Category: Recipes
Brookies

Brookies

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Recipe

Makes 12

Time: 1 hour

Ingredients

For the brownie layer

  • 120g dark chocolate
  • 170g butter
  • 300g caster sugar
  • 3 eggs
  • A large pinch of salt
  • 2 tbsp cocoa powder
  • 135g plain flour

For the cookie layer

  • 113g butter
  • 70g caster sugar
  • 70g light brown sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1 tsp vanilla bean paste (or extract)
  • A large pinch of salt
  • 200g plain flour
  • ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
  • 50g white chocolate, roughly chopped
  • 50g dark chocolate, roughly chopped

Method

  1. Pre-heat the oven to 180C. Grease and line a 9” square tin with butter and baking paper.
  2. Begin by making the brownie layer. Put the chocolate and butter into a glass or metal bowl and place over a pan of gently simmering water.
  3. Once melted take the bowl off the heat and stir to combine the melted butter and chocolate. Add the caster sugar and eggs and whisk to combine.
  4. Add the salt, cocoa and flour to the mixture and whisk again until smooth. Pour the mixture into the lined tin, making sure it’s in an even layer, and set to one side while you make the cookie layer.
  5. Put the butter into a plastic bowl and microwave in 20 bursts until melted. Add the sugars, egg, vanilla and salt and whisk together until smooth.
  6. Add the flour and bicarb to the mixture and stir again to make a soft dough. Then add the roughly chopped chocolates and stir until they’re evenly mixed through the dough.
  7. Take spoonfuls of the cookie dough and dot it over the brownie mixture (it’ll be tricky to get a full even coating as the cookie is firmer than the brownie mix, so just do the best you can at putting enough cookie dough to cover the majority of the brownie mixture).
  8. Bake the brookies in the oven for about 25-30 minutes until the cookie mixture has spread and is golden brown. Leave to cool, cut into 12 slices and enjoy!

Thanks for reading!

Emma x
Strawberry and Elderflower Cake

Strawberry and Elderflower Cake

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This summer I’ve been having fun creating recipes using elderflower and there’s still time for one more! I made this cake for a college baking competition in lockdown where we were challenged to make a classic cake with a summer twist and decorate it with a range of soft fruit and fresh herbs. For me nothing is more classic than a jam sponge, and nothing’s more summer-y than elderflower and strawberries so along came an elderflower and strawberry jam sponge!

You can make this look really pretty by piping the butter cream and decorating the top with fresh flowers and fruit. I’ve gotten really into foraging recently so I found some fresh mint, wild strawberries, strawberry flowers and elderflowers to decorate this one. However, if you don’t have access to these you could use shop-bought mint and a selection of soft fruit (e.g strawberries, raspberries and blueberries) and if you’re not a fan of piping you could spoon the butter cream onto the cakes for an equally beautiful result!

Recipe

Serves 12

Time: 2-3 hours

Ingredients

For the cake

  • 200g butter, plus extra for greasing
  • 200g caster sugar
  • 4 eggs
  • 200g self-raising flour
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 2 tbsp elderflower cordial

For the strawberry buttercream

  • 400g icing sugar
  • 100g butter
  • 25ml strawberry puree (you can make this by boiling up 50g of frozen strawberries until they’re soft and then hand blending the mixture to make a puree)

For the decoration (optional)

  • 4 elderflower heads
  • A few fresh wild strawberries
  • Fresh mint
  • Fresh edible flowers (e.g strawberry flowers)

Method

  1. Pre-heat the oven to 180C and grease and line 3, 19cm round cake tins with butter and baking paper.
  2. To make the cakes put the butter and sugar into a bowl and beat with a wooden spoon until smooth and creamy. Add the eggs, one by one, whisking well after each addition.
  3. Add the flour and baking powder to the mixture and whisk again to combine.
  4. Add the elderflower cordial to the cake mixture and whisk again until smooth. Pour the mixture into the 3 tins (I like to weigh how much I’m putting into each to make it equal) and use a spoon to level out the tops if need be so the batter is in an even layer in each tin.
  5. Bake the cakes in the oven for about 20 minutes until golden brown and so that a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean.
  6. Leave the cakes to cool in the tins for 5 minutes, then turn them out onto wire racks and leave them to cool completely.
  7. Meanwhile make the butter cream. Put the icing sugar and butter into a bowl and beat until smooth. Slowly add the strawberry puree (about 1tbsp at a time) until the mixture is an even colour and just holds its shape.
  8. Spoon the icing into a piping bag with a round nozzle and leave in the fridge until needed.
  9. Once the cakes are completely cool place one on a cake stand or plate and pipe a layer of the icing on top. (I like to pipe blobs in concentric circles working from the outside to the middle).
  10. Place another one of the cakes ontop and repeat the icing, another layer of cake and then a final layer of the icing.
  11. To decorate take your chosen flowers, garnishes and so on and arrange them across the top. (If you’re using elderflower heads or any other self-picked topping a) make sure you’ve picked something that’s edible and b) make sure you give it a good shake, wash and dry before using it to get out any little bugs!). Enjoy!

Thanks for reading!

Emma x
Lemon and Elderflower Tart

Lemon and Elderflower Tart

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Summer has arrived and I don’t think much says summer more than a slice of this lemon and elderflower tart! Since lockdown began I’ve become really interested in foraging in my local area, and this year I noticed how much elderflower there is where I go for walks! I now can’t step outside my front door without getting a whiff of some gorgeous elderflower on the wind. I’ve used the flowers to decorate the top of this tart, but the flavour of elderflower in the filling comes from elderflower cordial so you could make this all year round!

Recipe

Serves 12

Time: 2 hours, plus lots of chilling and baking time

Ingredients

For the pastry

  • 265g plain flour
  • A pinch of salt
  • 3 tbsp caster sugar
  • 170g unsalted butter
  • 1 egg yolk
  • 3 tbsp cold water

For the filling

  • 4tbsp elderflower cordial
  • 160ml lemon juice
  • 2 large eggs
  • 2 large egg yolks
  • 225g caster sugar
  • 338g unsalted butter

To decorate (optional)

  • 2-3 elderflower heads
  • A few meringue kisses
  • 1 fresh lemon
  • Fresh cream to serve

Method

  1. Begin by making the pastry. Put the flour, salt and sugar into a bowl and mix together with a table knife. Add the butter and use the knife to cut it into small lumps. Then go in with your fingers and rub the butter into the flour until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. (Shaking the bowl side to side every now and then can help bring the bigger lumps to the top).
  2. In a small bowl mix together the egg yolk and the water. Pour this into the breadcrumb mixture and stir until the mixture forms a smooth dough ball. Wrap the dough in clingfilm and leave in the fridge for at least 1 hour to chill.
  3. Take the pastry out of the fridge and roll it out on a lightly floured work top so it’s about 2 cm wider than your tin all around.
  4. Carefully lift the pastry sheet up and fit it into the tin, making sure it fits snug into all the flutes. Leave the pastry in the fridge for at least 30 minutes to chill.
  5. Pre-heat the oven to 180C. Take the lined tart out of the fridge. Take a rolling pin and roll over the top edge of the tart to trim off the excess pastry.
  6. Take a sheet of baking paper around the same size as your tart case and scrunch it up into a ball. Carefully un-crumple it and then fit it into the tart case, making sure there’s enough excess sticking out the top. Fill the pastry case with baking beans (or rice) and then bake it in the oven for 10 minutes until starting to look baked.
  7. Take the baking beans and the baking paper out of the tart case and put the tart back into the oven to bake until golden brown all over and crisp. Leave the tart case to cool completely in the tin.
  8. Now make the filling. Put the elderflower cordial, lemon juice, eggs, egg yolks, and sugar into a large pan and whisk over a medium heat until the mixture reaches 75C on a thermometer. (This will get the mixture up to the temperature to set, but any higher and the mixture will curdle).
  9. Sieve the mixture into a bowl and leave to cool for 5 minutes. Then, when the mixture is about lukewarm, add the butter into chunks and whisk until it’s melted and incorporated into the mixture.
  10. Cover the filling with clingfilm and leave in the fridge for at least 2 hours to chill.
  11. Whisk the filling mixture to break it up a little and then pour it into the cooled tart case. Smooth it out so it forms an even layer and then put it into the fridge to set completely overnight.
  12. The next day take the tart out of the fridge and take it out of the tart tin. Then, if you’d like, top the tart with elderflowers, meringue kisses and wedges of fresh lemon and serve with fresh cream!

Thanks for reading!

Emma x
Strawberry and Elderflower Mousses

Strawberry and Elderflower Mousses

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Recipe

Makes around 6 (depending on the size of your moulds)

Time: 1 hour, plus chilling time

Ingredients

For the elderflower mousse

  • 88ml milk
  • 1 leaf of gelatine
  • 1 egg yolk
  • 15g sugar
  • 8g cornflour
  • 1 ½ tbsp elderflower cordial
  • 200ml double cream

For the strawberry mousse

  • 250g frozen strawberries
  • 25g caster sugar
  • 140g marshmallows
  • 200ml double cream

To decorate

  • Fresh double cream
  • A sprig of mint
  • Fresh strawberries

Method

  1. Begin by making the elderflower mousse. Put the milk into a pan and place over a gentle heat to warm through to just below the boil.
  2. Fill a small bowl with cold water and add the gelatine leaf. Leave to soften.
  3. Put the egg yolk, sugar, cornflour and elderflower cordial into a bowl and whisk until smooth.
  4. Pour the warm milk over the egg yolk mixture, whisking constantly until combined.
  5. Pour the mixture back into the pan and heat gently, whisking all the time, until the mixture thickens.
  6. Squeeze the gelatine to remove the excess water and then add it to the warm custard. Whisk in to dissolve and then pour the custard into a bowl. Cover with clingfilm to prevent a skin forming and then leave to cool to room temperature.
  7. Whisk the double cream to soft peaks and then fold it into the cooled custard until smooth.
  8. Pipe/spoon this mousse into the moulds and leave in the fridge to set.
  9. Now make the strawberry mousse. Put the frozen strawberries into a pan with 100ml water and the sugar. Gently heat until the strawberries have defrosted and are soft.
  10. Puree the strawberry mixture with a hand blender until it’s a smooth puree.
  11. Add the marshmallows to the hot strawberry puree and stir until they dissolve. Leave to cool completely.
  12. Whisk the cream to soft peaks. Fold the cream into the cooled strawberry mix and then spoon into a pipping bag.
  13. Pipe the strawberry mousse over the set elderflower mousse, use the back of a teaspoon to level it out if needed, and then leave in the fridge to set completely.
  14. To decorate whisk the fresh cream to soft peaks. Pipe in a swirl on the top of the mousses and finish with a sprig of mint and a wedge of fresh strawberry!

Thanks for reading!

Emma x
Beetroot Burger Buns

Beetroot Burger Buns

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Recipe

Makes 4 burgers

Time:1 hour, plus rising and baking time

Ingredients

For the dough

  • 1 medium cooked beetroot
  • 50ml milk
  • 350g strong white bread flour
  • 1 tsp fine salt
  • 15g caster sugar
  • 4g fast action dried yeast
  • 2 eggs
  • 75g butter

For the topping

  • 1 small egg
  • ½ tbsp black sesame seeds

Method

  1. Put the beetroot into a bowl and blitz until smooth with a hand blender.
  2. Place the milk into a saucepan and warm through.
  3. Put the flour, sugar, salt and yeast into a bowl. (Make sure to not put the salt and yeast directly on top of each other as the salt can deactivate the yeast).
  4. Pour in the warm milk and then add the beetroot purree and the eggs. Stir until a smooth dough forms.
  5. Turn the dough out onto a worktop and knead for about 5 minutes until smooth and stretchy. Add the butter and knead for another 5 minutes to incorporate.
  6. Lightly grease a bowl and tip the dough into it. Cover with cling film and leave to rise at room temperature for about an hour, until doubled in size.
  7. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured worktop and knead for 5 seconds to knock the excess air out.
  8. Divide the dough into 4 equal portions and shape each one into a ball.
  9. Place each ball onto a lined baking tray, making sure they’re spaced well apart to allow for rising. Cover the buns loosely in clingfilm and leave to rise for another 30 minutes until puffed up.
  10. Beat the egg for the topping and brush it over the buns. Sprinkle the sesame seeds over the top and then bake the buns for about 25 minutes, until a crust has formed and they have risen.
  11. Leave to cool on a wire rack and then stuff with whatever you want! (For suggestions see my Veggie Burger Recipe…)