Classic Bakewell Tart

This is one of my all-time favourite things to bake!  It takes quite a bit of effort but is great for a special treat.  OOooh the almondy goodness!

Verdict: I LOVE this recipe (adapted from Waitrose.com)!  Today it wasn't quite as good as usual though, due to me being in a bit of a rush, but still went down well :) 

Ingredients:

Pastry

200g plain flour

2 tbsp icing sugar

100g unsalted butter, chilled

2 large egg yolks, beaten

Filling

100g unsalted butter, softened

3 large eggs, beaten

6 tbsp strawberry (or raspberry) jam

125g caster sugar

1/2 tsp almond extract

150g ground almonds

To decorate

Icing sugar

(Cooking) chocolate

Directions:

1) First make the pastry: sift the flour, a pinch of salt and icing sugar into a large mixing bowl.  Cut the butter into the mixture and then rub in with fingertips until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs (or use a food processor).

2) Stir in the beaten egg yolks, a bit at a time, until the mixture comes together.  

3) Push the pastry together and shape into a flat circle.

4) Chill in the fridge for a half-hour.

5) Roll out the pastry and use it to line a tart tin (20cm with a removable base, preferably).

6) Chill for another half hour in the fridge.

7) Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C.

8) Lightly prick the pastry with a fork to stop it rising.  Line with baking parchment, fill with baking beans (or rice if you don't have baking beans).

9) Place the tart tin on a baking tray and bake for 5 minutes (the original recipe says 15 minutes, although I have always preferred softer pastry, so prefer to cook it for a shorter time).

10) Remove the baking beans and bake for a further 5 minutes (max).  Turn the oven down to 170 degrees

11) To make the filling, place the butter and sugar in a bowl and beat together until pale and fluffy.

12) Add the eggs a little at a time.

13) Add the almond extract and fold in the ground almonds.

14) Spread the jam over the base of the tart and then spoon the filling on top, spreading it around carefully.

15) Return to the oven for 25-35 minutes, or until the filling is golden on top and feels firm in the middle.

16) Remove, leave to cool slightly and then remove from the tin.

17) When cool, ice using the icing sugar and a little warm water.

18) When set, melt the chocolate and drizzle on top.

19) Enjoy!

Very Syrupy Flapjacks (a bank holiday bake!)

How better to spend a May bank holiday than outside? (Even if it is cloudy / pouring with rain!)  Tomorrow I'm off to a picnic on Hampstead Heath and, being the baking queen that I am, felt obliged to bring something yummy and sugary along...

Verdict: very very sweet and quite soft, but still my fail-proof recipe!

Flapjacks

From cookies biscuits & biscotti by Linda Collister (given to me by my fellow baking Queen!)

Ingredients:

150g margarine

120g light brown muscovado sugar

1 tbsp golden syrup

180g porridge oats

30-40g sultanas

Makes about 10

Directions:

1) Preheat oven to 150 degrees C

2) Heat margarine, sugar and syrup gently in a medium-sized saucepan, stirring occasionally until dissolved.

3) Remove from the heat and stir in oats.

4) Spread evenly in tin (18 cm square, well-greased).

5) Bake for 25 - 30 minutes or until golden.

6) Remove, cut up and leave to cool in the tin.

Aunty Mary's chocolate biscuit cake

Hey hey!  It's been a little while since I last stopped by, but this scrummy recipe will make up for it I hope!

I was in Ireland for the weekend to see my grandparents, and had hoped to get something from duty free for my team at work (as is tradition!  Usually biscuits, sweets &c)  However, it rained so heavily on Monday that I only just made my flight (after sprinting from security!) and didn't have time for duty free.  And so, still wanting to bring something Irish into work I thought I would make my Aunty Mary's chocolate biscuit cake...

Verdict: mine turned out quite runny (although it worked fine last time I made it) - next time I'll use 11 - 12 oz of biscuits

Aunty Mary's Chocolate Biscuit Cake

(Measures are in ounces)

Ingredients:

12 oz milk chocolate

4 oz butter

1 tin of condensed milk

10 oz rich tea biscuits, broken into bits

Directions:

1) Melt butter, 6 oz chocolate and condensed milk in a saucepan over a low heat.

2) Add to the biscuits.

3) Put in a lined tin and refrigerate overnight or until set.

4) Melt the remaining 6 oz of chocolate over a pan of simmering water and pour over the biscuit cake.

5) Leave to set and then cut into rectangles.

Teacakes (finally...)

I've been searching for a teacake recipe for a while and only just managed to find one. This one is taken from www.uktv.co.uk and it makes about 10 teacakes that are absolutely scrummy eaten warm from the oven or toasted days later. Eat for afternoon tea, breakfast or just because you feel like it!

Tip: The original recipe asked for 12g of salt which I felt was a bit much having measured it out and finding that it was enough to fill a small bowl. I only used 1 tsp of salt in the recipe and it worked well. The recipe also tells you to allow 15 minutes cooking time which I reduced to 11 minutes as my oven cooks things really quickly, so keep an eye on them...

Ingredients:
400 g plain flour
1 tsp salt
40 g sugar (I used caster)
1 tsp cinnamon
50 g butter
25 g dried yeast
220 ml tepid water
80 g sultanas
60 g mixed peel
1 egg, lightly beaten

Recipe:
1) In a large bowl place the flour, salt, sugar, cinnamon, butter and yeast. (I would recommend rubbing the butter in at this point to get a mixture resembling breadcrumbs).
2) Add the water and mix together to form a dough. Knead for 2 minutes and then transfer the dough to a floured work surface. Knead the dough for a further 5 minutes then place back in the bowl for 1 hour to rise.
3) Add the sultanas and mixed peel and divide the dough into 80 g pieces, shape them into balls and using a rolling pin flatten them to 1 cm thick.
4) Place the teacakes onto a greased baking tray and leave to rise for a further hour.
5) Set the oven to 190 degrees C. Brush the teacakes with beaten egg and bake for 15 minutes.

Verdict: Scrummy but I want to find more teacake recipes to compare it to!

Squidgy Chocolate Cookies (yet another Sunday bake...)

Me again... :) I also baked some squidgy cookies today and they were delicious. Clare and I made these together before and I absolutely love them. I used dark chocolate (70% cocoa) instead of the white chocolate and plain chocolate and it worked just as well. I'm a bit of a dark chocolate addict though...

This recipe is taken from www.tasteandsmile.co.uk

Ingredients:
150 g unsalted butter
150 g caster sugar
1 medium egg yolk (save the white for meringues!)
25 g cocoa powder, sifted
250 g self-raising flour, sifted
50 g white chocolate squares
50 g plain chocolate
caster sugar for dusting
cocoa powder for dusting

Directions:
1) Preheat the oven to 190 degrees C.
2) In a bowl, cream the butter and sugar together until pale and fluffy. Beat in the egg yolk then stir in the cocoa powder and flour with a spoon.
3) Mix the dough until well kneaded together. Cover and place in the fridge for about 45 minutes.
4) Divide the dough into even sized pieces and flatten out using the floured palm of your hand to a 10 cm circle. (If the dough is a little dry when you take it out of the fridge, add a little milk.)
5) Place a small square of chocolate into the middle and wrap up the cookie to form a ball shaped parcel. Place onto a non stick baking tray then bake for 10 minutes or until the biscuits have risen.


6) Leave to cool for 5 minutes on the baking tray then very carefully place onto a cooling tray.
7) Put an even quantity of icing sugar and cocoa powder into a fine sieve and sprinkle on top. Store in an airtight container - if any are left!

Apple and Cinnamon Cake

Hello all and thanks for the warm welcome baking buddy! I thought it would be best to mark my first post with a scrummy recipe, so today I baked a cake from one of my face recipe books by Mary Berry.

Tip: The recipe says to bake for 1 1/4 - 1 1/2 hours but I baked this cake for only 45 minutes and it was slightly overcooked so try cooking for 35-40 minutes at first and keep a close eye on it...

Apple and Cinnamon Cake

Ingredients:
225 g soft margarine (butter works fine)
225 g light muscovado sugar
3 medium eggs
100 g walnut pieces, chopped (I'm not a massive fan of walnuts so I left these out)
100 g sultanas
225 g self-raising flour
2 tsp baking powder
400 g cooking apples, peeled, cored and grated
1 tsp ground cinnamon
light muscovado sugar for sprinkling
extra chopped walnuts for sprinkling (optional)
icing sugar for dusting (optional)

Directions:
1) Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C. Lightly grease and base line a 9 inch (23 cm) deep round cake tin with greased greaseproof paper.
2) Measure the margarine, sugar, eggs, chopped walnuts, sultanas, flour and baking powder into a large bowl and beat well for about 2 minutes until thoroughly blended.
3) Spoon half the mixture into the prepared tin then spread the grated apple and ground cinnamon in an even layer on top. (I fancied a nice layer of apple so I thinly sliced the apple instead of grating it, but its down to personal preference)
4) Spread the remaining cake mixture on top, level the surface then sprinkle generously with light muscovado sugar and walnuts.
5) Bake in the pre-heated oven for about 1 1/4 - 1 1/2 hours or until the cake is well risen and golden brown.
6) Remove from the oven and leave to cool in the tin for a few minutes before turning out and leaving to cool completely on a wire rack.
7) Dust with icing sugar to serve.

Best chocolate chip cookies? (Another Sunday bake)

Hello again!  It hasn't been long since my last bake, but Alex has exams at the moment and needs a sugar high every couple of minutes!  And he is wonderful.  And laughs at my terrible blog posts.

I saw this recipe on another baking blog (Spork or Foon?) and had to try it as the pictures looked so good I almost drooled all over my mac!  All the ingredients were in cups (darn American measurements!) and I halved the recipe so it was a bit of a mathematically challenging bake in actual fact!

Verdict: great, but the hunt for the best chocolate chip cookie goes on!

Chewy chocolate chip cookies (makes a bakers dozen)

Ingredients:

160 g plain flour

1/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda

110 g butter, at room temperature

50 g granulated sugar

85 g soft brown sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 egg

175 g milk chocolate chips

Directions:

1) Preheat oven to 150 degrees C (or up to 180 for less chewy cookies).

2) Cream together the butter and sugars until pale and fluffy.

3) Add the salt, vanilla and egg and mix together well.

4) In a small bowl, whisk together the flour and soda.  Add to the egg mixture and mix until just combined.

5) Stir in the chocolate chip.

6) Drop tablespoon-sized balls of dough about 2 inches apart on lined baking sheets.

7) Bake until the cookies are golden around the edges, but still soft in the centre (10 minutes roughly).

8) Remove from the oven and let cool on a baking sheet for 2 minutes (up to 4 for extra soft cookies).  Transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely.

9) Store in an airtight container for up to 1 week.

That's one happy customer!

Welcome Anika! (And some rather nutty banana bread!)

Hello reader(s)!  We have a new (m.) baker joining the blog today!  Welcome Anika :-)  May your baking days be many and your cakes always rise!

Well, a Sunday wouldn't be a Sunday in my book without the smell of baking enveloping the house.  And so, I felt obliged to bake this morning and, what better to bake when there are numerous over-ripe bananas to use up than banana bread!

The recipe is adapted from Banana Banana Bread from allrecipes.com

Ingredients:

250 g plain flour

1 tsp (5 g) bicarbonate of soda

1/4 tsp salt

115 g margarine (or butter)

110 g soft brown sugar

2 eggs, beaten

Lots of overripe bananas (around 525 g)

100 g (or more) of chopped pecans

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 140 degrees C (fan oven).

2. Grease / line a 9 x 5 inch loaf tin.

3. Cream together the margarine and brown sugar.  Stir in eggs and half to three-quarters of the bananas, mashed.

4. If you want Clare-style banana bread slice the remaining bananas into the mixture and stir.  (If you want more normal banana bread then mash the rest and stir in.)

5. Sift in the flour, soda and salt.

6. Pour into the loaf tin.

7. Bake for 30 minutes or until golden and a toothpick inserted into the spongey bit comes out clean (if you insert it into a chunk of banana it will come out wet!)

8. Cool in the pan for around 10 minutes and then turn out onto a wire rack.

Raspberry & white chocolate muffins

Something truly scrummy had to be made to mark my number 1 post, and I think these did the trick!

I made these for the first time last week, adapting a recipe I found on one of my favourite foodie sites - www.allrecipes.com ... however, after succumbing to an offer of 2 packs of raspberries for the price of one, I ended up putting the whole lot into the muffin mix and having muffins that were more raspberry than muffin :-s

Today I tried again (and limiting the fruitiness, as good for you as it may be!)...

Ingredients:

250g plain flour

1 tbsp (15g) baking powder

1/2 tsp (3g) salt

150g white sugar

1 egg

235ml milk

4 tbsp (60ml) oil (vegetable, eg)

170g raspberries

225g white chocolate

0) Pre-heat the oven to 170 degrees C

1) Mix all the dry ingredients in a large bowl

2) Beat the egg, milk and oil in a jug

3) Add to the dry ingredients, and stir with a wooden spoon until well combined (try to get rid of any large lumps in the batter)

4) Break the chocolate into small pieces and add with the raspberries.  Stir until just mixed in to the batter

5) Divide the batter into a 12 hole muffin tin (with paper cases)

6) Bake for 20-25 minutes until risen and golden

7) Leave to cool on a wire rack... or if you can't wait that long, eat with a spoon while still hot!

Chocolatey goodness!

Welcome to the blog!

Hullo there :-)

Lately my spare time seems to be occupied with searching for the most scrummy baking recipes around and perfecting my baked goods... and so it seemed like a good idea to record my creations by way of a blog with sexy food pics...

Enjoy!