1 year on and an adventure into Choux

So... It's been a while...

Since I last updated this I have completed my first year of university which took up a substantial part of my time but it is little excuse as students do basically nothing all the time. Anyway, I have just finished my first year studying History at the University of Birmingham and it has been the best year of my life although it has been severely lacking in baking.

As the summer has come and has nearly gone, I decided to give this whole cooking thing another whirl and when term starts in a month or so I will be attempting to keep it up but maybe a little different than it used to be. As I am away from home and the ample baking supplies that it offers, the baking has been limited, however the cooking has not.

Thus (ooo fancy) over the next year I am going to attempt to keep this up but with the addition of recipes for main meals on a budget which should hopefully be helpful to students and all of those who want to save a bit of cash in general.

Anyway this is all to come, for now I have access to baking products so I made profiteroles.

My adventure into choux pastry begins.

I used the recipe by John Whaite which you can find HERE.

Choux pastry is unlike any other in many ways. One, it uses a ton of eggs.... well not a ton but a lot. And it is in part made over a hob which while being very satisfying is also very bizarre.

Once the pastry was made according to John's recipe, I piped the choux into balls of about 5 cm diameter as they seem to puff up amazingly.

They also last quite well so once baked if you put them in an airtight container you can leave them for a while if you don't have the time or the energy to deal with them at that point.

When I was emotionally ready... I cut them all in half and filled the middle with vanilla ice cream which while is not usual in England is lovely, perfect for summer and works very well with the hot chocolate sauce that you then have to make.

To make the chocolate sauce I just mixed dark chocolate and cream over the hob before pouring over the piles of profiteroles and serving with raspberries.

So the return of the blog is underway...Hopefully I will be updating all again in a week or so but if life gets in the way again, I will see you in a year xoxo

Sticky Toffee Pudding

A slightly wintery one but lets not pretend that British summer time is not slightly autumnal at the best of times. A classic sticky toffee pudding is one of the ultimate comfort foods and even in the summer if served with ice cream is perfect. 

Ingredients:

Sponge

4 tea bags

450g fresh dates

1 tsp cinnamon

1 whole nutmeg (grated)

170g butter

340g self raising flour

170g caster sugar

170g muscovado sugar

4 eggs

Caramel Sauce

250g butter

125g muscovado sugar

125g caster sugar

50ml rum

300ml double cream

Method:

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Cover the tea bags with 300ml of boiling water and leave to steep for 3.5 minutes. Then destone the dates and then put in a processor with the cinnamon and half a nutmeg. Pour the tea over the dates and leave to soak for 10 minutes. Blitz to a puree. 

Butter a 26cm bundt tin. Cream the butter and sugar together and beat in the eggs one-by-one then stir in the flour and fold in the pureed dates. Pour the pudding mixture into the tin and bake for 45 to 50 minutes. 

For the sauce, cube the butter and melt in a small pan on a medium heat. Add both the sugars, then, once nicely mixed, carefully add the rum and double cream.Bring to the boil the simmer until a deep golden colour. 

Once out of the oven flip onto a plate and brush all over with enough sauce to form a delicate, crispy surface but also keep your sponge bouncy. Serve with a jug of sauce and cream or ice cream. 

Caramel Milk Tart

Wow long silence. Exams. Excuses. Excuses. I have been baking but not blogging so over the next few weeks expect a few!

Anyway first up here is a custard tart with a caramel crumble topping.

Ingredients:
Pastry:
250g plain flour
50g icing sugar
125g cold butter
1 egg
A splash of semi-skinned milk

Filling:
600ml milk
2 tsps vanilla extract
1 knob of butter
2 eggs
2 tbsps of cornflour
1.5 tbsps of plain flour
75g caster sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg

Caramel:
130g caster sugar
3 tbsps water

Method:
Rub cubes of butter into the flour and icing sugar until the mixture resembles bread crumbs. Add the egg and work together before adding a splash of milk so that the pastry forms a scruffy ball. Wrap in clingfilm and leave to chill for 2 hours.

Grease a 24cm tin and roll the pastry to 0.5 cm thickness. Put pastry into the tin and prick the base then freeze for 20 mins.

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Then fill the pastry case with baking beans on a layer of grease-proof paper. Then bake blind for 10 minutes. Remove the beans and then bake for another 10 minutes.

For the filling heat the milk with vanilla extract and let it simmer for 15 minutes. Remove from the heat and then stir in the butter until it melts. In a bowl mix the eggs with cornflour, flour and sugar and then when the milk has cooled gradually whisk into the egg mixture. Tip back into the pan and place over a low hear until thickened, whisking constantly. Pour in to pastry case and dust with cinnamon and nutmeg. Bake for 20 minutes.

Melt the sugar in a non-stick pan with water over a medium heat until lightly golden then pour onto a sheet until it cools. Then smash the caramel into pieces and crumble over the top.

Decorating the Christmas cake

Once your cake is done, it is time to decorate it. And as it is Christmas Eve now is the time! 

Cover in apricot jam and then roll out on a surface covered in icing sugar around 500g marzipan.

Then drape over cake and smooth

Then roll out a layer of fondant icing (around 750g) again on a surface covered in icing sugar. The drape over the cake and smooth.

Once you have done this, decorate as you wish. I went for something quite minimalist and piped a simple decoration with a white water icing, but obviously you can go much bigger! 

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

 

Christmas Cake: Round 2

My own Christmas cake recipe which I did last year but with some improvements which should make it better than ever.

Ingredients:

500g Raisins
400g Sultanas
125g Cranberries
110g Glace Cherries
120g Mixed Peel
120ml Limencello (you can use sherry/brandy if you prefer)
225g Butter
195g Brown Sugar
Zest of 2 oranges
4 eggs
2 tbsps Orange Marmalade
295g Plain Flour
55g Ground Almonds
1 tsp Almond Essence
1 tsp Nutmeg
1 tsp Mixed Spice
1/2 tsp Cinnamon

Method:
1. Put all your dried fruit into a bowl, pour the limoncello over the top, cover and leave to soak for about an hour.

2. Preheat your oven to 150 degrees / gas mark

3. And line your tin. Now this is more complicated than it sounds... Wrap brown paper around the outside of the tin so it stands above the top of the tin by 10cm, secure with string wrapped around it. Then line the tin as normal with butter and baking paper.

4.Cream the butter and sugar together.

5.Beat in the orange zest

6. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each one, and then the marmalade.

7. Mix the dry ingredients together and add to the creamed mixture alternately with the dried fruit until all is combined.

8. Add the almond essence and mix thoroughly.

9. Put the cake mix into the cake tin and bake for about 3/3.5 hours or until a skewer comes out clean. If your oven is quite savage, like mine, I would advise making a hat for your cake out of tin foil to prevent the top from burning.

10. When the cake is finished wrap in foil and put into a tin immediately to cool so that the steam is trapped and keeps the cake moist on the top.

11. Then re-wrap in tinfoil, (don't cover the top this time) and return to the tin.

12. You will need to "feed" your cake with a liqueur of choice regularly in order to preserve the cake and add extra flavor.

And with that, good luck! 

Banana Muffins

We had three bananas just wasting a way on our counter so I was requested to put them to use as they reached the point when no one wanted to eat them. So muffins were the answer- I have slightly edited a Nigella Lawson to suit the quantities I had and the way that I wanted them. 

115g grams butter (melted)
325 grams self-raising flour
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1 pinch of salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
175 grams caster sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 teaspoon honey
3 large bananas 
3 medium eggs
190 ml milk
30g oat

Preheat oven to 190c

Leave melted butter to cool

Mash the bananas well

Sift the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, salt, oats, cinnamon and nutmeg into a bowl. Add the sugar and mix well. In a second bowl, with a folk, beat together the eggs, vanilla extract, honey, butter and milk.

Add the bananas to the egg mixture and stir.

Make a well in the dry mixture and add the egg mixture. Stir roughly with a folk. (Don't stir too much - its meant to be thick and lumpy!)

Grease a muffin/cake tin well and fill each space with the mixture. 

Put in the over for 20-25 minutes.

Once golden brown and firm remove from oven leave to cool for 5 minutes in the tin and then 5 minutes on a wire rack.

Brush some honey over the top and sprinkle with oats. 

Cupcakes, tarts and meringues for 50

Last weekend with an emergency gazebo purchased and two vats of curry on the hob, we threw a little party with over 50 guests in our garden. 

As it had been due to rain, my father made a quick fire dash to Argos and purchased a very fetching forest green gazebo with white detailing... ooooh stylish. But typically, once you spend £40 to protect your guests from rain it doesn't so now we are left with a glorified tent taking up valuable cupboard space... great!

Anyway the main point of this was that for the party I whipped up 70 custard and strawberry tarts and 55 cupcakes designed to look like "99" ice creams, along with a few dozen meringues. 

Strawberry Custard Tarts

These tarts are made up of rich shortcrust pastry which is baked blind which are then filled with custard and topped with sugar dusted strawberries. 

Rich Shortcrust Pastry
1 egg
125g caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
250g plain flour
125g salted butter

Whisk the egg, extract and sugar together until the sugar is dissolved.

Stir the flour in to the mixture until it has an almost sandy texture.

Add the butter in cubes so that the dough can come together easiliy and knead gently for a few seconds.

Refrigerate for as long as possible, I left mine for about 24 hours and the pastry was considerably better for it! 

Roll out in to small discs and place in the buttered molds, cover the mold with grease proof paper and fill with baking beans or rice. Then bake for about 15 mins.

Once the pastry cases are done fill with the custard....

Custard

4 egg yolks
125g caster sugar
40g cornflour
500ml milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
25g butter

Whisk the egg yolks and caster sugar in a mixing bowl until the mixture is slightly paler in colour. Add the cornflour and whisk well making sure that there are no lumps remaining.

Then heat the milk and the vanilla extract until the milk is on the point of boiling. Mix half the milk into the egg bowl, whisking continuously until the milk is well combined. Then pour this mixture into the rest of the milk on the heat and whisk constantly until the custard is thick enough to cover the back of a spoon.

Remove from the heat and stir for another minute before adding the butter. Stir until the butter is melted.

Pour until a bowl and let it cool a little bit before covering the bowl with cling film until you are ready to use it.

End
Scoop a spoonful of custard in to each pastry case and add one or two sugar dusted strawberries as decoration.

Summer Cupcakes

Sponge

• 125g caster sugar

• 125g soft unsalted butter

• 2 large eggs

• ½ teaspoon vanilla extract

125g self-raising flour

• 1 tablespoon milk

Icing 

140g butter

280g icing sugar

Some "Flakes" and sprinkles

Cream the butter and sugar together then slowly add the eggs, extract and half the flour in an alternating pattern. 

Fold in the remainder of the flour and if the mixture is still stiff, add the milk and mix.

Dollop a spoonful of mixture into each cupcake case and bake for about 12 minutes. Once out of the oven, leave to cool while you make the icing. 

For the icing, whisk the butter so it is smoother and slightly paler. Once it has reached this point slowly add the icing sugar until there are no lumps of butter. 

Put the icing into a piping bag fitter with a medium star shaped nozzle and pipe in a circular motion on to the cupcake. 

Cut up each "flake" into thirds and place in the icing of each cupcake. Then cover with some sprinkles.

I then used the egg whites left over from the custard to make meringues....which you can find a recipe for here...  http://girlbaking.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/perfect-meringue-recipe.html

For chocolate ones, add a tablespoonful of cocoa powder to the mixture at the end and then dust before baking. 

All these recipes make considerably less than I actually made but as a general guideline, I hope they are good! 

Enjoy and happy summer!

Peach Frangipane Tart

We have reached 20 degrees in London!... and I am stuck revising inside...
Did find the time to make a tart though, I got my priorities straight.

The original recipe is in, "The Great British Bake Off: How to Turn Everyday Bakes into Showstoppers". The book is great as it builds up more and more complex recipes around the same theme or ingredient such as sponge or pastry. Perfect for beginners as it becomes more and more extravagant but starts off with the basic recipe.

Anyway it was edited slightly.... First I replaced fresh peaches for tinned ones. Just because it is not quite the time for nice peaches according to my mother... Also I removed the salt because I just don't really think it's necessary, I also made the frangipane my way, but it was basically the same.

Pastry:
200g plain flour
100g unsalted butter
4 egg yolks
100g caster sugar
zest of half a lemon

Filling:
100g unsalted butter
100g caster sugar
zest of a whole lemon
2 eggs
120g ground almonds
80g plain flour
8 halves of tinned peaches - about 1 and half tins.
Flaked almonds to decorate

My brother and mum made the pastry which is a "pate brisee", the ingredients are combined by placing the dry ingredients in a bowl with a well. In the well place the egg yolks, lemon zest and butter. Rub with fingertips so that they crumb. Then roll out and place in a 23cm tart tin and refrigerate while you make the filling. (If you want you can make leaves out of any that remains to serve as a decoration)

Preheat the oven to 190 degrees Celsius.

Beat the butter so it is softened and slightly paler in color. Add the sugar and lemon zest and beat again. Add the eggs bit by bit, beating well after each addition. Fold in the ground almonds and flour. When combined well smooth over the pastry.

Decorate the peaches as you wish on the top of the frangipane. I put seven peach halves around the edge of the pastry case with the eighth in the middle. Bake for 25 minutes. Scatter the ground almonds over the top and if you have spare pastry the leaf decor. Bake for a further 25 minutes.

Let cool for a while before attempting to remove from the tin.

Enjoy!

Grace x

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Bruschetta Summer Lunch

Bit of a different recipe to normal as this doesn't contain as much sugar as normal. In fact this contains very little sugar at all. This is a really super simple summery lunch or starter which takes about 10 minutes to make and is really fresh and quite healthy.

12 slices of bread or as many as you need as it depends on what loaf you use (I used a tomato and olive loaf but any fresh bread would work)
6 vine tomatoes
1 red pepper
1/2 an onion
2 tsp basil pesto
1 clove of garlic
1 tsp of balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp of olive oil
A handful of sliced olives
Salt
Pepper

Chop the tomatoes, red pepper, garlic, olives and onion into relatively small pieces. Put in a bowl along with the salt, pepper, vinegar and oil, mix lightly and leave in the fridge while you prepare the bread.

I have now made this in two ways, the quickest (and healthiest) way is to simply toast the slices but if you have more time or don't mind a little extra oil, I think this way is better.

Splash some oil on a frying pan or grill. Once warm place your bread in the pan (this may take a few batches) and drizzle oil on the other side of the slices. Once they are toasted on one side, flip the slices over to cook on the other.

As soon as they are nicely browned, remove from the pan and place on a serving dish. Pile on the tomato mixture generously and serve.

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Mother's Day Lemon Meringue Pie

Happy Mother's Day (in most parts of the world)! And spring has finally arrived in London, so decided that a suitable pudding would be fruity as chocolate is probably too heavy?!? 

Lemon Meringue Pie is a shortcrust pastry base, a layer of lemon curd and then a thick layer of meringue on top of that. It has a lot of stages but if you ignore the vast quantity of bowls you need it is relatively easy. You can buy these but they are often very very very sweet so if you make it yourself you tend to get more of a balance between sour lemon and sweet meringue.

Ingredients

For pastry: 

150g plain flour

50g caster sugar

90g butter

1 egg yolk

a little whole milk

For curd:

25g cornflour

200ml water

zest and juice of 3 lemons

100g caster sugar

2 egg yolks

40g butter

For meringue:

4 egg whites

200g caster sugar

Enough ingredients or...?

Method

1. Make the pastry: mix the flour, sugar and butter in a bowl so that it forms a crumb like consistency. Add the egg yolk and just enough milk to make the crumbs stick together in lumps. Then bring the pastry together, refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

2. Preheat the oven to 170 degrees Celsius. 

3. Roll out the pastry and bake blind in a greased 23cm tin. Baking blind is when you cover the pastry in foil and then put baking beans (or raw pasta or rice) on to the top. This keeps the pastry in shape.

4. Cook for 15 mins. Remove the beans and then cook for 10 mins until the pastry is golden brown. Then leave to cool.

5. Meanwhile make the curd. Mix the cornflour with a third of the water in a bowl.

6. Bring the remaining water to the boil, then add lemon zest and sugar. Once dissolved, pour in cornflour solution and mix until smooth. 

7. Remove from the heat and then stir in butter, then lemon juice and finally egg yolks. If there are lumps it may be useful to strain it in a sieve but it doesn't really matter. 

8. Pour the lemon curd onto the cooled pastry and leave to chill until the curd firms up. This will stop the meringue layer from mixing with the curd. 

9. If you have turned the oven off, preheat the oven to 170 degrees Celsius. 

10. Whisk the four egg whites until they form stiff peaks. Then, at a tablespoon at a time, add the sugar, whisking after each addition until smooth and glossy. 

11. Spoon the meringue onto the lemon curd layer (if you want to be neat you can pipe the meringue but I don't think it is necessary) and bake for around 20 mins or until the meringue is golden and crispy on the top. 

12. Leave to cool and then eat. 

White Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe

Long time no see!

Anyway, here is a quick little recipe which I think is fab and perfect for snacking on, the only problem is they are very addictive.

Ingredients:
Caster Sugar - 200g
Butter - 150g
Plain Flour - 200g
Milk- 1tbsp
Vanilla- 1 tsp
White Chocolate (in chips) - 75g

Preheat the oven to 190 degrees fan

Cream sugar and butter together
Mix in flour, vanilla extract and milk until smooth
Stir in the white chocolate chips. Leave to stand for 30 minutes.
Break the dough up into small balls and put on a greased tin.
Bake for 10 minutes until golden around the edges.

Leave to cool or eat warm!

Florentines

Last weekend I stayed at my friend Susy's house and we decided to make florentines... we made up the recipe a little. It is one of those things which is basically made up of any kind of dried fruit and in our case cereal that you can find, so that you have a cakey mixture.

So here it is. Enjoy!

Just a quick note that these quantities make  about 4 trays worth of florentines so if that sounds like a lot, I would half the ingredient quantities.

Ingrediants
60g butter
150g golden caster sugar
4 tsp flour
150ml crème fraîche
100g flaked almonds, toasted
2 tbsp candied peel
50g dried berries
2 tbsp crunchie nut cornflakes or cereal of your choosing
4 tbsp raisins
50g glace cherries
300g of chocolate of your choice

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4.
2. Heat the butter, sugar and flour in a pan over a medium heat, until the butter has melted and the sugar has dissolved.
3. Gradually add the crème fraîche until well combined.
4. Add the dried fruit, nuts and cereal and mix well.
5. Grease a baking tray and place a couple of teaspoons of the florentine mixture on to it for each one. Space them out as they tend to spread!
6. Bake for around 15 mins and then leave to cool
7. Melt the chocolate in a bowl over a pan of boiling water. 
8. Dip the florentines in the chocolate. And then leave to cool so that the chocolate sets. 

These are amazing by the way, they are like flapjacks but better and then dipped in chocolate. What's not to love?!

Marshmallow Krispie Cakes

A quick, easy and delicious after school snack - not that healthy but you can't have everything!

You can buy these for 55p from most corner shops in the UK under the name "Squares" and are made by Kellogg's. And although relatively cheap in comparison to chocolate bars, you can make them for a lot cheaper

Ingredients:

40g butter

200g marshmallows

120g rice krispies or other rice cereal (these can be replaced by nuts, fruit etc)

Melt the butter and marshmallows over a low heat until an incorporated gooey liquid.

Take off the heat and stir in the cereal until completely coated in melted marshmallow.

Grease a baking tray (20x20) and then scoop the mixture in to it. Pat the mixture down so it is as flat as possible.

Leave to set in a cool place for as long as needed- mine only took 30 mins.

Then they are ready to eat. See, super quick and easy!

Chocolate and Vanilla Marble Cake

It is so difficult to choose if you want chocolate cake or vanilla sponge, I find anyway... 

If this is the same for you, this cake is the answer to all of your problems! The cake is chocolate and vanilla mixed together so you get both in one slice. It is perfect and really really easy. I also bake mine in a bundt tin which I think makes it look a bit nicer too.

Ingredients:

300g butter

300g caster sugar

6 eggs

150ml milk

280g self raising flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp vanilla extract

60g chocolate chips

25g cocoa powder

Preheat the oven to 170 degrees.

Cream the butter and sugar together. Then add the eggs bit by bit, followed by the milk. At this stage the mixture may look curdled but it will recover!

Divide the mixture between two bowls. Mix the flour and baking powder together. 

Fold 155g of the flour to one bowl along with the vanilla extract and chocolate chips.

To the other bowl add fold in the remaining 125g of flour and the 25g of cocoa powder. 

Spoon the chocolate mixture in to the base of your greased bundt tin (obviously you can use a different one but I prefer a bundt for looks). Then make a slight trough and pour the vanilla mixture on to the top. 

Bake for about 45 mins or until a skewer comes out clean when inserted in to the top of the cake. 

Madeleine Madness

As I mentioned in my last post, I have recently acquired a Madeleine tin and since then I have gone a little over board in baking them.

THEY ARE JUST SO EASY! and delicious!

So here are a couple of recipes which I think are fab...

Lemony Madeleines -  this is inspired by Michael Roux Jr's recipe

2 eggs
100g caster sugar
100g plain flour
1 lemon, juice and zest
3/4 tsp baking powder
100g butter, melted and cooled

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees or gas mark 5

Using a pastry brush, cover the molds in melted butter so they cakes come out of the tin all nicely.

Whisk together the eggs and sugar until frothy like shaving cream and then whisk in the remaining ingredients. 

You can leave this to stand for 20 minutes if you wish, but I have found that it is not really necessary. 

Pour the mixture in to the molds so that they are 3/4 full, this gives them space to rise.

Bake for around 10 minutes, or until spongy and a cake tester comes out clean.

Eat quickly!

Honey and Almond Madeleines

2 eggs 

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

65g caster sugar

25g runny honey

100g plain flour

50g ground almonds

100g unsalted butter, melted and cooled

2 tablespoons of flaked almonds

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees or gas mark 5

Using a pastry brush, cover the molds in melted butter so they cakes come out of the tin all nicely.

Whisk together the eggs, honey, vanilla extract  and sugar until mousse-like.

Fold in flour and ground almonds.

Drizzle melted butter over the mixture and mix until there are no more buttery streaks.

Pour the mixture in to the molds so that they are 3/4 full, this gives them space to rise. Scatter flaked almonds over the top.

Bake for around 10 minutes, or until spongy and a cake tester comes out clean.

These can be kept for up to 4 days in an air-tight container. 

I personally prefer the first recipe as I love lemon and I think it makes a really nice fresh sponge. But try both!