A love song to the Chelsea Bun

So, for most things baking related I'm pretty much up for anything.  There are a few things that still give me the heeby-jeebyz and working with yeast is one of them.  This is a little ironic that in my youth I worked in a pizzeria making bin loads of dough from fresh yeast - happy as a clam sitting on a mixer while stretching and kneading dough until they fired my ass and, well, that's another story for another day!

This recipe is loosely based on the one that comes in the Kenwood cookbook; it's the wunderkind of a cinnamon bun and a Chelsea bun. It's simple to make, but takes time, it is worth it though.  I have included suggestions for making the drawn out process as lazy as possible.

There are variations where you use fruit soaked in tea or whiskey overnight and I'll update this after I make my Christmas cakes when I will be soaking the fruit in Jameson anyway. 

Equipment notes;

You will need to use your 8" tin (which I usually use for my Christmas cake) for putting the rolls in. I use a silicone brush for brushing the dough and the glaze.

Be warned this recipe makes twelve and they are that good warm that you may attempt to eat them all so make sure you have enough mouths.

Dry ingredients

500g Strong White Flour

1 tsp Salt

2 sachets of dried fast action yeast

75g sugar

50g butter

Wet ingredients

225g lukewarm milk*

1 egg

Filling

Light muscovado sugar

A fistful of sultanas or two

Mixed spice

Cinnamon

30g Butter melted

Glaze:

40g Sugar

4tbsp water

1. Dry ingredients into a stand mixer with a dough hook. Turn it onto it's lowest setting and let the butter mix in properly. 
2. Mix the wet ingredients together and pour into the dry ingredients and leave the machine to knead for 5 mins.
3. Take the dough off the hook and leave it in the bowl covered with clingfilm (saran wrap) that has been oiled on the inside. Put it in a warm place for an hour or until it has doubled in size. (Note: how I do this is put the bowl near a radiator turn on the heating and watch a couple of half hour shows on netflix when they're over move to step four.
4. Peel off the cling film carefully you'll be using it again shortly.  Knock the air out of the dough by putting the bowl back into the stand mixer with the dough hook and turning it on for 1 min.
5. Grease your 8" tin
6. Roll out the dough till its about a foot square.  Brush it generously with melted butter sprinkle a good fistful of muscovado sugar in an even layer and the sprinkle the spices on top about a level tsp of each for me works for me and then finally the dried fruit evenly over the dough.
7. Roll it up like a big old swiss roll.  Cut it in half, then cut those halves in half to make four even pieces which are finally each divided in three.  Place the rolls cut side up in the prepared tin and cover with the cling film again.  Place them in the warm place again for 30-40mins. (Note: This time you make yourself a cup of tea or coffee and turn on the oven to 200c before you sit down to watch another episode of something and when it's over pop the buns in the oven).
8. Bake for 20-25 mins.  Take them out of the oven but leave them in the tin. 
9. To make the glaze: put sugar and water in the pot and dissolve over a medium. Dont bother with a spoon just swirl it to mix. Once the sugar has been dissolved let the glaze boil for a minute or two until it becomes syrupy. Brush it on the buns and allow to cool.

*How to know if your milk is lukewarm (the right temperature)

Pop the milk in the microwave for 20 seconds, stick a washed finger knuckle in and ask yourself this does it feel nice and warm but you wouldn't describe it as warm enough to be hot. If you still feel I'm being a little wishy washy try this pour equal quantities of boiling water and tap water together and stick your finger in the cup. That's how it should feel but you needn't be too exacting.

I'm quite fond of marshmallow fondant icing

Ever thought that fondant tastes like pants - yeah me too! This is fondant icing that is easy to make and tastes good.  The recipe below specifies mini marshmallow but marshmallows chopped up to the same size works fine.  Cups refer to have a standard mug size.  You will need extra icing sugar for dusting and I would get a travel spray bottle with a little water in it to get rid of the dustiness (vodka works better but not always practical, especially with kids cakes)

White Marshmallow Fondant
4 Cups of White Mini Marshmallows
4 cups of Icing Sugar
2 Tbsp Water

Coloured Marshmallow Fondant
Gel food colouring (the more gel the stronger the colour
4 Cups of White Mini Marshmallows
4 cups of Icing Sugar
2 Tbsp Water

Brown or Black Marshmallow Fondant Icing
2 tubes of gel colour will give you dark brown with this recipe
4 Cups of Mini Marshmallows
1.5 cups of Cocoa
3.5 cups of icing sugar
2 Tbsp Water

Method

1. Measure out the marshmallows into a bowl.  Sprinkle the water on top and into the microwave for 30 seconds at a time until they are melted.
2. If you're adding colour, now's the time squeeze it on in there.
3. Sift the icing sugar and cocoa if you're using it.  It will seem like there's too much but I promise you'll need it all.
4. Start by working the marshmallow away from the edges of the bowl using plenty of the icing sugar to prevent your fingers from sticking.
5. Tip the contents of the bowl onto a surface and then knead for all your worth to encorporate all the icing sugar.  The final result should be smooth and elastic.  As it cools it becomes less malliable (great word) but a few seconds in the microwave will sort that out.

HEALTHY CHRISTMAS CAKE

This is stolen from Kate Farrells Facebook page.  Completely and unashamedly:

I made this one on monday, turned out beautiful. Plus its gluten and dairy free for those with allergies and intolerances. 

600 g mixed dried Fruit or a mix of the following (raisins, prunes, figs, apricot, currants, sultanas, dates)
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla bean extract or paste
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
zest and juice from 1 orange
3 tablespoons olive oil
3 eggs
200 g (2 cups) ground almonds
50 g walnuts

Preheat your oven to 150 C (fan forced)
Prepare a 20 cm round cake tin with baking paper lining the sides and the base.
Combine dried fruit, spice, vanilla, orange zest + juice, olive oil and eggs.
Add the almonds and walnuts and mix through.
Spoon Christmas Cake batter into your baking tin.
Bake for 1 hour and 30 minutes. Check with a skewer to see if it comes out clean, if not bake for another 30 minutes.
Cover the top if necessary to prevent over-browning.
Cool, then remove from the tin and store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 1 month.

NOTE:
If you wish to soak your Christmas cake in orange liqueur, as soon as you remove the cake from the oven, skewer holes through the cake and drizzle over 1/4 cup orange liqueur so it can penetrate through the holes and infuse into the cake.

This cake can also be served as a pudding served with vanilla bean custard or thick natural yoghurt.

For nut allergies replace the almond meal for 1 CUP wholemeal or spelt flour and omit the walnuts. Add one more tablespoon olive oil.

20 serves per cake 
Nutrition per serve:
Protein: 4.4 g
Total fat: 9.8 g
Saturated: 1 g
Carbs: 18 g
Fiber: 3.3 g
kilojoules: 740
Calories: 177

Thanks to The Healthy Chef (www.healthychef.com)

Brownies - an Adendum

So a little experimentation (this time last week) following a bit of Pintrest browsing allowed me to put aside one of my snobbery's.  You see I abhor recipes that include the likes of

'add one pack of cake mix to...'

So here I am to admit I may have been just a little too hasty.  The two experiments that I tried were based on American confections (it coming up to thanksgiving and all).

The first was putting Reeses peanut butter cups in brownies and the result was pretty meh - nothing unpleasant but nothing special.

The second was the delightfully decadent Oreo stuffed brownie.  The Oreo remained soft due to the moisture in the brownie - amazing!

Try this with one of the Brownie Recipes below;

Katherine Hepburn Brownies

Brownies

DO THIS NOW your taste buds will thank you for it.

Katharine Hepburn's Brownies

I am open to be corrected on this but so the story goes that Katharine Hepburn was asked to submit a recipe for a charity thingy and she submitted a recipe for brownies.  It quickly became the 'go-to' recipe for brownies at the time.  But due to my brownie 'curse' I haven't ever been able to make them work.  Below is the original (I believe).

Whiskey Fed Christmas Cake - The Preparation

And so I did start with the Christmas Cake

Add half a bottle of whiskey* to 450g of Dried Fruit** cover with cling film and pop it into the hot press for a day or so take it out and stir it every once in a while (twice a day) so that all of the fruit gets a chance to plump up and get a little drunk.  Think of it like a tea brack looking at you cross eyed!  By the time you get to mixing up this cake the whiskey will have combined with the sugars from the fruit to create an unctuous syrup.

*Jameson Whiskey

**This years dried fruit combination:
Dried Blueberries
Dried Cranberries
Flame Raisins
Currants
Golden Sultanas
Sultanas

Baked Blueberry Cheesecake

I trawled the internet for a baked cheesecake, my friend Aishling makes an awesome one but I wanted to see what else was out there.  The recipes that I came across were for a much too large cake for my needs (and besides I only had one pack of cream cheese).  Blueberries were on special in Aldi for 69c so I bought about 4 punnets freezing them on trays and then bagging them.  I have been quite extravagant with the blueberries and really you don’t need so many.  You can also use any summer berry for this.  I also used their own brand cream cheese which was significantly cheaper that Philadelphia.  The recipe for blueberry Sauce can be used on pancakes, waffles, Ice-cream.  I used a 20cm round tin and there was enough in this for 3 people who all had little seconds. 

Base:

6 Digestive Biscuits Crushed

50g Butter

1 tbsp Demerara Sugar

1 Punnet Blueberries

Cheesecake Mix

1 Egg + 1 yolk

200g Cream Cheese

1 Tub of Crème Fraiche (I used most of a tub left over in the fridge)

25g (1 heaped tbsp) Plain Flour

1 tsp Vanilla Extract

Blueberry Sauce

2tbsp Maple Syrup

1 Punnet Blueberries

Method

1.  Preheat the oven to 190c
2.  Melt butter in a pot over a gentle heat, add sugar and biscuit crumbs.  Empty into a loose bottomed tin or a springform tin and press into the base.  Sprinkle Blueberries on top.
3. Mix together Cheesecake mix and beat until smooth.  Pour onto biscuit base.
4. Blueberry Sauce: Heat blue berries and maple syrup together in a pot as the maple syrup heats it will cause the the berries to release their juices. 
1. Method 1 Pour in drops in four or five locations and use a cocktail stick to create a marble effect through the cheesecake
2. Method 2: When the cheesecake is baked top with warm blueberry sauce.
5. Bake in the centre of the oven until the cheesecake is slightly wobbly in the middle (30-40mins).
6. Allow to cool then chill in the fridge before serving.  I served it with a side of chopped strawberries macerated in Galliano and a little cream.

Red Velvet Cupcakes

When I first discovered red velvet cake I was truly weirded out by it but it is wonderful and frivolous and most importantly delicious. This recipe is provided by Miss Laoise Curtin a fellow avid baker and niece.  Below are some notes of hers.

I've researched and tried this recipe and found that the butter milk can be substituted with normal milk and a couple of teaspoons of clear vinegar .

Ingredients

60g of unsalted softened butter

150g caster sugar

1 large egg

20g cocoa powder 

1x 1oz bottle of red food colouring

1/2 a teaspoon of vanilla extract

120ml buttermilk (110ml of normal milk with 10 ml of clear vinegar)

150g plain flour

1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

1 1/2 teaspoon clear vinegar

1. Preheat the oven to 170 degrees and line a cupcake tin 
2. Cream the softened butter an sugar
3. Add the egg to the mixture.
4.  In a separate bowl, mix the cocoa powder ,the food colouring and the vanilla together
5. Mix the red mixture and the light mixture together
6. Add the buttermilk to the now combined red mixture 
7. Add the flour
8. Add the bicarbonate of soda and the vinegar
9. Mix IMMEDIATELY as the reaction of the bread soda and vinegar is going on at that moment.Get the in the oven as fast as possible and bake for 20-25 minutes.

For the icing

Mix 50g of softened butter and 125g of cream cheese .Then add 300g icing sugar.

Milk Chocolate Fleur de Sel Caramel Cake

Bacon and Maple syrup go well together so it made sense to me that salted caramels would taste pretty good and Cocoa Atalier in Drury Street proved that for me.  I was browsing the web looking for a recipe for making Fleur de Sel Caramels that didn't involve Karo (which is almost impossible to source in Dublin unless you order it online and have it shipped in), when I found this recipe.   You can use fleur de Sel or Maldon Sea Salt Flakes in this recipe.  The cake rose a bit funny but I trimmed it down and used the trimming and leftover frosting to make cake pops.  The cake itself is nothing shy of decadent with large quantities of butter and double cream and it lends itself well to celebrations but it also has quite an adult taste and it's very rich.  Also it takes a while to make so start with the frosting get that made before you even attempt the cake.

Frosting:
275g Sugar
500ml Double Cream
.5 tsp Fleur de Sel
450g Milk Chocolate
250g Dark Chocolate
250g Unsalted Butter

Cake:

200g Flour
75g Cocoa
1.5tsp baking soda
.5tsp Fleur de Sel
200g Butter
250g soft brown Sugar
100g Sugar
4 Eggs
75g Dark Chocolate Melted and Cooled
2 tsp Vanilla Extract
350ml Buttermilk

Method:

1. Frosting:  Over a medium-low heat, in a heavy bottomed saucepan mix stir sugar and water together until the sugar dissolves then remove your wooden spoon from the pot and leave on the heat to caramelise.  As soon as it does remove from the heat and add the double cream, add salt.  Pour mix over broken chocolate and stir until smooth.  Chill in the fridge for an hour.  Remove from the fridge and using an electric whisk beat in the butter.  Refridgerate for a further hour.
2. Preheat the oven to 170C grease and line two sandwich tins
3. Sieve flour baking soda cocoa and fleur de sel together. 
4. Cream Butter and Sugar together. Add Eggs one at time mixing thoroughly between each egg.  Add Vanilla & Melted chocolate and mix thoroughly.   
5. Add a third of the flour mix, half the buttermilk, another third of the flour mix, another half of the buttermilk and the final third of the flour mix, stirring well with each addition.  Divide the mixture between the two sandwich tins and bake for 25 mins.  Leave to cool for 10mins in the tin before turning out onto a cooling rack.
6. Sandwich together using frosting and smooth the remainder of the frosting over the top and sides of the cake.  Sprinkle with fleur de sel so people get a hint of what's inside.

Cake Pops

Mouthfuls of cake and frosting on sticks dipped in chocolate and covered with sprinkles really easy to make but there is a knack to it.  These are perfect for kids parties and celebrations where people would rather not be seen to over indulge.

Cake
Frosting (either shop bought or homemade)
Sprinkles
Chocolate

Other things you will need:
Lollipop sticks (I used bamboo skewer,s hacksawed them at a length I was happy with and sanded the tip)
A container deep enough that you can dip the cake pops in and completely immerse them without having to swirl them around Mugs or glasses are good.
Styrofoam or oasis (used for flower arranging) covered in aluminium foil.


Method

1. In a bowl break up a cake with your hands until it forms crumbs.
2. Add a couple of tablespoons of frosting and stir up the mix until it forms a dough (you'd be surprised how little frosting it takes
3. Chill the mix in the fridge for 30mins
4. Take a tablespoon of the mix and roll into a ball about the size of a walnut.  
5. Melt two pieces of chocolate in a microwave (30 seconds then stir and repeat until chocolate is fully melted) in a saucer or small bowl.  Dip 1cm of the lollipop stick in the melted chocolate and then insert it into the ball place on a plate and repeat until all cake/frosting mix is used.  Chill for 30 mins
6. Melt the rest of the chocolate using the microwave method.  Dip the cake pop directly into the chocolate so that it is completely covered. Do not swirl the cake pop because you run the risk of loosing it.  Pick up the cake pop out of the chocolate and let the excess run off.  Turn the pop until the final chocolately dribbles stop running.
7. While the chocolate is still wet shake on sprinkles (I've used chocolate vermicelli, chocolate flakes and small white chocolate chips in the pic above).
8. Place in styrofoam or oasis to dry.

How to Line a Baking Tin

1. Grease the tin
2. For the base: 
1. Cut a piece of greaseproof paper slightly larger than the diameter of the tin squared
2. Fold the sheet in half, then in quarter, then in eights (it should be the shape of a pointy triangle with an untidy end).
3. Measure the paper with the pointy end in the middle and trim the edges so that it fits inside the tin.
4. Open it out and you should have a piece of greaseproof paper roughly the size of the base of your tin.
3. For the sides:
1. Measure the circumference of tin and add 3cm, Measure the height of the tin and add 4cm
2. Cut a piece of greaseproof paper to these measurements.
3. Make cuts along the length of paper 2cm deep to form a fringe. Fold these cuts upwards.
4. Place inside the tin along the sides with the fringe inside. 
4. Insert the base.

Raising Agent / Leavening Agent

Basic rule of baking if you want something to rise you will either need to use eggs and/or a raising agent of some description. You need bubbles to make cakes, breads and even some cookies rise.  The bubbles get warm in the oven they expand and your baking goods get lighter.  So the obvious question would be why are there so many types of raising agents and whats the difference between them.  Can you swap them?

Yeast - Typically used in breads, pizzas and bread based buns (Chelsea buns & Cinnamon buns).  It's not suitable for cakes as a general rule because yeast has a fairly strong flavour, especially in the case of sour dough.  Using yeast means taking time to leaven and knead the bread.  Yeast is a living organism that needs feeding (sugar of some description) and warmth to be kicked into action.

• Fresh Yeast - The best way that I can describe it that it looks like putty and smells like beer.
• Dried Fast Action Yeast - Powdered version of fresh yeast that is much more predictable 
• Sour Dough Starters - This is nothing shy of magic in my books. In the new year I will tackle the whole Sour Dough Bread thing.

Bread Soda / Baking Soda -Typically used for scones, cookies and Irish soda bread among many others. If you've ever made a Baking Soda Volcano you will know that if you add an acid to Bread Soda (who for those want it's proper chemical term it's NaCl -Sodium Chloride) it will fizz up and release a gas called carbon dioxide (CO2 this is the stuff we exhale).  This is a fairly instantaneous release of gas so only add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients when you're ready to pop it into the oven.  Cakes that have a high acid content in them such as a lemon based cake or a cake with either buttermilk, sour cream, or yogurt in them will use baking soda as either the main raising agent or an additional agent to balance the chemical process and improve flavour.  This seems to be much more common in American baking recipes than Irish or UK equivalents.  I wonder of the origins I'm all ears if someone can enlighten (see the way I 'lightened' the sentence with a baking pun) me.

Baking Powder - Typically used for cakes.  Baking powder is composed of everything that you need   (Baking Soda and an Alkaline, a stabiliser (quite often Cream of Tartar) and some cornflour (so its not as at risk to moisture) in the correct ratios, to make a cake rise.  Typically a recipe calls for 1 teaspoon baking powder per 200g Plain Flour.  The actual baking powder recipe changes from company to company including one discovered by the man who created Birds Custard.

Self Raising Flour - I'm including this because even though it's not a raising agent it contains the correct ratio of flour to raising agent to make a cake rise, this makes life much easier.

Just a note on Scones and  Soda Bread if you have buttermilk use baking soda if you have fresh milk use baking powder

Cookies 'n' Cream (Oreos) Cheesecake

This is one of those unbaked cheesecakes.  I'd been thinking about how you would make it for a while and when I was happy with how to go about it I set about making it one evening when friends were calling over.  


Typically with cheesecakes I use cream cheese and all is good with the world, except this time no cream cheese.  What was worse is that the local shop had none and I felt guilty sending my other half out by bicycle on a November's evening to hunt and gather (did I mention he has a broken shoulder).  I would have gone myself but I was mid marathon cookie baking session and couldn't leave the oven.  So, back over the road I go to the Spar and eyed the 0% fat cottage cheese (it reminds of misery in a tub, food that people eat when they're dieting that they wouldn't normally touch if that's all that was left in the fridge to eat till payday) .  It came home with me and after blending it with double cream, vanilla extract, icing sugar and that fluffy white stuff that you get in Oreos and a few mushed up Oreos it looked and tasted really nice.  


Interesting point to note is that despite using a stand mixer the cottage cheese didn't breakdown completely but that was hidden by the texture of crushed cookies.  The recipe below doesn't use the cottage cheese method but by all means swap the cottage cheese for the cream cheese and give it a go.


2 packets of Oreos (regular sized)
1 packet of cream cheese
250ml Double Cream
50g Butter
25g Icing Sugar
Minature oreos to decorate

Method

1. Split the Oreos in half as if you were going to lick them
2. Put the oreo cookies in a plastic bag and beat with a rolling pin.  Melt butter and add two thirds of the crushed Oreo crumbs to the butter.  If the mix is not moist enough to stick together don't be shy about adding more melted butter.  This will be the crust of the cake so it needs to hold together.  Press the Oreo crumbs into a spring form or loose bottomed tin.  Allow to cool and then put the base in the fridge to set completely.
3. Scrape out the white stuffing and put it in a large bowl with the cream cheese and icing sugar and mix well. Add the double cream a little at a time until its all combined then whisk to thicken and add air.  Finally fold in the remainder of the Oreo cookies.  At this point taste it.  It may need a little extra sweetening or some vanilla to balance the taste of the sweet and the sour of the cheese.
4. Spread the Oreo cream mixture over the base and decorate with miniature or crushed Oreos
5. Put back in the fridge to set. Remove from Spring form tin and eat in large quantities.

Banana Chocolate Chip Cake

This recipe comes courtesy of my sister in law Maura.  I usually find banana cake or banana bread to be a little dense and soggy this is both moist and flavourful and has a little welcome surprise in its belly.  This makes two loaves (one for now and one for the freezer).

28/6/15 I have used exactly this recipe to make muffins and they are divine! The great thing about them is that you can bake a big batch and freeze the individual muffins so that there is always something in the house when you have surprise visitors or when you fancy something sweet.

225g butter/marg

350g caster sugar

* Cream these together*

Add in:

2 eggs

1 cup sour cream (fresh is ok if using self raising flour)

3 or 4 ripe bananas

2 tsp baking powder

2 tsp bread soda

pinch salt (I never use this)

1 tsp vanilla essence

525g plain flour

*Mix well*

Filling and Topping;

50g brown sugar

1 tablespoon cinnamon

200g (2 packets) Milk chocolate chips

1. Grease the tins
2. Divide half the cake mixture between the two tins
3. Put a layer of the filling and topping mixture in each tin (I use most of the chocolate chips here)
4. Divide the remaining cake mixture between the tins
5. Top off the cakes with the rest of the filling mixture
6.  Bake for 45-60 minutes @ 180 degrees C

Macaroons

I've been searching for a recipe that I could use up the leftover egg white whenever I make cinema floor cookies and this is it. There is no flour in it and for those with issue with gluten their nice sweet treats. I've used lemon zest to flavour these but you could use almond essence instead.  Regarding Ground Nuts this is not limited to almonds; you can toast and skin all sorts of nuts before pulsing them in a blender for this recipe or buy them in the shop

1 egg white
100g Ground Nuts (or dessicated coconut)
100g Caster Sugar
Flavouring (see note above)

(Makes 8)

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 170c
2. Lightly beat an egg white
3. Mix in the remainder of the ingredients in a bowl.
4. Form little ping pong ball sized balls in your hands the mixture should be firm but sticky and place them on a baking tray and flatten a little with a fork
5. Bake for 10 mins until pale golden, then cool on a wire rack

Alternate method

1. Preheat oven to 170c.
2. Prepare a baking sheet with oiled baking parchment
3. Using a stand mixer whisk the egg white to soft peaks add a little sugar and mix briefly but thoroughly.  Add the remainder of the sugar. Mix properly but do not over whisk!
4. Fold in ground nuts
5. Half fill piping bag (I use one without the nozzle) and make 4-5cm diameter circles on the baking sheet
6. Bake for 10mins until pale golden, then cool on a wire rack

Fruit Scones that dont look like biscuits!

Finally I found a recipe that works!  For years every time I made scones they wound up looking like biscuits- tasty but rock hard.  I got the basic recipe from Shamrock but as usual have made a few little changes.  The basic recipe called for Margarine but I prefer butter.  I also have ingredients for a glaze which I think makes a good scone a great scone.  Apple and Cinnamon are a lovely combination so if you choose to put apples (pick a firm apple with flavour e.g. a Pink Lady or Coxs Pippin) in the mix add a tsp of cinnamon for every 100g of flour or you can add it to the glaze.  This makes about 12 generous scones that can be frozen and microwaved for approx 1 minute to defrost though nothing beats a scone fresh out of the oven.

Ingredients
8oz/200g Self Raising Flour
4oz/100g Fruit (Sultanas/Cherries/Cranberries/chopped Apple/Raspberries-take your pick)
2oz/50g Butter (cut into cubes at room temp)
1oz/25g Sugar
¼ pint Milk (though I added an egg instead and topped it up with milk for a richer dough)

Glaze:
1 egg
2 tbsp Demerara Sugar (there should be enough here but you can always add more)
1 tsp Cinnamon

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/Gas 6
2. Sieve Flour into a bowl. Stir in the sugar
3. Rub the butter into the flour and sugar mix. It should look at little like breadcrumbs when you're finished.  Stir in the fruit.
4. Make a well in the middle. The best way to stir this gently is to make a claw shape with your hand and add the milk (or egg and milk) a little at a time until you reach a soft dough.  (Your hands will be a sticky mess but you'll have really light and fluffy scones)
5. Tip your dough onto a floured work surface.  Roll it out to about 2cm
6. To glaze them brush them with egg and pop them in the oven just like that or dip them in the demerara sugar cinnamon mix.

 

1. Bake in the oven for 10-15 Mins and serve with butter or cream and jam.

Variation
For Brown Scones use 4oz/100g Wholemeal flour and 4oz/100g Self Raising Flour instead of the 8oz/200g Self Raising Flour in the recipe and leave out the fruit.

Duck Egg Sponge

So here's the thing, I'd heard all sorts of wonderful stories about using duck eggs in baking and I figured to myself that the only way of truly seeing what they were like was to make something with them and I figured a sponge was the best way to start. The difference is said to be because of the richness of the yolk. I bought these eggs in the butchers and he asked me had I tried them before I said no and he said "well, when I got them in here first I brought them home and decided that I would have a couple of boiled eggs for me tea, like I normally do, but could only manage the one". So I bought a half dozen free ranged mixed sized duck eggs and I was going to use all six egg because of the mixture of sizes but for the second time in my life I found a double yolk and elected to use the 5 eggs (6 yolks). I baked the cake and to be honest I really didn't notice much difference.



150g Caster Sugar
5 Duck Eggs
150g Sifted Plain Flour

1. Preheat oven to 150C.

2. Whisk eggs and sugar together with an electric whisk for about 10 mins until it reaches ribbon stage

3. Fold in the flour.

4. Divide the mixture into two greased tins and bake for 25 mins.

The difference between a cake and a biscuit

The answer to this is also the answer to why a Jaffa Cake is a cake and not a biscuit. If left out overnight a cake gets hard and a biscuit gets soft. Jaffa Cakes had to prove themselved as Cakes in 1991 to retain their VAT free status in the UK because if they changed to biscuits they would have change VAT brackets.

5 minute Chocolate Mug Cake

This has been bouncing around the net for ages now. There are a zillion versions this is ripped word for word straight from 'Shlings blog. What can I say this is quick easy tasty and indulgent


4 tablespoons flour
4 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons cocoa
1 egg
3 tablespoons milk
3 tablespoons melted butter
3 tablespoons chocolate chips or (optional)
A small splash of vanilla extract and your favourite tipple
1 large coffee mug

1. Add dry ingredients to your largest mug and mix well. Add the egg and mix thoroughly. Pour in the milk and oil and mix well. Add the chocolate chips (if using), vanilla extract and a drop or two of your favourite tipple, then mix again.

2. Put your mug in the microwave and cook for 3 minutes at 1000 watts (high). The cake will rise over the top of the mug, but don't be alarmed!

Allow to cool a little, and tip out onto a plate if desired.

EAT! (this can serve 2 if you want to feel slightly more virtuous).

If your feeling very very naughty, cover liberally in Bailey's Irish Cream. And why is this the most dangerous cake recipe in the world? Because now you are only 5 minutes away from chocolate cake at any time of the day or night! You are going to forward this straight away, aren't you...

Lemon Madeira Celebration Cake

Wedding Cake, Christening Cake, Birthday Cake, Retirement Cake.  This cake would be too sweet were it not for the lemon. This is very easy to make too. The basic madeira mix is from the Odlums website (where you'll find smaller equivalents), but I've meddled with it a little to make what is essentially an over sized french fancy. This cake will fit a 9"/23cm square tin or a 10" round tin though I baked in a disposable foil roasting tin for ease of slicing while still maintaining a respectable depth of cake. Ingredients marked with an * indicate that they are in both the cake and the icing




Cake
To add a lemony tang mix warm lemon juice and a little icing sugar and pour over the just cooked cake
575g Self Raising Flour
500g Caster Sugar
500g Butter*
9 Eggs
4 Tbsp Milk
Rind of two lemons*

1. Preheat the oven to 150c and grease the tin(s)
2. If you have a mixer - pop everything into the bowl, turn on the mixer at a low setting until all the ingredients are combined then mix on high for 1 minute. If you don't have a mixer - Cream butter and sugar, sift flour, mix eggs and milk together. Add a little of the egg mix then a little of the sifted flour to the creamed butter and sugar and repeat that until you've used all the ingredients. Stir in the lemon rind
3. Bake in the oven for 2-2¼ hours or until a skewer comes out clean. Leave to cool completely on a wire rack.

Icing
Icing in contrast to cake making is such an intuitive thing if the icing doesn't taste right don't be afraid to tweak it according to how bitter the lemons are or your own personal taste.

1.5 pkts of Fondant Icing (lifes to short to make it)
500g Icing Sugar
454g Butter*
Lemon Juice of two lemons*
Finely grated rind of a lemon

1. Whip together icing sugar lemon and butter.
2. Saw the cake in half down the width of it with a bread knife using careful long strokes
3. Spread the icing on both insides of the cakes and sandwich together. Then spread over the top and sides.
4. Knead fondant icing sugar until it's pliable. Roll out a thin layer and smooth over the cake like you would a christmas cake.
5. Cover and chill in the fridge