Dairy free chocolate fudge cake with whipped chocolate ganache

 

This recipe needs to be remembered. I baked this for my manager, who doesn't get celebrated enough, and he and the team really enjoyed it. I made it dairy free given I can't taste test anything with dairy, and despite a broken fridge, it turned out great. 

Ingredients:

For the cake:

60g cocoa powder (Tesco)

150ml boiling water

150ml light in colour olive oil (Filippo Berio)

150g no-added sugar soya yoghurt (Alpro)

50ml oat milk

2 tsp apple cider vinegar

2 large eggs

2 tsp soy sauce

200g plain flour (sifted)

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

280g light soft brown sugar

A few salt flakes

For the ganache:

435g 55% dark chocolate (Morrisons basic)

500ml arla plant-based double cream

Sprinkle of salt

To finish:

50g dark chocolate (Morrisons basic)

Gold lustre dust

Specific equipment needed:

2 x 20cm round springform cake tins

Baking parchment

Piping bag

Star nozzle

Method:

1. In a measuring jug, pour the cocoa powder, followed by the boiling water. Leave to cool.

2. Preheat the oven to 180c/160c fan. Grease and line the base of two springform 20cm cake tins.

3. In a bowl, whisk together the olive oil, yoghurt, oat milk, vinegar, eggs and soy sauce (tick them off one by one to make sure you don’t miss an ingredient), until smooth. 

4. Pour in the cooled liquid cocoa mixture and whisk until smooth.

5. Add the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, salt, and sugar and whisk until you have a smooth cake batter that easily falls off the spoon. 

6. Pour into the prepared cake tins and bake for around 25 minutes, until springy to the touch and a skewer comes out.

7. To make the ganache, chop the dark chocolate into small (0.5cm or so pieces). Tip into a bowl.

8. Heat the double cream in a pan until bubbling. Pour over the dark chocolate. Wait for a minute and then stir to melt. Once smooth, refrigerate to firm up. This will probably take at least an hour, check regularly that it doesn’t over-set.

9. Use a small amount of the ganache to add a splodge to a the cake plate/presentation board. This will be the glue that holds the cake in place (you can also use spare melted chocolate).

10. Use an electric whisk to whip the ganache, it will change from a dark brown to a light mousse-like brown. 

11. Place one of the cakes on the cake plate/board, making sure you have removed the baking parchment. Dollop on ganache and smooth over the top and sides of the cake.

12. Add the second layer of cake and cover the cake in a layer of ganache like a crumb coat. Chill.

13. Cover the cake with more ganache to smooth out the design. I used a piping bag with a star nozzle, and piped little rosettes around the top and bottom, which worked well I think. Add a few flicks of gold lustre dust to the top using a food-safe brush.

14. Use a vegetable peeler to drag across a bar of dark chocolate to create curls. Pour these in a pile in the centre of the cake, leaving a 2cm border to the outside. 

Devour. 

Vegan Chocolate Birthday Cake

 

Back after a hiatus! A lot has changed, but now I'm set in my vegan ways, I've finally started to love baking again :) 

This is the cake I made for my 30th birthday, the cake turned out really moist and the buttercream was to die for. I used Flora vegan butter, but any stick butter should work well.

Completely vegan, so dairy and egg-free. Also nut and soy-free for other allergy sufferers :) 

Ingredients:

For the cake:

• 250ml oat milk
• 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
• 250g plain flour
• 350g caster sugar
• 65g cocoa powder
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 110g vegetable oil
• 165g apple sauce
• 235g boiling water

For the buttercream:

• 50g cocoa powder
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 300g icing sugar
• 150g vegan butter, softened
• 3-4 tbsp oat milk
• 1 tbsp vanilla extract

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 180c (160c fan)/gas mark 4/350F. Grease and dust the base of two 20cm round cake tins with oil and flour. (Alternatively, grease the base and line with baking parchment).

2. Pour the oat milk into a bowl of a stand mixer (with the balloon whisk attachment). Add the vinegar. Stir and wait for 5 minutes.

3. Sift into the bowl the flour, cocoa and baking powder. Pour over the remaining cake ingredients and whisk until well combined (until you see no more flour/cocoa speckles).

4. Pour into the prepared cake tins and bake for around 40 minutes, until the top is springy to the touch and a skewer inserted into the centre of the cakes comes out clean.

5. Meanwhile, make the butter cream. Cut the butter into small chunks and place it in the bowl of a stand mixer with the balloon whisk attachment. Add the cinnamon, ginger, cocoa powder and half of the icing sugar. Pour over the milk and vanilla, and begin whisking. Once the icing sugar has been absorbed (it will be very loose at this stage), add the other half of the icing sugar and whisk for 5 minutes. If the buttercream is very stiff, add some more milk, if too loose, add a little more icing sugar. It will become very fluffy. Cover until ready to use.

6. Once the cake is fully cool, place one of the cakes onto your serving dish. If domed significantly, level the top of the cake. Cover with around a third of your buttercream. Top with the other cake layer.

7. Lightly spread a thin layer of buttercream around the top and sides of your cake using a palette knife if possible (if not, a butter knife will work, it will just be a bit messier). Once all of the cake has been lightly covered, place it in the fridge for 10 minutes to set slightly. This helps trap in the cake crumbs to give a cleaner result.

8. Spread another layer of buttercream over the top and sides of the cake. Leave 4-5 tablespoons of mixture to pipe on the top of the cake.

9. Fit a piping bag with the 1B flower tip (or the open star tip, anything that makes pretty spirals!). Pipe rosettes over the top of the cake as desired.

10. Enjoy!

This cake will keep in the fridge for up to a week.

Vegan Makowiec swirls (Poppy seed swirls)

I love the classic Polish cake Makowiec -  a sweet bready cake, rolled like a swiss roll, with a poppy seed filling. It's a classic bake for me at Christmas, but this year I decided to vary things, and instead made a yeasted sweet dough (like in my recent cinnamon rolls post), and filled it with the poppy seed paste. After proving and baking, I drizzled over some icing, and they were done! They are lovely to have as a midday treat, and everyone really seemed to enjoy them.

Once these are cool, keep them in an airtight container and they should stay moist for 3-4 days.

Makes c. 12 big swirls

Ingredients:

For the dough:

• 475g strong white bread flour, plus an extra handful for dusting
• 25g cornflour
• 7g dried fast-action yeast
• 50g light soft brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp ground cardamom
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 300ml soy milk
• 75g dairy-free (I used a soy-based) margarine

For the filling:

• 400g poppy seed paste
• 50g mixed dried fruit
• 25g glace cherries (Plus 20g for decoration, optional)
• 1 tbsp ground cinnamon

For the icing:

• 150g icing sugar
• 1-2 tbsp water

Method:

1. Tip the bread flour and cornflour into the bowl of a stand mixer, fitted with a dough hook. To one side of the bowl add the yeast, and to the other side add the sugar, cardamom and salt.

2. Heat the soy milk in the microwave for 30 seconds - 1 minute, until warm but not hot to the touch. Pour over the flour and add the margarine.

3. Turn on the stand mixer and leave to knead for around 8 minutes, until it is very soft.

4. Cover the bowl with cling film and leave to rise in a warm place for about 1 hour, or until the dough has at least doubled in size.

5. Roll the dough out on a lightly floured surface until it is about 20 x 30 cm. In a bowl, beat together the poppy seed paste, cinnamon and dried fruit, and then spread evenly over the dough.

6. Along the long edge, roll the dough into a tight spiral. Slice into 12 swirls.

7. Grease and line the base of two baking trays, and then place the spirals on the trays, with at least 3cm between each swirl. Cover and leave to prove for around 45 minutes.

8. Preheat your oven to 180c (160c fan)/355f/gas mark 4.

9. Bake the swirls for 25-30 minutes, or until golden and firm to the touch. Check after 20 minutes and if browning too much, cover with foil.

10. Leave to cool.

11. Beat together the sifted icing sugar and water until it is a thick but droppable consistency. Once the swirls have cooled, pipe or drizzle over. If wanted, halve the glace cherries and place on the icing to stick.

12. Enjoy!

GBBO 2018 Week 7 - Vegan - Chocolate Hazelnut Cake

I was so excited for this week's GBBO, and it didn't disappoint at all!! There were so many recipes I wanted to give a go, and am sure I will bake in the coming weeks. The first, however, was Briony's showstopper - a lovely looking chocolate coffee hazelnut cake, filled with raspberry jam, and coated in a vegan chocolate ganache. Due to time constraints, I didn't make all the elements she did, and I had to alter the recipe slightly, as I couldn't find a few ingredients.

Despite these alterations, the sponge is amazing - like a brownie, you wouldn't know it contained no dairy or eggs! As I've mentioned in previous posts, I try to not eat anything cream-based and have always struggled with ganache. Previously, I've tried water-based ganache, but Briony used full-fat coconut cream instead, and as a coconut lover, I gave this a go. My ganache firmed up a bit too much, but after adding a bit of hot water, it spread really nicely and the recipe made plenty for the whole cake.

Also, when picking a dark chocolate, don't just look in your dairy-free aisle. Good quality dark chocolate should never contain milk, and therefore is vegan without saying it directly on the packaging. I used a Tesco cooking dark chocolate, after checking the ingredients and finding no dairy. This saved me quite a bit of money due to the premium shops put on some vegan foods.

Now, I have to admit I am not a lover of vegan buttercream - I've yet to find a recipe where the frosting pipes to make lovely crisp flowers and leaves. This could be due a lack of decent vegan butter available in the supermarkets I frequent, so I'm going to keep an eye out and keep trying different brands. Briony's recipe does work and makes fairly stiff buttercream, but it still doesn't work quite as well as "real" buttercream. It does look pretty though, just be careful to keep the cake cold after piping so the buttercream doesn't soften too much.

This cake will easily serve 10 :)

Ingredients:

For the cake:

• 565g (4 & 1/2 cups) self-raising flour
• 600g (3 cups) granulated sugar
• 125g (1 cup) cocoa powder (I used Dr Oetker)
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• 200g (1 & 1/3 cups) hazelnuts, roasted, peeled and roughly chopped*
• 200g (7/8 cup) dairy-free spread, melted
• 400ml (1 & 2/3 cups) hazelnut milk (I used Innocent)
• 250ml (1 cup and 2 tsp) walnut oil
• 1 tsp xantham gum
• 3 1/2 tbsp instant coffee granules
• 50ml (3 tbsp and 1 tsp) boiling water

For the vegan ganache:

• 300g (around 1 & 1/5 cups) coconut cream (NOT creamed coconut)
• 300g (1 cup and 2 tbsp) dairy-free dark chocolate (I used an 85% but 70% would work well)
• pinch of salt
• 2 tbsp Kahlua

For the vegan buttercream:

• 50g (3 tbsp) vegan margarine
• 200g (2 cups) sifted icing sugar
• 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
• Red and green concentrated gel food colouring (I use Wilton)

To finish:

• Around 200g (5/8 cup) raspberry jam

*It tends to be much cheaper to buy whole hazelnuts and roast them yourself. Simply preheat your oven to 200c (180c fan)/400f/gas mark 6, and cook the hazelnuts for 5 minutes. Pour into a sieve and shake to peel off the skins. Pick out all of the peeled hazelnuts, cool, and then roughly chop.

Method:

Ganache

The ganache takes a few hours to firm up so I would suggest making this first.

1. Chop all of the chocolate roughly and pour into a heatproof bowl.

2. Heat the coconut cream in a saucepan over a low heat until it is bubbling. Take off the heat and pour over the chocolate. Stir until all of the chocolate has melted.

3. Stir in the Kahlua. Cover with cling-film and chill for around 2 hours, or until it is spreadable (a Nutella-like consistency would work well).

4. If the ganache becomes too firm, don't worry! Boil a kettle and add boiling water, half a teaspoon at a time, beating well after each addition, until it is back to the ideal spreadable consistency.

5. Before using, whisk the ganache to aerate it, using a hand-whisk or in a stand mixer. It will become a light brown colour and increase in volume.

Cake Layers

1. Make the sponge. Preheat your oven to 180c (160c)/355f/gas mark 4. Grease the base and sides of three 20cm circular cake tins, and dust with flour (I find this gives a better result than using baking parchment).

2. In a large mixing bowl, pour the self-raising flour, sugar, cocoa, baking powder, roasted hazelnuts, and salt. Briefly stir together.

3. In the bowl of a stand mixer with a whisk attachment, pour the melted spread and hazelnut milk, and start whisking on a medium speed. Add the boiling water to the instant coffee, mix until smooth, and then pour into the spread/milk mix, along with the walnut oil and xantham gum (whilst whisking). Whisk for a few minutes to aerate.

4. Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients, and pour in the wet mix. Beat until all of the dry ingredients have been incorporated. My batter ended up very thick. 

5. Evenly divide between the three cake tins, and bake for around 35 minutes, until firm to the touch and a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean. Once cooked, leave to cool for a few minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool fully.

Vegan "Buttercream"

1. Beat the margarine with the icing sugar and vanilla extract until smooth.

2. Spoon out one-third of the buttercream, and colour this green. Colour the remaining buttercream a red/pink colour. Chill until ready to use.

Assembly

1. Place a tablespoon of ganache on your serving dish. Place the first sponge on this ganache and press down lightly. This sticks the cake to your dish, making it easier to decorate.

2. Spread over a thin layer of the ganache, and then spread over half of the raspberry jam - you want there to be a visible layer of raspberry as the chocolate and coffee flavours are so strong.

3. Top with the next layer of sponge. Spread over another thin layer of ganache, then the remaining raspberry jam. Top with the final layer of sponge.

4. Cover the top and sides of the cake with ganache - take time doing this, it can take a bit of patience to make sure all of the cake is covered neatly. I found I got a neater finish by dipping a palette knife (or you could use an icing smoother) in hot water, drying it, and then smoothing over the top and sides of the cake.

5. Place a 2D Wilton nozzle (large rose tip) into one piping bag, and a large leaf nozzle (Wilton 366) into another. Spoon the red buttercream into the piping bag with the 2D nozzle, and the green buttercream into the other piping bag.

6. Snip off the ends of each piping bag, and pipe roses and leaves onto the cake as desired.

To pipe roses - hold the piping bag vertically over where the middle of the flower will be, and then pipe a spiral outwards. 

To pipe leaves, simply use even pressure to pipe around 2cm lines on the cake - the nozzle gives the leaf effect. 

7. Enjoy!

GBBO 2018 Week 5 - Spice - Ginger and Lemon Cake

Sorry, this week's bake is a bit late!!! It was Spice week on GBBO last week, and I made a variation of Manon's signature - a ginger and lemon cake. The sponge (which I adapted slightly from Manon's recipe) is lovely and soft, and deep with ginger - I never would have thought to use fresh ginger, but it worked incredibly well! The sponges are sandwiched with Manon's recipe for lemon and ginger curd - I do like this but it is VERY strong in ginger, so I only used a thin layer to sandwich the cakes, but you could use more if you like.

Her recipe also makes a lot of curd, so pour the rest into a sterilized jar and it can be spread on toast or used in other bakes!

I covered the cakes with an Italian meringue (as Manon did), but I flavoured it with a touch of chilli - this is controversial, but I like the slight heat in the meringue (where the heat isn't just more ginger). If you don't want this heat though, you could any other spices you like, or just something like vanilla extract or lemon rind.

Now, I'm not sure I'm super keen on how I coloured my meringue so I won't put that in the recipe below. If you're interested, I used Wilton's concentrated gel colourings to colour some of the meringue red and orange, then spread this on the cake to try to give an ombre effect - if you have tips on how to get stronger red/orange colours that'd be really good (I always end up with pastel shades...)

Makes one 20cm cake (serves 10-12)

Ingredients:

• For the sponges:
• 200g baking margarine
• 250g dark soft brown sugar
• 100g black treacle
• 100g golden syrup
• 100g root ginger, fresh (I washed but didn't peel mine), finely grated
• 2 eggs
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• pinch of salt
• 250g plain flour
• 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 150ml skimmed milk

For the curd:

• Juice of 4 large lemons (around 150ml)
• Zest of 2 large lemons
• 2 sheets of gelatine
• 150g caster sugar
• 100g fresh ginger (this is really strong, so if worried, cut down to 50-75g)
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 3 eggs
• 3 egg yolks
• 100g baking margarine (I found this worked just fine, but you could use butter instead)
• pinch of salt

For the Italian meringue

• 3 egg whites
• 300g granulated sugar
• 2 tbsp water
• 1/2 tsp chilli flakes (to taste/optional)

Method:

1. Make the cake. Preheat your oven to 180c (160c fan)/350f/gas mark 4. Grease the base and sides of two 20cm cake tins (preferably with loose bottoms/springform), and dust with flour.

2. In a saucepan, melt together the margarine, brown sugar, treacle, golden syrup and ginger, stirring regularly until all of the margarine has melted. Set aside to cool for a few minutes.

3. In a large mixing bowl sift together the plain flour, bicarbonate of soda, baking powder, ground ginger and cinnamon and add the salt. Pour over the melted margarine mixture and then add the eggs and the milk. Whisk together just until all of the flour has been incorporated.

4. Pour the mixture into the prepared cake tins and bake for 20-25 minutes, until just firm to the touch and the edges are slightly coming away from the sides of the tins. Leave to cool for 5 minutes, and then turn out onto a wire rack to cool fully.

5. Make the curd. Pour the lemon juice into a pan and add the leaves of gelatine, fully submerging them. Leave for 5 minutes for the gelatine to soften.

6. Add the lemon zest, ginger, caster sugar, ground ginger, eggs and egg yolks and start to stir. Place on a very low heat and keep stirring for 5-7 minutes, until the curd thickens enough to cover the back of a wooden spoon (do not let it boil or the eggs will scramble!)

7. Add the margarine, spoonfuls at a time, mixing well between each addition. Season with salt to taste. Leave to cool to room temperature, and then place in the fridge to fully set.

8. Make the Italian meringue. Pour the granulated sugar and water into a small saucepan and place on a low heat.

9. Meanwhile, place the 3 egg whites into a grease-free bowl of a stand mixer with the whisk attachment, and start whisking on a low speed.

10. Once the sugar and water reach around 110c/230f, turn the speed of the mixer up to whisk the egg whites until they are white and frothy. Keep heating the sugar/water until the temperature reads 119c/248f. At this point, take off the heat and turn down the speed of the stand mixer. 

11. Gently pour the VERY HOT syrup over the egg whites whilst whisking on a low speed. Once all of the syrup has been added, turn the speed of the mixer up and whisk until the meringue is glossy and holds stiff peaks.

12. To assemble the cakes, place one sponge on your cake board/serving tray. Spoon over a few tablespoons of the curd and level out. Top with the other layer of sponge and then cover with the meringue.

13. 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!

My Favourite Milk Chocolate Brownies

June has been a busy month! With work, studying and ultra-marathon training, I also managed to squeeze in a race involving 50 miles of cycling, a mountain run and a canoe. So that's my excuse for not being as up-to-date with my blog posts as I would like! However, my partner has also been training for the ultra, and is covering so many miles each week. Sometimes we both need a high carbohydrate and calorific treat, but with little time to go to the shops, I had to root through my cupboards to find something to bake.
Luckily I pretty much always have a stash of cheap chocolate (I get the supermarket own-brand), which I find great to use for simple bakes. We also had eggs, cocoa powder, butter and brown sugar. With all of these ingredients, I thought I'd have a go at milk chocolate brownies.

Milk chocolate brownies are usually quite a bit sweeter than the traditional (which tend to use the higher percentage cocoa solid dark chocolate). The addition of the cocoa, however, knocks back this sweetness, and the texture wasn't affected at all. The outside was lovely and crisp, with a soft centre that could still easily be cut. I added white chocolate chips to mine, but chopped walnuts would be amazing as well (sadly I had none in my cupboards).

I was really happy with the result, and if you wanted to serve this as a dessert, bake the brownies for 2 minutes less, so that they are a little gooier. Serve warm with some ice cream, and that'd be bliss!
The version I've baked are perfect as an afternoon treat, or as replenishment after a really hard run.

I also prepared and cooked these beauties in less than an hour, so no excuses...GO :)

Makes around 16

Ingredients:

• 175g (1 cup) milk chocolate, chopped roughly
• 175g (3/4 cup) softened butter (margarine will also work), plus 1 tsp for greasing
• 3 eggs
• 250g (1 & 1/3 cups) light soft brown sugar
• 40g (1/3 cup) cocoa powder
• 75g (1/2 cup) plain flour
• pinch of sea salt
• 60g (1/3 cup) white chocolate, chopped into chunks (or use chocolate chips)

Method:

1. Preheat your oven to 180c (160c fan)/355f/gas mark 4. Lightly grease the base and sides of a 20cm square cake tin, and line with baking parchment.

2. Place the milk chocolate and butter into a heatproof bowl, and place over a pan of simmering water. Make sure that the base of the bowl DOES NOT touch the water.

3. Stir regularly until all of the butter and chocolate have melted. Set aside for 5 minutes to cool.

4. Whilst the butter/chocolate are cooling, pour the eggs and sugar into the bowl of a stand mixer with a whisk attachment (or use an electric whisk). Whisk for 5 minutes (on a medium speed) or until the mixture has at least doubled in size and thickened.

5. Sift the cocoa and flour over the egg mixture, add the salt, and pour over the butter/milk chocolate mixture. Fold together until no more flour speckles can be seen.

6. Briefly fold in the white chocolate chips until fairly evenly spread through the batter.

7. Pour into the prepared cake tin. Bake for 25-30 minutes (or for 20-22 minutes if you want a super gooey centre), until the top is crisp and if you shake the tray a little, it only wobbles in the very centre.

8. Remove from the oven and leave to cool fully before slicing (unless serving warm with ice cream of course).

9. Enjoy!!

Keep these in an airtight container in the fridge, and they theoretically will last a good two weeks (but they are pretty moreish so they're not going to ever last that long in my household!)

Race Day Chocolate Flapjacks

I'm currently in training for an ultra-marathon, and on the long runs, I need high energy, tasty treats to keep me going. I had a go at some chocolate flapjacks the other day and added a scoop of my favourite caramel protein powder (from the Myprotein True Whey selection) to the mixture. The result was pretty amazing! Not too sweet, with enough chew to feel like you were eating something (rather than just consuming electrolyte gels and Lucozade), but not so much as to cause issues whilst running. Plus with the porridge oats, they are a great source of slow release energy, and the sugar/chocolate gives the quick burst of energy you need to pep o

I filled my flapjacks with dark chocolate chips, but you could use desiccated coconut, dried fruit or nuts if you prefer.

Makes 24 small squares

Ingredients:

• 250g (1 cup) porridge oats
• 125g (2/3 cup) light soft brown sugar
• 3 tbsp golden syrup
• 1 scoop (around 30g) protein powder
• 125g (1/2 cup) butter/margarine
• Pinch of sea salt
• 100g (2/3 cup) dark chocolate chips
• 2 tbsp white chocolate chips

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 200c (180c fan)/390f/gas mark 6. Lightly grease the base of a 20cm square cake tin (I used a silicone one, but any ovenproof dish should be fine), and line with baking parchment.

2. In a saucepan, melt together the brown sugar, golden syrup and butter/margarine. Once all of the butter has melted, set aside for 10 minutes to cool.

3. Pour the porridge oats, salt and protein powder into a mixing bowl and pour over the butter mixture. Use a wooden spoon to combine, until you have one sticky dough.

4. Pour in the dark chocolate chips and stir briefly to distribute.

5. Spoon the flapjack mixture into the cake tin and smooth out. I found this easiest using a metal fork - it'll be about 1/2 inch/ 1.5cm thick.

6. Sprinkle the top with the white chocolate chips. Bake for 12-15 minutes until it's a deep golden brown - due to the brown sugar and chocolate, it may look darker than your traditional flapjack.

7. Leave to cool, before turning out and slicing into squares.

8. Store in an airtight container.

9. Enjoy!

Medovik - Ukranian Layered Honey Cake

Every year for Eurovision I like to bake something from the host country. Last year Sweden hosted, and I made Ostkaka and Kladdaka (see here for the recipes). This year, Ukraine were the hosts and when searching for something to bake, this layered honey cake came up time and again.

In truth there's no sponge in this cake. It's more like 8 layers of honey biscuit, sandwiched with creamy but light filling. It has to be left overnight after forming, which softens the biscuit to be like a beautifully soft sponge.

I was skeptical when I started baking this cake, assuming mine would end up looking a mess.

However, it was really straightforward, and only took 90 minutes to prepare, bake and assemble! We tried it the next day and wowzerz it's tasty :) It looks really impressive so I'd highly recommend anyone try out this recipe.

I topped the cake off with some almond brittle, which is entirely optional, but gives the cake a nice final touch :)

Makes one 23cm cake

Ingredients:

For the cake:

• 4 tbsp honey
• 165g (3/4 cup) golden caster sugar
• 2 tbsp unsalted butter 
• 3 eggs, beaten
• 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• 660g (3 cups) plain flour

For the frosting:

• 160ml (2/3 cup) double cream 
• 600ml (2 & 1/2 cups) soured cream
• 135g (1 & 1/3 cup) icing sugar
• 1 tbsp ground cinnamon

For the almond brittle:

• 75g (1/2 cup) flaked almonds
• 100g (1/2 cup) granulated sugar
• 1 tbsp water

Method:

1. Preheat your oven to 180c (160c fan)/350f/gas mark 4. Grease two baking trays.

2. Heat the honey, sugar and butter together in a saucepan, stirring occasionally. Once the sugar has dissolved, take the saucepan off the heat and beat in the eggs.

3. Sift the bicarbonate of soda and plain flour into a large bowl. Pour the flour into the saucepan and beat with a wooden spoon until all of the flour has been incorporated. The dough should be firm enough to be able to form into a ball.

4. Place the dough on a floured surface and shape into a flat circle. Divide into 8 pieces (like a pizza).

5. Place a sheet of baking paper on your surface and lightly dust with flour. Add 1/8 of the dough to the paper, and roll out to 2-3mm thick. Use the base of a 23cm cake tin to cut the dough to the 23cm size. Keep the trimmings (they are used to cover the cake later).

6. Transfer the dough (stuck to the baking paper) to the greased oven tray and bake for 3-4 minutes, until browned. Once cooked, you can slide the baking paper +layer off the tray onto a wire rack, and bake the next layer (with a new sheet of baking paper).

7. Once all of the layers have cooked, roll out the trimmings to an even thickness, and bake for 4-5 minutes until browned. Set aside to cool, then blend to a fine crumb in a food processor.

8. Make the frosting by sifting the icing sugar into a large mixing bowl. Add the soured cream and cinnamon and beat until smooth.

9. Beat the double cream with a whisk until stiff peaks form. Fold this cream into the rest of the frosting. Refridgerate until ready to use.

10. To make the almond brittle, heat the granulated sugar and water together in a saucepan. DO NOT STIR IT, but you can swirl the pan from time to time. Keep an eye on it - after about 5 minutes it should turn a nice amber colour. Meanwhile, pour the flaked almonds evenly onto a sheet of baking paper (in a baking tray).

11. Once amber, pour the caramel over the almonds. Tilt the pan to evenly distribute the caramel. Leave to set for 10-15 minutes until cooled and firm. Break into shards.

12. To assemble the cake, place the first layer onto the serving plate. Place 4-5 tbsp of the frosting on the layer, and spread evenly over the cake. Top with the next layer of sponge.

13. Repeat with the remaining layers. Use the remaining frosting to cover the top and sides of the cake - a large palette knife or dough scraper will give you the smoothest result, but a round knife will also work.

14. Pour the cake dough crumbs all over the cake. I don't know an easy way to do this - I just sprinkled it over the top of the cake (easy enough) then patted the crumbs onto the sides - a messy job but it worked.

15. Cover and place in the fridge for at least 10 hours.

16. Top with almond brittle shards, and enjoy!

Chocolate, Peanut Butter and Salted Caramel Macaron "Eclairs"

 

So I'm pretty addicted to GBBO: Creme de la Creme, and this week they made macarons (that weren't allowed to be circular). I love macarons (as does my boyfriend), so it seemed like an opportunity to make another kind. I've previously made festive spiced and chocolate & raspberry macarons, and used a very similar recipe. The only difference - duck eggs! As seen from my post last week, duck eggs are incredible for sponges and I wondered how they'd be for making meringues (which are needed to make the macarons).

The result? Perfection :) Lovely a crisp to bite through with a soft chewy centre. They're best the day after you've baked and filled the macarons as the shells soften slightly.

I added cocoa to the macarons to give it a cocoa flavour and filled the macarons with a peanut butter cream cheese frosting and a liquid salted caramel filling. If you want an extra chocolatey note, you could drizzle some dark chocolate over the top of the macarons :)

From start to finish these took me two hours - the only difficult part is patience when whisking the egg whites and sugar syrup - keep going until the meringue forms glossy peaks! Also be patient when waiting for the skin to form - if you don't the macarons will crack in the oven.

Makes around 24 macarons (I made mine around 3cm long rectangles, but you can do standard circles if you wish).

Ingredients:

For the macarons:

• 150g (1 & 1/4 cups) ground almonds
• 10g (1 & 1/2 tbsp) cocoa powder (the best quality you can afford)
• 175g (1 & 1/2 cups) icing sugar
• 4 (125ml/1/2 cup) medium duck egg whites
• 165g (3/4 cup) granulated sugar
• 50ml (3 tbsp and 1 tsp) water

For the peanut butter filling:

• 125g (1/2 cup) peanut butter (I used crunchy for extra texture)
• 60g (1/2 cup & 2 tsp) icing sugar
• 30g (2 tbsp) softened butter
• 50g (3 tbsp) cream cheese (full fat)
• 1 tbsp vanilla extract
• 1-2 tsp milk (optional)

For the liquid salted caramel:

• 60ml (1/4 cup) double cream
• 1 tsp softened butter
• 75g (1/3 cup & 2 tsp) granulated sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt (I used freshly ground Himalayan salt)

Method:

1. Place the ground almonds, cocoa and icing sugar in a food processor (or high power blender) and blitz for 2-3 second bursts, until the mixture is very fine and the cocoa is evenly distributed. Be careful not to blitz for too long as the almonds can turn to butter!

2. Sieve the almonds/cocoa/icing sugar into a large bowl. Add 2 of the egg whites, and beat until a smooth paste is formed.

3. Heat the granulated sugar and water in a saucepan, stirring occasionally until the sugar has dissolved. Then stop stirring and place a sugar thermometer in the pan. In a grease-free bowl, add the remaining two egg whites. Once the sugar/water has reached 112C, start whisking the egg whites (I tend to use a hand-held electric whisk, but a stand mixer would be even easier!).

4. Once the sugar/water syrup has reached 118C, the egg whites should be white and frothy (like shaving foam). Carefully pour the syrup onto the egg whites, whisking constantly. Be very careful not to touch the syrup as it is super hot! Keep whisking until the mixture is shiny and forms peaks when the whisk is lifted from the mixture (this should take between 5 and 7 minutes).

5. Use a metal spoon to fold a third of the egg white mixture into the almond/cocoa/sugar paste. Once incorporated, gently fold in the remaining egg whites.

6. Fill a piping bag with the macaron mixture, and cut off 1cm from the end (or use a large round nozzle). Grease and line three baking trays with parchment paper and hold the piping bag vertically above where you want to pipe. Pipe 3cm lines of macarons, leaving at least 2cm between each macaron. 

7. Tap the tray on the surface a few times, then leave at room temperature for 30 minutes to an hour, until a "skin" has formed on the macarons - this means that when you gently touch the macaron, no mixture goes on your finger.

8. Preheat the oven to 170c (150c fan)/ 340F/ gas mark 3. Before you place the baking trays into the oven, tap the trays against the surface again. This gives the perfect "foot" of a macarons. Bake the macarons for 8-10 minutes - keep an eye on them after 8 minutes in case they are browning too much. Remove the macarons from the oven and transfer the macarons (with the baking paper still attached) to a wire rack to cool.

9. To make the peanut butter filling, sift the icing sugar into a mixing bowl. Add the peanut butter, softened butter, cream cheese and vanilla extract and beat until all of the sugar has been incorporated. If the mixture looks very stiff add a few teaspoons of milk. Transfer to a piping bag fitted with a large piping nozzle (a 1M large star nozzle would work well, or use a disposable piping bag and cut the end off about 1cm from the tip).

10. Make the liquid salted caramel. Pour the granulated sugar into a saucepan and place on a low heat. Keep an eye on the sugar, swirling the pan occasionally (but do not stir it!). After around 5 minutes, the sugar will be a light brown colour and be bubbling. 

11. Once brown take off the heat and add the butter. Whisk until melted, then pour in the cream. Whisk continuously. If the caramel becomes lumpy, place back on a low heat and whisk until the caramel has dissolved.

12. Pour the caramel sauce through a sieve into a bowl and allow to cool (for at least 10-15 minutes).

13. Once the macarons are cooled, start the assembly by flipping half over so that their bases point upwards.

14. Pipe a line of buttercream over each macaron that has been flipped.

15. Pour the caramel into another piping bag fitted with a small piping nozzle (a No.1 wilton tip/standard piping nozzle will work). Pipe a small amount of caramel over the "peanut buttercream". Top with a non-flipped macaron shell.

16. Pipe the remaining caramel sauce over the macarons.

17. Enjoy! (They are best eaten the next day so can be fully enjoyed then).

Festive Cinnamon-spiced Macarons

Here's a recipe for macarons, a french almond biscuit/pastry typically sandwiched together with a creamy filling. They are notoriously tricky to bake (and oddly expensive to buy) so I thought I'd give them a go.

I'm not going to lie - it took a few attempts to get these working. However, yesterday I found success and I'll share my tips with you guys :) Ideally you want to end up with biscuits that are slightly shiny, with no cracks. They're crisp on the outside but have a light soft texture in the middle.

I coloured mine a light yellow colour, and filled them with a cinnamon buttercream, which I also lightly spiced with ginger. Think the warming inside of a cinnamon swirl.

The end results were bliss (if not perfectly even in size), and I'd really recommend giving them a go.

They would make the perfect addition to a Christmas food hamper, and would really impress whoever you were giving them too :)

The only equipment you need is a baking tray and a piping bag - no special nozzles required!

They're written in the recipe but here are the key points where mistakes could be made:

1. Use free-range egg whites. Caged eggs give worse meringues in my experience, and this is crucial for a good macarons.
2. Grind the almonds with the icing sugar, and sieve them. Not doing this can lead to grainy-ness and an uneven bake.
3. When whisking the meringue (the meringue is used to make the macarons), make sure the peaks are stiff!
4. Leave the piped macarons until a skin forms. Not doing this will lead to cracking.
5. Gently sandwich two macarons together - they are delicate creatures.

Makes 12 (24 biscuits sandwiched together)

Ingredients:

For the macarons:

• 125g (1 cup) ground almonds
• 125g (1 & 1/4 cups) icing sugar
• 90g (around 3 medium eggs, or 6 tbsp) free-range egg whites (use the best quality egg whites you can, and make sure they're as fresh as possible)
• 2 tbsp water
• 110g (1/2 cup) caster sugar
• Concentrated gel food colouring (optional, I used an ivory concentrated gel)

For the buttercream:

• 100g (1/2 cup minus 1 tbsp) softened butter
• 200g (2 cups) icing sugar
• 1-2 tbsp ground cinnamon (to taste)
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1-2 tbsp milk

Method:

1. Whizz the ground almonds and icing sugar in a food processor (or a high-speed blender such as a Nutribullet) until very fine. Pass the mixture through a sieve into a medium mixing bowl.

2. Add 40g (about 1 & 1/3 medium, or 2 tbsp & 2 tsp) egg whites to the ground almonds/icing sugar, and beat to form a paste.

3. Heat the caster sugar and water in a saucepan gently until the sugar has melted. Bring to the boil and heat until a sugar thermometer reads 115c/240f.

4. Meanwhile, in a completely grease free bowl (I find glass bowls work best), whisk 50g (about 1 & 2/3 medium) egg whites until they are very frothy, and a soft peak is formed when the whisk is lifted from the mixture. (Soft peak means that the mixture forms a tip that topples over to one side).
I used an electric hand whisk for this, but a whisk attachment on an electric mixer would work well too. I wouldn't recommend doing this by hand unless you want a bicep workout.

5. Pour the hot sugar syrup into the egg whites, whisking constantly. Keep whisking until the mixture becomes glossy, and stiff peaks form when the whisk is lifted from the mixture (by stiff peak, I mean that a peak is formed when the whisk is lifted, which does not topple over to one side). BE PATIENT at this stage - it will probably take 5-10 minutes. You have effectively made an Italian meringue at this stage.

6. Colour the egg white/sugar meringue mixture to your desired shade.

7. Add a tablespoon of the meringue to the almond/icing sugar/egg paster, and beat well to loosen the mixture. Gently fold in the remaining meringue mixture, until the meringue is evenly distributed. Fill a piping bag, and cut off 1cm from the end.

8. Place a small amount of macaron mixture onto each corner of two baking trays, and line the trays with  baking parchment.

9. Pipe 4cm circles onto the tray. Hold the piping bag directly above where you want to pipe, and pipe enough mixture to make a 4cm circle. To make things more consistent (I didn't do this but it's a good idea to do if you have time), draw 4cm circles on the opposite side of the greaseproof paper, and use this as a guide to make equal macarons.

10. Repeat with the rest of the mixture, leaving a 2cm/1/2 inch gap between each macaron.

11. You should see a tip on each macaron, left by the piping bag. Gently pick up and drop the baking trays on the surface. This allows the macarons to settle.

12. Preheat the oven to 170c (150c fan)/325f/Gas mark 3.

12. Leave the macarons for 30 minutes to 1 hour, until a skin has formed on the macarons. You can test this by lightly pressing a macaron - if the mixture doesn't stick to your finger, the skin has formed.

13. Bake the macarons for 8-10 minutes until they are firm. Keep a close eye on them as they burn quickly.

14. Take the baking parchment carrying the macarons off the trays and leave the macarons to cool fully. Then carefully peel the macarons from the baking paper.

15. Make the buttercream. Place the butter in a medium mixing bowl, and beat until very soft. Sift in the icing sugar, and then add the ground cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger. Add a tablespoon of milk, and then start to cream the butter into the icing sugar with a wooden spoon. Keep beating until the mixture is smooth and slowly drops off the spoon when lifted from the bowl. Add drops of milk if the mixture is too stiff.

16. Taste the buttercream, and add more cinnamon if desired. Spoon into a piping bag.

17. Flip half of the macarons over and pipe buttercream onto each flipped base. Gently press a non-flipped base onto the buttercream-covered macarons.

18. To present my macarons I used the remaining buttercream to stick the macarons in two lines. These would also look beautiful in a box or gift bag.

19. Enjoy!!

Sticky Toffee Pudding Traybake

Who doesn’t adore sticky toffee pudding?? It’s one of the best british classics I can think of. This pudding can be served warm with ice cream or single cream, or cold as a cake. You could even jazz it up with some buttercream and turn it into a fab birthday cake!

Makes 1 20x20cm cake

Ingredients:

For the cake:

• 25g butter (softened) or margarine
• 85g light brown soft sugar
• 1 tbsp golden syrup
• 1 egg
• 100g self-raising flour
• 100g pitted dates, roughly chopped
• 145ml weak black tea (hot)
• ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
• ½ tsp vanilla extract

For the sauce:

• 55ml double cream
• 25g butter
• 25g light brown soft sugar
• 2 tbsp golden syrup

Method:

1. Preheat  your oven to 200c/180c fan/ gas mark 6. Grease and line a 20cm square cake tin with greaseproof paper.

2. Cream together the butter/margarine and brown sugar with a wooden spoon until light and fluffy, and no obvious brown speckles of sugar can be seen.

3. Beat in the golden syrup and egg with one tablespoon of the flour.

4. Sift the remainder of the flour into the bowl and fold in (until no more flour can be seen).

5. Meanwhile blend the dates with the tea in a food processor. Add the vanilla extract and bicarbonate of soda to the dates and mix.

6. Add the date mixture to the pudding batter, and fold in. Pour into the prepared tin and bake for 20-25 minutes, until well risen, golden brown, and springy to the touch.

7. Whilst the pudding is baking, make the sauce. In a medium pan add the cream, butter, brown sugar and golden syrup. Heat gently, stirring constantly, until the butter has melted.

8. Boil for a couple of minutes, then take off the heat and wait until the pudding has baked.

9. Once the pudding it out of the oven,  use a fork or skewer to poke holes over the top of the cake. Pour over the toffee sauce evenly (if this has thickened upon cooling, heat for a minute in the pan to loosen in).

10. If serving warm, wait 5-10 minutes before taking out of the tin, slicing, and serving with ice cream or single cream.

11.Enjoy.

Store-cupboard Fudgy Chocolate and Peanut Butter Brownies

So, what do you do when you're craving brownies but don't have bars of chocolate in the cupboard? This has happened to me on several occasions, so I've been experimenting to bake a brownie recipe  using cocoa powder in place of chocolate.
The last time I made them I went one step further, and added peanut butter to the mixture before baking.

Result: These brownies taste fantastically chocolaty and gooey, with a grown-up nutty aftertaste. I would highly recommend people try out this recipe and let me know your results!

This recipe makes approximately 16 squares.


Ingredients:

• 145g butter
  
• 250g granulated sugar
  
• 75g cocoa powder
  
• 65g plain flour
  
• 2 eggs
  
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
  
• ¼ tsp salt
  
• 4 tbsp smooth peanut butter*
  
  

Method:

1. Preheat your oven to 160c/gas mark 3 /325F. Line a 19cm square tin with greaseproof paper, and dust with cocoa powder (I found that this brownie mixture tends to stick to the greaseproof paper without this dusting).
2. Heat the butter, granulated sugar and cocoa powder in a pan. At first it will look too dry, but stirring, as the butter will melt and a dark chocolaty liquid will form. Take off the heat and leave to cool for a few minutes.
   
   
   
   
   

3. Add the eggs, plain flour, vanilla extract and salt, and mix in. I add the eggs with the flour just in case the pan was still hot (we don't want the eggs to cook yet). Once well mixed pour into the prepared pan.

4.  Melt the peanut butter in the microwave. Once liquid drizzle over the top of the brownie, and gently swirl into the brownie (so that a peanut butter ripple is formed). I found 4 tsbp of peanut butter plenty, but if you are a peanut butter addict add more, and if you're not a fan, the brownies taste great without too.
5. Bake for around 20-25 minutes. It is cooked when you take it out of the oven and shake the tin a little – there should be a little wobble right in the center of the brownie but no more.
   

6. Leave to cool before taking out of the tin and cutting in to squares.
   

* You would also get great results using crunchy peanut butter,but ripple it through the brownie before placing it in the tin (to get peanut chunks throughout the brownie).