Tag: baking

Yelly Reads

The Fabulous Boy Who Bakes

Yelly

I love Twitter because it makes celebrities more accessible.  Now, before you think that that statement sounds lightly stalkerish, I don’t mean you follow their every tweet.  It just allows you to post a comment and it allows the people you look up to to respond to your message.

I’ve had a few fan girl moments on Twitter where my baking heroes have actually responded to my tweets.  It can be quite the giddy moment.

I have quite a few favourites on Twitter from the Great British Bake Off.  One of them being the first ever winner Edd Kimber.  I’m not ashamed to say that I very much wanted Ruth Clemens to win that series but it was, really, an undeniable truth, that Edd was quite the baking talent.  I became quite the Edd Kimber fan when I was given his cookbook.  His blueberry streusel pie is absolutely amazing and the streusel recipe is so versatile!  I’ve used it for other baking projects and it has been a wonderful addition to my other fruit pies!

Edd has a stall in Maltby Street Market selling his lovely baked treats from his Eddibles Bakery.  I’ve been twice now.  And today, I had the chance to get his new book (which is on my cookbook wishlist) and get it signed too!  Edd was lovely and very accommodating.  He talks to the people who visit his stall and talk to him about the GBBO and his baking and his books.

I felt really cheeky asking him to sign the book for me but he did, even saying that he brought a pen for “just in case!”.  I asked if he could take a photo with me and he said yes!  Total fan girl moment.  I was honestly feeling a bit under the weather this morning but this certainly lifted my spirits!

Thank you Edd!

I’m soooooo looking forward to trying my hand at making the rainbow cake…and the lamingtons…and the bourbons…and the custard creams…

Yelly Eats

Carrot cake!

Yelly

I found something wonderful in the supermarket!  Shredded carrots!  And when there are shredded carrots available, a carrot cake will be baked!  Anything to save my hands from doing the grunt work!

The recipe needs perfecting and I may have to work on adjusting the measurements as this makes a VERY big cake.  But the cake has turned out pretty well!  I’m bringing this to work tomorrow to share it with my coworkers so I can get feedback!

 

 

Yelly Eats

Testing 1-2-3

Yelly

I’ve been working on a muffin base recipe.  I’m almost there I think, because the series of banana muffins that I’ve been baking seems to turn out the same way each time now and they all look the same.  The next step is to try another fruit and then ask my friends to try the recipe to see if it works for them in the same way!

After I perfect the muffin recipe, I’m going to work on a cupcake base recipe next!

Yelly Eats

Luxurious oatmeal cookies

Yelly

I love oatmeal cookies.  I remember late nights with warm cookies and a large glass of milk. Oatmeal cookies are comforting and they remind me of home.  There’s something about the smell of cinnamon wafting from the oven that just brings out the happy hormones.

This recipe is slightly more luxurious because of the amount of butter that is used in the recipe.  But it is definitely worth it.  The cookies are yummy and chewy.  I try to justify it by saying it is oatmeal, and oatmeal IS healthy and good for you!

Oatmeal CookiesIngredients:

  • 270g unsalted butter, at room temperature
  • 160g caster sugar
  • 160g soft dark brown sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 380g plain flour
  • 1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • 200g quick cooking oats
  • 225g raisins

Method

  1. Preheat oven to 180°C (360°F).
  2. In a bowl, mix flour, oats, salt, bicarbonate of soda and cinnamon together with a balloon whisk until well-combined.  Set aside.
  3. In another mixing bowl, cream butter and sugars together (I use a rubber spatula but you can always use a handheld mixer) until light and fluffy.  Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well and making sure that you scrape the sides of the bowl so that you mix all the ingredients well.
  4. Add the flour-oats mixture to the butter mixture in thirds, mixing well eat time.  Stir in the raisings until evenly distributed.
  5. To make relatively uniform sized cookies, I use a 18/8 gauge ice cream scooper.  If you use the scooper, this makes about 42 cookies.  Arrange the cookie batter scoops on a tray, evenly spaced.
  6. Bake for about 12 minutes, make sure that you check the cookies at the 10 minute mark to make sure they aren’t burning.
  7. Remove from the oven and allow to cool slightly on trays before turning out on wire cooling racks to cool completely.
Yelly Eats

We have bread!

Yelly

I have the biggest grin on my face at the moment as I have made bread!  Well, focaccia is a kind of bread, so I guess I can claim that right?  Virtually speechless as am really, really, really pleased with myself!

This was the dough being coaxed to rise a second time.  I was a bit worried as the dough was really wet.  The book did say that the dough would be wet but I wasn’t sure it was meant to be THAT wet!  I was very worried.  I’d tried to make bread before and failed, quite miserably.

focaccia dough

But it did come out beautifully I think!

Salt and pepper focacciaThis was the salt and pepper focaccia.

FocacciaRoasted vegetable focaccia on the left and the salt and pepper on the right.

 

 

 

Yelly Writes

To bake or not to bake?

Yelly

This was imported from my old blog and this was published on 24 September 2010.  Funnily enough, it’s that time of year again.  Series 3 of the Great British Bake Off starts tomorrow night at 8PM!

***

I am inspired to bake again.  And it’s all the Great British Bake Off’s fault.

The final show was a few days ago and am now itching to try a new set of recipes.  It probably wasn’t a good idea to watch Julie and Julia during the weekend because I am now inspired to do a Julie Powell–meaning I could try 1 recipe for every day of the year.  That would be expensive and very exhausting.  While I applaud Julie Powell for doing the amazing (and getting her writing kicked off after the blog), I don’t think I have the stamina and I want to remain friends with my finances.

I do have a book in mind, should I decide to do a Julie.  If she (Julie Powell) has Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking (which I also have but have only managed to leaf through twice since I received it as a gift on Christmas), I have Delia Smith’s Complete Illustrated Cookery Course, which is a very scary, very thick book.  I may just put off Delia’s book for a while.  I like being able to convince myself that I have the capability to accomplish my goals and I think that setting myself to do every recipe in Delia’s book is setting myself up for a fall.  It is achievable but not right now.  Now isn’t a great time for me!  And somehow, I feel better after admitting that!

I also aim to try all the recipes in the Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook.  Realistically, I think the HBC would be a better bet since I’ve managed to try 6 out of the 60 recipes in the book (which always turn out perfectly!  if you dabble in baking, this is, seriously, a book that you should have in your cookbook arsenal!).

Shall we put it to a vote?  To bake or not to bake?

Yelly Eats

Banana cupcake

Yelly

I was craving a banana cupcake (with peanut butter!) and, as luck would have it, I had just enough bananas to make up a batch of 12 cupcakes!

Sometimes, it’s the simple things that make me really happy.  And sometimes, it’s just a banana cupcake!

It’s the easiest cupcake recipe that makes the moistest of cupcakes!

Ingredients:

  • 180g of plain flourBanana Cupcake
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon of baking soda
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 3 ripe bananas, mashed
  • 150g light brown sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 75ml vegetable oil (or softened butter if you want a more luxurious treat)

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 190°C (180°C for fan ovens).
  2. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a bowl and mix with a balloon whisk.  If you’re making a Christmas version of this recipe, you can add 1 teaspoon of cinnamon and ½ teaspoon of nutmeg.
  3. In a separate bowl, mix oil and sugar.  Mix until sugar granules appear to be smaller.  Add the egg and mix until the mixture is smooth.  Add the flour mixture in thirds.
  4. Mix in mashed bananas and stir until mashed bananas are well-distributed.  Scoop into a muffin pan lined with cupcake cases.
  5. Bake for 18-20 minutes.  The cupcakes are completely cooked when a toothpick is inserted in the centre of a cupcake and it comes out clean.
  6. Makes 12 cupcakes exactly.  I use an ice cream scooper to distribute the batter equally.
Yelly Eats

Weekend Pudding: Applesauce Cake

Yelly

I brought applesauce cakes to work once because someone at work had given me cooking apples. Since I got the apples for free, I thought it was only fair for me to share.

I’ve been using this recipe for ages so I know it’s fool-proof.  That’s why I feel confident sharing this recipe.  This cake batter can be used as a base for any cake with fruit.  This works well with bananas (you only have to add 3-4 mashed overripe bananas).  You can replace the apples in this recipe with 2 cups of chopped pineapples as well.  To make the recipe more festive (for the holidays), add 2 teaspoons nutmeg to the flour mixture in the cake.

Applesauce Cake, August 2011Ingredients:

Cake

  • 1 1/4 cups sugar
  • 1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened
  • 2 eggs
  • 1/2 cup full cream milk
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon salt

Applesauce mixture

  • 2-3 medium-sized cooking apples,peeled, cored and diced finely
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 1/3 cup lemon juice
  • 3 tablespoons cornflour
  • 2 tablespoons cinnamon

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 350°F/180°C.  Grease 2 loaf pans.
  2. To make the applesauce mixture, combine ingredients in a saucepan, making sure everything is well-incorporated.
  3. Over a low heat, bring to a slow boil.  When sauce has thickened, remove from heat and set aside.
  4. Mix flour, baking soda and salt together.  Either sift, if required, or mix using a wire whisk.  Set aside.
  5. Cream butter and sugar together.  Once butter has turned smooth and fluffy, add eggs, one at a time. making sure everything is well-incorporated.  Add the vanilla.
  6. Fold in flour mixture, adding 1/4 of the mixture each time.  Alternate adding the flour mixture with adding the milk, also a 1/4 portions at a time.  Add the applesauce mixture and make sure everything is well-combined.
  7. Pour into pans and bake for 1 hour 15 minutes or until toothpick inserted into the centre of the loaf comes out clean.
  8. Cool for 15 minutes before removing from pans and cooling completely on wire racks.
  9. Wrap in cling film and store at room temperature for up to 5 days, or refrigerate up to 10 days.
Yelly Eats

Bakewell Tart

Yelly

This is my second attempt at making a bakewell tart (I so love using my fluted flan tin that any excuse to use it is a brilliant excuse!).  The first one I tried had more of a marzipan-y top and someone suggested that I try making a sponge and adding a lot of almond extract and flaked almonds on top.  It seemed to work…I just need to make sure I have the jam-sponge ratio correct.  But it is looking good, doncha think? 🙂

Once I perfect it, I’ll share the recipe!

Yelly Eats

Easy-Peasy Chocolate Tart

Yelly

Mind you, this recipe still needs refining.  And I used store-bought pastry.  It was too hot today to deal with making my own pastry today (plus I was being slightly lazy!).  As a shortcut, I melted the chocolate in the microwave (brilliant tip that I found online, 90 seconds in the microwave on medium heat per 100g of chocolate.  200g should require a bit more than that, about 3 ½ minutes should do quite nicely!).  But if you like ooey-gooey chocolatey tarts, this is the one to try!

Ooey-Gooey Chocolate TartIngredients:

  • 200g plain chocolate, melted
  • 50g plain flour (I added another 25g to make the chocolate more solid as opposed to runny)
  • 500g shortcrust pastry pack , rolled out to the thickness of a 20p piece and used to line 23cm flan tin
  • 100g golden caster sugar
  • 4 eggs
  • cocoa, for dusting

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 180°C.  Line flan tin with pastry (I used the sweet short crust) and blind bake pastry for 15 minutes (don’t forget your baking beans!!!).  Set aside to cool.
  2. Lower oven temp to 150°C.  Melt chocolate and brush about a fourth of the melted chocolate on pastry bottom.  Set aside remaining chocolate to cool.  In separate bowl, mix eggs, sugar and flour in a mixing bowl.  Combine egg mixture and chocolate.  Pour into pastry-lined flan tin and bake for 20-25mins (surface might crack a little).
  3. Cool on a rack and dust with cocoa powder and serve.