Category: Baking
Plum and Amaretto traybake

Plum and Amaretto traybake

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There’s this weird tradition in Oxford (and Cambridge) where once someone’s finished their end of year exams they get ‘trashed’ – aka they get pelted with whatever their friends can find at the local Tescos. Being Oxford based my whole life I’ve seen numbers of students crawling onto the high street covered in shaving foam, silly string and paint, but it wasn’t until the past few weeks that I got to do some trashing of my own. After a slightly surreal shopping trip we arrived at exam schools, belted up with prosseco, honey, ketchup, party poppers and confetti, ready to celebrate the freedom of some of our friends from the clutches of revision! This was the result… (RIP Nik’s sub fusc)…

Afterwards came the jumping into the river, the crash back to reality, and then a growing chorus of ‘food?’ being passed around. That’s where this fab amaretto plum cake came in. At uni I didn’t have the chance to bake as much as I would have liked as I was short on time, ingredients and equipment, so since coming home I’ve been going a little crazy in the kitchen and have been making way more than I can feasibly eat. Therefore when I headed back up to uni I thought something like this tray bake would be the perfect thing to share with lots of de-stressed students – and it was!

Recipe

Serves 16

Time: 1 hour

Ingredients

  • 200g Butter
  • 200g Caster sugar
  • 4 Eggs
  • ½ tsp Almond extract
  • 180g Self-raising flour
  • 85g Ground almonds
  • ½ tsp Baking powder
  • 100ml Milk
  • 2 tbsp Amaretto (optional)
  • 3 Plums

Method

  1. Pre-heat the oven to 180˚C. Line a roughly 20 x 15cm cake tin with butter and baking paper.
  2. Put the butter and sugar into a bowl and beat together with a wooden spoon until pale and creamy.
  3. Add the eggs one by one and whisk them in. Then add the almond extract, flour, ground almonds and baking powder. Then add the milk and amaretto, and whisk it all  together to make a smooth batter. Pour the mixture into the lined tin and smooth it over so it evenly fills the tin.
  4. De-stone and then cut the plums into 1/8s. Then scatter them over the top of the cake, pressing them into the mixture a little. Bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes until risen and golden brown.
  5. Leave to cool and then cut into 16 squares.

Thanks for reading!

Emma x
Neapolitan Cake

Neapolitan Cake

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After 8 weeks of crazy term-time mania we’ve finally hit the vac once more. As our tutors never cease to remind us we’re on vacation, not holiday, and therefore we;re merely vacating our rooms and are expected to continue working just as much back home, but even so there’s going to be a lot more time for baking now!

Some of my friends are hanging around in college a little longer as they have exams, so yesterday we did some group procrastination and got back into the kitchen. Of course we could have made something simple like pasta or cupcakes, but alas no. After such a long time out of the kitchen I wanted to make a dramatic entrance back into the world of baking, so I drew up a recipe for this Neapolitan cake: 3 layers of chocolate and vanilla marble cake, sandwiched with a strawberry cream-cheese frosting and wafers on top!

It might be a little preemptive to make an ice-cream inspired cake in early March, but hey. Summer is well and truly on the way so what’s the harm in looking forwards a bit? It may be wet, windy and dark outside, but we’ve got enough Neapolitan cake to go around so everything’s OK!

Recipe

Serves 12

Time: Around 2 hours

Ingredients

For the chocolate cake

  • 175g Unsalted butter
  • 175g Caster sugar
  • 3 Large eggs
  • 50g Cocoa powder
  • 100g Self raising flour

For the vanilla cake

  • 100g Butter
  • 100g Caster sugar
  • 2 Eggs
  • 100g Self raising flour
  • 1 tsp Vanilla bean paste

For the strawberry icing

  • 400g Cream cheese
  • 4 tbsp Strawberry jam
  • Zest of 1 Lemon

To decorate

  • A handful of fresh strawberries
  • A few Ice cream wafers
  • Chocolate sprinkles

Method

  1. Pre-heat the oven to 180˚C. Then grease and line 3x 20cm loose bottomed round cake tins with butter and baking paper.
  2. Now start make the chocolate cake mixture. Put the butter and sugar into a large bowl and beat together until pale and creamy. Add the eggs and whisk in until the mixture is smooth. Next add the flour and cocoa powder and whisk again to make a smooth batter.
  3. Using a tablespoon dollop the mixture equally between the 3 tins, leaving gaps to be filled in with vanilla mixture later.
  4. Now make the vanilla cake. Put the butter and sugar into another large bowl and beat with a wooden spoon until pale and creamy. Add the eggs and whisk until smooth. Then add the flour and vanilla and whisk again to make a smooth batter.
  5. Again dollop the mixture between the 3 tins. Then gently smooth the mixture over so it evenly fills the cake tins, but try not to mix the two cake batters too much.
  6. Bake the cakes in the oven for 25-30 minutes until risen and golden brown. A skewer inserted into the middle should come out clean. Turn out onto a wire rack and leave to cool completely.
  7. Meanwhile make the icing. Put the cream cheese into a large bowl and beat with a wooden spoon to soften it a little.
  8. Add strawberry jam and lemon zest to this and then mix again to make a smooth icing. Spoon the icing into a piping bag with a round or star shaped nozzle.
  9. Take your strawberries and take off the green tops. Then cut them into 1/8s and put them to one side until needed.
  10. Once cooled place one of the cakes onto a plate. Arrange some strawberry pieces around the edge of the cake, making sure they’re all facing the same direction. Then spread 1/3 of the icing over the middle of cake. (The strawberry barrier will help keep the icing neat if it’s a little runny!)
  11. Place the 2nd cake on top and repeat with the strawberries, icing, and final layer of cake. Pipe the rest of the icing in rings of blobs over the top of the cake.
  12. Pile the remaining strawberries in the centre of the cake. Halve and then place wafers evenly around the edge and then finish with a sprinkle of chocolate sprinkles!

Thanks for reading!

Emma x
Passion fruit and Ginger Madeleines

Passion fruit and Ginger Madeleines

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I’ve always been a bit of a sucker for new bits of kitchen kit. There’s so much you can do with the basics, but a cool whisk or tin can make things super fun! When I was in Bruges over Christmas I found myself wandering around loads of kitchen shops, most of which would have huge displays of little kitchen bits and bobs all over the walls. This is where I came across this really cute madeleine tin – a little bit smaller than the traditional ones but perfectly sized to fit in my oven at uni! Until then I’d made madeleines before in cupcake tins, which works really well, but if you want the classic shell-shaped treats I’d really recommend finding yourself a tin. You can get all kinds of ones from the classic for about £20 to small and sweet ones like this which I picked up for around £4!

I think the best way of working with madeleines is to pack them full of flavour. They of course taste great on their own, but I think they’re a great canvas to decorate with lots of flavour! These are gently spiced with a womph of ginger, but have a cooling passion fruit curd centre and a drizzle of chocolate to give that extra lil bit of pazazz. If you’re not a fan of that though you could try lemon curd and white chocolate instead, or dipping the madeleines in melted chocolate and then hazelnuts once cooled?

Recipe

Makes 12

Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients

  • 50g Butter, melted, plus extra for greasing
  • 50g Plain flour, plus extra for dusting
  • 1 Egg
  • 50g Caster sugar
  • ¼ tsp Baking powder
  • ½ tsp Ground ginger
  • 50g Dark chocolate, to decorate

For the Passion fruit Curd

  • 13g Cornflour
  • Juice of 2 Passion fruit
  • 1 tbsp Lemon juice
  • 100ml Water
  • 1 Medium egg yolk
  • 30g Caster sugar
  • 15g Butter

Method

  1. Begin by making the passion fruit curd. Put the cornflour, passion fruit juice and lemon juice into a bowl and whisk together to make a smooth paste.
  2. Put the water into a small pan and bring to the boil. Pour the water onto the passion fruit mixture, whisking constantly until combined. Pour the mixture back into the pan, place over a medium heat and cook whilst whisking until the mixture thickens.
  3. Take the pan off the heat and whisk in the egg yolk, sugar and butter until smooth. Set to one side until needed.
  4. Pre-heat the oven to 180°C. Brush a little of the melted butter into the Madeleine tray. Then dust the tray with a little flour and shake out the excess.
  5. To make the madeleine batter, begin by putting the eggs and sugar into a bowl. Using an electric whisk the mixture until pale and fluffy.
  6. Sift the flour into the mixture and then add the baking powder, ground ginger and melted butter. Whisk everything together and then leave the mixture for 5 minutes to rest.
  7. Pour the mixture into a piping bag and then leave in the fridge for another 10 minutes to rest.
  8. Pipe the batter into the prepared mould (you want the mixture to be filling about 2/3 of each hole) and then bake for 8-10 minutes in the oven until lightly risen and golden brown (they cook very quickly so keep a close eye on them!).
  9. When baked take a knife and make a small incision in the top of each cake. Then pipe a little of the passion fruit curd into the hole in each one until you see it pouring out a little. It’s best to do this when the cakes are still warm as it’ll let the curd seep into them.
  10. Whilst the cakes are cooling melt the chocolate in a heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water.
  11. Drizzle the cakes with the melted chocolate and then serve!

Thanks for reading!

Emma x

 
Almond, Apricot and Ginger Bars

Almond, Apricot and Ginger Bars

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There’s something beautifully ironic about writers block becoming the key topic I seem to be writing about on here. For the past 3 weeks my tongue’s been as tied as my headphones after a day of being in the bottom of my bag and there’s no sign of that changing. Maybe it’s because life has taken over a bit recently, but there are very few things I can think of to say about snack bars.  It actually feels pretty inane to talk about a recipe through a long, sensual description in order to encourage you guys to make it anyway. Of course I can see the general point of it all, but when ice caps are melting, plastic is flooding the ocean, and God knows what is going on in my brain right now I’m just going to leave it at the classic: these are pretty tasty and pretty easy to make – so I’d recommend making them!

(Also small side point: since leaving veganuary I’ve decided to return to the land of vegetarianism and refined sugar-free-ness. That’s one of the reasons I love these so much – if you make them without the icing they’re 100% refined sugar free, and so even though they’re really sweet (and probably aren’t that good for you) they make a great treat whilst on this diet!)

Recipe

Serves 16

Time: 10 minutes, plus cooking time

Ingredients

  • 7 tbsp Unsalted butter
  • 155g Ground almonds
  • 200g Flaked almonds
  • 3 tsp Ground ginger
  • 130g Runny honey
  • 75g Dried apricots, roughly chopped
  • 1 Large egg
  • A large pinch of salt
  • 100g Icing sugar

Method

  1. Pre-heat the oven to 180˚C. Line a 25cm square tin with butter and baking paper.
  2. Melt the butter in a small pan. Put the almonds into a bowl with the ginger, honey, chopped dried apricots and egg, and then pour in the butter.
  3. Mix until everything is combined and then pour into the tin and smooth over to make an even layer. Bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes until starting to go golden brown. Leave to cool whilst you make the icing.
  4. Put the icing sugar and ½ tsp water into a bowl and mix together to make a pourable icing. If you need more water add a little bit at a time until perfect.
  5. Drizzle the icing over the tray bake, slice into 16 squares and serve!

Thanks for reading!

Emma x
Salted Caramel Peanut Bread (Vegan)

Salted Caramel Peanut Bread (Vegan)

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Not gonna lie, this week has been tough. I’m used to over committing myself – it’s kinda become a defining feature of my personality – but now I’m being chased up a hill on roller-skates by several angry monsters called degree, sleep and mental-well-being. The only thing keeping me vaguely grounded are the amazing friends I have who are there to scrape me up off the floor, turn me around and put me back the in game (you know who you are and I’m so so grateful!).

If things stopped for a second or two I know I’d want to be back in the kitchen, letting out all my woes on some unfortunate bread dough like this and then devouring it as soon as it’d cooled down enough for me to eat it. I made this back at the start of Veganuary and thus it can be 100% vegan! So whether you’re a hardcore meat-eater or a strong and proud vegan, as long as you’re not allergic to nuts this is the bread for you!

So back unto the breach. Back into the storm. See you on the other side!

Recipe

Makes 1 Large loaf

Time: 2 hours, plus proving and baking time

Ingredients

  • 400g Strong white bread flour
  • 1 ½ tsp Salt
  • 40g Caster sugar
  • 45g Butter (or dairy-free spread)
  • 10g Fast action dried yeast
  • 130ml Milk (or dairy-free alternative)

For the caramel peanut filling

  • 300g Granulated sugar
  • 4 tbsp Water
  • 240g Dairy-free spread
  • 5g Salt
  • 200g Dairy-free cream (e.g coconut or soya cream)
  • 200g Peanuts (unsalted if adding the 5g salt in as above)

Method

  1. First make the bread dough. Put the flour, salt, sugar, butter, yeast, milk and 120ml water into a large bowl and mix together to form a lumpy dough.
  2. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and stretchy (about 10 minutes).
  3. Put the dough into a clean bowl and cover with cling film. Then set to one side to rise until doubled in size (about an hour).
  4. Now make the salted caramel filling. Put the sugar and water into a large pan and cook on a low heat until the mixture starts to turn a golden amber colour. Do not mix at this stage or the caramel will crystallise.
  5. Add the dairy-free spread (or butter) to the mixture (be careful as it will splatter!) and mix it in with a wooden spoon.
  6. Add the salt to the mixture and then cook for another 2 minutes on a low heat.
  7. Take the pan off the heat and add the cream. Mix until well combined, then mix in the peanuts and set aside to cool.
  8. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for about 10 seconds to knock the air out. Then shape the dough into a rectangle and roll it out to a rectangle that’s 25 x 33 cm.
  9. Spread the cooled salted peanut mixture over the dough and then roll it up like a swiss roll from long edge to long edge.
  10. Cut the dough in half length ways so you have two long strips. Then twist the strips over each other, trying to keep the open half facing the top.
  11. Wrap the dough into a ring, pressing the ends of the dough together and then place onto a lined baking tray, cover loosely with clingfilm and leave to prove for another hour until doubled in size.
  12. Pre-heat the oven to 200˚C. Bake the dough for 25-30 minutes until risen and golden brown.
  13. Transfer the loaf to a wire rack to cool and then serve!

Thanks for reading!

Emma x