Fat Friday #16 White Treacle Tart

*In cockney accent* "Alright treacle? Its Fat Friday. Fancy a bit of treacle for my treacle?" ... Ok lets just get on with it. Happy Fat Friday and happy baking! (Again sorry about the lack of pictures, its pastry class moment again...)

 

Ingredients:

For the pate sucre

·260g plain flour, plus a little extra
·100g icing sugar, plus a little extra
·30g ground almonds
·125g unsalted butter
·3 eggs, 1 egg yolk to wash the bottom of the tart
·1 tsp milk

For the white treacle filling:

·60g unsalted butter
·1 egg
·1 egg yolk
·3 tbsp double cream
·6g salt
·450g golden syrup
·120g white bread crumbs

Equipment:
·Saucepan
·Whisk
·Mixing bowl
·Fork
·Wooden spoon
·Sieve
·Rolling pin
·Knife
·9 inch baking ring
·Baking sheet
·Baking beans
·Cling film

For the pate sucre:

1.Place the flour, icing sugar, almonds and butter in a mixing bowl, rub the mixture together.
2.Add the 2 eggs and mix well. Cover and rest in the fridge for 30 minutes.
3.Preheat oven to 180c/350f/ Gas Mark 4.
4.Dust the work surface with icing sugar. Roll out the pastry to about 2mm thick.
5.Line the tart ring with the pastry, letting it hand over the sides. Cover with cling film and fill the tart base with baking beans.
6.Bake blind for 20 minutes or until the case is cooked through and lightly golden. Remove the baking beans and cling film.
7.Brush the bottom of the tart with a little egg yolk to crisp up the bottom.
8.Place the tart back in the oven for 5 minutes to crispy up the base.

For the filling:

1.Melt the butter, cream and golden syrup in a saucepan until liquid.
2.Once melted put in a separate bowl to cool. Whisk in the eggs a little at a time.
3.Mix in the breadcrumbs into the liquid ingredients.

To Finish:

1.Pour the treacle mixture into the tart case and bake for 20 minutes on Gas Mark 4/180c/350f.

 

Fat Friday #13 Blackberry Lemonade Marshmallows

Its unlucky week number 13 for Fat Friday! This week we're  looking at blackberry lemonade marshmallows. The tartness of the citric acid makes the white half really taste like lemonade. The blackberry was added because it's blackberry season here in the UK. It's actually a coincidence that this recipe is being published on week 13, because the first time I made marshmallows it went so wrong that I nearly cried with the amount of mess that was leftover. This time it much better than expected and they were so tasty. I gave them to a couple of friends at college and they thought they were lovely as well. I would suggest that you eat the marshmallows as soon as possible because they will sweat once you dust them with icing sugar. 

Recipe: 30 minutes (Depending on how many you cut) (Adapted recipe from Sweet Things by Annie Rigg)

Ingredients:

·       2 tablespoons corn-flour

·       2 tablespoons icing sugar

·       Sunflower oil

·       The zest of one lemon and the juice

·       200g blackberries

·       350g caster sugar

·       ½ teaspoon vanilla extract

·       6 gelatine leaves

·       2 large egg whites

·       A little salt

·       ¼ citric acid

Equipment:

·       20cm square baking tin

·       Baking sheet

·       Silicone paper x 2

·       Sugar thermometer

·       Knife

·       Saucepan

·       Blender

·       Free-Standing whisk

·       Rubber spatula

·       Palette knife

·       Sieve

·       Fine sieve

Method

1.    Mix the cornflour and icing sugar together in a bowl. Lightly grease the tin with the sunflower oil and line with silicone paper, lightly grease this again. Dust with the icing sugar and cornflour mix and save the rest for later.  
2.    Finely great the zest and save the juice and put aside.

3.    Place a saucepan with the blackberries and 1 tablespoon of sugar on low heat. Cook until blackberries have burst and they become soft.

4.    Using a blender blend until really soft and push the blackberry puree through a fine sieve to remove the pips.
5.    Cook the blackberry puree until it becomes a jam like consistency. Add the vanilla and remove from heat.

6.    Cover the gelatine in cold water in a separate bowl.
7.    In a free-stand mixer place the egg whites, salt and 1 tablespoon of caster sugar.

8.    Tip the rest of the caster sugar into a clean saucepan with 150ml of  water and heat gently to dissolve the sugar. Bring the syrup to boil until it reaches 120c/248f.
9.    Working fast switch the free standing whisk on to whisk the egg whites fast until the hold a stiff peak.
10.    Drain the gelatine and add to the sugar syrup, combine with a rubber spatula.

11.   With the mixture running on a medium speed pour the sugar syrup into the egg whites (be careful not to get any on whisk). After whisking for 3 minutes it should have doubled in size, it should be thick and glossy.
12.   Put half the mixture in another bowl and add the reserved lemon zest and citric acid. Mix well, spread in the prepared baking tin and spread evenly with a palette knife.
13.  Fold the blackberry puree into the other half of the marshmallow mixture and combine.
14.  Smooth over the lemon marshmallow to create a double layer of marshmallow.

15.  Once completely cold cover the marshmallow with clingfilm and leave to set overnight.

16.   To serve, tip the rest of the cornflour/icing sugar mixture onto a silicone paper lined tray.
17. Tip the marshmallow out of the lined, carefully peel the paper off.
18. Cut the marshmallow into pieces and roll in the icing sugar/cornflour mixture to coat.

Have you made any marshmallows before?
Happy Baking! and Have a great weekend!

Fat Friday #10 Pumpkin and Cheese Muffins

October=Pumpkin Season. That's one of the facts of life. It happens every year. Its just all over the place. Pumpkin all over the place... Its not one to argue with a fun tradition. For this weeks Fat Friday, we're going savoury. These muffins are an acquired taste and are best served from the oven while there still warm :)  Don't forget I'm at the Cake and Bake show tomorrow, I'll tweet as I go!

(Penny Note:You'll have some pumpkin puree leftover, so why not make some Spiced Pumpkin Syrup for your coffee?)

Recipe: Makes 12 Pumpkin and Goats Cheese Muffins (Recipe Adapted from Muffins Galore by Catherine Atkinson)

• 300g plain flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
• 1 pinch of salt
• 100g goats cheese, diced
• 4 tablespoons pumpkin seeds
• 225g pumpkin puree (I used about half a can of Libby's)
• 2 eggs
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 150ml natural yoghurt

Equipment:

• Bowl
• Jug
• Cupcake Tin filled with 12 muffin cases
• Chopping board
• Knife
• Wooden spoon

1. Preheat the oven to 200c/400f/Gas Mark 6. Line the cupcake tin with muffin cases. 
 2. Mix the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt in a large bowl.

3. Stir in the goats cheese. 

4.Chop 2 tablespoons of the pumpkins seeds, and add to the flour mixture. Put the other 2 tablespoons of pumpkin seeds aside.

5. In a jug, whisk together the pumpkin puree, yoghurt, eggs and oil.
6. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix until just combined.

7. Spoon the batter into the muffins cases, dividing it easily. Sprinkle the tops with the pumpkin seeds.

8. Bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes until golden and risen.
9. Cool in the tine for 10 minutes and then put on a wire rack. Serve warm with a side salad if you moonching this for lunch.

Fat Friday #8 Basic Fruit Batter

That's another week done and over with, of course you know what that means. Its Fat Friday! This week is kind of a throwback day as I've been trying to sort out loads of stuff with my pastry course and moving in my new place with my boyfriend (its been two days and we haven't killed each other...yet...) so its been hard to do something fancy and way cool. So this week you'll have to settle for Basic Fruit Batter. I first made this in my first pastry course and has been sitting idle for about a year unpublished on the blog. Oops on my half. Also I kind of felt that battering fruit was bad for you, but that was back before the time of Fat Friday*

*I'm not saying eat all fruit in batter. Please consume in moderation

Recipe: Basic Batter (My own)

·       450g plain flour

·       Pinch of salt

·       6 egg yolk

·       450ml white wine

·       90ml oil, plus extra for frying

·       Fruit of your choice (We used pineapple, apple, pear and kiwi. Kiwi was the best! Seriously, don't knock it until you try it.)

Equipment:

·       Bowl

·       Whisk

·       Frying pan with oil /deep fryer

·       Fork or a slotted spoon

·       Sieve

·       Jug

·       Knife

·       Chopping board

·       Plate with about 200g of sugar and 20g cinnamon 

    1. Peel the fruit, core the apples, pears etc so that it’s in rings. (Don't do this for kiwis, strawberries or other small fruit.)
2. Sieve flour into a bowl and add salt.
3. Make a well in the middle, and whisk in the eggs. Add the white wine and oil and mix well until it looks like a lumpy but wet mixture.

4.Heat up the oil in a frying pan/fryer to about 180c or until the oil is hot enough for frying. To test if it's hot enough, place a drop of batter into the oil once the batter starts to crisp and bubble, the oil is hot enough.
5. Coat the fruit with the batter, place into the hot oil and cook for 3-4 mins or until the batter has turned a golden colour. (Please be careful at this stage as there is a burn risk.)

6.Place into a plate of cinnamon sugar and roll around to coat. Serve. 

What fruit would you batter? Would you stop at fruit?
Happy Friday and Happy Baking 

Fat Friday #5 Mini American Style Pancakes

I'm working from a 10 year old laptop so forgive me if the font on the pictures are a little odd and I can't fix it, but I didn't want you readers to miss out on this weeks Fat Friday! I'm soon moving to Portsmouth, but had to leave tons of my stuff in London, including my laptop so editing is taking ages. But I'm not going to hold out on you guys so lets get straight to it. 

This weeks Fat Friday involves American style pancakes but there super mini pancakes!!! I was going to name these super kawaii mini pancakes because there so cute and teeny. If I did call them that I think the title picture would have looked like this:

Woah... I think this is how unicorns see the world. This picture is a little too sugar coated, even for me. I'll stick to the original image... 

These are so yummy and can be customised to suit your taste. You like whipped cream? Whip it on them. Chocolate sauce? Just slap it on. For me, its caramel brought back from France (Thanks Rob sugar ;) ). Wow that makes me sound so middle class...

These pancakes are pretty easy and quick to make. Since there mini ones they can be served as a breakfast or a dessert. As an extra added bonus they can be frozen for about a week in an air tight container with baking paper in between them. Defrost them in the fridge overnight for at least 6 hours. They won't be as good as fresh but can be heated gently in the microwave for a minute, depending on your microwave. 

Recipe: Serves 4 greedy people so watch your fingers (Recipe Adapted from the Student Cookbook by Sam Stern)

• 110g plain flour
• 50g melted butter, plus a little extra
• 2 large eggs, separated 
• 150ml milk
• 10g caster sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• Your choice of topping: cream, raspberry sauce, whatever you like. 

Equipment:

• Bowl
• Jug
• Hand whisk/(Electric hand-whisk-if your too lazy to whisk egg whites by hand)
• Frying pan
• Sift
• Fork

1. Separate the eggs into two different bowls. 

2.Beat the yolks, milk and butter with a fork.  

3. Sift the flour, sugar, salt and baking powder into a separate bowl.

4. Add the wet mix slowly into the dry mixture and whisk until the batter is smooth.
5.Whisk the egg whites until fluffy and stiff. Fold into the pancake batter.

6.Brush a heated frying pan with melted butter and drop tablespoons of batter into the pan.

7. Leave room in between each one and cook until the bottoms are brown and it begins to bubble. Turn and cook until puffy and golden.

Have an epic weekend, enjoy the weather (even if its rainy) and Happy Baking!

Traditional Doughnuts

Hello and a great big welcome to Friday! Its not just Friday however, its Fat Friday! Where stuffing your face with food is encouraged. This week we're looking at doughnuts.

These are traditional jam filled doughnuts. Which are fluffy on the inside and have a little bite on the outside, thanks to the cinnamon sugar. I've chosen raspberry but feel free to add strawberry jam, custard or pastry cream. Doughnuts are easy-ish to make, the most difficult part is the cooking process. Doughnuts have a tendency to cook quickly and will float around all over the place. Also, hot oil is dangerous so this recipe isn't recommended for children. If you feel uncomfortable with hot oil, have someone who is more confident at cooking with it.
So with the health and safety out of the way, lets bake... I mean fry!

Ingredients: Will make 10 giant sized doughnuts, or 20 medium doughnuts (Recipe adapted from BBC Good Food Website)

• 500g strong white flour, plus a little extra
• 50g caster sugar
• 40g unsalted butter, melted
• 2 free-range eggs
• 2 x 7g sachets instant yeast
• 10g/¼oz salt
• 150ml/5fl oz warm milk
• 130ml/4½fl oz water
• 1 large jar smooth raspberry jam
• 300g sugar
• 3 teaspoons cinnamon
• Loads of oil for frying (sunflower/vegetable)

Equipment:

• Deep fat fryer/Saucepan filled with oil
• Sieve
• Bowl
• Baking sheet x 2, one lined with flour and the other lined with sugar and cinnamon
• Disposable piping bag
• (Mixer with a dough hook attachment-Optional)
• Damp Tea-towel
• Spoon
• Slotted Spoon
• Small knife

 

1.Place all ingredients into a large bowl, holding back a 1/4 of the water and stir with your hands until a dough is formed. This will get messy, so please make sure your hands are clean.

2.Add the remaining water and knead the dough in the bowl for about 4 minutes. (Or you could mix with a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook which is what I did).

3.Tip dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead well for 10 minutes, until the dough is smooth and elastic. (Again, I used a dough hook on a stand mixer and mix for 10 minutes.)

4.Place the dough into a clean bowl, cover with a damp tea towel and leave to rise for an hour. Make yourself a cup of tea, wash up or maybe watch a bit of TV.

5.The dough will have doubled in size. Tip the dough out onto a very lightly floured surface, and knead it a few times to knock the air out of it.

6.Divide the dough into 10/20 portions and shape each portion into a ball.

7.Place all balls onto a floured baking tray and allow to rise for an hour.

8.Preheat sunflower oil in a saucepan. Meanwhile get a baking sheet and mix the cinnamon and 300g sugar together on the tray.

9.Pop the doughnuts into the fat, cooking each side for about five minutes or until golden brown. Put around 3/4 in at a time to avoid them sticking

10. Remove the doughnuts from the oil with a slotted spoon and immediately roll into the sugared baking sheet.

11.Set aside and leave to cool.

12.When completely cold, cut into the side of the doughnut, reaching to the centre, this will be where the jam will go.

13.Spoon some smooth strawberry jam into a piping bag and pipe until full but not bursting.

What is your favourite jam filling? Want to share your Fat Friday food moment? Use the hashtag #fatfridays on Instagram and twitter.
Have a good weekend and happy baking (or frying..)!