Fat Friday #31 Basic Brioche

Welcome to Fat Friday number 31! Its been 31 weeks of Fat Friday, this week I'm looking at a sweet bread called Broiche. This is a sweet enriched bread which originated in France. Its consumed at breakfast and can be baked with a variety of fillings. This bread is easy to make but its very time consuming, so make sure you are around to complete the process.

 

brioche dough (recipe from Great British Bake Off Showstoppers by Linda Collister):

·375g strong bread flour, plus lots of extra for dusting
·1 teaspoon seasalt flakes, crushed
·1 tablespoon caster sugar
·1x 7g fast action yeast
·4 tablespoons milk, chilled
·4 large eggs, chilled
·175g unsalted butter, diced

Equipment:

·Bowl
·(optional hand mixer with the dough hook attached)
·450g loaf tin lined with baking paper
·Large plastic bag
·Pastry brush
·Knife
·Wire rack
·Jug
·Fork
Method:

 

1.Mix together the flour, salt, sugar and dried yeast in a bowl. Combine with your hand.
2.    Add the milk and eggs to the flour and work in with your hand. Or use a mixer with a dough hook attachment to make a soft and sticky dough.
3.    Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 10 minutes by hand (or an extra 6 minutes in a mixer). 
4.    Start to work in the butter, a few pieces at a time, to make a soft and still sticky dough.

5.    Scrape the dough into a mixing bowl and place in a large plastic bag. Place the dough into the fridge for 1-2 hours until about double in size.
6.    Flour your hands and punch the dough down, cover again and chill for another hour. After the hour the dough should be ready to shape.

 

Basic loaf
1.Turn out the chilled dough and, with floury fingers, flatten out to a rectangle shape.

2.Roll up from a short end and pinch the seal. Place the seal at the bottom of the loaf tin. Slip the tin into a large plastic bag and pop in a warm place to rise for about 1-1 and 30 minutes, until doubled in size.
3.Towards the end of rising, put the oven on 220C/425F/Gas Mark 7.
4.Uncover the brioche and lightly brush the top with beaten egg to glaze.
5.Bake for 15 minutes. Then reduce the oven temperature to 180c/350f/ Gas Mark 4 and bake for a further 25-30 minutes until a deep golden brown.
6.Cool completely on a wire rack before slicing.

Have an excellent weekend!

Another Event?! Chimes Pop Up!

Last Saturday, myself and two good friends of mine were selling sweets to the general public at the Mrs H Vintage Event at Warsash. We got quite a few photos of the yumminess. The other girls and I had such a great day meeting and greeting people and selling sweets. Feedback was all positive and people loved enjoyed their sugar rush.

Did you see the event on facebook? Don't worry if you missed it because on Thursday Cake by Chloe and Cupcakes, Cake and Passion will be hosting a pop up event at Chimes Restaurant in Highbury College Portsmouth. We will be selling more sweet treats. Check out the link here from more information and we hope to see you Thursday!

See you on Fat Friday!

Fat Friday #30 Cinnamon Breakfast Loaf

Can you believe that its been a straight 30 weeks since I've been doing Fat Fridays? Its pretty unbelievable, but the idea would never have been conceived if it wasn't for my good friend Lucy Madz. She was the one who really came up with Fat Fridays, or as it was known back when we were working together, Fat F**k Fridays... I'm glad the name was changed...

Anyway, the reason why I'm speaking about her is that, she (and her boyfriend) are coming over to Portsmouth to see me and Rob. It's been such a long time since we've seen each other, so I'm super excited. In honour of Lucy and Ben's arrival, I'm making a breakfast loaf to serve, in case they fancy something sweet early in the morning.

*Edit- Poor Lucy is feeling sick this week, so our catch up weekend has been postponed. But not to worry, this loaf freezes really well and will be ready to serve at a later date* 

This loaf is easy once you've mastered the basic kneading. Its great on its own with a little butter or made into French toast!

Recipe: Makes 1 loaf (Recipe adapted from Great British Bake Off Showstoppers by Linda Collister)

Bread dough:

·       500g strong bread flour
·       1 ½ teaspoon seasalt flakes, crushed
·       2 tablespoons caster sugar
·       1x 7g fast action yeast
·       125ml milk
·       50g unsalted butter
·       1 large egg

Filling:

·       50g caster sugar
·       1 teaspoon strong bread flour
·       1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

To Finish:

·       Milk to brush on the loaf
·       Small knob of butter

Equipment:

·       A greased and lined loaf tin
·       Saucepan
·       Bowl
·       Fork
·       Rolling pin
·       Small bowl
·       Pastry brush
·       Plastic bag
·       Wire rack
 
Method:
1.Mix together the flour, salt, sugar and dried yeast in a bowl.
2.Gently warm the milk and butter in a saucepan, until melted. Take off the heat.
3.Add the egg to the milk, and beat with fork until combined.
4.Pour the milk mixture to the dry ingredients and work with your hands or with a mixer.
5.Knead for 10 minutes by hand or 5 minutes by mixer with the dough hook attachment until smooth and pliable.
6.Return to a bowl, cover with cling film and leave for about an hour in a warm place. At this point you can make the filling.
7.After an hour, punch the dough and turn out on a lightly knead for a few seconds.
8.Pat out until a rough rectangle, roughly about 2mm thick. Cover with cling film and leave to relax for 5 minutes.
9.Flour a rolling pin and roll out the dough to a rectangle as wide as the length of the tin and about 50cm long.
10. Brush the dough with milk, then sprinkle with the cinnamon filling in an even layer, leaving a small 1cm boarder.
11.Roll up the dough, neatly and tightly as you can.
12. Lift the dough into the loaf tin, gently tucking in the ends under to make a neat shape. Pop the tin into a small plastic bag, trying to not to let the plastic bag touch the dough. Leave to rise as before until just doubled. Towards the end pop the oven onto Preheat on 180C/350F/Gas Mark 4.
13. Uncover the dough and brush lightly with milk. Bake for about 35 minutes or until a golden brown.
14. Transfer the bread onto a wire rack and rub the butter over the top to give a glossy finish.

For the filling:

1.    Mix the sugar, flour, and cinnamon in a small bowl.  DONE!

Don't forget I'm going to be at Mrs H Vintage Fair in Warsash in the Victory Hall tomorrow, if you like sugary treats feel free to pop on by and say hello! Me and My 2 friends will be on the sweetie stall called Cake by Chloe. Have a great weekend folks!

Mrs H Vintage Fair

Just a quick post to let you folks know that, this Saturday (21st Saturday 2015), I'm going to be in a vintage style dress selling you beautiful folks, fudge, toffee, meringues and chocolate for you to consume and enjoy. Yups, you'll have the opportunity to met the gal behind Cupcakes, Cake and Passion BUT not only that you'll be supporting a really amazing cake business run by a lovely friend of mine. The business is called Cake by Chloe. I'll be with the mastermind behind the business, Chloe herself (ekk!) and our friend Evan.

Oh I forgot to mention by the way that we made everything. All of the sweets will be homemade, fresh and so mouth-wateringly good. We snagged some of the maple pecan fudge and erg... so good!! Definitely grab that because, wow, it is so creamy and sweet. Ok enough about fudge! Even though it might be the best fudge ever (just saying...). Also, if she will allow me, I'll try to update on social media as much as I can including twitter and instagram on the day.

You will be supporting a great business run by very talented cake baker and decorator, so why not pop over and say hello? Entry is £1.50 and you get a tea or coffee. We all hope to see you there. Here is the link to the event and don't forget to give Chloe's business page visit as well as the Mrs H Vintage event page too.
Hope to see you there!

Event Information Page
Cake by Chloe
Mrs H Vintage Event

Fat Friday #29 Quick Valentine Hearts (plus more 4 bonus cheap valentine ideas)

Its Friday the 13th and your forgot Valentines day? Unlucky huh? Opps you're in trouble now, well don't worry. You've got just over 12 hours to do something special. This weeks Fat Friday is a quick and fast Valentine recipe to impress your date. You can bake them a cake or use a plain shop bought cake if your super stretched for time. But by decorating with dark velvety ganche, you'll add a special touch to your cake. Also featured in this post are 4 more cheap and cost effective ways to spend Valentines day!

Heart Shaped Cake covered with chocolate ganche recipe:
Your sweethearts favourite cake baked into a square tin: Try using one of these recipes:
Salted Caramel Brownie
Red Velvet Cake
Blondies

Chocolate ganche recipe (my own)

• 200g dark chocolate
• 285g double cream

Equipment:

• The baking equipment needed or a pre-made cake to cut
• Saucepan
• Wooden spoon
• Heatproof bowl
• Cranked palette knife or plain knife for spreading ganche
• heart shaped cutter
• Sharp knife

1. Bake your huni buni their favourite cake (Robs favourite is Salted Caramel Brownie) and let it cool completely.
2. Once cold, using a heart cookie cutter, cut out a heart shape, using a sharp knife. You should be left with lots of yummy off cuts and heart shaped mini cakes.
3. To make the ganche, heat up the double cream in a saucepan until its hot but not to boiling point.
4. Pour the hot cream on the dark chocolate and mix in until combined with a wooden spoon.
5. Once thickened up, spread on top of each heart and smooth until the sides and top are evenly coated.
6. Place your coated hearts in the fridge and serve with raspberries or strawberries and ice cream or whipped cream.

Other great (cost effective) valentine ideas
1. Create a date night jar- Grab a small jar and a some paper and write down some suggestions for a perfect day between you and your partner. You can class them by price or location if you like. Fold them up and place them in the jar. You can decorate your jar with glitter, sequins or anything you see fit.
2. Lazy meal deal- Many supermarkets now offer Valentine Meal deals, in which you pay, lets say £20 for a 3 course meal and wine. This is a cheap alternative to a meal out. Shop around the supermarkets for the best deals. Most of the time the meal deals are a 'throw in the oven' type of meals ensuring that you and your other half can enjoy some time together.
3. The scenic route- Do you have a park or a beach near you? Take a walk together without your mobile phone (or at least on silent) so your not disturbed. Get re-acquainted with your other half.
4. Movie night in- Grab a cute jar/box, add popcorn, crisps, a bad for you cheesy dip, chocolates, fizzy drinks and a couple of decent films. Instant night in, plus a great gift! Get films that you and your other half will really enjoy and veg out on the sofa.  

Have a Happy Valentines Day whatever your doing!

Fat Friday #28 Gluten Free Raspberry Love Hearts

It's a week and a day until dreaded Valentines day. I'm sure you know how I feel about Valentines day here. Erg, but its a good excuse to bake cute heart shaped things, such as this weeks Fat Friday. We're looking at gluten free raspberry love hearts. You can make them with normal plain flour, but I chose to use gluten free flour to use it up. These are great on there own or served with ice cream or whipped cream as a dessert. The recipe is easy to make so you can make them up to the day before as a surprise for your valentine. Or you can scoff them yourself. Either way!

 

Biscuit recipe (Recipe adapted from The Great British Bake off Showstoppers by Linda Collister):

·       100g ground almonds

·       200g Gluten free plain flour (I used Dove brand), sifted

·       80g icing sugar

·       Pinch of salt

·       125g unsalted butter, diced and chilled

·       3 large egg yolks

Raspberry filling:

·       200g fresh raspberries

·       2 teaspoons cornflour

·       3 tablespoons icing sugar, plus a extra for dusting

Equipment:

·       Bowl

·       Sieve

·       Saucepan

·       Heatproof bowl

·       Clingfilm

·       8cm heart cookie cutter

·       Smaller heart cookie cutter

·       Baking sheet lined with baking parchment x 2

·       Rolling pin

Biscuit Method:
1.    Put the almonds, flour, salt and icing sugar into a bowl. Add the butter and rub into the dry ingredients until crumbly.
2.    Add the egg yolks until the mixture forms a dough. Leave in the fridge for 15 minutes.
3.    Roll out the dough until 2mm thickness on a lightly floured surface. Cut out the heart shapes, then use the smaller cutter to cut out the middle.
4.    Gather up the trimmings, re-roll and repeat until no more dough is left. Make 12 hearts and 12 smaller hearts.
5.    Place the hearts on a baking sheet and chill in the fridge for another 15 minutes.
6.    Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas Mark 4. Bake for 12 minutes until lightly coloured.
7.    Leave the biscuits on the baking sheets for 10 minutes to cool. Transfer to wire rack.

Filling Method:
1.    Put the raspberries, icing sugar and cornflour in saucepan on a medium heat.
2.    Stir gently until the juices start to run.
3.    Bring to the boil and simmer for 2 minutes, stirring until thick.
4.    Pour into a heatproof bowl to cool.

To finish:

1.    Spread the cold raspberry filling over the uncut biscuits, top with an uncut biscuit.

2.    Dust with icing sugar and consume with a loved one or stuff by yourself while watching a tacky rom-com or a horror film each to their own.

If you want to see some more loved up recipes try these:
Anti Valentines Gluten Free Zombie Biscuits
Limoncello truffles
Valentines heart shaped biscuits

Have a great weekend and feel the lurve!