Tag: Baking
Neapolitan Brownie Cheesecake

Neapolitan Brownie Cheesecake

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My parent’s are aiming to walk the South West Coastal Path over the next few years and so last week we were all on holiday to kick-start the journey. As we were walking loads, we were in Devon, and it was insanely hot, it goes without saying that we ate a tonne of ice cream. So in homage to all of that I decided to do an ice-cream themed bake for Father’s day.

In truth, I’m more of a mint choc chip girl than Neapolitan, but I thought that the classic vanilla, chocolate, strawberry layer thing was too good to not use for this. I also finished my Art Foundation course the other day (silent whoop!) and so after that I treated myself to a brownie cheesecake thing from Tescos. I’ve seen brownies being used in cheesecakes for years but that was the first time I tried it myself, and boy was it good. So rather than having a biscuit base for this one I made a fudgy brownie, and dare I say it I think it’s better than a biscuit base. It’s chewy, rich, and is way easier to transport/slice into as you don’t have crumbs flying everywhere!

This one has a few elements to it, but it’s all very easy to put together when broken down. For the swirls on the top I used strawberry jam which worked way better than I thought it would! If you’d prefer something sharper for the topping you could use marmalade, raspberry jam or boil up equal parts fruit and sugar to make a thick puree.

Recipe

Serves 12

Time: 1 hour, plus chilling

Ingredients

For the Brownie

  • 230g Caster sugar
  • 100ml Vegetable oil
  • 2 Medium Eggs
  • ½ tsp Vanilla extract
  • 55g Cocoa powder
  • 90g Plain flour

For the Cheesecake

  • 1 tbsp Vanilla bean paste
  • 550g Cream cheese
  • 50g Icing sugar
  • 250ml Double cream

For the Topping

  • 2 tbsp Strawberry jam
  • 200ml Double cream
  • 4 Small fresh strawberries, plus extra for serving
  • 2 tbsp Chocolate sprinkles

Method

  1. Begin by making the brownie. Pre-heat the oven to 160˚C. Grease and line a 9-inch cake tin with baking paper.
  2. Put the sugar and oil into a large bowl and whisk to combine. Add the eggs and vanilla and whisk these in to make a smooth mix. Add the cocoa and whisk it in carefully, it will explode out of the bowl a lot! Finally, add the flour and whisk it in to make a smooth batter.
  3. Pour the mixture into the lined cake tin and bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes so that a crust has formed and the middle is goey but baked through. Leave to cool in the tin.
  4. Now make the cheesecake layer. Put the vanilla and cream cheese into a bowl and whisk together until smooth. Add the icing sugar and double cream and then whisk again until the mixture is lump-free and beginning to thicken.
  5. Once the brownie is completely cooled pour the cheesecake mix on top and smooth it over with a spatula.
  6. Spoon the strawberry jam into a small bowl and beat it with a small spoon to break it up and make it slightly runny. Spoon blobs of the jam onto the cheesecake and then mix it around with a knife a little to get a swirl effect.
  7. Put the whole cheesecake into the freezer for 1 hour, and then leave in the fridge for another 3 hours, or better still over night to set.
  8. When ready start prepping the topping. Pour the double cream into a bowl and whisk until soft peaks form. Spoon the mixture into a piping bag fitted with a star-shaped nozzle. Pipe rosettes of the cream around the edge of the cheesecake.
  9. Quarter the strawberries and then push them into the gaps between the cream rosettes. Finish with some of the sprinkles and serve chilled!

Thanks for reading!

Emma x
Banana Maple Pain au Raisin

Banana Maple Pain au Raisin

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I’d say that generally bananas are my fruit of choice. They’re easy to eat, with none of the effort that comes with peeling an orange, and they taste really good. There is always that problem though when you buy a bunch of them. To begin with they’re all rock solid, green, and basically inedible. Then they all hit perfect ripeness at the same time and you feel compelled to eat them all before they go bad. Inevitably though at least one will go brown, then black and just slowly worse as you pass it everyday thinking ‘I really should eat that’, but at the same time ‘I really don’t want to eat that’. This is exactly the process that happened in the lead up to these beauties. I had a couple of dying bananas next to the fruit bowl, but I really didn’t want to eat them, so I started brainstorming anything that I could put them in so they didn’t go to waste.

My first choice for old bananas would normally be a banana chocolate cake. However I made one of those for my blog already, and as I’m watching my weight I’ve decided to only bake things that appear on the blog, so another chocolate banana cake, whilst delicious, wasn’t the answer. Then, I’m not sure how, the idea of banana in crème patisserie, all rolled up into a Danish popped into my mind and these were born! It’s best to make these with really ripe, almost gone bananas as they have a really intense flavour. I found that this means you don’t have to use so much banana to get the flavour coming through in the crème pat, and therefore you don’t mess around with the consistency too much! I’ve used home-made pastry here as I love making it. I will warn you though that it does take a little time and tlc, so if you’re in a hurry you can use ready rolled croissant or puff pastry instead.

Recipe

Makes 12

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

Ingredients

For the dough

  • 500g Strong white bread flour
  • 10g Salt
  • 80g Caster sugar
  • 10g Instant yeast
  • 300ml Cool water
  • 300g Unsalted block butter
  • 1 Egg, beaten

For the crème patisserie

  • 200ml Whole milk
  • 1 tbsp Vanilla bean paste
  • 45g Caster sugar
  • 3 Egg yolks
  • 10g Plain flour
  • 10g Cornflour
  • 1 tsp Cinnamon
  • 2 Very ripe bananas
  • 100g Raisins

For the topping

  • 3 tbsp Maple syrup
  • 100g Icing sugar

Method

  1. First make the dough. Put the flour, salt, sugar, yeast, and water into a big bowl and use a large spatula to mix it into a dough.
  2. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 8-10 minutes until smooth and elastic. Then tip it into a lightly oiled bowl, cover with clingfilm, and leave to chill in the fridge for an hour.
  3. Meanwhile, take the block butter and place it between two sheets of cling film. Using a rolling pin beat the butter out into a rectangle about 40 x 19 cm. Cover it in clingfilm and put back into the fridge to chill until needed.
  4. Lightly flour your surface and take the dough out of the fridge. Roll it out into a 60 x 20 cm rectangle, about the thickness of a pound coin. The dough will spring back and resist being shaped, but just persist and you will get there.
  5. Put the butter sheet onto the dough so that it covers two thirds, leaving the top third exposed.
  6. Fold the exposed dough onto the first third of the butter, and then fold the bottom third, covered in butter, up onto the dough you’ve just folded down. You should now have layers of dough, butter, dough, butter, dough. Loosely clingfilm the dough and put back into the fridge for an hour.
  7. Take the dough out of the fridge and put onto a floured surface with the short end facing you. Roll it out to a rectangle 60 x 20cm. Fold the top third down and then fold the bottom third up on top, as you did before. Turn the square block 90˚ and repeat the rolling and folding. Wrap the dough in clingfilm and chill the pastry in the fridge for 1 hour.
  8. Repeat step 7 two more times, leaving the dough to chill for an hour in between turns. After the last rolling and folding wrap the dough very loosely (wrapping tightly will stop the dough from rising) and leave in the fridge overnight (or for at least 8 hours).
  9. Meanwhile make the crème pat filling. Put the milk and vanilla into a pan and put over a medium heat. Bring the mixture to a simmer.
  10. In another bowl put the sugar, egg yolks, flour, cornflour, and cinnamon and whisk them all together to make a smooth paste. Pour the warm milk over the egg mix, whisking constantly. Once all combined pour the mixture back into the pan and heat whilst whisking until the mixture starts to thicken.
  11. Take the bananas and mash them with a fork to make a smooth puree. Stir this puree into the crème pat and then leave it to cool completely
  12. Once the dough has rested and you’re ready to start shaping. Line 3 baking trays with baking paper.
  13. Lightly flour a surface and roll out the dough to 50 x 30cm, trimming the edges so you have a neat rectangle. Spread the crème pat over the dough and then sprinkle over the raisins.
  14. Roll the dough up from the long edge like a swiss roll. Then leave the roll to chill in the freezer for 30 minutes – this will make it a lot easier to cut later.
  15. When ready slice the roll into 12 slices, about 2-3cm thick and lay them flat on the baking trays. Leave for a final time to rise for an hour.
  16. Pre-heat the oven to 180˚C. Brush the pain au raisin with the beaten egg to glaze and then bake in the oven for 30-40 minutes until golden brown and risen.
  17. Take the pastries out of the oven and brush with half the maple syrup whilst they’re still warm. Then leave them to cool.
  18. Mix the icing sugar and the rest of the syrup in a bowl and drizzle it over the cooled pastries, then serve!

Thanks for reading!

Emma x
Soufflé Pancakes with Almonds and Apricots

Soufflé Pancakes with Almonds and Apricots

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Is there anything better than a good pancake I hear you ask? Well yes there is. These are pancakes made with whipped egg whites and baked in the oven so they puff up and go all fluffy like a soufflé. They will sink pretty quickly after coming out of the oven so it’s best to eat them as soon as they come out, but unlike normal soufflés they’ll stay light as clouds even after they’ve sunk, so even if you wait a bit before eating them they’ll taste insane!

I don’t use apricots that much in my cooking as they’re a bit too sharp when eaten raw, and a bit too sweet when dried. This one works with a combo of fresh apricots and apricot jam to give a perfect balance of sweet and sharp to go with the fluffy pancakes, almost like lemon juice and sugar on classic crepes. If apricots aren’t in season you can always work with plums, peaches, strawberries or raspberries instead.

Recipe

Serves 4

Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients

  • 30g Unsalted butter, plus extra for greasing
  • 3 Large eggs
  • 50ml Whole milk
  • 60g Caster sugar
  • 200ml Double cream
  • A few drops of Almond essence
  • 35g Plain flour
  • 200g Apricot jam
  • 2 Fresh apricots
  • A sprinkle of Flaked almonds to garnish
  • Vanilla ice cream to serve

Method

  1. Pre-heat the oven to 180˚C.
  2. Grease 4 bilini moulds with butter and leave them in the oven to warm up.
  3. Now make the batter. Take a pan and melt 20g of the butter over a medium heat.
  4. Separate two of the eggs. Put the two egg yolks in a bowl with the other whole egg. Add the melted butter, milk, half the sugar, cream, almond essence, and the flour. Then whisk until smooth.
  5. In another bowl whisk the egg whites until they form soft peaks. Then add the rest of the sugar and continue to whisk until the mixture become stiff enough to hold it’s shape.
  6. Fold the egg whites into the batter and mix until fully combined.
  7. Pour the mixture into the bilini moulds and put them back in the oven to bake for 8-10 minutes until golden brown and risen.
  8. Meanwhile prep the toppings. Put the rest of the butter (30g) into a small pan and leave to melt. In another pan gently warm the apricot jam until it begins to loosen and becomes runny. Then de-stone the apricots and cut them into thin slices.
  9. When the pancakes are ready work quickly. Using a palette knife take them out of the moulds. Brush the pancakes with butter and pour a little of the apricot jam over them. Repeat with the rest of the pancakes, stacking them up or sharing them out as you do. Top with the apricot slices and serve with vanilla ice cream!

Thanks for reading!

Emma x
Monkey Bread

Monkey Bread

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I think that bread is one of those things people rarely bake at home for two main reasons. 1) It takes ages to make and 2) the end result is often really disappointing, and so on the whole it normally would have been a lot quicker to just buy a loaf from the local shop. This bread will take a bit of time, as with most other breads it does need to prove and (obviously) bake. However, in my opinion this one’s way more fun to make than other breads as the dough is really nice to work with, it’s assembled as little tear-and-share style balls, and it’s all lathered in cinnamon and butter so it tastes insane!

The identifiable feature of monkey bread is the mosaic-like pattern of the finished loaf, made by rolling the dough into balls which are individually dipped in butter and then cinnamon sugar to make each piece of bread sumptuous and sticky. Then the whole thing is scattered with pecans to give a delicious crunchy nuttiness to the whole thing. The shaping also makes it a great loaf for sharing as you can pull bits off without the need for a knife! This is traditionally made in a Bundt tin (one with a hole in the middle – not sure why but meh), but as I didn’t have one I just popped them all into a 9 inch cake tin which seemed to do the job just as well.

Recipe

Serves 8-10

Time: 1 hour, plus proving and baking time

Ingredients

For the dough

  • 220ml Milk
  • 90g Unsalted butter
  • 550g Strong white bread flour, plus extra for dusting
  • 10g Fast-action dried yeast
  • 5g Salt
  • 50g Caster sugar
  • 2 Large Eggs

To decorate

  • 125g Unsalted butter
  • 1 tbsp Ground cinnamon
  • 2 tsp Ground ginger
  • 230g Light brown sugar
  • 160g Pecans, chopped roughly
  • 1 Large egg, beaten

For the icing

  • 1 tbsp Milk
  • 100g Icing sugar

Method

  1. To start making the dough put the milk and butter into a saucepan and leave to simmer on a medium heat until the butter has melted.
  2. Next put the dry ingredients into a large bowl and mix together. Add the egg and the milk mix and stir to make a sticky dough.
  3. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for about 10 minutes until smooth and elastic.
  4. Tip the dough into a clean bowl and cover with clingfilm. Leave to rise in a warm space for 90 minutes, until doubled in size.
  5. Next melt the butter for the topping in a small pan and set to one side.
  6. In another bowl mix the spices, sugar and a little salt. Then add the chopped pecans and mix together.
  7. Take a Bundt or 9 inch cake tin and brush the inside with a little of the melted butter to grease. Then spoon a little of the pecan mix into the base of the tin.
  8. Tip the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 5-10 seconds to knock out the air. Then split and roll the dough into 50 small balls. Dip one of the balls in the butter and then roll in the spiced sugar. Chuck it into the tin and then repeat with the other dough balls until the base of the tin is filled. Scatter with the rest of the pecans and then continue with the rest of the dough. If you have any butter or sugar left over at the end pour it over the loaf.
  9. Cover the whole thing with cling film again and leave to rise at room temperature for 1 hour.
  10. Pre-heat the oven to 180˚C. Take the beaten egg and brush it over the top of the loaf to glaze. Then bake the loaf in the oven for 35-40 minutes until risen and golden brown. Leave to cool in the tin.
  11. To make the icing put the icing sugar and milk into a small bowl and mix together to make a smooth paste.
  12. Turn the monkey bread out of the tin and drizzle with the icing. Serve!

Thanks for reading!

Emma x
Rugelach

Rugelach

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What is this? Another unusual bake that no one’s ever heard of before? Well you’d be right there. As you can probably tell I’m pretty obsessed with foreign baking, and over the course of the year I’ve been really pushing that side of my cooking. In my town there’s this really old bookshop that has a massive cookbook section, full of every style, theme, and cuisine of cookbook you could imagine. I love flicking through the books there, making mental notes of any unusual flavours, techniques, and ideas to give a go.

I first came across these in a Nordic recipe book and I immediately knew they’d be something I’d want to work on myself. Despite finding them in a Nordic cookbook though, these are actually a Jewish pastry, mainly found in the middle east. The dough is made with cream cheese which creates a really interesting, soft texture. These are then stuffed with apricot jam, nuts, raisins and cinnamon which makes them super moreish.

I quite like these as small, one-mouthful bites, but if you want to make them chunkier you can easily do this by cutting your circle into 6 or 8 triangles, rather than 12 like I have. I also haven’t tried this, but I wouldn’t be surprised if this filling works really well with shortcrust, puff, or even filo pastry, so you can really play around with these to suit your personal taste.

Recipe

Makes 24

Time: 45 minutes plus chilling and baking

Ingredients

  • 230g Cream cheese
  • 250g Unsalted butter
  • 155g Caster sugar, plus 3 tbsp for dusting
  • ½ tsp Salt
  • 1 tsp Vanilla extract
  • 300g Plain flour
  • 40g Light brown sugar
  • 1 ½ tsp Ground cinnamon
  • 140g Raisins
  • 140g Walnuts, finely chopped
  • ½ cup Apricot jam
  • 1 Large egg, beaten

Method

  1. Put the cream cheese and butter into a bowl and whisk until light and pale. Add 55g of the caster sugar, salt and vanilla and mix again to combine. Slowly add the flour and mix slowly until a dough forms.
  2. Roll the dough into a ball. Then cut the ball into quarters, roll each quarter into a ball and wrap in cling film. Leave in the fridge for an hour.
  3. Meanwhile make the filling. Put the 100g of the caster sugar, the brown sugar, ½ tsp cinnamon, raisins and chopped walnuts into a bowl and mix together.
  4. Lightly flour a surface and roll each dough ball out into a 9 inch circle. Spread the apricot jam over the circles and sprinkle with some of the filling mix, pressing it into the dough slightly.
  5. Cut the dough circle into 12 wedges. Then, starting at the wide end of the wedge roll the dough up like a croissant.
  6. Line a baking tray with baking paper and put the rolled up cookies on the tray, making sure the point where the folded bit of pastry ends is underneath. Chill for 30 minutes.
  7. Pre-heat the oven to 180˚C. Lightly brush each biscuit with the beaten egg. Then combine the rest of the caster sugar and cinnamon in a bowl and sprinkle over the biscuits.
  8. Bake the rugelach in the oven for 15-20 minutes until golden brown and crisp.
  9. Leave to cool on a wire rack and then serve!

Thanks for reading!

Emma x