Category: Baking
Classic Cinnamon Buns

Classic Cinnamon Buns

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Recipe

Makes 12

Time: 2 hours

Ingredients

  • 75g soya margarine
  • 250ml soya milk
  • 14g fast action dried yeast
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 45g caster sugar
  • 450g strong white bread flour, plus extra for dusting

For the filling

  • 100g soya margarine
  •  50g caster sugar
  • 2 tbsp ground cinnamon
  • 1 small egg
  • 1 tbsp soya milk

Method

  1. Melt the butter in a small pan. Add the milk and warm through until body temperature (about 38C if you have a thermometer).
  2. Add the yeast to the milk, stir to mix through and then leave for 10 minutes to activate.
  3. Put the salt, sugar and flour into a bowl. Pour over the milk and stir to make a sticky dough.
  4. Turn the dough out onto a worktop and knead for 5-10 minutes, until the dough is stretchy, smooth and not quite as sticky.
  5. Lightly oil a bowl (I find pouring a little oil onto a piece of kitchen roll and rubbing that inside a bowl works well). Then tip the dough into the bowl, cover with cling film and leave for 1 hour to rise.
  6. When the dough has doubled in size turn it out onto a lightly floured worktop and knead it for 5 seconds to knock out the extra air.
  7. Shape the dough into a rectangle and roll it out so it’s roughly 60x40cm.
  8. Use a palette knife of spatula to spread the soft margarine (for the filling) over the dough in an even layer.
  9. Mix the sugar and cinnamon together in a bowl and then sprinkle it over the butter in another even layer.
  10. Roll the dough sheet up, long edge to long edge to get a long sausage. Use a ruler and a sharp knife to mark every 1.5 inches along the roll and then cut at these points.
  11. Line a deep roasting tin with butter and baking paper. Transfer each bun to the tin, in 4 rows of 3. (You might need to gently nudge the buns into more of a circle shape if they got squashed during cutting).
  12. Cover the tin with clingfilm and leave to rise for 30 minutes. Pre-heat the oven to 200C.
  13. Beat the egg in a small bowl until runny and smooth. Add the milk and whisk again to combine. Brush this mixture over the buns to glaze.
  14. Bake the buns in the oven for about 20 minutes, or until golden brown and risen.
  15. Leave to cool for 30 minutes and then enjoy!

Thanks for reading!

Emma x
Banoffee Opera Cake

Banoffee Opera Cake

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Recipe

Serves 8-10

Time: 2-3 hours

Ingredients

For the banana cakes

  • 2 ripe bananas
  • 2 medium eggs
  • 65g light brown sugar
  • 100ml vegetable oil
  • 75g pecan nuts, roughly chopped
  • 180g self raising flour
  • 1 tsp baking powder

For the banana caramel

  • 100g banana chips
  • 150g unsalted butter
  • 150g caster sugar
  • 50g golden syrup
  • 397g condensed milk
  • 1 ripe banana
  • 1 tbsp sea salt

For the chocolate ganache

  • 200g dark chocolate
  • 200ml double cream

To assemble

  • 300ml double cream
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla bean paste (or vanilla extract)
  • 50g white chocolate
  • A few banana chips to decorate

Method

  1. Begin by making the cakes. Preheat the oven to 180C. Grease and line a 24x30cm swiss roll tin with butter and baking paper.
  2. Peel the bananas, put them into a small bowl and blitz with a hand blender (or mash with a fork) to make a smooth puree. Set aside until needed.
  3. Separate the eggs and put the egg yolks into a bowl with the sugar. Whisk with an electric whisk until pale and fluffy.
  4. Add the oil, chopped pecans and banana puree to the egg yolk mixture and then sift in the flour and baking powder. Fold everything together until a smooth batter is made.
  5. In a spotlessly clean bowl whisk the egg whites until stiff peaks form. Add these to the cake mixture and fold until uniform in colour.
  6. Pour the mixture into the lined tin and tilt the tray to get the cake mixture to evenly cover the tray. Bake the cake in the oven for 10-15 minutes, until risen and golden brown.
  7. Leave the cake to cool in the tin for 10 minutes. Then turn the cake out onto a chopping board lined with baking paper and slice the cake into thirds horizontally so you have three slices of cake about 10x24cm in size. Leave to cool completely.
  8. Now make the banana caramel. Put the banana chips into a food processor and grind into a coarse powder. Set aside until needed.
  9. Put the butter, sugar, syrup, and condensed milk into a saucepan and stir over a low heat until the butter has melted.
  10. Bring the mixture up to the boil and keep it there for about 10 minutes, stirring the whole time, until thick and golden brown (look at the photos above to see what the caramel should look like before and after being cooked).
  11. Mash the banana with a fork in a small bowl. Add this mashed banana and the salt to the caramel just before it’s taken off the heat and stir to mix it in.
  12. Take the caramel off the heat and leave to cool for 2 minutes. Then stir in the banana powder.
  13. Re-line the tin you used to make the cake layer with butter and baking paper.  Then pour the caramel into the tin, smooth over to make an even layer and leave to cool in the fridge until set.
  14. Once the caramel layer has set make the ganache. Roughly chop the chocolate and put it into a metal or glass bowl.
  15. Pour the cream into a small saucepan and heat up to just below boiling.
  16. Pour the cream over the chopped chocolate and stir until the chocolate has melted and the mixture is smooth. Pour the mixture into a piping bag and leave in the fridge until needed (but not too long or it’ll set too much).
  17. Finally put the cream and vanilla for the topping into a bowl and whisk to make soft peaks. Spoon this into a piping bag and leave in the fridge until needed.
  18. When ready to start assembling the opera begin by turning the caramel out onto a chopping board and cutting it into 3 like you did the cake.
  19. Take one of the banana sponges and place it on a board or plate. Pipe a layer of the whipped cream over the sponge and then smooth it out with a palette knife.
  20. Carefully lay one of the pieces of caramel on top of the cream and then pipe a thin layer of ganache over that, smoothing it again with a palette knife.
  21. Repeat the layering until you’ve pipped the final layer of ganache on the top (making sure it’s super smooth!). Put the cake in the fridge for about an hour (ideally longer) to set all the layers.
  22. Melt the white chocolate in a glass or metal bowl over a pan of gently simmering water. Pour the melted chocolate into a piping bag. Cut a little bit off the end of the piping bag and practise piping ‘opera’ several times on a piece of greaseproof paper. You want the chocolate to be cool enough that it’s not pouring out of the pipping bag in a wiggly line, but still melted enough to pipe smoothly.
  23. When ready pipe ‘opera’ onto the top of the cake. Take a sharp knife and trim the edges of the cake to make it look clean. Then top the cake with a couple of banana chips and serve!

 

Thanks for reading!

Emma x
Brioche Hot Cross Buns

Brioche Hot Cross Buns

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Happy Easter! Enjoy these delicious brioche hot cross buns fresh out of the oven, or toasted with a little butter for a tasty tea-time treat!

Recipe

Makes 12

Time: 1 hour, plus rising and baking time

Ingredients

  • 550g strong white bread flour, plus extra for dusting
  • 50g caster sugar
  • 2 tbsp ground mixed spice
  • 10g fast-acting dried yeast
  • 7g salt
  • 140ml milk
  • 5 medium eggs
  • 200g raisins
  • 150g butter

For the decoration

  • 50g plain flour
  • 1 egg, beaten
  • 1 tbsp milk

Method

  1. Put the flour, sugar, mixed spice, yeast, salt, milk and eggs into a big bowl and mix together to get a soft dough.
  2. Turn the dough out onto a work top and knead for 5-10 minutes until the dough is smooth and stretchy.
  3. Add the raisins and butter to the dough and knead for another 5-10 minutes to combine.
  4. Put the dough into a slightly oiled bowl. Cover with cling film and leave in the fridge overnight to rise.
  5. Turn the risen dough out onto a work top and split into 12 evenly sized blobs. Shape each dough blob into a smooth ball by pulling the dough tightly underneath itself and then rolling it in the palm of your hand against a work surface.
  6. Place each ball of dough into a deep roasting tin to get 3 rows of 4 buns. Cover with cling film and leave to rise at room temperature for another hour (or until doubled in size).
  7. Pre-heat the oven to 200C. Put the flour for the decoration into a bowl and add around 6 tbsp of water, one tbsp at a time, until you get a thick but pipable paste. Spoon this into a disposable piping bag and snip a small, round hole in the end to pipe out of.
  8. Pipe a cross on the top of each bun with the flour mixture (doing a whole row at a time can make this easier).
  9. Put the beaten egg and the milk into a bowl and beat with a fork until runny and smooth. Brush this over the top of the risen buns to glaze and then bake the brioche in the oven for about 20 minutes, or until golden brown.
  10. Leave to cool and then enjoy!

Thanks for reading!

Emma x
Lemon and Coconut Madeleines

Lemon and Coconut Madeleines

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Recipe

Makes 12

Time: 1 hour

Ingredients

  • 50g coconut oil
  • 50g plain flour
  • 50g caster sugar
  • 1 egg
  • ¼ tsp baking powder
  • ½ lemon, zest and rind

For the decoration

  • 3 tbsp Lemon curd
  • 50g Desiccated coconut

Method

  1. Put the coconut oil into a small pan and melt over a low heat.
  2. Pre-heat the oven to 180C. Brush a 12-hole madeleine tin (or a muffin tin) with a little coconut oil to grease. Sprinkle a little flower over the tin to coat the moulds, then turn the mould upside down to tap out the excess flour.
  3. Put the sugar and egg into a bowl and beat with an electric whisk until pale and fluffy.
  4. Add the baking powder, lemon zest, lemon juice, flour and melted coconut oil. Fold everything together with a spatula until smooth and then leave to rest for 20 minutes.
  5. Carefully pour the mixture into the prepared tin. (If using a madeleine tin you’ll want to fill it up to jus below the top of the mould). Then put the madeleines in the fridge to rest for 1 hour.
  6. Bake the madeleines in the oven for 8-10 minutes until golden brown. Leave them to cool in the tins for 2 minutes and then turn them out onto a wire rack.
  7. Whilst the madeleines cool prepare the topping. Put the lemon curd into a small pan and heat gently to loosen. Pour the lemon curd into a small bowl. Put the desiccated coconut into another small bowl.
  8. Pick up one of the madeleines and dip the base in the lemon curd and then in the desiccated coconut. Repeat with the rest of the madeleines. Enjoy!

Thanks for reading!

Emma x
Mocha Hazelnut Madeleines

Mocha Hazelnut Madeleines

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Recipe

Makes 12

Time: 1 hour

Ingredients

  • 50g butter
  • 40g plain flour, plus extra for dusting
  • 1 tbsp coffee granules
  • 1 egg
  • 50g caster sugar
  • 8g cocoa powder
  • 1 tsp honey

To Decorate

  • 25g milk chocolate
  • 50g chopped hazelnuts

Method

  1. Preheat the oven to 180C. Butter and then lightly flour 12 hole madeleine tin (or a muffin tin if you don’t have one). Turn the tin upside down to tap out the excess flour and then place to one side.
  2. Put the butter into a pan and leave to melt over a low heat. Take the butter off the heat and add the coffee granules, stir to dissolve. Leave to cool to one side until needed.
  3. Put the egg and sugar into a bowl and whisk until pale and thick (an electric whisk will save a lot of elbow grease here!).
  4. Sieve the flour and cocoa into the whisked egg mixture. Then add the honey and the melted coffee butter. Fold everything togetehr with a spatula to get a smooth batter, being careful to keep as much air in the mixture as possible.
  5. Spoon the mixture into the prepared tin, filling each hole to just below the rim (1-2 tbsp tends to work). Chill in the fridge for 1 hour.
  6. Bake the madeleines in the oven for around 10 minutes, until soft and risen. Leave to cool in the tin.
  7. Melt the chocolate in a glass or metal bowl over a pan of gently simmering water. Whilst waiting for the chocolate to melt put the hazelnuts into a small roasting tin and put into the oven for 5 minutes to brown a little.
  8. Dip the bottom 1/3 of each madeleine into the chocolate and then into the roasted hazelnuts. Leave on a sheet of baking paper to set and then enjoy!

Thanks for reading!

Emma x