Spiced Biscuits

I spent the Bank Holiday weekend with a cold. I had managed to get out and about a bit on Saturday as I'd spent Friday off work pathetically lying on my sofa watching my box set of Arrested Development. However Sunday and Monday meant a return to the sanctity of my sofa with a couple of ventures outside to gain some sustenance. The Thew was off trekking around the coast of west Wales so I had no one to tend to me. It was only thanks to a tin of tomato soup I found at the back of my cupboard and Deliverance that I even made it through Friday. 

I'd planned a wonderful baking extravaganza on Bank Holiday Monday as I would have lots of time. I was going to make a New York Cheesecake and then tackle my demons by attempting to ice cupcakes with fondant icing. Best laid plans and all that came down to bear on me. I managed to make cupcakes but after attempting to roll out icing while watching Romancing the Stone I gave up. 

I decided that what I needed was a nice cup of tea and a biscuit. Nothing too exciting as I had to work with what was in the house but a simple satisfying biscuit. So I hunted through some recipe books and discovered a recipe for 'Simple Biscuits'. I added some spice and was proud to have created something just right. These can be made quickly and even if you have cold you can triumph over something, feeling a little bit better for a while. 

Ingredients 

175g plain flour

1/4 rounded tsp grated nutmeg

1/4 rounded tsp ground mixed spice

1/4 rounded tsp ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp ground cardamom (this is a compete bugger to find but it amazing so snap it up if you see it. Leave out if you don't have any)

115g butter

50g caster sugar 

1.    Preheat oven to 180°C/GM 4.

2.    Put flour and spices in a bowl and mix together.

3.    Add the butter, cut into cubes/chunks, and rub in until you get something that looks like breadcrumbs.

4.    Add the sugar and then strongly suggest to all the ingredients they want to form a dough. You'll need to squish everything together forcibly.

5.    Then lightly flour a surface and roll the dough out until about 5mm thick. It might break a bit but just mush the edges back together. Cut out biscuits to the size you want. I used a 6cm cutter but you could go bigger. These are a little fragile when cooked so don't go too big.

6.    Bake on a non-stick tray for 10 minutes. They'll be pale when they come out and let them cool slightly, but not too long so a couple of minutes, before transferring to a cooling rack. Cool compete as these are one of those rare baked goods that taste better cold than fresh out of the oven.

7.    Make a cup of tea, grab some biscuits, pop on the second disc of the third series of Arrested Development, crawl under your duvet on the sofa and await someone's arrival who can tend to you.

Chelsea Buns or Why I Can't be Bothered

Oh I can’t be bothered. It’s been that kind of week really. Everything has been an effort and a pain. I think part of it was that I was sort of ill for a few days. Nothing bad enough for me to stay in bed and watch my box set of Mad Men but enough to make everything a chore. I’ve also pulled something in my leg and am having to actively try and fix it in time for my 10km run on Saturday (tomorrow). What feels like hours of rolling on a roller and tennis ball haven’t helped my general feelings of botheredness.  

However the weekend is upon me and I’m very much looking forward to it (apart from the 10km run). I’ll be making cake pops for my wondrous and beautiful Goddaughter’s 7^th birthday and then, pampering her and some of her friends alongside her Godmother of Fabulousness (she has two the lucky thing!) There are going to be four of us acting as beauticians and it’s going to be lots of fun.

So in the general theme of this week I can’t be bothered to write up the recipe for these Chelsea Buns. I wasn’t 100% happy and it all seems like too much of a chore. I’m going trashy next week which I think will be more exciting.

Finnish Rye Bread

Bank holiday weekends are just great. Especially when the weather is so good. The Thew and I took advantage by eating and drinking our way around London for two days. We met up with friends on Saturday and then on Sunday we went on some epic walkabout stopping off for food and wine. It’s what we do best and it was nice that my husband didn’t have to run a couple of marathons just as part of his training. Although some hill running is about to commence to get him ready for his next challenge. 

Anyway Monday was all about recovering and we just pootled around our local parks. I really couldn’t be bothered with baking anything that would take too much time. I had planned to do something intricate, because the weather on a Bank Holiday Monday is normally pants and I’m happy to be in my kitchen, but the sun came out and all plans went on hold. 

So it might seem weird that I'd make bread for something quick and easy but it really is. This recipe is a Nigella one from the Domestic Goddess who can always be relied on for something that isn’t a faff. After an impromptu picnic in Victoria Park The Thew and I headed home to sit in the small park behind our block of flats. I spent five minutes getting the dough ready to rise, popped it in the airing cupboard to prove and after a couple of hours sitting in the sun the dough was ready for the second proving before popping in the oven. Barely any work at all.  

Ingredients 

225g rye flour

300g strong white flour

7g (1 sachet) easy blend yeast

1 tbsp dark muscovado sugar (I only had light but it seems to work)

2 tsp salt

300ml warm flour

45g melted butter 

1.    Put the flours, yeast, sugar and salt into a bowl and mix. Add the warm water slowly and bring together. You're going to need to get your hand into the mixture as a wooden spoon just doesn't cut it.

2.    Once it’s come together add a tbsp of the melted butter and mix in. Then get kneading. Dough hooks are clearly recommended here but by all means do it manually. There is something about having dough in your fingernails that makes it feel like you’ve achieved something.

3.    Use some of the melted butter, about a tbsp, to oil a bowl and the top of the dough. Cover the bowl, leave somewhere warm for a couple of hours to double in size (or in the fridge overnight) and go outside to sit in the sun.

4.    Once doubled in size punch the dough down (is there anything more gratifying in baking), knead a bit and then shape into a round loaf and place on a baking tray. Leave somewhere warm for about 30 minutes and preheat the oven to 190°C/GM 5.

5.    Then pop in the oven for about 45 minutes (to check if it’s done tap the bottom and it should sound hollow). Then when you take it out brush the top with the remaining melted butter to give a chewy crust.

Banana Bread with Chocolate Chunks

Now this recipe was inspired by having four very ripe bananas at home the The Thew never got around to eating. I didn’t have any rum or bourbon to make my usual version so thought I’d kind of make it up as I went along. It came out well and got demolished at work. It’s very dense but I believe all good banana bread it. One of my work colleagues took up my suggestion to see what happened when you toasted it and spread it with butter. It worked well. I’d avoid the toaster though and fry or griddle in butter for an immense dessert. 

Ingredients 

100g butter

4 ripe bananas (about 350-400g with the skin off)

200g soft brown sugar (I had light but dark would work)

2 large eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract (as I type this I realise I forgot to put it in!)

1 tsp bicarb of soda

1 pinch of salt

175g self-raising flour

Chunks of chocolate (optional) 

1.    Preheat the oven to 170°C/GM 3. Line a loaf tin. I get the ones from Lakeland that come in the right shape already as it saves so much time.

2.    Melt the butter in a largish saucepan and add the bananas. I break them in and then smash them up with an electric whisk.

3.    Add the sugar, eggs, vanilla, bicarb and salt. Whisk again. Then add the flour and mix well.

4.    Pour into the lined tin and just put the chocolate on top. You can push it in if you like, use more than one type of chocolate – whatever you fancy. Bake for about 1 – ½ hours. Test after an hour and see what it’s like.

Soft Chocolate Orange Cookies

I've signed up for a night time 10km run. I don't really know why (it could be the fault of The Thew who is a superman of athletic endeavour and may have inspired me). I saw it advertised in the cafe in my local park on Sunday morning and was curious about it. Then I had some time to kill that afternoon while waiting for a train and instead of just browsing the site I bunged my name and cold hard cash down. I do get a complimentary t-shirt but as it’s a Nike run I'd bloody well hope so. It's more like I bought a t-shirt and got a 10km run thrown in. 

Anyway I was starting to come to terms with it when I saw that running is the new clubbing on the Guardian online. This run has a light show, music and a party afterwards. This has slightly depressed me. I stopped spinning when it struck me that it seemed to be where people go when they realise they'll never go clubbing again but still want to listen to house and dance music. Not that I go clubbing anymore but I don't want to think I've given up hope of one day being in a club trashing about to hard house. Therefore I just have it on my iPod and go running - not much better but somehow it doesn’t feel as bad to me. I'm now concerned about this night time 10km, as it might be dangerously grown up and a bit sad. 

I'm going to go ahead with it as one of the reasons I love living in London is all the random stuff that goes on which I think I should take advantage of. It does mean I don't have long to train, as its in less than four weeks, so I'm going to cut out crap food until I do the run. So this week I've baked two things that aimed to use up all the chocolate I have in my home. This is the first of them. As I don't fancy running 10km with an entire chocolate orange weighing me down (left over from Easter) I've made up a soft chocolate orange cookie. They're pretty good so give them a go. It doesn't need to be a chocolate orange on the top just whack a huge hunk of any chocolate on top that you happen to have. 

Ingredients 

200g butter

100g soft brown sugar (I used light as I didn't have dark but I think that would work well)

200g caster sugar

1 large egg

75g cocoa powder

275g self-raising flour

50-100ml milk

1 chocolate orange (this recipe leaves you 4 pieces to sustain you while you bake) or 16 chunks of chocolate 

1.    Preheat the oven to 220°C/GM7.

2.    Cream together the butter with both sugars. Then mix in the egg.

3.    Sift the cocoa into the bowl and add the flour. It's best to mix with a spoon as it’s a dense dough. If you need it add some milk but make sure you mix the dry ingredients in well first as you don't want the dough too wet.

4.    Once it’s come together divide the mixture into 16 balls and place on a baking sheet. Leave a lot of room so you'll need two trays or do in two batches. Then smush a slice of chocolate orange, or a chunk of chocolate, into the top of the dough flattening it out a bit.

5.    Bake for 10 minutes at the top of the oven and let cool as they will be delicate when first out.

6.    Run 10km wearing your 'complimentary' t-shirt.

Multi-coloured Sponge Cake with Double Frosting

Thanks to Barty for the photo as I forgot my phone!

A sense of relief has occurred. I feel like all the emotions of the year culminated during last week, crescendoing around the weekend and dissipated while eating Chinese on Sunday night. I shan't bore you with the details as most is referenced in other blog posts but two massive events are over that I now realise I expended a lot of my mental reserve on. When you're in it you don't really feel it, however once it’s gone you are struck by a feeling of lightness and calm.

Actually I'm more knackered than anything else but nothing some sleep won't fix. I managed to feel good enough to give blood on Monday morning (which I think everyone who is able should do http://www.blood.co.uk/) as I'm part of a study on the frequency of donation so need to stick to a schedule. I love how after donating there is an excuse to eat crisps before 9am - "I probably need salt" - and that I can leave with a snack pack of biscuits to 'sustain' me for the ten minute walk to the office. Anyway all this left me stuck for something to bake this Monday and fairly bored with the whole idea of doing anything other than sitting when I got home. 

Then, while looking for ideas around a Thai chicken sausage roll that I'd discussed with my desk at work, I found the gem of an idea take shape. Nothing to do with chicken but all to do with multi-coloured cakes. I have no idea of the connection and can only put it down to tiredness, randomness and other such things that occur when your brain unwinds. So here is a multi-coloured layer cake with double chocolate frosting. I completely cheated and bought the chocolate fudge frosting (and would have bought vanilla to sandwich it but it wasn't in the shop). You can make your own but I think that when this much food colouring goes into a cake you may as well just say to hell with it and get dirty (in a good way) pre made frosting.

Ingredients

400g butter (bring to room temperature as it will be a nightmare to mix otherwise)

400g sugar
8 large eggs
400g self-raising flour
Food colouring - I had red, blue, yellow and green liquid which didn’t come out as vivid as I would like. I’d suggest gels or pastes but will try them out and report back.
1 tub chocolate fudge frosting
1 tub vanilla frosting (I made one which can be foundhere as I had the ingredients at home but I'm going to be honest and admit I didn't weight anything out. Just guessed and went on taste!)

1.    Preheat the oven to 180°C/GM 4 and butter and line two sandwich tins. I think it’s always worth lining sandwich tins as it makes getting the cakes out so much easier.

2.    Cream together the butter and sugar and then add the eggs two at a time. The mixture will curdle as I’ve never made one that doesn’t but it never seems to matter. Some people get every concerned about it but I think stuff it.

3.    Then fold in the flour. I know it will be tempting to just mix (and I normally would) but as you need to mix in the food colouring you need to respect the air in the mixture a little bit. The batter will be thick so never fear.

4.    Then divide the mixture up into as many bowls as food colours you have. Add an amount – start small and add more if you need – and mix in. You’ll need to be bold with it and I used about a tbsp for each of my four bowls.

5.    Add the individual coloured batter to the sandwich tins. I attempted rings of colour (see below – without piping bags because who has the time!) but you can just dollop it in. It’s a robust batter so it won’t spread that much.

6.    Bake for 35-40 minutes and then leave to cool. Or accelerate the cooling in the fridge once turned out, as I did, as I was tired and wanted to go to sleep.

7.    Then sandwich the two cakes together with the vanilla and cover with the chocolate. You could sandwich them with jam and then cover with buttercream if you prefer. Really whatever if easiest. Done.

 

Tip: when frosting a cake you normally do it on the plate or board that you serve on. As it can go everywhere slip thick slips of baking paper around the bottom of the cake, once on the board, and frost away. Once done carefully remove the strips of paper and you’ll get a clean finish.

Work Trifle

Not really baking but exciting none the less. A company came to present to us at work and left us a Swiss roll (it had some vital symbolic importance to the meeting which was lost on me as I wasn’t in it). I casually mentioned that you could make trifle with it and the plan went from there. All you need for trifle is the basic ingredients, hot water and a fridge so you can make it at work!

It’s not the best trifle in the world but with a bit of practise I think making trifle at work could seriously kick off.

Ingredients

Swiss roll
Jelly – we did two layers but you don’t need to
Fruit – if you have it. My work is nice and we get it for free.
Custard – ready made of course
Whipped cream – from a can
Flake

1.    Cut the Swiss roll up and put a layer of it in the bottom of your container. See what you have around the office to use. Chuck some fruit on top.

2.    Make the jelly as per instructions and pour jelly over the Swiss roll (and fruit). Let it set. I think that strawberry is best for this layer as it works well with cake.

3.    Now we added another layer of jelly at this point but you don’t have to. If I do it again like this I’d put the fruit in this layer. If you do pour on top, making sure the mixture if fairly cold so it doesn’t melt the first layer, and let set.

4.    Put custard on the top and let it set a bit (we didn’t as we wanted to eat it but probably worth it).

5.    Decorate with squirty cream and flake.