoon in the batter (to make pancakes of about 8-10cm diameter) and cook them for a few of minutes on each side. You’ll know when the first side is done as there small bubbles will have formed on the surface and then burst. Keep cooked pancakes warm in the oven whilst finishing the off the rest of the batter.

Serve the pancakes as a stack with a small knob of butter between each one and lots of maple syrup over the top – you’ll want to forego the Sunday roast after this one!

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The Chocolate Society Chocolates

I went for a wander through the streets of Belgravia one lunchtime last week and ended up passing by the Chocolate Society on Elizabeth Street. Walking by, it seemed like a good idea to nip inside and pick up a few goodies for Rob and myself.

Lavender fondant

A crisp, dark chocolate shell topped with a lavender bud. Inside is a sweet, lightly fragranced, liquid centre – neither as thick as I’d expect, nor as smooth, but nonetheless absolutely delicious.

Sea salt caramel

This one is just for Rob as I’ve never been a fan of salted caramel. He finds the chocolate dark and rich, but in no way bitter whilst the caramel is silky, sweet and buttery. It’s not as salty as other salted caramels he’s tried, but fares well against them in terms of overall flavour and enjoyment.

Roasted fig and honey

My favourite of the four: the honey comes through immediately and is followed by the intense flavour fig – that sweet, sticky middle of the dried variety. The milk chocolate shell is smooth and creamy with a lovely, unfussy flavour.

Honey and thyme

The honey and thyme dark chocolate was the first one I chose while in the shop as I thought it had a lot of promise. It is a little disappointing with neither flavour really coming through; a pleasant chocolate for chocolate’s sake, but not at all what I’d hoped it would be.

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