Vegan Chocolate Avocado Cake

MUNCH RATING: 4/5

Before I started my dairy-free diet I didn't really eat many cakes and biscuits, but now I'm eating even less as there aren't that many sweet things that don't contain dairy.

So far I've only tried baking dairy-free rock cakes and some biscuits with relative success (I want to play with the recipes before I write a post). But I've lost a few pounds in weight (that I didn't want to lose) since I started this diet and so I thought it was time to start eating more cake.

I found this recipe on the brilliant Joy The Baker blog. Using avocado in a cake was a totally new concept, but I am supposed to be eating more of them for the good fats they provide, so it seemed like a good idea to try this cake. I really wanted Steve's family to try this cake, so I decided not to make the garish avocado frosting and opted for a simple chocolate butter icing instead. I used Vitalite as it's dairy-free and it's a Vegan Society approved product, so it's still a vegan cake if that's what you're looking for.

TASTE TEST:
Well Steve said this was the best chocolate cake he's ever eaten; so I definitely got the thumbs up from him! But his Mum was less keen on this cake as it was too dense and chewy for her tastes. I think it's because this cake is so incredibly moist; rather than the buttery and light sponge that she is used to making. Another reason for the heavier texture is I added too much flour (see below). I would make this again as it had a good chocolate flavour and it would have been perfect if I'd got the flour right!

CHANGES TO THE RECIPE:
I always worry when I bake using recipes that measure in cups, because baking requires you to be very precise and using cups can give you so many variations. My 3 cups of flour came to 465g, which did seem like an awful lot. I've checked on a few websites and 1 cup is between 120-130g; so 3 cups would be between 360-384g. So I definitely overdid the flour! This is because I followed Ina Garten's method of using the cup to scoop flour out of the bag and then leveled off with the back of a knife. But I've now read this is the wrong way to do it! You should spoon the flour into your cup and then level it off. Here is a good article explaining how it should be done. I'm always learning!

I used 1.5 cups of caster sugar instead of 2 cups of granulated sugar, as I always reduce the amount of sugar in baking.

I used 1/4 teaspoon of table salt instead of the 1/2 teaspoon salt.

I used 2 Tablespoons lemon juice instead of the 2 Tablespoons of white vinegar as I didn't have any. I read you can substitute lemon for vinegar in most recipes. You have to include some sort of acid to react with the bicarbonate of soda (baking soda) as this is what will make your cake rise in absence of the eggs. I owe any semblance of chemistry knowledge to Alton Brown!

My avocado wasn't as ripe as I'd like it to have been, so I squashed it through my potato ricer as I thought this would be the best way to mash it up and it did work!

The recipe below is how I made it, you can find the original here.

• Oven temperature: Gas mark 4/350°F/180°C
• Oven shelf: middle
• You will need: two 8-inch sandwich tins, greased and lined with non-stick baking paper

Ingredients:

• 3 cups plain (all-purpose) flour
• 6 Tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder (I used Bournville)
• 1/4 teaspoon table salt
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 teaspoons bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
• 1.5 cups caster sugar
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup soft avocado, well mashed, about 1 medium avocado
• 2 cups water
• 2 Tablespoons lemon juice (that's the juice of 1 lemon)
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to Gas mark 4/350°F/180°C.  
2. Grease and line your tins. Set aside.
3. Sift together all of the dry ingredients except the sugar.  Set that aside too.
4. Mix all the wet ingredients together in a bowl, including the super mashed avocado.
5. Add sugar into the wet mix and stir.
6. Mix the wet with the dry all at once, and beat with a whisk (by hand) until smooth.
7. Pour batter into a greased cake tins. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. To ensure even baking, turn your cakes after half the cooking time has elapsed.
8. Let cakes cool in pan for 15 minutes, then turn out onto cooling racks to cool completely before frosting.

Chocolate Butter Icing (an adaptation of a recipe from The Great British Bake Off Book):

• 125g Vitalite
• 390g icing sugar
• 4 Tablespoon milk (I used Rice Dream rice milk to make it dairy-free)
• 3 Tablespoons cocoa powder (I used Bournville)

1. Put the Vitalite in a mixing bowl and beat with an electric mixer until paler in colour and very creamy.
2. Sift the icing sugar in the bowl.
3. Add the rice milk and cocoa and beat in with a spatula to get all the icing sugar incorporated before switching to the electric mixer until very smooth and thick.

This makes loads of icing and I had quite a bit leftover. 

Blackberry & Apple Loaf

MUNCH RATING: 5/5

I've made this cake before but I didn't write a post, however it turned out so well again this time that I thought it deserved a mention. I really like this cake because it's so easy to make - you don't need to cream the butter and sugar together, just rub them together with the flour like when making a crumble. It's also lovely and moist but it has a crunchy topping for a great texture contrast.

Also this time I used blackberries that Steve and I picked from our local hedgerows, so that made it a bit more special. I'd frozen the berries and it worked just as well as the first time I'd made the cake. To freeze berries is incredibly easy - just wash the fruit and drain really well. Then I cover large baking trays with cling film to stop the berries from sticking to the trays and then just pop them in the freezer for about an hour or until they're hard and then pop them into freezer bags. The berries can be used straight from the freezer in this cake.

CHANGES TO THE RECIPE:
The recipe is from BBC Good Food, but I tweaked it slightly by using soft brown sugar instead of muscovado and using 75g less sugar as I always reduce sugar in cake recipes. The apple gives it enough sweetness and makes the cake lovely and moist.

I also used a silicone loaf pan which is slightly wider so my cake wasn't as deep, so it cooked more quickly.

you can find the original recipe here

• Oven temperature: Gas mark 4/350°F/180°C
• Oven shelf: middle
• You will need: a 1.7 litre loaf tin 

• 250g self-raising flour
• 175g butter (I used Stork, at room temperature)
• 100g soft brown sugar
• ½ tsp cinnamon
• 2 rounded tbsp demerara sugar
• 1 small Gala apple, (not cored or peeled)
• 2 large eggs, beaten
• 1 orange, finely grated zest
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 225g blackberries (fresh or frozen)

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to Gas mark 4/350°F/180°C. Butter and line the bottom of a 1.7 litre loaf tin (no need to do this if using silicone). In a large bowl, rub the flour, butter and brown sugar together with your fingers to make fine crumbs. Measure out 5 level tbsp of this mixture into a small bowl for the topping, and mix into it the cinnamon and demerara sugar. Set aside.
2. Coarsely grate the apple down to the core and mix in with the eggs and the zest. Stir the baking powder into the rubbed-in mixture in the large bowl, then quickly and lightly stir in the egg mixture until it drops lightly from the spoon. Don't overmix.
3. Gently fold in three quarters of the berries with a metal spoon, trying not to break them up. Spoon into the tin and level. Scatter the rest of the berries on top. Sprinkle over the topping and bake for 50 minutes and then cover loosely with foil and bake for a further 30 minutes. When done the cake will feel firm, but test with a skewer.
4. Leave in the tin for 30 minutes before turning out, then cool on a wire rack. Peel off the paper before cutting. Will keep wrapped in foil or in a tin for up to 2 days.

Sticky Plum Flapjacks

MUNCH RATING: 5/5

I have to say that I’m really enjoying all the fruits that are available at this time of year, especially ones that are free! I was at my Dad’s house on Sunday and his friend brought round a big bag of plums from her tree. I’m not sure what variety they were, but I quickly asked my Dad if I could take some home as I’d had this flapjack recipe from my BBC Good Food magazine in my folder for ages and I was just waiting to acquire some lovely plums to make it!

 

CHANGES TO THE RECIPE:

Luckily I’d checked on the BBC Good Food website before making the flapjacks, as a lot of the reviews said the recipe contained way too much butter. So I followed the reviewer’s advice and I only used 200g instead of 350g of butter.

I only had about 2 Tablespoons of golden syrup so I made up the 3rd Tablespoon with honey. I didn’t have any walnuts so omitted them.

I used less sugar – 200g instead of 300g.

 

TASTE TEST:

Extremely yummy! The plums are indeed sticky and jammy and there’s just enough sweetness from the sugar to offset any sourness.

200g of butter was definitely sufficient!

 

The recipe below is how I made it, you can find the original here.

 

• Oven temperature: Gas mark 6/400°F/200°C
• Oven shelf: middle
• You will need: square 8-inch tin, lined with non-stick baking paper

 

• 450g fresh plums, halved, stoned and roughly sliced
• ½ tsp mixed spice
• 200g light muscovado sugar
• 200g butter, plus extra for greasing
• 300g rolled porridge oats (not jumbo)
• 140g plain flour
• 2 Tablespoons golden syrup and 1 Tablespoon honey

 

Directions:

1. Heat oven to Gas mark 6/400°F/200°C. Tip the plums into a bowl. Toss with the spice, 50g of the sugar and a small pinch of salt, then set aside to macerate.
2. Gently melt the butter in a saucepan. In a large bowl, mix the oats, flour and remaining sugar together, making sure there are no lumps of sugar, then stir in the melted butter and golden syrup/honey until everything is combined into a loose flapjack mixture.
3. Grease a square baking tin about 8 x 8 inches. Press half the oaty mix over the base of the tin, then tip over the plums and spread to make an even layer. Press the remaining oats over the plums so they are completely covered right to the sides of the tin. Bake for 45-50 mins (45 minutes is fine) until dark golden and starting to crisp a little around the edges.
4. Leave to cool completely, then cut into 18 little bars. Will keep in an airtight container for 2 days or can be frozen for up to a month.

Chocolate fudge brownies with Chocolate Drizzle

MUNCH RATING: 5/5

 

Even though I thought I’d found the perfect brownie recipe with my Best Ever Chocolate Brownies recipe, I still like to try new recipes to see if there is one better.

 

Steve’s Mum picked me up a recipe card from Tesco’s for their Dark Chocolate Fudge Brownies with Chocolate Drizzle and it looked extremely good. I liked the fact it contained less sugar (I always add less than the recipes state anyway) and a bit more flour. Even though I like brownies to be squidgy, they can sometimes be too squidgy and almost runny.

 

CHANGES TO THE RECIPE:

As I stated, I used less sugar – 200g instead of 225g – and I used a mixture of half soft brown sugar and half caster sugar.

 

I didn’t have enough dark chocolate, so I substituted some with milk chocolate, which I think gives a good balance anyway. The milk chocolate was used for the chunks mixed in at the end and also for the chocolate drizzle. I didn’t need to add any water to the drizzle as it was runny enough.

 

I used a different sized tin than what the recipe stated. I used a 9-inch square metal disposable box which are the perfect size for baking brownies as they’re quite deep. I lined the tin first with a strip of non-stick baking paper to make the brownies easier to remove.

 

TASTE TEST:

Everyone loved these brownies and Steve’s Mum said they were the best she’d ever tasted! So I think I’ll be using this recipe from now on!

 

I think I could reduce the sugar even more next time, especially as I used part milk chocolate which is quite sweet anyway.

 

I’ve written the recipe as I made it – you can find the original on the Tesco website.

 

• Oven temperature: Gas mark 4/350°F/180°C
• Oven shelf: middle
• You will need: square 9-inch tin, lined with non-stick baking paper

 

Ingredients:

For the brownies

• 175g (6oz) plain chocolate, broken into pieces
• 140g (5oz) butter, cut into pieces
• 3 large eggs
• 100g (4oz) caster sugar
• 100g (4oz) soft brown sugar
• 100g (4oz) plain flour
• 1tsp baking powder
• 1tbsp cocoa powder
• 50g (2oz) milk chocolate, chopped into little chunks

 

For the chocolate drizzle icing

• 25g (1oz) milk chocolate, broken into pieces
• 2tbsp double cream
• ½ tsp golden caster sugar

 

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to Gas mark 4/350°F/180°C. Line a 9-inc square tin with non-stick baking paper.
2. For the brownies: Place the dark chocolate into a small heavy-based pan with the butter. Melt over a low heat, stirring occasionally. Remove from the heat and leave to cool.
3. When the chocolate has cooled, whisk the eggs and sugar together in a large bowl using an electric hand mixer, until thick, pale, fluffy and almost doubled in volume. Pour in the cooled chocolate, then gently fold in. Sift over the flour, baking powder and cocoa and gently fold in. Carefully stir in the chopped milk chocolate, without over-mixing.
4. Pour the mixture into the lined tin and lightly spread it into all the corners. Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until the middle is just set and the top is slightly crusty. (If still wobbly in the centre, leave a bit longer.) Remove and leave until completely cold before removing from the tin.
5. For the icing: Put the chocolate into a small heavy-based pan with the cream and sugar. Melt over a low heat very briefly, just until the chocolate starts to melt, removing it before it boils. Drizzle over the brownies (I found using a whisk was the best way to get a random drizzle) then, when set, cut into 16 squares.

 

Cook's Tip

Leave the brownies in the tin until completely cold, as they'll crack if turned out too early.

Blueberry Crumble Cake

MUNCH RATING: 5/5

In the Isle of Wight Steve and I found this little eating place by the crazy golf in the Rylstone Gardens. They had loads of lovely looking cakes and we tried a Cherry Crumble Cake the first time we went there. It was so nice that we went back and tried the Apple Crumble Cake, which was just as nice. I said I would try and recreate something similar when we got home.

 

I found a recipe in my BBC Good Food 101 Cakes and Bakes book for Blackcurrant Crumble Squares and I’ve adapted it.

 

CHANGES TO THE RECIPE:

Instead of blackcurrants I used blueberries as we had a lot in the fridge to use up, but I only used half the amount the original recipe stated. I used a 10 inch round silicone tin instead of a 12 x 7 inch oblong tin.

 

For the crumble topping I reduced the amount of plain flour and added some ground almonds and omitted the lemon zest as I didn’t have any. I also reduced the amount of sugar in both the cake and the crumble topping.

 

TASTE TEST:

Everyone loved this cake! Even Steve’s Mum loved it even though she’s not a fan of crumble. The cake was lovely and soft and moist and the crunchy crumble topping made a great contrasting texture.

 

This cake was a lot thicker than the slices we ate in the IOW, but it was still really good.

 

 

• Oven temperature: Gas mark 4/350°F/180°C
• Oven shelf: middle
• You will need: 12 x 7 inch oblong tin or 10 inch round tin or 9 inch square tin, lined and greased if not using silicone

 

Ingredients:

for the cake:

• 115g softened butter (I used Stork Margarine in the tub)
• 150g caster sugar
• 1 egg
• 280g self raising flour
• 125ml milk
• 100g blueberries

 

for the crumble:

• 100g caster sugar
• 70g plain flour
• 15g ground almonds
• 50g butter (I used Anchor)

 

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to Gas mark 4/350°F/180°C.
2. Beat the butter and sugar in a large bowl with a wooden spoon (or electric hand whisk) until pale and fluffy, then whisk in the egg and beat until incorporated.
3. Sift the flour into the bowl and pour in the milk, then carefully fold them into the mixture until fully combined but do not overmix.
4. Spoon into the prepared tin and spread evenly, then sprinkle the blueberries on top.
5. Mix together the sugar, flour and ground almonds. Rub in the butter until the mixture is crumbly, then sprinkle on top of the blueberries.
6. Bake for 45 minutes until the topping is golden and crunchy.
7. Leave to cool in the tin.

Blueberry and Lemon Friands

 

MUNCH RATING: 5/5

I found this recipe on the BBC Good Food website about a year ago and printed it off, but I’ve only just got around to making them as I just happened to have all the ingredients in the house. It’s a shame I never tried the recipe earlier as they are absolutely delicious. The cake is extremely light and moist and the fresh tang of lemon zest and the blueberries gives them a ‘Summer’s here!’ taste.

 

CHANGES TO THE RECIPE:

I used 3 large egg whites instead of medium because we only use large eggs. They had been frozen and I defrosted them overnight in the fridge, then I left them at room temperature for about an hour before using.

 

Instead of using non-stick friand or muffin tins, I used my new silicone cake cases that Steve’s Mum bought me from Wilkinsons. They worked really well as they held their shape when I put the cake mixture in and so I just put them on a baking tray to make it easier to get them in/out of the oven. Once baked, the cakes were easy to pop out of the silicone cases, but I did think that they retained the steam as the cakes were cooling and this made the bottoms of the cake slightly soggy.

 

The silicone cases are the size of fairy cakes cases, so I managed to make 7 cakes instead of 6. I have tried making these in paper fairy cases and I managed to make 12, but they were very thin/shallow and not as good as when I used the silicone cases.

 

TASTE TEST:

Well these went down a complete storm! Steve’s Dad doesn’t like almonds, so I warned him before he tried them that they were made of mainly ground almonds, but he tried them anyway and he said they were probably the best cakes I’ve made!

 

I will definitely make these again, but they will be considered a once-in-a-while treat as I think they’re expensive to make because they’re made of ground almonds and blueberries aren’t cheap either. Plus they’re just over 300 calories each!

 

• 100g unsalted butter, melted and cooled
• 125g icing sugar, plus extra for dusting
• 25g plain flour
• 85g ground almonds
• 3 medium/large egg whites
• 1 unwaxed lemon, grated rind only
• 85g blueberries

 

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to fan 180C/conventional 200C/gas 6. Generously butter six non-stick friand or muffin tins. Melt the butter and set aside to cool (nuke in the microwave for 35-40 seconds).
2. Sift the icing sugar and flour into a bowl, add the almonds and stir together.
3. Whisk the egg whites in another bowl until they form a light, floppy foam. Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients, tip in the egg whites and lemon rind, then lightly stir in the butter to form a soft batter.
4. Divide the batter among the tins (using a jug was the easiest way). Sprinkle a handful of blueberries over each cake and bake for 15-20 minutes (mine took 20 minutes) until just firm to the touch and golden brown.
5. Cool in the tins for 5 minutes, then turn out and cool on a wire rack. To serve, dust lightly with icing sugar.

Triple Chocolate Cookies made healthier!

 

MUNCH RATING: 3/5

 

I saw this recipe in the April issue of BBC Good Food magazine and they looked really good. But Steve and I are still on a sort of health kick, so I decided to tweak the recipe and make it a bit healthier.

 

CHANGES TO THE RECIPE:

First of all I reduced the amount of caster sugar (the original calls for golden but I only had normal) and I only used the milk chocolate instead of adding dark and white chocolate chips/chunks. I also only used 100g of milk chocolate instead of 140g as I only had one 100g bar!

I didn’t use an ice cream scoop or measuring spoon to form balls of the dough, I just used my hands. For the first batch I made the balls about the size of a walnut and they were quite large. The recipe didn’t state to flatten the cookies, so even after they were baked they were really thick and still quite ball shaped. So I had to flatten them whilst they were still soft and bake them for a bit longer, about 15 minutes in total.

For the second batch I made the balls a bit smaller, about the size of a cherry tomato, and I flattened them so they were about 1cm thick. I baked these for 9 minutes and they were much better.

 

TASTE TEST:

I didn’t really like the taste of these cookies, but Steve and his Mum thought they were very nice. The texture was quite good, slightly crispy/crunchy on the outside but soft and chewy on the inside.

 

The recipe below is how I made the cookies. You can find the original here.

 

• Makes: 24
• Oven temperature: Gas mark 6/400°F/200°C
• You will need: baking sheets lined with Magic liner or non-stick baking paper

 

Ingredients:

• 100g soft brown sugar
• 50g caster sugar
• 100g butter, softened
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 225g plain flour
• 100g milk chocolate, melted

 

Directions:

1. Heat oven to Gas mark 6/400°F/200°C. Line 1-2 baking sheets with baking parchment.
2. Mix the sugars and butter together with a wooden spoon, then add the egg, vanilla, flour and half the melted milk chocolate and mix together.
3. Using your hands, form balls of cookie dough about the size of a cherry tomato and place them onto the baking trays (they don’t spread much, so you can place them quite close together). Flatten the balls with your hands so they’re about 1cm thick.
4. Bake in batches for 8-9 minutes until pale golden and still soft to touch - they will firm up as they cool. Carefully transfer to a wire rack as soon as they can be lifted up, then drizzle with the remaining melted chocolate.

Banana and Walnut Loaf

 

MUNCH RATING: 5/5

 

I’m not a fan of Gregg Wallace, but when I saw his recipe in the May issue of BBC Good Food magazine for Banana and Walnut Loaf I just had to try it as it looked so nice.

 

CHANGES TO THE RECIPE:

I used my silicone loaf tin (as there was no need to grease or line it) instead of a lined greased loaf tin.

 

I used 100g instead of 140g of caster sugar as I wanted to cut some calories and I thought it would be sweet enough with the 4 very ripe bananas.

 

I added some freshly grated nutmeg and ground cinnamon to the recipe as I like those spices in banana cake as I think they compliment the banana flavour. I was quite conservative in my measures and I couldn’t really taste the spices, so I would add maybe 1 tsp instead of ½ tsp of cinnamon, and ½ fresh nutmeg instead of ¼ of a whole seed.

 

Due to a slight ‘error’ in the recipe, I omitted the milk. It was listed in the ingredients, but it wasn’t specifically mentioned in the directions, so I missed adding it to the mixture. However, the cake batter looked perfectly alright when I poured it into the tin, so it was a good consistency without the milk.

 

I also changed the method very slightly so that more ingredients are added together and therefore less mixing is involved, resulting in a better textured cake. I’ve also added my own tips to the method. The original recipe should be posted on the BBC Good Food website next month and I will link to it then.

 

TASTE TEST:

Well I have to say this was the lightest, fluffiest banana cake I’ve ever tasted! I’m not sure how much difference the milk would have made, but I won’t even bother adding it next time because the cake was perfect as it is.

 

Steve and I ate it whilst it was still warm from the oven and it was delicious! Gregg Wallace suggested serving it with vanilla ice cream and warm chocolate sauce, which sounds like a great dessert.

 

• Makes: 1 loaf that cuts into 8 slices
• Oven temperature: Gas mark 4/350°F/180°C
• Oven shelf: middle
• You will need: a 2lb loaf tin, greased and lined with baking paper or a silicone loaf tin

 

Ingredients:

• 100g softened butter
• 100g caster sugar
• 1 large egg, beaten
• 225 plain flour, sieved
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• ¼ – ½ of freshly grated nutmeg seed
• ½ – 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 4 very ripe bananas, mashed
• 50g walnuts, chopped (original recipe said 85g)
• 50ml milk (optional)

 

Directions:

1. Heat the oven to Gas mark 4/350°F/180°C.
2. In a large bowl mix together the butter, sugar and egg with an electric handheld mixer until light and fluffy.
3. Using a spatula gently fold in the flour and baking powder until they are half mixed in, then add the bananas, walnuts and milk (if using) and carry on gently folding in until all the ingredients are combined – do not overmix or the cake will be tough and heavy.
4. Pour the mixture into your prepared tin and then bang the tin on your counter to get rid of any air bubbles.
5. Bake for 1 hour or until a skewer comes out clean.
6. Allow the cake to cool on a wire rack before removing from the loaf tin.
7. The loaf can now be wrapped tightly in cling film and frozen for up to 1 month. Defrost and warm through before serving.

 

 

Tips For Perfect Cakes Use butter and eggs that are at room temperature to prevent your mixture curdling. If this happens, add a tablespoon of flour with the eggs and then continue. After you’ve added the flour don’t overmix as this will stretch the gluten and result in a tough cake. After you’ve filled your tin with the cake mixture, tap it on the counter to remove any air bubbles.

Easy Hot Cross Buns

MUNCH RATING: 4/5

Although I've made Chelsea Buns using James Martin’s Hot Cross Bun recipe, I’ve never actually made Hot Cross Buns.

This recipe is from the April 2009 issue of BBC Good Food magazine and it prompted me to try as it was hailed as easy. They were quick and easy to make as no kneading was involved, but I’ve just read the comments on the website (they’ve been missing for such a long time and I didn’t realise they were back before making this recipe!) and most people said the buns were too heavy because of the lack of kneading.

They were mainly heavy because they are so big! The amount of dough could easily of made 12 ample sized buns (as the good folk say, more than a handful is too much). We found them a bit dry, even when spread with butter. But they were ten times better when toasted, hence the 4/5 munch rating. We couldn’t really taste the mixed spice either, so I would add more next time.

Some of the comments stated they thought the crosses on the buns were horrible. We had no problem with them, but I did add more water to the flour paste than the recipe suggested as I thought it was far too thick for piping. I added just enough extra water so that the paste could easily drop off the spoon and into my piping bag, which I made from greaseproof paper made into a small cone.

I would make this recipe again as it was so easy to make, but next time I might knead the dough for a few minutes. I would also try baking it in a loaf tin and then it would be easier to slice and then toast.

Happy Easter everyone!

• Makes: 8 buns (but better off making 10-12)
• Oven temperature: Gas mark 7/425°F/220°C
• Oven shelf: middle

Ingredients:

FOR THE BUNS:

• 500g strong white bread flour
• ½ teaspoons salt
• 2 heaped teaspoons mixed spice (needs more!)
• 50g caster sugar
• 50g butter, chopped into cubes
• 200g mixed dried fruits (I used ½ currants and ½ raisins)
• 7g sachet easy-blend dried yeast
• 200ml milk
• 2 eggs

FOR THE CROSSES & GLAZE:

• 3 Tablespoons plain flour
• 2-3 Tablespoons water
• honey or golden syrup, for brushing

Directions:

1. Tip the flour into a bowl and stir in the salt, mixed spice and sugar.
2. Rub in the butter with your fingertips. Stir in the dried fruit, then sprinkle over the yeast and stir in. Gently warm the milk so it is hot (30-45 secs in the microwave), but still cool enough to put your finger in for a couple of seconds. Beat with the eggs, then pour into the dried ingredients.
3. Using a blunt knife, mix the ingredients to a moist dough, then leave to soak for 5 mins. Take out of the bowl and cut the dough into 8 equal pieces (this was about 140g per bun).
4. Shape the dough into buns on a floured surface. Space apart on a baking sheet, cover loosely with cling film, then leave in a warm place until half again in size. This will take 45 mins-1 hr 15 mins, depending on how warm the room is.
5. When the buns are risen, heat oven to 220C/fan 200C/gas 7. Mix the flour with 2-3 Tablespoons water to make a paste. Pour into a plastic food bag and make a nick in one of the corners. Pipe crosses on top of each bun.
6. Bake for 12-15 mins until risen and golden then brush all over with honey or golden syrup (whilst the buns are still warm). The buns will keep fresh for a day. After that they are best toasted and served with butter.

Chocolate French Macaroons a.k.a. Mandy Macs

MUNCH RATING: 5/5

 

OK, the picture above doesn’t look like French macaroons and that’s because they went a bit wrong! I used the recipe from the April issue of Delicious magazine and I did a bit of research online for some hints and tips, but I still failed.

 

One of the tips was to use old egg whites. I had a load stashed in the freezer which I defrosted in the fridge overnight and then left out on the counter to come to room temperature. This apparently helps to whisk them more stiffly.

 

 

 

 

 

 

My main downfall was that I missed out the step of sifting the ground almonds and icing sugar. So the mixture was really thick and I must have over-mixed as I was trying to get the “ribbon-like consistency as it falls from the spatula”. I knew that the mixture wasn’t right, but I proceeded anyway as I didn’t think I could save this mess! It’s funny because I did consider only using 100g instead of 125g of ground almonds as I didn’t really want to open another packet. If I’d done this, then maybe the mixture wouldn’t have been so thick.

 

I used a 1cm plain nozzle inserted into a food bag and it was quite hard to pipe out the mixture. As you can see they don’t look particularly appealing and it looks like I should have got busy with a pooper scooper! I did tap the baking trays on the counter to give them a ‘foot’ but the mixture was so thick that it made no difference.

 

 

 

Another tip I read online was to bake them with the door propped open. So I baked one batch with the door slightly ajar, and the second batch with the door closed. They all came out exactly the same: domed and cracked!

 

 

 

 

 

 

So they looked nothing like they should, but I filled some anyway with Nutella and tried them. They actually tasted really nice and had a lovely chewy texture, like a brownie. Steve preferred to eat them as singles with Nutella spread on them. He declared this new type of macaroon should be called Mandy Macs (quite fitting as his surname is Macfarlane, so when we marry I will be Mandy Macfarlane). Steve’s sister is the only one of us who’s actually tried a proper French macaroon and she said they were nothing like what I’d made, but she thought they were very nice anyway!

 

I will have another go at making French macaroons, but I will probably try a different recipe. But my Mandy Macs will also be made again and hopefully I will be able to recreate this new sweet treat! So here’s my recipe for Mandy Macs:

 

• Makes: about 32 singles
• Oven temperature: Gas mark 3/325°F/170°C
• Oven shelf: middle

 

Ingredients:

• 110g icing sugar
• 65g cocoa powder (I used Bournville)
• 125g ground almonds
• 3 large free-range egg whites
• 75g caster sugar
• Nutella to fill or spread

 

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to Gas mark 3/325°F/170°C. Whizz the icing sugar, cocoa and ground almonds in a food processor to a very fine mixture.
2. In a separate bowl, whisk the egg whites with a pinch of salt to soft peaks, then gradually whisk in the caster sugar until thick and glossy.
3. Fold half the almond, cocoa and icing sugar mixture into the meringue and mix well. Add the remaining half and mix for a few minutes until well incorporated.
4. Spoon into a piping/food bag fitted with a 1cm plain nozzle (tip: place the bag in a glass so you have both hands free).
5. Line 2 baking sheets with baking paper. Pipe small rounds of the macaroon mixture, about 3cm across, onto the baking sheets. Leave to stand at room temperature for 15 minutes to form a slight skin then bake for 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool.
6. Use the Nutella to sandwich the macs together or just spread on single ones.

Anzac Biscuits

 

MUNCH RATING: 4/5

 

These biscuits were traditionally baked by wives and mothers during the First World War and sent packed in food parcels to the ANZACs (Australian and New Zealand Army Corps). They don’t contain any eggs so they survived the long journey. ANZAC Day is celebrated on 25th April.

 

They are delightfully chewy and the coconut provides a lovely toasty nutty tropical flavour and texture. They contain rolled oats so they are sort of in-keeping with our healthy eating regime, providing valuable fibre! Unfortunately, although coconut is actually part of a fruit, it's nutritionally classified as a nut so it doesn't count towards fruit and veg portions, but at least it contains similar nutrients to nuts!

 

CHANGES TO THE RECIPE:

For my first batch I followed the recipe and used teaspoons of the biscuit mixture, but these turned out quite small and very thin. So for the second and third batch I made the balls about the size of a walnut and they were a better size and thickness (on the left of the photo). I increased the cooking time by a couple of minutes.

 

TASTE TEST:

They were incredibly easy to make and got big thumbs up from everyone. Steve’s Mum said she’d heard of Anzac biscuits from watching Home & Away and Neighbours! Steve said they’d be even nicer topped with melted chocolate.

 

 

• Makes: 24-28
• Oven temperature: Gas mark 3/325°F/170°C
• Oven shelf: middle
• Cooking time: 10 minutes per batch

 

Ingredients:

• 100g rolled oats
• 60g plain flour
• 45g desiccated coconut (I used Waitrose)
• 95g light brown sugar
• 75g butter
• 2 Tablespoons golden syrup
• 1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
• 1 Tablespoon boiling water

 

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to Gas mark 3/325°F/170°C.
2. Line a baking tray with greaseproof paper/Magic liner.
3. Combine the oats, flour, coconut and sugar in a large bowl.
4. Place the butter and golden syrup in a small saucepan and melt over a medium heat, stirring until well mixed, then remove from the heat and allow to cool a little.
5. Mix the bicarbonate of soda with the Tablespoon of boiling water in a small cup, then add this to the melted butter and syrup. Tip the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix well.
6. Place teaspoons of the biscuit mixture onto the lined baking sheets, leaving about 5cm space between them so they can spread. Bake for 10 minutes for the smaller biscuits and 12 minutes for the larger ones, or until they are evenly golden brown.
7. Use a fish slice to lift the biscuits onto a wire rack to cool - they will be very soft but they will firm up as they cool down.

Chelsea Buns

 

MUNCH RATING: 3/5

 

CHANGES TO THE RECIPE:

I made these using the dough from James Martin’s Hot Cross Buns recipe (April issue of BBC Good Food magazine), but I used a different filling as I didn’t fancy the apricots and almonds that he used. These were better than my last attempt as they were big and soft, but they did taste a tiny bit too yeasty. This recipe used twice as much yeast as most other dough recipes, which would explain the yeasty flavour and also why the dough rose at an accelerated rate and resembled a B-movie blob monster!

 

I had a hard time fitting all the buns into the tin and after the second proving they were even more squashed and attempting to make a break for space and freedom.

 

After the 10 minutes baking at Gas 6 they were very golden brown and on the verge of burning and I was afraid they would become rock hard like my last attempt. So I kept a careful eye on them for the 10 minutes baking at Gas 4. I’ll admit that I did open the oven door a few too many times to keep checking and therefore I did need to bake them for another 5 or so minutes as they weren’t cooked properly. Even though I’d checked with a skewer to see if it came out clean, the middle bun was a bit underdone but the others were fine.

 

TASTE TEST:

The buns were incredibly large, so I would make them smaller if I used this recipe again. I think there was too much yeast which gave them a slightly funny taste, so we weren’t that keen on the flavour. They were also quite a lot of hard work and the reward wasn’t really justified! So I’m still on the hunt for the perfect Chelsea Bun recipe.

 

• Makes: 8 very large buns
• Oven temperature: Gas mark 6/400°F/200°C then reduced to Gas mark 4/350°F/180°C
• Oven shelf: middle
• You will need: a deep 21 or 23cm cake tin, greased

 

Ingredients for the dough:

• 450g strong white flour, plus extra for dusting
• 2 x 7g sachets easy-blend yeast
• 50g caster sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 150ml warm milk
• 1 egg, beaten
• 50g unsalted butter, melted
• 50ml warm water

FOR THE FILLING:

• 50g light brown sugar
• 100g mixed dried fruit (I used currants and sultanas)
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 25g butter, melted

GLAZE:

• 1 Tablespoon apricot jam
• ½ Tablespoon water
• caster sugar for sprinkling

 

Directions:

1. Put the flour, yeast, caster sugar and salt into a large mixing bowl and mix well. Make a well in the centre and pour in the warm milk, warm water, beaten egg and melted butter. Mix everything together to form a dough – start with a wooden spoon and finish with your hands.
2. Knead the dough on a floured surface for about 10 minutes until it becomes smooth and springy. Transfer to a clean, lightly greased bowl and cover. Leave in a warm place to rise until roughly doubled in size – this will take about 1 hour depending on how warm the room is.
3. Meanwhile make the filling by mixing all the filling ingredients together.
4. Top the risen dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead for a few seconds. Roll out the dough to a rough 20 x 30cm rectangle. Spread the filling evenly over the dough, then roll it up firmly like a Swiss roll from one of the long sides – dampening the open edge to help it stick if necessary. Cut into 8 even slices with a sharp knife, shape into 8 round pinwheels, then arrange in the tin, cut-side up. Cover and leave to prove in a warm place for 20 minutes until roughly doubled in size.
5. Preheat the oven to Gas mark 6/400°F/200°C. Bake the buns for 10 minutes, then lower the oven to Gas mark 4/350°F/180°C and cook for another 10-15 minutes.
6. Melt the jam with the water and brush all over the buns, then sprinkle with a little more caster sugar.

The best Carrot Cake

 

MUNCH RATING: 5/5

 

This recipe makes a gorgeous Carrot Cake and is much better than the Rachel Allen one I made! Steve’s Mum declared it the best Carrot Cake she’s ever tasted (and she’s quite the expert!), hence the rather arrogant title! The texture is moist and light, plus the walnuts give a nice crunch.

 

It’s such a simple cake to make and doesn’t require much effort as it’s made with oil, so there’s no creaming of butter and sugar necessary.

 

I don’t like coconut, but you can’t taste it in the cake and it gives it a better texture, so it’s worth adding. The walnuts are optional of course, but we had some knocking around the house as Steve’s Mum always buys the ones in their shell for Christmas and they never get eaten unless I use them in baking!

 

 

There was a bit of a debate in the house about which icing people preferred, so I covered half with a simple buttercream (Steve’s choice) and half with a runny royal icing (Steve’s Mum’s and my choice) as we had some leftover from last week’s birthday cake decorating.

 

• Oven temperature: Gas mark 4/350°F/180°C
• Oven shelf: middle
• You will need: a greased and lined 8 inch square tin

 

Ingredients:

• 150ml (¼ pint) sunflower oil
• 100g (4oz) light soft brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 75g (3oz) golden syrup
• 175g (6oz) self raising flour, sifted
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon ground ginger
• ½ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
• 100g (4oz) carrots, grated (approx. 1 med-large sized carrot)
• 25g (1oz) desiccated coconut
• ½ Tablespoon walnuts, chopped

 

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to Gas mark 4/350°F/180°C.
2. Whisk together the oil, sugar, eggs and golden syrup using an electric hand mixer.
3. Add the flour, spices, bicarbonate of soda, carrots, coconut and walnuts and gently fold into the mixture with a spoon until well incorporated. Don’t overmix as this will make the cake heavy.
4. Pour the mixture into the prepared tin and bake in the oven for about 30 minutes. A skewer inserted should come out clean. If it’s not done yet, return to the oven for another 5-10 minutes. If the cake is getting too brown then lightly cover with a sheet of foil.
5. Cool in the tin for about 5 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely before icing.

 

To make the buttercream icing for half the cake: Beat 25g (1oz) soft butter until pale and creamy. Add 100g (4oz) of sifted icing sugar and just enough milk to create a soft and fluffy icing. Beat well then spread on top of the cooled carrot cake.

 

COOK’S NOTES:

• You can freeze the cake un-iced

Birthdays!

Well I turned the ripe old age of 29 on Wed, which is shocking for anybody new that I meet because I look so young.  I did some work experience recently and everyone asked me what I was studying (I really hope they meant at University and not College!). Anyway, I’m sure I will appreciate my youthful looks when I’m in my mid-life. I am quite pleased that I didn’t get asked for ID in the pub on Friday, which makes a change!

 

Steve’s Mum made me this lovely cake. I don’t have a recipe because she did it secretly and she never makes a note of actual quantities for the decoration! It’s 2 basic sponge cakes sandwiched together with strawberry jam, then covered in buttercream icing. She bought some wires from a cake shop and then cut out shapes from fondant icing and stuck them on the wires.

Today it’s Chris’ birthday (Steve’s brother-in-law) , so I helped Steve’s Mum make him a cake. He’s recently really got into skiing, so this is a slope made of the same sponge cake, covered in royal icing. I made the boots and hat from fondant icing (coloured red using Wilton food gel), the legs are chocolate fingers and the skis are kit kat fingers. Steve’s Mum made the trees from green fondant icing and she used small scissors to snip the icing to create the tree effect. She used chocolate fingers stuck inside for the trunk. I’ve only worked with fondant icing once before, so it was fun to make this with Steve’s Mum because she’s quite a dab hand!

 

Tomorrow we’re having a bit of a tea party for Chris at his house, so I made brownies which everyone loves. I used melted white chocolate for the writing and I’m pretty pleased at how steady my hand was! I used my squeezy bottles fitted with a No.2 nozzle and it was really nice to write with.

 

For a moment I thought I’d spelled ‘Birthday’ wrong and that I’d created a Cake Wreck! It could easily have gone that way if Steve hadn’t come in the kitchen after I’d done the swirls, because I was about to add more decoration and he said that would have been over the top.

Lemon Loaf – Hummingbird Bakery

 

MUNCH RATING: 4/5

 

After the success of the Chocolate Cupcakes that I’d made from the Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook, I decided to try out the lovely looking Lemon Loaf. This is one of the recipes which suffered from a misprint in the first edition of the book. Luckily my edition has the correct weight for plain flour as 350g and a baking time of 1 hour 15 minutes.

 

Just like the cupcake recipe, the method was a little unorthodox, but I followed it strictly and I am pleased to say that the recipe was a success. The cake was a little heavier than I expected, but it was full of zesty lemon flavour and it kept perfectly for a full week. I actually preferred to eat this warm after it had been nuked in the microwave for about 30 seconds.

Even though this was a good recipe, I’m not sure if I’d make it again because the sponge was a little heavy. I will probably just add some lemon zest to a different sponge recipe, but I would definitely use the lemon syrup again.

 

• Makes: 8-10 slices
• Oven temperature: Gas mark 3/325°F/170°C
• Oven shelf: middle
• You will need: a 23 x13cm loaf tin, greased and dusted with flour

 

Ingredients:

• 320g caster sugar
• 3 eggs (I used large)
• grated zest of 2 lemons, unwaxed
• 350g plain flour
• 1½ teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt (I omitted this as I used salted butter)
• 250ml whole milk (I used semi-skimmed)
• ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
• 200g unsalted butter, melted

FOR THE LEMON SYRUP:

• freshly squeezed juice and zest of 1 lemon (I only used the juice as I ran out of zest!)
• 50g caster sugar

 

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to Gas mark 3/325°F/170°C.
2. Put the sugar, eggs and lemon zest in a freestanding electric mixer with a paddle attachment (or use a handheld electric whisk) and beat until well mixed.
3. Sift the flour, baking powder and salt into a separate bowl.
4. Combine the milk and vanilla extract in another bowl.
5. Add one-third of the flour mixture to the sugar mixture and beat well, then beat in one-third of the milk mixture. Repeat this process twice more until everything has been added. Turn the mixer up to high speed and beat until the mixture is light and fluffy.
6. Turn the mixer down to low speed, pour in the melted butter and beat until well incorporated.
7. Pour the mixture into the prepared loaf tin and bake in the oven for about 1 hour 15 minutes, or until golden brown and the sponge bounces back when touched.

 

For the lemon syrup: while the cake is baking, put the lemon juice and zest, sugar and 100ml water in a small saucepan and bring to the boil over low heat. Raise the heat and boil until it has reduced by half, or until it has a thin syrup consistency. When the hot cake comes out of the oven, put it on a wire cooling rack and pour the syrup all over the top. Leave to cool slightly in the tin before turning out onto the wire cooling rack to cool completely.

 

COOK’S NOTES:

• I used my silicone loaf tin as it was the perfect size. It didn’t need any greasing or lining and it was a doddle to turn the cake out.

Chocolate Cupcakes – Hummingbird Bakery

 

MUNCH RATING: 5/5

 

I bought the Hummingbird Bakery book when I visited the BBC Good Food Show in London back in November, as it was a bargain at only £4.99 from The Book People. But I have been reluctant to try any of the recipes because I’d read so many bad reviews about the book. Lots of people said that the recipes had been badly converted from the quantities that the bakery uses and that the recipes hadn’t been properly tested.

 

But then other people had raved about the book and I like to set myself a challenge in the kitchen, so I wanted to see if I could get at least one recipe from the book to work!

I decided to start with one of the cupcake recipes as that is what Hummingbird Bakery are famous for and from my baking experience the quantity of the ingredients in the recipe looked in proportion.

 

However, I was intrigued that so little butter was necessary for these cupcakes and I tried to convince myself that they were therefore a bit healthier than other cupcakes I’ve made in the past! Never mind that they’re full of sugar and slathered with icing!

 

The recipe says you can use a hand-held electric whisk or a freestanding electric mixer with a paddle attachment. I chose to use the latter as I thought it would do a better job at mixing, as it has more speed settings than my ancient electric whisk, so I’d have better control. Plus an online friend told me that to get really fluffy icing it’s best to use an electric mixer, so it was worth digging it out from the back of the cupboard.

 

The method in the recipe was a bit alien to me as it tells you to beat the dry ingredients with the butter and sugar, then add the wet ingredients. I am used to creaming the butter and sugar first, then adding eggs and then adding the dry ingredients. But I followed the recipe exactly and everything went smoothly.

 

The recipe says it makes 12 cupcakes and it specifically says to use muffin paper cases. But I only managed to get 7 cupcakes from the mixture and I have read other people had the same experience. If you used normal fairy cake paper cases then you could easily make 12, but there’s no way you could make 12 muffin sized ones!

 

I checked my cupcakes after 20 minutes, but I had to bake them for about 30 minutes (but our gas oven isn’t that great) and I was a bit worried when they came out of the oven. They had sunk a little and didn’t look too pretty! But I guess that is what icing was invented for! I only made half a batch of icing because I didn’t have as many cupcakes and this was plenty.

 

 

TASTE TEST:

Well the cupcakes went down a storm with Steve’s family! They were really light and moist and Steve’s Mum said they were the best cupcakes I’ve made so far! So she now has a new favourite! Steve really liked the slightly chewy top of the cupcake, which he said reminded him of brownies.

 

I was really surprised they were so well received, but it has given me more confidence to try out more recipes from the book. I am also very curious as to what the real cupcakes from the Hummingbird Bakery are like and if mine were the same.

 

• Makes: 12 (if using small paper cases) or 7 muffin sized cupcakes
• Oven temperature: Gas mark 3/325°F/170°C
• You will need: a cupcake tray lined with paper cases

 

Ingredients:

• 100g plain flour, sifted
• 20g cocoa powder, sifted
• 140g caster sugar
• 1½ teaspoons baking powder
• a pinch of salt (I omitted this as I used salted butter)
• 40g unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 120ml whole milk (I used semi-skimmed)
• 1 egg (I used a large one)
• ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract

 

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to Gas mark 3/325°F/170°C.
2. Put the flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking powder, salt and butter in a freestanding electric mixer with a paddle attachment (or use a handheld electric whisk) and beat on slow speed until you get a sandy consistency and everything is combined.
3. Whisk the milk, egg and vanilla extract together in a jug, then slowly pour about half into the flour mixture, beat to combine and turn the mixer up to high speed to get rid of any lumps.
4. Turn the mixer down to a slower speed and slowly pour in the remaining milk mixture (scrape any unmixed ingredients from the side of the bowl with a rubber spatula). Continue mixing for a couple more minutes until the mixture is smooth. Do not overmix.
5. Spoon the mixture into the paper cases until two-thirds full and bake in the preheated oven for 20-25 minutes, or until the sponge bounces back when touched. A skewer inserted in the centre should come out clean. Leave the cupcakes to cool slightly in the tray before turning out onto a wire cooling rack to cool completely.
6. When the cupcakes are cool, spoon the icing on top and decorate if you like.

 

Half a batch of Chocolate Icing:

Beat 150g sifted icing sugar, 50g soft butter and 20g sifted cocoa in an electric mixer on medium-slow until the mixture comes together and is well mixed (for this small quantity of icing you may need to add a dribble of the milk to help it come together). Then turn the mixer down to slow and add 20ml milk gradually and keep mixing until it has been fully incorporated. Then turn the mixer up to a high speed and beat for about 5 minutes until the icing is light and fluffy.

Danish Pastries

 

MUNCH RATING: 4/5

 

I really wanted to challenge myself, so I decided to make the Danish Pastries recipe from the October 2009 issue of BBC Good Food magazine. I’ve made Flaky pastry before, which is quite similar in its method of laying the butter over the dough and creating layers by folding and rolling three times.

 

I have to say that this Danish Pastry dough was a lot more difficult to work with and my arms were killing me after all the rolling (but it’s good when you can make cooking your exercise workout). I found the dough to be very uncooperative in that it kept contracting and shrinking back when I tried to roll it. It also wouldn’t adhere to itself when I folded it, so this lack of cohesion gave me some problems with shaping the dough.

 

Here are the unbaked pastries: a raisin wheel, an apple pinwheel, an apple turnover triangle and an apple turnover square.

 

The apple turnover squares unfolded as they baked, which is a shame but they still turned out much better than I expected. I wasn’t that confident that the dough would produce all those lovely layers, so I was pleasantly surprised when I opened the oven door and saw that they had worked!

 

TASTE TEST:

The pastries were nice and crispy on the top and a little stodgy underneath, but I think that’s because I started cooking them at the top of the oven and then I moved them to a lower shelf because they were browning too much. I will cook them in the middle of the oven next time (I have frozen the rest - they were still just as good when defrosted and then baked).

 

Steve and I thought the pastries were a little bit salty, but his parents didn’t think so. I used Anchor salted butter, so next time I will leave out some of the salt in the dough (salt regulates the yeast's activity) or use unsalted butter.

 

So would I make these again? I will try making Danish Pastries again, but I won’t use this dough recipe again as it was too laborious with putting it in the fridge after every roll – I think this was unnecessary as the Flaky pastry recipe I’ve used before doesn’t require this. I think I will try this Rough Puff recipe next time as it is more simplified.

 

I decided to not copy out the recipe for the dough and fillings as you can find the recipe here and it would make this post extremely long!

 

MY OWN ADDITIONS:

I wasn’t keen on all the fillings that the Good Food recipe suggested, so I decided to make my own apple filling which worked really well.

 

Ingredients for the apple filling:

• 3 eating apples (I used Gala) peeled, cored and chopped into small pieces
• 25g butter
• 50g white sugar
• ½ teaspoon cinnamon

 

Directions for the apple filling:

1. Place half the apples into a saucepan with the butter and sugar and cook on a medium heat for 5 minutes. Then add the rest of the apple and cook for another 10-15 minutes until soft (adding the apples in 2 stage will allow some of the apple to be more pulpy and the rest will have more bite). Allow to cool before using.

 

COOK’S NOTES:

• I made the dough by hand instead of in the food processor.
• I used Egg Glaze Spray from Lakeland to glaze before baking. They are still just as good without an egg glaze.
• It was a cold day so they didn’t double in size after shaping them and leaving for 30 minutes. I did try putting them in the oven after it had been heating for 10 minutes and then turning it off, but this just made the butter start to melt, so NOT a good idea! So I just baked them straight after my little experiment and they turned out OK.
• I iced them after letting them cool for about 5 minutes.