Pastry

Blueberry Pie Recipe

Summer may be coming to end, don’t fret, I have recipe which is perfect for the end of the season. Today I’ll be sharing with you how to make a blueberry pie!

This recipe can be made all year around, seeing as most supermarkets stock frozen blueberries in the frozen foods section but if blueberries are in season, use fresh or frozen either works well (the ones I used were bought fresh then frozen).

Earlier in the week I uploaded a video to YouTube and a blog post showing you how to make my pastry recipe, honestly, it’s the best one, it doesn’t require any strange ingredients or special equipment if you don’t have it. I’ll link it here. I recommend that you use my recipe but you can use your own if you want, I don’t control you.

When it comes to pies, personally, I like to have more pastry on top, I know that some people like it whereas others don’t. Instead of putting a pastry lid on this pie I decided to place some cut out stars on top of pie, so you have the element of pastry there but not fully, if that makes sense.

Let’s get started, shall we?

Pastry:

Here is how to make the pastry.

Blueberry Filling:

750g Blueberries (fresh or frozen, dust with plain flour).

100ml Water.

30g Plain flour.

A pinch of salt.

¼ tsp Ground cinnamon.

100g Granulated white sugar.

Method:

Before you get into the baking/pie making, you’ll want to do some prep. Start by making your pastry, weighing up the ingredients, preheating the oven to 180˚c/350˚f and preparing any equipment you may need to use.

To start on the blueberry pie filing, get yourself a medium sized saucepan and into it, place the water, flour, salt, ground cinnamon and sugar, then give it all a good mix until its well incorporated.

You can then add in the blueberries and mix them in the mixture until they are well coated, then transfer the saucepan onto the hob over a medium heat and cook the mixture until it’s a clear filling, you don’t want to see a trace of any ingredient, the mixture will have thickened (this is normal and what you’re looking for).

Allow that to cool while you sort the pastry out.

Take your pastry and roll it out until it’s just slightly bigger than the pie dish you are using (mine was 8 inch). Drape it over your tin, pressing the dough into the tin, just to fit the shape, trim away any excess from the edge.

Don’t forget to dock the bottom of your pastry, this is just to prevent the base rising while baking.

You can then fill the pastry case with the blueberry filling you made and allow to cool for a little while. It should be thicker as it cools, so you may or may not need to level it out with your wooden spoon or spatula. Set aside in the fridge for a bit while you make the topping.

For the cut outs of dough, take the remaining dough and roll it out to the same thickness as your pie crust and cut out as many as possible. Once you have them cut out, you can then start to place them on top of the pie filling. I started on the outside and worked my way in but feel free to start in the centre and work your way out, whichever way works best for you.

Egg wash the edge of the pastry and the cut outs in the middle of the pie, sprinkle some light brown sugar over the cut outs, just to add colour and texture.

Place in your preheated oven and bake for around 40 minutes but I recommended checking it at 35 minutes and checking every 5 minutes as it may need extra time. One thing to remember is that all ovens are different, so use the time as a rough guide.

Once it’s out of the oven, allow it to cool down fully before you try cutting it, otherwise it could get messy. Enjoy with a scoop of ice cream or with some whipped cream.

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.

How To Make Shortcrust Pastry

by bakingwithelliott Leave a Comment

Today, I’ll be showing you how to make a recipe staple – shortcrust pastry. If you want to make a sweet pie or tart, this is the recipe for you.

This is my recipe for shortcrust pastry, its’s quick and easy, what’s not to like?

If you have ever made a pie and followed a recipe, just for it to go wrong and it can really put you off making pastry again – believe me, I’ve been there. This is the must use recipe for all bakers to have in their recipe collection.

The key with pastry is to keep it cool, you really don’t it to warm up too much, this is where issues can start to occur. If like me you have warm hands, I recommend that you use a food processor, this will ensure that you don’t warm up the butter too much. Oh and one final tip is to ensure that once the pastry is made, wrap in cling film/plastic wrap.

Anyway, let’s get started, shall we?

Ingredients:

1 Egg (large is possible, medium will work)

90g Granulated white sugar.

225g Butter, cold.

375g Plain flour.

A pinch of salt.

Method:

Before you get into making the pastry, you’ll want to do some prep. Start by weighing up all your ingredients and getting any equipment you may intend on using.

To start on the pastry, get yourself a small bowl and place in the egg and sugar. Give them a very good mix, mostly until they are fully incorporated. You will know once you’ve achieved this as the mixture won’t be granular in any way, this may take a few minutes to achieve. Set aside once done.

Into your food processor place the plain flour, salt and butter, then pulse until all the ingredients have combined. You will know once the butter has been incorporated as the mixture will have a slightly yellow-ish tint to it.

Next, you can add the sugar/egg mixture that you made earlier. Once it’s all been added, you can then pulse it again until the sugar/egg micture is fully incorporated and a dough has started to form, you can them stop and continue kneading the dough on a floured surface.

The pastry should be smooth once done, you can then wrap it in cling film and place it in the fridge to chill for about an hour or overnight.

There’s not much else to say about this recipe, it’s really that simple. You only need a handful of ingredients and a little time then you have a pastry recipe that has never failed me before.

Strawberry and Cream Profiteroles

by bakingwithelliott Leave a Comment

The weather has finally started to pick up, so why not enjoy a batch of homemade strawberry and cream profiteroles?

This recipe and flavour combination will hit the spot, strawberry and cream is a match made in heaven combination, that’s for sure.

The base is a choux bun, many people get put off by making it from scratch as it’s pretty easy to go wrong but if you use my recipe, you’ll get the perfect choux every time (I promise)!

The strawberry jam used as a filling is homemade (a video will be coming soon on how to make a couple types of jam and other sauces/preserves) and the whipped cream is sweetened to make it taste even better.

As with all my recipes, before you get started, you’ll want to do some prep work. Get your ingredients measured/weighed up, prepare your baking tray (if you want to, I didn’t line mine with greaseproof paper but feel free to do with yours)and get any equipment you may need ready. Taking these few extra steps can lower the chance of making a mistake.

Let’s get started, shall we?

Ingredients:

Choux Pastry:

300ml Water.

125g Butter.

150g Plain flour.

4 Eggs.

Pinch of salt

Filling & Topping:

500ml Double cream.

50g Icing sugar.

1 tsp Vanilla extract.

300g Strawberry jam (homemade or shop bought).

Large strawberries, halved (as many as you need).

Method:

Before you get into making the choux pastry, you’ll want to do some prep. Preheat your oven to 200˚c/390˚f, weigh/measure up your ingredients and prepare your baking trays (as well as any other equipment you’ll need) and get ready to start.

To make the choux pastry, place the water, butter and salt into a medium saucepan and place over a medium heat until its melted, stirring them together well.

Remove from the heat and add in the flour, mixing in the flour in until its full incorporated. Return to the heat and continuously stir it to cook the flour out. You’ll know once the flour is cooked out as the bottom of your pan will have a layer of the flour/pastry there, once you’ve achieved this, take it off the heat and transfer to a mixing bowl.

Mix the choux pastry on a high speed to cool it down. This takes a couple of minutes to achieve.

Once you can touch the bottom of you bowl, start to add your eggs. A little at a time until you reach a stage where the pastry takes between 3-5 seconds to fall from the beater – the amount of egg you need may depend, you may need more or less.

You will notice the pastry become looser as you add your eggs, this is normal, it should be a nice pipe-able consistency. Place the pastry into a piping bag fitted with a 1cm plain tip piping nozzle.

Place the pastry into a piping bag with a 1cm plain tip nozzle and pipe out small amounts on the prepared baking tray, you should be able to get about 15 onto a standard tray. Press down any peaks using your finger which has been dipped into some water, then egg wash each of the choux buns to get a perfect golden brown on top.

Place in the oven at 200˚c/390˚f and bake for 20 minutes, then open the oven door to remove the steam that’s built up, then place back in the oven and bake for a further 10 minutes then remove from the oven.

Allow the choux buns to cool for a few minutes on the baking tray before transferring to a cooling rack to cool down completely.

Once your choux buns are cooled, you can fill them with your whipped cream and strawberry jam then pipe an amount of whipped cream onto the top of each profiterole and once you have done that, top each of them with a strawberry halve. If possible, add the whipped cream and strawberry finishing before serving (purely for freshness).

Lemon Meringue Eclair’s

by bakingwithelliott Leave a Comment

Today I present you with a recipe I made to prevent food waste – it’s lemon meringue eclairs!

I’ve taken the simple choux pastry éclair and jazzed it up by using a fresh cream and homemade lemon curd filling and topped with a lightly torched meringue topping. It’s like having a lemon meringue pie but done differently… It works well, trust me on this one.

Lemon is the perfect flavour for the spring/summer period to be honest, it’s refreshing and tangy – what’s not to love? If you or someone you know likes éclair’s and a lemon meringue pie, I can promise this is the recipe for you.

I know some people can be put off by choux pastry as it can go wrong, but if you follow my recipe it will work out for you – I promise you. Making the pastry isn’t hard or too time consuming to make and you don’t need any specialist equipment to make these.

As with all my recipes, you’ll want to do some prep work. This is to prevent you from making mistakes as you go along. Take some time to weigh up your ingredients, making sure the scales you’re using are accurate (I really recommend using digital scales if possible), line your baking trays with greaseproof/parchment and preheat your oven to 200˚c/390˚f and get ready.

Ingredients:

Choux Pastry:

300ml Water.

125g Butter.

150g Plain flour.

4 Eggs, medium sized.

Pinch of salt.

Filling:

300ml Double cream.

100g Icing sugar.

1 tsp Vanilla extract.

Lemon curd (homemade or shop bought – I haven’t shared the recipe for the lemon curd as I have a video coming soon on how I make my jams, spreads and curds).

Meringue Topping:

I can’t give you the exact amount I used as the eggs I use are probably a different size to the ones you’ll be using, however, I’ll tell you how to calculate the meringue topping.

Get the weight of 2 egg whites and whatever that is, double it for the sugar you’ll need. Easy enough to remember, the ratio of egg to sugar is 1:2.

Method:

To start on the choux pastry, get yourself a small-medium saucepan and place the water, butter and salt into it, place that saucepan onto the hob over a medium heat and allow the ingredients to melt, give it a good stir to combine the ingredients once they start to melt. Once the mixture almost reaches a simmer, you’ll want to take it off the heat and add in the flour, whisking it in until its fully incorporate, then place back on the heat and whisk continuously until the flour has been cooked out. You’ll know once the flour has been cooked out as it will leave a coating on the bottom of the saucepan, once you start to see this, get ready to take it off the heat and place it into a mixing bowl and beat it on a medium-high speed until you’re able to touch the side/bottom of the bowl.

Once the pastry has cooled down enough for you to touch the bowl, you can add your eggs, one at a time, beating well in-between each addition. The amount of eggs I have recommended was the perfect amount for my pastry, you may find you need more or less egg (eggs are all different sizes, I used medium eggs). You will want the pastry to take 5 seconds to fall from the paddle attachment, that’s how you know you’ve got the perfect amount of egg.

Once all the egg has been added to the mixture, you can then place your choux pastry into a piping bag (either fitted with a wide plain tip nozzle or not, I opted not to use a nozzle this time around). Get your baking trays (which may or may not be lined with greaseproof/parchment paper). You can then start to pipe on your choux pastry, snip a large hole at the bottom of the piping bag and pipe 5 inch lines onto the greaseproof/parchment paper, once you’re done piping them, you’ll notice they have an ugly end to them, don’t worry about this too much as you’ll correct it before you bake them off.

Now that you’ve got your pastry piped out, you can finish it off before you bake them off. Get a small bowl of water and dampen your finger and just press/smooth down the rough looking edges, this will help correct the ugly looking end and once you’ve done that, you can then go ahead and get yourself a small bowl and beat an egg, then use this as egg wash on the pastry. Once they’ve all been dabbed with water and brushed with egg, you can then place into the oven and bake them off.

While they are baking in your preheated 200˚c/390˚f oven, you’ll want to bake them at that for 20 minutes, then open the door. This is to let the steam out of the oven, this is normal for this recipe, then close the door and bake for a further 10 minutes at the same temperature. Remove them from the oven once they are golden brown and they are firm to the touch. Allow to cool on the tray for a couple of minutes before transferring to cooling racks to fully cool down. You can now freeze the eclairs if you wanted to, they are perfect from frozen as well.

While you’re waiting you can make your sweetened whipped cream filling. Into a mixing bowl add all of the double cream, icing sugar and vanilla, then beat on a medium-high speed until everything is well incorporated and the cream holds it shape. Try not to over whip the cream, otherwise it will turn granular and not have a pleasant mouth feel, place into a piping bag fitted with a small star piping nozzle and set aside in the fridge until needed.

To fill the eclairs is super simple. You can either slice the eclairs open and fill them that way or using the small star tip, gently poke holes into the bottom of the éclair and pipe the cream and lemon curd in that way. I prefer the second method as its what works best for me but feel free to experiment and see what method you like or works best for you!

Now, for the final element of these eclairs, the meringue topping. Don’t be put off by meringue, it’s nowhere near as difficult as it may appear. Get yourself a clean mixing bowl and whisk, into the bowl place the egg whites and whisk on a high speed until egg whites are frothy, then you can start adding your sugar, a little at a time until it’s all added. Once all of the sugar has been added, you can then whisk on a high speed until the sugar is fully incorporated, to test whether it is or not, get a small amount and rub it between your index finger and thumb and if you feel any granules of sugar, continue whisking and if you don’t feel any granules, stop mixing and place the meringue mixture into a piping bag fitted with your nozzle of choice.

Take your eclairs and get ready to finish them. I piped a rope of the meringue on each éclair but feel free to pipe however you like. I just liked the effect a rope had, its completely up to you. Then to finish them off, get yourself a blow torch and start to torch the meringue mixture. I made it a little darker in some places than in other but again this is optional and you can make them all a nice golden brown colour if you’d like.

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 mean while, don’t forget to check out my Instagram and twitter. The YouTube video will be linked down below!

Quiche Lorraine

by bakingwithelliott Leave a Comment

Quiche is the perfect addition to any spring/summer evening, its light but enough with salad to enjoy.

I know, you’re seeing a savoury recipe. These aren’t too common from me as you’ll often find me making sweet baked goods. I have been trying more savoury baking recently, so you may see more of them from me in the future.

As I mentioned above, quiche is perfect for the warmer weather, with a side of salad (if that’s your thing). It’s pretty quick and easy to make, which is even better!

There’s some prep to do now that will save you faffing about later on. Start by remembering to preheat your oven to 200˚/390˚f, weigh up all of your ingredients, cook off the bacon and prepare your equipment.

The pastry I have used is my normal recipe for shortcrust pastry minus the sugar, then it becomes unsweetened and perfect for savoury use – just what we need it for.

The pastry isn’t exactly hard to make, all you need to do is place the flour, salt and butter then combine them together by either rubbing the butter into the flour or pulsing them together in a food processor (I went with the food processor method on this occasion).

Once they are combined, add in the egg and work it into the flour/butter mixture. This will bind the dough together, work them together until almost fully combined then tip out onto a floured surface to knead the pastry together. You’re looking for a clear dough, with no traces of a single ingredient. Wrap in clingfilm/plastic wrap then chill in the fridge for around an hour, this is to allow the butter to firm up and the gluten to relax.

After about an hour in the fridge, the dough should be firm. Take it from the fridge and cut it in half (keep the other half chilled in the fridge), flour your surface well with some plain flour. At this point, preheat your oven to 200˚/390˚f. Place the dough onto the floured surface and roll it out until its slightly bigger than your 8 inch pie dish. Place the pastry over the tart tine and work it into the tin, fix any cracks with the remaining pastry and trim the excess from the edges. You can then dock the pastry with a fork, this is just to stop it from rising while it’s baking, place in the fridge to chill for 30 minutes, you can then add the greaseproof/parchment paper along with the baking beans and blind bake for around 20-25 minute, it should start to look baked.

While your pastry case is in the oven baking, you can make the filling for your quiche. Start by adding your eggs, salt, pepper, milk and double cream into a large mixing bowl and whisk it all together until fully combined. You can then add in the cheese, bacon and onion and using a spatula, mix them until they are fully combined. By this point your pastry case should be ready, so once its done blind being, remove from the oven and remove the baking beans and parchment/greaseproof, then add in the filling (I had a tiny amount left over but added it once it was in the oven). Bake the quiche off at 200˚/390˚f for a further 30 minutes, it should be golden brown and firm to the touch.

Allow the quiche to cool fully before enjoy a slice, surely you shouldn’t eat quiche warm… YUCK!

Ingredients:

Pastry:

1 Egg.

225g Butter.

375g Plain flour.

Pinch of salt

Quiche Filling:

4 Eggs.

1/2 tsp Salt.

1/2 tsp Black pepper, ground.

300ml Whole milk.

100ml Double cream.

200g Cheddar cheese (or your personal favourite).

6 rashers of bacon, cooked and roughly chopped.

1 Onion, medium-large, chopped,

Bake the pastry at 200˚/390˚f for 20-25 minutes, make and add the filling, then bake for a further 30 minutes at the same temperature.

That’s all for this week, I hope you enjoyed. If you did, don’t forget to share this with your friends and family and check out the other recipes I have up on my blog. Currently working on uploading older recipes from my YouTube channel, so keep your eyes out. Until next week guys, take care.

Strawberry Tart

by bakingwithelliott Leave a Comment

This tart is the perfect addition for any warm day, its sweet and perfectly balanced for the warmer weather. Get your strawberries and we can get started.

To start on the tart you’ll want to start on the crème pâtissière, this will need time to cool before you use it but feel free to make either the crème pâtissière or pastry first, they both need time before you use them. Like with all my recipes, I recommend you do some prep work first by winging up your ingredients, preheating your oven to 180˚/350˚f and getting any equipment you need ready before you start.

For the crème pâtissière, get your medium saucepan and place your milk and vanilla extract into it and place on the hob over a medium-high heat. Bring the milk to a boil. While you wait for your milk to come to a boil, you can make the other part of the crème pâtissière.

Into a separate bowl add the egg yolks and sugar and whisk them together until well combined, then you can add in your plain flour and whisk that in until fully combined. You will notice that the mixture thickens, don’t worry this is normal. You want this to happen, the flour is the thickening agent in the custard.

So, once your milk has reached a boil, you can then add around 1/4 of the milk mix into your egg mixture and whisk that through, then continue pouring the boiling milk into the egg mixture, whisking continuously until they are well combined. Pour the mixture back into the saucepan and place back on the hob over a medium-high heat, whisking continuously until the mixture has become thicker – make sure you don’t burn the mixture, keep whisking the custard.

Get yourself a shallow sided cake tin and pour the hot custard onto it, spreading it out as thin as possible. This is just to help with the cooling process, cover the mixture with clingfilm/plastic wrap, making sure its touching the top of the custard (this stops a skin from forming on top, which nobody likes). Allow it too cool fully before you intend on using.

The pastry isn’t exactly hard to make, all you need to do is beat the sugar and egg together, then set it aside until later on. Into a bowl or food processor place the flour, salt and butter then combine them together by either rubbing the butter into the flour or pulsing them together in a food processor (I went with the food processor method on this occasion).

Once they are combined, add in the egg/sugar mix and work it into the flour/butter mixture. This will bind the dough together, work them together until almost fully combined then tip out onto a floured surface to knead the pastry together. You’re looking for a clear dough, with no traces of a single ingredient. Wrap in clingfilm/plastic wrap then chill in the fridge for around an hour, this is to allow the butter to firm up and the gluten to relax.

After about an hour in the fridge, the dough should be firm. Take it from the fridge and cut it in half (keep the other half chilled in the fridge), flour your surface well with some plain flour. Place the dough onto the floured surface and roll it out until its slightly bigger than your 8 inch pie dish. Place the pastry over the tart tine and work it into the tin, fix any cracks with the remaining pastry and trim the excess from the edges. You can then dock the pastry with a fork, this is just to stop it from rising while it’s baking, place in the fridge to chill for 30 minutes, then give it a good coat with some egg wash then place in the preheated oven and bake for 23-25 minutes or until golden brown.

Once your pastry case and crème pâtissière are fully cooled down, you can start to assemble your tart. Place the custard into a bowl and whisk it until its smooth and more pliable, once you’ve got it spreadable, add it into the pastry case and level it off as best you can using an offset palette knife or the back of a spoon. Set aside (or in the fridge) while you slice your strawberries.

Next, you’ll want to slice your strawberries, I slice most of mine into 3 or 4’s so there is the right thickness but you do it however you like, you could even place the strawberries on whole, just slice the green bit off the top.

Now you can place the strawberry slices on top of the tart, starting on the outside working your way into the middle of the tart, this is the way that works best for me personally but feel free to change it, I’m just providing the basic information. Once all your strawberries are on, you can then warm up the apricot jam and then brush it over the fruit. This acts as a preservative and adds flavour.

Ingredients:

Crème pâtissière:

500ml Milk.

1-2 tsp Vanilla extract.

120g Egg yolks.

100g Granulated white sugar.

60g Plain flour.

Pastry:

1 Egg.

90g Granulated white sugar.

225g Butter.

375g Plain flour.

Pinch of salt

Finish:

Strawberries, sliced.

Apricot jam, for the glaze.

So that’s all for this week, I hope you enjoyed this recipe. It’s a pretty quick and easy recipe and perfect for this time of year (especially if the weather is decent), so make this and enjoy the weather with your friends and family. I’ll see you again next week guys!

As always, I’ll leave the YouTube video down below if you’re interested in watching it!

Profiteroles Recipe

by bakingwithelliott Leave a Comment

Whether you’re looking for the perfect choux pastry recipe or how to make profiteroles from scratch, this recipe has you well and truly covered.

To make these profiteroles isn’t too hard, with a little time and effort you’ll have yourself a batch whipped up in no time. People can be put off making these when they realise they have to make the pastry from scratch, well not any more. The recipe I’m about to share with you will change your mind about making choux pastry forever.

If you’re not sure what a profiterole is, well… It’s a choux pastry bun (depending on where in the world you are depends on what you know this pastry as. The most common names are choux and pate a choux, it’s basically the same thing), which is filled with anything from a whipped cream through to a custard, pastry custard or ice cream and is finished with a chocolate topping. What’s not to love about these?

To make the pastry, you’ll want to start by placing the water, salt and butter over a medium heat until it’s melted. You can then take it off the heat and add in the flour, stir until its combined then return it to the heat, constantly stirring until the bottom of your saucepan has a coating of flour. You can then transfer the pastry to a stand mixer or mixing bowl of choice and stir that until its cool enough for your to add your eggs, you will know when you’ve achieved this stage as you will be able to touch the bottom of your bowl without it being too hot. You can then gradually add your eggs, a bit at a time as you may not require all of the egg (or you may require more, it all really depends), the best way to tell if your pastry is done is to get a good amount on the beater and see how long it takes it to fall from the beater back into the pastry, if its between 3 and 5 seconds, you’re good to go.

Place the choux pastry into a piping bag with a piping tip which is about 1cm in diameter, then start piping small amounts onto your lined baking tray (I was able to pipe around 14 on a standard sized baking tray, so I’d recommend lining at least another 2 so 3 in total), if you want to make less then then the amount I ended up with, feel free to half the recipe or double if you need more. Once you’ve got them piped onto your lined trays, don’t forget to get rid of any peaks on top of them by dabbing them down with a damp finger, then you can give them the egg wash which will help them colour. Bake them off in a preheated oven for 20 minutes, before you open the door and release any steam that was built up in the oven. Close the door and bake for a further 10 minutes, this will ensure that they are hollow inside and well coloured and crisp on the outside. Once removed from the oven, allow to cool briefly on the baking tray before transferring them to a cool rack to cool fully.

Whip up a batch of sweetened whipped cream or whatever you’d like to fill them with whatever you’d like to (custard, pastry cream or ice cream will also work well), transfer the whipped cream into a piping bag with a plain tip nozzle and place in the fridge if you don’t intend on using it straight away. Make sure you fill as many profiteroles as possible, the make a batch of the chocolate topping. To make the topping is easy, place all of the ingredients into a small saucepan an allow them to melt, keep stirring them together until it becomes smooth and glossy. Dip the tops of your choux buns into the topping and that’s it. Super simple and yummy recipe.

Ingredients :

Choux Pastry:

• 300ml Water.
• 125g Butter.
• 150g Plain flour.
• 4 Eggs.
• Pinch of salt.

Bake at 200˚c/390˚f for 30 minutes (20 minutes, release the steam from the oven and then bake for a further 10 minutes at the same temperature). Allow to cool before filling and finishing.

Filling –

300ml Double cream.
30g Icing sugar.
1 tsp Vanilla (bean paste or extract will work well).

Topping –

65g Butter.
30g Sugar.
65g Golden syrup.
125g Dark Chocolate

Methods:

Before you start the mixing process
To make the choux pastry, place the water, butter and salt into a medium saucepan and place over a medium heat until its melted, stirring them together well.
Remove from the heat and add in the flour, mixing in the flour in until its full incorporated. Return to the heat and continuously stir it to cook the flour out. You’ll know once the flour is cooked out as the bottom of your pan will have a layer of the flour/pastry there, once you’ve achieved this, take it off the heat and transfer to a mixing bowl.
Mix the choux pastry on a high speed to cool it down. This takes a couple of minutes to achieve.
Once you can touch the bottom of you bowl, start to add your eggs. A little at a time until you reach a stage where the pastry takes between 3-5 seconds to fall from the beater – the amount of egg you need may depend, you may need more or less.
Place the pastry into a piping bag with a 1cm plain tip nozzle and pipe out small amounts on the prepared baking tray, I got 14 but you should be able to get about 15 onto a standard tray. Press down any peaks using your finger which has been dipped into some water, then egg wash each of the choux buns to get a perfect golden brown on top.
Place in the oven at 200˚c/390˚f and bake for 20 minutes, then open the oven door to remove the steam that’s built up, then place back in the oven and bake for a further 10 minutes then remove from the oven.
Allow the choux buns to cool for a few minutes on the baking tray before transferring to a cooling rack to cool down completely.
Once your choux buns are cooled, you can fill them with your whipped cream and store them in the fridge until you are ready.
The chocolate topping is really simple to make. Place all of your ingredients into a medium sized saucepan and allow them to melt together but remember to keep stirring them together until it becomes smooth and glossy.
Dip the top of each profiterole into the chocolate topping and allow it to set before you serve and enjoy them.

Don’t forget, if you make anything using my recipes, feel free to share your creations with me over on Twitter and Instagram!

Homemade Mince Pies

by bakingwithelliott Leave a Comment

Whether you like them or not, its mince pie season, regardless.

These tasty little treats are sweet, spicy and fruity all in one bite. Which can be overwhelming or downright confusing, especially if you haven’t them before.

If you’re from somewhere in the world that doesn’t have these easily accessible, don’t worry. Despite the name, the mincemeat is sweet (made most of dried fruit, sugar, spices and alcohol) and doesn’t contain a single gram of meat. Many years ago they would have been meat based but they have evolved to become what we know and love today.

I thought that mincemeat was available around the world, but it isn’t. Don’t worry I have already uploaded a recipe on how to make mincemeat here (which is actually super easy, it just needs some time to mature).

Some prep work won’t go amiss here. Preheat your oven to 180˚c/350˚f, weigh up your ingredients and get any equipment you may need ready.

After the hour in the fridge, take your dough out of the fridge and chop it roughly in half, keeping half out and rewrapping the other half and placing back in the fridge until you need it later on. Roll out your dough until you’ve achieved 5mm in thickness, once achieved, cut out your circles of pastry for each pie. Use a 3 inch cookie cutter, this gets your the perfect shape/amount for each cup on the cupcake pan. I only made 6 but you could easily make around 8-10.

Once you’ve got your pastry cases in the cupcake tin, you’ll then want to fill them with a generous amount of the homemade mincemeat, you can go as far as just a few millimetres below the top of the case (the more the better I say, but go with your preference). You can then work on the ‘lids’ which is a smaller circle cut out (around 1.5 – 2 inches), then place on top of each mince pie and secure in place by crimping the side of the pastry case and the pastry lid together with a fork, repeat for all your mince pies. You’ll want to egg wash your pastry (this helps to make your pastry bake a better golden brown colour), to make the egg wash, crack an egg into a small bowl and beat until its all combined. Use your pastry brush and give the tops of the mince pies a generous coating with the egg wash.

Just before you use the last of the pastry, stab a hole into the centre of each mince pie, this is to release any steam that may build up while they bake. You can then partially cover the hole with small cut out pastry decoration, I used a small plunger cutter do this but its completely optional. Egg wash the little cut out, then place into your preheated oven and bake for 20-25 minutes or until the pastry is a nice golden brown.

Ingredients:

Pastry:

1 Egg.

90g Granulated sugar.

225g Butter.

375g Plain Flour.

A pinch of salt.w

Mince meat recipe here

Method:

Start by doing some prep work by preheating your oven to 180˚c/350˚f, weighing up your ingredients into small bowls and prepare any equipment you’ll need to use.
Start the recipe by making your pastry. Crack an egg into a small bowl then add the sugar and mix the two together until the sugar has dissolved in the egg, set aside until later on.
Into a large bowl or food processor, place the flour, salt and butter then combine them by rubbing the butter into the dry ingredients or pulsing them together.
Once they are fully combined, add in the egg/sugar mix from earlier on. Mix in or pulse together until they are almost fully combined, then turn out onto a floured surface and knead until a clear dough forms. Once you’ve got a clear dough, wrap the flattened ball of dough in clingfilm/plastic wrap and place in the fridge for an hour to chill. This give the gluten in the dough time to relax and for the butter to firm up.
After about an hour, take your pastry out of the fridge and cut in half. Keep one half out and wrap the other back up and place in the fridge until you need it later on.
Roll out the pastry on a floured surface until its about 5mm in thickness (this is the ideal thickness). Take a 3 inch cookie cutter and cut out your circles. I made 6 mince pies but with this amount of pastry you could easily make 8-10.
Take your pastry circles and place them into the cupcake tin. Work and manipulate the dough to fit into the shape of the cupcake tray, repeat until you’ve got all your pastry cases done.
Fill each mince pie almost to the top with the homemade mincemeat. Repeat this for each mince pie.
With the remaining pastry, roll it out until slightly thinner than 5mm then cut out some more circles but this time they are smaller, around 1.5-2 inches (whichever fits just right on top of the mince pies).
Crimp the pastry case and the lid together using fork. This secures the lid on top and stops it from popping off while baking. Once the lids are on, egg wash the top of each mince pie (the egg wash is just a beaten egg in a small bowl).
Stab a hole in the centre of the mince pie, this is to allow the steam to escape. Then partially cover the hole with a small pastry cut out that has been made with a small plunger cutter. This is optional but adds a homemade touch to the mince pies. Egg wash the cut outs if you use them.
Bake the mince pies in your preheated oven for 20-25 minutes or until the pastry is a nice golden brown colour.
Once baked and cooled, just before serving you can give them a dusting with icing sugar and enjoy on there own OR serve with some cream or ice cream.

Cornflake Tart Recipe

by bakingwithelliott Leave a Comment

If you’re looking for the perfect recipe for a cornflake tart, look no further, I’ve got your back.

Now I’m not sure if this is a local thing or national but if you went to school in the UK, you might recognise this. This recipe has been around for quite some time, a lot of people who went to school in the 70s, 80s, 90s or 00s should remember this! It’s super simple to make and doesn’t take that long either – what’s not to like?

This recipe is my take on the traditional version of a cornflake tart, it’s a really quick, easy and cheap recipe to make and will go down well with many who get to try it. If you’re not sure what a cornflake tart is, I’ll give you a quick run down of what exactly it is. It’s a pastry case which is topped with jam (I opted for strawberry, which is what i remember but feel free to use any berry jam) and then topped with cornflakes that have a sugary sweet syrup stirred throughout them. So, it’s 3 simple layers of shortcrust pastry, jam and sweetened cornflakes, you might even have the stuff in to make it!

If you haven’t made your own pastry before, don’t worry. I have a great recipe for my own shortcrust pastry that I use for all of my pie and tart crusts, it’s yet to fail me! Don’t be intimidated by the thought of making pastry, it’s simpler than you’d think. Here is a link to my recipe, it’s got all the information you need to know, along with tips and tricks on how to make this turn out perfect for you each and every time!

Once you’ve made your pastry and allowed it to chill in the fridge, you’ll want to take roughly about half of it and roll it out until it’s about an inch bigger than the tin you’re using, I opted for a disposable 6 inch/15cm tray but feel free to use whatever you have. Once the pastry is rolled out, I then place it in the tray and press it down so it’s in place and then trim away the excess from around the edge, then dock the bottom of the pastry using a fork, this is just to stop the pastry from having air pockets while baking. The final stage before we bake this is to place it in the fridge for around 1 hour, then bake it off at the required temperature. *I only chilled mine for a short period, so the longer you chill it for, the less it will shrink*.

While your pastry case is baking in the oven, it’s best to make the filling. Place the all the ingredients (except for the cornflakes and jam) into a small saucepan and melt them together over a medium heat, stirring well. Once it’s all melted and well combined, the mixture will be a deep orange colour. Pour this mixture over your cornflakes and stir the two together until they are well coat, it doesn’t take very long at all.

Once the pastry case is out the oven, spread a good amount of your jam on top of it, then spoon on your cornflake mixture. I like to add mine gradually so I don’t make a mess, but feel free to do it your own way. once you’ve added all the cornflakes on top of the jam, I like to gently push them down a little, so its more compact. Pop this back in the oven for a few more minutes, just so the cornflakes become more golden brown, remove from the oven and allow to cool completely before enjoying.

Ingredients:

Cornflake Filling :
115g Golden syrup.
55g Butter.
20g Granulated sugar.
20g Demerara sugar.
A pinch of salt.
85g Cornflakes.
100-150g Jam (I used strawberry but feel free to use any red berry jam).

Method:

Make your pastry (using my recipe, if you’d like) and allow that to chill in the fridge for 1 hour before use.
After 1 hour, roll out half of the pastry, just until its about 1 inch/2.5cm bigger than the 6 inch tin/tray you’re using.
Press down the pastry into the tin and trim away the excess from the sides. (If your pastry has ripped or torn, fix it at this stage).
Dock the bottom of the pastry, using a fork. This prevents pockets of air forming while the pastry is baking.
Chill in the fridge for around an hour, then bake in your preheated oven at 200˚c/400˚f for 15-20 minutes.
While the pastry is baking, make your cornflake filling. Place the golden syrup, butter, granulated sugar, demerara sugar and a pinch of salt into a small saucepan and place that over a medium heat until everything has melted and come together, stirring well.
Remove the liquid mix from the heat and pour over the cornflakes, stirring well until the cornflakes are all well coated in the syrup mixture.
Once the pastry case has been removed from the oven, spread over a generous amount of jam (I opted for strawberry but feel free to use your preferred flavour) and then spoon on your cornflake mix, pressing it down slightly once all the mix is in the case. Place back in the oven for a following 5-7 minutes (or until the cornflakes are starting to turn a golden brown colour).
Allow to cool completely before you enjoy it, to serve enjoy it on its own or with custard, cream or ice cream.

Don’t forget, if you make anything using my recipes, feel free to share your creations with me over on Twitter and Instagram!

Pastry

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