Baking | Sticky Toffee Loaf

Sticky toffee loaf

Baking | Garlic, Herb & Cheese Scones

Oh hii. It's been a few weeks since my last post as I have been catering some summer events and it has been a busy July and August.

Here is my recipe for Cheese Scones with Garlic & Herbs. I have to admit after baking so many I am now over them and it will be a good while before I make or eat another scone but they were delicious.

INGREDIENTS

6 oz Self Raising Flour

NO BAKING POWDER (Optional 1 Teaspoon)

1oz Butter, soft at room temperature

Pinch of Cayenne Pepper

1 tsp Mustard Powder

1 Teaspoon of dried oregano

1 clove of minced / crushed garlic

3 oz Strong Grated Cheddar Cheese

1 oz Cheddar Cheese VERY FINELY GRATED

1 Large Free Range Egg

2 Tablespoons of Milk (Plus more as the wetter the better..)

This makes 5 or 6 Scones

Use a 2 & 1/4 inch (2.5 cm) Cutter

HOW

Sieve the flour and add the butter using fairy fingers or rub it in so you get fine breadcrumb texture.

Add the cayenne and the mustard powder. Milled black pepper too if you wish

Add 1 Teaspoon of dried oregano

Add the 3 oz of cheese and mix with a fork.

Add the liquid to the dry ingredients. Beat the egg with 2 tablespoons of milk.

Add 1 clove of minced / crushed garlic

Flour differs, some brands and types require more liquid as it is more absorbent.

Use a fork to combine and then finish off with your hands.

You are after a soft dough that leaves the bowl clean but I always find that the damp wetter dough creates a MUCH better scone.

Removing the baking powder from the recipe also creates a lighter cheese scone... not sure why.

Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface.

(See the trick I suggest below)

If you're not doing the cheese-rolling out trick then simply brush the tops of the scones with a little milk and then sprinkle the remaining cheese on top of each scone before putting into the oven.

I like to make my scones really tall and small, they are generally the same height as my cutter which is 1 inch (2.5cm)

DO NOT ROLL THEM TOO THIN, THICKER THE BETTER!

Roll them out to no less than 1 inch thick (2.5cm -ish)

Use a ruler if you want.

REALLY HOT OVEN, MAKE SURE YOU PRE HEAT THE OVEN

HIGHEST SHELF, GAS MARK 7, 425 DEGREES.

15-20 MINUTES TO COOK. TAP THE BOTTOMS AND THEY SHOULD SOUND HOLLOW WITH A CRUST

Cool on a wire rack and they are best served immediately with proper butter

TRICK

For a golden and perfect cheese crust, when you are rolling out the dough, sprinkle some very finely grated cheese onto the dough as you are rolling, both on the top and bottom. It creates a perfect golden appearance.

I discovered this trick after running out of flour to flour the surface once I had baked 800 scones or so, forcing myself to do "just one last batch" I realised my dough was very wet (how I like it to be) and there was NO WAY it would have rolled out so I rolled it onto finely grated cheddar cheese and they were my best ever batch.

Baking | Chocolate & Raspberry Trifle (a modified Delia Smith recipe)

INGREDIENTS

4 x DOUBLE CHOCOLATE CHIP MUFFINS

200g DARK CHOCOLATE

1 x PUNNET OF RASPBERRIES

2 x TABLESPOONS RASPBERRY JAM

2-3 x TABLESPOONS CHERRY BRANDY (OR ANY BOOZE)

1 x PINT BIRDS CUSTARD MADE UP (SEE HOW BELOW)

1 x PACKET OF FULL FAT PHILADELPHIA OR SIMILAR CREAM CHEESE

1 x 275ML POT OF DOUBLE CREAM

YOU WILL NEED A SERVING DISH OF SOME KIND, 4 PINT CAPACITY OR SIMILAR, OR PUT IN MUGS OR GLASSES IN PORTIONS, RAMEKINS ETC...

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How to make Bird's Custard Powder on the hob | www.birdscustard.co.uk

1. Put 2 tablespoons (35g) of custard powder and 1-2 tablespoons (15g - 35g) of sugar in a basin.

2. Mix into a smooth paste with a little (approx. 2 tablespoons) milk taken from 1 pint (568ml)

3. Heat the remaining milk to nearly boiling and pour onto the custard mix, stirring well.

4. Return to the saucepan and bring to the boil over a gentle heat, stirring continuously

HOW

If you don’t have ready-made custard, make up a pint of birds custard and leave to cool completely...

Slice the chocolate muffins up in half and spread with the raspberry jam and stick the slices back together then chop them again into 4 pieces and lie them in the bottom of the trifle bowl of dish you are using.

Stab the muffin with a fork and pour the booze on top.

Sprinkle the raspberries on the muffin.

Melt the chocolate in a bain-marie and put to one side to cool slightly.

Put the cream cheese in a bowl and beat it with an electric whisk. Add the cold custard and whisk them together. Then add the cooled, melted chocolate and whisk together.

Pour the whole chocolate concoction over the muffins and raspberries.

Leave to set slightly.

Whip the double cream to a floppy stage, not too thick and spread onto the set chocolate custard mixture.

Grate the remaining chocolate and sprinkle on the top.

Chill in the fridge until serving. 

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This is a modified version of Delia Smith's "Cheat's Chocolate Trifle" which I was asked to make for someone.

I couldn't find the cherries and bought all the ingredients from the local corner shop because it was so last minute, the shop didn't sell mascapone or fresh ready made custard so I improvised.

I also used raspberry jam instead of morello cherry conserve and cherry brandy instead of the alcohol Delia suggests... so overall a different recipe all together!

It turned out very well and a very different final result to the cherry trifle which is decadent and amazing. However I have modified that recipe too so I should really post that one on here too soon!

Baking | Salted Caramel & Chocolate Cake

Baking | Slutty Brownie

This was ridiculous. It wasn't even enjoyable because it was too sweet, too much of a novelty and far too much going on.

I made it for my birthday so I'm glad I didn't make it for anyone else!

I ate half a slice and that was probably 500 calories, ugh.

I'm glad I tested it using 2 box mixes of cookie and brownie and I didn't waste decent ingredients.

I recommend it for the novelty and maybe for a party but none of my family liked them as they are a bit fussy about baked treats, they mainly prefer traditional flavours and nothing too sweet...

I wouldn't bother again, I do prefer more natural bakes.

Cake Decoration | Dried Pineapple Flowers

This is easy but time consuming, so good if you've got the evening at home or all day. 

I think I originally found a photo of these on Pinterest or Twitter, then I experimented 2 or 3 times to work out how to do it.

Pre-heat the oven to Gas Mark 1

Get a ripe pineapple

Get a decent large serrated bread knife

Slice the ends off 

Slice the skin off

Then slice really thin slices, as thin as you can. I wanted to use a mandolin but it's not wide enough for a pineapple, maybe other brands are wider so give it a go.

When you have sliced up as many "flowers" as you want, or the whole pineapple, grab the baking tray.

If you have a non-stick muffin tin, then you won't need to oil it, otherwise spray it with oil or very lightly oil with olive oil. 

Lay the pineapple slices in the holes

If you need to, you can use 2 or 3 muffin tins on different shelves in the oven.

Leave them in the oven for 30 minutes, then check, rotate the pan, set the timer got 30 minutes again. Repeat.

Should take 2 hours, or about that, after 2 hours turn the oven off and leave them in there to cool down and dry out more. 

Baking | Selling cakes to angry people

One of the most ridiculous things to happen when serving people cake has been the time we got shouted at quite aggressively that the gooey, decadent chocolate brownie we had been selling at a fete, was not the world's best brownie.

We advertised on a chalk board that we were selling the worlds best brownie and you could have it cold or warmed with fresh whipped Isle of Wight cream. It's an incredible brownie. It is my standby birthday present if I forget and people request I make it. 

It's the recipe that won an award so we were not lying or exaggerating. We told people to make conversation that they could find the recipe online and it's really quite simple, it was fun! 

We also had to explain what "mocha" was quite a few times (what is moo-ch-cha cake?) and we were asked if our tea urn was a doughnut fryer... err no. It's a tea urn. It heats water like a kettle.

Anyway. I was making someone a cup of tea with the tea urn, standing on the slightly damp grass in our marquee when I heard someone shout "I demand to see who is in charge of this... of this organisation" she sounded really angry and my heart sank, what had I done? Maybe she had tripped on the marquee's guide ropes? Was she from environmental health and I was doing something illegal and dangerous? 

I turned around quickly and gave the drinks I was making to my customer who smirked at me and walked away. I walked over the the lady at the counter and said I am running the cake stall if that's what you mean?

She was really angry. 

She was agitated and hopping from foot to foot. She had her handbag clutched to her side and was holding a brownie on a paper plate with a wooden fork stabbed into it, standing up in protest but wobbling due to the gooey brownie, the paper plate and the fact the lady was hopping mad.

She thrust the plate at me, almost throwing it, I grabbed it so it didn't fall to the floor and said I'm terribly sorry, how can I help? 

She shouted, actually SHOUTED at me:

"THIS IS NOT THE WORLDS BEST BROWNIE" 

Not quite understanding and taking a while to process this statement I said oh, umm sorry is it not? I said "the recipe won an award for the worlds best brownie last year. I will happily give you a refund if you're not happy."

She said in a clipped sentence IT. IS. NOT. COOKED. and snatched the plate back from me and then started using the fork to repeatedly smear the uneaten brownie onto the plate with the fork in order to prove that it wasn't cooked. Nice.

I glanced at my friends who were helping serve drinks and cake, the were staring in disbelief. 

Well I of course said that this brownie is similar to a chocolate fondant, it is cooked for 40 minutes but is meant to be left slightly soft in the middle as traditionally brownies are slightly gooey with firm, chewy edges. 

Now this lady wasn't just complaining to get her money back, she was enraged.

I don't understand why she was so very angry and had taken the brownie as a personal insult. 

Maybe she was having a bad day or something, you don't know what people are going though for them to suddenly snap at something that seems random to you.

She shouted again, obviously feeling like we weren't understanding.

I AM TELLING YOU I AM A RETIRED HOME ECONOMICS TEACHER AND THIS IS COMPLETELY RAW. I said quietly, well it's not completely raw, it has been cooked in the oven, you can see it's been cooked, it's just how it's meant to be. It's an American brownie, not a sponge cake. Like a melt-in -the-middle chocolate pudding?

She didn't even respond. She just looked at us silently still fuming and bright red in the face and stormed off clutching her £3.

Please bear in mind we were a marquee in a field at a fete. We weren't a business trying to con anyone, we were raising money for charity and providing people with hot drinks and cakes so they could sit down, feed babies and be under shelter of the marquee.