7-Up Dessert Cake

Having made James Martin’s chocolate coca cola cake a few times, and it always going down well, I decided to adapt this recipe to make a 7-Up cake to take to a dinner party last night. It took a bit longer to cook than the original recipe, but it still resulted in an amazing citrus tinged, dense sponge. The same kind of texture as a firm, fudgy brownie. The lime juice in the icing definitely gives it a kick without being too over powering as well, but feel free to substitute the lime for lemon in the extra icing, or omit it all together.

Ingredients:

For the sponge:

270g self raising flour

300g caster sugar

Pinch bicarbonate of soda

250g unsalted butter

250ml 7-Up

125ml whole milk

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla essence

For the topping:

100g unsalted butter

2 tbsp 7-Up

200g icing sugar

For the extra icing:

3 tbsp lime juice

200g icing sugar

Pre-heat your oven to 180c and grease/line a loose bottomed cake tin.

In a large mixing bowl, sift the flour, sugar and bicarbonate of soda together.

Put the butter and 7-Up in a small saucepan and heat gently, until the butter has melted. Pour the contents of the saucepan into the dry ingredients and mix well.

Add the milk, eggs and vanilla and mix gently but thoroughly. Pour the mix into your cake tin and bake for 45-60 minutes, depending on your oven, until a knife inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean, it’s slightly firm to the touch and golden on top.

Remove from the oven and leave in the tin while you make the topping.

Put the butter and 7-Up in a small saucepan and melt slowly. Bring the mixture to the boil and then remove from the heat and stir in the icing sugar. Beat until smooth and then pour over the cake while it’s still in the tin and still warm. The sponge will soak up some of the topping and leave a glaze on top. Leave to set in the tin.

If you want to add the extra icing, you can do this once the topping has set.

Stir the lime juice and icing sugar together in a small bowl, making sure there are no lumps, and pour over the top of the cake while it’s still in the tin and wait for it to set.

Once both layers have set, you can remove the cake from the tin. Serve with Chantilly cream or vanilla custard.

Rolo Stuffed Peanut Butter Cookies

My friend Rosie sent me a link to this recipe a couple of weeks ago and I've been looking for an excuse to make them ever since! I'm off to Woolacombe camping this weekend for a friend's birthday so this was the perfect opportunity to try them out. I did have a couple that oozed caramel out of the bottom where I hadn't sealed the Rolo very well - so take your time with this step - but that just meant that James and I could use those ones as taste testers. You know, just to make sure they taste OK... And seriously, I don't think they will make it as far as the campsite... they're just too good! 

Ingredients:

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened

1/2 cup dark muscovado sugar

1/4 cup caster sugar
1 large egg
3/4 cup crunchy peanut butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 and 1/4 cups plain flour

100g milk chocolate chips
2 tubes of Rolos

In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugars together until light and fluffy. Next, gently stir in the peanut butter, egg, and vanilla. Sift in the baking soda and flour and mix slowly until just combined. Lastly, throw in the chocolate chips and give one last mix, until the chocolate chips are evenly distributed through the dough. Cover the bowl and place in the fridge to chill for 30 minutes.

Pre-heat your oven to180c and line your baking tray(s) with greaseproof paper.

Take a heaped tablespoon of the chilled dough and push a Rolo into the centre. Use your hands to mould the dough around the Rolo so it's entirely sealed by the dough. Space the dough balls out well on your baking tray(s) as they will spread when cooking.
Bake for 12 minutes. Remove from the oven and leave the cookies to rest on the trays for 10 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely... if you have the patience... or just eat them fresh from the oven, still warm and gooey! Mmmmm...

Sugar Ring Donuts

 

Now, after seeing and hearing so much about Cronuts recently, I really wanted to give them a go. I trailed the internet looking at different recipes trying to decide which one to use, and in the end settled on this one. I followed the recipe word for word, but when it came to leaving them to rise after cutting out the donuts, they didn't puff up like they should. So admittedly, my Cronut attempt did fail, but that said, this recipe still makes amazingly light sugar ring donuts. Has anyone else found a foolproof Cronut recipe that I can try?
 
Ingredients:
60ml whole milk
65ml water water
6g dried yeast
150g cold butter, cubed
125g plain flour
125g strong flour
30g caster sugar
1/2 tsp salt
Sugar to coat
Bowl of icing sugar
Juice of 1/2 a lemon
Dessicated coconut to decorate
 
In a large mixing bowl, whisk the milk, water and yeast together and leave to one side for 5 minutes.

In a smaller mixing bowl, rub the cold butter and flours between your fingers until it resembles breadcrumbs but still has a few bigger lumps of butter.
Mix the sugar and salt into the flour mix and tip everything into the bowl with the yeast mix in.
Use a spoon to stir it together a little, then use your hands to bring it into a dough.
Cover loosely with clingfilm and leave it to rest for 2 hours.

Once it's rested, roll the dough out on a floured surface to about 1cm thick, aiming for a rectangle that is twice as long as it is wide.
Fold the dough into thirds so that the last third overlaps the other two.
Turn the dough through 90 degrees and repeat the process twice more.
Cover with clingfilm and leave in the fridge to rest for at least 4 hours, or preferably overnight.

Roll the dough out once more, to the thickness of a £1 coin then use cutters to shape your donuts.
Place them on a floured tray and cover with a clean tea towel. Leave at room temperature to rise for another hour.

In a small pan, heat a few centimetres of oil to 170c.
Fry the donuts, a few at a time, 90-120 seconds on each side until puffed up and golden.
Drain them on kitchen roll briefly then toss in sugar before leaving to cool.

Mix enough lemon juice with the icing sugar to create a thick lemon icing, and pipe onto the cooled donuts. Sprinkle with dessicated coconut.

Honey Nut Flapjacks

 

I made these over the weekend for my Dad to take on a golfing Stag Day… Aidan, the groom, and his Dad, Stevie G, have in the past complimented (and requested more of) my flapjacks so these seemed like the perfect on-course treat to send for them! I think they went down well, as I got an empty tin back!

Ingredients:

175g unsalted butter

2tbsp honey

175g demerara sugar

225g rolled oats

100g dry roast peanuts

12-15 Werther's Original candies

Pre-heat your oven to 180c and grease/line your dish with greaseproof paper.

In a small pan, over a low heat, mix the butter and honey. Remove from the heat once the butter is completely melted.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the sugar and oats. Crush the peanuts with a rolling pin and add them to the bowl too. Pour the honey butter into the dry ingredients and mix well, making sure all the dry ingredients are coated in the liquid.

Cut the Werther's candies into quarters and stir these into the mix as well before tipping the whole lot into your prepared dish.

Use the back of a spoon to press the mix into the corners and flatten the surface. Bake for 18-20 minutes, until just firm to the touch and starting to turn golden on top.

Leave to cool in the dish before turning out and cutting into bars. 

'Snickers' Cheesecake Bars

People have asked me a lot recently how I come up with new recipe ideas... And my answer is this: when I'm trying something new for the first time, I am a firm believer of using a tried and tested base recipe for bakes, and then slightly adapting it to fit what ever flavours I fancy.
This cheesecake came about using this method. I have a basic baked vanilla cheesecake recipe that I know tastes amazing and have used for years, and I just add bits and take out bits to make it into something new. I've adapted this base recipe into everything from raspberry, lemon and chocolate flavours, to honeycomb, ginger and now this 'Snickers' cheesecake. Using this method, the possibilities are as endless as your imagination.
P.s. No Snickers we're harmed in the making of this bake! And for anyone with nut allergies, just leave out the peanuts and you'll still have an amazing caramel cheesecake!

Ingredients:
For the base:
80g unsalted butter
150g digestive biscuits, crushed
50g caster sugar
100g dry roast peanuts, crushed

For the filling:
600g cream cheese
75g caster sugar
2 large eggs
1tsp vanilla essence
3tbsp warm water
1 can of caramel

100g milk chocolate to top

First you'll need to make the base. Melt the butter in a small pan, and leave to cool slightly. In a large mixing bowl, combine the crushed biscuits, peanuts and sugar and stir in the melted butter.
When thoroughly combined, tip into your prepared dish. You can use a round, loose bottomed cake tin to make a dessert for the dinner table, or a square dish if you're going to cut into bars. Press the mixture down with the back of a spoon, making sure to go up the sides a bit, especially if you're making a round one. Chill in the fridge until needed.

Pre-heat your oven to 150c.

Next, in the bowl of a food processor (or another large mixing bowl) add the cream cheese, caster sugar, eggs, vanilla and water, and mix well. Add half the can of caramel to the mix and beat well.
Pour the mix over the chilled base, and then use a spoon to add the rest of the caramel to the mixture a little at a time, marbling it in.
Bake for 45-50 minutes, until golden on top and just firm to the touch. Turn the oven off, and leave the cheesecake in the oven, with the door ajar, for an hour.

After the hour has passed, melt the chocolate in a bowl over a pan of simmering water. Pour the melted chocolate on top of the cheesecake and spread up to the edges.
Leave in the fridge overnight to set.

Once it has set, you can remove it from the tin, and cut it into bars. Yum!!

Rosemary and Walnut Shortbread

I'm going to a 'ladies night in' at a colleague's house tonight, and these are part of my contribution to the nibbles. I used fresh rosemary from our garden to make these, but dried rosemary would work just as well. And if you aren't a fan of nuts, leave them out and just sprinkle a little demerara sugar over the top before baking - rosemary shortbread is my new favourite! And the best thing? They leave your kitchen smelling amazing for hours

Ingredients:

375g plain flour

200g unsalted butter, cubed

2 egg yolks

125g caster sugar

2tbsp rosemary, chopped

60g walnuts, finely chopped

In a large mixing bowl, rub the butter into the flour with your finger tips, until it resembles breadcrumbs.

Make a well in the centre, add the eggs, sugar and rosemary and mix using your hands. The dough should form into a rough ball.

With the dough still in the bowl, knead in the walnuts until they are evenly distributed.

Place the dough on a square of cling film, and shape into a log with flat ends. Roll in the cling film and leave in the fridge for at least an hour.

Pre-heat your oven to 180c, and line your baking sheet(s) with greaseproof paper.

Using a sharp knife, cut the log into slices about 5mm thick and place them well apart on the baking sheet(s).

Bake for 18-20 minutes, until they are firm but still light in colour, and leave to cool on a wire rack.

 

Sweet Pie Pops - 2 Ways

As mentioned in my previous post, I also made sweet versions of these adorable little pie pops. Again, great hot or cold - try experimenting with your favourite pie filling!

Ingredients:

For the pastry:
200g plain flour

Pinch of salt

110g butter, cubed

2-3 tbsp very cold water

For the black cherry filling:

1 can of black cherry pie filling

For the nutty filling:

100g chopped mixed nuts

50g white chocolate, chopped

1 egg, beaten

16 wooden lolly sticks

First, make the pastry by tipping the flour into a large bowl with 1 tsp salt. Add the butter and rub into the flour with your fingertips until it resembles breadcrumbs.
Slowly add in the cold water, stirring with your hand, until the pastry just comes together. Tip onto a lightly floured surface and knead together into a ball. Cover and put in the fridge while you make your fillings.

The black cherry filling speaks for itself – straight from the tin.

To make the nutty filling, melt the chocolate in a small heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water. Once melted, stir in the chopped nuts until well combined.

Now you have your fillings made, you can start to assemble the pie pops.
Line your baking tray(s) with greaseproof paper and pre-heat your oven to 180c.

Roll your pastry out onto a lightly floured surface, to the thickness of a £1 coin. Use a round cookie cutter, approx. 2-2.5” in diameter, to cut out an even number of circles, re-rolling any off-cuts. You should get about 32 rounds out of it, which is enough to make 16 pies, so 8 of each filling if you are making both. If you don’t get that many out of it, just make sure you have an even number of rounds as you’ll need two to make each pie. 

Put half of the rounds to one side as these will be your lids, and space the remaining rounds out on the tray(s). Brush the edges with egg, and place a lolly stick about an inch into the round, pushing into the pastry slightly.

Put a teaspoon of your filling into the centre of each pastry round (with the cherry filling, pick out the biggest cherries from the tin with a little juice) and place a pastry lid on top. Next, using the end of a spare lolly stick, or a fork, crimp around the edges of the pie to seal it, making sure to seal well around the lolly stick.

Give all the pies a good egg wash, poking small holes in the top of the cherry ones.
Bake in your pre-heated oven for 12-15 minutes, until the pastry is crispy and golden. Leave to cool on the tray for 5 minutes before removing from the greaseproof paper and placing on a wire rack to finish cooling.
 

Savory Pie Pops - 2 Ways

I've been dying to make these for ages and driving home from work yesterday I couldn't get them out of my head (sad, I know). I figured a slight detour home via the supermarket wouldn't be too much hassle, so I stopped to pick up everything I'd need. I couldn't decide what to put in my pies though, so I thought I'd just see what I could find in the cupboard at home. After much debate, I settled on two sweet and two savory fillings. Black cherry; white chocolate and nut; sweet potato and chorizo; and goats cheese and spring onion. These are the recipes for the savory ones - great hot or cold!

Ingredients:

For the pastry:
200g plain flour

Pinch of salt

110g butter, cubed

2-3 tbsp cold water

For the goats cheese filling:

200g soft goats cheese

4 spring onions, chopped

1tbsp chopped chives

Pepper

For the chorizo filling:

1 medium sweet potato, diced

1 chorizo sausage

1tsp butter

1tbsp milk

Paprika

1 egg, beaten

16 wooden lolly sticks

First, make the pastry by tipping the flour into a large bowl with 1 tsp salt. Add the butter and rub into the flour with your fingertips until it resembles breadcrumbs.
Slowly add in the cold water, stirring with your hand, until the pastry just comes together. Tip onto a lightly floured surface and knead together into a ball. Cover and put in the fridge while you make your fillings.

To make the goats cheese filling, beat the cheese in a small bowl to soften it, and then stir in the onions and chives until well combined.

To make the chorizo filling, boil the diced sweet potato for about 10 minutes until it’s soft. Drain, add the butter and milk, and stir vigorously, so some of it is mashed, but there are still some chunks. Chop the chorizo sausage into small pieces, and fry in a dry pan for 5 minutes to cook the chorizo through and release some of its oils. Once cooked, drain and stir into the sweet potato until well combined.

Now you have your fillings made, you can start to assemble the pie pops.
Line your baking tray(s) with greaseproof paper and pre-heat your oven to 180c.
Roll your pastry out onto a lightly floured surface, to the thickness of a £1 coin. Use a round cookie cutter, approx. 2-2.5” in diameter, to cut out an even number of circles, re-rolling any off-cuts. You should get about 32 rounds out of it, which is enough to make 16 pies, so 8 of each filling if you are making both. If you don’t get that many out of it, just make sure you have an even number of rounds as you’ll need two to make each pie. 

Put half of the rounds to one side as these will be your lids, and space the remaining rounds out on the tray(s). Brush the edges with egg, and place a lolly stick about an inch into the round, pushing into the pastry slightly.

Put a teaspoon of your filling into the centre of each pastry round, and place a pastry lid on top. Nest, using the end of a spare lolly stick, or a fork, crimp around the edges of the pie to seal it, making sure to seal well around the lolly stick.

Give all the pies a good egg wash, then sprinkle pepper on the goats cheese ones, and paprika on the chorizo ones – this isn’t just for decorations/taste, it will also help you define the difference between the two when they’re cooked.

Bake in your pre-heated oven for 12-15 minutes, until the pastry is crispy and golden. Leave to cool on the tray for 5 minutes before removing from the greaseproof paper and placing on a wire rack to finish cooling. 

And there you have it! Don’t worry if you haven’t got any lolly sticks either – you can leave them out and just seal all the way around the pie. Simple!

 

Donut Cookies

Now, these were a bit of an experiment, I must admit. I covered mine with strawberry flavoured chocolate, but I think plain or orange flavoured chocolate would work better. I’m not sure if you’d class is at a cookie or a biscuit really… but they look great, are fun to make and would be perfect for kids parties!

Ingredients:
4 tbsp vegetable shortening
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
1/2 cup evaporated milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups plain flour
1/2 cup cocoa
1 tsp baking powder
200g plain chocolate (or orange infused chocolate)
Hundreds and thousands to decorate

In a large mixing bowl, cream together the vegetable shortening and sugar.
Add in the egg, evaporated milk and vanilla and mix until combined.
Sift in the flour, coco powder and baking powder and mix in well. Use your hands to form the dough into a sticky ball. Wrap it in cling film and refrigerate over night.

Pre-heat your oven to 180c and line your baking tray(s).*

After the dough has rested, roll it out onto a lightly floured surface, to about 1cm thick. Use cookie cutters to cut out your donuts shapes, re-rolling any off-cuts until all the dough is used up.
Space the cookies out onto your tray(s) and bake for 10-12 minutes, until they are firm to the touch. Leave to cool on a wire rack.

While the cookies are baking, slowly melt the chocolate in a bowl over a pan of simmering water. Leave to one side to cool with the cookies, and tip your hundred and thousands into a small bowl ready.

Once everything is cool, take a cookie and first dip the top of it in the chocolate, letting any excess drip off, and then dip it in the bowl of hundreds and thousands, so they stick to the chocolate. I actually found this a bit easier (and less messy) when the chocolate had cooled enough to spread it on rather than dip it, but do whatever works best for you. Place the cookie back on the wire rack and leave the chocolate to set again before serving.

(* You can also fry these to make cake donuts! To do this, you need to roll your dough to 2cm thick before cutting out your donuts. Heat enough vegetable oil for the donuts to float in to 190c, and fry for 1 minute on each side. Remove from the oil with a slotted spoon and place on a paper towel to cool, and to soak up any excess oil. You can decorate these in the same way as the cookies.)