baking

Sweet & Sticky Golden Syrup Sponge

baking, dessert, pudding

It’s absolutely freezing outside today, so what better warmer do you want than a sweet, sticky, classic that is Golden Syrup Sponge? This is a really quick and easy pudding,  perfect with ice cream, custard, double cream, whatever your topping, it’ll go. Mine here is with vanilla ice-cream, and a berry compote, like the one here. The compote omits the cinnamon for a squeeze of lemon juice so it cuts through the sweetness of the sponge perfectly.

 

Ingredients

  • 300g caster sugar
  • 300g margarine
  • 300g self raising flour
  • 6 eggs
  • 2tsp vanilla extract
  • 400ml golden syrup (or more or less, depending on how syrupy you like yours)

 

First off, heat your oven up to 160C for a fan and 170C for a gas oven. find yourself a baking tin or a pudding dish and grease with a little butter. If you’re using a tin, grease and then line with baking paper. Pour your golden syrup into the tin or dish and make sure it’s covering the bottom evenly. Once you’ve done this you’re ready to make the sponge, i would suggest putting the tin in the fridge and letting the syrup firm up, this makes your life easier when spooning the sponge mixture on top. In a mixing bowl tip all of your ingredients in. This is an all-in-one sponge, so theres no need for the creaming method. If you’re using an electric machine, just mix on a low setting at first for about 2 minutes before increasing the speed slightly for another 2 minutes, or until all the ingredients are incorporated. If mixing by hand, just give the whole lot a good mix till there are no lumps of margarine left. Spoon the whole lot into the tin or dish and whack it in the oven for about 30-40 minutes, or until golden and a knife inserted into the middle comes out clean. Eat at once with your favourite accompaniment, always ice-cream for me! Enjoy!

 

Lemon Drizzle cake, Milla style.

baking

Lemon drizzle cake is a staple, traditional cake that every baker should have in their repertoire. This one is an all-in-one cake, decorated as i usually do with edible flowers from the garden( these are Aubrietia), fresh mint and crystallised mint. The perfect cake to have when you need a good chinwag with your friends accompanying a steaming mug of tea.

Ingredients

For the cake

  • 400g golden caster sugar
  • 400g salted butter
  • 8 eggs (medium sized)
  • 400g self raising flour
  • ½ a vanilla pod
  • zest of 2 lemons
  • 1tsp baking powder

For the syrup

  • Juice of 2 lemons
  • 3tbsp golden caster sugar
  • 50ml of boiling water

For the lemon icing

  • 400g icing sugar
  • juice of 1 lemon
  • 50ml of water (for thick icing) *or*
  • 100ml of water (for runny icing)

Heat your oven up to 170C. Grease and line 2 sandwich tins with greaseproof paper. In a mixer (or a big bowl, if mixing by hand) bung all the ingredients together, preferably flour first, and slowly mix until the ingredients are incorporated. Mix on high for a minute or two for aeration and spoon evenly between your two tins. Smooth the mixture flat and pop them into the oven for about 25-30 minutes or until a knife inserted into them comes out clean. Whilst the cakes are cooking make your syrup by mixing the water, lemon juice and sugar in a jug, until the sugar dissolves. When the cakes come out of the oven, prick them all over with a fork and pour the syrup oven them. Always make sure one or the other is hot when using syrups to flavour a cake; either a hot cake and a cold syrup or a cold cake with a hot syrup. The heat makes it easier for the syrup to absorb rather than pooling around the cake. Make your icing by mixing your sugar, juice and water together until you have a smooth, glossy paste, be it thick or thin, so long as it’s free from lumps. When the cake is cool, decorate it in any way you wish, leaving it plain and simple, maybe with a grating of fresh lemon zest over the top, or slightly more complicated like mine, with whatever you can find to throw on top. However it looks, it’ll be a sure-fire winner.

Light and fresh Lemon and Blueberry Baked Cheesecake

baking, desserts

Sorry, sorry, I know it’s been a seriously long time since i’ve posted anything again, deepest apologies, but i’m hoping this delicious cheesecake recipe more than makes up for it!!

This is perfect all year round. Cheesecakes aren’t just a summer dessert for me. My mum makes an amazing banana, pecan and caramel baked cheesecake which is one of my earliest memories of a cheesecake and one of the first I ever made. This recipe is fantastic because it’s super versatile, take away the lemon zest and blueberries and you’ve got yourself a perfectly acceptable baked vanilla cheesecake. Nothing wrong with a sweet, easy and simple once to start with. Equally, dress that thing up with some cocoa powder, black pitted cherries, chocolate chips and Crème Chantilly for a decadent Black Forest cheesecake. Whatever you choose to do, this is the recipe for you.

Ingredients

For the base

  • 250g of digestive biscuits
  • 125g salted butter
  • ½ zest of lemon (finely grated)

For the cheesecake mix

  • 900g cream cheese (not mascarpone)
  • 140g caster sugar
  • 200ml double cream
  • 6 eggs
  • ½ a vanilla pod (scraped)
  • Zest of 2 and a ½ lemons (use that last ½)
  • 250g fresh blueberries (you can use frozen if you can’t get a hold of fresh)

What you’ll need to do first is set your oven to 180C. Next make your buttery biscuit base(yes i did do that on purpose) by getting all your biscuits into a large food bag and giving them a jolly good whack with a rolling pin. You need to make sure the crumbs are fine, not coarse, there must be nowhere for the cheese mix to leak through when you’re baking it. Put your butter in a microwavable bowl and heat for about 30 seconds until completely melted. Tip your crumbs and lemon zest into a bowl, followed by your butter and mix it all together. It’s best if you use a springform cake tin for this, it makes for easier removal, but any cake tin will do the trick. Make sure it’s well greased and lined (bottom and sides) with greaseproof paper. Using the back of a spoon, press your crumbs into every nook ad cranny of the base, making sure it’s kept even and being very careful to cover the whole base. Pop it in the oven for about 10 minutes until it’s a golden brown. Doing this will make sure you have a gorgeous, crunchy, buttery biscuit base. While that’s in the oven, crack on with your cheese mix. In you same mixing bowl as the base, carefully mix your cheese, cream and sugar until you’ve fully incorporated everything and it’s a smooth, creamy mix. Next mix in your eggs, one by one, until all have been added. Stir in your vanilla, the your lemon zest and finally your blueberries, being as careful as you can not to break any of them. Take your base out of the oven when it’s ready, turn it up to 220C and pour your cheese mixture in, smoothing it evenly as you go. Pop it back into the oven and bake for about 15 minutes until you have a gorgeous golden crust. Then turn the oven down to 130C and cook for another 20 minutes. After this turn the oven off and leave the cheesecake in for about 30 mins. Transfer to the fridge and let it fully cool before cutting into the polka-dotted, lemony goodness. Yes the cooking bit is a faff and takes time, but it’s worth it when you end up with a cheesecake like this! Enjoy it while it lasts, it doesn’t stay on our table for long!

Easy Sweet Pastry

baking

A good sweet paste (chef’s term, ladies and gents) is a must-have in every chef’s repertoire. The versatility of this means you can make any pie, tart and strudel your stomach desires. This recipe is easy to jazz up too; try some finely chopped rosemary with your apple pie, maybe switch a spoonful of flour for cocoa powder for a cracking chocolate pastry. Plain or jazzy, this is quick and easy to do and a good recipe to know.

Ingredients

  • 100g icing sugar
  • 250g plain flour
  • 100g salted butter
  • 2 yolks
  • 1 egg

You need to make sure your butter is completely cold before you start, this’ll just make the mixing so much easier. In a mixing bowl weigh in your flour sugar and cubed butter. Either mix on a slow speed if using an electric mixer or rub between your finger until everything is incorporated, you should be able to squeeze a handful and it’ll keep it’s crumbly shape. Just. Next mix in your egg and yolks. Tip it all out onto a heavily floured surface and give it a good knead until you have a smooth dough. Chill until needed and you’re good to go. There, easy.

Vanilla scones with Earl Grey sultanas.

baking

So, strawberry season is fast approaching. I like mine just as they are, sneaking a few more than allowed when picking the plump, sweet reds, but if you’re gonna make a jam, you’d better be making these bad boys to go with it. These scones aren’t just your everyday fruit scone, these are monsters; sugar crusted and vanilla laden with plump and juicy Earl Grey tea-infused sultanas. Damn good scones, in short. And a doddle to make, which is always a plus.

Ingredients

  • 675g plain flour
  • 40g baking powder
  • 115g golden caster sugar
  • 115g butter
  • 350ml milk
  • 70ml cream
  • 1tsp vanilla essence
  • 150g sultanas
  • 3 Earl Grey teabags
  • 500ml boiling water
  • 1 egg for glazing
  • extra sugar for sprinkling

Okay, the first thing you want to do is infuse your sultanas. You can either do this the easy way; leave them overnight in a bowl with the water and teabags covered with clingfilm, or the quick way which is steep the teabags in the boiling water for a few minutes, discard the teabags, pour the tea into a saucepan along with the sultanas and just let a medium heat do its work. Occasionally stir them until they’ve soaked up all that citrussy tea and they’re good to go. Just be careful not to burn them. Preheat the oven to about 190C for a fan and 200C for a gas. Next get your flour, baking powder, sugar and butter in a big bowl. Rub the mixture through your fingers until all the butter has gone(fine breadcrumbs, the book’s’ll tell ya). Make sure your sultanas are well drained of any leftover liquid and stir them through the flour mix. Now make a well in your dry ingredients and pour in the cream, milk and vanilla. stir everything together until you have a pretty wet dough. Tip onto a heavily floured surface and knead for a minute, sprinkling liberally with flour so the dough is good enough to handle without your hands being too sticky, but is still wet inside. Roll to a thickness of about 2 inches (if you want my big, generous scones) or thinner if you’re wanting a more dainty confection. Cut them out using a round pastry cutter (mine had a 3’’ diameter) and transfer them onto a lined baking tray. Paint some egg wash(lightly whisked egg) on the tops of them and sprinkle with sugar. Bake them in the oven for about 20-25 minutes, let them cool slightly then crack on with clotted cream and jam. Tidy.

Crunchy and Gooey Chocolate Chip Blondies.

baking

You’ve all heard of brownies. Maybe you’ve made my seriously sexy marshmallow brownies? If you have or haven’t, make these. Blondies are essentially brownies without the chocolate. Fine, these ones have got white chocolate chips in, but you could try chopped pecans and fudge chunks, maybe banana chips and dried strawberries. The list is endless, so these can suit everyone. Their one-bowl easiness makes them even more appealing too! Just be sure to really let them cool before you attempt to portion them, they’re gooey as hell so they need to set properly after cooking.

Ingredients

  • 235g melted butter
  • 545g light soft brown sugar
  • 4 eggs
  • 315g plain flour
  • 1tsp vanilla essence
  • 5g salt
  • 150g white chocolate chips (or whatever you prefer)
  • 50g dark muscavado sugar (optional, but it gives you a gorgeous, crunchy crust)

First things first, preheat your oven to 170C for a fan oven and 180C for a gas. Line a deep baking tray with greaseproof paper (it tends to rise, sometime A LOT). Now get a big mixing bowl, a wooden spoon and chuck your sugar and butter in. Give it a really good mix til it’s a smooth and the two are fully incorporated. Next mix in your eggs, then fold in your flour, salt, vanilla and mix-ins. Spoon the whole lot in your baking tray and sprinkle over your muscavado. Cook the lot for about 25-30 minutes, or when the middle is mostly set. They’ll still be gooey if the middle IS set, so don’t worry about undercooking, if needs be check the middle with a clean knife. If it comes out almost clean, it’s good to go, if it comes out with mixture, give it another 5-10 minutes. When it’s completely cooked, as I said, leave it to set and cool before portioning. Trust me on this.

Blueberry Crumble Muffins

baking, brunch

So it’s the weekend, finally! It might not be morning, it might not be lunchtime, but it’s definitely time for these muffins. Bursting with fresh blueberries, wrapped with a cinnamon batter and topped with a spiced brown sugar crumble. These are where it’s at. Your loved ones will thank you big time. And your tastebuds!

Ingredients

For the crumble

  • 100g butter
  • 100g plain flour
  • 100g dark brown sugar
  • a pinch of cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and salt

For the muffin mix

  • 350g self raising flour
  • 150g caster sugar
  • 15g baking powder
  • a pinch of salt
  • 2 large eggs
  • 175ml milk
  • 115g melted butter
  • 1tsp ground cinnamon
  • 300g fresh blueberries

First things first, preheat your oven to 180C for a fan oven and 190C for a gas. Get all of your crumble ingredients into a bowl and rub the butter into the dry ingredients with your fingers until it looks like breadcrumbs. When you’re done, tip the lot onto a baking tray lined with greaseproof paper and make sure it’s all spread out evenly. Bake in the oven for about 20 minutes, stirring it with a fork after 10. When the crumble mix is done make a start on your muffins. Whisk all your wet ingredients in a large bowl, just give it a good mix to combine everything. Then sift in all of your dry ingredients, give it all a good stir, making sure you don’t over mix it. Throw in your blueberries, give it another stir for luck and you’re ready to spoon it into a muffin tray. Make sure you’ve lined it with paper cases, spoon in a dessert-spoonful of the muffin mixture, top with a teaspoon of the crumble mixture and bake for about 20 minutes. When they’re ready, get your mug of black coffee, glass of orange juice and your newspaper and your weekend is about to begin.

Nice and easy Battenberg

baking

Okay, I honestly swear on my trusty Kenwood mixer that you CAN do this. All it takes is a little bit of effort and splash of pink and yellow and voila! A caramelised geometric sponge your granny would be proud of! Must be served with tea, in a teapot, with a tea cosy. Must.

Ingredients

  • 300g golden caster sugar
  • 300g salted butter
  • 300g self raising flour
  • 6 eggs
  • 2 tsp vanilla essence
  • a few drops of pink and yellow food colouring
  • 1 pack of golden marzipan
  • 6 tbsp apricot jam

Preheat your oven to 170C for a fan and 180C for a gas. Then in a mixing bowl cream together your butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add your eggs one by one with the vanilla essence. Sift in your flour and give it all a good mix until all incorporated. Now divide your mixture into two and colour one half with the yellow food colouring and the other with the pink food colouring. Line a rectangular tin with greaseproof paper and with a folded piece of foil, make a divide down the middle so the two mixtures don’t touch. Spoon the batters into the designated sides of the tin, smooth down the tops and bake for about 15-20 mins or until the spring back when prodded. When they are ready, leave to cool completely. When cool, level of the top with a bread knife if needs be, the batons must be completely equal all way round for the Battenberg to be perfect. When you’ve trimmed the tops, slice the sponges into roughly 1’’ thick strips. They need to be the same width as the depth, which ought to be about an inch. Next, in a saucepan, get your jam with about 100ml water on a medium heat to melt. You need to be able to paint to jam onto the sponge and marzipan with a brush, so the consistency needs to be quite runny. While thats melting, rub icing sugar over a clean surface and roll out the marzipan into a rectangle, the same length widthways as your batons, leaving plenty of room to roll around the sponge, mine was roughly 12’’ by 15’’. When your jam is ready, paint it over your rolled marzipan. Place one baton right at the top(the edge trimmed with a knife so it’s perfectly straight) and paint the inner edge with jam. Choose the other colour sponge and place tightly next to the first. Paint all the exposed sides with jam and place two more batons on top of the two existing, making sure to switch the colour in a chequer-board way. Paint the outer edges with jam and very carefully and tightly begin to roll the whole sponge towards yourself, covering all the sides with marzipan. When you get to the end, neatly trim off any excess marzipan, leave the sides loose, you’ll want those on for a neat finish. If you have a blowtorch, give the whole Battenberg a quick torch for a really tasty caramel finish. Then trim off your ends, eat them, and show everyone what you’ve made! Queen Victoria would be seriously amused right now.

Hot Pear, Honey and Cinnamon Sponge

dessert

Hot puddings have always been a proper British thing. In France you have tarts and pastries. In Italy it’s always a nice crème brûlée or panna cotta, a creamy dessert with a strong espresso. Well we have hot puds. With tea. Not necessarily pretty or complex, but damn good all the same. This sponge is warming and homey with the cinnamon, fruity and summery with the pear and sweet and moist with the honey. It’s a good’un.

Ingredients

  • 250g butter
  • 250g golden caster sugar
  • 250g self raising flour
  • 5 eggs
  • 2 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 2 pears, peeled and sliced into quarters
  • honey, to drizzle over
  • demerera sugar to sprinkle over

First of all, preheat your oven to 170C for a fan oven and 180C for a gas. In a mixing bowl, beat together your butter and sugar until it’s pale and fluffy. Then slowly add in your eggs one by one; if it looks like the mix will curdle before adding them all, throw in your flour and cinnamon, then your remaining eggs. If it doesn’t curdle, first of all congratulations, then add in your flour and cinnamon last. Scoop it all into a baking tin, arrange your pear slices in whatever fashion you wish, drizzle over as much honey as you desire and finish with a final flourish of the demerera sugar. This will give you one hell of a sexy, crunchy top. Bake it in the oven for about 30-35 minutes, or until it springs back when you prod it. When it’s good to go, it’s only right to have it with a good spoonful of vanilla ice cream. Eat up, chaps!

Kick-Ass Coffee and Walnut Cake

baking

I don’t want to sound like a snob, but, oh who am I kidding? I don’t like eating coffee and walnut cake anywhere else if it’s not this one. Every bite is just a wave of dry, crumbly disappointment. This one is moist, walnutty, glorious! Don’t ever settle for anything less! YOU DESERVE THIS!

Ingredients

  • 75g toasted crushed walnuts
  • 250g self-raising flour
  • 250g butter
  • 250g dark brown soft sugar
  • 5 large eggs
  • 1tbsp diluted coffee

for the syrup

  • 2tbsp coffee granules
  • 2tbsp granulated sugar
  • 100ml boiling water

for the icing

  • 250g icing sugar
  • 2tbsp coffee granules
  • 50-100ml water (depending on how thick you like your icing)
  • toasted walnut halves

First things first preheat your oven to 170C for a fan and 180C for a gas. Next, bung your sugar and butter into a mixing bowl and beat til light and fluffy. Then add your flour, eggs, crushed walnuts and coffee. Mix til it’s all incorporated. Divide the mix into two cake tins, nicely greased and lined thank you very much. Bake for about 20 minutes or until a knife poked into it comes out clean. When they’re ready, give them lots of pokes all over with a fork and pour over your coffee syrup, this is why it’s gorgeously moist. While it’s cooling, make up your icing. Put your icing sugar into a large bowl and make a bit of a well in the middle. Dilute your coffee in the water and then gradually mix the two together. If you make it too runny, add more icing sugar, if you make it too thick, add more water. When the cakes are totally cool, pour ⅓ of the icing in the middle of one sponge and spread it to the edges. Put the second sponge on top, cover with the remaining icing, stud with walnuts and bask in the glory.