Spiced carrot traybake

I appear to have a fixation with Mary Berry's Baking Bible at the moment. I keep going back to it despite receiving two new baking books at Christmas which I haven't ventured into yet.

Like the lemon drizzle traybake I made last week, this traybake rose beautifully. It has a very light and moist texture.

I was a bit worried that the cake might not be as good as it should because I was an ounce short with my grated carrot, but it doesn't appear to have made a massive difference. The only other thing to note is that this traybake only took 40 minutes to bake, not 50-60 minutes as the recipe states.

American spiced carrot traybake

Recipe from Mary Berry's Baking Bible

275g (10z) self-raising flour

350g (12oz) caster sugar

2 level tsp baking powder

75g (3oz) chopped unsalted mixed nuts. (I just used loads of walnuts as it's my favourite)

3 level tsp ground cinnamon

2 level tsp ground ginger

300ml (1/2pint) sunflower oil

275g (10z) grated carrots

4 large eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

For the topping:

400g (14oz) full-fat soft cheese

4 tsp clear honey

2 tsp lemon juice

chopped unsalted mixed nuts to decorate (yes, you guessed it, I used more walnuts!)

Preheat the oven to 180C/Fan 160C/ Gas 4. Grease a 30 x 23cm (12 x 9in) traybake or roasting tin then line the base with baking parchment. Measure all the dry cake ingredients into a large bowl. Add the oil, grated carrot, eggs (one at a time) and vanilla extract, beating between each addition. Pour into the prepared tin and level the surface. Bake in the pre-heated oven for 50-60 minutes (mine took 40 minutes) or until the cake is risen, golden brown in colour and firm to the touch. Leave to cool in the tin for 10 minutes then turn out, peel off the parchment and finish cooling on a wire rack.

To make the topping, mix together the cheese, honey and lemon juice, adding more lemon juice if necessary, to make a spreading consistency. (I added some icing sugar to taste, as I like the sweetness.) Spread evenly over the cake then sprinkle over the chopped nuts to decorate and cut into squares.

Lemon drizzle traybake

I made this traybake last Sunday and it was a massive success with the family. Mary Berry has yet to fail me. There's a reason why she is the queen of baking. Despite having an unfounded distrust of the all-in-one mixing method, I did as I was told. What a beautiful result.

I think this has to be one of the fluffiest traybakes I've ever made. I bow down to your superior knowledge Mary Berry.

I loved how fuss free this recipe was, it was very quick and easy to make. Perfect for Sunday tea.

Hope you all have a good weekend!

Lemon drizzle traybake

Recipe from Mary Berry's Baking Bible

225g (8oz) softened butter (I have a feeling I used margarine though)

225g (8oz) caster sugar

275g (10z) self-raising flour

2 level tsp baking powder

4 large eggs

4 tbsp milk

finely grated rind of 2 lemons

For the crunchy drizzle topping:

175g (6oz) granulated sugar

juice of 2 lemons

Preheat the oven to 160C/Fan 140C/Gas 3. Grease a 30 x 23cm (12 x 9 in) traybake or roasting tin then line the base with baking parchment. Measure all the ingredients for the traybake into a large bowl and beat until well blended. Turn the mixture into the prepared tin and level the top gently with the back of the spatula. Bake in the oven for 35-40 minutes or until the cake has shrunk from the sides of the tin and springs back when pressed in the centre with your fingertips. Leave to cool in the tin for a few minutes then turn out, carefullly peel off the parchment and finish cooling on a wire rack. Stand the wire rack on a tray to catch any drips of the topping.

To make the topping, mix the granulated sugar and lemon juice in a small bowl to give a runny consistency. Spoon this mixture evenly over the traybake while it is still a little warm. Cut into squares/slices when cold (I'll leave you to decide how big you want them!)

Cherry Bakewells

These are the other treats I baked with my friend on Friday. We were very pleased with them. They look so homely and old fashioned. Definitely the type of home bake to put on your cakestand and wheel through to your visitors on a tea trolley (damn it, I want a tea trolley!)

How unbelievably cute and dainty are they? I can't wait to make more of these. They're definitely going on my "must" bake list for an afternoon tea party.

They're relatively straight forward to make too, even though I wasn't entirely sure how much to fill each pastry case. Hopefully the next batch will be more regular.

Cherry Bakewells

Recipe from Traditional Teatime Recipes by Jane Pettigrew.

Makes 20 tart (we made 24)

To make the pastry:

450g (1lb) plain flour, sifted

pinch of salt

100g (4oz) butter, softened

100g (4oz) lard, softened (we didn't have any so we used more butter)

3-4 tbsp cold water

Mix together the flour and salt. Cut the fats into small pieces and rub into the flour until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Gradually add enough water, mixing with a fork, to give a stiff butt pliable dough. Knead lightly for a few minutes until smooth. Wrap in cling film or a plastic bag and chill for at least 15 minutes before using.

For the filling:

50g (2oz) strawberry jam (we used raspberry as we thought it was more traditional)

100g (4oz) butter, softened

100g (4oz) caster sugar

2 eggs

50g (2oz) ground almonds

50g (2oz) self raising flour, sifted

1 tsp almond essence (we skipped this as we didn't have any)

175g (6oz) icing sugar, sifted

1-2 tbsp water

20 cherries (fresh, stoned or glace)

Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/Gas 6. Grease 20 patty tins (we used bun/cupcake tins). On a floured board/surface, roll out the pastry and cut 24 circles using a 7.5cm (3in) cutter (whatever covers the base of the tin). Use to line the prepared tins and spread a little jam in the base of each. Beat together the fat and sugar, then beat in  the eggs, one at a time, adding half the ground almonds after each one. Add the flour and almond essence and stir well. Spoon the mixture into the pastry cases and bake for 20 minutes until well risen, firm and golden. Remove from the oven and leave to cool in the tins. Mix together the icing sugar and water and when the tarts are cold, spoon the icing on to the top. Decorate each with a cherry.

Chocolate orange drizzle cake

When I was given Traditional Teatime Recipes by Jane Pettigrew for my birthday four years ago, this was the first recipe I wanted to make. Unfortunately nobody around me at the time seemed that excited about chocolate and orange as a flavour combination (why?!) so I never got to make it.

I was at a friend's house yesterday who had just bought the book and she really liked the look of this cake so I jumped at the chance to make it with her.

The cake certainly lived up to my expectations, it was so juicy and light with a really lovely, even texture. The melted chocolate topping was an added bonus. If you love cake and Terry's chocolate oranges then this is the cake for you!

We also baked other goodies from the same book but I think they deserve their own blog post which I'll try to do within the next couple of days.

Chocolate orange drizzle cake

Recipe from "Traditional Teatime Treats" by Jane Pettigrew, a National Trust book.

For the cake:

175g (6oz) butter, softened

175g (6oz) caster sugar

3 large eggs

Grated ring of 2 oranges

175g (6oz) self-raising flour, sifted

2 tbsp milk

For the topping:

The juice of 2 oranges

100g (4oz) granulated sugar

50g (2oz) milk or plain chocolate (I used some milk chocolate buttons, then ate the left overs!)

Makes 1 x 900g (2lb) loaf or 17.5cm (7in) round tin. (I have a feeling ours was a 8in tin)

Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4 and grease and line your tin. Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time and beat well. Add the grated orange rind, flour and milk and fold in with a metal spoon. Turn into the prepared tin, smooth the top and bake for 30-40 minutes until a skewer comes out clean. (We put a piece of greaseproof paper over the top of the cake for the last 5 mins or so as it was browning on the top too much but not fully cooked). Remove from the oven and leave to cool in the tin.

When cool, score the top of the cake lightly with a sharp knife. Pour the orange juice and granulated sugar into a pan and heat gently until the sugar has dissolved. Bring to the boil and boil for 1-2 minutes, then pour over the cake. When all the juice has soaked in, carefully remove the cake from the tin. Melt the chocolate (either in stages in the microwave or in a heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water) and then pour over the top. Make a pattern with the prongs of a fork and leave to set (it doesn't matter if it looks messy!)

This is such an easy cake to whip up so I can fully recommend it. Great with a cuppa too!

New teapot

If I could wear this on a chain around my neck Gollum-Lord-Of-The-Rings style, I probably would as it is definitely worthy of "my precious" status, and I've certainly stroked it enough times to look like a crazy woman. (Guess which films I've been watching recently!)

Funnily enough I found this beautiful Johnson Brothers Greydawn teapot on the unluckiest day of the year, Friday 13th. I finished work early so I took a wander around the charity shops and there it was, sitting on a shelf with a £3 sticker. Not so unlucky after all.

I enjoyed my first cuppa from her with a fat pancake (shop bought, but still nice). I think I'll have to do a photograph of my utility china collection soon as I'm gathering quite a healthy stash!

Did anyone else have a lucky Friday 13th this year?

White chocolate and cranberry biscuits

Biscuit or cookie, which do you say? I'm all about the biscuit. I can only assume it's the British in me.

I actually started my Wednesday evening baking maple and pecan cupcakes from a new book I received for Christmas, but they ended up a bit funny. I had a feeling this would happen as I didn't like the look of the batter. It contained so much syrup. The cakes are nice reheated though (and would be even better with hot custard!) but not particularly blogworthy, so I went with these biscuits instead which I originally planned to bake at Christmas.

I don't know why I don't bake biscuits more often as I absolutely love them. If I was ever to become morbidly obese, the humble biscuit would be my downfall. It is not safe to leave a biscuit barrel in my direction, I will eat them all, especially if they're of the Fox's variety. I pretty much survived my final year at university on biscuits as I lacked energy and time to cook. My dissertation was produced purely on a diet of chocolate digestives and tea.

Back to these biscuits, I really liked them. Notice the use of past tense, they disappeared very quickly. Before you quickly assume (cheeky!) I didn't eat all of them by myself, my family and my work colleagues got to enjoy them too. I would definitely make these again.

White chocolate and cranberry biscuits/cookies

Recipe from Cake Days, The Hummingbird Bakery.

135g (5oz) unsalted butter (I used mostly margarine and a little salter butter as that's what I had.)

80g (3oz) caster sugar

80g (3oz) soft light brown sugar

1 egg

1/2 tsp vanilla essence

190g (7oz) plain flour

1/2 tsp salt (I ignored this as I didn't used unsalted butter)

1/4 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda

100g (3.5oz) dried cranberries

60g (2oz) white chocolate chips (I made little chunks from a block of chocolate)

Preheat the oven to 170C/325F/Gas 3 and line two baking sheets with baking parchment. Cream together the butter and both sugars, add the egg and vanilla essence and mix all together well. In a separate bowl sift together the flour, salt, cinnamon and bicarbonate of soda, then add to the creamed mixture in two batches. Mix thoroughly until a dough forms (I used a fork for this instead of my mixer). Lastly stir in the chocolate chunks and cranberries.

Break off pieces of the dough (about two tablespoons in size), roll them into balls and place on the prepared baking sheets. Allow five or six balls per tray, remembering to space them well as they will spread during cooking. The recipe says it makes 10-12 cookies although I'm sure I made at least 15. It depends how large you want them!

Place in the oven and bake for 15-20 minutes or until the cookies/biscuits are a light golden on top. Leave on the sheets for about 10 minutes to cool and set before transferring to a wire rack.

I've just realised I forgot to say happy new year in my last post, so happy new year everybody! Let's hope there will be more excellent baking in 2012.

Also I want to say a massive thank you to Alex of Culinary Conquests for passing on a Liebster blog award to me. What a lovely way to start the new year, my first blog award!

Chocolate and strawberry cake

It was my nephew's 4th Birthday on Friday and he requested a chocolate and strawberry birthday cake. Strawberries are hardly in season but you can't say no to a birthday boy, especially when it's a great flavour combination.

I used my go-to chocolate cake recipe and filled it with strawberry jam, strawberry slices and chocolate buttercream icing. I then used more buttercream to cover the sides and top of the cake, put dipped milk chocolate and white chocolate strawberries on top and placed strawberry slices in the centre and around the edge of the cake. I glazed the slices with strawberry jam to sweeten them as the strawberries were a bit on the sharp side.

I was really pleased with how the cake looked and tasted. I also enjoyed the sheer amount of chocolate involved in making it: chocolate cake batter, buttercream icing, molten milk and white chocolate for dipping strawberries. Lots for me to pig out on! I even melted the left over white chocolate to make an amazing white hot chocolate.

Most importantly, the birthday boy (and his little brother) absolutely loved the cake. The chocolate covered strawberries in particular were a great success. I think making birthday cakes for family has got to be one of the best things about baking.