Strawberry and Rhubarb Crumble Muffins

One of my favourite puddings ever is Fruit Crumble. It doesn't really matter that much what you pair the Crumble with (although my absolute favourite is apple and raspberry), it just needs as much flakey crumble as possible on the top (generally two to three times the amount regular recipes would suggest!) I always think of it being an autumnal-going-into-winter pud but I have a recipe for you that transforms it into a light, beautifully fresh cake that brings with it the sweetness and summery fruits that are just coming into season.

These Strawberry and Rhubarb Crumble Muffins are simply divine. Strawberries are so sweet at the moment and they add freshness and juice to the final cakes. The cakes themselves have a delicate crumb and with the moistness of the strawberries they are quite fragile. I tried making them straight in a muffin tin, but having a wrap around the outside really helps hold them together, although you could use cupcake papers instead. The idea for this came from my Apple and Rhubarb Crumble Cake which I was going to make the other day and then I decided I'd love to put some fruity strawberries into it instead. They are are stirred through the batter and then topped with rhubarb and finally the crumble.

The hardest part of making these muffins is the chopping! I suggest cutting up the fruit into very small pieces, particularly the rhubarb. And I always start making these by doing this job first. My recommendation is around four large strawberries for six muffins and one stick of rhubarb. Then I make them crumble -- you can either rub the butter into the flour and sugar with your fingers or blitz them in the food processor.  The muffin batter itself is very simple. We cream the butter and brown sugar, then add the eggs and vanilla. Once they're all incorporated, sift the flour over the top, mix thoroughly and then finally stir through the milk and strawberries.

I use an ice cream scoop to fill my muffin cases and once the mixture is divided evenly amongst the cases, sprinkle the tops with rhubarb and then finally the crumble (and I like to completely cover the top of the muffin with the crumble layer, so you can't see any fruit peeking out). They should be baked for around 25 minutes and you can check them as you would with any other cake, by checking a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Once they're baked and out of oven, we leave them in the tin for around 10 minutes and then lift them out carefully to cool on a rack. I recommend leaving them in their wrappers for stability -- they do firm up as they get cooler but they are at their most delicious warm from the oven.

These muffins are perfect for coffee mornings, lunch or afternoon tea. They do have a sweet sugary hit from the crumble which might seem a bit over-indulgent for breakfast, but just amazing for brunch!

You could kid yourself that the fruit in them makes them healthy, but when something tastes this good, you should just enjoy it for what it is :)

 Strawberry and Rhubarb Crumble Muffins

Makes 6 muffins

Crumble Ingredients

• 50G SELF-RAISING FLOUR
• 40G SOFT BROWN SUGAR
• 1/2 TSP CINNAMON
• PINCH OF SALT
• 40G BUTTER

Muffin Ingredients

• 100G BUTTER
• 100G SOFT BROWN SUGAR
• 2 EGGS
• 2 TSP VANILLA ESSENCE
• 175G SELF-RAISING FLOUR
• 2 TBSP MILK
• 4 LARGE STRAWBERRIES
• 1 STICK CHOPPED RHUBARB

Method

1. Start by putting all the crumble ingredients in a bowl and rub the mixture with your fingertips until a fine crumble has formed and set this aside
2. Preheat the oven to 170 degrees (fan)
3. Line your muffin tin with paper cases
4. Chop the rhubarb into small pieces and set aside
5. Chop the strawberries into small pieces and set aside
6. Cream the butter and sugar
7. Beat in the eggs and vanilla
8. Sift in the flour
9. Fold in the strawberries and milk
10. Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin wrappers
11. Sprinkle the rhubarb over the top
12. Scatter the crumble over the top, ensuring that no fruit can be seen
13. Bake them for around 20-25 mins (you can test the muffin centres with a skewer to ensure they're cooked)
14. Enjoy them warm from the oven for the best taste experience!
15. If you're keeping some for another day, store them in an airtight container -- I always like to freshen up the muffins with around 10-15 seconds in the microwave :)

Chocolate Financiers

This week sees my little boy go on his first residential course with school. He's eight and so, so excited. Midnight feasts, fun activities, outdoor pursuits, sleepovers, disco dancing. He can't wait; I just know I'm going to be in pieces! So I'm over-compensating and spoiling my boys with some yummy goodies for the next few days. Cue these delicious Chocolate Financiers.

I love patisserie. It makes me think of Paris and the counters of stunning old-fashioned patisseries over-brimming with pastries, tarts, custard, cream, fruit. So many amazing delicacies to sample but the word patisserie when it comes to home-baking can be quite scary. You imagine huge complicated recipes with lots of stages and the truth is that it can be like that. But there are other more simple bakes that are much more manageable and don't need huge reams of fancy equipment or two days to prepare. The most important thing you need to do is follow the ratios of the ingredients and measure them accurately. If you do that, you too can create their delicious delicacies.

These Chocolate Financiers are incredible. Traditionally they would be little rectangles (like little loafs) but I don't have that tin and am already packed to the rafters with baking equipment and different types of tins. So I used my Friand tin where the shapes are little ovals - but you could also make these in cupcake tins or whatever you have to hand. Just be sure to adjust the baking times accordingly if your individual Financiers are a lot larger or smaller than mine.

I wanted to make chocolate financiers since my boys love chocolate and this is a special treat for them, after all. I would usually have put pistachios into the cake batter but my boys aren't fond of nuts in the cake itself so I held back and sprinkled them over the top and this way they can removed later! What I did do, was add a few chocolate chips onto the top of the batter before popping them in the oven and they melted deliciously. 

So the first thing we do is preheat the oven and grease the cavities of your chosen tin well.  Then melt the butter and vanilla in a saucepan over a medium heat until melted. Keep the butter over a medium heat until it turns brown (around 5 minutes), being careful not to let it burn. This makes a buerre noisette and when making blonde financiers (ie not chocolate ones) this gives them their golden colour. Once brown, the chocolate is added and stirred together until melted. Then set aside to cool a little.

The next stage is to whisk the egg whites and icing sugar together until soft peaks form. This takes around 5 minutes. Sift the flour and ground almonds over the top of the egg and sugar mixture and then fold them in with a metal spoon. When they're fully mixed, pour the chocolate into the bowl down one of inside edges (this is so that you don't drop the chocolate straight on top of your mixture when you've taken time to fold it and keep lots of air in). Fold the chocolate into the mixture, making sure that you scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl well as the chocolate will all sink to the bottom and you want it folded throughout. The worst thing is when you come to put your mixture into the tin and find a layer of chocolate at the bottom that hasn't been mixed through properly.

When the mixture is fully incorporated, take a small spoon or ice cream scoop and put one spoonful into each cavity of your baking tin. Each one should be around half-full. Then pop them in the oven for 15-20 minutes. Mine took 18 minutes but you can check that they're ready by inserting a wooden skewer into the middle of each one and it should come out clean. When they're baked, leave them in their tins for around 10 mins. Then check that they are loosened  from the tin with a flat knife and use this to help lever them out, but they should come out very easily.

These would be stunning served with raspberries, pistachios, extra chocolate sauce :) As I mentioned earlier, I sprinkled chopped pistachios over the top to give a little extra crunch and then dusted them with icing sugar.

Chocolate Financiers are seriously delicious. Lovely and light, they would be perfect for afternoon tea or a coffee morning. Even a little after dinner treat if you're hosting a dinner party.

I can't wait to share them with my boys when they get home from school today :)

Chocolate Financiers

Makes 12 financiers

Ingredients

• 150G UNSALTED BUTTER
• 1 TSP VANILLA EXTRACT
• 100G CHOCOLATE, CHOPPED INTO PIECES
• 200G EGG WHITES (5 eggs)
• 175G ICING SUGAR
• 50G PLAIN FLOUR
• 85G GROUND ALMONDS
• OPTIONAL: CHOPPED PISTACHIOS AND/OR CHOCOLATE CHIPS

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 160 degrees (fan)
2. Grease the cavities of your chosen tin well
3. In a medium saucepan and over a medium heat, melt the butter and vanilla extract together until fully melted
4. Continue to heat the butter until it turns a golden brown colour (around 5 minutes)
5. Add the chocolate and stir until melted
6. Set aside to cool a little
7. In a freestanding mixer, whisk the egg whites and icing sugar together until soft peaks form (around 5 minutes on a medium speed)
8. Sift the flour and icing sugar over the top of the mixture and then fold in using a metal spoon
9. Add your chocolate butter mixture by pouring it down the inside side of the bowl rather than straight on top of your mixture
10. Fold the chocolate in, ensuring that you scrape down the sides and bottoms and thoroughly mix the chocolate in
11. Using a spoon or small ice cream scoop, fill each cavity of your baking tin around half full
12. Bake for 15 - 20 minutes or until a wooden skewer inserted in the middle of the financiers comes out clean
13. Remove from the oven and leave them in their tin for around 10 mins to cool a little
14. Gently using a flat knife, loosen them from the sides of the tin and remove each one
15. If you would like to add the pistachios, chop a handful of them and sprinkle them on the top
16. Finally, dust them with a light sprinkling of icing sugar
17. And enjoy :)

Pistachio and Orange Blossom Cake

I have a lot of cookery books. And when I say a lot, I mean a lot. They are currently all balanced in precarious piles over our guest room floor. I'm in the planning stages of a little office space (and am unbelievably excited about it) but that's a small while away so for the moment we're sticking with the tottering book piles! But not long ago I was dismantling one of these piles to get to a book (always at the bottom, right?) and started reading an old Fiona Cairn's book, Bake & Decorate.

I love her preface where she talks about empowering all sorts of different people to try their hand at baking and creating lots of memories and aromas of cake making throughout our homes. It's so true (at least for me). My boys are finally taking an interest in cooking and baking and I'd love for them to start building a love for this in their childhoods.

So when thumbing through this wonderful baking book, I found a recipe for Pistachio and Orange Blossom Cake. I absolutely LOVE pistachio and the idea of pairing this with lovely fresh springtime orange blossom was too tempting.

This is a simple looking cake. It doesn't have layers so is presented as an un-split cake with a layer of mascarpone cream on the top. It doesn't pretend to be something it's not and would look perfectly in place on a tea table or with a cup of coffee one morning. However what it does do is pack a punch with its flavours. In the cake we have pistachio, almond, orange zest and orange blossom; whilst in the topping we have mascarpone, orange zest, vanilla and orange blossom. And if that's not enough, there is a delicious syrup made from orange juice, sugar and orange blossom that soaks the cake. So you can see - it's definitely not lacking in taste!

The first part of making this cake is roasting the pistachios - and then blitzing them to a powder. The butter, sugar and orange zest are creamed in a standing mixer whilst the dry ingredients are sieved into a separate bowl. When the butter and sugar are fully creamed, the eggs are added one at a time - if it starts to curdle, then a tablespoon of the flour mixture should be added. Then the pistachios and almonds are folded in with the dry ingredients and finally the orange blossom water. Simple.

Whilst the cake is baking in the oven, the syrup is made. This is a simple combination of freshly squeezed orange juice, sugar and orange blossom water in a saucepan, brought to a rolling boil. It needs to simmer until you have around 60ml of liquid (this is 4 tablespoons to give you an idea of how much you need). It takes around 10-15 minutes but you need to keep an eye on it as there's a tipping point when it becomes a sticky marmalade!

Once the cake's out of the oven, then the cake should be pricked all over and soaked with the orange syrup - and allowed to cool in its tin. When it's ready to come out and completely cooled down, then it can be frosted. The topping is made from the mascarpone, orange zest, vanilla, orange flower water and sugar and can be hand-whipped in a bowl. Then spread on top of the cake with a palette knife.

So I love the texture of the cake. The nuts are delicious and the mix of pistachios and almonds are really stunning in this cake whilst at the same time being very moist. With the topping being made of mascarpone, it feels a lot lighter than traditional buttercream - more like the texture of whipped cream which is so yummy. There is a light green hue to the inside of the cake itself (from the pistachio) which I love contrasted with the flecks of orange in the frosting. I thought the flavours might be a little grown-up for my boys, but after three helpings, I think I can be assured it's a popular choice :)

This is a lovely light cake and would be perfect for afternoon tea or a coffee morning. It definitely heralds in the start of springtime and sunnier days 🌞

Pistachio and Orange Blossom Cake

from Fiona Cairn's Bake & Decorate

Cake Ingredients

• 175G UNSALTED BUTTER, SOFTENED
• 100G SHELLED UNSALTED PISTACHIOS
• 70G SELF-RAISING FLOUR
• 1 TSP BICARBONATE OF SODA
• PINCH OF SALT
• 200G GOLDEN CASTER SUGAR
• ZEST OF 1 ORANGE
• 4 EGGS, LIGHTLY BEATEN
• 70G GROUND ALMONDS
• 2 TSP ORANGE BLOSSOM WATER

Syrup Ingredients

• JUICE OF 1 ORANGE
• 45G GOLDEN CASTER SUGAR
• 1 TBSP ORANGE BLOSSOM WATER

Frosting Ingredients

• 250G MASCARPONE
• ZEST OF 1 ORANGE
• 1/2 TSP VANILLA EXTRACT
• 1 TBSP ORANGE BLOSSOM WATER
• 30G GOLDEN CASTER SUGAR

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 170 degrees (fan)
2. To make the Cake, grease and line a 7 inch cake tin (if you don't have this size, you can use a different sized tin by adjusting the cooking time)
3. Spread the pistachios in an even layer on a baking tray and place in the oven for around 5 minutes - they can burn quite easily so give the tray a little shake half-way through cooking and keep watching them
4. Let them cool down and then blitz in a food processor until finely ground
5. Sieve the flour, baking powder and salt into a bowl
6. Place the butter, sugar and orange zest in the bowl of a standing mixer and beat for 5 minutes until smooth and creamy
7. Add the eggs little by little, beating after each addition - if the mixture starts to curdle, add a tablespoon of the flour mixture
8. Then fold in the pistachios and almonds, flour mixture and finally the orange blossom water
9. Place in the baking tin and smooth over the surface
10. Bake for around 40 minutes or until a tooth pick inserted in the middle comes out clean
11. Whilst the cake is baking, make the Orange Syrup
12. Place the orange juice, sugar and orange blossom water in a saucepan and bring to a rolling boil
13. Simmer for around 10-15 minutes until there is 60ml liquid remaining in the pan
14. When the cake is out of the oven, immediately prick it all over with a toothpick and then pour the syrup evenly across the surface
15. Allow the cake to cool completely in its tin
16. When it's cool, turn it out onto a plate and make the Frosting
17. Place the mascarpone, orange zest, vanilla, orange blossom water and sugar in a bowl and beat until smooth
18. Spread this on the top of the cake with a palette knife
19. Adorn with flowers or serve just as it is :) 

Mini Carrot Cakes

So I guess everyone has a recipe they think is the best. I LOVE my carrot cake. This is hands down my favourite recipe (and I've eaten some pretty good carrot cakes in my time) but the reason I love this one is that it's lovely and moist and very light. This recipe works great as muffins or as a big carrot cake but today they are Mini Carrot Cakes. Perfect for the weekend, perfect for sharing with friends.

I always start by grating the carrot. I used to grate the carrot by hand, but these days I cheat and use a handheld blender - it's much quicker! You need around 4 very large carrots to get the amount you need. Then after setting these aside, start by making the batter - place the oil, brown sugar and eggs in a freestanding mixer and beat for around 3 - 5 minutes until thick and creamy. Add the carrots and zest and mix gently to combine. You don't want to overbeat this and the next stage as it will toughen your cakes. Finally sift the flour, bicarb and cinnamon into the mix and then gently combine.

Today I wanted to make mini carrot sandwich cakes but if you prefer, or don't have this tin, they can easily be made in cupcake or muffin wrappers instead. Using the mini sandwich tin, scoop around an ice cream scoop of batter into each cavity until almost full and then bake for around 18 - 20 minutes. The cakes should cool for around 10 minutes in the tin and then be gently removed and placed on a cooling rack. You will get a muffin top dome on each cake that needs to be sliced off to make flat-topped cakes. These muffin tops are excellent perks for any little helpers you might have in the kitchen - or chef's perks if you can keep it quiet!

Whilst the cakes are cooling you, can have fun making your little carrots for the top of each cake. I used around 10g sugarpaste for each carrot and coloured it with orange food dye. Each one should be shaped like a carrot and small scores made along each one to look like the indentations found on a carrot. Then a herb placed in the top of each one. I used coriander but it does tend to wilt rather quickly so place them in just before serving.

The final job is to make the cream cheese frosting. Super simple to make, first beat the butter for a couple of minutes in a freestanding mixer. Then add the cream cheese, vanilla extract and half of the sifted icing sugar and beat for around 3 - 5 minutes until smooth and creamy. The final icing sugar needs to go in now and again mixed for another 3 minutes until lovely and smooth. Place this in a piping bag.

To assemble them, pipe a little buttercream onto half of the cakes. I piped mine in little blobs and then gently placed the other half on top. Pipe the final buttercream on top in a dome shape (try to get this around 2/3 the height of your carrots so you can hide your carrots in the middle). Sprinkle some or the crushed Oreo cookies on top as the soil and then pop a carrot into each one.

I think these look so cute and fun and are perfect for kids and adults alike. The cake itself is light and airy and then paired with rich cream cheese, they are a dream.

Easter came with a multitude of chocolate and although it may be over, our holidays continue and this is a great to get a break from all the chocolate!

And a cake containing carrots must be healthy - or at least that's what the kids are telling me ;-) 

Mini Carrot Cakes

makes 9 mini cakes

Cake Ingredients

• 350G GRATED CARROT (around 4 large carrots)
• 170ML VEGETABLE OIL
• 210G LIGHT BROWN SUGAR
• 3 EGGS
• 1 ORANGE, ZEST ONLY
• 1 LEMON, ZEST ONLY
• 275G SELF-RAISING FLOUR
• 1 TSP BICARBONATE OF SODA
• 1.5 TSP CINNAMON

Frosting Ingredients

• 65G UNSALTED BUTTER, SOFTENED
• 200G CREAM CHEESE, FULL FAT
• 1 TSP VANILLA EXTRACT
• 500G ICING SUGAR, SIFTED
• 90G WHITE FONDANT
• ORANGE FOOD COLOURING
• HERBS FOR CARROT STALKS (I used coriander)
• 4 OREO COOKIES, CRUSHED

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 170 degrees (fan)
2. Grate the carrot and set aside
3. Place the vegetable oil, brown sugar and eggs in the bowl of a freestanding mixer
4. Mix them for 5 minutes on medium speed until you have a thick, creamy texture
5. Add the carrots, zest of lemon and zest of orange and stir through until just combined
6. Sift the flour, bicarb and cinnamon on the top of the batter and stir gently until just combined
7. Pour batter into a mini sandwich tin and fill each cavity until almost to the top - you should have 18 cavities filled
8. Bake for 18 - 20 minutes until a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean
9. Leave to cool for 10 minutes and then gently remove each cake and set it on a cooling rack to cool
10. Your mini cakes will have a dome so you want to carefully slice off each one and put aside so you have flat-topped cakes
11. To make the mini carrots, colour the fondant using the orange food colouring
12. Divide into 9 pieces, around 10g per piece and shape each one into a cylinder shape like a carrot
13. Make indentations down each one like a real carrot and make a small hole in the top of each carrot
14. Top with a little piece of herb and set aside
15. To make the Cream Cheese Frosting, beat the butter in a freestanding mixer for 2 minutes
16. Then add the cream cheese, half of the icing sugar and the vanilla extract
17. Beat for around 3 - 5 minutes until a smooth and creamy consistency
18. Add the remaining icing sugar and beat again for 3 minutes until smooth
19. When the carrot cakes have cooled for around 30 minutes you can then frost them
20. Pipe buttercream onto 9 of the mini cakes
21. Then take the remaining 9 mini cakes and place one gently on top of the buttercream so you have 9 mini sandwich cakes
22. Pipe the remaining buttercream on the top of each cake
23. Sprinkle some of crushed Oreo Cookies on top of each cake and then place a carrot in the centre
24. After all this hard work, make yourself a cup of tea and then enjoy a well-deserved carrot cake for your efforts :)

White Chocolate Rolo Blondies

I hope you've all had wonderful chocolate-filled easters wherever you've been celebrating. We're away for a few days, spending time with family and although the weather has been pretty horrible, we've spent a wonderful few days enjoying new board games, making treasure maps for our (many) easter egg hunts and running outside to make the most of the occasional rays of sunshine.

As if we haven't had enough chocolatey loveliness over the long weekend, today I decided to make us a sweet treat -- and when I say sweet, we all declared this was truly one of the sweetest sweet treats I've made -- before going on to devour whole squares of it. White Chocolate Rolo Blondies. A white chocolate version of a brownie stuffed with the yummiest Rolo sweets. Although if you've been overwhelmed by easter eggs filled with lots of yummy sweeties, you can exchange the Rolos for your own favourite sweet. Mmmm...I'm now dreaming of Maltesers 💕

This is an easy one-bowl batter but for something so simple to make, it rewards big time in flavour. White chocolate is my favourite chocolate and the Rolos turn really squidgy and chewy in the final bake. After the chocolate and butter are melted together, we just add the ingredients one by one, stirring after each addition until they're all combined. After this is spread evenly in a baking tin, then the Rolos are squished (yes, this is technical term!) into the batter and then it's popped into the oven to bake.

Once it's out of the oven, it's left to cool in the tin until just warm and then divided into squares with a sharp knife. How many squares, you decide. I cut ours into 16 but we thought we could actually cut them up smaller into one bite blondies. To drizzle or not to drizzle is entirely up to you, but a dusting of icing sugar and some melted white chocolate makes them a little more special.

So, after all your easter eggs, if you are still hankering after something a touch sweet, insanely chewy and just that little bit decadent, this is the treat for you. 

They don't hang around for long :)

White Chocolate Rolo Blondies

Makes 16 squares

Ingredients

• 250G WHITE CHOCOLATE, CHOPPED
• 115G UNSALTED BUTTER, CUBED
• 100G CASTER SUGAR
• 2 LARGE EGGS, LIGHTLY BEATEN
• 1/2 TSP VANILLA EXTRACT
• 130G PLAIN FLOUR
• 1/2 TSP BAKING
• 100G WHITE CHOCOLATE CHIPS
• 16 ROLOS

Method

• Preheat the oven to 170 degrees (fan)
• Grease and line an 8 inch square baking tin
• Put 175g white chocolate and the cubed butter in a heatproof bowl over a pan of gently simmering water (making sure that the water doesn't touch the base or sides of the bowl)
• Stir the chocolate and butter gently over the heat until they're melted together
• Remove the bowl from the heat and stir in the sugar until smooth
• Slowly add the beaten eggs and then the vanilla extract and stir until the mixture is smooth and glossy (this takes around one minute)
• Sift the flour and baking powder over the top of the bowl and then stir to combine
• Finally add the white chocolate chips and mix through gently
• Pour the batter into the prepared baking tin, ensuring that it reaches all the edges and is evenly spread
• Then place 16 rolos across the batter and press them down into the mixture (you will still be able to see them)
• Bake in the oven for 20 - 25 minutes until a skewer in the centre comes out clean
• Leave to cool in the tin
• Once just warm, remove from the tin and divide it into squares with a sharp knife
• Dust with icing sugar
• Finally melt the remaining 75G white chocolate in the microwave on short bursts (remove from the microwave when 2/3 of the chocolate is melted and then stir gently until all the chocolate is melted)
• Drizzle the melted chocolate across the top of the blondies
• Enjoy :)

Marshmallow Teacakes

We had a fab week off for half term and all too soon the boys are back to school. After a busy week of baking in the week before half term, last week was all about spending quality time with my boys and catching up with friends. My eldest son had his 8th birthday (where, of where did those years go?) and I had a couple of fun projects to celebrate his big day -- Star Wars cookies for his classmates and a bright drippy cake for the big day (his celebration cake comes in a few weeks time!) Then some cupcakes for my gran to share with her new friends after moving into a new care home and finding life at 92 after living in her own place until now, a little challenging.

Last week, my friend dug out a rather fetching party photo of me from way back when featuring tea cakes (don't ask!) and said that her hubby had made the Peyton & Byrne ones for her once - and that they were delicious! I think her kitchen took a bit of a beating (we are talking about biscuits, marshmallow and melted chocolate) but it was totally worth it. I said I needed the recipe.

Do you remember the Tunnocks Tea Cakes that come wrapped in foil? I haven't had one since I was a kid and I don't know whether they've been available all this time or made a retro comeback but they are alive and well. So today I made the Peyton & Byrne Marshmallow Teacakes which were simply divine and had everything good about them that you'll remember from the Tunnocks ones - but especially yummy since they are fresh and squidgy and gooey and covered in melted milk chocolate. They have three stages but are simple to make.

The recipe makes twelve teacakes but our expanding waistlines are requiring a little more restraint of late so I halved the recipe and just made six. I've featured the recipe for twelve but you can alter the quantities to make as many as you like. First of all you need to make the biscuits. They are very simple although you do need to keep scraping down the side of the bowl to ensure that you mix it thoroughly. I then weighed out the mixture to make each one the same size. When they came from the oven, they were a little larger than I expected but I addressed that later -- keep reading!

As the biscuits cooled, I moved onto the marshmallow. All the ingredients are whisked over a saucepan of simmering water until frothy and slightly opaque. The recipe says that this should take 10-15 minutes, although mine was ready in 5 minutes so keep an eye on the texture. I then whisked the mixture with an electric hand mixer for a further 5 minutes until the marshmallow held its shape. It does set up relatively quickly so you want to move onto the next stage straightaway. I was a bit disappointed with the amount of marshmallow I had and would have been happy with twice the amount -- maybe that's just me! When I piped it on to the biscuits, I had to do this sparingly and there was quite a large ridge left around the outside of the biscuit. I didn't think this would look good once the chocolate was covering it so I decided to cut the biscuits smaller, using the outside of the marshmallow as a guide. It was a bit messy but I was much happier with the shape left.

Finally, on to the melted chocolate. Melted chocolate is dangerous in my kitchen because I love the stuff. Especially the melted Belgian milk chocolate variety that I used here. You melt half the chocolate first and then remove from the heat -- then adding the remaining chocolate and leaving 7 minutes before stirring it. This is a way of tempering the chocolate so it doesn't bloom when it sets and go dull and streaky. I have to say that mine were a little dull and streaky but that might be because I played around it with it too long when covering my little biscuits. Pop your biscuits onto a cooling rack with something underneath to catch your chocolate drips -- and get pouring! So much fun :) You need to try to make sure all the sides are completely covered but don't worry if not - they will just look a little more rustic but taste the same amount of deliciousness.

The final stage is to wait. An hour is needed for them to set. But it is hugely tempting to taste test them early! I let mine set for around 15 minutes and then lifted them with a palette knife, cleaning the drips from underneath, and put them onto a sheet lined with greaseproof paper to set.

Perhaps it will disappoint you to know that these need to be eaten the day they're made. All of them. It's a hardship but someone has to do it. 

We're currently sat looking at an empty plate.

It's totally worth making these from scratch and you won't be disappointed.

Marshmallow Teacakes

from Peyton & Byrne's British Baking

Biscuit Ingredients

• 110G PLAIN FLOUR
• 1/8 TSP BAKING POWDER
• 1/8 TSP BICARBONATE OF SODA
• PINCH OF SALT
• 60G UNSALTED BUTTER, SOFTENED
• 60G CASTER SUGAR
• 2 EGG YOLKS (you need the egg whites for the marshmallow)
• 1/2 TSP VANILLA EXTRACT
• 1 TBSP DOUBLE CREAM

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees (fan)
2. Line 2 baking trays with baking paper
3. Sift together the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt into a bowl
4. In a freestanding mixer, beat together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy
5. Add the egg yolks and vanilla and mix well, scraping down the sides
6. Beat in the cream and then the flour mixture until just combined
7. Scrape down the bowl sides and mix it quickly once more
8. Weigh the dough and divide it by 12, then divide the dough into 12 small balls and put them onto the lined trays (they do spread so leave space between each one)
9. Bake for around 10 minutes until the edges are lightly golden
10. Remove from the oven and leave on the baking tray to cool

Marshmallow Ingredients

• 2 EGG WHITES
• 100G CASTER SUGAR
• 1 TBSP GOLDEN SYRUP + 1 TSP
• PINCH OF SALT
• 1/2 TSP VANILLA EXTRACT

Method

1. Place all of the ingredients in a bowl over a saucepan of simmering water
2. Whisk until the mixture becomes frothy and slightly opaque (the recipe says 10-15 minutes but mine was ready in 5 minutes)
3. Remove the bowl from the heat and then whisk it with an electric hand whisk until it hold its shape (mine was whisked for 5 minutes)
4. Put the marshmallow into a piping bag and then pipe a dollop onto the top of each biscuit
5. Optional - I wasn't happy with the surplus biscuit around the marshmallow so I cut each biscuit with a 5cm cutter to get a uniform shape

Chocolate Topping Ingredients

• 250G BEST QUALITY MILK CHOCOLATE (chopped into small pieces)

Method

1. Take 125g chocolate and melt it in a bowl over a saucepan of simmering water until melted
2. Remove from the heat and put the remaining chocolate into the bowl
3. Leave untouched for 7 minutes and then stir the chocolate until it's all melted
4. Place the biscuits onto a wire rack with a tray underneath to catch the drips
5. Once ready, use a dessert spoon to drench each teacake with chocolate - you can help the chocolate along a little so it drips down the sides - if you want a perfect finish, then you may need to keep adding more chocolate to the teacake and tease it down the sides
6. Leave the teacakes for around 15 minutes and then carefully remove each one with a spatula, tidying up the bottoms, and then place on a tray lined with greaseproof paper to set
7. Leave for at least an hour until the chocolate has set
8. Enjoy with a nice cup of tea :)

Flourless Chocolate Beetroot Cake

So let's talk about beetroot.

I have never liked the stuff. Never cooked it before. To me, it tastes so earthy it's just not a flavour that I enjoy. But -- I have always been kind of curious about baking it into a cake. 

We had friends over for lunch at the weekend and I thought it would be fun to bake a cake for the grown-ups and children and see if the kiddies could spot a vegetable disguised as a sweet treat. Ha! They didn't :)

So the cake is a flourless chocolate cake made with hazelnuts making it a great gluten-free bake and my starting point for this was a recipe from the Australian Women's Weekly's Love To Bake. They adorn it with vanilla yoghurt and candied beetroot (the candied variety seemed one step too far in my beetroot journey!) As it's a solid cake (it doesn't rise to great heights), I decided to bathe mine in chocolate ganache, add some height with chocolate garnishes and give it a light shower of freeze-dried strawberries. The cake itself is very simple to make but requires a little prep and is best made the day before you're planning to serve it.

So the day before, the beetroot needs to be cooked for around 45 minutes until it's tender and then liquidised to a beautiful purple puree (see, I can compliment the beetroot for its look!) Then the chocolate and butter are melted together whilst you whisk the eggs, sugar, vanilla, ground hazelnuts and cocoa together in a separate bowl. Add them together with the beetroot puree and pour them into your baking tin. This needs to be covered with foil to be baked for around an hour. Once it's ready, it's then refrigerated overnight - or for at least three hours if you're making it the day it's to be served. I refrigerated mine in its baking tin covered with clingfilm.

Also, the night before, I made the chocolate garnishes so they would have time to set out of the fridge. I swirled circles on greaseproof papers and left them to dry.

When you're ready to prepare your cake for serving, remove it from the fridge, take it from its tin and release the greaseproof paper. I found my cake had shrunk away from the sides a little. This is all fine and it's going to be a relatively flat cake. I made my chocolate ganache as a 1:1 ratio of chocolate to cream which is a thick ganache - if you want it runnier with smaller drips, then you can use 1:2 chocolate to cream. When the ganache is ready, pour it over the surface of the cake allowing it to drip down the sides. Place your chocolate garnishes upright on the cake, holding them in place until they set a little and stand firm. Then sprinkle your freeze-dried strawberries across the top.

The beetroot gives a lovely moistness. The hazelnuts are a tasty addition in place of the flour, where I've usually used almonds in my gluten-free cakes. You definitely can't taste the beetroot in it but that's probably because it contains quite a lot of dark chocolate (which is never a bad thing in my book!) 

I wouldn't say that I'm a beetroot convert. But whereas I can't eat it in a salad, I can definitely eat it disguised in a cake. That's progress. And the boys loved it too.

I think we'll be making this one again :)

Flourless Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Ganache and Freeze-Dried Strawberries

Flourless Chocolate Cake

adapted from the Australian Women's Weekly Love To Bake

Ingredients

• 250G BEETROOT
• 290G DARK CHOCOLATE
• 150G BUTTER
• 5 EGGS
• 3/4 TSP VANILLA
• 180G LIGHT BROWN SUGAR
• 85G GROUND HAZELNUTS (I bought whole hazelnuts and ground them in a blender)
• 3/4 TSP COCOA POWDER

Method

1. Cook the beetroot in a small pan for 45 minutes or until tender
2. Grease and line a 7 inch cake tin
3. When the beetroot in tender, drain and puree in a blender until smooth
4. Melt the dark chocolate and butter in a saucepan over a medium heat until melted and smooth
5. Whisk the eggs, vanilla, brown sugar, hazelnuts and cocoa powder in a separate bowl
6. Add the chocolate mixture and beetroot and whisk to combine
7. Pour the mixture into the prepared tin and cover with baking foil
8. Bake the cake for around 1 hour until cooked around the edge with a slight wobble in the middle (I tested mine with a skewer that came out clean)
9. When you remove it from the oven, lift up the edge of the foil to let the steam escape
10. Allow to cool and then cover with clingfilm and refrigerate overnight

Chocolate Garnishes & Freeze-Dried Starwberries

Ingredients

• 100G DARK CHOCOLATE
• 1 TUBE OF FREEZE-DRIED STRAWBERRIES

Method

1. Melt the chocolate in the microwave until almost melted
2. Remove from the microwave and stir the chocolate until completely melted and smooth
3. You can either use a squeezy bottle or a teaspoon but you want to drizzle patterns on a sheet of greaseproof paper
4. Allow the cool at room temperature (not in the fridge)
5. My freeze-dried strawberries were little pieces and I want to create some powder too so I blitzed them in a blender to get a mix of powder and slightly larger pieces
6. Place aside

Chocolate Ganache

Ingredients

• 100G DARK CHOCOLATE
• 100G DOUBLE CREAM

Method

• Chop up the chocolate into smaller pieces and place it in a heatproof bowl
• Heat the cream in a saucepan until a few bubbles start to appear
• Pour the warmed cream over the chocolate and leave for a couple of minutes
• Mix together slowly until smooth
• Remove your cake from the fridge and place in the plate you will serve it on
• Pour the ganache over the top of your cake
• Carefully position your chocolate garnishes upright and hold them for 30 seconds until they stand firm
• Scatter the freeze-dried strawberries over the top
• Serve with cream :)

Sticky Toffee Cakes

This week I've been working my way through my enormous collection of cookery books looking for different dinner inspiration. (Ideally) healthy but hearty for the cold weather. Finding a keeper is so satisfying and we particularly enjoyed Jamie Oliver's Mexican Fish Tacos - well worth going to the effort of making the pineapple salsa :)

Yesterday we had Nutella Macarons and Vanilla Macarons with Love Hearts. But today it's Friday and we need a little cake love. I wanted to make some little Sticky Toffee Cakes with Dulce De Leche Frosting and Salted Caramel Sauce. The cake itself can be a cupcake but I made little round cakes. They are filled with pieces of dates and made with dark muscavado sugar to give a real intensity of flavour. The topping itself is extremely indulgent. Added to the icing sugar, we have cream cheese, butter and dulce de leche and this makes a beautifully soft, creamy and rich buttercream. Then the cakes are finished off drizzled with salted caramel which is so delicious, you can eat it with a spoon straight from the bowl (shhh...nobody needs to know, right?)

To make the cakes, I used a mini sandwich tin so each cake has a straight side. You could make one large cake and cut out rounds to get the same effect or bake them as cupcakes if you prefer. Firstly, the dates need to be soaked for around 15 minutes to make them lovely and soft so your bowl of dates needs to be covered with boiling water, then the dates broken into small pieces. The cake batter is made in the usual way (method below) and once the flour has been added, the dates are stirred through. It is easy to overcook these so err on the side of caution and check them after 15 minutes, then keep an eye on them if they're not quite ready.

Whilst the cupcakes are cooking, we make a sugar syrup. You can miss this stage if you like but I think it helps adds a moistness to the cake. It's a simple sugar solution made with caster sugar and water and this is brushed over the top of the cakes whilst they're still warm in their tins.

The cakes are topped with a rich buttercream. The icing sugar and butter are beaten together and then the cream cheese is added. When this is beaten to a smooth consistency, the dulce de leche is stirred through until just combined. This needs time to set a little in the fridge - I've made cream cheese frosting before which is too soft to pipe and setting it in the fridge for a half hour really helps. You will need to beat the buttercream again when it comes out of the fridge and then it can be piped or spread on to the top of each cake.

The salted caramel needs to cool down before being added to the top of the cakes otherwise it will melt the frosting so you can make it at the same time as the cakes and leave it at room temperature. The golden syrup and sugar are melted in a saucepan and then the butter, cream and salt are stirred in. And allowed to cool to room temperature. Delicious does not do this justice!

The salted caramel is best poured over the cakes as you're ready to serve them - and then the cakes served with a bowl of the caramel sauce on the side for extra helpings (it's that good). The frosting really is rather sweet and rich but pairs well with the cake itself.

The boys had friends over tonight and they inhaled a cake each. They would have had seconds.

I think it was the frosting and caramel sauce that really made these - they didn't realise there was something as healthy as dates in them :)

Sticky Toffee Cakes

Makes 18 cakes

Sticky Toffee Cake

Cake Ingredients

• 150G DATES
• 1 1/2 TSP VANILLA
• 130G BUTTER
• 240G DARK MUSCAVADO SUGAR
• 290G SELF-RAISING FLOUR
• 1 1/2 TSP BICARBONATE OF SODA
• 1/4 TSP CINNAMON
• 1/4 TSP PUMPKIN SPICE (you can use allspice if you don't have this)
• 3 LARGE EGGS

Sugar Syrup Ingredients

• 75g CASTER SUGAR
• 75ML WATER

Cake Method

1. Place the dates in a bowl and cover them with boiling water until they're just covered
2. Lightly grease the cavities of the cake tin
3. Pre-heat the oven to 170 degrees (fan)
4. After 20 minutes, cut the dates into small pieces
5. Place the butter and sugar in a freestanding mixer and beat until smooth and pale
6. Whisk the eggs lightly and add them slowly to the mixture with the mixer on medium speed
7. Sift the flour, bicarb and spices over the top of the bowl and then fold in gently with a spatula
8. Stir through the dates
9. Fill each cavity until it's 2/3 full
10. Bake for 15 minutes and then check them - you want a skewer inserted in the middle to come out clean - they may need a few minutes longer but be careful not to overcook them
11. Whilst they're in the oven, make your sugar syrup
12. Bring the sugar and water to the boil in a small saucepan and then leave to simmer for a few minutes until all the sugar has dissolved
13. Leave to cool
14. When your cupcakes are out of the oven, leave to cool in their tins for 10 mins
15. Then brush the top liberally with the sugar syrup, remove them from their tins and leave to cool on a cooling rack

Dulce De Leche Frosting & Salted Caramel Sauce

Dulce De Leche Frosting Ingredients

• 200G UNSALTED BUTTER
• 500 ICING SUGAR, SIFTED
• 200G FULL-FAT CREAM CHEESE (don't be tempted to buy the light varieties here)
• 140G DULCE DE LECHE

Caramel Sauce Ingredients

• 100G LIGHT SOFT BROWN SUGAR
• 50G GOLDEN SYRUP
• 75G UNSALTED BUTTER
• 75ML DOUBLE CREAM
• 1 TSP SEA SALT

Dulce De Leche Frosting & Caramel Sauce Method

1. To make the frosting, beat the unsalted butter and icing sugar until smooth and creamy
2. Add the cream cheese and beat until smooth
3. Stir through the dulce de leche until thoroughly combined
4. Place in the fridge for 30 mins before using
5. To make the salted caramel sauce, place the sugar and golden syrup in a small saucepan with a tablespoon of water
6. Bring it just to the boil and then simmer for 3 minutes
7. Add the butter, cream and sea salt in one go and stir for another minute until everything is melted and fully incorporated
8. Transfer to a bowl and allow to cool at room temperature
9. When the cupcakes are cool and the frosting chilled, remove it from the fridge and beat it again
10. Either pipe the frosting or spread it on the top of the cakes
11. Top with drizzles of the salted caramel sauce (attempting not to eat spoonfuls of it along the way!)

Chocolate Brownies with Peanut Butter & Popcorn Frosting

I love my weekends. I love my weekdays too but the weekends come with family time, long lie-in's and lots of snuggling with my boys. Perfection. And it also comes with weekend baking. Making lots of comfort food that we eat straight from the oven. Trying new combinations of ingredients because we happen to love them all and wonder what they'll look like together.

We didn't need any more sweet delights this week. We had Mini Almond Lemon Lamingtons to celebrate Australia Day, a big birthday chocolate cake to celebrate hubby's birthday, freshly baked Nutella Brioche for hubby's birthday breakfast and Pumpkin Dutch Pancakes. But what's one more chocolate delight amongst friends?

My little one and I decided to bake brownies and pair it with some of our favourite things - Chocolate Brownies with Peanut Butter and Popcorn Frosting. Three things we tend to eat a lot of in this house!

The brownies are lovely and squidgy. We got them out of the oven a little sooner than most would choose so they are *very* squidgy. That's just the way we like them. They were still warm when we frosted them so the peanut butter started to melt a little bit around the edges. That was okay. Then we sprinkled them with toffee popcorn and dusted them with icing sugar. And inhaled them.

The Chocolate Brownies are simple to make. I love that brownies are so quick to get in the oven and these ones promise a huge chocolate hit. The recipe is adapted from Hummingbird's Chocolate Brownie but I decreased the sugar a little and switched to golden caster sugar. I also decided that we'd bake it in a bread tin and make a slightly smaller batch. This is a one bowl recipe which when you do as much washing up as I do, is always a big win! Chocolate and butter are melted over a bain-marie until smooth and the sugar is added and mixed until smooth. Then the flour is added and mixed until smooth. Finally the eggs are added and mixed until smooth. Once poured into a lined baking tin (in our case, a bread tin lined with baking parchment) it goes in the oven for around 35 minutes. We baked ours for 30 minutes (when we put a cocktail stick in the middle, it was still slightly damp) and the brownies, even cooled, are pretty gooey so I'd suggest baking them for at least 35 minutes.

Whilst the brownies were cooling, we made the frosting, The butter is beaten for a couple of minutes and then the icing sugar and milk added. When these are lovely and smooth, add the peanut butter and beat until combined and smooth. We chose smooth peanut butter but you can use a crunchy one as you like. This is also the time to customise your own topping so you can add more peanut butter to taste.

When the brownies are cool and the frosting has been spread liberally over them, scatter the top with toffee popcorn and then dust with icing sugar to finish.

The boys absolutely loved these. What's not to love about a totally chocolatey and squidgy chocolate brownie covered with the sweetest frosting and finished with our favourite kind of popcorn?

Totally a weekend hit and one that can easily be made with the little ones and enjoyed by them. It won't last long!

Chocolate Brownies With Peanut Butter and Popcorn Frosting

Chocolate Brownies

adapted from Hummingbird's Chocolate Brownies

Ingredients

• 150G DARK CHOCOLATE
• 120G BUTTER
• 200G GOLDEN CASTER SUGAR
• 2 EGGS
• 90G PLAIN FLOUR

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 170 degrees (fan)
2. Grease and line a bread tin
3. Melt the chocolate and butter gently in a bowl placed over a simmering pan of water - remember not to let the water touch the bottom of the bowl
4. Once melted and smooth, remove from the heat
5. Stir in the golden caster sugar until fully combined
6. Stir in the flour and mix until smooth
7. Mix in the eggs until you have a smooth batter
8. Pour the mixture into the prepared bread tin and make sure that the batter is level
9. Bake for around 35 minutes until the top is flakey and the centre should still be a little wobbly - but if unsure, then test it with a cocktail stick that should come out clean
10. Leave to cool and carefully remove from its tin

Peanut Butter Frosting

Ingredients

• 100G BUTTER
• 200G ICING SUGAR, SIFTED
• 2 TSP MILK
• 130G SMOOTH PEANUT BUTTER
• A BAG OF TOFFEE POPCORN (we used Butterkist but you can choose whichever brand you like)

Method

1. Beat the butter in a stand mixer for 2 minutes
2. Add the icing sugar and milk and beat until smooth and fully combined
3. Mix in the peanut butter until smooth
4. Once the brownie is cooled, spread the frosting over the top
5. Sprinkle the popcorn over the frosting
6. Dust the top with icing sugar
7. And enjoy :)

Stem Ginger Bundt Cake

It started with an image of a scrummy gingerbread cake from The Boy Who Bakes on Instagram. And the fact that it's Gingerbread Month on BBC Good Food. Although I've often made Gingerbread Biscuits, I've never made a Gingerbread Cake before. So I set about to find an authentic recipe with a truly gingerbready (is that even a word?) cake - and I think I've found the one.

I played around with an old recipe from the Crabapple Bakery that was originally intended to make Gingerbread Cupcakes. I wanted to make a Stem Ginger Bundt Cake. I've had my share of challenges removing cakes from Bundt tins in the past and scoured the web for help - stay tuned for the top tips I've gathered!

So this cake is a lovely traditional gingerbread and the wonderful ginger taste comes from both stem ginger and ground ginger. Although I'm not a fan of stem ginger, the small pieces throughout give a slight crunch and lovely pop of ginger when you take a bite. The cake itself is light in texture, although it does have a slight squidginess which is ever so delicious.

So before we make the cake, let's talk Bundt Tins. Ever had a bundt cake that just wouldn't release from its tin after baking? Or perhaps it broke apart when coming out of its tin? I have. So here are my tips that I now use. First I grease the tin with butter, wiping all over the surfaces with a good coating of room temperature butter. Then I get a pastry brush and make sure that all the little cracks and crevices are well coated too. Once the tin is very well buttered, I dust the whole tin with flour. I read somewhere that you shouldn't pour your batter into the tin in one go, but fill it with cupfuls so I did that here. And a final tip that I found on Crafty Baking was that when the cake is ready to come out of the oven, soak a towel with steaming water in the sink and place the cake (tin side touching the cloth) for 10 seconds, before turning out immediately onto a cooling rack. And it works!

Now on to the cake. The batter is made in a large saucepan where we start by melting the butter, dark muscovado sugar and treacle until the butter has melted and sugar dissolved but the mixture shouldn't boil. Once they're melted together, leave to cool for 5 minutes and then add in succession (stirring well between each addition) the milk, eggs, chopped stem ginger and sifted flour mixture, taking care not to over-mix and toughen the batter. Then pour this into the tin until it's three-quarters full and bake.

When I had a finished cake turned out and cooling on the rack, I warmed a quarter cup of maple syrup and brushed that all over the outside and then dusted the cake with icing sugar. It wasn't intended to look Christmassy but it does look like a light sprinkling of snow has passed overhead. And I have to confess that after spending the last few weeks practicing my son's Christmas choir songs for his school carol service, it's already beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

This makes a really lovely, light cake and/or dessert (I'm thinking of trying it with a little ice cream later!) with fresh pops of ginger throughout.

Personally I think it's all worth it for the smell alone when it's baking in the oven - but if you love ginger, then this is sure to be a hit :)

Stem Ginger Bundt Cake (adapted from Crabapple Bakery's Ginger Lovers' Cupcakes)

Ingredients

• 300G UNSALTED BUTTER
• 200G DARK MUSCOVADO SUGAR
• 160G TREACLE
• 240ML SEMI-SKIMMED MILK
• 3 EGGS, BEATEN
• 1 PIECE OF STEM GINGER, CHOPPED INTO TINY PIECES
• 400G SELF-RAISING FLOUR
• 1½ TBSP GROUND GINGER
• ¼ TSP SALT

​Method

1. Grease with butter and flour your bundt tin
2. Preheat the oven to 150 degrees
3. In a large saucepan, gently heat the butter, sugar and treacle until the butter is melted and the sugar dissolved but don't let it boil
4. Once the mixture is melted and well-mixed, remove from the heat and leave to one side for 5 mins
5. Sieve the flour, ginger and salt into a separate bowl
6. Add the milk to the saucepan and stir until well-mixed
7. Then add the eggs one at a time, ensuring that all the egg is combined well with the mixture
8. Stir through the stemmed ginger
9. Add the flour mixture 1 cup at a time, ensuring that the flour is well incorporated and the mixture smooth but taking care not to over-mix it
10. Transfer the batter to the bundt tin one cup at a time
11. Bake for around 40 mins until a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean
12. Just before the cake is due out of the oven, soak a tea towel with steaming hot water in the sink and place the tin on top of it (tin side touching the towel) for 10 seconds
13. Then turn out the cake immediately onto a cooling rack
14. Leave to cool for 10 mins and then heat a quarter cup of maple syrup for 20 seconds in the microwave
15. Lightly brush the outside of the cake with the syrup
16. Sieve icing sugar over the top of the cake and serve on a pretty platter (Christmas look optional!!)

Chocolate Doughnuts with Chocolate Ganache

It's Friday. It's half term. It couldn't have come sooner.

What better way to celebrate a week off together than with Chocolate Doughnuts. The boys had a playdate so I thought I'd make these doughnuts that I've had my eye on for a while. I made Pumpkin Doughnuts not long ago and both these and the chocolate ones are baked rather than deep fried (I will get to deep frying doughnuts at some point but these seem just that little bit healthier).

This recipe is adapted from one by Manuela Kjeilen who has the most fabulous blog called Passion 4 Baking. Think pink. Think retro kitchens. Think complete inspiration. I've looked through most of her recipes and there are so many things I'd love to make, but one bake that stuck in my mind was her doughnuts.

One of the main ingredients is Jell-o Instant Pudding Powder which is an American product that I dug out in the supermarket when I was in Canada over the summer. I adapted Manuela's Delicious Baked Vanilla Donuts recipe to make a chocolate version so I used the Chocolate Jell-o Pudding Powder in mine. It's fair to say that my baked doughnuts don't look that chocolatey and flavour-wise weren't that chocolatey either so after going to great lengths to get this pudding mix, I think cocoa powder would work well next time. But I'm pretty happy with the results from this first batch.

The doughnuts have yeast in them and their texture is very bread-like. They're left to prove twice which means they need a little longer to make but this really helps give them their fluffy texture. The first batch I made looked like Manuela's but I found that after they'd proved and been in the oven, they expanded so much that they almost joined together and the hole all but vanished. So the ones on the right below were my second batch which don't look as pretty pre-baking, but give the customary hole in the middle and much better post-baking look.

I would say that the doughnuts themselves don't have a huge amount of flavour (which I think would be enhanced by the addition of cocoa powder) so the toppings are really important and I decided to use a rich dark ganache and a helping of sprinkles. I love the flavour of the really rich chocolate ganache and the crunchy little non-appareils.

They take a little more time because of the proving but these are a fun little bake.

And if you're looking for ways to allay half term boredness, then kids would love to be chief decorators :)

Chocolate Doughnuts with Chocolate Ganache Makes 20 (adapted from Passion 4 Baking's Delicious Baked Vanilla Donuts)

Chocolate Doughnut Ingredients

• 30G BUTTER, MELTED
• 350ML WARM MILK
• 7G FAST ACTION BREAD YEAST
• 150G CASTER SUGAR
• 1 PACKET JELL-O CHOCOLATE INSTANT PUDDING POWDER
• PINCH OF SALT
• 2 EGGS
• 625G PLAIN FLOUR

Chocolate Ganache

• 100g WHIPPING CREAM
• 100G DARK CHOCOLATE, CHOPPED
• SPRINKLES

Method

1. Firstly, melt the butter and put aside
2. Heat the milk so it's warm but not hot and place in a mixing bowl
3. Sprinkle the yeast over the top
4. Add the melted butter and mix together
5. Add the sugar, instant pudding powder, salt and flour
6. Mix these ingredients together with a dough hook until the ingredients are combined
7. Add the flour and continue to mix with the dough hook until smooth and elastic (around 8-10 minutes)
8. Turn the dough into a lightly greased bowl, cover and leave to double in size for around 1 hour
9. Lightly flour a work surface and then roll out the dough until it's around 1 cm thick
10. I used the Wilton Mini Doughnut Pan so found that a 6cm cutter and 3.5cm piping nozzle were the right sizes for this
11. Put these doughnuts into the pan, cover with a clean cloth and leave for an hour
12. Preheat the oven to 170 degrees (fan)
13. Bake the doughnuts for around 8-10 mins until golden brown on the outside
14. When ready, turn out the doughnuts onto a cooling rack
15. Make the ganache by heating the cream until it's just boiling and then pour over the chocolate slowly
16. Leave for few minutes and then stir together until all the chocolate lumps have disappeared
17. Hold one of the doughnuts upside down and swirl it in a circular motion in the chocolate until you have an even coating on the top (use a spoon to help spread this if needed)
18. Top with your favourite sprinkles :)

Lime & Green Tea Madeleines

I love when my friends recommend recipes to me. This last week has been a little topsy turvy with a big corporate baking project, making the Jurassic World Launch Cookies for Universal's head office in London (170 boxes of 3 vanilla and chocolate cookies was quite a challenge - photo below!) Whilst I was knee-deep in flour and sugarpaste and covered in airbrush paint, a friend popped a recipe through to me she thought I could try.

This fabulous recipe for Lime & Green Tea Madeleines with Vanilla & Black Pepper Cream. Wow, what flavour combinations! I think the recipe came from a magazine but is from Laura Santtatini's new book, At Home With Umami. It combines zesty lime with green tea in the madeleines and then pairs them with a lovely lightly whipped cream speckled with vanilla seeds and pepper.

What I love most about these madeleines is the wonderful green colour and the zesty lime flavour. I'm not a huge matcha fan but I found that this recipe uses the tea to give it a wonderful colour and the flavour isn't too predominant. I only made a half batch to start off as wasn't sure this would be a popular flavour with my boys, but am now kicking myself that I didn't make the full 20!! The recipe is straightforward but with each stage it's important to keep lots of air in there to make them as light as possible when they're baked. And also to ensure that you grease the madeleine tins well. Laura suggests oiling them but I went with my usual method which is to butter and flour them.

I'm used to making madeleines with just egg whites, but this recipe uses whole eggs. The batter is refrigerated before it goes into the tins for baking. I usually put my batter into a piping bag and then refrigerate  it. Just a preference of mine, but I find it easy to store and then when the mixture sets more in the fridge, it's easier to pipe it into the madeleine tins. 

These madeleines are lovely as a standalone treat without the cream but the fluffy cream adds another dimension. The pepper gives a slightly spicy taste and I love the additional icing sugar that adds a touch of sweetness. Laura suggests adding these to taste and also the option of adding saké but I didn't have any to hand so decided to just flavour with the vanilla seeds, icing sugar and ground pepper. 

This would work really well for afternoon tea but I think if you were making them for morning coffee then losing the cream would work equally - but adding a proper pairing with a nice cup of green :)

Lime & Green Tea Madeleines with Vanilla & Black Pepper Cream Makes 10

Lime & Matcha Madeleine Ingredients

• 65g BUTTER, MELTED & COOLED
• 80G PLAIN FLOUR
• 1/8 TSP SALT
• 1/4 TSP BAKING POWDER
• 1/2 TBSP MATCHA GREEN TEA POWDER
• 1 LARGE EGG
• 85G CASTER SUGAR
• ZEST OF 1 LIME
• 1 TBSP LIME JUICE (just less than the juice of a lime)

Vanilla & Black Pepper Cream Ingredients

• 150ML DOUBLE CREAM
• 1/2 POD VANILLA SEEDS
• 1/2 TSP BLACK PEPPER (to taste)
• 1 TBP ICING SUGAR (to taste)

Method

1. Firstly, melt the butter and set aside to cool
2. In a bowl, sieve the flour, salt, baking powder and matcha green tea powder
3. Place the sugar and egg in a mixer and whisk until it's doubled in volume (around 3-5 minutes)
4. Whisk the lime juice into the egg mixture
5. Fold the flour into the mixture until just combined
6. Fold in the butter and lime zest
7. Put the mixture into a piping bag and refrigerate for an hour
8. When you're ready to make the madeleines, preheat the oven to 180 degrees (fan)
9. Butter and lightly flour the madeleine tins and then pipe the mixture into the cavities until each is 3/4 full
10. Bake for around 12 minutes but watch them carefully as you're waiting for the edges to turn golden brown and don't want them to burn
11. Remove from the oven and turn them out gently onto a cooling rack
12. To make the cream, whisk the double cream to soft peaks being carefully not to over-beat the cream
13. Fold in the vanilla seeds, pepper and icing sugar to taste (these are the quantities I used but feel free to flavour as you like)
14. Enjoy the madeleines warm from the oven with a sprinkling of icing sugar and the cream cool from the fridge :)

Roasted Strawberry & Black Pepper Scones

So I know it's autumn now, but can you forgive for me for trying to hold on to a little bit of summer? The sun has been shining this week and sometimes it was even warm enough to abandon the jumper :) So although cream teas and scones might conjure up dreams of warmer, lazier days in the garden, I can promise you they are just as delicious on cooler days tucked up inside when the leaves are turning golden brown.

I don't usually watch the Hairy Bikers but this week I caught a little of an old show on TV where they were roasting strawberries with black pepper for scones. The roasted strawberries looked like little jewels adorning scone crowns and I couldn't resist making some for us.

The strawberries take an hour and a half to roast, so whilst the scones are relatively quick to make, you do need to start preparations a little earlier for these. You could always roast the strawberries the day before and get a head start on your baking. They are simple to prepare. The strawberries are hulled and cut in half and then sprinkled with two teaspoons of sugar and one teaspoon of freshly ground black pepper. Then roasted on a sheet of baking paper for an hour and a half. The juices run out and they get a little sticky on the paper but try to scrape all the goodness up as you don't want to lose a drop of this in your scones.

The scones are super simple to make. The butter should be added cold to the flour, sugar and salt and then rubbed in with your fingertips. Then add your roasted strawberries to the mix. Finally stir in the milk (I used whole milk) and combine until all the ingredients are well mixed.

Turn the mixture out onto a well floured surface, add a little more flour to the top and then pat down with your hand until the mixture is around 3cm deep (my scones were taller than the Hairy Biker scones on TV but I prefer them that way) I cut out rounds with a 68mm cutter, placed them on a baking tray lined with Silpat (or you can use baking paper) and then brushed the top with a little milk. Into the oven for around 18 minutes and they are ready to enjoy.

They are delicious warm from the oven and are nice without any other toppings. However, when topped with strawberry jam and clotted cream they are absolutely heavenly.

We are all partial to afternoon tea in this house and these were a lovely treat. I think the addition of the roasted strawberries not only looks more beautiful but the flavour adds a new dimension to them too. Well worth the effort of getting out your roasting tin :)

Roasted Strawberry and Black Pepper Scones Makes 15 (from the Hairy Bikers)

Roasted Strawberry Ingredients

• 300G STRAWBERRIES
• 2 TSP CASTER SUGAR
• 1 TSP FRESHLY GROUND PEPPER

Scone Ingredients

• 500g SELF-RAISING FLOUR (plus extra for dusting surfaces when rolling)
• 50G CASTER SUGAR
• ½ SALT
• 100G COLD BUTTER, CUT INTO SMALL CUBES
• 300ML FULL-FAT MILK (plus extra for brushing the top of the scones)
•  

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 120 degrees (fan)
2. For the Roasted Strawberries, prepare them by hulling them and cutting each one in half
3. Put them on a lined baking tray and then sprinkle them with the sugar and pepper
4. Roast them for 1½ hours
5. Scrape them off the baking paper and put to one side
6. For the Scones, preheat the oven to 180 degrees (fan) and line two baking trays
7. Place the flour, sugar and salt into a medium mixing bowl
8. Add the cubed butter and rub into the dry mix with your fingertips until the flour mix looks like fine breadcrumbs (around 3 to 5 mins)
9. Stir through the roasted strawberries
10. Add half of the milk and start to combine with the flour mix
11. Then add the other half and mix until all the ingredients are well-mixed and forms a dough
12. Dust your work surface with flour and then turn out your dough on to here
13. Put a little more flour on top and then knead gently until the dough all comes together
14. Pat down with your hands or rolling pin until the dough is around 3cm thick
15. Then cut out rounds with a 7cm cutter and place them onto the prepared baking trays
16. Gather together the scraps of dough, re-roll them and cut out rounds, repeating until you've used all your dough (it should make around 15 scones)
17. Brush the tops with a little milk
18. Place them in the oven and cook for around 18 mins until they're risen and the tops are brown
19. Slice them in half and serve with your favourite combination but I can especially recommend strawberry and clotted cream :)

Mini Pumpkin Doughnuts

Much as I want to cling onto the last rays of summer, I think there can be no disputing that autumn is definitely here and every hope of an Indian summer is fading fast. However, I do not despair! Autumn brings with it its own richness and flavours. I have an abundance of apples and quince from a friend that are begging to be transformed into something scrumptious; a pile of recipes for delicious looking soup; and today I couldn't resist bringing back my favourite autumnal flavour. Pumpkin.

It's been a busy few weeks planning and making celebration cakes (see my Jimmy Choo Cake here and Laser Tag Cake here) and I haven't been able to do everyday baking just for us. But I've been desperate to treat us to some mini doughnuts and I'm hoping that the use of pumpkin in these counts as one of our five a day :) And these are baked doughnuts rather than fried so are healthier in this respect too.

They're made from a simple cake batter which has pumpkin in it and I also use a pumpkin pie spice to add flavour - I use Clubhouse Pumpkin Pie Spice which we picked up in Canada a while ago but you could use a mix of cinnamon and cloves or allspice according to taste. The recipe is very straightforward where you mix all the dry ingredients in one bowl and the wet ingredients in another and then mix the two together. I have a couple of KitchenAid Doughnut pans (6 holes per pan) and I piped the batter in a ring in each hole.

They only take 10 minutes to cook and then the trick to giving them the doughnut crust is to brush the tops with melted butter and then gently roll the buttered part in a mix of sugar and cinnamon. It works best if you just lightly brush them with butter because if they're soaked it tends to seep through the sugar. And you need to do this when they're just out of the oven.

They're best served straight from the oven, lovely and warm, and eaten on the day they're made. As they're mini doughnuts, they kind of call out to you to keep eating them so there's not a great chance they'd last longer than a day in your house!

The boys loved them. They didn't raise an eyebrow at the mention of pumpkin and declared them delicious, begging for their third one as an after school treat.

I haven't shown hubby yet. I don't think there's any chance they'll last longer than 5 mins when he sets his sights on them :)

Mini Pumpkin Doughnuts  Makes around 20 mini doughnuts (adapted from Baking Bites Pumpkin Donut Muffins)

Doughnut Ingredients

• 200G PLAIN FLOUR
• 1 TSP BAKING POWDER
• 1/4 TSP SALT
• 2 TSP PUMPKIN SPICE
• 115G BUTTER, MELTED
• 70G LIGHT BROWN SUGAR
• 100G CASTER SUGAR
• 1 LARGE EGG
• 115G PUMPKIN PUREE (I use Libby's tinned pumpkin puree)
• 1 TSP VANILLA EXTRACT
• 120ML SEMI-SKIMMED MILK

Cinnamon Sugar Ingredients

• 30G MELTED BUTTER
• 100G CASTER SUGAR
• 1 TSP CINNAMON

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180 dregrees (fan)
2. Melt the butter for the doughnut and set aside to cool for 5 mins
3. In a bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, salt and pumpkin pie spice
4. In a separate bowl, whisk the melted butter, sugars, egg, pumpkin puree, vanilla extract and milk
5. Add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix until combined
6. Put the batter into a piping bag
7. Pipe a ring of batter into each doughnut hole (be careful not to over-fill them as you don't want them rising up and the centre hole closing up
8. Bake for 10 mins in the oven (check with a toothpick that it comes out clean when inserted into the doughnuts)
9. Leave them aside for a couple of minutes to cool slightly
10. Melt the butter for the Cinnamon Sugar topping
11. Mix the caster sugar and cinnamon on a plate
12. Turn the doughnuts out of their tins and then lightly brush the tops with melted butter
13. Roll the buttered side lightly in the cinnamon sugar until well coated
14. Leave aside to cool - or eat them as they are!

Semlor "Bollos De Pascua Suecos"

I know it's not Easter. It should, in fact, be summer but you could be mistaken for thinking it was autumn going into winter most days here in London right now. So back to Easter. Or rather not being Easter, but these lovely little buns that are traditionally served at Easter in Sweden should be served all year around. Doesn't the name sounds romantic "Bollos de Pascua suecos"? Much nicer than "Swedish Easter Buns"!

I hadn't tried these before, but saw a photo on Pinterest that stayed somewhere in the back of my mind for a day such as this one. When we were recently in Canada, out in the Algonquin National Park, we made many visits to our favourite bakery, Henrietta's Bakery, where they had lots of traditional buns filled with jam and cream, fresh cakes and pies and somewhere amongst all of this I was reminded of these little buns. Incidentally, if you ever find yourself in the Algonquin National Park with a craving for something sweet, I thoroughly recommend a visit to that lovely bakery for their amazing sticky buns :)

But back to my Semlor buns which are in essence bread flavoured with cardamom. The cardamom is freshly ground so it has a really vibrant flavour and smell.  I'm not a huge cardamom fan (especially if you find me accidentally chewing on one in my pilau rice) but the 1 teaspoon in these buns is not too overbearing and adds a rather pleasant flavour.

Once they are baked and cooled, it's time for their little hats to come off.  Then a small amount of the insides are scooped out ready to be mixed with almond paste and then layered back inside the bun. I made my own almond paste which meant I could make it to my desired consistency and as sweet as I liked it. This is then topped with a generous swirl of the most delicious mascarpone cream mixed with vanilla paste, icing sugar, milk and cream. Its little hat goes back on top and then it's dusted with icing sugar. There.  Easy, right?

There are a few different sources that inspired these which found me translating Swedish recipes (and as such missing important stages!) but my recipe was in the main adapted from Swedish Food and Mercaditas Bakery. These buns do have a few different stages but it's totally worth the effort. The freshly ground spice really does give this a lift and transforms it from just a bread bun whilst pairing really well with the almond and mascarpone cream.

They're lovely enjoyed with a cup of coffee - but in my world it's always a hot chocolate :)

Semlor "Bollos De Pascua Suecos"

Dough Ingredients

• 75G BUTTER
• 300ML MILK
• 10G FAST ACTION DRIED YEAST
• ½ TSP SALT
• 55G SUGAR
• 1 TSP FRESHLY GROUND CARDAMOM
• 500G PLAIN FLOUR
• 1 EGG

Almond Paste Ingredients

• 125g GROUND ALMONDS
• 60ML MILK
• ICING SUGAR TO TASTE

Mascarpone Cream Ingredients

• 250G REFRIGERATED MASCARPONE
• 120ML WHIPPING CREAM
• 60G ICING SUGAR
• 1 TSP VANILLA PASTE

Method

1. Melt the butter in a saucepan
2. Add the milk and heat until it's lukewarm and mixed well
3. Add the yeast and mix until it's all dissolved
4. Put the salt, sugar, cardamom and flour in a mixer and make a well in the centre
5. Add the buttery milk mixture and egg and then mix for 5 mins with the dough hook (or alternatively knead it by hand)
6. The mixture should be sticky but not stick to your hands when it's ready
7. Place in an oiled bowl covered loosely with clingfilm and leave to prove for a half hour
8. Gently turn out the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth
9. Divide the dough into equal balls (I wanted 8 so just calculated what each ball needed to weigh and used the weighing scales to make sure they were all even sized at around 95g)
10. Put the dough balls onto 2 baking sheets lined with baking paper, cover with a tea towel and leave for another 40 mins
11. Preheat the oven to 170 degrees (fan)
12. Bake for 25 mins until the tops are browned and then allow to cool
13. If you're not filling the buns immediately, store them in an airtight container as they tend to dry out quickly
14. Make the almond paste by mixing all the ingredients together - the icing sugar is at your discretion until the paste is sweet enough for you, but as a guide, I added 3 tablespoons
15. Cut a small hat off the top of each bun and place aside
16. Then scoop out a little of the bread from inside each bun and add this into the almond paste, then mix together
17. At this stage, I added a little more milk until I had a creamy paste
18. Divide the paste between each of the buns
19. Then beat the mascarpone, icing sugar and vanilla paste until mixed together
20. Add the whipping cream and beat on high until it holds its shape and forms stiff peaks
21. Using a star nozzle, pipe the cream onto each bun
22. Then replace their hats
23. Sprinkle liberally with icing sugar!

Magic Cake

Magic cake. Magic. Cake. What doesn't appeal about this? They had me at the word magic, let alone cake. There are many recipes for this, most of them very similar and it has been across the internet for some time now. I've had it stored up in the back of mind for an occasion when I needed a little magic in my week.

The magic about this cake is that from a single batter, you get three distinct layers. The bottom of a firmer layer of custard, the middle a softer (and more wobbly) custard and the top is sponge. You could also call this cake Magic Custard Cake if you prefer but I kind of like the anonymity of leaving out the word custard until you're actually tucking into a slice. Of the many recipes that I could try for this, I decided to work with the one from Cinnamon and Toast and it's very straightforward.

There a few key stages to making this cake a success. The eggs need to be at room temperature. You will need to separate them and will whip the whites to soft peak before adding them. You will need to gently warm the milk so that the butter doesn't start to solidify again when you add it. Folding the soft peak egg whites into what is a liquid batter isn't the easiest but once mixed in, the batter is ready for the cake tin. It also takes 50 mins to an hour to bake in the oven and needs to be cooled completely before attempting to remove it from the tin (I mean, imagine trying to remove a cake with an unset custard middle from the tin and the oozy centre). But if you stick with the instructions below it really does work and you get the most delightful custard cake.

Being custard, it makes a lovely dessert (my boys absolutely adored it) but it would also be lovely for afternoon tea. It's a very light cake and has a fantastic taste of vanilla throughout the custard. A bit like the egg custards I used to eat as a child, minus the pastry.

I will definitely be making this again. I can see it becoming a firm favourite in our house, especially with our boys who are obsessed with custard anyway.

So go on - try it. Bring a little magic into your house :)

Magic Cake (recipe from Cinnamon and Toast) 

Ingredients

• 4 LARGE EGGS, SEPARATED AT ROOM TEMPERATURE
• 150G SUGAR
• 110G BUTTER AT ROOM TEMPERATURE
• 95G PLAIN FLOUR
• 470ML LUKEWARM MILK
• 1 TSP VANILLA EXTRACT
• ICING SUGAR FOR DUSTING 

Method

1. Preheat oven to 160 degrees (fan)
2. Lightly grease an 8 x 8 inch square cake pan and line with parchment paper (you can use other cake pans but as the batter is liquid, springform tins are not advisable!)
3. Warm milk in microwave and set aside
4. Beat together the egg yolks and sugar in a mixing bowl until creamy and pale yellow
5. Add butter and mix for approximately 2 minutes on high speed
6. Add the flour and mix until fully incorporated
7. Turn the speed down on the mixer to low and slowly add the milk and vanilla
8. In a separate bowl, mix the egg whites until soft peaks are formed
9. Gently fold in egg whites, ⅓ at a time. The batter is liquid and it's tricky to incorporate the egg whites but continue to stir them through until they're mixed in
10. Pour into the cake pan.
11. Bake for 50-60 minutes or until top is lightly golden and firm to the touch (when you remove it from the oven, it may sink a little, but that's okay)
12. Let cool completely before removing it from the cake tin
13. Dust with icing sugar before serving

Dulce De Leche & Mascarpone Crêpe Cake

The sun is shining today and summer feels like it just might finally be on its way. As I write this, I know I'm tempting fate and that a downpour will arrive at any moment! This has been a busy week of cake prepping and admin so we definitely need a mid-week treat to tempt the taste buds, but something that embraces the summer sunshine today.

I've seen a number of crêpe cakes on the internet, but most of them are filled with nutella and syrup and since those two toppings are at the top of our favourite list for our weekly pancakes (I say weekly but our youngest would campaign for them every day of the week given the choice), they've never tempted me. Then I saw a lovely, fresh alternative on Call Me Cupcake which seemed perfect for a summery day and a need for something sweet - Dulce De Leche & Mascarpone Crêpe Cake.

The crêpe batter is sprinkled with orange zest (lemon, if you prefer) and adds a touch of freshness to the cake (and a subtle but beautiful aroma of orange when you're cooking them). You need to get into a rhythm producing the crêpes. Now I don't claim to be an expert pancake maker (I leave that to my hubby) but after the production line needed for this cake, I definitely got better! I made 20 crêpes from the batter using a six inch pan (although one of these sadly met an untimely demise with maple syrup and my mouth during cooking). It's important to separate the crêpes after cooking (either spread out or using greaseproof paper between the layers) otherwise they'll stick together whilst they're cooling. 

It doesn't take long for them to cool down - just the length of time it took to make the mascarpone filling (I chose this over the ricotta in the original recipe). To make sure I had enough filling for the alternate layers, I divided the pancakes in two and spread half of them with ricotta and half of them with dulce de leche. It works better to spread the fillings on them when they're separated as when they're stacked and you press down on them, the filling squeezes out. When they all had their toppings, I stacked them, topped them with fruit and then a light sprinkling of icing sugar. After it was made, the kitchen was quite warm and the dulce de leche started to ooze out, so I kept it refrigerated and that also made it easier to cut.

The resulting crêpe cake is delicious and light, although the ricotta is very creamy so it feels more indulgent, especially paired with the dulce de leche.

This cake is best eaten the day it's made so it's probably an afternoon tea or dinner treat. I know this sounds quite fiddly, but it's very straightforward to make and is a lovely alternative to a usual baked cake so it's definitely one to try. 

It does only make a six inch cake though, so make sure you don't invite too many friends around to enjoy it with you :)

Dulce De Leche & Mascarpone Crêpe Cake (recipe from Call Me Cupcake)

Crêpe Ingredients

• 4 LARGE EGGS
• 1½ CUPS MILK (350 ML)
• 2 CUPS PLAIN FLOUR (260G)
• 1/4 TSP SALT
• 1½ TBP SUGAR
• ZEST OF 1 ORANGE (FINELY GRATED)
• 1 CUP WATER (235 ML)
• 75G BUTTER

Filling Ingredients

• ½ TIN DULCE DE LECHE
• 170G MASCARPONE
• 1 TBSP ICING SUGAR
• ZEST OF ½ ORANGE (FINELY GRATED)
• EXTRA ICING SUGAR (FOR SPRINKLING ON TOP)
• MIXED FRUIT FOR TOP

Method

1. In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, flour, salt, sugar and orange zest until the batter is lump free
2. Stir in the water and leave it to thicken at room temperature for 30 minutes
3. After 30 minutes, melt the butter and stir into the batter
4. Using a 6 inch frying pan, melt a little butter in the pan and cook the pancakes one by one trying to make them as thin as possible (I used around ½ ladle batter for each crêpe)
5. Lay each crêpe to cool on greaseproof paper making sure that you separate them with more greaseproof paper if you plan to stack them for cooling
6. Leave to cook completely
7. Combine the ricotta, tablespoon of icing sugar and orange zest
8. Spread half of the crêpes with the ricotta mix and the other half with dulce de leche
9. Then stack the pancakes on top of each other
10. Top with your choice of mixed fruit and dust with icing sugar just before you plan to eat them
11. And enjoy the fruits of your crêpe production line!

Apple & Rhubarb Crumble Cake

So we've barely been back at school and it's the half term break already. This week, we've escaped to the countryside to spend our time running around country houses and communing with nature. And it's been lovely to be out of the big city, surrounded by beautiful gardens laden with flowers and baby animals everywhere we turn. Even as I'm sat writing this, I'm watching two wild rabbits chasing each other across the lawn outside. We're about six weeks aways from the optimum time to visit my parents when their vegetable and fruit garden is rich for the picking and the boys hide out in the fruit patches, their mouths stained with berry juice as they eat more than they bring back for us.

The one fruit that is ready for us on this visit is the rhubarb. We especially love rhubarb with crumble. But I love it with apple and vanilla sponge piled up with rhubarb and then a buttery crumble topping in one delicious cake, our Apple & Rhubarb Crumble Cake.

The most time consuming part of making this cake is the chopping of rhubarb and apple and I like to cut them into very small pieces. I always chop these first, then make the crumble topping and set them aside as I make the cake. To get two cups of rhubarb, I used four long sticks of rhubarb which seems a lot compared to the one apple, but the ratios work. The sponge is very light and is piled high with the rhubarb which condenses down to become lovely and soft during cooking. Our rhubarb was a little sharp but seemed to work underneath the sugary crumble topping.

This is a lovely cake for afternoon tea with friends or we had it as dessert after dinner (the boys with a healthy dollop of custard on top!) It's lovely warm from the oven but keeps well for a few days.

This is a great way to enjoy your rhubarb and a little different from the usual stewed rhubarb or rhubarb crumble. I do love a good crumble and for me, this is home baking at its best :)

Apple & Rhubarb Crumble Cake

Crumble Ingredients

• 100G SELF-RAISING FLOUR
• 75G SOFT BROWN SUGAR
• 1 TSP CINNAMON
• PINCH OF SALT
• 75G BUTTER

Cake Ingredients

• 100G BUTTER
• 100G SOFT BROWN SUGAR
• 2 EGGS
• 2 TSP VANILLA ESSENCE
• 175G SELF-RAISING FLOUR
• 2 TBSP MILK
• 1 GRANNY SMITH APPLE
• 2 CUPS CHOPPED RHUBARB (AROUND 4 STICKS)
• 50G FINELY CHOPPED WALNUTS

Method

1. Start by putting all the crumble ingredients in a bowl and rub the mixture with your fingertips until a fine crumble has formed and set this aside
2. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees (fan)
3. Grease and line a 8 inch cake tin
4. Chop the rhubarb into small pieces and set aside
5. Peel and chop the apple into small pieces and finely chop the walnuts and set these aside
6. Cream the butter and sugar
7. Beat in the eggs and vanilla
8. Sift in the flour
9. Fold in the apple and milk
10. Spoon the batter into the prepared cale tin
11. Sprinkle the rhubarb and walnuts over the top
12. Scatter the crumble over the top
13. Bake this for around 45 mins to an hour (the cake should be golden and the cake pulling away from the edges and I also test the cake centre with a skewer to ensure it's cooked)
14. Enjoy as it is - or as my boys love, with a big dollop of custard!