Category: Recipes
Hazelnut Mocha Bread

Hazelnut Mocha Bread

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I’m just going to pause for a moment and soak up the beauty that is this eight-strand plaited hazelnut mocha bread (yes it’s a mouthful of a name but it’s worth it!)….. OK…. onto where we are this week. In the words of The Beatles ‘when I find myself in times of trouble’ bread is there to comfort me. Everything’s a little crazy at the moment, I’m not entirely sure which way is up and I’m just diving head first into I don’t quite know what. But hey. Get some bread dough in between your fingers, smell it baking in the oven, taste the freshness on your tongue and it’s just about bearable.

One thing great about bread is that it’s a very forgiving medium. Unlike pastry it’s hard to over work bread dough and so as long as the bake is right it’s (relatively) easy to get a warm fresh loaf on the table with ease. The first few times I made bread it was generally more effective as a garden rock than as an edible delicacy, but once I got the hang of kneading and proving everything fell into place. Not to mention how satisfying it is when the loaf comes out of the oven warm, a gorgeous shade of brown and 100% homemade. Call me dramatic but there’s a level of love and comfort poured into a homemade loaf of bread that you just don’t get from shop bought ones.

So if you’re ever bored, angry, frustrated or restless bread is the thing you need to be making. Pummel all your feelings onto the dough, stuff it with luscious flavours and it’ll rise into a beautiful cradle of comfort!

Recipe

Makes 1 loaf

Time: 2 hours, plus proving and baking time

Ingredients

For the dough

  • 650g Strong white bread flour
  • 12g Salt
  • 14g Dried yeast
  • 35g Unsalted butter
  • 400ml Water
  • 3 tbsp Coffee granules
  • 1 Small egg

For the filling

  • 4 tbsp Nutella
  • A Few handfuls of chopped hazelnuts

Method

  1. Put the flour, salt, yeast and butter into a large bowl. Make sure to put the yeast and salt on different sides of the bowl as the salt could de-activate the yeast.
  2. Bring 1/4 of the water to the boil in a pan or kettle and then add and leave the coffee to dissolve in it. Top the coffee solution with the rest of the cold water, then add 2/3 of it to the dry ingredients and stir to make a loose dough. Add the rest of the coffee mix and then bring together with your hands into a ball.
  3. Turn the dough out onto a table and knead for 5-10 minutes until smooth and stretchy. Put the dough back into a clean bowl, cover with cling film and leave to rise for 1-2 hours until doubled in size.
  4. Once risen take the dough out of the bowl and knead for a couple of seconds to knock the air out. Then split the dough into 4. Roll each piece of dough out into a rectangle 40cm x 30cm.
  5. Spread the ¼ of the Nutella over each bread sheet. Then sprinkle over the chopped hazelnuts. Roll up each bit of dough long edge to long edge to make tight rolls. Then halve each roll to make 8 strands.
  6. Now comes the plaiting. Lay the strands out on a large surface and group the ends together at the side furthest away from you on the table. Now number the strands in your head 1-8, working left to right. Every time you plait the numbers will re-jig so that it’s still 1-8 left to right.
  7. Now start plaiting through the sequence. First take 8 under 7 and then over 1. Then repeat the following steps until the plait is finished:
    • Take 8 over 5.
    • Take 2 under 3 and over 8
    • Take 1 over 4
    • Take 7 under 6 and over 1.
  1. It’s going to be a little complicated, but keep going and it’ll be fine! Once finished tuck the end of the plait under itself to fuse it. Then transfer it to a line baking tray. Cover loosely with cling film and prove for another hour or so to double in size.
  2. Pre-heat the oven to 180˚C. Beat the egg in a small bowl with a fork and then brush over the loaf to glaze. Bake in the oven for  50 minutes – 1 hour until golden brown and cooked through. If it starts to burn on top cover with tin foil and keep it in the oven. Leave to cool a little before serving!

Thanks for reading!

Emma x
Halloumi and Parma Ham Salad with a Peach Coulis Dressing

Halloumi and Parma Ham Salad with a Peach Coulis Dressing

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I admit to writing this a little jet lagged and sleep-deprived as I’ve just got back from a trip to the Austrian Alps with my Mum. After a week of stunning snow and sun it’s a surprise to see that the weather here is just as gorgeous as it is over there! The sun is shining, the sky is the lushest blue and all I want to eat right now is lots of salads (weird right?). I’ve always been more of a comfort food kind of girl than a healthy one, but I’m now trying to fuse the two by making tasty salads. I’ve found that the best way to do this is to accessorise a base of leaves with any meats, cheeses and fruits that appeal, and hey presto – delicious healthy salads!

Recipe

Serves 2

Time: 10 minutes

Ingredients

  • 225g Halloumi
  • 3 Ripe peaches
  • 1 tbsp Olive oil
  • 1 tbsp Lemon juice
  • Salt and Pepper
  • A couple of handfuls of Bagged salad
  • 4 slices of Parma ham

Method

  1. Put a frying pan over a medium heat. Slice the halloumi into slices roughly 1cm wide. Place in the pan and fry for 30-60 seconds on each side until starting to go golden brown. Set to one side until needed.
  2. Cut the peaches in half and de-stone them. De-skin one of the peaches and put it into a small bowl. Use a hand blender to make it into a puree. Add the oil and lemon juice and pulse again to make a smooth dressing.
  3. To plate up scatter the salad leaves over two plates. Then slice the each peach into 8 and scatter the slices around the plate. Then arrange the halloumi and the parma ham around he plate. Finish with a drizzle of the peach dressing and serve!

Thanks for reading!

Emma x
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
Yogurt Granola Bowl

Yogurt Granola Bowl

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Whoever said ‘breakfast is the most important meal of the day’ is probably one of the most annoying people on this earth… and yet since getting to uni I do kinda see their point. I never used to eat breakfast, not sure if it’s because I didn’t have the time or I just didn’t feel hungry but I just wasn’t that kinda person. However one of the side effects of being catered in college is that we have to pay for breakfasts even if we don’t eat them so wahey I’ve become a breakfast person!

So now I’m back home and get super hungry at about 8:15 every morning I thought I’d branch out and explore some things to make for breakfast. I’ve also just recently discovered the wonder that is Greek yogurt and honey (check me out coming across all this really normal stuff for the first time!) and so hey presto – Add a couple of oaty bites and a fruit compote to a bowl of honey and yogurt and Bob’s your uncle!

Recipe

Serves 1

Time: 15 minutes

Ingredients

  • 3 tbsp Greek Yogurt
  • 1 Small banana
  • 100g Frozen berries
  • 1 tbsp Honey
  • ¼ tsp Cinnamon

For the Granola Chunks

  • 5 ml Vegetable oil
  • 5g Honey
  • 5g Brown sugar
  • Pinch of salt
  • 50g Porridge oats
  • 1 tbsp Extra flavourings if wanted (chopped nuts, dried fruit, chocolate chunks etc)

Method

  1. Begin by making the oat clusters. Pre-heat the oven to 180˚C and line a baking tray with baking paper.
  2. Add the oil, honey, sugar and salt to a bowl. Whisk to combine and then add the oats and any added flavourings. Stir again to combine.
  3. Spoon the granola onto the lined baking tray in clumps. Bake for 15-20 minutes until crisp. Leave to cool to one side until needed.
  4. Now make the compote. Put the frozen berries, honey and cinnamon into a small pan over a medium heat. Gently heat the mixture through until the berries are soft and juicy, then set aside to cool.
  5. When ready start assembling the bowl. Put a few tbsp of yogurt into one side of the bowl. Put a couple of granola clusters into another ¼ of the bowl and fill in the final section with the berry compote.
  6. Slice the banana and arrange the slices on top. Drizzle the bowl with a little honey and then sprinkle with any extra nuts and dried fruit you want!

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