Toffee Date Swirls

The Great British Bake Off is back!!! Wahoo!! So get ready for lots and lots of GBBO themed bakes. But first I have a few bakes I've made in the past week, which I need to share with you :)

Now I love a cinnamon swirl - they were actually one of the first things I ever baked for my partner, meaning they hold a special place in my heart.

One annoyance I have found with cinnamon swirls, however, is that the dough is yeasted, meaning it takes a long time to make the finished buns. This is fine when I have time, but on a busy weekend, sometimes I want a quick baking fix.

These buns use self-raising flour to give the buns a nice rise, and I think a much more even rise. In total, they take about an hour from start to finish :)

I also went a bit off-piece with the filling to my swirls. I just adore sticky toffee pudding and thought why not use the elements of a sticky pudding as a filling. And so I blitzed up tea-soaked dates, brown sugar and spices, and ended up with a lovely toffee paste. This didn't ooze out of the buns whilst baking either, so the end buns look pretty neat :)

To finish, I brushed the tops of the buns with a cinnamon spiced sugar syrup, which gives a lovely extra note of flavour and keeps the buns from being dry.

This recipe makes 9 buns.

Ingredients:

For the buns:

• 450g (3 cups) self-raising flour
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2 tbsp caster sugar
• 100g (7 tbsp) butter (or margarine)
• 200ml (3/4 cup + 1 tbsp) whole milk, plus 1-2 tbsp for brushing
• 2 egg yolks
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

For the filling:

• 200g (1 & 1/3 cups) dried dates, roughly chopped
• 60ml (4 tbsp) strongly brewed tea
• 1/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• pinch of salt
• 50g (1/4 cup) dark soft brown sugar

For the topping:

• 60ml (4 tsp) water
• 60g (1/3 cup) caster sugar
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 180c (160c fan)/355f/gas mark 3. Grease the base of a 20cm square cake tin, and lightly dust with flour.

2. Make the filling by heating the tea until lightly simmering. Add the chopped dates and bicarbonate of soda and leave to soak for 10 minutes.

3. Pour the dates/tea mixture into a food processor and add the brown sugar, cinnamon, ginger and salt. Blitz until the paste is smooth.

4. Make the dough by sifting the flour into a large mixing bowl, and adding the caster sugar and salt.

5. In a separate jug, pour the melted butter, egg yolks, milk and vanilla extract. Briefly whisk. Pour over the flour/sugar/salt and beat until a smooth dough is formed.

6. Cover a work surface with cling-film and tip out the dough onto the lined surface. Cover with another layer of cling-film, then roll out until the dough is around 30cm x 20cm in size.

7. Spread over the filling evenly, leaving about 1cm around the border free from filling. Along one of the long edges, roll up the dough.

8. Cut into 9 even pieces, then gently transfer to the prepared cake tin. Lightly press down each swirl.

9.  Brush the top of each swirl with the reserved milk, then bake for around 30 minutes, until golden.

10. Around 5 minutes before the swirls have finished baking, prepare the topping by pouring the sugar, water and cinnamon into a saucepan and placing on a medium heat. Heat until the sugar has dissolved then simmer for around 3 minutes.

11. When the swirls have been removed from the oven, brush the sugar syrup over each roll, and leave to cool before eating.

12. Enjoy!

Hazelnut, Walnut and Apricot Wafer Biscuits

These biscuits are superb - very thin and crisp - perfect alongside a cup of tea or coffee, or to use as a scoop for ice cream. You can switch out the hazelnuts/walnuts/apricots to your favourite dried fruit and nuts :) Other spices could also work really nicely - my favourite just happens to be cinnamon :)

This recipe easily makes 50 biscuits. However, what I do is take the dough out of the freezer, slice enough biscuits to fill one or two trays and bake them. Then return the rest of the dough to the freezer! The dough will keep in the freezer for up to 3 months so it is a great backup bake if you have guests over.

Keep the biscuits in an airtight container, and they will stay crisp for around a week.

Makes at least 50 biscuits.

Ingredients:

• 400g (2 & 2/3 cups) plain flour
• 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp ground ginger
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 100g (1/3 cup + 2 tbsp) butter
• 240g (1 cup + 1 tbsp) soft dark brown sugar
• 70ml water
• 75g (3/5 cup) hazelnuts
• 75g (3/5 cup) walnuts
• 100g (1/2 cup) dried apricots, chopped

Method:

1. Line the base and sides of a 1kg loaf tin with baking parchment or kitchen foil.

2. Sift together the flour, bicarbonate of soda, cinnamon, ginger and salt into a large mixing bowl.

3. In a saucepan, melt the butter with the brown sugar and water, stirring occasionally until the butter has melted and the sugar has dissolved. Set aside for a few minutes to cool slightly.

4. Pour the butter/sugar mixture into the flour mix, and stir in. Once no more flour speckles can be seen, add the hazelnuts, walnuts and dried apricots and stir in until evenly distributed.

5. Tip into the prepared loaf tin. Level the top, then cover and place in the freezer for at least an hour (or in the fridge for 3-4 hours). It needs to be cold enough to slice thinly, without being brittle.

6. Preheat the oven to 190c (170c fan)/375f/ gas mark 5. Line two baking trays with baking parchment.

7. Take the biscuit dough out of the tin and unwrap. Use a sharp knife to slice 1-2mm slices of biscuit, and place onto the baking trays. These won't spread too much, so only leave about 1cm in between.

8. Bake for 8-10 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove from the oven and leave to cool before transferring to a box.

Grown Up Chocolate Bites

Naming these were difficult as in truth, they were a bit of a fail at what I was going for. A few weeks ago, we went to an Eastern European shop and tried some lovely biscuits, which we later found out was "chocolate salami" - very soft and cocoa-rich, with a kick of alcohol. Very decadent. From what I've gathered, they are made by making a chocolate, biscuit (and other ingredients like jelly or dried fruit), forming it into a sausage shape (like a salami), then once chilled, cut into slices.
I went on a hunt for recipes and gave one a go...except I changed a few ingredients (like I do), and the resulting mixture was way too runny to make into salami :(
Rather than throwing the mixture away, however, I poured the mix into a lined tub and froze it.

Shockingly, the results ended up really good!! Straight from the freezer they are cold but not frozen solid, smooth and rich in cocoa - being in the freezer also means I don't scoff too many in one sitting (which otherwise I definitely would do!). They're a great staple to have in your freezer when you want a little pick-me-up. This recipe does make a lot though, so you could always give some away to friends and family :)

These are also no-bake, and can be prepared in less than 20 minutes :)

Makes 50-60 pieces

Ingredients:

• 250g (1 cup) softened butter
• 125ml (1/2 cup) vegetable oil
• 250g (2 & 1/2 cups) cocoa powder
• 100g (2/3 cup) sultanas
• 3 tbsp of your favourite spirit (I used a Polish vodka called Zoladkowa Gorzka)
• 300g (3 cups) hobnobs/your favourite biscuit
• 1 x 397g tin of condensed milk

Method:

1. Line the base of a freezable tub (at least 20x15cm if possible) with baking parchment. If you don't have a tub so big, this could be frozen in multiple tubs, or freeze in a deep, small container and have thick slices (it'll still taste brill).

2. Melt the butter with the oil in a saucepan. 

3. Pour the sultanas into a mixing bowl and add the spirit. Leave for 10 minutes to plump up the sultanas.

4. Break up the biscuits into approximately 1-2cm pieces.

5. Sift the cocoa powder over the sultanas, and then add the biscuits, condensed milk and the butter/oil mixture. Stir until everything is well combined.

6. Pour into the prepared tub.

7. Freeze for 1-2 hours, until set. Remove from the tub, peel off the baking parchment and cut into small squares. Keep frozen unless eating :)

8. Enjoy!

Japonaise (Coffee Almond Meringue) Chocolate Basket Cake

I baked this for my dad on Father's day - I wanted to try to bake something special for him and remembered how much he loved the chocolate coffee macarons I made a few months ago. I had a spark of genius and remembered an almond meringue-based dessert known as a japonaise, which traditionally is sandwiched with coffee buttercream and covered in flaked almonds.
I took the concept of this dessert and turned it into a birthday cake by covering the cake with a chocolate "basket" (which is a lot simpler than it looks!) and topped with seasonal fruits - these cut through the richness of the coffee buttercream nicely.
To make the basket all you need is dark chocolate and bubble wrap!
Both of my parents loved this cake, and it's one I'll definitely make again, so why not give it a go?

Makes one large 20 x 15cm cake

Ingredients:

For the japonaise (almond meringue) layers:

• 6 egg whites
• 330g (1 & 2/3 cups) light soft brown sugar
• 150g (1 & 1/2 cups) ground almonds

For the coffee buttercream:

• 160ml (2/3 cup) water
• 200g (1 cup) light soft brown sugar
• 2 tsp instant coffee
• 250g butter softened (at room temperature)

For the chocolate basket:

• 250g dark chocolate (I used 55% but higher % cocoa would work well)

To finish:

• 200g of your favourite fruits (I used strawberries and blueberries)

Method:

1. To make the japonaise layers, preheat the oven to 140c (130c fan)/gas mark 1. Grease the base of two baking trays.

2. Draw a 15 x 20cm rectangle on two sheets of baking parchment. Flip them over (so the ink/pencil is facing downwards) and stick to the baking sheets.

3. In a spotlessly clean bowl, whisk 2 egg whites until very frothy and soft peaks form when the whisk is lifted (this is easiest using a stand mixer or electric whisk).

4. Gradually add 110g brown sugar, a teaspoon at a time, whisking well between each addition. Once all of the sugar has been added, turn the whisk up to high and beat until stiff peaks form when the whisk is lifted from the mixture.

5. Fold in 50g ground almonds gently, until evenly distributed.

6. Fill a piping bag with the mixture. Pipe half of the mixture onto the first baking sheet, filling the rectangle template you drew. Repeat with the other baking tray.

7. Bake for around 45 minutes, or until crisp on top. Halfway through the cooking time, switch the trays over in the oven.

8. Repeat steps 1-7 with the remaining ingredients (so you end up with 6 meringue layers). Set aside to cool fully.

9. Whilst the japonaise layers are baking, make the coffee buttercream by pouring the water into a saucepan with the brown sugar and coffee. Bring to a boil and simmer until all of the brown sugar has dissolved. Set aside to cool to room temperature.

10. Place the butter in the bowl of a stand mixer and start beating until the butter is very pale and soft. 

11. Slowly pour over the coffee mixture and beat for 10 minutes - it will look like it has split but trust me, it'll come together to a thick spreadable consistency. Reserve a third of the buttercream for the top and sides of the cake.

12. Assemble the cake by placing the first japonaise layer on your serving dish. Spread over a few tablespoons of the coffee buttercream, then place the next layer on top. Repeat until you have stacked all of the japonaise layers. Set aside whilst you prepare the chocolate basket.

12. To make the chocolate basket cut four strips of bubble wrap - measure the height of the cake - e.g. if it is 8cm, make two strips 20cm x 8cm, and two 15cm x 8cm.

13. Melt the dark chocolate in the microwave by heating for 30 second bursts on full power, stirring well after each burst.

14. Spread the chocolate evenly over the bubble wrap and set aside to cool.

15. To finish the cake, spread the reserved coffee buttercream over the top and sides of the cake. Gently peel away the bubble wrap from the chocolate and place the chocolate "basket" sides onto the cake - be very gentle!

16. Top with seasonal fruits.

17. Enjoy!