bakingwithelliott

Fruit Cake (Made with Tea)

It’s officially Bakemas 2019! 🎉

If it’s your first bakemas here, welcome. It is my annual mini-series in which I show you how to make a various Christmas themed baked goods – perfect if you want to impress your family and friends or if you’re hosting a Christmas party!

Is it even Christmas without having a fruit cake?

I know that a fruit cake is more traditional and not is overlooked because people don’t like them that much. This is a different take on the cake, it’s not such a traditional recipe but a very welcome addition if you need a quick fruit cake this holiday season.

This isn’t your conventional type fruit cake, as you will use the hob and different ingredients. It’s slightly lighter than a traditional variety but equally as tasty.

I’ve made a traditional fruit cake and have a blog post showing you how to make fruit cake 2 ways – don’t forget to check them out if you’re interested. If you know someone who likes fruit cake, it would make the perfect gift. Simply make the cake (decorate if you’d like) and place into a festive themed box or tin.

Anyway, let’s get started, shall we?

Ingredients:

175g Butter.

450g Dried fruit.

175g Light brown sugar.

200ml Strong tea, cold.

1 tsp Bicarbonate of soda.

3 Eggs.

300g Plain flour.

2 tsp Ground mixed spice.

20-30g light brown sugar.

Methods:

Before you get into making the cake, you’ll want to do some prep work. Weigh up all of your ingredients, prepare your 8” cake tin (if its needed), preheat your oven to 150˚c/300˚f and get any equipment you intend on using ready.

*I recommend making the tea a day in advance, giving it time to cool fully. Simply make 200ml strong tea.

To start on the cake, take a large saucepan and into it place the butter, light brown sugar, mixed dried fruit and tea. Place that on the hob over a medium-high heat, bringing to a boil, then allowing it to simmer for around 10-15 minutes. Doing this allows the fruit become more plump and the mixture to be thicker and richer.

Once it’s achieved the nice and thick consistency, take off the heat and allow to cool down for 10 minutes.

After the 10 minute period, add in the bicarbonate of soda and give it all a good mix, you’ll notice a change in the mixture and this is what you want. It shows that it’s all working properly.

Add in the eggs, all at one go and give it all a good mix until the eggs are fully incorporated. You’ll notice a change in consistency but this is normal.

Now you can add the plain flour and ground mixed spice, stirring until they are fully incorporated, like with any cake try not to over-mix the mixture. Once there’s no trace of a single ingredient, stop mixing.

Take the cake batter and transfer into your cake tin and spread/level it out using the silicon spatula or offset spatula.

Sprinkle over the light brown sugar, this is just to add a crunchy texture on-top but feel free to leave this out if you don’t want a crunchy top.

Bake in the oven for around 60-75 minutes in your preheated oven, a tester when inserted should come out clean. If it doesn’t, place back in oven and bake for a further 10-15 minutes.

Allow the cake to cool down fully in the cake tin, then remove from the tin and slice it up or wrap it up on clingfilm and consume within 3-5 days.

That’s all for today guys, I hope you enjoyed. If you did, don’t forget to share this recipe with your family and friends and enjoy it. I’ll be back soon with another blog post and YouTube video, so join me then. In the meanwhile, don’t forget to check out my Instagram and Twitter. The YouTube video will be linked down below.

Toffifee Muffins

by bakingwithelliott Leave a Comment

It’s officially Bakemas 2019! 🎉

Today’s recipe is my take on a batch of Toffee muffins. Although they are available all year round, I only ever buy them at Christmas – if you’ve never heard or tried them before, where have you been?!

So, a toffifee consists of a caramel cup, filled with nougat, caramel and a whole hazelnut then topped with a round of chocolate. They are a very welcome addition to any baked good at Christmas.

My take on a toffifee in a muffin form starts with a chocolate chip muffin, filled with a caramel sauce and then topped with a blob of hazelnut chocolate spread (I used Nutella but feel free to use what you have or can get hold of).

Anyway, let’s get started, shall we?

Ingredients:

MUFFIN:

150g butter.

100g granulated sugar.

3 eggs.

120g plain flour.

30g cocoa powder.

2 tsp baking powder.

Pinch of salt

100g milk chocolate chips.

FILLINGS:

Nutella or hazelnut chocolate spread.

Caramel (homemade or shop bought).

TOPPING:

Toffifee to finish/decorate

Method:

Before you get started on the recipe, I recommend that you do some prep work. Start by weighing up all of your ingredients, preheating your oven to 180˚c/350˚f, get your muffin/cupcake cases ready and prepare any equipment you may need now. Taking these steps can help you prevent making mistakes

To start on the muffins, start by getting yourself a bowl and placing the butter and granulated sugar into it and beating them over a medium-high speed until they are well combined.

Add in your eggs, one at a time, beating well in-between each addition. As you add the eggs, you’ll notice the consistency change and become more looser but this is normal.

You can then go ahead and give the bowl a good scraping down, this is just to incorporate any bits that may not have been fully worked in previously.

Next, add the plain flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt, passing through a sieve first (this is just to remove any lumps that may be in the mix, especially as cocoa powder has a tendency to be lumpy). Along with the dry ingredients, add in the chocolate chips.

Incorporate the dry ingredients and chocolate chips by hand, folding them in using a silicon spatula. Try not to over-mix, so once there isn’t a trace of a single ingredient, stop mixing.

Transfer the muffin batter into piping bags (or you can spoon the mixture into the cases) and get your muffin cases ready. Fill the muffin cases about 2/3 of the way, then place in the oven and bake for 20-25 minutes (a tester should come out clean when fully baked).

Allow them to cool fully before you finish them off.

Once they are fully cooled, get some caramel sauce and Nutella into separate piping bags. To finish the muffins, take something like a cake decorating tool or similar and make a hole in the centre of the muffin, this is for the filling.

Take your muffin with the hole in the centre and fill each muffin generously with the caramel sauce, allow the caramel to overspill a little. Then top that with some nutella or hazelnut chocolate spread, piping a generous swirl on top. Finish the muffins by topping each of them with a whole Toffifee.

Mince Pie Cookies

by bakingwithelliott Leave a Comment

It’s officially Bakemas 2019! 🎉

Today’s recipe is for the first batch of cookies during bakemas this year, here is the recipe for a batch of mince pie cookies… They are a festive take on a cookie but just as welcome.

If you like mince pies, these cookies are going to be perfect for you. These would also be ideal at a Christmas party or get together. So, these cookies are studded with raisins and sultanas, filled with mincemeat and topped with a quarter of mince pie on-top and finished with a dusting of icing sugar.

Anyway, let’s get started, shall we?

Ingredients:

75g Butter.

75g Granulated sugar.

75g Light brown sugar.

1 Egg.

1 tsp Vanilla extract.

175g Plain flour.

1/2 tsp Ground mixed spice.

50g Raisins.

50g Sultanas.

Mincemeat (a small jar will be more than enough).

Mince pies, cut into quarters.

Icing sugar, to dust.

Method:

Before you get into making the cookies, you’ll want to do some prep. Weigh up all of your ingredients, preheat the oven to 180˚/350˚f, line your baking trays with greaseproof/parchment and get any equipment you intend to use ready.

Into a large mixing bowl, place the butter, granulated sugar and the light brown sugar and beat them together on a medium-high speed until they are well combined.

You can then add in the egg and vanilla and beat until they have been fully worked in. You’ll notice a change in consistency as they are worked in, this is completely normal.

Add in the plain flour, baking powder, ground mixed spice, raisins and sultanas and mix on a medium speed to start, working your way up to medium-high speed. Mix just until a clear dough forms, being careful not to over-mix the dough, otherwise the cookies will be quite tough.

Give your bowl a good scraping down and incorporate any bits that haven’t been fully worked into the dough earlier on.

Grab yourself a cookie scoop and take 2 scoops of cookie dough per cookie, flattening both balls of dough. Onto 1 half of the cookie dough place some of the mincemeat and secure that in place with the other ball of cookie dough, roll together and place onto your lined baking tray.

Place the cookies in the oven to bake for around 12-13 minutes (or until they are golden brown around the edges).

Once baked, remove from the oven and place a quarter of mince pie on top of each cookie, the transfer to a cooling rack to cool fully. When you intend on serving them, dust them with a light coat of icing sugar.

Salted Caramel Brownie Tart

by bakingwithelliott Leave a Comment

http://bakingwithelliott.com/wp-admin/edit.phpIt’s officially Bakemas 2019! 🎉

Let’s be honest, chocolate and salted caramel is always going to be a winning combination and it’s no exception in this tart.

Starting with a chocolate shortcrust pastry crust, with a generous layer of salted caramel sauce which is topped with a brownie layer and finished with a drizzle of salted caramel – tell me this tart isn’t good!

If salted caramel isn’t you sort of thing, feel free to use plain caramel (but the salted caramel works so darn well!) and if you don’t like caramel at all, this recipe isn’t for you at all. If you’re looking for more traditional brownies I have recipes for Terry’s chocolate orange brownies – perfect for Christmas.

Anyway, let’s get started, shall we?

Ingredients:

Pastry:

1 egg.

90g Sugar

225g Butter.

325g Plain flour.

50g Cocoa powder

Filling:

Salted caramel sauce.

Brownie Layer

140g Butter, melted.

225g Granulated white sugar.

2 Eggs.

1 tsp Vanilla extract.

45g Cocoa powder.

75g Milk chocolate chips.

100g Plain flour

100g Milk chocolate chips

Methods:

Before you get into making the tart, I recommend doing some prep work i advance. Start by weighing up all of your ingredients, preheating your oven to 180˚c/350˚f and prepare any equipment you may need.

Pastry:

To start on the pastry, place your egg and granulated sugar into a bowl and beat them together until they are well combined, you should notice that the mixture will lighten in colour when fully combined. Set it aside until it’s needed a little later on.

Take a food processor and in the bowl, place the flour, cocoa powder and salt. Pulse on a low-medium speed just to combine the ingredients.

Then you can add the butter in little chunks and pulse on a low-medium speed until a sandy consistency forms, then add in the egg/sugar mixture and pulse until a dough has formed. Try your best not over mix the dough at this stage.

Flour a surface with some plain flour and place the pastry onto it, kneading until the smooth. You can then take it and wrap it in some clingfilm/plastic wrap and set in the fridge for at least 30 minutes (you can make it in advance at this stage and use within 5 days).

I generous flour my worktop again, then take my dough from the fridge and unwrap it and place onto the floured surface. I then start to roll out my dough using a rolling pin until its 5mm thick.

I roll the pastry up back onto the rolling pin and then place it on-top of the pie dish and press the dough into place. Once it’s all in place, you can then trim away the excess (ball the dough back up and use it on another tart or wrap in clingfilm and freeze it).

Place the pastry case in the fridge to chill while you make the brownie layer.

Brownie:

Into a medium mixing bowl, place the melted butter and cocoa powder and whisk the two together until they are well combined. The mixture will be thick and glossy when combined.

Add in all of the granulated sugar and whisk until it’s been fully worked into the mixture. You’ll notice a change in the consistency of the batter and that it’s more granular. This is normal and will become smoother as the other ingredients are incorporated.

Then you can go ahead and add your eggs, one at a time, beating well in-between each addition. As you add the eggs, you’ll notice that the consistency will become less granular and more liquid.

Chuck the plain flour and milk chocolate chips into the mix and fold them in until they are incorporated. The less you can mix them together the better it is for the brownies, they will be dense rather than cakey.

Assembly & Finishing:

Take the pastry cake you prepared earlier on out of the fridge and into the bottom pour the salted caramel sauce and spread it out using the back of a spoon – on-top of the caramel, pour the brownie batter over and level if needed.

Place in the oven and bake for around 35 minutes (or until a tester inserted into the centres comes out with only a few smudges on) but this time will vary depending on each oven.

Once it’s out of the oven, allow it to cool (this is soooo nice when slightly warm but you can always place it in the microwave if you’re eating it once its completely cooled down), then slice it up and drizzle over some more salted caramel and enjoy.

Kinder Bueno Cake

by bakingwithelliott Leave a Comment

It’s officially Bakemas 2019! 🎉

Today’s recipe is showing you how to make a Kinder cake. Most people, at some point at Christmas have a cake. More traditionally a decorated fruit cake or a plain fruit cake but if you’re not a fan of them, this cake is the perfect alternative for chocolate lovers.

The cake consists of 2 layers of chocolate sponge cake, filled and coated with a Nutella buttercream and finished with a selection of Kinder chocolates. I know it’s not all that festive but will make a good replacement.

Don’t forget to check out the videos for my other Christmas cakes, both traditional and alternatives. Starting with the more traditional fruit cake and fruit cake 2 ways or for other alternatives, check out chocolate celebration cake, fresh cream cake and snowflake cake.

Anyway, let’s get started, shall we?

Ingredients:

Chocolate cake:

250g Butter.

250g Granulated sugar.

3 Eggs.

210g Plain flour.

40g Cocoa powder.

1 1/2 tsp Baking powder.

Pinch of salt.

Simple syrup:

100g Granulated sugar.

100ml Water.

1 tsp Vanilla extract.

Nutella Buttercream:

250g Butter.

650g Icing sugar.

250g Nutella.

Milk (to help loosen the consistency, to be more spreadable).

Decoration/finishing:

Kinder Bueno’s (Both the milk chocolate and white chocolate variety).

Kinder chocolate bars.

Kinder happy hippos (I used the hazelnut milk flavour but feel free to use the cocoa ones if you’d prefer).

Methods:

As with all of my recipes, I recommend that you do some prep work, especially before you start (it will help eliminate the chances of things going wrong). Start by getting your cake tins and lining them with greaseproof/parchment (if needed), preheat the oven to 180˚c/350˚f and weighing up all the ingredients.

Chocolate cake:

Start by getting your mixing bowl of choice, I went with my stand mixer bowl but feel free to use whatever you would normally use. Into the bowl, place the butter and granulated sugar and beat on a medium-high speed until they are fully incorporated.

Next you’ll want to give the bowl a good scraping down. This is just to incorporate any bits that may not have been fully worked in from earlier on.

Now you can add the eggs, one at a time, beating well in-between each addition. As the eggs are added, you’ll notice the consistency change – don’t be too alarmed, this is normal.

A repeated step but give the bowl another good scraping down, just to incorporate any bits that may not have been fully worked in.

After the bowl has been scraped down, you can add the dry ingredients. Make sure you pass them through a sieve first, this helps to remove the lumps from the dry ingredients, especially the cocoa powder.

Incorporate the dry ingredients on a medium speed to start and then work your way up to a medium-high speed, adding a splash of milk if needed to achieve the right consistency.

Right away, take the cake batter and divide it between the two 6 inch cake tins, levelling them off using an offset palette knife – then you can place in the preheated oven and bake for 25-30 minutes or until a tester when inserted comes out clean.

While the cakes are in the oven baking, now would be the best time to make the simple syrup and buttercream.

Simple Syrup:

The simple syrup is the easiest thing to make.

Take a small/medium saucepan and place the water, granulated sugar and vanilla extract and give it a mix until its combined.

Place the saucepan on the hob over a medium-high heat and allow it come to a boil. Once it reaches a boil, take off the heat and allow it to cool down fully before you use it.

If you’re making this in advance, store in suitable container in the fridge and keep chilled – use within 2 weeks.

Nutella Buttercream:

To make the buttercream, get yourself a mixing bowl (I used my stand mixer again) or feel free to use whatever you’ve got. Place the butter into the bowl and beat on a medium speed to start and once it’s going, crank the speed up to high and beat for a further 5-7 minutes or until the butter is lighter and fluffier in colour and consistency.

Once the butter is done, give the bowl a good scrap down, then add your first addition of icing sugar. Start the mixer on a low speed to start and once the icing sugar is incorporated, crank the speed up to a medium-high and beat for a couple of minutes just to fully work in the icing sugar. Repeat with the remaining icing sugar.

After the second batch of icing sugar has been fully worked in, you can add in the Nutella. I slightly warmed the Nutella so it was easier to get out of the bowl and works into the buttercream easier. I used a fair bit of Nutella but I really wanted the have a strong flavour.

If the mixture is a little stiff, add a splash a milk (and maybe more if needed), make sure it’s at a spreadable consistency.

Place the buttercream into a bowl and set aside until it’s needed later on.

Assembly & Finishing:

You can start to assemble the cake once the cakes are baked and cooled, the simple syrup is completely cooled and the buttercream has been made.

To start assembling the cake, take your cake board, plate or stand and into the centre place a small but generous amount of buttercream and spread it out in a circle and place your first layer cake on-top of it, applying a little pressure just to secure it in place.

Next, you can add a generous amount of buttercream on-top of your layer of cake and spread it out using a cranked palette knife, just so its level. Then top the buttercream with the second layer of cake, sandwiching the cakes together.

Give the cake a generous coating of the buttercream, this is the crumb coat. This coating of buttercream does exactly what it says, it’s a layer of buttercream to lock in the crumbs from the cake. Once you’ve done the crumb coat, place in the fridge and chill it for 45-60 minutes.

After the cake has chilled, you can take it out of the fridge and apply the final layer of buttercream. On a normal cake I’d like to get the buttercream as level and perfect looking but for this cake I went a little more rustic and didn’t make it all that perfect. I actually quite liked how it wasn’t perfect, it kinda of added to the appearance of the cake… I know thats weird to say.

Now that the cake has been iced, you can finish/decorate the cake. I used a mixture of Kinder branded chocolates. Started with some of the hazelnut happy hippos, then some of the kinder bars (I’m not sure what these are actually called) and finished with pieces of the buenos, both the milk and white chocolate varieties.

I place my cake back in the fridge for around 30 minutes, just to firm up.

Mince Pie Blondies

by bakingwithelliott Leave a Comment

It’s officially the start of Bakemas 2019! 🎉

To start the festive period off, I thought I’d show you something simple yet impressive and its the perfect alternative to a chocolate brownie, it’s my take on a mince pie blondies.

These blondies are the perfect traybake to make as they can be cut into generous rectangles or bitesize portions – perfect for this time of year (especially as mince pies are everywhere and can be bought pretty easily or you could make your own from scratch for a authentic treat).

They are the perfect balance between dense and cakey, which is perfect this recipe. As with all blondies, the edge will be more baked and cakey compared to the centre which will be slightly more dense.

These are different to my usual recipe for blondies as I wanted them to fit the festive themed more. Starting with the addition of light brown sugar for half of the granulated sugar, for a more caramel flavour and adding some ground mixed spice into the dry ingredients for a slightly spiced flavour.

Anyway, let’s get started, shall we?

Ingredients:

Blondies:

200g White chocolate.

150g butter.

80g granulated sugar.

80g light brown sugar.

190g plain flour.

1/2 tsp ground mixed spice.

1/2 tsp salt.

3 eggs

2 tsp vanilla extract.

Topping:

100g mincemeat (the sweet variation, not savoury).

4/5 mince pies (quartered, halved or whole. Which ever you prefer, I went with quarters).

Method:

Start by doing some prep work, to save you faffing around later on. Preheat your oven to 180C/350F, line your 8 inch square cake tin with some greaseproof/parchment paper, weigh up the ingredients and place a small saucepan filled with some water on the hob over a medium heat.

In a medium heat proof bowl, you’ll want to place the butter and white chocolate. Place the bowl on top of the small saucepan of simmering water and allow the butter and white chocolate to melt, stirring once it starts to melt. *make sure the water isn’t touching the bottom of the bowl*.

Once the butter and white chocolate have melted and are fully combined, you can take it off the heat and add in the granulated sugar and light brown sugar. Make sure you give it all a good mix, so everything is incorporated.

Now it’s the time to add in the plain flour, ground mixed spice and salt. Passing them through a sieve to remove any lumps that may be in the dry ingredients. Fold it into the white chocolate mixture, as the dry ingredients are incorporate, it will become more of a dough. This is completely normal and the consistency changes later in the recipe.

Next, add in the eggs, either one at a time and beating well in-between each addition or all at once and giving it all a good mix to ensure the eggs are fully incorporated. *this alters the consistency to become looser, which is ideal for pouring, spreading and swirling fillings through*.

Pour the batter into your lined 8 inch square cake tin, levelling off with your silicon spatula or a small cranked palette knife.

At this time you can add blobs of the mincemeat all over the top of the blondie batter, I added it roughly to the centre of each slice but you could add smaller blobs all over, whichever you like really, it’s 100% up to you! *the mincemeat may sink a little as it bakes and this is perfect for when you bite into it and get a bite of mincemeat*.

Place the cake tin into the preheated oven and bake for 20-25 minutes before removing them from the oven to add the mince pies on top, then you can place back in the oven and bake for a further 5-10 minutes or until a tester comes out almost clean (with only a few crumbs on at best).

Once they are fully naked, remove from the oven and allow to cool fully in the tin. If you don’t intend on cutting them that day, you can place them in the fridge for up-to 2 days. This helps to make them more dense, which is the best way to enjoy these, for me personally.

How you cut them up is up to you, but I went with generously sized rectangles, meaning I get 8 portions but if you cut them in half again and get squares, you’ll get 16 bitesize portions.

Apple Crumble

by bakingwithelliott Leave a Comment

Today I have the perfect recipe for this this time of year. It’s for a simple yet hearty apple crumble.

Although this recipe is perfect for all year round, there is just something about tucking into a bowl of crumble in the cooler months, especially during Autumn.

If you have never tried a crumble before, where have you been?! You get the sweetness and tartness of the apples, which is then topped with a crisp and slightly spiced crumble – the combination is always going to be a winner! IF plain apple isn’t your thing, I have a recipe for apple and blackberry crumble.

Anyway, let’s get started, shall we?

Ingredients:

Apple filling:

600g Cooking apples.

50g Water.

70-100g Granulated sugar (depending on how tart you like the apples).

Crumble:

75g Granulated sugar.

75g Light brown sugar.

60g Porridge Oats.

100g Plain Flour.

1 ½ tsp Ground Cinnamon.

120g Butter.

Method:

Start by doing some prep work. Weigh up the ingredients, preheat your oven to 180˚c/350˚f and get any equipment you may need ready.

To start on the recipe, you’ll want to make the crumble topping.

To start on the crumble, you’ll want to get yourself a food processor and into it you’ll want to place the plain flour, spices, granulated sugar and light brown sugar and pulse them together.

Once they are combined, you can then add the butter, which is in small pieces. Once all the butter has been added, you can pulse until the butter has been incorporated and the mixture has become crumblier looking.

Remove the crumble from the food processor and place into a large bowl, then you can add in the oats and stir to incorporate. If your crumble has lumps that are large, use a silicon spatula to break them down into smaller bits.

Set the crumble aside until its needed later.

To make the apple filling, you’ll want to start by getting yourself a large saucepan. Into the saucepan, place the cooking apples, water and granulated sugar and give it all a good mix, then place it on the hob over a medium-high heat.

Cook the apples on a medium-high heat giving a stir once the mixture starts to warm up. You want the apples to have softened and slightly broken a little, so once the apple mixture is done, it will be a mixture of softened apples in an apple sauce.

Once the apple filling is done, remove from the heat and allow to cool a little.

Take a small size oven proof dish (I used my Pyrex 1.4L dish) and place the apple filling on the bottom, levelling out with a heatproof silicon spatula. Then top the apple filling with the crumble tipping you made earlier on, spreading it out so it’s consistent and press it down a little bit just to compress it down.

Place the finished apple crumble into your preheated oven and bake for around 20-25 minutes or until its golden brown all over the top.

This is best served hot, straight from the oven on its own or it can be served with vanilla ice cream, whipped cream or custard.

That’s all for this week guys, I hope you enjoyed. If you did, don’t forget to share this recipe with your family and friends and enjoy it. I’ll be back next week with another blog post and YouTube video, so join me then. In the meanwhile, don’t forget to check out my Instagram and Twitter. The YouTube video will be linked down below.

Red Velvet Cookies

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Happy Halloween!

Today I have a batch of red velvet cookies, which can be made and finished in under an hour… Perfect if you’re having a Halloween party or have trick or treaters knocking the door.

Halloween is something I like but this year and the last haven’t been the best for me to celebrate. Maybe next year I’ll be able to make more Halloween goodies to share with you.

I know these cookies aren’t exactly a Halloween exclusive bake but the bright red colour fits the theme perfectly. They are chocolate and vanilla flavoured with white chocolate chips in the dough and to finish – he perfect combo, right?

Anyway, these cookies are perfect all year round and not just for Halloween. So why don’t you join me as I show you how to make a batch of these cookies?

Let’s get started, shall we?

Ingredients:

75g Butter.

75g Light brown sugar.

75g Granulated sugar.

1 Egg.

1 tsp Vanilla extract.

150g Plain flour.

25g Cocoa powder.

½ tsp Baking powder.

Pinch of salt.

Red food colouring (gel or paste).

100g White chocolate chips.

Method:

Before you get into making these cookies, you’ll want to do some prep work. Preheat your oven to 180˚c/350˚f, line your baking trays with greaseproof paper/parchment, weigh up all your ingredients and prepare any other equipment you may be using.

To start making the cookies, you’ll want to take your mixing bowl (I’m using my stand mixer but feel free to use a hand mixer and a mixing bowl) and place the butter, light brown sugar and granulated sugar into it. Beat them all together over medium-high speed until they are all well combined.

Once they are all combined, you can then stop the mixer and give the bowl a good scraping down. This is just to incorporate any bits that may not have been worked in from earlier on.

Add in your egg and mix on a medium-high speed, as the egg incorporates you’ll notice that the consistency changes, this is what you want. Add in the vanilla extract and mix until its fully incorporated.

Give the bowl another good scraping down, to incorporate any bits that haven’t been fully worked in.

Add the plain flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt into the bowl, passing through a sieve first to remove any lumps (cocoa powder quite often clumps up and causes lumps). Start the mix on a low-medium speed, working your way up to a medium-high.

Once the dry ingredients have started to incorporate, you can start adding the red food colouring. If the colour doesn’t look too red, it will darken as it develops (this is common with red and black) plus when it bakes, it will darken in colour. I recommend using a concentrated food colouring, nothing too liquidy.

Now all of the dry ingredients and food colouring have been added, you can give the bowl a scrape down then add in the white chocolate chips and fold them in by hand using a silicon spatula, mix until they are fairly distributed.

If your dough is a little sticky, cover the bowl with cling film/plastic wrap and place in the fridge for 30-60 minutes and it should help with making the dough less sticky.

You can then take two scoops of dough per cookie. Rolling the two balls together until they form one, place it onto your lined baking tray and flatten slightly. They will spread so on a standard baking tray I place 6 cookies at a time. Adjust the amount per tray depending on your baking tray size.

Bake the cookies for 12-15 minutes, I normally go with 12-13 minutes but seeing as all ovens are different, it may take more time, depending.

Now that the cookies are baked. Take from the oven and top with a few more chocolate chips, I mean who doesn’t want more chocolate in a cookie?!

Allow them to cool for around 5 minutes on the baking tray, before transferring to a cooling rack, where you can leave them to cool fully.

So, that’s how I would normally make a batch of my red velvet cookies. You get the chocolate and vanilla flavour along with white chocolate – is there anything more you could ask for?

S’mores Brownies

by bakingwithelliott Leave a Comment

If you enjoy the classic campfire treat s’mores, you’ll love these brownies!

So, these brownies have all the elements of a s’more but just adjusted to make it even better… Starting with a digestive biscuit base, which is topped with a milk chocolate brownie and finished with marshmallows that toasted with a blow torch.

These will be a real crowd pleasure, cut them into squares or rectangles, put them on a plate and watch them last no time at all.

I have other brownie variations available, including jaffa cake brownies and Terry’s chocolate orange brownies (check them out if you’re interested).

Let’s get started, shall we?

Ingredients

Digestive biscuit base:

250g Digestive biscuits.

100g Butter, melted.

Brownie:

140g Butter, melted.

225g Granulated white sugar.

2 Eggs.

1 tsp Vanilla extract.

45g Cocoa powder.

75g Milk chocolate chips.

100g Plain flour

Topping:

150-180g Mini marshmallows.

Method:

Before you get into the baking, you’ll want to make sure that you have preheated your oven to 180˚c/350˚f. prepared your 9×9 inch baking tray by lining it with greaseproof/parchment paper and weighing up all the required ingredients – I like to use individual small bowls but feel free to use what you have.

To make the digestive biscuit base, place your biscuits into a food processor or a Ziploc bag and pulse/crush the biscuits until they are a breadcrumb or sandy consistency.

In a small saucepan or microwave safe bowl, place the butter and melt it over a medium heat, regardless of the method you use. Take the melted butter and pour over the digestive biscuit crumbs, then pulse/mix over a medium speed until the two are well combined and have a wet sandy colour and consistency.

You can then transfer the biscuit mixture into your lined 9×9 inch baking tray. Then you can spread it out and compact it down using a cup measurement, try and get the biscuit layer as level as possible.

Set the tray aside, until it’s needed later.

To start on the brownies, you’ll want to melt you butter. You can do this on the hob, in a saucepan over a medium-high heat, allowing it to melt fully. The other way is to place the butter into your large mixing bowl and placing it into the microwave (make sure the bowl you use is microwave safe) and microwave until it’s melted, taking it no further.

Add the melted butter into a mixing bowl (I it isn’t already in a bowl) and add the cocoa powder. Whisk the two together until they are well combined, the mixture should be smooth.

Then add in all the granulated sugar and just whisk it in until it’s fully incorporated. You will notice a change in the consistency, it will become more granular. This is normal and will change as you work through the recipe.

Directly into the mixture, add your eggs. One at a time beating well in-between each addition, then you can add in the vanilla and give it a good whisk/mix until it’s fully incorporated.

Soon after you can add the plain flour and milk chocolate chips and fold them in using a silicon spatula just until they are fully incorporated, try not to overmix at this stage.

Take your digestive biscuit base, that you prepared earlier and pour the brownie batter on top of it and level it out as best you can with a spatula. Take the tray and place it in the oven and bake it at 180˚c/350˚f for 25-30 minutes (depending on your oven, seeing as all ovens are different to one another).

Transfer the baked brownies from the oven and place on top the mini marshmallows.

You’ll then want to torch the marshmallows, I used a culinary blowtorch but you can place them under the grill until they are torched. I like mine quite dark but do as much as little as you’d like.

Cinnamon Rolls

by bakingwithelliott Leave a Comment

Today I’ll be showing you how to make cinnamon rolls, my personal favourite baked good!

October is my birthday month, so I thought I’d make a few of my favourite baked goods – starting with this week’s recipe for cinnamon rolls.

These are easily my favourite baked good, it starts with a fluffy bread dough which is filled a cinnamon brown sugar filling and once baked, topped with a cream cheese icing. If you think the store-bought ones were good, wait until you try these.

Let’s get started, shall we?

Ingredients:

Bread:

500g Strong white bread flour.

50g Fresh yeast.

75g Butter.

75g Granulated sugar.

15g Milk powder.

1 Egg,

350ml Water (Luke warm).

Cinnamon Filling:

250gg Light brown sugar.

250g Butter.

25g Ground cinnamon.

Cream Cheese Icing:

85g Soft cheese.

60g Butter.

200g Icing sugar.

1 tsp Vanilla extract.

Methods:

Before you get into any baking, you’ll want to do some prep work first. Take the time to weigh up all the ingredients, lightly oil a bowl and get any equipment ready. When the time comes, preheat your oven to 180˚c/350˚f.

Bread:

To start on the bread dough, place the bread flour and salt into a bowl and give it a good mix to incorporate the two together.

Then place the remaining ingredients into the bowl, then mix them all together on a medium-low speed until a dough has formed. The dough should be soft, if it’s sticky, add a little flour.

Flour the work surface with a generous amount of bread flour and place the dough onto it. Knead the dough until the dough is smooth and elasticated. This takes around 5-7 minutes, depending on how well mixed it was in the first place.

Place the dough into the lightly oiled bowl, cover the bowl with cling-film and allow to proof/prove for around 60 minutes or until the dough has doubled in size.

While the dough is proving, you can make the cinnamon sugar filling. Into a bowl, place the butter, light brown sugar and cinnamon into a mixing bowl.

Beat all the ingredients together until they are all well combined, they should come together and form a cinnamony-brown coloured spreadable paste.

Once the dough has completed its first proof/prove, you’ll want to generously flour your worktop and place the dough onto it. You can then knock the dough back, this is just the process of removing the gases that had built up.

Now the dough has been knocked back, onto a floured worktop, bring the dough into a ball shape and start to roll the dough out using a rolling pin. The dough may resist being rolled out, this is a sign that the gluten has formed, this is a good sign. You’ll want to roll the dough out to roughly 40cm x 60cm.

Take the cinnamon sugar filling and spread it all over the dough, until you have a generous and level amount spread on the dough.

Take the long side of dough (the one nearest you) and start to roll it up. Start by rolling around 2cm of the dough into the first roll and then just continue the rolling until you’ve fully rolled the dough. Make sure that you keep each roll of the dough tight.

Slice the dough at around 1 inch for each roll. Do this for all your rolls.

Place the rolls into a deep sided tray, my first tray I got 6 into it but you may be able to get more-or-less depending on the size of your tray.

Cover the tray/s with cling film and allow to double in size. Prove for around 30-45 minutes – these will batch while baking, this is normal.

Bake in your preheated oven at 180˚c/350˚f for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown.

While your cinnamon rolls are baking in the oven, it’s the perfect time to make the cream cheese icing which will top the rolls.

Into your mixing bowl of choice, place the cream cheese, butter, icing sugar and vanilla extract. Beat together on a medium-high speed until all of the ingredients have become fully combined.

Once you have been mixing the cream cheese icing together for around 4-5 minutes, you should notice that the mixture goes from a yellowish colour to a lighter yellow but more white colour and should be much lighter and fluffier in consistency.

Set the cream cheese icing aside until its needed later.

Now that the cinnamon buns are baked, remove from the oven and allow to cool down, almost fully before you finish them off.

Once the cinnamon rolls are almost cooled down, you can start to add the cream cheese icing on to the buns. I start with a little on each and adding more as its needed – add as much as you’d like.

Then to finish the rolls, you’ll want to give them a light dusting of some ground cinnamon. This is optional but I really like cinnamon, so why not?

Well, that’s how you make cinnamon rolls my way. They are (fairly?) quick and easy to make, which makes them that bit more enjoyable. If you make too many, bake them off, then wrap them with some cling film and place into the freezer. You can keep the rolls in the freeze for up to 3 months, just make fresh cream cheese icing when you take them out.

bakingwithelliott

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