Gingerbread Buche De Noel

This Gingerbread Buche De Noel is an adaptation from the more commonly known Christmas Yule Log. I, however, prefer to call this new adaptation 'a posh swiss roll'. This posh swiss roll is for every sweet toothed ginger and black treacle lover out there!

 I came about making this due to work having another charity bake off and I immediately decided on two things 1) It had to be a different kind of Christmas bake i.e NOT mince pies or stollen - but something different and 2) NOT chocolate! Everybody is sick of chocolate by the time New Years Eve rolls round, well I certainly most am! So I rummaged through all my mums Good Food magazines and voila! The Gingerbread Buche De Noel!

I have never been a delicate, decorative or creative person and I cant pipe to save my life but I thought I would give it ago! My mum ate the off-cuts and loved it and it was totally demolished by my colleagues at work so it must be good!! I ended up making this really late at night and didn't have much patience for being decorative however I think it turned out all right - that is until someone at work accidentally turned it upside down at work....

Happy Baking!

Prep: 35 mins
Cook: 12 mins
Feeds: 10-12 slices

Ingredients

50g Butter
50g Treacle
50G Golden Syrup
2 Balls Stem Ginger
4 Large Eggs
100g Dark Muscovado Sugar
100g Plain Flour
1/4 Tsp Baking Powder
2 Tsp Ground Ginger
1/2 Tsp Ground Cinnamon

For The Icing

200g Butter
300g Icing Sugar
2 Tsp Vanilla Extract
3 Tbsp Ginger Syrup
Whie Pearl Sprinkles to decorate

1. Heat oven to 190C/170C fan/gas 5. Grease and line a 20 x 30cm Swiss roll tin with baking parchment, then grease the parchment a little too. Put the treacle, syrup, butter and stem ginger in a pan, heat until melted and stir to combine, then set aside to cool a little.                                 
2. Put the eggs and sugar in a bowl and whisk using an electric hand whisk until light, mousse-like and doubled in size – this will take about 10 mins. The mixture is ready when it holds a ribbon trail from the beaters for 3 secs. Sift over the flour, baking powder and spices, then pour the melted butter mixture around the sides of the bowl so that it trickles down into the whisked eggs. Very gently fold everything together with a large metal spoon. When just combined, pour the mixture into the Swiss roll tin and ease it into the corners. Bake for 12 mins until just cooked.                                                                                                                                             
3. While the sponge is cooking, lay a sheet of baking parchment, big enough to fit the cake, on your work surface and dust with a little sugar. Once cooked, tip the cake directly onto the parchment. Use a small serrated knife to score a line about 2cm from one of the shorter ends, making sure you don’t cut all the way through – this will help to get a tight roll. Gently roll up from this end, rolling the parchment between the layers. Leave to cool like this on a wire rack to help set the shape.                                                                                                                        
4. To make the icing, put the ingredients in a bowl and whisk until smooth. Transfer to a piping bag fitted with a large round nozzle, or use a plastic sandwich bag and snip off one corner to make a hole about 1cm wide. Unroll the sponge and drizzle the surface with 2 tbsp ginger syrup. Pipe a layer of ginger buttercream over the inside of the roll, then use the paper underneath to help tightly re-roll into a roulade. Slice off both ends for a neat finish. The Bûche can be frozen at this point – simply re-roll in the parchment, then in foil, and freeze. Defrost at room temperature before continuing.                                                                                                                                                         
5. Place the Bûche on a serving plate or board. Use the remaining icing to pipe a thick layer over the top of the sponge, zigzagging backwards and forwards to create a tight concertina pattern. Decorate with white pearl sprinkles, if you like. The Bûche will keep in a sealed container for up to 5 days, or can be frozen for up to two months.

Chocolate Truffles

A work friend of mine has asked me to make truffles for aaaages and I went to see her the other day so it was about time! She loved them, me not so much... Im not a huge fan of dark chocolate, so next time I will use some milk chocolate - just how I made my chocolate fudge, 1/3rd milk to 2/3rds dark.
These truffles were sticky, messy and not the easiest things to make but they came out all right in the end!

The recipe came from Eric Lanlard's Chocolat and makes around 30. Keep the truffles in the fridge for up to a week.

Ingredients

250g Dark Chocolate
2 Tbsp Milk
1 Tbsp Espresso Coffee
100g Unsalted Butter
2 Egg Yolks
25g Cocoa Powder

1. Gently melt the chocolate and milk together in a heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of barely simmering water, making sure the surface of the water does not touch the bowl.                          
2. Remove from the heat and stir in the coffee, butter and egg yolks until combined. Transfer the mixture to a bowl and leave to set in the fridge for 4 hours.                                                            
3. Place the cocoa powder on a plate. Using a dessert spoon, scoop out spoonfuls of the chocolate mixture. Coast your hands in cocoa to prevent the mixture from sticking and roll the chocolate mixture between the palms of your hands to form walnut-sized balls.                                            
4. Using a fork, roll the truffles in the cocoa powder to coat.

I REALLY don't like coffee, so funnily enough, I left that ingredient out.
The stage I had issues with was rolling the chocolate mixture into balls. I found it really hard to get the right kind of temperature for the chocolate. Once the chocolate mix in the bowl was taken out the fridge, I had to let it warm up otherwise I couldn't physically scrape out chocolate with the desert spoon. However, it needed to be cold when rolling in the palms of your hands. By the end, my hands were coated in chocolate!! I can safely say, I certainly did not master the technique!

After all the fuss, it was worth it in the end as my friend enjoyed them with a nice cuppa!

Banoffee Pie

My banoffee pie is never a thing of beauty but tastes pretty damn good. The first time I ever made it was in my third year of university and my house-mate and I felt like we stumbled across the holy-grail. We became obsessed with eating it!

I made my banoffee pie a few weeks ago as I had dinner with my boyfriend and his granny and I made the desert. Turns out she loves caramel so that was lucky! Unsurprisingly, the recipe is from Mary Berrys Complete Cook Book. Serves around 8 people with 816 cals a slice....bit high on the kcal but it is delicious!!

Ingredients

90g Butter
90g Light Soft Brown Sugar
1 x 397g Can Caramel Condensed Milk

Biscuit Crust
90g Butter
175g Digestive Biscuits

Topping
2 Bananas
200ml Double or Whipping Cream
Cocoa Powder or Chocolate Curls

20cm (8 inch) Springform or Loose-Bottomed Cake Tin

1. Lightly grease the can tin, and line the bottom with baking parchment.
2. Make the biscuit base: melt the butter in a saucepan, add the crushed biscuits, and stir well to combine. Press on to the bottom and side of the flan tin. Place in the fridge to set.
3. Meanwhile, make the filling: put the butter and sugar into a saucepan, and stir over a low heat until melted and combined. Add the condensed milk, and stir until smooth. Bring to a boil over a high heat, stirring. Boil for 1 minute only, then pour immediately over the biscuit base.  Chill for at least 30 mins, until set. (The pie can be made up to this stage the day before serving.)
4. Peel the bananas, cut into chunky slices, and arrange over the set toffee base. Spread the whipped cream over the bananas to cover them completely so they do not discolour. Chill the pie for atleast 2 hours until firm enough to cut. Before serving sift cocoa powder over the cream or decorate with chocolate curls.

I have never been able to perfect getting the biscuit base thin enough. So my banoffee pie doesn't have sides but it still holds! I just keep it in the fridge for a number of hours so it really does set. I decorate the top by using a fine grater and grating a chocolate bar. I totally love this desert and it is a real crowd pleaser.

Breakfast Bagels

I once again tried to fight the urge not to bake on my rest days...and once again I failed. However my urge was spurred on by the fact I reeeeally wanted to use my new KMix with the dough handles and I must admit, I was very impressed! I have NEVER made bread before or used yeast so im pretty happy with the results! Ever since I bought Lorraine Pascale's: A Lighter Way To Bake, I have always wanted to bake the second recipe in the book 'Beautiful Boiled Then Baked Breakfast Bagels'.

Makes 8 Bagels - 229 KCAL Each

Ingredients

200g Strong-Wholemeal Bread Flour

300g Strong White Bread Flour

7g Sacheet of Fast Action Yeast

1 Heaped Tsp Salt

325ml Warm Water 

Spray Oil

3 Tbsp Honey (Optional)

1 Egg, Lightly Beaten

2 Tbsp Toppings e.g Sesame Seeds, Poppy Seeds

Recipe

1. Sieve the wholemeal flour into a large bowl. Put three quarters of the bran the remains in the sieve back into the flour and save the remainder for later. Add the white flour and then add the yeast and salt. Toss everything together and make a well in the centre. Pour in the warm water and mix together to form a soft but not sticky dough.
2.  Knead the dough for 10 mins by hand or 5 mins by machine. To test if the dough is kneaded enough, form it into a ball with a nice taut top. Put some flour onto your finger and prod the top of the bread, making an indent of about 1/2cm. The dough should spring back all the way if it is kneaded and be stretchy. If necessary, knead it  bit more.
3. Weigh the dough  and divide the weight of the dough by eight, then separate the dough into eight equal-size portions weighing the amount you came up with. Place seven of the pieces under a tea towel so they don't dry out. Take one piece and roll it into a ball with a nice taut top, then dip your index finger in a little flour to coat and push it through the centre of the dough ball until it touches the work surface. With your finger still in the hole,pick it up and spin it around to make the hole bigger - about 4cm wide is ideal as the hole will close up quite a bit as the dough rises. Place the bagel onto a baking sheet lined with baking parchment and repeat with the rest of the dough balls. Space the bagels quite far apart on the baking sheet as they will expand quite a bit.
4. Spray the bagels with some oil and then cover them with cling-film. The cling-film should be loose enough for the bagels to increase in size, but still airtight.
5. Leave the bagels in a warm place for 40 mins or until they have increased in size by about a third. To test if they are ready, put some flour on your finger and prod the side of the bagel, making an indent of about 5mm. The indent should bring back about halfway.
6. When they are ready,cover them back up and preheat the oven to 200c/fan 180c/400f/gas mark 6.
7. Pour 2 litres of water into a wide pan and bring to the boil. Once boiling, stir the honey through. This will add shine and flavour to the finished bagels. Working in batches of 2 at a time, drop the bagels into the boiling water. They will be a bit squidgy to pick up, so the trick is to do so without misshaping them too much. Leave to boil for 15 seconds each side. Remove them from the water with a slotted spoon and place them back onto the baking sheet as you go.
8. Once they have all been boiled, brush the bagels really well with the beaten egg so they are nicely covered. Then, scatter over your choice of toppings. Each bagel will take about 3/4 of a tablespoon of topping in total, whether individual or mixed. I used the remaining bran saved from sieving the wholemeal flour.
9. Finally bake the bagels in the over for 25-30 mins or until they are golden brown and sound hollow when tapped underneath.

If I had to sum this recipe up in one word it would be: sticky. Despite the stickiness and the time donated, this is totally worth baking. They are delicious and perfect for any breakfast or lunch! As I said at the beginning, I have never made any kind of bread product before so im very pleased with the results. As long as you are organised and have read the recipe a few times you shouldn't go wrong. I found using the KMix was a workout in itself, let alone kneading the bread by hand. I have definitely learnt one thing, bread dough REALLY sticks to greaseproof paper! I certainly wont be using it as much next time, I would suggest just using a floured surface for every stage of the recipe. I also found it much easier to boil one bagel at a time. I tried one bagel this morning for breakfast, I had it slightly toasted with cream cheese and smoke salmon. It was delicious and surprisingly filling!! 

Bourbon Biscuits

These biscuits were once again made to see my team through the night shift and they were delicious! I couldn't recommend these more with a cup of tea! The recipe came from Ruby Tandoh's cook book 'Crumb'. Ruby advises 'These biscuits will lose some of their crispness after several hours, so if you wont be eating these all at once, reserve some of the biscuit halves and butter-cream to fill them when you're ready. The butter-cream should be kept in the fridge.' Ruby's recipe uses orange zest to flavour the biscuit and the butter-cream, however I decided to leave this out.

Ingredients

For The Biscuit:                                                               For The Butter-cream
240g Plain Flour                                                              100g Unsalted Butter
4 Tablespoons Cocoa Powder                                          2 Tablespoons Cocoa Powder
140g Unsalted Butter                                                       150g Icing Sugar
100g Caster Sugar                                                          
300ml Milk or Water

Recipe

1. Sift the flour and 4 tablespoons of cocoa powder together into a large bowl. Rub in the 140g butter using your fingertips, working lightly and speedily until no visible flakes of butter remain. Stir in the caster sugar, then sprinkle on the milk or water (I used water), Use a butter knife or similar to 'cut' through the mixture, blending the liquid with the dry ingredients until the whole lot has begun to come together in small clusters.
2. Press the dough into one piece, wrap in cling-film and refrigerate for 30 mins. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 180c/fan 160c/gas mark 4 and line a large baking tray with baking parchment. 
3. Depending on how chilled the dough is after it time in the fridge, you may need to let it soften just slightly before rolling. The dough will crack if too hard and stick if its too soft. Roll out on a lightly floured surface to around 25x30cm. Cut into rectangles approximately 8x3cm, although the precise dimensions don't matter as long as all of the shapes are more or less the same size.
4. Transfer the shapes to the lined baking tray and bake for 12 mins. Leave to cool completely on a wire rack.
5. Wile the biscuits are cooking/cooling, prepare the butter-cream. Beat the 100g butter, 2 tablespoons of cocoa powder until smooth then add the icing sugar a little at a time. The mixture should be smooth and soft enough to spread or pipe.
6. Spread or pipe the butter-cream onto half of the cooled biscuits, sandwiching the remaining biscuits. Chill in the fridge for 10 mins if they need any extra help serving.

When cutting out the biscuits, I found 8x3cm made quite big biscuits, next time I would probably do 6x3cm sized biscuits. Also don't spread the butter-cream too generously as too much can be quite sickly. This was a fairly simple recipe however it is slightly time consuming but totally worth making!

Halloween Biscuits!

Happy Halloween Everyone!

I have of course baked for the occasion! The treat being Halloween biscuits! I was never allowed to celebrate Halloween as a kid because my parents thought that 1) its not an English holiday, its American and 2) begging for sweets from strangers is wrong... I'm also terrified of horror films so apart from my student drinking days,  I am glad to say I can finally celebrate Halloween!!

I originally used a fancy recipe that I got from the Good Food Cake and Bake Show for double vanilla biscuits but it was just awful. It was extremely wet and sticky and nothing like a normal biscuit dough, I think I had to add a further 100g just to make it easy enough to handle otherwise it stuck to everything! The biscuits did come out fine in the end but the batter only made half the number it was meant to! This set me back a fair amount of time and I'm not even going to bother telling you that recipe as it was so useless!

However, I did quickly get on the internet and get a recipe from one of my favourite baking websites www.bakingmad.com.

I used their recipe for Vanilla Biscuits which can be found at http://www.bakingmad.com/vanilla-star-biscuits-recipe/.

Ingredients

150g Unsalted Butter
75g Golden Caster Sugar (I just used normal caster sugar because I couldnt be bothered to pop to the shops to buy some)
1 Tsp Vanilla Extract
300g Plain White Flour
1 Medium Egg

Recipe

1) Preheat the over to 180c, 160c fan, 350f, gas mark 4. Line 3 baking trays with greaseproof paper. I used three because I had 3 different cutters which were all different sizing. That way I could take out 1 set of biscuits at a time when cooked so I could get an even bake across all.

2) Cream the butter, sugar, vanilla extract together in a mixing bowl until creamy. Add the egg and continue to mix, gradually adding the flour until you reach a soft dough. Wrap in cling-film and chill for 30 mins.

3) I let the dough warm up slightly as if it is too cold to roll out it will crack but if it is too warm it will be sticky, so cool to the touch is what your aiming for. Roll out the dough 5mm thick on a surface dusted with a little flour. I actually rolled mine out on cling-film dusted in flour as I find it much easier as the dough doesn't stick.  Cut out the shapes required and place on a baking tray and bake for 15 mins or until golden brown. Once cooked, place on a wire rack to cool.

4) Once fully cold, use any decorations of your choice for the finishing touches! For my biscuits I used Renshaw Ready To Roll Icing in black, white and orange; I then used squeezy icing, edible glue
 and various decorations.

I learnt a few things by trial and error with these biscuits..
Use cornflour to stop the icing sticking to the surface you are rolling it out on.
Definitely roll the white icing out first, as mine turned slightly multi-coloured with orange and black!
To make the icing stick to the biscuit I brushed a thin layer of orange juice onto the biscuit and firmly pressed the icing onto it.
To make all the extra decorations stick, I used edible glue.

Who says baking and decorating biscuits is for kids?! I had a lot of fun making these with my mum (and I created a whole load of mess)!! These biscuits were very very yummy and work seemed to like them too!!

Good Food Cake And Bake Show 25th October

So I went to my very first Good Food Cake and Bake Show last week and I had a fantastic time!! It was held in the Business Design Centre in Islington, London.

The day started off with watching Eric Lanlard being interviewed on the 'Interview Stage' by Jo Wheatley. Sitting second to the front, it was thoroughly enjoyable to watch.

A very quick photo with interview  host Jo Wheatly who won the Great British Bake off 2011!












 I then bought Eric Lanlard's book 'Chocolate' and Ruby Tandoh's 'Crumb' and joined the many to queue to have it signed by the authors and a very quick photo opportunity!!

Quick photo with Eric Lanlard!














Quick photo with Great British Bake Off finalist, Ruby Tandoh! My mum kept on calling her Trudy to her face...









Mum and I then watched John Whaite in the Bakes and Cakes Theatre. John won the Great British Bake Off in 2012 and was interviewed through out his theatre show by Lisa Faulkner. John baked his recipe Pear, Bay and Almond Rustic Tart which can be found in his book John Whaite Bakes: At Home. It turned out he used the wrong pastry on the day which was quite funny!

We then headed to the Kenwood stall and I bought their new KMix hand mixer in bright green!! It retails for around £65 but they had it on sale for £45 and if you were one of the first 20 people to buy it, you got a further £10 off and free tickets to see another theatre show!! So I was unbelievably pleased that I got the new hand mixer for £35 and got free tickets to see Cat Dresser!

Cat Dresser was a contestant in the Great British Bake Off 2012. She was also interviewed through out her show by Lisa Faulkner and baked her Courgette, Linseed and Lemon Muffins from her book Lets Bake.

 After mum and I watched Cat Dressers show we went to the ticket stall and on a whim, bought tickets to see Mary Berry! All it cost us was £5 each! I was shocked at how cheap the tickets were! How could we refuse!!! I was finally going to meet one of the people who inspired me to start baking!

Mary baked two recipes, the first was her Chocolate and Irish Cream Roulade (which I actually baked recently but without the alcohol) and secondly her Raspberry and Apple Muffins. She was accompanied by her daughter Annabelle and it was an absolute delight to watch her! This show was the last show of the day and once it had finished everyone was herded out of the building, mum and I ducked down a back stairwell as it had loo. As we were coming out of the loo, Mary Berry walked past and was kind enough to have a photo with me!

My mum then promptly turned to Mary Berry and said 'You! Your'e costing me a fortune getting my daughter in to baking!!' to which Mary replied 'Well its keeping her out of trouble'. I was gob smacked that my mum said that but then she turned sickly sweet and said 'But you were the second ever cook book I bought when I was 13'. I was very fortunate to have a photo with the queen of baking and was very giddy sitting on the tube on my way home!!

I thoroughly enjoyed my day and in between the shows mum and I scoured round all the stalls. I bought my baking basics at very cheap prices, like muffin cases for a pound, fondant icing, muffin carriers, decorations etc etc. Although one thing I bought was somewhat a starter kit for flower  sugar paste modelling. I bought a hydrangea maker and stamp to make roses plus lots of other stuff to get me started!! So fingers crossed I'll soon be able to make pretty flower decorations!

 I will certainly go to the Good Food Cake and Bake Show again!