bakewell slices

I've been wanting to bake Bakewell slices for absolutely ages, at least a year, so I'm really pleased to have finally made them. That's one less bookmark in my baking books! I'm determined to work through more of them this year.

I made these slices for Mother's Day back in March as my Mum loves almond bakes. (Is it just me or does March already feel like an eternity ago?!) They went down an absolute treat and didn't hang around the cake tin for long.

I baked the shortbread base the night before and left it to cool overnight and made the frangipane topping the following morning. I often avoid recipes if they have too many stages or look too involved so this tactic worked nicely for me. Saying that, these slices really weren't difficult or particularly time consuming to make. The shortbread base is far less hassle (and mess) to put together than making pastry.

My only change to the recipe was adding almond extract to the frangipane mixture as I really wanted a strong almond flavour. I recommend it if you're also an almond fan. As I baked this a while ago I can't remember how much I added, likely no more than 1/2tsp as almond extract is pretty strong. A little goes a long way.

Mmmmmmm, frangipane, jam and shortbread. Not much else to say, really!


Bakewell slices
Recipe (slightly altered) from "Vintage Cakes" by Jane Brocket, published 2012

shortbread base:
200g plain flour
50g ground almonds
50g caster sugar
125g softened butter
1 large egg

Filling:
4 -6 spoonfuls (or more, I won't judge) of your preferred jam. I used raspberry

Frangipane topping:
125g softened butter
125g caster sugar
2 eggs
125g ground almonds
75g self-raising flour
1/4 - 1/2 tsp almond essence
handful of flaked almonds

Line a 20 x 30cm tin with greaseproof paper and set aside. Put the flour, ground almonds and sugar in a large bowl. Cut the butter into small cube pieces and rub into the flour mixture with your fingertips until the mixture looks like breadcrumbs. Lightly beat the egg in a small bowl then add to the breadcrumb mixture. Using either a blunt knife or your hands mix it all together until it becomes a soft, sticky dough.

Press the dough into the lined tin, taking care to make sure it's evenly distributed and pushed into the corners and edges. Prick the dough all over with a fork (around 20 times) then cover with clingfilm and let it chill for an hour. Preheat the oven to 180C/ 160C Fan/ Gas 4 before you take the tin out of the fridge.

Bake in the preheated oven for 15-20 minutes until the base is dry and just starting to change colour. Be careful not to over bake it. Once baked, leave to cool on a wire rack while you prepare the topping. Leave the oven on if you're continuing with the topping.

For the frangpine, whisk together the butter and sugar in a large bowl (with a mixer) until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Add the ground almonds, flour and almond essence and fold everything together until everything is fully combined.

Once the shortbread base is cool (roughly 15 minutes after it's out the oven) spread a layer of jam on top. Carefully spread the frangipane on top of the jam, making sure the two don't mix together. Don't worry about it looking too neat though or being uneven around the edges. Scatter the flaked almonds on top then bake it for 22-25 minutes until risen and golden brown in colour. If a sharp knife/skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean then it's done. Leave to cool before removing from the tin. Once cool, cut into slices with a sharp knife. I cut mine into 16 although you can make them as big or small as you like.

fruity apple and pecan... slice?

I'm finally back with a baking post! Look, I baked.... things.

It was meant to be an apple and date nutty slice, but I had no dates so I subbed them for a mixture of dried raisins and cranberries, and I cut the apples so chunky that it didn't particularly "slice". Perhaps not the finest way to return to cake blogging, but it used up some wrinkly apples and annoying leftovers.

I was aware that the amount of apples vastly outnumbered the other ingredients but decided not to change it. After all it's an *apple* slice. Perhaps I should have cut my apple chunks smaller, but I was worried I'd end up with a watery, cooked apple gloop if I chopped them too small. I also think it's more satisfying to come across decent sized chunks, it adds texture, and this traybake certainly has texture - fresh fruit, dried fruit *and* chopped nuts surrounded by a cinnamon-y, dark brown sugar sponge mixture. It's all going on.

Not my most beautiful bake, but it tasted really good. If you doubled up the cake mixture and baked it in a bigger tin you'd have a fantastic autumnal pudding. Mmmm, pass the custard.

Fruity apple and pecan slice

Adapted from Jane Pettigrew's "date and apple slice" in Traditional Teatime Recipes, a National Trust book.

4oz (100g) dark soft brown sugar 

1oz (25g) slightly salted butter, melted

1 large egg, beaten

1 tbsp runny honey

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

4oz (100g) self-raising flour, sifted
4oz (100g) mixed dried fruit - raisins, golden raisins, cranberries
3oz (75g) pecans, roughly chopped

1lb (450g) eating apples, cored and diced with the peel left on (I think I used 3 braeburns and 1 or 2 pink ladies)

Preheat the oven to 200C/Fan 180C/Gas 6. Grease and line a 7 x 11 inch (17.5 x 27.5cm) baking tray. Mix together the sugar, melted butter, egg, honey, cinnamon and flour until everything is fully combined. Stir in the dried fruit, pecans and apple chunks. Tip into the tray and press flat (don't worry about it completely filling your tray, it won't overspill.) Bake for 30-40 minutes until it is golden and firm to touch. Leave to cool in the tin and (attempt to) cut into slices once it's cold.

Celebration brownies!

My friends threw a small house party last weekend so I baked these party-worthy brownies stuffed with Celebration chocolates to take with me. I cut them into party-friendly, bite-size squares with the theory that it's acceptable to eat more than one if they're smaller! I think everybody had fun guessing which chocolate bar flavours they had in each brownie portion.

Another person at the party had baked millionaire's shortbread and chocolate orange cupcakes so there was a lot of chocolate going around. I think it's safe to say that sugar hangovers were as likely as alcohol related ones.

A few of the celebration chunks looked rather impressive fresh from the oven, the Milky Bar pieces in particular as they billowed out like puffy marshmallows! It was almost a shame to watch them deflate as the tray cooled although the finished appearance was still very attractive. I love the shiny, flaky, erupting surface.

For these brownies I used a (slightly adapted) Nigella Lawson recipe, more or less the same as the last brownies I made. My only changes were adding chopped up pieces of Celebration chocolates and 40% cocoa solids milk chocolate for the batter instead of a darker chocolate.

In hindsight I probably would have preferred a slightly darker chocolate, or a mix of milk and dark, just to give a richer flavour. I may have slightly overbaked this batch too as they weren't quite as squidy as previous batches. They were by no means dry though and I still had difficulty peeling them off the parchment paper!

What's your favourite brownie recipe? Can Nigella's recipe be defeated?

dairy free lemon drizzle traybake

Since discovering one of my nephews is dairy intolerant I have been making an effort to experiment with dairy free baking. Lemon drizzle cake is a family favourite so it was the first recipe I wanted to play with.

For this cake I used Mary Berry's lemon drizzle traybake recipe, substituting the softened butter for Vitalite dairy free margarine and the milk for soya milk.

The only noticeable difference through using a dairy free margarine was the texture. The batter was looser and it produced a very soft, moist cake with a smooth surface rather than the hard sugary top you usually get with a lemon drizzle. Flavour wise it was excellent and received thumbs up from everyone. I don't think anybody would have noticed it was dairy free had I not pointed it out.

If anyone else is new to dairy free baking (or gluten free baking) I highly recommend visiting iced gem bakes. I found her breakdown of dairy free margarines really useful.

Hermione the sourdough cake

This is Hermione, a German friendship sourdough cake. On Saturday I received a little tub of gloopy mixture with an accompanying recipe.

In a state of dopeyness I didn't read the instructions properly and broke the chain letter. (Am I now doomed to friendship/baking hell?) Hermione was meant to sit and bubble over 10 days before I was allowed to bake her but because the instructions had been ticked off by the previous person I think my brain thought "oh I just need to bake it then!" (honestly, I was very dopey on Sunday). The baked Hermione has been shared though so she has been passed along in some form.

Although a completely vague recipe, my Hermione turned out very nicely. It suggested walnuts, almonds or raisins to add alongside the apples and cinammon but I opted for pecans. The cake's crust was deliciously crunchy with the liberal sprinkling of demerara sugar and melted butter added before baking. The brown sugar also paired brilliantly with the pecans. I think the cake would taste even better with custard, although it's perfectly moist without.

I also made some banana and chocolate cupcakes last week from the first Hummingbird Bakery book. I made these a couple times last year which worked perfectly, but for some reason they didn't turn out right this time. I made sure all ingredients were room temperature and checked my recipe thoroughly, I even made a second batch (which were slightly better admittedly) but they mostly came out stodgy and mildly anaemic looking. Although the flavour was still lovely, they were nothing like the ones I made last year. Who knows what I did!

On Thursday I bought the Primrose Bakery book after reading favourable blog reviews so I'm going to try their cupcakes this week to compare with the Hummingbird Bakery ones. It's such a pretty book, it was worth buying for the pictures alone. I honestly can't decide which recipe I want to try first.

Versatile Blogger and some cake.

Fallen from Flavour kindly nominated me for a Versatile Blogger award recently. The rules state that once nominated you pass the award along to 15 other bloggers and reveal 7 facts about yourself. As I passed a Liebster Award along not too long ago I felt it would be wrong/annoying to re-nominate the same people or even to not re-nominate them (as they're obviously blogs I enjoy) in favour of other blogs who then may feel second rate as I didn't pass on the first award to them (I'm completely over thinking this aren't I?)

However (if you're still following me after that confusing ramble) I thought it would be fun to do the latter part and reveal 7 random facts about myself. It's always nice to find out more about the face behind the blog isn't it? Even if you discover they're a bit strange.

1. Despite my blog and the china I collect being predominantly pastel coloured I never wear pastel colours. I much prefer mid to darker tones, the colours I wear most being green, turquoise, teal and plum. I rarely wear black.

2. I like heavy rock music, particularly the stoner variety which usually surprises people. Kyuss, Alice in Chains, Dozer, the Hellacopters and Audioslave are on my little ipod shuffle. I blame having two older brothers who play in bands and a Mum who brought us up on Free and Thin Lizzy. Saying that I also love listening to piano music, Chopin's Nocturnes in particular, and will quite happily dance along to 90s boybands like Backstreet Boys (ah wonderful nostalgia.)

3. If there's an empty cardboard box lying around I will try to fit myself in it. If I do fit inside I will sit and wait for somebody to walk past so I can scare the life out of them.

4. I massively dislike the following phrases and descriptions: "EPIC", "WIN", "FAIL", "TOTES", "GOOD TIMES", "BANTER" or even worse "BANTS". It just annoys me when I hear people say "That was a totes epic free sandwich we got from Costa at closing time today. WIN!" .... What?! I've also recently discovered "AMAZEBALLS" although I find that quite funny as it's so ridiculous.

5. Despite being a barista, where I serve coffee and alcohol all day, I drink neither. I keep trying to make myself like coffee but I don't and I can't find a type of alcohol which doesn't make me pull my "disgusting face". I would love to be refined and drink good wine but I'm afraid it pulls the biggest "disgusting face" of them all. Alcohol in food is fine though.

6. I took to collecting and drawing pebbles from beaches at uni (I'm a fine art graduate and they informed my work). It then extended to larger stones, some of which were probably bordering on small boulders. I also had a big box of sand as I liked mixing it in my paint. After three years my uni bedroom resembled a beach. You can imagine how much fun I had moving out of my student flat, on the top floor, especially when I was so attached to practically every stone and owned quite a lot of crockery.....

7. I grew up thinking I didn't like lemon things. It was only when I set myself a "try things you used to hate" challenge when I was about 18 that I discovered I absolutely LOVE lemons. Lemon cake is quite possibly my favourite cake now. I also discovered that I like cinnamon, broccoli, courgette and pickle.

So there you have it, seven random facts. And just to prove how much I love lemons, I baked a lemon drizzle traybake on Tuesday (recipe blogged here). My nephew requested it and I didn't need persuading.

I also baked my favourite banana bread at the weekend but it disappeared  before I got a chance to photograph it.

Just for fun, write a random fact about yourself if you fancy leaving a comment. In the words of Mrs. Doyle, "go on go on go on go on go on!" And while you're at it, have a nice cup of tea.

Orange and sultana traybake and melting moments

Earlier this week I made an orange and sultana traybake (surprise surprise Mary Berry) as there were oranges needing used and a pack of sultanas which were going out of date. I don't like seeing food going to waste, especially if it can be transformed into cake.

This is such an old fashioned traybake, there's no other way to describe it. It's the type of traybake you'd expect to find in an old Granny's cake tin. The orange icing glaze is definitely the finishing touch. I think this traybake tasted even better the next day.

Ooh don't you love a good icing dribbling down the edges photo? I certainly do.

I've made quite a few Mary Berry traybakes now but I think the lemon drizzle is still my favourite. I won't bother typing out this recipe as it follows much the same method as the lemon drizzle.

I also made some of Mary Berry's melting moments this week as I had egg yolks to use up from the cooked frosting on mum's birthday cake. They were so quick and easy to make and very moreish to eat. There has been a lot of people around the house recently and everybody enjoyed them.

It's funny how I've gone from baking practically no biscuits last year to baking so many this year (and we're only in February!) I'm planning to make some custard creams soon. I used to make them quite a lot but for some reason didn't bake them at all last year. I'm turning into a one woman biscuit factory. Has anyone else being going through baking phases lately?

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!)

date and walnut traybake

We had a couple of relatives visiting last night and since the custard tart had disappeared I thought I'd better bake something else. I also thought it was the perfect time to try something from my new Mary Berry book (The Baking Bible) as all the recipes look like comforting, old fashioned, family baking. Mum had the deciding vote of which traybake to make and she went for the date and walnut one.

It made such a nice smell in the oven, but I was lucky I checked on it early because it would have burnt if I had left it in for the recommended time. The lemon glaze on top is nearly my favourite part as I love how it cuts through the dark, nutty, cake flavour. Yum.

To continue the old fashioned theme, I put some on my oldest cake plate. It belonged to my Great Granny and Granddad (on my Mum's Dad's side) and it was part of a teaset which got divided between the family when Granny died, that way everybody could enjoy it. It's not a fancy brand of china, but I really like it.

Date and walnut traybake

Recipe from Mary Berry's Baking Bible

250g (9oz) stoned and chopped dates

40g (1 1/2oz) softened butter

350ml (12fl oz) boiling water

2 large eggs

200g (7oz) dark muscovado sugar

150g (5oz) ground almonds

150g (5oz) chopped walnuts

350g (12oz) self raising flour

1 1/2 level tsp ground cinnamon

For the icing

225g (8oz) sifted icing sugar

grated rind and juice of one lemon

walnut pieces, to decorate

Preheat the oven to 180C/Gas mark 4. Grease a 30 x 23cm (12 x 9 inch) traybake or roasting tin then line the base with baking parchment. Measure the dates and butter into a small bowl and pour over the boiling water. Set aside to cool. Meanwhile whisk the eggs and sugar together in a large bowl, then add the cooled date mixture and remaining cake ingredients. Whisk then pour into the tin. Bake in the oven for about 1 hour 10 minutes (mine actually took around 50 minutes) or until the cake is firm to the touch and golden brown. Leave to cool in the tin for 10 minutes then turn out, peel off the parchment and finish cooling on a wire rack.

Mix the icing sugar with the lemon rind and juice, adding a little hot water to make a spreading consistency. Pour over the cake and gently spread out evenly with a palette knife. Decorate with walnut pieces and leave to set. Cut to whatever size you desire.

Millionaire's shortbread

Oh my, these have got to be the sweetest, stickiest, piggiest things known to mankind. They are heart attack inducing and one single piece may cause you to go up two dress sizes.

It is worth it though.

Sweet things on my sweet cake stand.

Millionaire's shortbread

This is apparently a Mary Berry recipe, which is appropriate since The Great British Bake Off is back on TV. However I can't remember which blog I found it on, sorry!

Base:

225g plain flour

100g caster sugar

225g butter

100g semolina

Topping:

175g butter

175g caster sugar

4 tbsp golden syrup

1 x 397g can condensed milk (yum!)

200g milk chocolate (or dark if you prefer)

Set the oven to 160C/Gas mark 2. Lightly grease/line a 20 x 33cm oblong tin. Mix the base ingredients until they form a smooth dough (I mixed by hand). Press into the tin and prick all over with a fork. Bake for 30-40 minutes until golden and firm, then leave to cool. Next put all the topping ingredients (except the chocolate) in a saucepan and stir over a low heat until the butter and sugar has melted. Bubble the mixture gently for 5-8 minutes, stirring constantly, until it is thick and fudgy and darker in colour. Pour into the tin evenly. Once that has set melt the chocolate and pour into the tin as well and spread evenly. Leave to set, (or mostly set if you're like me and desperately want a piece) then cut into squares and pig out!