Fat Friday #37 Sacher Torte

First of all Happy Birthday Sofia!! Its her birthday and it falls on a Fat Friday which is totally awesome! So happy birthday Sof! I'm sure she would approve of a dark chocolate sacher torte. Its more like a brownie then a cake, which makes it horrid to cut, but with the dark glaze it tastes amazing. Its not a cake that you can keep moonching on, its a rich cake so take it easy. But it IS Fat Friday so go for it!

Torte (recipe kindly provided by my pastry tutor) ingredients:

• 6oz bitter chocolate
• 3oz butter
• 4 egg yolks
• 4oz sugar
• 5 egg whites
•  ¼ teaspoon salt
• 1/3 cup of flour
•  A little apricot jam to brush on the cake and put in the middle of the cake

Glaze Ingredients:

• 6oz dark chocolate
• 1oz butter
• 2oz double cream
• Plus a little extra melted white chocolate or milk if you like to pipe on top of the cake.

Equipment:

• Whisk/handwhisk
• Heatproof bowl
• Pan of hot water
• Wooden spoon
• 9 inch cake tin lined with silicone paper
• Pastry brush
• Piping bag
• Serrated knife

Cake Method:

1. Preheat oven to 180c/Gas Mark 4/350f.
2. Combine the chocolate and butter and melt over a pan of water
3.Whisk the yolks with 1oz of the sugar until pale.
4.Beat the egg and sugar mixture into the melted chocolate.
5.Whisk the egg whites with the remaining sugar to create a meringue.
6.Combine 1/3 of the meringue to the chocolate then gently fold the remaining meringue.
7.Pour into a 9 inch cake tin and cook for 40 minutes. Once cooked leave to cool on a wire rack.
8.Cut into 2 layers with the serrated knife and, using a palette knife, spread a little layer with apricot jam. Assemble the cake back together and brush of the crumbs.

Glaze Method:

1.Combine the chocolate and butter and melt together.
2.Boil the cream and fold in the chocolate mixture.

To Complete:

1.Place the cake on top of the wire rack with a tray underneath to catch the glaze.
2.Using a spoon and a palette knife spread the glaze on the cake and let it drip down the sides of the cake. Wait until the glaze has set. 
3.Traditionally, you can pipe ‘Sacher’ on the top of the cake using extra chocolate and a piping bag.

Happy Birthday Sofia! Have a great weekend!

Happy Easter 2015

Happy Easter! Lent is over, so you can go back to eating chocolate, drinking or generally whatever you promised not to do for all of Lent. But now its over, so in order to celebrate "the day of guilt free Chocolate day" try these Easter recipes to get you in the mood. Or just eat a Lindt Rabbit, your choice.

Hot Cross Buns Cupcakes

Easter Lemon and Ginger Cupcakes

Simnel Cake

Steamed Lemon Pudding

Farewell Blondies
 
Have a wonderful Easter

Happy St Patricks Day 2015

Happy St Patricks Day Everyone! Whether you're Irish or not, you can celebrate in the form of baking one of these yummy recipes:

Chocolate Guinness Mini Cupcakes

 

St Patricks Day Pishachio Cupcakes and Soda Bread

Have a Guinness and pop a little of Mrs Brown on the TV. Have a great day!

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!

Fat Friday #27 Aztec Cookies

 Its been coffee mania at our house. My boyfriend and I have been consuming our weight in coffee, thanks to my new coffee machine. We've been trying to find excuses to make lattes and cappuccinos. So in honour of all things coffee related were making coffee cookies for Fat Friday. Not just coffee however, but with additional dark and white chocolate. Why the name? When you think of Aztec's dark chocolate and gold comes to mind, as well as the Road to El Dorado film. Also because why not? Its Fat Friday and cookies are what Dr Penny is prescribing after a hard week.

You can increase the caffeine hit, by adding an additional teaspoon of instant coffee or omit it all together if you don't like coffee.

Recipe: Makes 18 cookies (Recipe adapted from The Great British Bake Off Showstoppers by Linda Collister, Marry Berry & Paul Hollywood)

·       140g dark chocolate

·       2 teaspoons of instant coffee

·       65g unsalted butter

·       2 eggs

·       ½ teaspoons of vanilla extract

·       130g golden caster sugar

·       185g plain flour

·       1 teaspoon of baking powder

·       100g white chocolate, roughly chopped

·       Gold paint/glitter/dust

Equipment:

·       Mixing bowl x 2

·       Wooden spoon

·       Sieve

·       Saucepan

·       Heatproof bowl

·       Baking sheets lined with baking parchment x 2

·       Wire rack
·       Paintbrush (optional)

 

Method:

1.Sieve the flour and baking powder into a bowl.
2.Break the dark chocolate into pieces with the butter and instant coffee into a heatproof bowl.
3.Place in a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of barely simmering water. Stir occasionally until completely melted. Set aside to cool for about 5 minutes.
4.While the chocolate is melting, put the eggs, extract, salt and sugar into a bowl and mix with a wooden spoon until combined. Add the melted chocolate mixture and stir.
5.Sift in the flour and baking powder into the cookie dough and mix in with the wooden spoon.
6.Throw in the white chocolate and roughly mix in. (At this stage you can add the gold paint and mix a little)
7.Leave the mixture to firm up for about 15 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 160c/325f/Gas Mark 3.
8.Drop heaped tablespoons of the cookie dough onto the baking sheets (put 5 lumps of cookie dough on each sheet), well spaced to allow for spreading.
9.Bake for 15 minutes, when the cookies come out leave on the tray for about 5 minutes and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
10. Once ready to serve dust the cookies with gold glitter or dust for real Aztec feel. Or paint MORE gold paint on.

Have an excellent caffeine filled weekend!

Fat Friday #8 September Apple Cake

I think most people have recipes that they often go back to again and again. This one is a favourite autumnal recipe that I try and make whenever I have some cooking apples available. This apple cake is also great for on the go or even better when its heated and laced with custard. 

Erg...This is just sexy...

Recipe: Makes 1 large cake  (Recipe Adapted from Cooking Up a Storm by Sam Stern) 

·      75g unsalted butter, softened

·      175g golden caster sugar

·      2 large eggs

·      255g plain flour, sifted 

·      2 teaspoons baking powder

·      The zest from 1 lemon

·      675g/2 large cooking apples

·      1 tablespoon orange marmalade      

·      1/2 teaspoon ground mixed spice

·      1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

·      2 tablespoons whole milk

·      A little dusting of icing sugar to decorate

 Equipment:

·       1 large cake tin lined with baking paper

·       Electric mixer/hand-held electric whisk

·       Sieve

·       Peeler/Sharp knife

·       Knife

·       Tablespoon

·       Teaspoon

·       Grater

·       Wooden Spoon

 

1.  Pre heat the oven to 180c/350c/ Gas mark 4. Line the cake tin with the baking paper.

2. Peel, core and chop the apples into small chunks. 

3. Cream the butter and sugar together until pale, add the eggs and beat until all combined 

4. Sift the flour, baking powder and spices into the creamed mixture and fold until combined.   

5. Gently fold in the chopped apples, marmalade and lemon zest. Pour the batter into the cake tin.

6. Bake for 1 hour and test to see if the cake is cooked by prodding the middle with a clean knife. If it comes out clean, its done.

7. Place on a wire rack until completely cool and then dust a little icing sugar on top.    

Do you have go to recipes? What's your favourite autumnal recipe?

Anti Valentines Gluten-Free Zombie Cookies

It's a little late in February for a Valentines post but I don't like Valentines so there you go. I like the idea to dress up in red and eatting chocolates and sweets but thats it. I don't fancy overpaying for a meal that costs less any other day, but because its Valentines day its £60 for a sub-par 3 course meal and a cheap glass of plonk wine... Yeah no thanks... 

But I appreciate that people think its a real holiday and people really go above and beyond to celebrate. I made my feelings about Valentines clear last year in this post. 

Yet last year, I still fell into the trap of making treats for Valentines day. I caved into the pressure!! Damn you Valentines! Actually the truffles and biscuits were very tasty and it was nice to have the boyfriend around to fight over them with as well. 

So what happened this year? The weekend before Valentines I spent with my boyfriend because I have too many university deadlines and we don't really do Valentines. We prefer to make anytime we spend together special rather then just the one day. 

I had spent Valentines weekend alone eating chocolates and baking of course! This year I decided to channel my distaste for Valentines with these horrors:

They want your heart and your brains!!! 

Using the dough recipe and icing recipe on last years Valentine heart biscuits by using Fred biscuit cutters (which I got as an epic Christmas present. Thanks Ben and Lucy!) I was able to create some yummy biscuit creations, however they became really wet. At first I thought: Must have made the icing wrong. But I found out that one of my family members had stored the biscuits in a moist environment (it was stored in very cold conservatory). So that's why the biscuits ran but they just look more horrific, which is the look that is really on trend, well it is for zombies. 

My advice when you start these biscuits:

• Bake your biscuits and make sure they are cold or your icing will warp.
• While your biscuits are baking draw how you would like to decorate your biscuits. I really went to town with my doodles.
• Stick with 3-4 colours for your zombies. I used 5 colours and it got fiddley and annoying as I wanted it done by colour 3. 
• Do one colour at a time, one zombie at a time. I tried to fill in all the greens on all the zombies. That doesn't work and it will cause a mess. This is why 2 batches were made so you had the outlines icing and the filling icing

Recipe: Makes 20 biscuits

•     125g unsalted butter
•     125g caster sugar
•     1 medium egg
•     1 tsp vanilla extract
•     250g Doves Farm plain flour, sieved plus a little extra to flour your work surface.

Equipment:

•     Electric whisk
•     Bowl
•     Sieve
•     Undead Fread Cookie cutters
•     Speech Bubble cookie cutter (I don't have one so I used a paper template)
•     Whisk
•     Cling-film
•     Baking sheet lined with parchment
•     Rolling pin

   1.    In a bowl, beat the butter and sugar together until light and creamy.

   2.    Add the egg and vanilla extract and mix together.

3.    Sift half the flour into the bowl and mix in, then sift in the other half and mix again.

   4.    Knead the dough until smooth, then wrap in cling-film and let it rest in the freezer for an hour at least. 

   5.    Pre-heat your oven to 180c/350f/Gas Mark 4.

   6.    Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface to around 4mm thick and cut out into zombie shapes.

   7.    Place on a baking sheet lined with baking parchment and bake for 10-15 minutes until lightly golden brown. Allow to cool before decorating.

Recipe: Stiff peak royal icing

•     1kg icing sugar/confectioners’ sugar
•     4 medium egg whites
•     2 tsp lemon juice
•     Green, blue, black and red food colouring paste (you can leave a little icing white if you prefer)

Equipment:

•     Electric whisk
•     Bowl x 5
•     Sieve
•     10 disposable piping bags
•     Scissors
•     Forks x 5
•     Toothpick
•     Tissue
•     Tablespoons x 5
•     Zombie decorating sheet

1.    Sift the icing sugar into a bowl.

2.    Add the egg whites and the lemon juice to the icing sugar and mix together for about 5 minutes.

3.    The mix should look smooth and shiny. If it looks a little dry then add one drop of lemon juice and mix for a minute.

4.Once your icing makes a stiff peak put it in 4 clean bowls (5 if you keeping a little white icing).

5. Colour the different bowls different colours using the food colouring. (Leave one of the icing bowls coloured white)

6. Quarter fill, 4 (or 5) of the piping bags with each colour. Snip a small hole in the top of each bag.

7. Take a biscuit and starting from the top centre, pipe an different coloured outlines around the inside edge of the biscuit to the tip of the zombie. 

8.    Make sure there are no holes or missing gaps in the zombies, if there are fill them in with the correct colour.

9.    Once all the zombies have been outlined, add a teaspoon of water to each of the colours until the consistency of each icing is runny. Keep adding water, carefully, until it reaches running consistency but not watery.

10.  Fill each 4 (or 5) more disposable piping bags and cut small holes in the ends.

11.  Flood the inside of the biscuit starting at the edge and zigzagging up and down until completely flooded.

12. Once your speech bubbles are completely dry (AND ONLY WHEN COMPLETELY DRY!!) write your beloved a message.

Messages such as:

I love you for your brains

I fancy a bie... out of you...

Want dinner...want you!! BRAINS!

You can be very creative with this of course.

Happy Valentines!