The After Christmas Shock and January Blues

Happy 2013 Everyone! I hope you all had a fab New Year! 2012 was a truly exceptional year for me (and the rest of Great Britain. See the Olympics last year? That was us. *Cool shades on* Just saying.)
Sadly its that time of year again. The hype after Christmas is going down. Resolution's are getting us down. Going back to work is getting us down.

BUT NOT ME! I'VE GOT A NEW JOB! WOO! 
So January, do your worst!

What I'm hearing lately is all about diets.  
In my opinion. Diets are bad. You'd only get me on a diet if it was a dessert diet.
But if that's what you want to achieve then by all means go for it and I wish you the best of luck.
In fact, your'e more likely to lose weight if you start your diet during Spring months like March. As during the colder months like January, you still crave warm comforting food rather then diet food. Remember though no matter what shape you are, everyone is beautiful. 
I'm sick of hearing about stupid bloody diets. So enough of diets and onto some yummy foods.

My first pastry class of 2013 was based on my second assessment which will be next week which is so scary. But it has to be done and so I thought that I would put these recipes up. There ridiculously easy and simply tasty. 

These biscuits come up so lovely and soft. There easy to make and the flavour isn't overpowering. 

From the top, hazelnut biscuits, plain cupcakes and Jammie Dodgers made by me in pastry class

Recipe: Hazelnut Biscuits

•       115g butter, room temperature
•        75g icing sugar, sieved (plus extra for dusting)
•        115g Plain flour, sieved
•        75g Ground hazelnuts
•        1 egg yolk
•        Hazelnuts to decorate

Equipment:

•        Sieve
•        Scraper
•        Bowlx2
•        Mixer
•        Baking sheet lined with silicone paper
•        Knife

    1. Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.

    2. Beat in the flour, ground hazelnuts and egg yolk until evenly mixed.

    3. Roll into a sausage shape. Cut the sausage in half and then quarters. Then cut the quarters into 3 shapes.

    4. Place on tray. Bake for 10 minutes, 180c/350f/ Gas Mark 4

Sable (sab-lay) is French for sand. Not really for the texture but for the colour of the raw dough. Once again this recipe is easy and may look familiar. They bare a resemblance to Jammie Dodgers, which are sweet jam filled biscuits. But I always say, home-made is way better.

Jammie Dodgers packet from
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jammie_Dodgers

From the bottom: Jammie Dodgers aka Sable biscuits, Plain cupcakes and Hazel biscuits

Recipe: Sable Biscuits aka Home-made Jammie Dodgers. 

•        250g plain flour, sieved
•        200g butter, room temperature cut into cubes
•        100g icing sugar
•        Pinch of salt
•        2 egg yolks
•        Raspberry jam

Equipment:

•        Bowl
•        Baking tray lined with silicone paper
•        Various cutters
•        Rolling pin
•        Knife

    1. Place dry ingredients into bowl. Using fingertips, rub the ingredients together until mixture resembles breadcrumbs.

    2. Make a well in the centre and mix until the dough forms. Turn out onto a light floured work surface and roll out to a thickness of about 0.5cm.

    3. Cut with various cutters so that you have a base and a top like a sandwich, and place on a baking tray.

    4. Bake for 10 minutes or until light golden brown, 180c/350f/ Gas Mark 4.

    5. Place on a wire rack to cool. Once cooled spread jam on bases with a knife and place another biscuit on top. 

   

   If you'd like the basic cupcake recipe go to here.

   Bake on! and Happy New Year

   Penny 

Christmas Yule Log Cake

The Yule Log is an iconic cake which is often made at Christmas?
But why? Where on earth did someone get the idea to go: "Hey I'm going to make a chocolate cake shaped like a log!"

My homemade chocolate Yule log decorated with chocolate boiled buttercream and  marzipan holly leaves .

The origins of the Yule log began with the Celts. They believed that for 12 days at the end of December the sun stood still. If they could keep yule logs burning bright for those 12 days, then the sun would be persuaded to move again, to make the days grow longer.
The Victorians carried on this tradition but instead of letting the log burn for 12 days they let it burn for 12 hours. (Information taken from The Truth About Christmas by Philip Ardagh)
Of course, this tradition has been adapted into the chocolate swiss roll cake that we are familiar with today. Which works out loads better since its more fun to eat rather then burn.  

Yule log cakes are more fun to eat rather then burn.

Recipe: Sponge

• 115g/ 3 Eggs
• 70g water
• 100g plain flour
• 6g baking powder
• 150g caster sugar
• 2 g salt
• 25g flour
• 25g cocoa powder

Equipment:

• Sieve
• Wooden Spoon
•  Bowl
• Mixer
• Baking sheet lined with silicone paper
•    Kitchen towel
•    Mixer
•    Measuring jug

1.  Sieve the 100g of flour, baking powder, caster sugar, and salt together.

2.  Add the eggs into the dry ingredients and mix on a slow speed until the mixture comes together. Then mix on a high speed for 4 minutes. If the mixture looks a little firm, add the water. When you add the water mix for a further 1 minute.

3.  Sieve the cocoa into the cake mixture and fold in.

4.    Bake at 210c/425f/ Gas Mark 7 for 10-15 minutes.

5.    As soon as the cake comes out of the oven, slide it out of baking sheet and take off the paper carefully or the sponge will split!

6.    Lay the tea towel on a dry flat surface and place the sponge on top. Roll the tea towel and the sponge together so you have a Yule log shape. This is best done warm as it is easy to roll when warm. Leave the roll until the cake is cold. 

7.    Once the buttercream has been made then unroll the log and fill with the buttercream but not so much that it leaks from the edges. Roll the log back to its original log shape.

8.  Next decorate the outside with the buttercream using a palette knife. To make Yule log more, erm log-like then lightly scrape a fork along the sides of the log. Finish with icing sugar and marzipan holly leaves.  

Recipe: Yule Log Icing

•        375g/ about 6 egg whites
•        250g Caster Sugar for egg whites
•        375g caster sugar
•        250g butter diced
•        300g icing sugar
•        250g Chocolate (I used milk chocolate)

Equipment:

•        Sieve
•        Mixer
•        Saucepan
•        Bowl
•        Palette knife
•        Fork
•        Sugar thermometer

     1.Weight out the 375g sugar with water, until it looks like wet sand, in a saucepan over a high heat. Stir once at this stage.

     2. Put egg whites and sugar into a mixer and mix until the egg whites are forming stiff peaks.

     3. Boil the sugar and water until it reaches 118c.  This should be easy if you have a sugar thermometer. (If not just use ice cold water by dipping fingers into pan and very quickly dipping them back into the cold ice water. You should be able to form a soft ball. I didn't have a sugar thermometer and it worked out just fine, although be careful as there is a burn risk here! )

    4. Turn off the heat and when the sugar is 121c then pour this into egg whites. Keep the mixer on whilst you pour the sugar water mixture in. This will cook the egg whites and add extra sweetness.

    5. Start adding the diced butter, one cube at a time.

6. Once all the butter has been added, add in the melted chocolate.

This makes a nice Christmas centrepiece or even as a gift to a chocolate lover. 

A lovely homemade gift for a special someone. 

Bake On and Merry Christmas!
Penny 

Making Puff Pastry

Puff pastry is one of the most unique creations of the cookery world. It consists of making layers by folding flour paste and a fat of the same texture. It can be used for a variety of dishes including sweet and savoury recipes.
What makes puff pastry distinctive is the layering of the fat and flour paste; it isn't completely combined. The fat forms a sperating layer which, when cooked, retains the steam generated by the water in the dough and produces the layer separation effect. The flour paste, which includes part of the fat, becomes crunchy and takes on a golden tone. (Practical Cookery 11th Edition).

This recipe makes around 5-8 portions. 

• 200g strong flour  (Plus extra for rolling) 
• 200g butter
• 125ml ice cold water
• Few drops of lemon juice
• A pinch of salt

Equipment:

·       Mixing bowl

·       Wooden spoon

·       Sieve

·       Rolling pin

·       Knife

·       Non-stick board

·       Cling film

1.     Sieve the flour and salt.
2.     Rub in one quarter of the butter.
3.     Make a well in the centre. 
4. 
5.     Add the water and lemon juice, and knead well into a smooth dough in the shape of a ball.
6. Relax the dough in a cool place for 30 minutes.
7. Cut a cross halfway through the dough and pull out the corners to form a star shape.
8.  Roll out the points of the star square, leaving the centre thick.
9. Knead the remaining butter to the same texture as the dough. 
10. This is very important: if the fat is too soft it will melt and ooze out, if too hard it will break through the paste when being rolled. 
11. Place the butter on the centre square, which is four times thicker the flaps.
12. Fold over the flaps.
13. Roll out to 30 x 50 cm, cover with a cloth or plastic and allow to rest for 5-10 minutes in a cool place. 
14. Roll out to 60 x 20 cm, fold both the ends to the centre and fold in half again. (This is one double turn)
15. Allow to rest in a cool place for 20 minutes.
16. Half turn the paste to the right or left.
17. Give on more double turn; allow to rest for 20 minutes.
18. Give two more double turns, allowing to rest between each. Your pastry should not have any butter sticking out of it. 
19. Allow to rest before using. 

In the next post I'll be posting some recipes that can be made using puff pastry. 

Bake On!

Penny