This is Celia Plender's recipe for gingerbread cupcakes from the Good Food Channel online, which I decided to try tonight - mini ones, in fairy cake cases, rather than in the bigger muffin cases which I've been using for my cupcakes.
For the cupcakes:
150g unsalted butter
150g soft brown sugar
3 eggs
150g self-raising flour
1 teaspoon ground ginger
Half teaspoon ground cinnamon
Pinch ground nutmeg
1 tablespoon milk
For the frosting:
200g butter
50g soft brown sugar
2 tablespoons milk
200g icing sugar
Pinch ground cinnamon
Preheat the oven to 180C/160C fan/ gas 4. Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Sift the flour together with the spices. Gradually mix the eggs into the creamed butter and sugar alternating with the flour to stop the mix from curdling. Finally, stir through the milk. Place 12 paper cupcake cases into a muffin tin and divide the mixture between them. Bake for 15-20 minutes until golden and springy to the touch. Remove from the oven and cool on a wire rack. For the frosting: while the cupcakes are cooking place 50 grams of the butter in a pan with the brown sugar and cook over a low heat until melted. Add 2 tablespoons of the milk and stir to form a thick glossy toffee sauce. Leave to one side to cool to room temperature. In a large mixing bowl beat the butter until smooth, then start to sift in the icing sugar, stirring regularly. Add the toffee sauce and stir until thoroughly incorporated. Add a splash more of milk if the mixture seems too thick - the frosting should be light and creamy. Put the frosting in a piping bag and pipe onto the cupcakes. Sprinkle with ground cinnamon before serving.
Showing posts with label cake. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cake. Show all posts
Monday, 9 January 2012
Tuesday, 25 October 2011
14: Bloody Cupcakes!
I both love and hate cupcakes. They are the bane of my existence and empyrean joy when I get them right; equally as deadly as biscuits, made even more so by our oven which sometimes overcooks or undercooks by 20 degrees depending on its mood, they can often be done on the outside and liquid in the middle, or I can't tell until they have had plenty of time and I've cut one open that they are still too soft in their guts. Those blasted elderflower cupcakes - which would never have happened if we hadn't got elderflower cordial so I could make James Ramsden's ice-cream - are a prime example of my difficulty with these tiny sponges. Too little cordial, and I produced perfectly soft and fluffy cupcakes with a faint taste of golden syrup and absolutely no elderflower perceptible. Too much cordial, and they were worthless wet rubbish, so damp that the paper case was wet underneath and so was the hollow in the muffin tin, and they hadn't cooked properly. Paul Hollywood's reproaches about messing with the structure of the cake batter resounded in my ears.
12: Chocolate and Vanilla Marble Loaf
I didn't have enough butter to make the icing, but it tastes scrumptious all by itself. I had no idea how to achieve the amazing loops of marbling pattern that are apparent in the photograph in 100 Cakes and Bakes, so my cake ended up with blobs and cloud shapes of chocolate and vanilla sponge rather than graceful, patisserie-style swirls, but who cares when it tastes nice? Me, apparently; that's the perfectionist coming out again. This is a very rich cake and I made it in the loaf tin that we use for lemon drizzle cake and lemon poppyseed cake.
Ingredients
225g butter, softened
225g caster sugar
275g self raising flour
2 level teaspoons baking powder
4 large eggs
2 tablespoons milk
Half teaspoon vanilla extract
1 and a half level tablespoon cocoa powder
2 tablespoons hot water
Preheat the oven to 160 degrees. Lightly grease the loaf tin and line wide baking parchment or greaseproof paper. Measure the butter, sugar, flour, baking powder, eggs, milk and vanilla extract into a large bowl and beat with a hand-held electric mixer for about 2 minutes, until well blended and smooth. Spoon half the mixture into another bowl and set aside. In a small bowl, mix the cocoa powder and hot water together until smooth. Allow to cool slightly, then add to one of the bowls of cake mixture, stirring until evenly blended. Spoon the vanilla and chocolate cake batters into the prepared tin at random, until all the mixture is used up. Gently level the surface with a spatula. Bake for 50 minutes to 1 hour until well risen, springy to the touch, and beginning to shrink away from the sides of the tin. Allow to cool in the tin for a few minutes before turning out onto a wire rack and removing the baking paper from the cake.
Ingredients
225g butter, softened
225g caster sugar
275g self raising flour
2 level teaspoons baking powder
4 large eggs
2 tablespoons milk
Half teaspoon vanilla extract
1 and a half level tablespoon cocoa powder
2 tablespoons hot water
Preheat the oven to 160 degrees. Lightly grease the loaf tin and line wide baking parchment or greaseproof paper. Measure the butter, sugar, flour, baking powder, eggs, milk and vanilla extract into a large bowl and beat with a hand-held electric mixer for about 2 minutes, until well blended and smooth. Spoon half the mixture into another bowl and set aside. In a small bowl, mix the cocoa powder and hot water together until smooth. Allow to cool slightly, then add to one of the bowls of cake mixture, stirring until evenly blended. Spoon the vanilla and chocolate cake batters into the prepared tin at random, until all the mixture is used up. Gently level the surface with a spatula. Bake for 50 minutes to 1 hour until well risen, springy to the touch, and beginning to shrink away from the sides of the tin. Allow to cool in the tin for a few minutes before turning out onto a wire rack and removing the baking paper from the cake.
10: Mary Berry's Chocolate Orange Cupcakes
I made these from the cupcake recipe in Mary Berry’s 100 Cakes and Bakes, a small book that I bought from Amazon alongside some other small books on making cakes, biscuits, biscotti, macaroons and fairy cakes. I adapted it with orange extract and cocoa powder to make the chocolate orange cupcakes and I made a half recipe (six cupcakes instead of twelve) with elderflower cordial to try and produce that sweet, fragrant elderflower taste that is so enchanting. What more could anyone ask for - light, fluffy sponge scented with elderflower? It didn’t exactly work out as I had hoped, although the chocolate oranges were quite successful.
Chocolate Orange Cupcakes
I was doing so well until I put these into the oven without the milk in them. I was really cross with myself when I realised what I’d done. I am currently cooking them and they don’t seem to have done the usual mushrooming effect my cupcakes often do. Update: it was really difficult to blend entirely in the cocoa powder so there weren’t black spots of unmixed cocoa. I also added too much orange extract - half a teaspoon too much - into the buttercream, so to me it tasted a little bitter. There were two teaspoons orange extract, although Mary Berry’s cupcake recipe also calls for half a teaspoon of vanilla extract only. I thought the cupcakes tasted a bit bitter - the sponge was definitely dry, it would have been softer and moister with the tablespoons of milk, and the buttercream was a little bitter with the extra half a teaspoon of orange extract. However, Mum, Dad and Tid have now all had one to try and they didn’t share my objections; I guess that’s my irritating supertaster tongue again, whining to itself about tasting onion buried deep in mince and courgette and stuff like that. Next time I’ll be sure to put the milk in though.
Sponge Ingredients:
100g softened butter
150g selfraising flour
150g caster sugar
3 tablespoons milk
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons orange extract
1 tablespoon cocoa powder
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees. Put the muffin cases into the muffin tin, so the cakes keep a good even shape as they bake. Cream the butter and caster sugar together in a large bowl. Add the two eggs, sift flour and the cocoa powder over them and beat until a smooth mixture is formed. Spoon evenly between the paper cases. Put into the oven for 20-25 minutes or until risen and cooked through, so a skewer comes out cleanly. Lift the paper cases out of the ten and cool completely on a wire rack before putting on the buttercream icing. If you can get hold of orange chocolate buttons, press them into the buttercream topping.
Buttercream Ingredients:
100g butter
225g sifted icing sugar
Half teaspoon vanilla/orange extract
Beat together all the ingredients to produce a smooth soft buttercream, then smooth over the cold cupcakes; if you can pipe it with a piping bag or syringe, that might produce a neater finish. To make chocolate or coffee icing: add two tablespoons cocoa powder or one teaspoon coffee essence to the butter icing. I used Bournville cocoa in the sponge and in the buttercream, so it might be different with another kind of baking cocoa e.g. Green and Black’s or Cadbury’s. I put a whole teaspoon of orange extract into the buttercream, it might have been less ‘bitter’ if I had only put in half a teaspoon like the recipe called for.
Elderflower Cupcakes (on a half recipe)
I used the same recipe as above, except with halved amounts, so I made six rather than twelve cupcakes. I used three to four teaspoons of elderflower cordial to achieve the tasting; I tried one at first, mixed and then tasted the batter, but the elderflower didn’t come through to me until I had added more cordial, a teaspoon at a time. Everyone’s preference is different. I made these while my dough for the Paul Hollywood simple Cob Loaf was proving (first time around). Unfortunately, when they were cooked, they didn’t taste of elder-flower; you could just about pick it up, but there was a sweet, golden syrup flavour instead. The sponge was perfect, though, soft in the middle and the top crisp and golden; I had to do the same thing as before, turning down the oven once they started browning on the top.
I was going to make them lemon and elderflower cupcakes, but I’m glad I didn’t. You simply wouldn’t have been able to taste anything else but the lemon. I might attempt to make spiced sponge cupcakes later in the week with ginger, cinnamon or nutmeg - or indeed a combination of them all, perhaps allspice.
50g softened butter
75g selfraising flour
75g caster sugar
1 and a half tablespoons milk
1 large egg
3 to 4 teaspoons elderflower cordial
Chocolate Orange Cupcakes
I was doing so well until I put these into the oven without the milk in them. I was really cross with myself when I realised what I’d done. I am currently cooking them and they don’t seem to have done the usual mushrooming effect my cupcakes often do. Update: it was really difficult to blend entirely in the cocoa powder so there weren’t black spots of unmixed cocoa. I also added too much orange extract - half a teaspoon too much - into the buttercream, so to me it tasted a little bitter. There were two teaspoons orange extract, although Mary Berry’s cupcake recipe also calls for half a teaspoon of vanilla extract only. I thought the cupcakes tasted a bit bitter - the sponge was definitely dry, it would have been softer and moister with the tablespoons of milk, and the buttercream was a little bitter with the extra half a teaspoon of orange extract. However, Mum, Dad and Tid have now all had one to try and they didn’t share my objections; I guess that’s my irritating supertaster tongue again, whining to itself about tasting onion buried deep in mince and courgette and stuff like that. Next time I’ll be sure to put the milk in though.
Sponge Ingredients:
100g softened butter
150g selfraising flour
150g caster sugar
3 tablespoons milk
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons orange extract
1 tablespoon cocoa powder
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees. Put the muffin cases into the muffin tin, so the cakes keep a good even shape as they bake. Cream the butter and caster sugar together in a large bowl. Add the two eggs, sift flour and the cocoa powder over them and beat until a smooth mixture is formed. Spoon evenly between the paper cases. Put into the oven for 20-25 minutes or until risen and cooked through, so a skewer comes out cleanly. Lift the paper cases out of the ten and cool completely on a wire rack before putting on the buttercream icing. If you can get hold of orange chocolate buttons, press them into the buttercream topping.
Buttercream Ingredients:
100g butter
225g sifted icing sugar
Half teaspoon vanilla/orange extract
Beat together all the ingredients to produce a smooth soft buttercream, then smooth over the cold cupcakes; if you can pipe it with a piping bag or syringe, that might produce a neater finish. To make chocolate or coffee icing: add two tablespoons cocoa powder or one teaspoon coffee essence to the butter icing. I used Bournville cocoa in the sponge and in the buttercream, so it might be different with another kind of baking cocoa e.g. Green and Black’s or Cadbury’s. I put a whole teaspoon of orange extract into the buttercream, it might have been less ‘bitter’ if I had only put in half a teaspoon like the recipe called for.
Elderflower Cupcakes (on a half recipe)
I used the same recipe as above, except with halved amounts, so I made six rather than twelve cupcakes. I used three to four teaspoons of elderflower cordial to achieve the tasting; I tried one at first, mixed and then tasted the batter, but the elderflower didn’t come through to me until I had added more cordial, a teaspoon at a time. Everyone’s preference is different. I made these while my dough for the Paul Hollywood simple Cob Loaf was proving (first time around). Unfortunately, when they were cooked, they didn’t taste of elder-flower; you could just about pick it up, but there was a sweet, golden syrup flavour instead. The sponge was perfect, though, soft in the middle and the top crisp and golden; I had to do the same thing as before, turning down the oven once they started browning on the top.
I was going to make them lemon and elderflower cupcakes, but I’m glad I didn’t. You simply wouldn’t have been able to taste anything else but the lemon. I might attempt to make spiced sponge cupcakes later in the week with ginger, cinnamon or nutmeg - or indeed a combination of them all, perhaps allspice.
50g softened butter
75g selfraising flour
75g caster sugar
1 and a half tablespoons milk
1 large egg
3 to 4 teaspoons elderflower cordial
Monday, 24 October 2011
7: Assorted Cakes and Biscuits
I’ve got really interested in baking at the moment; most of the recipes I’ve included in this journal so far I have tried myself from the recipe books we’ve got in the house. Mum has supervised some of my cooking but other times I have just got on with it myself, take the results as they come. I can make spaghetti Bolognese, shepherd’s pie and risotto perfectly well; I made the chicken fajita mix myself this evening with Mum’s instruction. I made shepherd’s pie Monday from the lamb we had leftover on Sunday and tomorrow I’m gonna get the spaghetti Bolognese done before Mum gets in. We’re gonna have battered cod and chips and peas later this week.
Gateau Breton
This recipe for Brittany butter cake comes from Nigella’s book and she got hers from Anne Willan’s Real Food, “a cross between shortbread and pound cake.” Pound cake refers to a type of cake traditionally made with a pound of each of four ingredients: flour, butter, eggs, and sugar. The traditional recipe makes a cake much larger than most families can consume, and so the quantity is often changed to suit the size of the cake that is desired. As long as the ratio is preserved, the resulting cake will be identical to that using the traditional recipe. Hence, any cake made with a 1:1:1:1 ratio of flour, butter, eggs, and sugar is also called a pound cake, even if the quantity used is smaller or larger than an actual pound.
There are numerous variations on the traditional pound cake, with certain countries and regions having distinctive styles. These can include the addition of flavoring agents (such as vanilla extract or almond extract) or dried fruit (such as currants or craisins), as well as alterations to the original recipe to change the characteristics of the resulting pound cake. For instance, baking soda or baking powder may be incorporated to induce leavening during baking, resulting in a less dense pound cake. A cooking oil (typically a vegetable oil) is sometimes substituted for some or all of the butter, which is intended to produce a more moist cake. “Sour cream pound cake” is a popular variation in the United States, which involves the substitution of sour cream for some of the butter, which also is intended to produce a more moist cake with a pleasantly tangy flavor. Some of these variations may drastically change the texture and flavor of the pound cake, but the name pound cake is often still used.
Ingredients:
225g plain flour - preferably Italian 00
250g caster sugar
250g unsalted butter, cut into cubes
6 large egg yolks
A 25cm Springform tin, buttered well
The Glaze:
1 teaspoon of egg yolk
1 tablespoon of water
Preheat the oven to 190 degrees. Mix the glaze and put aside while you get on with your gateau. Put the flour into a bowl - sieve if using normal plain flour - stir in the sugar, and add the butter and egg yolks. Shape into a smooth golden dough: if you’re making this by hand, make a mound of the flour on a worktop, then make a well in it and add the sugar, butter, eggs and knead to mix. Scoop this dough into the tin and smooth the top with a floured hand - expect it to be very sticky, it should be. Brush the gateau with the glaze, and mark a lattice design on top with the prongs of a fork. Bake for 15 minutes, then turn the oven down to 180 degrees and give it another 25 minutes or so until it is golden on top and firm to the touch. Let it cool completely in the tin before un-moulding it. It will keep well if you have a reliably airtight tin, and you can eat it cut into narrow cake-like wedges or into irregular criss-cross diamonds.
Holly Bell’s Strawberry and Custard Melts
This is the recipe that Holly made during The Great British Bake-Off biscuit episode, her very delicate strawberry and custard melts, which she said she imagined “ladies having for afternoon tea.” Mary-Anne made a very similar biscuit, which was described as a depression-era biscuit for the modern day recessional times with an interesting buttercream filling. Hers held their spiral ridges better than Holly’s because Mary-Anne put hers in the fridge prior to baking; however, they both looked wonderfully tasty. I suppose you don’t need to make the jam yourself so long as you use a good shop-bought strawberry jam.
Ingredients:
For the Biscuits
115g unsalted butter, softened
30g icing sugar
100g plain flour
1 tablespoon custard powder
For the custard cream
50g butter
100g icing sugar
1 tablespoon custard powder
For the jam filling
150g strawberries, hulled
185g jam sugar
Small knob of butter
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees. Grease two baking trays. Using a hand-held electric mixer, cream the butter until it is soft and fluffy. Gradually add the icing sugar, mixing on a low speed until it is all combined, then increase the speed and beat until light and creamy. Gradually add the flour and custard powder, beating as you do so. The mixture should be loose enough to pipe through a piping bag; add a little cold water if needed. Spoon in the biscuit mixture into a piping bag fitted with a large star nozzle; squeeze the mixture down to remove any air bubbles. Pipe 24 stars onto the baking trays, 4cm apart. Bake in the oven for 10-14 minutes or until the biscuits are pale golden-brown at the edges.
Remove the trays from the oven and set aside to cool completely. To make the custard cream filling, beat the butter using an electric hand mixer until light and fluffy, then add the icing sugar and beat at a low speed to combine. Add the custard powder, continue beating until thoroughly combined then set the mixture aside. Spoon the filling into a piping bag fitted with a plain nozzle.
To make the jam, blend the strawberries in a food processor or with a hand blender to make a puree. Place the puree in a saucepan and add the sugar. Heat gently until the sugar has dissolved then add the butter. Turn the heat up and when the mixture has reached a rolling boil, continue boiling for four more minutes. Remove the pan from heat and pour the jam into a bowl to cool. Spoon the jam into a piping bag fitted with a small plain nozzle.
Check the biscuits are completely cool and then use a palette knife to lift them onto a clean tea towel, flat side uppermost, pairing them up as you go. Be careful as the biscuits are fragile. Pipe a circle of custard cream filling onto half the stars, then fill with the jam. Place the paired star on top, pressing it down gently.
The Hairy Bikers’ Fat Rascals
“These buns originate from Yorkshire and have been made since Elizabethan times. Serve them warm or cool with a dollop of extra thick cream,” say the Hairy Bikers. A Fat Rascal, also called the Yorkshire tea biscuit or Turf Cake, is a type of cake, similar to the scone in both taste and ingredients. The Fat Rascal often has no definitive shape and is relatively easy to make. Fat Rascals are round domed teacakes with a rich brown crust and made with currants and candied peel. They are closely associated with the Cleveland area on the borders of County Durham and Yorkshire. The origin of the name is unknown, but has been in use since at least the mid-nineteenth century. The name Turf Cake comes from the tradition of farmers baking them on turf fires.
Ingredients:
150g plain flour
150g selfraising flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
150g butter
150g mixed dried fruit
100g caster sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon powder
Half teaspoon grated nutmeg
1 orange, zest only
1 lemon, zest only
1 free-range egg yolk
50ml semi-skimmed milk
For the glaze
1 free-range egg yolk
Pinch of salt
1 tablespoon water
Flaked almonds and glace cherries
Preheat the oven to 200 degrees. Grease a baking tray. Sieve the flours and baking powder into a large bowl and rub in the butter until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Add the mixed dried fruit, sugar, spices, orange and lemon zests. Lightly beat the egg yolk and add it to the mixture with enough milk to make a stiff dough (you may not need all the milk). Divide the dough into 12, shape into mounds and place onto the baking tray. For the glaze, mix egg yolk, salt and water together and brush the mixture over each rascal. Decorate with the almonds and glace cherries and bake for 15-20 minutes or until golden-brown.
I don’t see the harm in switching the mixed dried fruit for chocolate chips, to produce plump spiced buns with chocolate surprise. I’m not really fond of raisins, sultanas or currants - the usual dried fruit that goes into fat rascals - but I do like soft sponge flavoured with lemon and orange zest.
Gateau Breton
This recipe for Brittany butter cake comes from Nigella’s book and she got hers from Anne Willan’s Real Food, “a cross between shortbread and pound cake.” Pound cake refers to a type of cake traditionally made with a pound of each of four ingredients: flour, butter, eggs, and sugar. The traditional recipe makes a cake much larger than most families can consume, and so the quantity is often changed to suit the size of the cake that is desired. As long as the ratio is preserved, the resulting cake will be identical to that using the traditional recipe. Hence, any cake made with a 1:1:1:1 ratio of flour, butter, eggs, and sugar is also called a pound cake, even if the quantity used is smaller or larger than an actual pound.
There are numerous variations on the traditional pound cake, with certain countries and regions having distinctive styles. These can include the addition of flavoring agents (such as vanilla extract or almond extract) or dried fruit (such as currants or craisins), as well as alterations to the original recipe to change the characteristics of the resulting pound cake. For instance, baking soda or baking powder may be incorporated to induce leavening during baking, resulting in a less dense pound cake. A cooking oil (typically a vegetable oil) is sometimes substituted for some or all of the butter, which is intended to produce a more moist cake. “Sour cream pound cake” is a popular variation in the United States, which involves the substitution of sour cream for some of the butter, which also is intended to produce a more moist cake with a pleasantly tangy flavor. Some of these variations may drastically change the texture and flavor of the pound cake, but the name pound cake is often still used.
Ingredients:
225g plain flour - preferably Italian 00
250g caster sugar
250g unsalted butter, cut into cubes
6 large egg yolks
A 25cm Springform tin, buttered well
The Glaze:
1 teaspoon of egg yolk
1 tablespoon of water
Preheat the oven to 190 degrees. Mix the glaze and put aside while you get on with your gateau. Put the flour into a bowl - sieve if using normal plain flour - stir in the sugar, and add the butter and egg yolks. Shape into a smooth golden dough: if you’re making this by hand, make a mound of the flour on a worktop, then make a well in it and add the sugar, butter, eggs and knead to mix. Scoop this dough into the tin and smooth the top with a floured hand - expect it to be very sticky, it should be. Brush the gateau with the glaze, and mark a lattice design on top with the prongs of a fork. Bake for 15 minutes, then turn the oven down to 180 degrees and give it another 25 minutes or so until it is golden on top and firm to the touch. Let it cool completely in the tin before un-moulding it. It will keep well if you have a reliably airtight tin, and you can eat it cut into narrow cake-like wedges or into irregular criss-cross diamonds.
Holly Bell’s Strawberry and Custard Melts
This is the recipe that Holly made during The Great British Bake-Off biscuit episode, her very delicate strawberry and custard melts, which she said she imagined “ladies having for afternoon tea.” Mary-Anne made a very similar biscuit, which was described as a depression-era biscuit for the modern day recessional times with an interesting buttercream filling. Hers held their spiral ridges better than Holly’s because Mary-Anne put hers in the fridge prior to baking; however, they both looked wonderfully tasty. I suppose you don’t need to make the jam yourself so long as you use a good shop-bought strawberry jam.
Ingredients:
For the Biscuits
115g unsalted butter, softened
30g icing sugar
100g plain flour
1 tablespoon custard powder
For the custard cream
50g butter
100g icing sugar
1 tablespoon custard powder
For the jam filling
150g strawberries, hulled
185g jam sugar
Small knob of butter
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees. Grease two baking trays. Using a hand-held electric mixer, cream the butter until it is soft and fluffy. Gradually add the icing sugar, mixing on a low speed until it is all combined, then increase the speed and beat until light and creamy. Gradually add the flour and custard powder, beating as you do so. The mixture should be loose enough to pipe through a piping bag; add a little cold water if needed. Spoon in the biscuit mixture into a piping bag fitted with a large star nozzle; squeeze the mixture down to remove any air bubbles. Pipe 24 stars onto the baking trays, 4cm apart. Bake in the oven for 10-14 minutes or until the biscuits are pale golden-brown at the edges.
Remove the trays from the oven and set aside to cool completely. To make the custard cream filling, beat the butter using an electric hand mixer until light and fluffy, then add the icing sugar and beat at a low speed to combine. Add the custard powder, continue beating until thoroughly combined then set the mixture aside. Spoon the filling into a piping bag fitted with a plain nozzle.
To make the jam, blend the strawberries in a food processor or with a hand blender to make a puree. Place the puree in a saucepan and add the sugar. Heat gently until the sugar has dissolved then add the butter. Turn the heat up and when the mixture has reached a rolling boil, continue boiling for four more minutes. Remove the pan from heat and pour the jam into a bowl to cool. Spoon the jam into a piping bag fitted with a small plain nozzle.
Check the biscuits are completely cool and then use a palette knife to lift them onto a clean tea towel, flat side uppermost, pairing them up as you go. Be careful as the biscuits are fragile. Pipe a circle of custard cream filling onto half the stars, then fill with the jam. Place the paired star on top, pressing it down gently.
The Hairy Bikers’ Fat Rascals
“These buns originate from Yorkshire and have been made since Elizabethan times. Serve them warm or cool with a dollop of extra thick cream,” say the Hairy Bikers. A Fat Rascal, also called the Yorkshire tea biscuit or Turf Cake, is a type of cake, similar to the scone in both taste and ingredients. The Fat Rascal often has no definitive shape and is relatively easy to make. Fat Rascals are round domed teacakes with a rich brown crust and made with currants and candied peel. They are closely associated with the Cleveland area on the borders of County Durham and Yorkshire. The origin of the name is unknown, but has been in use since at least the mid-nineteenth century. The name Turf Cake comes from the tradition of farmers baking them on turf fires.
Ingredients:
150g plain flour
150g selfraising flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
150g butter
150g mixed dried fruit
100g caster sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon powder
Half teaspoon grated nutmeg
1 orange, zest only
1 lemon, zest only
1 free-range egg yolk
50ml semi-skimmed milk
For the glaze
1 free-range egg yolk
Pinch of salt
1 tablespoon water
Flaked almonds and glace cherries
Preheat the oven to 200 degrees. Grease a baking tray. Sieve the flours and baking powder into a large bowl and rub in the butter until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Add the mixed dried fruit, sugar, spices, orange and lemon zests. Lightly beat the egg yolk and add it to the mixture with enough milk to make a stiff dough (you may not need all the milk). Divide the dough into 12, shape into mounds and place onto the baking tray. For the glaze, mix egg yolk, salt and water together and brush the mixture over each rascal. Decorate with the almonds and glace cherries and bake for 15-20 minutes or until golden-brown.
I don’t see the harm in switching the mixed dried fruit for chocolate chips, to produce plump spiced buns with chocolate surprise. I’m not really fond of raisins, sultanas or currants - the usual dried fruit that goes into fat rascals - but I do like soft sponge flavoured with lemon and orange zest.
6: Lemon Drizzle Cake by the Hairy Bikers
This one deviated a little from the recipe because our oven is really odd; sometimes it over-cooks, sometimes it under-cooks; it burnt the first batch of thin crispy scones I made, and when I made the lemon drizzle cake, after the appropriate time on the appropriate temperature, it was still quite raw inside. Mum turned the temperature down for ten minutes and then down again for another ten minutes, and after that when we put a skewer into the middle of the cake, it came out clean rather than goopy with uncooked cake mixture. It was enormous fun to poke fifty holes into the crisp cake crust to drizzle lemon sugar all over, and it was wonderfully crunchy when the lemon sugar crystallised. Dad had his huge grin and chanted “Cake! Cake!” when I told him and Mum the cake was done. He had two slices, I had two slices, Mum and Tid both had one each. (I had another one this morning - the 11th October - and so did Dad, probably; Tid, Dad and Mum finished it off.)
Ingredients
Two unwaxed lemons
275g caster sugar*
175g unsalted butter, softened
200g selfraising flour
Half a teaspoon baking powder
3 large free-range eggs
*(175g for cake, 100g for lemon sugar)
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees. Line the base and sides of a loaf tin with butter and then greaseproof paper or baking parchment. Finely grate the zest of the lemons. Put 175g of the sugar into a large bowl and cream together with the butter, before adding and blending in the two eggs, the flour, and the baking powder, until you have a smooth thick mixture. Spoon the cake batter into the prepared tin and level the surface gently with a spatula. Bake for 35 minutes or until well risen and pale golden brown. Remove from the oven and cool in the tin for 5 minutes. Squeeze one of the lemons to get about three tablespoons’ worth of juice and combine with the remaining 100g of sugar until you have a smooth mixture.
Turn the cake out onto a wire rack set above a plate. Remove the baking paper and gently turn the cake the right way up. Make about 50 deep holes in the top of the cake with a skewer. Slowly and gradually spoon about half the lemon sugar over the cake, allowing it to thoroughly coat the top of the cake and drizzle down the sides. Leave the cake to stand for 5 minutes and then do the same with the remaining lemon sugar. Leave to set for at least an hour or until the sugar and lemon has crystallised. Serve the cake in thick slices with a nice cup of tea.
Lemon Poppy Seed Cake
This recipe is one of the adapted versions at the end of Nigella Lawson’s My Mother-in-Law’s Madeira Cake. She says, “I love a good old-fashioned seed cake; if you do too, add a couple of teaspoons of caraway to this mixture. For a lemon poppy seed cake, add the juice of another half lemon and a tablespoon or two of poppy seeds.” Mum makes lemon poppy seed cake herself in the same metal loaf tin that I made the lemon drizzle cake in yesterday (10th October). I haven’t yet made this cake, I’ll let you know when I do and how it turns out.
Ingredients:
240g softened unsalted butter
200g caster sugar
Grated zest and juice of one and a half lemons
Tablespoon and a half of poppy seeds
3 large eggs
210g selfraising flour
90g plain flour
A buttered and lined loaf tin
Preheat the oven to 170 degrees. Cream the butter and sugar, and add the lemon zest. Add the eggs one at a time with a tablespoon of the flour for each. Then gently mix in the rest of the flour and, finally, the lemon juice and the poppy seeds. Sprinkle with caster sugar (about two tablespoons should do it) as it goes into the oven and bake for one hour or until a skewer comes out clean. Remove to a wire rack and let it cool in the tin before turning it out.
Ingredients
Two unwaxed lemons
275g caster sugar*
175g unsalted butter, softened
200g selfraising flour
Half a teaspoon baking powder
3 large free-range eggs
*(175g for cake, 100g for lemon sugar)
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees. Line the base and sides of a loaf tin with butter and then greaseproof paper or baking parchment. Finely grate the zest of the lemons. Put 175g of the sugar into a large bowl and cream together with the butter, before adding and blending in the two eggs, the flour, and the baking powder, until you have a smooth thick mixture. Spoon the cake batter into the prepared tin and level the surface gently with a spatula. Bake for 35 minutes or until well risen and pale golden brown. Remove from the oven and cool in the tin for 5 minutes. Squeeze one of the lemons to get about three tablespoons’ worth of juice and combine with the remaining 100g of sugar until you have a smooth mixture.
Turn the cake out onto a wire rack set above a plate. Remove the baking paper and gently turn the cake the right way up. Make about 50 deep holes in the top of the cake with a skewer. Slowly and gradually spoon about half the lemon sugar over the cake, allowing it to thoroughly coat the top of the cake and drizzle down the sides. Leave the cake to stand for 5 minutes and then do the same with the remaining lemon sugar. Leave to set for at least an hour or until the sugar and lemon has crystallised. Serve the cake in thick slices with a nice cup of tea.
Lemon Poppy Seed Cake
This recipe is one of the adapted versions at the end of Nigella Lawson’s My Mother-in-Law’s Madeira Cake. She says, “I love a good old-fashioned seed cake; if you do too, add a couple of teaspoons of caraway to this mixture. For a lemon poppy seed cake, add the juice of another half lemon and a tablespoon or two of poppy seeds.” Mum makes lemon poppy seed cake herself in the same metal loaf tin that I made the lemon drizzle cake in yesterday (10th October). I haven’t yet made this cake, I’ll let you know when I do and how it turns out.
Ingredients:
240g softened unsalted butter
200g caster sugar
Grated zest and juice of one and a half lemons
Tablespoon and a half of poppy seeds
3 large eggs
210g selfraising flour
90g plain flour
A buttered and lined loaf tin
Preheat the oven to 170 degrees. Cream the butter and sugar, and add the lemon zest. Add the eggs one at a time with a tablespoon of the flour for each. Then gently mix in the rest of the flour and, finally, the lemon juice and the poppy seeds. Sprinkle with caster sugar (about two tablespoons should do it) as it goes into the oven and bake for one hour or until a skewer comes out clean. Remove to a wire rack and let it cool in the tin before turning it out.
5: Lemon Icing Fairy Cakes
I made these today, Sunday 9th, and decorated them with little citrus strands and crystallized jelly shapes that we bought at the food shop. Mum and Tid decided they only wanted the ones with citrus strands on, so I actually hand to warn them off eating the last one so Dad could get a citrus strand cupcake as well as a sugar jelly cupcake. I am feeling much more confident in making cupcakes; or rather, fairy cakes. The difference is apparently in the depth of the paper case and the sponge itself, cupcakes are significantly bigger. This is actually a fairy cake recipe.
Ingredients
125g unsalted butter, softened
125g caster sugar
2 large eggs
125g selfraising flour
Half teaspoon vanilla extract
2-3 tablespoons milk
Preheat the oven to 200 degrees. Cream the butter and the caster sugar together in a large bowl. Beat the eggs into the mixture, followed by the flour and the vanilla extract until you produce a smooth batter. Add the milk slowly while stirring, half a tablespoon at a time, until it is all in. Spoon the cake batter equally between twelve cupcake papers in a cupcake pan and cook for 15-20 minutes until well risen and golden. Use a skewer if you’re not sure it is cooked all the way through, cupcakes are temperamental and can move swiftly between cooked and burnt. Put them on a wire rack to cool down and top in ten minutes with icing so the icing doesn’t run while the cake is too warm. To make the icing: Juice of a whole lemon squeezed into a bowl, stir in a lot of icing sugar until it becomes a cloudy white syrup, which can be smoothed onto the fairy cakes and then topped with sprinkles.
Ingredients
125g unsalted butter, softened
125g caster sugar
2 large eggs
125g selfraising flour
Half teaspoon vanilla extract
2-3 tablespoons milk
Preheat the oven to 200 degrees. Cream the butter and the caster sugar together in a large bowl. Beat the eggs into the mixture, followed by the flour and the vanilla extract until you produce a smooth batter. Add the milk slowly while stirring, half a tablespoon at a time, until it is all in. Spoon the cake batter equally between twelve cupcake papers in a cupcake pan and cook for 15-20 minutes until well risen and golden. Use a skewer if you’re not sure it is cooked all the way through, cupcakes are temperamental and can move swiftly between cooked and burnt. Put them on a wire rack to cool down and top in ten minutes with icing so the icing doesn’t run while the cake is too warm. To make the icing: Juice of a whole lemon squeezed into a bowl, stir in a lot of icing sugar until it becomes a cloudy white syrup, which can be smoothed onto the fairy cakes and then topped with sprinkles.
3: Scones with Clotted Cream and Raspberry Jam
I first tried making scones on Monday 3rd at Mum’s request: a nice idea about making poor ill Dad nice fresh warm scones to have with raspberry jam and Devon clotted cream. They went horribly wrong and I had no idea why, unsure what steps I’d fucked up in the recipe, which was from Delia’s book. When Mum got in, bringing Tim Rowson the driving instructor (who teaches her and who taught Lintu and is apparently going to teach me) she took a look at them. I did two things wrong: I rolled the scone dough out too thin so the patties weren’t big enough to rise properly; and I put them in the oven on 220 like the recipe said, but our oven is fucked up and cooks everything 20 degrees higher than the setting. I made the second batch of scones Tuesday 4th from this recipe, which I found on the BBC website - I rolled the dough less so it was much thicker when I cut the scones out, and I preheated the oven on 180 degrees to make the scones. They turned out perfectly and nicely golden brown with the egg wash brushed gently across the top. I had the first one, cutting it in half to see it was properly cooked through, and Dad had the second one. Tid had her pick when she managed to come down from upstairs, feeling just as ill as before.
Ingredients
225g selfraising flour
Pinch of salt
55g butter
25g caster sugar
150ml milk
1 free-range egg, beaten for the egg wash
Heat the oven to 220 degrees. Lightly grease a baking sheet. Mix together the flour and salt and rub in the butter. Stir in the sugar and then the milk, slowly, with a knife to get a soft dough. It is quite a wet batter by the end of putting the milk in, not soggy but damp and sticky. Turn onto a floured work surface and knead very lightly, rolling gently into a ball, patting, stretching; then pat or roll out to about 2cm thick or slightly thicker. Use a 5cm cutter to stamp out rounds and place on a baking sheet. Lightly press together the rest of the dough and stamp out more scones to use up all the dough. Brush the tops of the thick scone patties with the beaten egg. Bake for 12-15 minutes or until well-risen and golden on top. Cool on a wire rack and serve with clotted cream and jam.
Ingredients
225g selfraising flour
Pinch of salt
55g butter
25g caster sugar
150ml milk
1 free-range egg, beaten for the egg wash
Heat the oven to 220 degrees. Lightly grease a baking sheet. Mix together the flour and salt and rub in the butter. Stir in the sugar and then the milk, slowly, with a knife to get a soft dough. It is quite a wet batter by the end of putting the milk in, not soggy but damp and sticky. Turn onto a floured work surface and knead very lightly, rolling gently into a ball, patting, stretching; then pat or roll out to about 2cm thick or slightly thicker. Use a 5cm cutter to stamp out rounds and place on a baking sheet. Lightly press together the rest of the dough and stamp out more scones to use up all the dough. Brush the tops of the thick scone patties with the beaten egg. Bake for 12-15 minutes or until well-risen and golden on top. Cool on a wire rack and serve with clotted cream and jam.
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