Grasshopper Slices

For some reason, my brain is struggling to put together something interesting to say for this blog entry.  On the last one, once I started talking about doughnuts the words just poured out and I had a decent read in no time.  Today though...today it's just not coming.  As a result, I guess today's post shall be a bit on the short side since there clearly isn't much to talk about.

So anyway, at some point last week there was a birthday.  The fiancé went up to Dundee to visit his friends and celebrate said birthday on Saturday.  And since the Dundee bunch are one of my favourite groups of guinea pigs because they always appreciate any baking I send their way, I offered to bake something for him to take with him.  It was a great excuse to try out a recipe I had been eyeing up in a recipe book I got for my birthday last year from my lovely sister.  It just looked so cool, okay?  I was terribly attracted to the photo as I loved the bright green against the dark brown.  So awesome!  The fact that it is chocolate and mint was a bonus as that is a well liked combination amongst this group and the fiancé.

The base is pretty easy.  It's a brownie.  Brownies are not that hard.  Oh, but the other layers.  The other layers are ganache!  As we all know, ganache is one of my nemeses!  And true to its nature, the ganache was evil because it split on me, as it always does.  Why is something with only two ingredients so hard for me to make?  Well, in part I think it's because I can be lazy and don't chop up the chocolate as finely as I should.  In all honesty, I don't chop it at all.  I just break it into its squares and leave it at that.  Consequently they are too big to completely melt before the cream has cooled.  So I then end up trying to run extra heat through and everything splits.  Which happened and the mixture was looking funny and lumpy and oily and not beautiful and smooth.  BUT!  I have learnt many things since starting this blog and one was that the oil is the cocoa butter splitting away and that this usually happens if something gets too hot.  I also learnt that you can get it to reincorporate!  So I threw the leftover cream and some milk into the mess and whisked the hell out of it!  And you know what?  It worked!  I saved it.  It became beautifully smooth and perfect and you have no idea just how pleased I was.

And it was well worth the effort.  These things were loved by everyone who had one and they were scoffed!  The poor fiancé was even being introduced to people as 'the fiancé of the person who made the cake'.  That amuses me.  And it's nice to have one's baking appreciated.

 

Recipe - adapted from Home Sweet Home

Makes 15-20 pieces (depends on how big you want to cut them)

Brownie Base:

• 200g/7oz dark chocolate (minimum 70% cocoa solids)
• 200g/7oz butter
• 250g/9oz icing sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 115g/4oz plain flour

Mint Ganache:

• 250ml/9fl.oz double cream
• 1kg/2lb 3oz white chocolate
•  2 tbsp peppermint extract
• Green food colouring

Chocolate Ganache:

• 125ml/4.5fl.oz double cream
• 270g/9.5oz dark chocolate

1. Preheat the oven to 170C/325F/Gas Mark 3 and grease line a 23 x 32 x 5cm (9 x 13 x 2inch) baking tin with baking parchment. 
2. Melt the dark chocolate for the brownie base in a heat proof bowl placed over a pan of gently simmering water, making sure to not let the water touch the bowl.  Once melted, remove from the heat and allow to cool slightly.
3. In a large bowl, beat together the butter and icing sugar until it is smooth and creamy.
4. Add the eggs one at a time, beating in after each addition.
5. Add the flour and mix to combine.
6. Add the melted chocolate and stir in until evenly incorporated into the batter.
7. Pour into the prepared tin and smooth out so the batter reaches the edges and is of even thickness.
8. Bake for about 35 minutes, or until a light crust has formed on the top.
9. Allow to cool completely inside the tin.
10. Make the ganaches whilst the brownie bakes.  For the mint ganache, chop up the white chocolate and place into a medium sized bowl.
11. Bring the double cream to a gentle simmer in a small saucepan, stirring occasionally, and then pour through a sieve into the bowl of white chocolate.
12. Leave the chocolate to melt on its own and then stir until the mixture is smooth. (If the ganache splits, do not panic!  Add a little bit of cream or milk to the ganache and then whisk the hell out of it!  Using an electric hand whisk will be quicker and easier but keep beating until the mixture reincorporates the cocoa butter and smooths out.  It will happen, just be patient.)
13. Add the mint extract and food colouring and beat until evenly distributed and smooth.
14. Cover with clingfilm and chill in the fridge for at least an hour to firm up.
15. For the chocolate ganache, chop up the dark chocolate and place into a medium sized bowl. 
16. Bring the double cream to a gentle simmer in a small saucepan, stirring occasionally, and then pour through a sieve into the bowl of dark chocolate. 
17. Leave the chocolate to melt on its own and then stir until the mixture is smooth. 
18. Cover with clingfilm and chill in the fridge for at least an hour to firm up.
19. To assemble, remove the mint ganache from the fridge and give it a quick stir.
20. Spread the mint ganache evenly over the top of the cooled brownie base, cover with clingfilm and put in the fridge to chill for 30-60 minutes.
21. Once firm, remove and repeat with the chocolate ganache.
22. Chill for at least 2 hours, or overnight, before serving.
23. Remove from the tin and cut into desired sized pieces. 

Baked Vanilla Bean Doughnuts

I love doughnuts, really really love them, though I cannot eat too many in one go.  I do have limits.  But if I can have a doughnut then I will.  Provided it is a flavour I like.  Remember, I am surprisingly picky despite my sweet tooth.  I grew up with jam doughnuts, so I always have a soft spot for them.  However, I developed a liking for glazed doughnuts when I first got to try a Krispy Creme!  Man, those things are scrummy.  Rather overpriced for a doughnut though, unfortunately.  For a single glazed doughnut from Krispy Creme, I can get a packet of at least 5 jam doughnuts from the supermarket.  Not that I could eat all those doughnuts in one day but that's not the point.

The point is, I have been wanting to make my own doughnuts at home for ages.  So what has been stopping me?  Well, the frying aspect.  Not the idea that they are fried, mind.  I have no issues with frying things.  But doughnuts are deep fried and my issue comes from the fact that deep frying requires a lot of oil, which will still be left over at the end of the frying.  And then what do I do with it?  I don't want to keep it in the pan.  I've only got so many pans and they all get used for making dinner.  I can't afford to be one pan down.  And I don't want to try bottling it up again.  Honestly, it is not worth the effort.

So when I stumbled across the idea of baked doughnuts, I was so excited!  Yet said stumbling happened two years ago and so far there has been no sign of doughnuts on this blog.  And the reason for that is I kept failing to find a recipe I liked and thought worked.  Hindered by the lack of a doughnut tray, I went looking for doughnuts I could shape and bake without a mould.  Said doughnuts always turned out too much like bread, both in appearance and taste.  Admittedly, quite sweet bread but bread nonetheless.  It was all rather disappointing and I became rather put off by the idea.

Anyway, at the start of the month, after finishing university and returning to the internet properly I discovered that the first Friday in June is apparently National Doughnut Day.  Admittedly, I don't know if that's just an American thing but if it is an excuse to eat doughnuts, I'm in.  Problem was, I had no doughnuts and my past failures with baked ones made me reluctant to try making them again, despite that being a suggestion when I was lamenting.  However, the brooding that resulted meant I finally did what I had been thinking of doing for ages and I decided I would buy that doughnut pan I had been admiring on Amazon for the last year!  I was going to try a softer mix and see how that turned out.

And what can I say?  They turned out great!  I found a really good recipe (thank you Chocolate Moosey!), though I decided to only glaze half of the doughnuts and coat the rest in cinnamon sugar.  The fiancé is not a fan of glaze.  I also reduced the recipe slightly so I only made six as I wasn't sure we could manage nine doughnuts between two of us.  Turns out, we probably could have.  The fiancé devoured his cinnamon coated doughnuts within the day and is requesting I make more.  And I probably will since they were so simple and so quick to make!  That, and they tasted lovely.  The texture was right and the taste was right.  Finally, a baked doughnut that tasted like a real doughnut.  I am so happy.  This recipe is definitely a keeper!

Recipe - adapted from Chocolate Moosey

Makes 6 


Doughnuts:

• 150g/5.5oz plain flour
• 1/3 tsp baking powder
• 1/8 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 40g/1.4oz butter, plus extra for greasing
• 60g/2oz caster sugar
• 1 vanilla bean
• 1 small egg
• 2/3 tsp vanilla extract
• 85ml/3fl.oz milk

Glaze (for 3 doughnuts):

• 25g/1oz icing sugar
• Pinch of salt
• 1-2 tsp milk
• 1/4 tsp vanilla extract

Cinnamon Sugar:

• 2 tbsp granulated sugar
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon 
• 2 tbsp milk

1. Preheat the oven to 190°C/375°F/Gas Mark 5 and grease a 6 cavity doughnut pan.
2. In a medium bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt.
3. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until pale and fluffy.
4. Add the seeds from the vanilla bean (cut the bean down the centre, split open and remove the seeds by running a knife along the length of the inside), the egg and the vanilla extract to the sugar butter and beat to incorporate.
5. Beat in the milk.
6. Add the flour a little at a time, mixing after each addition, until all the flour is just incorporated.
7. Put the mixture into a piping bag fitted with a large, round nozzle and pipe the mixture into each of the tray cavities, being careful not to overfill.
8. Bake for about 10 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the doughnut comes out clean.
9. Allow to rest in the tray for 5 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to finish cooling.
10. Make the glaze once the doughnuts have cooled.  Mix together the icing sugar, salt and vanilla extract in a bowl.  
11. Add the milk and mix until smooth.
12. Dip the tops of 3 of the doughnuts into the glaze until they are covered.  Allow to set.
13. On a plate, combine the sugar and cinnamon.
14. Brush the unglazed doughnuts with the milk and then roll in the cinnamon sugar to coat.

Strawberry Cake with Swiss Meringue Buttercream

It is the oddest thing, suddenly having no work to be doing, or avoid doing.  I have to admit, I am a most contrary person.  When I have work, there will be so many things I will be lamenting about not having time to do.  Things like playing the games I was given for Christmas or reading the books I have a tendency to buy whenever I got the chance to go shopping.  I can finally break out the sewing machine I got for my birthday (September) and make the skirts I want to do.  You should see the stack of things I have put on my coffee table now that it is not hidden beneath the printer and mountains of paperwork.  All these things I now have the free time to do.  And I have no motivation to do any of them.  I am terrible like that.  I am not great at starting things.  Once I start, I can get sucked in but starting is the real problem.  I am almost two weeks into my holiday and not much has been achieved thus far.

Well, okay, I lie.  I am not completely work free, since in 6 weeks time I am getting married!  And there is so much stuff to get done for that, a big part of which is plan and make the wedding cake!

So that's where this bake comes in.  It is all part of the planning!  Planning which involves finding a good strawberry cake recipe for one of the tiers since we are not going traditional and having fruit cake, but rather have opted to have three different flavours, one for each tier.  It shall be a Neapolitan cake!  So we shall have chocolate, vanilla and strawberry cake.  Now, finding good vanilla and chocolate cake recipes is not too hard.  But strawberry has proved tricky.  Hence why I decided to try out a new one as my first bake of the summer.  However, I also decided to try out something else with this cake and that was Swiss meringue buttercream!

This was a nice bake.  So much less stressful than the last one.  No spillages or temporarily breaking the oven this time!  I was really pleased with the way the cake pieces turned out.  I was terrified that they were going to be gummy like the last time I baked with strawberry.  But no, they came out lovely and light.  Even though I realised that I completely forgot to add milk!  I only noticed when it came to this write-up.  Oops.  Oh well.  I was also pleased with how well they rose!  I'm glad I opted to reduce the recipe so I only made two layers.  Three would have created a monster cake!

And the buttercream!  It worked!  I was dreading it turning to soup.  I'm pretty sure it was Swiss meringue buttercream that I had tried to make way back when I attempted the disastrous Doboz Torte and that is what happened.  But I had read around the subject and the trick is to add the butter a little at a time.  Also, expect it to turn soupy at first but keep whisking and it will eventually firm up again.  Which it did.  It came out really well!  Though I must admit, I did an awful thing and used Stork, which is not real butter (though it's not margarine either since it's not legal to sell margarine in the UK.  QI says so!).  Of course, I always use Stork in my buttercream and have never had any complaints before.  There were none with this one either, though it was a little bland in my opinion.  So next time I'll try butter.  I jut honestly did not feel like going out in the rain to the shop to get some this time around.

Possibly the only thing I am slightly disappointed with is the look of the cake.  Namely, the frosting around the sides.  I have seen lots of lovely pictures of 'naked' cakes, which are going for that rustic, almost vintage look with hardly any icing on them.  They just have the thinnest layer to make them look oh so pretty.  I wanted to replicate that.  I don't think I quite pulled it off this time.  It looks more messy than rustic.  Better luck next time.

And the final, most important result is the taste!  It went down well.  The fiancé personally thought that the cake and buttercream on their own were good but not amazing but with the fresh strawberries it was amazing!  His mother and sister both really enjoyed it and did not share that opinion.  His mum also said it would make a lovely wedding cake and I hadn't even said that's what I was experimenting for.  So maybe this one is a keeper?  Perhaps I should consider putting strawberries between the layers of each tier for the wedding cake?  Definitely something to consider I think. 

Recipe - makes 1x 20cm/8inch square cake


Cake - adapted from Smitten Kitchen 

• 370g/13oz plain flour
• 60g/2oz cornflour
• 400g/14oz caster sugar
• 3.5 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 225g/8oz butter
• Approximately 350g/12oz strawberries
• 5 egg whites
• A couple of drops of red food gel (optional)

Swiss Meringue Buttercream with Strawberries - adapted from Made by Mary

• 2 egg whites
• 50g/1.5oz granulated sugar
• 175g/6oz butter
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tbsp icing sugar
• 400g/14oz strawberries 

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/Gas Mark 4 and grease and line two 20cm/8inch square cake pans.
2. Sift the plain flour and cornflour together into a large bowl, add the sugar, baking powder and salt and give everything a good mix.  
3. Purée the strawberries and add them and the butter to the dry ingredients and beat until light and fluffy.
4. In a separate bowl beat the egg whites with the food gel (if using).
5. Add the egg whites a little at a time to the batter, beating after each edition until just incorporated.
6. Divide the mixture between the pans.
7. Bake for at least 35 minutes but cakes may take as long as 50 minutes.  Cakes should be risen, springy to the touch and a skewer inserted into the middle should come out clean.
8. Allow to rest in the pans for about 15 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to finish cooling.  Cool completely before frosting.
9. To make the buttercream, start by mixing the egg whites with the granulated sugar in a stainless steel (or in my case, aluminium) bowl.
10. Place the bowl over a saucepan of slightly bubbling water and whisk by hand for about 10 minutes to dissolve the sugar.
11. Remove from the pan and then whisk the meringue with a hand mixer on a medium speed until it forms stiff, glossy peaks.
12. When the base of the bowl feels cool, reduce the mixer's speed to its lowest setting and start adding the butter a little at a time.  Make sure the butter is completely beaten in before adding the next piece.  Do not panic if the buttercream starts turning sloppy.  This is completely normal and if you keep whisking it will firm up again.
13. Beat in the vanilla extract and icing sugar.
14. Remove a little over 1/3 of the buttercream and set aside.
15. Wash, dry and cut the strawberries into quarters and add just over half to the remaining buttercream and fold in.
16. To assemble, place one cake onto a serving plate.  (If you want, place strips of greaseproof paper under the cake to prevent buttercream ending up on it when you frost it which can be pulled out when you're done.)
17. Cover the top of the cake with the strawberry filled buttercream, spreading it out so it is even and reaches the edges.
18. Place the second cake on top and smooth the buttercream filling at the sides.
19. Use the buttercream you put aside to decorate the outside of the cake.  First create a smooth, slightly thick covering of buttercream on the top of the cake.
20. Then use the leftovers to lightly cover the rest of the cake.
21. Top the cake with the remaining quartered strawberries.

Lemon and Strawberry Cupcakes

It is the oddest thing suddenly having no work to do.  As of June 2nd I am now finished with university.  Well, technically, it should be June 20th because that is when I know whether or not I have passed my final assessment.  But other than that I am done.  No placements.  No essays.  No e-portfolio.  Done.  Dusted.  Until August anyway.  Then I'll be a probationary teacher (somewhere that I do not know yet) and all this will start over again.  But there's 2 and a half months of no work until then though.

So yes, hello!  Long time no post.  Time sure does fly when you have way to much work to be getting done.  And several things had to give in order to make sure I got everything done.  You should have seen the mess I got into with the wedding invitations.  They have been slowly going out over the past month and a half because I just have not had time!  Especially when the printer throws a hissy fit and all 3 boxes of the paper I ordered was 1/4inch too short for some reason.  The tantrums that resulted were not pretty, trust me.  And of course, there was no time for baking.  Well, except one batch of cookies.  But that was a re-bake.  It's times like this that I could do with being more social in the blog-o-sphere.  Then I may have been able to wrangle up some guest posts rather than letting the blog collect dust for two months.  Maybe I should make a conscious effort to be more outgoing?  

Anyway!  Cake!  At last!  And cupcakes at that.  It's been far too long since I made cupcakes!  The last time was August!  Can you believe it?  We shall have to remedy that this summer I think.  

So May 23rd marked my official last day at Carleton Primary School (I went back for the school trip the following Thursday though) and to say thank you to all the lovely staff I decided to make cupcakes.  Now, my original plan was to make muffin sized cupcakes.  I planned to use my lovely yellow cases because one of the flavours was lemon and they would look so cute against the pink topping.  I deliberately went hunting for a recipe that looked like it yielded a really lovely, large and lemony cupcake.  I was all set.  I made up the mixture and put the first half into the cases as I only have a small oven and one set of trays so can only cook 12 at a time.  I was very happy.  This was the first time I was baking in weeks.  I was excited.  I went to put the tray in the oven and do you know what happened?

I dropped it.

All over the base of the oven.  And the door.  And the floor.  None of them were salvageable.

But do you know what was the worst part about this?  Well, dear readers, you see, my oven is a gas oven.  And the gas element for my oven is in the base.  That means there are holes in the 'floor' of the oven.  So where did the mixture go after I dropped it?  Through the holes.  And clogged the gas element.  So the oven went out and I could not relight it.

You can imagine how thrilled I was at that, can't you?  I will admit, there were tears.  Quite a lot actually.  It was one of those days.

Eventually I picked myself up, found a screwdriver, unscrewed the base and cleaned it out.  After about an hour I managed to get the oven to relight and stay lit.  It was frustrating but I did it.  I was going to make these cakes!  And there was still a whole other set to do afterwards for the class.  Of course though I had lost half my batter.  There really wasn't enough time or ingredients to make a new batch so I had to settle for making smaller cakes so I could still get 24.  And I had to use green cases rather than yellow.  Pity.  But never mind.  It was better than nothing.  In the write-up I'll be putting the full recipe.  It'll be up to you whether or not you make big or small cakes.

Admittedly, the small size was appreciated.  They ended up just as a couple of bites worth of cake but everyone who ate one enjoyed them.  The strawberry and lemon whipped cream was compared to yoghurt at one point but it too was well liked.  All in all they didn't turn out quite how I wanted but I was glad I had something to give and that that something was eaten up and highly complimented.  I'll likely make these again.  They make for a nice, light summery cake. 

Recipe- makes 24 large cupcakes or 48 regular cupcakes (fairy cakes)


Cakes - adapted from My Baking Addiction

• 350g/12.5oz plain flour
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 310ml/11fl.oz buttermilk (or full fat milk mixed with 2 tsp lemon juice, allowed to stand for 5 minutes)
• 4 egg whites
• 285g/10oz caster sugar
• Zest of 2 lemons
• 115g/4oz butter
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp lemon extract

Strawberry Cream - inspired by Kitchen Simplicity 

• Approximately 8 large strawberries
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 255ml/9fl.oz double cream
• 1 tsp lemon extract

Decoration:

• 12 (for 24 cakes) or 24 (for 48 cakes) strawberries
• Icing sugar for dusting

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/Gas Mark 4.  Line two 12 hole muffin tins with cupcake cases or four 12 hole cupcake tins with cupcake cases.
2. In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, salt and baking powder.
3. Mix the milk and egg whites together in another bowl.
4. Put the sugar and lemon zest together in a large bowl and rub together with your fingers until the sugar is moist and smells wonderful and lemony.
5. Add the butter and beat together with the sugar until the mixture is very light in colour.
6. Add the extracts and mix in.
7. Add one third of the flour mixture and beat in.
8. Now beat in half the milk.
9. Add half of the remaining flour mixture and beat in, followed by the rest of the milk and finally the last of the flour.  
10. Beat everything for an extra few minutes to make sure it is thoroughly mixed.
11. Share the batter evenly amongst the cases, filling them about two thirds full.
12. Bake in the oven for about 20 minutes, until the cakes are risen and springy.  A skewer inserted into the centre of a cake should come out clean.
13. Turn out onto a wire rack and allow to cool. 
14. To make the cream topping, put the strawberries together with the sugar in a blender and blend to a purée.
15. In a large bowl, whip the cream to soft peaks.
16. Add the strawberry purée to the cream and the lemon extract and whip again until you get stiff peaks.
17. Put the cream in a piping bag fitted with a large, closed star nozzle.
18. Hold the bag so the nozzle is perpendicular to the centre of a cake and squeeze for about 3 seconds.  You should get a nice little rosette of cream.  Do the same for all the cupcakes.
19. To decorate, cut each strawberry in half and then slice each half into three pieces. 
20. Press three slices into each cream rosette.
21. Dust with icing sugar to finish.