Saturday 28 December 2013

Banana Chocolate Chip Cookies


So Christmas has come and gone.  It was a good one.  I got some fabulous things, including a number of new additions for my kitchen (which I now need to find space for) and some photo editing software that I have been coveting for a while.  There was also great food and lots of rushing about visiting people.  Admittedly I did end up feeling a bit homesick.  It's been three years since I was home for Christmas.  It is one of the downsides to living so far away with erratic circumstances: planning anything is nearly impossible.  But maybe I'll get to go down next year.

Anyway, since me being at university means there is only one source of income at the moment, plus the fact that we are planning and paying for a wedding next year, funds are a bit low.  There was money for buying presents for immediate family but extended family that we would be seeing on Christmas and Boxing Day, not so much.  But I love giving presents to people so I decided I would make the presents!  Or bake as the case actually is.  So December 23rd and 24th were spent baking over 200 biscuits!  I've never made so many before.  It was exhausting but worth it!  The majority were my favourite chocolate dipped orange shortbread (cut into stars), which were for the grandparents, aunts, uncles and older cousins.  The younger cousins got chewy chocolate chip cookies.  I didn't think either of those would suit the last giftee though, since he is only 3.  So I made something new just for him: banana chocolate chip cookies.

Unfortunately, I cannot provide his verdict on the cookies.  However, the fiancé got to eat the spares and he says they are very banana-ry and there's lots of chocolate chips to compliment it.  They're also slightly crunchy.  Yum yum!


Recipe - adapted from Biscuit via Baking Heaven volume 2
Makes about 24
  • 100g/3.5oz butter
  • 100g/3.5oz golden caster sugar
  • 100g/3.5oz banana (about 1 banana)
  • 200g/7oz plain flour
  • 100g/3.5oz milk chocolate chips
  1. Mash the banana in a large bowl with a fork.
  2. Add the butter and sugar and beat together until smooth and creamy.  If it starts to curdle, add a spoonful of the flour.
  3. Add the remaining flour and the chocolate chips to the mixture.  Beat together until a soft, sticky dough forms.
  4. Form dough into a rough ball and wrap in clingfilm.  Chill in the fridge for 2-3 hours.
  5. Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/Gas Mark 4 and line 2 baking trays with greaseproof paper.
  6. Shape the dough into balls about the size of a walnut, place on the trays spaced about 3cm/1.5inches apart and then flatten them with a wet fork.
  7. Bake for about 15-20 minutes or until the edges of the biscuits are golden brown.  The centres will still be a little soft.
  8. Allow to rest on the trays for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to finish cooling. 

Saturday 21 December 2013

White Chocolate and Cranberry Shortbread


Well, long time no see.  It has been a rather hectic few weeks since I last made an entry, all the way back in early November.  That's rather terrible but between teaching and paperwork there has been no time for anything else other than some dinner and not enough sleep.  Good news is, at the end of it all, I passed!  I am officially halfway through my course!  And now I'm on holiday for a few weeks (though there is a 4000 word essay to do...) and have plenty of baking planned since lack of funds means a lot of people are getting home baked presents.  Admittedly, a number of those will be some of my favourites featured in previous posts but I am determined to try something new whilst I have the chance.

In fact, that is what today's post is!  These were part of the gift bag I put together as a 'thank you' for the teacher whose class I have been working in the past 9 weeks.  Now I know I used cranberries and white chocolate together only a couple of posts ago but she likes that combination, and is a big shortbread fan so I knew that if I was going to bake her something it would have to contain all those elements.  Finding a recipe was pretty easy and the one I ended up using was pretty hassle free.  My only complaints would be that the dough was VERY sticky and that I had to cook them slightly longer than recommended.  Other than that though, I think they turned out rather well and were certainly less hassle than the last cookies I made.  It's definitely a recipe I'll be squirrelling away for future gift purposes.  

As my resident taste tester, the fiancé says the biscuits are beautifully sweet and crunchy like he thinks shortbread should be, and that the cranberries and white chocolate compliment each other beautifully.  Hopefully my mentor teacher enjoys them as much.


Recipe - adapted from taste.com
Makes about 36

  • 250g/8oz butter
  • 125g/4.5oz icing sugar
  • 1.5 tsp vanilla extract
  • 300g/10.5oz plain flour
  • 75g/2.5oz dried cranberries
  • 100g/3.5oz white chocolate chips
  1. Preheat the oven to 160°C/325°F/Gas Mark 3 and line 3 baking trays with greaseproof paper.
  2. Beat the butter, icing sugar and vanilla extract together in a bowl until it is very pale and creamy.
  3. Stir in the flour, cranberries and chocolate chips and bring together to form a dough.  It will be quite sticky.
  4. Roll tablespoon sized portions of dough into balls and place them on the prepared trays, spaced about 5cm/2inches apart.  Flatten slightly with a fork (you may wish to dip the fork in flour to prevent it sticking to the biscuits).
  5. Chill the biscuits in the fridge for about 20 minutes.
  6. Bake for 15-25 minutes (the original recipe said 15-18 but mine ended up needing 25) until the edges are just starting to turn golden and are slightly firm.  The middles will still feel soft.
  7. Remove from the oven and allow to rest on the trays for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to finish cooling.

Thursday 14 November 2013

Pear, Raisin and Maple Squares


It's Lady Behind the Curtain Dessert Challenge time again and this month's ingredients were pears and maple.  How exciting, more ingredients I have never used before, let alone in combination!

Now, I am wondering if I am developing a habit when it comes to these challenges.  Just like last time, I ended up making two different things: one that I was not happy with and therefore does not get to grace the blog and then a second which is absolutely adored by everyone who gets to eat it.  It is madness.  Hopefully, this will not become a regular thing.  It can be a bit exhausting, as well as disappointing for a perfectionist like me.

Admittedly, this month's failure was still edible and did taste good according to my guinea pigs.  The problem was the textures didn't gel.  With both recipes, I was substituting a lot of ingredients.  So the original recipe I had found the recipe was for apple cookies.  Now, as you know by now, being British, when I hear the word 'cookie' I think crunchy, not soft.  So I was expecting a crunchy, crumbly biscuit filled with pear and drizzled in a maple syrup glaze.  What I ended up with was soft cakes with chunks of hard pear in and drizzled with the glaze.  It did not work and I was annoyed.  Even though they got eaten and were enjoyed, the texture thing was something everyone agreed on so it was out.  It wasn't getting used and I needed to come up with something else instead.



Now, the magazine I was using for the ghost cookies was still sitting out during this dilemma.  So I decided to flick through it idly and brood.  Along the way I stumbled across a recipe for apple, raisin and honey squares.  It did not look too complicated and there were oats involved so it was more likely to yield the crumbly, crunchy texture I was after.  Dare I try and mess with the recipe?  Yes I dared!  I like that I am getting confident enough to do such things.  So out went the apple and honey, in went the pears and maple syrup.  I also decided to spice up with crust on the squares with some spices that compliment both of the challenge ingredients: ginger, cardamom and a little nutmeg.

The result?  Fantastic!  They came out so well and everyone loved them.  That was more like it.  And I even got a lovely written review from one of the lovely teachers are Markinch Primary which arrived inside the tin I had sent them in:

"Your latest creation was FAB!  I'm not a fan of ginger but loved it in these cakes.  The buttery outside was really moreish - consistency was soft, moist and crumbly - lovely!  The pear and fruit was gorgeous.  I ate up all the crumbs in the tin. 10/10 Thank you."

Isn't that just so lovely?  Plus it tells you everything you need to know about how they taste, which is better than me just telling you. 


Recipe - inspired by Rachel Allen and the Kerrygold Community Recipe e-book via Baking Heaven Summer 2012
Makes about 25
  • 225g/8oz self-raising flour
  • 225g/8oz porridge oats
  • 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
  • 1.5 tsp ginger
  • 1/2 tsp nutmeg
  • 1/2 tsp cardamom
  • 225g/8oz butter
  • 225g/8oz caster sugar
  • 90ml/3fl.oz maple syrup
  • 2 dessert pears (about 185g/6.5oz)
  • 115g/4oz raisins
  1. Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/Gas Mark 4 and grease and line a 23cm/9inch square cake tin with greaseproof paper.
  2. Peel, core and finely chop up the pears.
  3. In a large bowl, mix together the flour, porridge oats, bicarbonate of soda, ginger, nutmeg and cardamom.
  4. Put the butter, caster sugar and 2 tablespoons worth of the maple syrup  into a saucepan and melt over a medium heat, stirring occasionally to prevent it from getting too hot.
  5. Remove the saucepan from the heat and pour the mixture into the dry ingredients and mix to combine.
  6. Spoon half the mixture into the prepared tin and level the surface.
  7. Mix together the pears, raisins and remaining maple syrup and then distribute evenly over the oat mixture in the tin.
  8. Cover with the remaining oat mixture and smooth over.
  9. Bake for 30-35 minutes until the top is golden.
  10. Remove from the oven and allow to rest in the tin for 10-15 minutes.
  11. Remove from the tin and cut into 25 squares before placing them on a wire rack to finish cooling.

    Tuesday 12 November 2013

    Cranberry and White Chocolate Cookies

     

    My Sundays have started to develop two traditions. The first is that I will spend the day in my pyjamas.  I love pyjamas.  LOVE them.  Especially cute, fleecy ones.  The sleepwear section in clothes shops is one of my favourite places to be though I have to restrain myself or I'll end up buying all of the stock, and I already have too many pyjamas.  The second tradition that is developing is that I will bake.  With the way things are right now, it is the only day I can bake, and take pictures.  During the week I have to leave home when it is dark and come back when it's dark.  So that means no natural light to work with, which results in quite ugly photos.  So it has to be the weekend and, for the last few, has been a Sunday.  That being said, I was not able to finish these biscuits during daylight hours so they ended up being shot at night.  Hence the pictures are not as lovely as I would have liked.

    Anyway, for the last three weeks (and for the next six right up until the end of the school term) I have been on placement in a primary school as part of my teacher training.  It was a daunting thing when I started and I was waking up with dread.  However that has gone away and being there reminds me exactly why I want to go into this profession in the first place.  I love it!  I really enjoy teaching, even though I'm still ironing out the kinks in my methods.  And even better, I am apparently good at it.  My formative (so ungraded) assessment was on November 4th and my tutor was very impressed!  She did add that she was pleasantly surprised by this but I am overlooking that and am just being pleased that I am suited to this job.  Hooray!

    However, being part of the school is not just about the teaching of the children.  You do have to get along with the staff too and my first impression was not the best.  I am VERY shy and come across as closed off and withdrawn (something I am trying to get rid of).  According to my supervising teacher, I was looking like I didn't want to be there.  Not good!  So to try and improve myself in their eyes I've been meaning to bake something to take in to the staff room.  Unfortunately I only got around to doing so this past weekend.  The previous ones got taken over by the Dessert Challenge (coming Thursday) and Hallowe'en.  Plus it's hard to work out what to bake for people you don't know very well so really I benefited from a few weeks of observing what sort of biscuits got brought in and listening to talk of what people liked.  If reconnaissance had failed, I would have fallen back on my chocolate and orange shortbread.  But no, luckily  I got to try out something new and slightly fancy and also, just a little bit festive.  I have no problems with starting the Christmas baking early. 


    So here we have cranberry and white chocolate cookies.  Cranberry and white chocolate was a combination I heard mentioned a lot, and always favourably so I thought I would try my hand at it myself.  Now I wanted to present something that was pleasing to the eye as well as the stomach so I decided I would cut out shapes for my cookies, rather than making drop ones.  Of course, that meant finding a roll-out dough recipe.  Easier said than done and even the one I ended up with did not co-operate to the extent I would like.  Admittedly, I did make a mistake with the first two thirds of the batch.  I had chilled my dough as a ball, rather than rolling it out and then chilling it.  I still made a point to chill the cookies in that batch after I cut them out but they still spread and all my stars were a bit fat.  So with the last third I rolled it out and chilled it.  It was not sticky and I could cut shapes from it a bit easier than before.  Still spread in the oven though.  So, being a perfectionist who did not want to present lumpy stars to my work colleagues, I removed them from the oven a few minutes early, re-cut them and put them back in to finish.  Yes, overly complicated but hey, it worked.  Really, I'm going to recommend chilling it for several hours, maybe even overnight.  And if that fails, you always copy my crazy method.

    The cookie itself is delicious though.  I'm not a cranberry fan so I ate some of the off-cuts that didn't have cranberry in.  They were yummy!  As for the finished ones that did have cranberries and a generous layer of white chocolate everyone has loved them.  The staff called them moreish and they vanished very quickly.  I was even awarded a (metaphorical) gold star!  And the fiancé was jealous that they were not for him, though he did get to eat all the other off-cuts plus a reject and one that I snapped for the photos.  He also thoroughly enjoyed them.


    Recipe - inspired by Semi Sweet Designs
    Makes about 36
    • 225g/8oz butter
    • 70g/2.5oz golden caster sugar
    • 85g/3oz light brown sugar 
    • 1/2 tsp salt
    • 1 egg yolk
    • 2 tsp vanilla extract
    • 225g/8oz plain flour (plus extra for dusting)
    • 150g/5.3oz dried cranberries
    • 250g/9oz white chocolate
    1. In a large bowl, beat the butter, both sugars and the salt until light and creamy.
    2. Add in the vanilla extract and the egg yolk and beat until well combined.
    3. Add half the flour and mix in, then add the other half and mix that in too.
    4. Fold in the dried cranberries.
    5. If dough is too sticky to roll out at this stage, wrap in clingfilm and chill for a couple of hours.  Otherwise skip to next step.
    6. On a floured surface, roll out the dough to 0.5cm/0.25inch thick.  
    7. Chill in the fridge until dough is quite firm to the touch.
    8. Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/Gas Mark 4 and prepare 3 baking trays by covering them with greaseproof paper.
    9. Cut out shapes (my star cutter is about 6cm/2.5inches across) from the dough and place on the prepared trays, spaced about 1cm/0.5inch apart (I got 12 per tray).  If the dough gets a bit soft from being handled, put it back in the fridge for about 15 minutes before baking.
    10. Bake in the oven for 10-15 minutes, until the edges are just slightly golden. (If they start to spread, remove after 10 minutes and re-cut shapes if you want, then put them back in for a few minutes).
    11. Remove and let rest on the trays for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to finish cooling.
    12. Melt the white chocolate in a glass bowl placed over a pan of gently simmering water.  Do not let the water touch the bowl or let the chocolate get too hot.
    13. Dip the underside of the cookies in the chocolate to coat them, lift out and shake off the excess.  Place back on the wire rack, chocolate side up, and allow them to set.

    Thursday 31 October 2013

    Raspberry and White Chocolate Ghost Biscuits


    Despite the fact that I have very little time for baking at the moment, I really wanted to try and make at least one thing that was Hallowe'en themed.  I mean, I do like getting extra creative for the season, but this had an added bonus of meaning I would have something to offer any Guisers (trick-or-treakers) who came a knocking at our door (which they did).

    October has become a bit of a month for biscuits it seems, since 3 of the 4 bakes I have done this month have been exactly that.  I love making biscuits.  They are usually quite easy and reasonably quick and often very yummy.  They are one of my favourite things to bake.  So it was nice to round out the month with something I like baking.

    The idea for these was sparked by something I saw on the vast sea of the Internet that said a tulip cutter could be used to make ghost shaped biscuits.  Well, once I read that I knew I was going to have to try that out for Hallowe'en, especially since I had a tulip cutter sitting in my cutter drawer.  I didn't want to do a sugar biscuit or shortbread or anything I had made before though.  Yet I needed a dough that I could roll out and cut shapes from.  It was then I thought of the Fruity Teddies biscuits that were in one of my baking magazines. I have made the recipe before using bananas but this time I figured I would try a different fruit: raspberries.  After all, the fiancé likes raspberries.  White chocolate was then the obvious accompaniment to decorate with as not only does it go well with raspberries, it is also the perfect colour for ghosts!

    They ended up being very successful.  The raspberry flavour is subtle for the most part, though apparently "spikes" at points in a really good way.  They are a lovely, thick biscuit and the white chocolate did indeed make for a good companion.  And they are moreish.  So very moreish, and that's always a good thing.

    And as an added (non-baking) bonus, I carved my first ever pumpkin this year.  I think I did rather well for my first attempt.


    Recipe - adapted from Biscuit via Baking Heaven volume 2
    Makes about 25 
    • 100g/3.5oz butter
    • 100g/3.5oz golden caster sugar
    • 100g/3.5oz raspberries
    • 200g/7oz plain flour
    • 200g/7oz white chocolate
    • Black writing icing
    1. Wash and dry the raspberries.
    2. Place a thin mesh sieve over a bowl and press the raspberries through it until only the seeds remain.
    3. Beat the butter and sugar together until smooth and creamy.  
    4. Add the raspberry purée and mix.  If it starts to curdle, add a spoonful of the flour.
    5. Add the remaining flour to the mixture.  Beat together until a soft, sticky dough forms.
    6. Form dough into a rough ball and wrap in clingfilm.  Chill in the fridge for about 2 hours.
    7. Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/Gas Mark 4 and line 2-4 baking trays (I only own 2 but ended up doing 4 batches) with greaseproof paper.
    8. On a clean, floured surface roll the dough out to 5mm/0.25inches thick.  Use a tulip cutter to cut out shapes and place them on the trays.
    9. Bake for about 17 minutes or until the edges of the biscuits are golden brown.  
    10. Allow to rest on the trays for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to finish cooling. 
    11. Melt the white chocolate in a glass bowl placed over a pan of gently simmering water (make sure the water does not touch the bowl).
    12. Dip the top side of the biscuits in the melted chocolate and shake off the excess.
    13. Allow the chocolate to set and then draw faces on each one with the black writing icing.

    Monday 21 October 2013

    Cookie in Cookie Cookies


    Oooooh, I've only been on placement for one day, after a lovely two week holiday, and am already exhausted!  And it's not like I've even started teaching yet!  This is an observation week with some group work thrown in.  The real hard work doesn't start until next week!  I do not know how I will cope.

    Anyway, I knew it was going to be a lot of work so I made the most of my holiday and did practically nothing school related.  The fiancé and I did get the registrar booked for my wedding, and talk to hotel about the menu for the wedding breakfast.  We also took some pictures so we can get save the date cards made up and sent out (though that's still in process) and spent an entire week playing lots of Pokémon.  And then last Saturday I took a merry jaunt up to Perth to have lunch and go shopping with my best friend Jess!  Yay!

    So, as has become the tradition, I baked her something.  Cookies!  Cookie within cookie cookies!  They are part chocolate chip cookie and part chocolate sugar cookie.  They are of the soft variety of cookie and ever so delicious.

    The chocolate chip cookie part is adapted from one of my previous cookie recipes.  I swapped out the icing sugar for golden caster sugar and upped the amount of vanilla used.  The chocolate sugar cookies come from Smitten Kitchen, and are a very popular recipe indeed as they have cropped up on many a food blog.  It's not hard to see why though.  It is a fabulous recipe.  I did substitute in golden caster sugar for the brown sugar and due to only having large UK eggs (which are bigger than large US) meant my dough probably ended up stickier than it should have been, despite me adding a little extra flour.  However, they still turned out really well.  I did make sure to alter the recipe in the write-up to specify a medium egg though.

    I was really pleased with the final result.  They looked rather cool and they are very, very yummy!  Jess definitely seems to like them, which is obviously the best thing for me to hear because I made them especially for her. 


    Recipe - makes about 30

    Chocolate Chip Cookie:
    • 1 egg yolk
    • 1 tsp vanilla extract
    • 1 tbsp water
    • 75g/2.5oz butter
    • 45g/1.5oz golden caster sugar
    • 155g/5.5oz plain flour
    • 1/4 tsp baking powder
    • Pinch of salt
    • 60g/2oz chocolate chips
    1. Mix the egg yolk, vanilla extract and water together in a jug.
    2. In a large bowl, blend together the sugar and butter until it is pale and fluffy.
    3. Add the egg mixture to the sugar butter a little at a time, mixing in after each addition.
    4. Sift in the flour, salt and baking powder, add the chocolate chips and stir together until just incorporated.  You should end up with a somewhat soft and sticky dough.
    5. Roll into a ball, wrap in clingfilm and chill in the fridge for at least an hour (mine was in there for about 6 hours).
    Chocolate Cookie - adapted from Smitten Kitchen:
    • 115g/4oz butter
    • 155g/5.5oz golden caster sugar
    • 1 medium egg
    • 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
    • 30g/1oz cocoa powder
    • 185g/6.5oz plain flour
    • 1/4 tsp salt
    • 1/4 tsp baking powder
    1. Mix the butter, sugar, vanilla extract and cocoa powder together in a bowl until well combined.
    2. In a separate bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt.
    3. Add the flour to the batter a little at a time and beat in until you end up with a smooth and sticky dough.
    4. Wrap in clingfilm and chill in the fridge for at least an hour (this one was also chilled for 6 hours when I did it).
    Assembly:
    1. Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/Gas Mark 4 and line 2-3 baking trays with greaseproof paper.
    2. Lightly flour a clean surface and rolling pin. 
    3. Remove one of the doughs from the fridge and roll it out to 1cm/0.25inch thick and cut out circles using a 5.5cm/2inch.  Wrap leftover dough back in the clingfilm and put back in the fridge.
    4. Remove the other dough and repeat step 3.
    5. Now use a 4cm/1.5inch cutter to cut circles out of the centre of each of the bigger circles.  Now you should have a set of rings and a set of circles in both types of dough.
    6. Press the centres of one dough inside the rings of the other dough, and vice versa.
    7. Place on prepared baking trays, spaced about 2.5cm/1inch apart as they do puff out.
    8. Repeat steps 3 to 7 until all the dough is used.
    9. Bake for 10-11 minutes, until the edges are firm but the centres are still soft.
    10. Remove from the oven and transfer to a wire rack to cool.

    Thursday 10 October 2013

    Pumpkin Sandwich Cakes with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Filling


    It's the second Thursday of the month so it's time for the Lady Behind the Curtain Dessert Challenge.  This month's ingredients were pumpkin and cream cheese.

    Well, I was seriously considering not taking part this month.  I had no experience with either of the ingredients and had no idea what I would make and who would be willing to eat it.  Pumpkin seems to be a very American thing to bake with and is not very common over here in the UK (from what I've experienced anyway).  You can't get it in canned form in the supermarket, only in fruit form, and I really didn't feel like trying to scrape out the filling from one of those.  However, leave it to Pinterest to start giving me inspiration.  Just opening up the Food and Drink section started yielding several different pumpkin recipes as early as the start of September.  Clearly the stuff is even more popular over in the states than I initially thought.  But with so many options just staring me in the face I decided I would have to give something a go.  As to who would eat it, I figured if I could get them made before the autumn half term started, I could give whatever I made to the lovely ladies at Markinch Primary School via the fiancé's mum.

    I originally planned to make pumpkin fudge because it sounded really interesting to do.   Plus I want to try making more confectionery. However, I attempted it three times and all three times I failed.  The first batch burnt; the second seemed to be working until I added the final ingredient and it turned into this crumbly powder; and the final batch, whilst better than the other two, just didn't have the texture of fudge.  It was rather disappointing and I ended up with saucepans with burnt, failed fudge adhered to their bases.  It took several days to clean them all completely, which made dinner tricky since we only own 3 large-ish pots.  Really I've been needing a proper, heavy based pot for confectionery making.  Good thing I got to go to Ikea at the weekend and acquire a lovely cast iron casserole pan for half the cost one that size would usually cost then.  I cannot wait to test it out.

    Sorry, I got a little sidetracked there.  So I scrapped the fudge idea and went looking for something else I could do.  I liked the idea of biscuits but I like to make crunchy biscuits and adding wet pumpkin to it would likely not yield such a thing.  Then it hit me: whoopie pies!  They seem to get classed as biscuits (or a 'cakey cookie') but I'm leaning more on the side that they are cakes.  Cookies are not cakey.  Cake is cakey!  Hence why I've called these sandwich cakes, despite the recipe I was using referring to them as cookies.


    After the fudge disasters, this recipe ended up being really simple.  I ended up getting canned pumpkin from a seller on Amazon (who provide excellent service by the way).  The batter turned out nicely though it was a bit of a pain to get onto the trays.  I went to the trouble of smoothing them all over to make sure they came out nice and even on top, since reviews in the original recipe had complained of lumpiness.  I also made a decision to try and make them look pumpkin-like.  It was a complete experiment and I did not know if it would work.  I tested one by drawing the lines into the uncooked mixture first, putting in a clove stalk and then baking.  That worked okay but making the lines was quite fiddly.  So then I tried drawing them in after by running the sharp end of a skewer through the top just after they came out the oven.  It also worked but looked quite messy.  Finally I realised that since they were still quite soft when they came out the oven, I could just press the skewer into the top to make the pattern.  It worked really well and with the little clove stalks they made quite adorable pumpkins.
    As for the filling, cream cheese was very easy to work with and pipes really nicely.  I ended up with double the amount I needed though.  Maybe the baker of the original recipe is just really generous with their filling?  Ah well, I saved the leftovers and used it in another batch later in the week since I needed to use up the remaining pumpkin too.

    These went down really well with everyone who tried them.  I admit I was surprised since it is a bit of an out-there flavour combination but I guess the fact that it is so unbelievably popular in America should have tipped me off. 


    Recipe - adapted from Land O' Lakes
    Makes about 18

    Cakes:
    • 280g/10oz plain flour
    • 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
    • 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
    • 1/4 tsp ground ginger
    • 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
    • Whole cloves
    • 1/2 tsp baking powder
    • 1/2 tsp salt
    • 200g/7oz light brown sugar
    • 170g/6oz canned pumpkin
    • 60ml/2fl.oz milk
    • 1 egg
    • 1 tsp vanilla extract
    • Orange food gel (optional)
    1. Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/Gas Mark 4 and line 2-3 baking trays with greaseproof paper.
    2. Remove the buds from the whole cloves, setting the stalks aside, and then crush the buds.  You want make about 1/8 teaspoon of crushed cloves.
    3. Mix the flour, bicarbonate of soda, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, crushed cloves, baking powder and salt together in a bowl.
    4. In a large bowl, beat together the butter and sugar until smooth and creamy.
    5. Add in the pumpkin, milk, egg and vanilla extract and beat together until well mixed.
    6. Add the flour mixture, and food gel if using, and beat until smooth.
    7. Drop level tablespoonfuls of the mixture onto the trays, spaced well apart.  Try and have an even number on each tray.  Use a spoon to make sure the dough is shaped into a neat circular mound.  Use a wet finger to smooth over the tops of each mound.
    8. Bake for 9-10 minutes until set (a skewer inserted into the centre should come out clean).  I would recommend baking them one tray at a time since you have to do the 'decoration' straight from the oven and if they cool too much it won't work.
    9. Immediately after removing a tray from the oven, use the side of a bamboo skewer to press eight lines that point towards the centre into the top of each of the cakes.  Place a clove stalk into the centre top of half of them.
    10. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.
    Filling: 
    • 200g/7oz cream cheese (I used Philadelphia)
    • 30g/1oz butter
    • 1 tsp ground cinnamon
    • 1 tsp vanilla extract
    • 1/2 tbsp milk
    • 600g/21oz icing sugar, plus extra for dusting
    1. Combine the cream cheese, butter, cinnamon, vanilla extract and milk in a bowl and beat until the mixture is well combined and smooth.
    2. Add a the icing sugar in four parts, beating well after each addition until it is nice and creamy.
    3. Spoon the filling into a piping bag fitted with a large star nozzle and pipe generous swirl on the underside of the cakes that do not have stalks in.
    4. Top each one with a stalked top piece.
    5. Dust with icing sugar.

    Saturday 5 October 2013

    Lemon Sandwich Cookies


    So baking has been quite lax of late due to being completely swamped with work from university.  There's barely time for anything other than work and if I'm not working, I'm crashed on the sofa from exhaustion.  Goodness knows what I'll be like when I'm on my first school placement in a couple of weeks.  Okay, there were some baking exploits over the last couple of weekends, but those are for the Dessert Challenge so you'll have to wait until Thursday for details on that.

    Anyway, I came home on Friday, relieved that I now have a two week holiday (although there will still be lots of work to get done) and decided I needed to bake something quick and yummy.  Obviously it was going to be biscuits, because I love biscuits, and they would be lemon sandwich biscuits.  The original recipe is for vanilla and raspberry filled biscuits (which are quite fantastic) but I wanted to make them lemon because, as some of you may know by now, the fiancé and I love lemony things.

    Well, they are certainly yummy but they took a little longer than planned to make.  My dough was not quite as soft as it should have been.  I didn't let my butter soften first and I burst three disposable bags in the process of piping them out onto trays.  Silly me.  Other than that though, they were very simple to do, and ended up being quite pretty.  Plus yummy.  Very yummy, even if they are a little delicate.  The biscuit and filling go really well together and they melt in your mouth.


    Recipe - Makes about 15

    Biscuits - adapted from The Great British Bake Off: How to Bake:
    • 250g/8oz softened butter (very important for getting a soft dough)
    • 60g/2oz icing sugar
    • 1 tsp lemon extract
    • 200g/7oz plain flour
    • 60g/2oz cornflour
    1. Line 2-3 baking trays with greaseproof paper.
    2. Sift the icing sugar into a large bowl and beat in the butter until smooth and creamy.
    3. Add the lemon extract and mix.
    4. Sift the plain flour and cornflour together into the bowl and beat the mixture until it is smooth and of a pipe-able consistency.
    5. Fit a strong piping bag with a large, closed star nozzle and spoon in the dough.
    6. Pipe spirals onto the prepared trays, starting in the middle of the spiral and working outwards until it is 5cm/2inches in diameter.
    7. Chill in the fridge for 15-20 minutes to firm up and in the mean time, preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/Gas Mark 4.
    8. Bake the cookies for about 12 minutes or until the edges just start to brown. 
    9. Let the sit on the tray for about 3 minutes before carefully transferring to a wire rack to finish cooling.
    Filling: 
    • 115g/4oz butter
    • 250g/8oz icing sugar, plus extra for dusting
    • 1 tsp lemon extract
    • 1 tsp milk
    1. Put all the ingredients into a bowl and beat until smooth and creamy.
    2. Transfer into a piping bag fitted with a large, open star nozzle.
    3. Pipe swirls of buttercream onto the underside of half the biscuits.
    4. Top each frosted biscuit with another, unfrosted biscuit to create a sandwich.
    5. Dust with icing sugar.

    Thursday 12 September 2013

    Apple and Cinnamon Turnovers


    It is time for the Lady Behind the Curtain Dessert Challenge again and this month's ingredients were apple and cinnamon!

    I decided I wanted to try something a bit different this time around.  I've used apples and cinnamon plenty of times before in cakes so I didn't really want to go that route.  This is meant to be a challenge after all.  So I decided to raid my books and see what I could find.

    I admit, the first thing that did come to mind was apple strudel.  I knew the fiancé loved strudel and I've not made it before due to not really doing much with pastry in the past.  I even went and looked up how to do it, including how to do the pastry from scratch.  However it is rather complicated.  Strudel pastry is apparently very tricky to make and few people do it.  I saw them doing it on the Great British Bake Off last year and all that stretching looks scary!  Really, I just wouldn't have time, especially with this post-grad course and the fact that I already have an assignment to do which is due in next week.  So strudel was out but I was now determined to do something with pastry.  I needed to do something out of my comfort zone and working with pastry would definitely be that.  If I ever want a chance of getting on the GBBO, then I'll need to be able to bake all types of pastry.  It is probably the most used thing on that show.  It took some trawling, but I eventually stumbled on apple and cinnamon turnovers in the lovely baking book the fiancé had got me for Christmas but that I have so far not used.  

    The turnovers themselves looked to be quite a simple recipe.  The challenge came from the pastry because I decided I was going to make my own.  This was my first attempt ever to make puff pastry!  Well, actually, it ended up being my first AND second.  My first try failed pretty quickly.  I brought it out of the fridge after its first resting period and went about rolling it into a rectangle, only to have all my butter start oozing out from every inch possible.  It just kept coming and coming and I ended up with a mush of butter and pastry.  Not good.  But at least it happened early and not an hour down the line.  So I started again.  I used butter straight from the fridge this time, rather than letting it soften first, and made sure it was really well sealed in its pastry envelope.  When it came to rolling out, there was still a little that managed to escape but it was nowhere near the amount of the first try.  After it had had a few rests and re-rolls it was less trouble.  I was quite pleased.


    The book I was using was great.  It explains things rather neatly and all the recipes are quite short and to the point.  However, in the list of ingredients for the turnovers it said '3 apples'.  Just '3 apples'.  There was no indication as to size, weight or type.  So I guessed.  I got Bramley apples, since they are the standard cooking apple over here.  I also decided to just get 2 since they are rather big.  Turns out even that was way too much.  I only used about half the apple filling that I made.  Hence I'll be adjusting the ingredients in the write up.  I made sure to measure how much apple there was before and after making up the pastries, so you'll get a weight.

    I cooked my turnovers in two batches.  The first batch I made came out really well.  The filling did leak slightly and the egg wash was a little patchy but overall I was happy.  There were no soggy bottoms!  Pretty good for a first attempt at puff pastry.  It's such a shame I burnt the second batch.  This is evidence that I should not multi-task.  Or at least, not do so in a room that isn't the kitchen or adjoining living room.  I have a tendency to forget about things if I leave the room.  I thought I was being productive when I decided to put away all the laundry and change the bed linen whilst the turnovers cooked.  But I forgot about them and lost track of time.  When I went back into the living room, I noted it was hot.  I then walked into the kitchen to open the window, wondered why the oven was on and then realised!  The poor things had been in half an hour longer than they should have been and were ruined.  I was so disappointed.  I cannot wait for my new oven timer to arrive.  Then even if I do forget by going out the room I'll still get a noisy reminder.

    The ones that didn't burn apparently tasted yummy though.  The fiancé did think the pastry was a little thick but also said they tasted very like the strudels he would get at the market in Edinburgh at Christmas.  The cinnamon went really nicely with the apples and there were layers in my pastry!  I'll have to find time to make them again in the future, and not burn half the batch next time. 


    Recipe - adapted from The Art of French Baking 
    Makes 6 pastries


    Puff Pastry:
    This takes 2-3 hours to do since you have to roll out, fold and rest the pastry several times in order to get the layers in.
    • 200g/7oz plan flour, plus extra for dusting
    • Pinch of salt
    • 100ml/3.5fl.oz ice-cold water
    • 100g/3.5fl.oz butter
    1. Sift the flour into a bowl and mix in the salt.
    2. Add most of the water and mix in until you get a smooth and elastic dough.  Add more water if necessary.
    3. Lightly flour a clean surface and roll out the dough into a square that is about 1.5cm/0.75inch thick.
    4. Cut the butter into cubes and place into the centre of the pastry square.
    5. Fold the corners over into the centre so the butter is completely enclosed within a pastry envelope.  Make sure there are no gaps.
    6. Wrap in clingfilm and chill in the fridge for about 15 minutes.
    7. Remove from the fridge and roll out into a long rectangle that is 5mm/0.25inch thick.  Try not to let any butter escape from inside (don't panic if a little comes out though).
    8. Fold the short ends of the rectangle so they overlap each other in the centre to make a rectangle with three layers.  Chill in the fridge for 15 minutes.
    9. Repeat steps 7 and 8 at least seven more times.  You can do it more times if you want.  The more times you repeat the steps, the more layers your pastry should have.
    10. Now the pastry is done so chill it in the fridge until you are ready to use it.
    Apple and Cinnamon Turnovers:
    • 170g/6oz apple (about 1 large Bramley apple)
    • 60g/2oz caster sugar
    • 1 tsp ground cinnamon
    • 400g/14oz puff pastry
    • 1 egg yolk 
    • Water
    1. Preheat the oven to 220°C/425°F/Gas Mark 7 and grease two baking trays with butter.
    2. Peel and core the apple and then cut it into 1cm/0.5inch cubes.  Put in a medium bowl.
    3. Add the cinnamon and 2 tablespoons of the caster sugar to the apple and stir to coat them.
    4. Lightly dust a surface with flour and roll out the puff pastry as thinly as possible.  Ideally you want to be able to cut all your turnovers from this one sheet and not have to re-roll (though I didn't quite manage it).
    5. Use a 12cm/5inch circle cookie cutter, or trace around a bowl with a similar diameter, and cut out six circles of pastry.  If you want, you can also cut small, decorative shapes out of the leftovers (I made a heart for each one).
    6. Place a heaped tablespoon of the spiced apple on top of each circle, ever so slightly off centre.
    7. Moisten the edges of the pastry with water, fold in half to make a crescent shape and press the edges together to seal them.  If it tears in places, patch the gaps with leftover pastry.  If you made decorations then attach them to the crescents with water.  Place the pastries on the trays.
    8. Beat the egg yolk and then brush the pastries with it to glaze them.
    9. Sprinkle over the remaining sugar.
    10. Bake for 30 minutes.

    Tuesday 10 September 2013

    Vanilla Bean Birthday Cake with Strawberry Milkshake and White Chocolate Buttercream


    It was my birthday on September 1st.  I turned 25.  Definitely 25.  My brain was trying to convince me the couple of weeks leading up to it that I had already had my birthday and that I am, in fact, 26.  Clearly I am feeling old.  But no, I've only just turned 25.  I still feel a bit old though.

    Anyway, as I said this time last year, I have made my own birthday cake since I was about 9/10 because I am terribly picky despite liking something very simple.  Last year I did diverge from the norm slightly, in that I made something that wasn't a vanilla cake, and whilst it was quite tasty it was not amazing and more-ish.  So this year I felt I was going to have to go back to being 'boring' and do a vanilla cake again.  I admit, I was a little disappointed with myself.  That is, until I had a brainwave!  Okay, I would make a vanilla cake but I would make it special!  I would treat myself to some vanilla beans and use the seeds to flavour it!  I have never used vanilla beans before, mainly because they were quite pricey.  The ones in the supermarket are usually £5 for one!  Two if you're lucky.  Plus there's no guarantee of quality when they are packaged inside a plastic tube.  You just have to hope you get a good one.  However, I happened to be browsing around on Amazon one day and decided to see if I could get beans through them.  Turns out I could and the ones I was looking at had very positive reviews.  Better yet, they cost £4.75, for ten. TEN!  Well obviously I jumped on that deal and I can tell you, I was not disappointed.  I had read that you can tell if a bean is not dried if it is easy to deseed.  The one I used in my baking was VERY easy to deseed and it was only my first time doing it too.  Very pleased with them indeed.

    So I had my base cake planned.  As for the filling and outside, I decided to just pick flavours I had previously enjoyed; namely strawberry milkshake buttercream for the filling and white chocolate buttercream for the outside.  The chocolate dripping over the top was inspired by a picture I had seen on Pinterest.  Originally, it was going to be chocolate ganache but it just refused to turn out right, which was frustrating.  It is just two ingredients and the method is so simple and yet I cannot do it.  In the end I just could not be bothered to keep persisting with it.  It was my birthday after all and I prefer plain old melted chocolate anyway.

    What can I say?  This cake tasted amazing!  Especially when you got a bite of all the component parts together.  The fiancé and I scoffed most of it quite happily.  It was just so good.  I was really pleased.  I was also quite chuffed with the final look, though I wish I'd not added the white decoration to the top and just left it as pink roses.  Never mind though.  I still got lots of compliments for it.


    Recipe - Makes 1 x 15cm/6inch, four layer cake


    Cake - adapted from a post on The Good Food Channel
    • 3 eggs
    • Caster sugar - weight equal to that of the 3 eggs in their shells
    • Unsalted butter - weight equal to that of the 3 eggs in their shells
    • Self raising flour - weight equal to that of the 3 eggs in their shells
    • 1 vanilla bean

    1. Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/Gas Mark 4 and grease and line two 6inch/15cm round cake tins.
    2. Separate the eggs and use a whisk to beat the egg whites until you get soft peaks.  Set aside.
    3. Remove the seeds from the vanilla bean and put them in a large mixing bowl with the butter and sugar.  Mix until fluffy and pale in colour.
    4. Whisk the egg yolks for about 3 minutes and then fold into the sugar butter.
    5. Sift in the flour and fold that in also.
    6. Add the egg whites and fold those in too until you cannot see any white in the mixture.
    7. Pour half the mixture into each tin and then put in the oven for about 30 minutes.  Do not open the oven before 20 minutes have past.
    8. Once baked. remove and let stand in the tins for a couple of minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool.
    Strawberry Milkshake Buttercream:
    • 30ml/1fl.oz full fat milk
    • 40g/1.4oz Nesquik strawberry milkshake powder
    • 375g/13.2oz icing sugar
    • 130g/4.5oz butter
    • Pink food colouring
    1. Dissolve the milkshake powder in the milk.
    2. Beat the butter in a bowl until it is creamy.
    3. Sift in the icing sugar and beat into the butter until smooth.
    4. Add the milkshake and food colouring and mix in until you get the desired colour and the buttercream is smooth.
    White Chocolate Buttercream:
    • 125g/4.5oz butter
    • 250g/9oz icing sugar
    • 200g/7oz white chocolate 
    • 1 tsp vanilla extract 
    1. Melt the chocolate in a glass bowl placed over a pan of simmering water.
    2. Cream together the butter, icing sugar and vanilla extract until smooth and creamy.
    3. Add the melted white chocolate and mix in until smooth.
    Assembly:
    • 2 vanilla cake layers
    • Milkshake buttercream
    • White chocolate buttercream
    • 155g/5.5oz milk chocolate
    1. Cut each cake layer in half so you have four layers.
    2. Place the first layer, cut side up, on the serving plate.
    3. Cover with 1/4 of the milkshake buttercream and then place the second layer, cut side down on top.
    4. Cover this layer with another 1/4 of the buttercream and then place the third layer on top, cut side up.
    5. Add another 1/4 of the buttercream to the top of this layer and place the final layer, cut side down, on top to cover.  Gently press down.
    6. Apply a very thin layer of white chocolate icing over the whole of the cake (I use a butter knife), making sure to fill in any gaps.  This will be the crumb coat.
    7. Now apply a thicker layer of the white chocolate buttercream over the crumb coat, making sure to cover the entire cake.  Smooth the buttercream down so it is nice and even.
    8. Melt the milk chocolate in a heat proof bowl placed over a pan of simmering water without letting the bowl touch the water.
    9. Pour the chocolate over the top of the cake, coaxing it towards the edges and over the sides.  Allow to set.
    10. Place the remaining milkshake buttercream in a piping bag fitted with a large, closed star nozzle and pipe roses on top of the cake by making spirals that start in the centre and move outwards.
    11. If you  have remaining white chocolate buttercream, you can also use that to add decoration too.  I used a large open star nozzle for mine.