Orange Biscuits

 

 

Oh dear, oh dear.  There is so much disorganisation going on for me right now.  I am afraid I must warn you, dear readers, that my second school placement for my university course has begun and, like last time, the baking is going to take a bit of a hit.  It already has and this blog post has been about two weeks in the making.  It is shocking.  But I was determined to get it up today because there's no way I could not have something go out on the blog's second birthday!  That would be awful.  Of course, I would have preferred a special bake specifically for celebrating the event but that has been delayed.  So I'll be doing a belated birthday post (with much gushing and nostalgia I am sure)...once I figure out what to make.  Yeah, I'm that disorganised right now. 

Luckily though, the next two weeks are the Easter holidays and whilst I should be using them to get a large chunk of my work out of the way I will also have some time for baking.  At the very least there will be the April Dessert Challenge, along with that delayed birthday post.  So I won't be vanishing completely.  Things are just going to be a little slow around here for a couple of months.

Anyway, lets get on to biscuits!  

Back at the start of March I got to go on a merry jaunt to Edinburgh to see my good friend Jess for movies and lunch and shopping.  I went with good intentions in terms of the shopping.  I was planning to get the lace for my wedding dress and a proper cake tester since I'm tired of the holes my bamboo skewers leave when I use them.  That was all.  Unfortunately, I was weak and came away with much more than I intended.  Amongst my unexpected purchases was a new recipe book all about biscuits and cookies.  I really couldn't resist as books with just biscuits in seem to be really hard to come by and biscuits are easily my favourite thing to make.  Plus it was only £3.99!  Also yellow.  I'm terribly attracted to yellow things.  Anyway!  It is fabulous.  So many recipes, several of which are for classic British favourites like Digestives and Nice and Bourbon and Custard Creams and Hobnobs.  The list goes on.  I am going to have to try out the one for Maryland Chocolate Chip Cookies and see if they turn out better than the last recipe I tried that claimed the same title.  Honestly, I was not sure where I was going to start with this book.  There were so many recipes that I was itching to try!  In the end though, I settled for the 'Golden Orange Melts' because they sounded nice and simple and I do love me some orange.  They are also great because you can keep the dough in the fridge for up to a week and just bake some when you feel like.  Which is what I ended up doing.  I did a test batch the day after I originally made the dough and then did not end up cooking the rest until much later in the week.  I will say though, they did turn out a little crispier on the second go.

These are very yummy.  I was sceptical as to how orangey they would taste since I was using zest and juice this time, rather than orange extract like I usually do.  Turns out, they are VERY orangey and they smell amazing!  I ended up taking one each day for a break time snack and unwrapping it from the foil always sent this great burst of orange into the air.  It was great!  They taste really good and have a nice texture.  Like I said before, how crunchy they are seems to change the longer the dough is left in the fridge.  I shall definitely be making these again though.

Recipe - adapted from Home Baking Cookie and Biscuits 
Makes about 30 (the original recipe says 12 but I managed to get a lot more from one batch of dough)

This recipe requires the dough to be chilled overnight!

• 225g/8oz caster sugar
• 100g/3.5oz butter
• 1 egg
• 1 orange
• 300g/11oz plain flour
• 2 tsp baking powder

1. In a large bowl, beat together the butter and sugar until it is pale and creamy.
2. Zest and juice the orange.
3. Beat the egg gently in a separate bowl and then add it and the orange zest to the sugar butter and mix in.
4. Add the flour and baking powder to the mixture along with 2 or 3 teaspoons of the orange juice and mix together to form a reasonably firm dough.
5. Shape the dough into a sausage shape about 30cm/12inches long, wrap in clingfilm and chill in the fridge overnight (and up to a week).
6. Preheat the oven to 190°C/375°/Gas Mark 5 and line 2 or 3 baking trays with baking parchment.
7. Cut slices of dough off the roll, about 1cm/0.5inches thick and space well apart on the trays as they spread a lot whilst baking (I only got 6 on each of my trays: any more resulted in them merging together).
8. Bake for about 10 minutes until the edges are just starting to darken and the rest of the biscuit is a pale golden colour.
9. Allow to rest on the trays for a couple of minutes before transferring to a wire rack to finish cooling.

Individual Honey and Walnut Cheesecakes

Dessert Challenge time has rolled around once again!  And once again we have a classic combination that I have never encountered before!  This month's ingredients are honey and walnut and my contribution is little, individual cheesecakes!  Also, as an added bonus, these cheesecakes are both sugar free and wheat free, as all the sugar is replaced with honey and the base is made of nuts! 

When I sat down to think about this challenge I was at a bit of a loss.  Honey and walnut is not something I've really used in combination and I've only used honey...once I believe as a significant ingredient, back when I made that honeycomb layer cake.  Oh wait, there was also that honey wheat bread.  But yes, for the most part, not really worked with this month's ingredients.  Hence I decided to turn to Google and see what came up for the two of them.  Of course, the most popular result was baklava!  I did consider baklava.  But it does involve my nemesis: pastry!  And you know me, I am wanting to make my own pastry.  I can't just buy it from a shop!  But baklava requires phyllo pastry, which is possibly one of the most terrifying looking pastries to make and I didn't think I was quite ready to attempt that.  Besides, I don't have a big enough table for all the stretching.

So it was back to the drawing board.  To be honest, I am not entirely sure how I eventually ended up at cheesecakes.  I have never made cheesecake ever.  Nor have I eaten it.  It just doesn't really appeal to me.  But that never stops me from making something.  Some browsing around yielded that I could use walnuts to make a base so that was great and I figured I could get the honey bit into the cheesecake's filling somehow.  It was then I had an idea!  Honey can be used as a sugar substitute so why not substitute the sugar in the filling for honey!  Clearly this was a stroke of genius!  So I looked into ratios and advice of substituting honey.  When it came to cheesecakes though, most places recommended against it due to the liquid content.  But one site did have some suggestions on how it could be done so I took inspiration from there.  I then found a simple looking cheesecake recipe to work from and was set!

Now obviously, when you have no experience either making or eating something then it is clearly a great idea to mess with a recipe!  You may have guessed that the first attempt did not go quite to plan.  Its main problem was the base.  My first issue was that I did not have ground almonds.  Well, I did but they were out of date so I couldn't use them and I hadn't ordered more.  I should really not be so lazy about walking over to the kitchen and checking these things when I am ordering my weekly shop.  Anyway, it meant I ended up substituting in more walnuts.  I also did not bake the base on its own, because the recipe I was adapting didn't either.  I had also read that nuts could burn much more easily than a biscuit base and didn't want to risk cooking them for too long.  The result after baking the whole thing was that I had a greasy base that remained rather gross and soggy even after the cases were removed.  They also fell apart very easily and were apparently quite bitter tasting.  Oh dear.  The topping was apparently quite nice according to my lovely tasters at Markinch Primary School, which was something at least because I had no idea if it had come out correctly.  I had kept them in the oven a lot longer than recommended because I could not work out if they were cooked or not.  However, overall, I was not happy.  So I made a second attempt the following weekend.

This time I made some changes.  I actually put the ground almonds in this time and I baked the base sans topping for a bit first to try and firm it up somewhat.  I had also been unhappy with the presentation of the previous cakes because I had used very large cases to line my tins.  Too large and so they folded in and caused the final cakes to have weird shapes.  This time, I used smaller cases.  I also decided to pipe my filling in, rather than use a spoon since it gave a smoother finish.  I stuck to the cooking time too.  I could actually see a change in colour on this attempt.  I couldn't with the last batch which is why I cooked them longer than I should have.  My final changes came with the decoration.  Before I had just drizzled them with honey and topped with a walnut.  I figured I could do better and go a bit fancier.  So I made a honey glaze to coat the walnuts and then roasted them!  And then made a honey sauce for drizzling.

And the final result?  A VAST improvement!  For a start, they looked much nicer and more appetising.  The bases were not greasy though they were still a little soft in comparison to a normal cheesecake base.  And the taste was much, MUCH better according to my tasters.  These ones were scoffed!  I was very pleased.  I am definitely getting better at this baking thing if I can mess with a recipe to such an extent and get a great result on the second attempt.  Of course, I would have preferred it to be right first time around but I am still very happy!

Recipe - inspired by Bill Granger, via GoodFood

Makes 12 individual cheesecakes

Base:

• 100g/3.5oz walnut halves
• 55g/2oz ground almonds
• 50g/1.7oz butter 

Filling:

• 400g/14oz cream cheese
• 55g/2oz runny honey 
• 100ml/3.5fl.oz sour cream
• 1 egg yolk
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• Zest of half a lemon

Honey Roasted Walnuts:

• 30g/1oz runny honey
• Pinch of cayenne pepper
• 55g/2oz walnut halves

Honey Drizzle:

• 55g/2oz runny honey
• 15g/0.5oz butter
• 1 tsp water 

1. Preheat the oven to 160°C/325°F/Gas Mark 3 and line a 12 hole muffin tin with paper cases.
2. Blend the walnuts into crumbs in a food processor.
3. Melt the butter in a small saucepan and then add it and the ground almonds to the walnuts.  Mix to combine.
4. Divide the nut mixture between the paper cases and press flat.
5. Bake for about 20 minutes.
6. Meanwhile, make the filling by first mixing the cream cheese, sour cream and honey together in a large bowl until smooth.
7. Add the egg yolk, vanilla extract and lemon zest and mix to combine.
8. Either spoon or pipe the mixture into the prepared cases on top of the walnut base.
9. Put back in the oven and bake for about 20 minutes, or until the topping has puffed up and started to change colour.
10. Switch off the oven and leave the door ajar.  Let the cheesecakes rest in the oven for about 30 minutes before removing and carefully transferring to a wire rack to finish cooling.
11. Whilst the cheesecakes cool, make the honey roasted walnuts.  Cover 2 small trays with baking parchment and preheat the oven to 150°C/300°F/Gas Mark 1.  
12. Put the honey in a small saucepan and heat gently until it becomes thin and very, very runny.
13. Stir in the cayenne pepper with a rubber spatula.
14. Add the walnut halves and stir until they are fully coated. 
15. Spread the coated walnuts out onto one of the trays in a single layer and then bake in the oven for about 10 minutes.
16. Remove from the oven and transfer to the other tray and allow to cool so that the glaze sets.
17. When the cheesecakes have cooled, press a glazed walnut piece into the top and then store in the fridge until ready to serve.
18. Make the glaze shortly before serving.  Put the honey, butter and water into a small saucepan.
19. Cook over a gentle heat until the butter melts and the honey turns thin.  Whisk together for about 5 minutes.
20. Remove from the heat and allow to cool.  It will darken and thicken.
21. To serve, remove the cheesecakes from their cases and plate.  Give the sauce a quick whisk and then drizzle over the top of the cheesecakes.

Crepe Pancakes

Why, we have a relevant post that is posted on the day it is relevant to!  This may be a first!  Or though maybe I did post something on Hallowe'en last year...Anyway!  Today is Pancake Day (or Shrove Tuesday if we are being accurate) and I have a post about pancakes!

Now when I say 'pancakes' I mean 'crepe pancakes' because that is what pancakes meant in my house growing up and all round about where I lived.  If it was Pancake Day, you made crepe pancakes.  The slightly thicker pancakes I got introduced to later were called 'Scotch Pancakes'.  Everyone up here in Scotland thinks I would call them 'drop scones' because I'm English but I just look at them blankly.  They're Scotch Pancakes.  And then there are what I dub 'American Pancakes' which might be the same as Scotch Pancakes but I think they are different.  American Pancakes is what I can get at the Pancake Place, which is the fiancé and my favourite place to go for a lunch date.  The spoon sized pancakes with ice cream and toffee sauce are just the best!  Love them!

But back to crepe pancakes.  I never attempted to make my own pancakes until university.  And even then felt no desire to until my sister had said she had done it.  So I went a hunting for a recipe and found what is the basic crepe recipe.  And the pancakes were...okay I guess.  I really couldn't get the knack for turning them over so they never turned out right and so I just sort of forgot about making them again.  Then a few months ago, we were lamenting a lack of energy to venture out to get pancakes at the Pancake Place when I suggested I could make crepe pancakes instead if we wanted.  And thus began the occasional lunch treat of crepe pancakes at home!  It is only occasional because the fiancé and I both need to be around for lunch which is rare with current university and work schedules.  

However, I will admit, somewhere down the line a small thing changed.  Although that small thing may be a big thing.  It is something that I must confess and that is...I don't cook the pancakes anymore.  The fiancé does.  I just make the batter (because otherwise something is left out...like the eggs).  I still have not got the hang of turning the pancakes.  It always goes wrong.  And I am impatient.  And a perfectionist.  And when things go wrong, I get stroppy very quickly.  The last time I attempted to cook pancakes myself resulted in a failed pancake being thrown across the kitchen, the stove being switched off and me storming off to the bedroom to curl up in a huff on the bed.  Aren't I the picture of maturity?  The fiancé came to calm me down and them promptly showed me up by immediately being able to handle the cooking of the pancakes himself without any prior practice.  I was most annoyed. So now cooking them is his job.  He does it well.  He has a much better handle on it than me.  If our cooker didn't sit on a slant he would likely make perfectly round, perfectly cooked pancakes every time.  Instead we settle for oddly shaped, perfectly cooked pancakes.  But that's better than perfectly round, badly burnt pancakes so we're not complaining. 

Recipe - serves 2 (about 10 pancakes) 

• 200g/7oz plain flour
• Pinch of salt
• 568ml/1 pint milk
• 2 eggs
• Oil for greasing

1. Set aside a plate with a tea towel laid over it.
2. Sift the flour and salt into a large bowl.
3. Add the milk and whisk together until there are no lumps of flour.
4. Add the eggs and beat in until fully incorporated.
5. Pour some oil into a bowl and fix some kitchen tissue between a pair of tongs.  Dip the tongs in the oil and use it to coat the base of a frying pan (this helps reduce the amount of oil being used).
6. Place the frying pan over a medium heat and use a ladle to pour batter into the middle of the pan.
7. Cook the batter for about 30 seconds.  Small bubbles should have formed across the surface and it should no longer look liquid-y.  
8. Carefully flip the pancake over using a large, flat turner and cook until the underside is just golden.
9. Transfer to the tea towel covered plate and fold the tea towel over to keep in the heat.
10. Repeat until all the batter is used up.  Stack the pancakes on top of each other inside the tea towel.

Serve with you favourite fillings!  I like mine with just sugar and the fiancé takes his with raspberry jam!