Traybakes

Vegan Flapjacks

I’m baaaack!

We are starting the New Year with a whole month of vegan baking. January has become known as ‘Veganuary’, where you take on a vegan diet and lifestyle for the month of January. If you’re interested in more information on Veganuary, check out the Veganuary website.

When it comes to vegan baking, things can get a little complicated. You will notice that you’ll have to check a product before you consider it, this is just to rule out any products that may not be suitable. Most supermarkets here in the UK stock a pretty decent selection of suitable ingredients, which are priced decently.

I have chosen to start with something easy and that’s a batch of plain flapjacks. A sweet and sticky confection, which is super easy and has minimal ingredients – cheap, quick and easy to make, what more do you want?

Anyway, let’s get into the first bake of the year, shall we?

Ingredients:

175g Vegan spread (I use Free, found in Heron frozen foods. It’s also gluten free).

175g Light brown sugar (I recommend Tate & Lyle).

175g Golden syrup (I recommend Tate & Lyle).

350g Oats.

Methods:

Start by doing some prep work. I recommend taking your 8×8 inch square cake tin and lining it with greaseproof/parchment paper, weighing up the ingredients, preheating your oven to 160˚c/320˚f and getting any other equipment you may need, such as a medium saucepan and a heat proof silicon spatula.

Take a medium saucepan and into it, place the vegan spread, light brown sugar and golden syrup. Place the saucepan on the hob over a medium heat, stirring constantly once it starts to melt.

While the ingredients are melting on the hob, get yourself a large mixing bowl and pour in all the oats. Set aside until they’re needed later.

Once the ingredients in the saucepan are melted and combined, take it off the heat and pour it straight over the oats. Then give it all a very good mix until all the oats have been coated in the liquid mixture. Take your time and do it properly.

Transfer the mixture into your lined 8×8 inch cake tin, spreading out the mixture and getting it as level as possible. Then place it in the oven and back for 30-35 minutes (or until the edges have turned golden brown).

After they have baked, remove from the oven and allow to cool fully before you cut them up. Once they have cooled down fully, you can place them in the fridge for up to 2 days.

Depending how big of a portion you want to offer will decide how you cut them up. I went with 8 generous rectangles but you could cut these in half and get 16 bite size portions.

These are a really quick and easy recipe to make, so if you get the chance to make a batch, go ahead and do it!

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.

White Chocolate Rocky Road

by bakingwithelliott Leave a Comment

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!

I wish you a very Merry Christmas – hope you’re celebrating with those you love this holiday! Today’s recipe doesn’t actually involve any baking as its a no-bake recipe! I’m going to be showing you how to make a batch of white chocolate rocky road!

Today is the final bakemas 2019! It feels like its gone so quickly this year but I’ve had a fantastic time bringing you a selection of recipes -I’ll be back in the New Year with more baking recipes/videos for you to enjoy!

Anyway, let’s get started, shall we?

Ingredients:

150g Butter.

50g Golden syrup.

300g White chocolate.

120g Party ring biscuits.

150g Mini marshmallows (I chose the white ones but feel free to use the pink and white ones).

100g White chocolate malt balls (the ones I used are from Poundland, thats here in the UK).

150g Custard cream biscuits.

White chocolate spread.

**I opted for fillings which fitted the ‘white chocolate’ version of this rocky road, please feel free to alter the ingredients to suit you and others who may be eating this.**

Method:

Before you get into making this rocky road, you’ll want to do some prep work. Weigh up all of your ingredients into bowls (breaking the biscuits up into smaller pieces), line your 8 inch square cake tin with parchment paper and get yourself a medium saucepan and wooden spoon ready.

Into your saucepan, place the butter, golden syrup and white chocolate and place that on the hob over a medium-high heat, allowing the mixture to melt and come together. Stir together until they have all melted and come together.

While your mixture is coming together on the hob, get yourself a large mixing bowl and into it place the party rings, mini marshmallows, white chocolate malt balls and custard creams. Give them a brief mix, juts to incorporate all the different bits and pieces.

Once your white chocolate mixture has come together, pour it over the assortments of bits in the large mixing bowl. Give the mixture all a good mix to ensure that all of the fillings have been fully coated and incorporated. This doesn’t take very long.

Now that the rocky road is ready, you’ll want to chill it but before you do that take your 8 inch lined square cake tin and pour the mixture into it. Levelling it off as best you can with a spatula and then transferring it to the fridge to chill for a minimum of 3-4 hours (or overnight, if you’re not in a rush).

Finally, once the rocky road has been chilled, you can remove it from the fridge and finish it off.

To finish off the rocky road, take some white chocolate spread and melt it in a microwave (don’t melt for longer than 10-12 seconds at a time, otherwise it might melt), once melted, pour directly on top of the rocky road and level it off so there is a level coating of the white chocolate spread, the place back in the fridge, just until its firm to the touch.

Finishing time! You can now take your knife and cut these up, how you do this is completely up to you. I went with 8 more than generous portions, which could easily be cut in half and make 16 generous portions but again, this is up to you.

Bread Pudding/Traditional Bread Pudding

by bakingwithelliott Leave a Comment

I know this may not be for everybody but today I’ll be showing you how to make traditional bread pudding.

My traditional bread pudding contains light brown sugar, eggs, ground mixed spice and ground cinnamon alongside an abundance of dried fruit (currants, raisins, sultanas, mixed peel and glace cherries). This is one of the things whenever I make it, it doesn’t last very long.

You don’t need an awful lot of ingredients and if you have some day old (or stale) bread, you’re ready. Using day old/stale bread allows it to absorb more of the milk, which only makes this taste better- it’s moist.

I got 12 very generous portions from my 9×13 tin, but if you cut it differently, you may get more or less pieces from the bake, depending how you slice it. If you’re using a 9×13 inch tin, make sure its deep sided, otherwise it’s a waste of time.

If you like bread pudding, this recipe might be for you. I know that depending on where you are from in the UK, your take on bread pudding may vary. I’m from Birmingham and traditionally its quite light but mines a little darker from the spices and sugar I use.

Now you’ve got your bowl ready, let’s get started, shall we?

Ingredients:

1kg Bread (day old/stale white bread), chopped.

1,200ml Whole milk.

400g Raisins

300g Currants.

300g Sultanas

100g Mixed peel.

100g Glace cherries.

2 tbsp Ground mixed spice.

4 Egg.

280g Light brown sugar (plus additional for sprinkling on top before baking).

Method:

Before you get into making the bread pudding, you’ll want to do some prep work. Start by getting your oven preheated to 180˚c/350˚f, weighing up your ingredients and lining your 9×13 inch tray with some parchment/greaseproof.

To start on the actual bread pudding, place all the chopped bread into the largest mixing bowl you have, then add in the milk and combine the two using your hands. It may take about 5-7 minutes to get them well combined, once done it should be quite mushy and sloppy (I know, not the best words to use but it’s honestly what it’s like).

Once that has been achieved, you can then add in the raisins, currants, sultanas, mixed peel, glace cherries and ground mixed spice. Then mmix all of those ingredients in by hand, this doesn’t take too long but you want them to be equally distributed between in the mixture.

Add in all your eggs and light brown sugar, then mix it in again until they are fully worked in and you can’t see a trace of a single ingredient, if you do, continue mixing until you can’t.

Take your lined 9×13 inch cake tin and pour the bread pudding mixture into the tray and level it out so it bakes evenly.

Sprinkle over a small amount of light brown sugar, this is to add a crunchy top, so feel free to leave it out if you don’t want it.

Place into the oven and bake for 40-50 minutes, you will know once it’s done as the top will look perfectly crunchy and will be firm to the touch.

Allow to cool down completely before slicing up, its best enjoyed cold on its own. Well, that’s how I choose to enjoy it personally.

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!

Jaffa Cake Brownies

by bakingwithelliott Leave a Comment

Today I’ll be showing you how to make a batch of my jaffa cake brownies, I promise these won’t let you down!

The combination of orange and chocolate is an instant winner, that’s a fact. Most people who like chocolate normally like the combination, it just works. I don’t know the science behind the flavour combination but perhaps someone else does?

These brownies are the perfect thing to make if you have a last-minute bake sale or have friends/family coming over, they are quick, easy and can be customised to suit you very easily!

When I’ve spoken to people or had people comment on my previous brownies on YouTube and social media, they always mention how easy they were to make, in comparison to how they were expecting them to be. Brownies aren’t hard to make at all, but finding the right recipe can be a pain in the backside.

You now have the recipe you have been looking for, it’s reliable, quick and very customisable. They are definitely a fudgier brownie, which is the best way to enjoy a brownie personally. If you like a more cakey version, add ½ tsp of baking powder and it will make them a little more to your liking

Anyway, let’s get into making these brownies, shall we?

Ingredients:

280g Butter, melted.

450g Granulated white sugar.

4 eggs.

180g Plain flour.

2 tsp Vanilla extract.

90g Cocoa powder.

100g Milk chocolate chips.

Method:

Start by doing some prep. Weigh up your ingredients into small bowls, preheat your oven to 180˚c/350˚f and line your 9×13-inch baking tray with some parchment/greaseproof paper.

Start your brownies by melting your butter either in a small saucepan over a low/medium heat or in the microwave until its fully melted, either method will work well.

Into the saucepan/bowl melted butter, add the cocoa powder and mix it all together until it’s well combined and smooth in consistency. Transfer the mixture to a bowl if needed.

Once the mixture has cooled down a little, add in all the granulated sugar and mix until they are combined. The texture will change, becoming more granular but this will change later in the recipe.

Add in your eggs, one at a time, beating well in-between each addition. As you incorporate the eggs, the consistency will change to become more liquid-like. Once the eggs have been fully incorporated, add in your vanilla and mix to incorporate.

Into the bowl, add in flour but pass it through a sieve to remove any lumps that may be in the flour. Then give a brief mix and add in the chocolate chips and mix them together until everything is well combined and you can’t see a trace of a single ingredient.

Transfer the brownie batter into your lined 9×13 baking tray and level it out as best you can use a small cranked/offset palette knife (or the back of a spoon will work just as well). Once level, add 10 Jaffa cakes and the zest of one orange onto the top of the brownie batter, then place into the preheated oven and bake for 25-30 minutes (depending on your oven, seeing as all ovens are different to one another).

Once fully baked, allow to cool down in the baking tray for a while, then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.

Once cooled down, cut your brownies into rectangles and enjoy!

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!

Cherry Bakewell Blondies

by bakingwithelliott Leave a Comment

This weeks recipe is for cherry bakewell blondies. If you are unsure or don’t think you’ll like these, trust me. Add these to your list of things to do this weekend, they’ll go down a real treat.

This recipe has been one I’ve worked on for a while, who’d have thought that white chocolate would be so hard, huh? The one thing I did learn in college was about how temperamental white chocolate is. It isn’t really chocolate as it doesn’t contain cocoa solids but we are using it anyway.

The moral of the story, take extra care with white chocolate. It’s super temperamental.

Another thing to remember is, these aren’t brownies. The ratio of butter to sugar is completely different, so they will have different texture/mouthfeel. To be honest, these blondies are more on the cakey side, slightly dense but more cakey, for sure.

I’m using store bought cherry Bakewell’s as they are pretty readily available here in the UK but if you’re outside of the UK you may have a hard time getting these. Feel free to use the next best thing, something like individual frangipane tarts would work pretty well.

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 tin (if you want to, I didn’t but you know your tin) 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:

200g White chocolate, roughly chopped.

130g Butter.

160g Granulated sugar.

190g Plain flour.

½ tsp Salt.

3 Eggs.

2 tsp Vanilla extract.

60g Cherry jam.

Sliced almonds (as many or as few as you’d like).

Method:

Before you get into making the blondies, you’ll want to do some prep work. Start by weighing up all of your ingredients, line your 8 inch square tin and preheat your oven to 180˚c/350˚f and get any equipment you intend on using.

Into a bowl, place your butter and white chocolate and melt them over a bain-marie, keep the heat at a medium and no higher (you can also use a microwave on 15 second burst, this isn’t the best method as it can get the chocolate too hot, which isn’t ideal), take extra effort not to get the mixture too hot.

Once the butter and chocolate are melted, add in your sugar straight away and whisk it in until fully incorporated.

Then you can add in your eggs, one at a time. Beating well in-between each addition, the mixture shouldn’t scramble (if this happens, start over).

Next you can add in the plain flour and salt, you’re best to incorporate them using a silicon spatula, this is what I find the best to work with. Once you can’t see a trace of the flour/salt, stop mixing, you don’t want to overmix the batter.

Finally, before you’re done, add in the vanilla and stir that in until fully incorporated.

Pour the blondie batter into your lined 8 inch square cake tin and level it out using your silicon spatula.

Get your cherry jam and add around 5 dollops and swirl it around the tin using a butter knife (you can add a few more dollops if you feel it needs it, I did).

Sprinkle over some sliced almonds, the amount depends on your preference, I went with a fair few but alter it to suit you.

Place into your preheated oven and bake for 20-25 minutes, before removing from the oven to add in the cherry Bakewell’s (I used 5 which had been chopped into quarters), you may need to push them in towards the edge. Place it back in the oven and bake for a further 10-15 minutes or until a tester when inserted comes out clean.

Once baked and out of the oven, allow to cool fully before you try to cut them.

Now they are fully cooled, you can cut them into slices. From this I get 8 generous portions. From the one side, I cut it 4 equal times, then once down the centre, so I get 8 portions. You can cut them however you like, so you get more or less portions, it’s up to you.

Slutty Brownies

by bakingwithelliott Leave a Comment

These aren’t just any brownies, these are slutty brownies.

If you don’t know what slutty brownies are, where have you been? They start with a milk chocolate cookie base, which is topped with a layer of original Oreos and finished with a layer of milk chocolate cookie… These are incredible naughty, so a little goes a long way.

The first time I tried this traybake was when I visited Crumbs & Doilies on a visit to London, it was so good and after that I was working on my own version but it took me around a year to formulate a recipe that worked and thats the one I’m sharing with you today.

What I love about these brownies are that they are super easy to customise to suit you. If you don’t like original Oreo’s switch them out for double stuff or golden Oreo’s, use dark chocolate in the brownies in place of the milk chocolate or use white chocolate chips – the choice is really up to you.

Anyway, let’s get started, shall we?

Ingredients:

Brownie:

140g Butter, melted.

45g Cocoa powder.

225g Granulated sugar.

2 Eggs.

90g Plain flour.

100g Chocolate, chopped.

Fillings:

16 Original Oreo’s

Cookie Dough:

75g Butter.

75g Light brown sugar.

75 Granulated white sugar.

1 Egg.

175g Plain flour.

Pinch of salt.

100-150g chocolate, chopped.

Bake at 180˚c/350˚f for 30-35 minutes.

Method:

Brownie batter:

Before you start making anything, you’ll want to do some prep work. Start by weighing up your ingredients, preheating your oven to 180˚c/350˚f and getting any equipment you need ready (like your stand mixer and bowls).

To start on the brownie batter, you’ll want to add your melted butter and cocoa powder sugar into large mixing bowl and whisk the two together until well combined.

Then go ahead and add in the granulated sugar and mix it in until it’s fully incorporated. Give the bowl a good scrape down, this is just to incorporate any bits that may not have been fully worked in.

Add your eggs, one at a time beating well in-between each addition. As the eggs are incorporated, the mixture will become smoother and glossier.

After that you can add in the plain flour and chocolate, fold those in using a spatula, this will stop you from over mixing the brownie batter. Once fully combined, set aside until needed later on.

Now onto the cookie dough, do the same prep as with the brownie batter. Start by weighing up your ingredients, preheating your oven and getting any equipment you need ready.

Cookie dough:

Start by adding the butter, light brown sugar and granulated white sugar into your mixing bowl (I’m using my stand mixer but feel free to use a hand mixer or wooden spoon, it may just take longer), then beat them all together until they are well combined, this normally takes a few minutes.

Once they are all combined give the bowl a scraping down, then add your egg into the mix and mix until its fully incorporated. Give your bowl another good scrape down, this is to incorporate any bits that may not have been fully worked in from earlier on.

Sift your plain flour and salt into the mixture and give that a brief mix to start incorporating it, then add in the chopped chocolate. Mix until the flour is fully incorporated and the chocolate is well dispersed in the dough.

Now that you’ve got the brownie and cookie dough sorted, get your 8×8 inch square baking tin and line it with greaseproof/parchement paper, then you can place the cookie dough down and press it into the corners and get it as level as possible.

On-top of the cookie dough you can place the Oreos, I got 4 into each row, so I had 16 in total, make sure you press them into the cookie dough a little.

Then finally you can place the brownie batter on top, smooth and level that out as best you can.

Place the tin into your preheated oven and bake for 30-35 minutes (or until a tester comes out clean).

Once fully baked, remove from the oven and allow to cool in the tin for around 15 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack to cool completely. Then feel free to cut the brownies up however you like, I went with 2×2 squares (the perfect amount I think!).

Terry’s Chocolate Orange Brownies

by bakingwithelliott 1 Comment

Have you got a spare Terry’s chocolate orange or two? Why not make a batch of these brownies? I can guarantee that these will go down a treat with whoever gets one!

I know that Terry’s chocolate oranges are available all year round, so not all that festive, I know.

The combination of chocolate and orange will always be a winner, that’s a fact. So partnering the Terry’s chocolate orange with the brownies was a great idea (especially if you like the combination). It’s not secret, I like chocolate, so who wouldn’t want to put more chocolate into the brownies?!

Anyway, these brownies don’t take too long to make and will go down a treat, so let’s get into how to make these brownies.

As with all my recipes, I recommend doing some prep work before you actually get into the recipe. Doing these few extra steps can save you time and prevent you from mistakes later on, nothing worse then wasting ingredients is there? Preheat your oven to 180˚c/350˚f, weigh up all your ingredients into small bowls and line your 9×13 inch baking tray. These small additional steps can save you making major mistakes and faffing around.

To start on the brownies, you’ll want melt your butter. You can do this two ways, either in a small saucepan over a medium heat or place into a microwavable bowl, either method works. Transfer the mixture into a bowl, if needed then add in the cocoa powder and give a good mix until the two are fully incorporated, using a whisk is the best thing to use at this point. Allow the mixture to cool for around 10 minutes before continuing.

After the 10 minutes, you’ll want to add in granulated sugar and give it a good mix until they have come together and are well combined. You will notice a change in the consistency but don’t worry it will change as you incorporate the eggs. Add in your eggs, one at a time, beating well in-between each addition. Once you’ve got all of your eggs fully incorporated you’ll notice that the consistency of the batter has changes and become much runnier and smoother, don’t worry, this is what you’re looking for.

Add in your flour but pass it through a sieve first to remove any lumps that may be within the flour, then give it a brief mix, then add in the chopped Terry’s chocolate orange and mix until the flour and chocolate is fully incorporated. Don’t mix the batter anymore than you need to, otherwise you’ll over-mix the batter and result in a tougher textured brownie (which nobody wants, seriously).

Once the brownie batter is complete, you can then transfer it to your lined 9×13 baking tray, getting as much as the batter in there as possible. Use a silicone spatula to scrape the bowl down, then level the batter out as best you can using a small offset/cranked palette knife or even the back of a spoon will work well. Get it to one level layer of batter, then add the 9 pieces of Terry’s chocolate orange on top (alter the amount if you’re cutting these smaller to serve at a party or something, add more if wanted. The portions I offered were large).

Place the baking tray into your preheated oven and bake for 25-30 minutes or when a tester comes out with just a few crumbs on it. One thing to remember is that all ovens are different, so check at the 25 minute mark and then determine whether you need more time or not.

Once the brownies are fully baked, remove from the oven and allow to cool in the tin for a short time before removing to cool completely on a cooling rack. Once they are fully cooled down, you can then cut them into portions and enjoy. They are great served on there own, they don’t need any accompaniment.

Anyway, here is a (slightly) condensed version of the instructions and ingredients.

Ingredients

280g Butter, melted.
450g Granulated white sugar.
4 eggs.
180g Plain flour.
2 tsp Vanilla extract.
90g Cocoa powder.
100g Terry’s Chocolate Orange, roughy chopped.

Instructions

Start by doing some prep. Weigh up your ingredients into small bowls, preheat your oven to 180˚c/350˚f and line your 9×13 inch baking tray with some parchment/greaseproof paper.
Start your brownies by melting your butter either in a small saucepan over a low/medium heat or in the microwave until its fully melted, either method will work well.
Into the saucepan/bowl melted butter, add the cocoa powder and mix it all together until it’s well combined and smooth in consistency. Transfer the mixture to a bowl if needed – allow to cool for 10-15 minutes.
Once the mixture has cooled down, add in all of the granulated sugar and mix until they are combined. The texture will change, becoming more granular but this will change later in the recipe.
Add in your eggs, one at a time, beating well in-between each addition. As you incorporate the eggs, the consistency will change to become more liquid-like. Once the eggs have been fully incorporated, add in your vanilla and mix to incorporate.
Into the bowl, add in flour but pass it through a sieve to remove any lumps that may be in the flour. Then give a brief mix and add in the chopped Terry’s chocolate and mix them together until everything is well combined and you can’t see a trace of a single ingredient.
Transfer the brownie batter into your lined 9×13 baking tray and level it out as best you can using a small cranked/offset palette knife (or the back of a spoon will work just as well). Once level, add 9 pieces of Terry’s chocolate orange onto the top of the brownie batter, then place into the preheated oven and bake for 25-30 minutes (depending on your oven, seeing as all ovens are different to one another.
Once fully baked, allow to cool down in the baking tray for a while, then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.
Once cooled down, cut your brownies into rectangles and enjoy!

Millionaires Shortbread

by bakingwithelliott Leave a Comment

If you’re here looking for a super simple recipe on how to make millionaires shortbread, I’ve got you covered.

If you don’t know what millionaires shortbread is, its basically a layered traybake. The layers consist of a shortbread biscuit base, which is topped with a rich caramel layer and finished with a chocolate layer on top. What’s not to like about it? 🤔

Anyway, I’m going to share my recipe on how to make the millionaires shortbread. It’s quick, easy and doesn’t require many ingredients, which is always a good thing!

The process of making the different parts isn’t exactly hard, nor do they take a lot of time to do. Making the shortbread will vary, depending on the method you use. There are two ways to make the dough, method 1 is using a food processor and method 2 is making it by hand. Both methods will work equally as well but method 1 is quicker than method two, however, method 2 is ideal if you don’t have a food processor or prefer to be hands on when making doughs.

Before you get into making this, you’ll want to do a small bit of prep. Measure out all of your ingredients in advance, this just saves you making mistakes and faffing about. Also, don’t forget to preheat your oven to 180˚c/350˚f. The baking tin I’m using is 11×7 inches but feel free to use a 9 inch square.

To make the shortbread layer, place your flour, sugar and butter into either your food processor or mixing bowl and pulse/rub in until its combined. Once you see a clear dough has formed, stop mixing and set aside while you prepare your tin, lining it with some greaseproof paper. Place your shortbread into your prepared tin and press it out until you have a level layer, I found using my hands and a small cup measurement really helps to spread it out and get it level. Do whatever works best for you. Bake in your preheated oven for 20-22 minutes (or until slightly coloured around the edge. While your shortbread is baking, feel free to make the caramel layer.

To make the caramel layer, it’s really easy. Get a small-medium saucepan and place the butter, sugar, golden syrup and condensed milk and place on the hob over a low-medium heat and continuously stir it until it melts, it will then become darker in colour, it should be a golden brown colour, no lighter or darker. Once you’ve achieved the right colour, pour the caramel over the baked biscuit base and level it off as best you can using a silicon spatula or cranked palette knife. Place this in the fridge until its cooled down, it should be firm to the touch. This doesn’t take very long.

The final layer is the chocolate layer. This is probably the easiest and most simple layer to do plus you can customise it to suit you. I chose to use dark chocolate (as it was all I had in) but feel free to use milk chocolate, if you’d prefer to. All you need to do is melt your chocolate, my preferred method is to melt the chocolate in a bowl over a saucepan of simmering water and stirring it often until melted. If you don’t like using this method, feel free to microwave the chocolate on 20-30 second intervals, stirring well in-between each interval, be careful not to burn the chocolate. Pour the chocolate over the top of your cooled and firmed caramel and level the chocolate off as best you can using a offset/cranked palette knife, place the baking tray back in the fridge and allow the chocolate to firm up.

Once the chocolate has firmed up, remove the millionaires shortbread from the tin (you may need to run a knife down the sides) and cut it up into slices, I cut mine into squares but feel free to cut yours into slices that suit you best.

Ingredients:

Shortbread:

115g Butter.

175g Plain flour.

55g Granulated sugar.

Caramel Filling:

175g Butter.

115g Granulated sugar.

45g Golden syrup.

400g Condensed milk.

Chocolate Topping:

300g Chocolate (dark or milk, whichever you prefer best).

Methods:

Do some prep work now, weigh up your ingredients, this saves you making mistakes later on and stops you faffing about later.
Preheat your oven to 180˚c/350˚f.

Shortbread:

When it comes to making the shortbread, you can do it 2 ways, using a food processor or by hand. Either method will get you the results you’re looking for, I used the food processor method.
Place the flour, sugar and butter into your food processor or mixing bowl of choice and pulse/rub them together until a clear dough forms. Be careful not to over-mix it at this stage, otherwise your shortbread will be tough once baked.
Line your baking tray with a piece of baking paper/parchment and place the shortbread dough into the prepared tin, feel free to do this by using your hands or a small cup measurement, try and get the layer of shortbread as level as possible.
Once level, place your shortbread into the preheated oven and bake for around 20-22 minutes or until slightly coloured around the edge.

Caramel Filling:

I recommend making your caramel filling once your shortbread has been in the oven for round 10-15 minutes.
The caramel is really easy to make, get yourself a small-medium saucepan and place the butter, granulated sugar, golden syrup and condensed milk into your saucepan and place on the hob over a low-medium heat, once it starts to melt, you’ll want to continuously stir the mixture. You’ll notice it goes from a yellow-ish colour to a golden brown colour, this is when you know it’s done.
Once your caramel filling is done, pour it over the baked shortbread base and level out the caramel using a spatula or cranked/offset palette knife then place in the fridge to set completely cool and firm up. This doesn’t take very long.

Chocolate Topping:

Once your caramel layer has set, you can melt your chocolate. For the chocolate, feel free to use milk or dark chocolate, choose your preference.
You can melt the chocolate 2 different ways, method 1 is placing the bowl of chocolate over a saucepan of simmering water, stirring often once it starts to melt. Method 2 is placing the chocolate into a microwave safe bowl and microwave the chocolate in 30 second intervals until melted. Either method will work, I chose method 1 as this is my preference.
Pour the chocolate on top of the firmed caramel layer and spread it out using a cranked/offset palette knife or the back of a spoon and level out the chocolate as best you can.
Place back in the fridge and allow the chocolate to firm up completely.

To finish the millionaires shortbread, all you need to do is to remove it from the tray and cut it up into slices, I chose squares but feel free to cut them up however you like.

Chocolate Concrete

by bakingwithelliott Leave a Comment

If you’re looking for a nostalgic recipe for chocolate concrete, you have come to the right place. I have the recipe that’ll hit the spot!

As mentioned above, this recipe is another recipe that has been around for many years and enjoyed by many people. If you were at school any time between the 1970s and the 2000s, then you should remember this being served at lunch times every now and again. If you remember this, do you remember pink custard? Chocolate concrete and pink custard are a match made in heaven.

I’m not sure if this is a local or national thing, people from (and around) the West Midlands know it as chocolate concrete and others know it as chocolate crunch, whichever you know it as, here is the perfect recipe for you to make at home. If you’re not sure exactly what it is, well… It’s a traybake biscuit x cake, it’s not one or the other, it is it’s own thing. You can enjoy it on it’s own or with a serving of pink custard.

This is probably one of the simplest things to make, like ever. It only requires a few ingredients, minimal mixing and a short time in the oven… Why don’t you make a batch? So, to make the chocolate concrete dough, place all of your ingredients into the mixing bowl and mix until a clear dough has formed. That’s it, seriously it’s that simple. You place that into your 8 inch/20cm square cake tin, bake in the oven at 175˚c/350˚f for 25-30 minutes. While your concrete is cooling down, you can make your custard. It doesn’t take that long to make, you will want to make it just before you intend to serve it. I’ll leave the full method down below, if you’re interested in making them.

Once fully baked and out the oven, you’ll want to scatter a generous amount of sugar on top and allow it to cool completely before you serve it. This is best served either on it’s own or with a generous serving of the pink custard.

Ingredients –

Chocolate Concrete:

445g Plain flour.
1 tsp Baking powder.
50g Cocoa powder.
250g Granulated sugar.
370g Butter.
1 Egg.

Bake at 175˚c/350˚f for 25-30 minutes.

Pink Custard:

200ml Whole milk.
2 Egg yolks.
20-30g Granulated sugar.
1 tsp Vanilla extract/bean paste.
1 tsp Plain flour.
Food gel (to colour).

Method:

Chocolate concrete:

Start by weighing up all of your ingredients, preheating your oven to 175˚c/350˚f and preparing your 8 inch/20cm square tin with greaseproof paper/parchment paper.
Place the flour, baking powder, cocoa powder, sugar, butter and egg into your mixing bowl and mix them all together until a clear dough forms.
Once your dough is ready, transfer it from your mixing bowl to your lined tin and press it into all the corners and try and get it as level as possible by pressing it down using a spatula or cup measurement.
Place the tin in your preheated oven and bake for 25-30 minutes.
Remove from the oven and scatter over some granulated sugar and allow to cool completely before cutting.

Pink Custard:

Start by weighing up all the ingredients you will be using to make the custard.
Pour the milk into a medium saucepan and place it onto the hob over a medium heat until it reaches a boil.
In a medium sized bowl, place the egg yolks, sugar, vanilla extract/bean paste and flour and mix until it’s well combined and become one consistent colour.
Once your milk has come to a boil, add a small amount of the milk to your egg mixture and whisk constantly. This is to temper the egg mixture so it doesn’t scramble when you add the remaining milk.
Add the remaining milk and whisk to combine. Once combined transfer the mixture back to the sauce pan.
Add a small amount of colour paste and whisk that in until combined, then return to the heat and stir is with a spatula constantly until the mixture thickens. *please note the custard doesn’t thicken very much, this is because it’s a pouring custard*.

Serving:

Slice your chocolate concrete up into squares or rectangles and enjoy it either on it’s own or with a generous amount of the freshly made pink custard on top and tuck in straight away.

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

Sprinkle Sponge Cake | School Sponge Cake | Old School Traybake

by bakingwithelliott 7 Comments

If you remember having this cake at school, you must make this as soon as possible. I promise you won’t be disappointed.

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 cake is just one of the few old school favourites I remember being offered when I was back in primary school – others include chocolate concrete & pink custard, cornflake tart and chocolate hedgehogs.

This recipe is my take on the traditional version of the old school traybake, 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 this cake is, I’ll give you a quick run down. This cake is a basic sponge cake which is topped with a even simpler glacé icing and best of all, it can be made and finished within 60 minutes – what’s not to love?

For the cake, I used the all in one method (which isn’t as preferred as the creaming method), this is where you place all of your ingredients into a bowl and mix them until a cake batter has formed compared to the creaming method, which starts with you creaming the butter and sugar together, then gradually adding the egg then the dry ingredients. You can use either method, they will both work well and usually I would use the creaming method for cakes.

The icing is a simple glacé icing or water icing, which is just icing sugar and water. It makes for a sweet and crisp icing the works remarkably well with this cake in particular. You pour this in the centre of your fully baked and cooled cake, then spread it out using a cranked/offset spatula or the back of a spoon to spread and level the icing as best you can and finish it with the sprinkles – this cake is so simple, you don’t need to be a master baker or anything.

At school this cake would be served with custard, which is a welcome addition.

Ingredients:

220g Plain flour

1 tsp Baking powder

Pinch of salt.

220g Granulated sugar.

4 Eggs.

220g Butter.

2 tbsp Milk.

1 tsp Vanilla extract.

Icing:

400g Icing sugar.

Water (work a teaspoon at a time, until its perfectly spreadable).

Rainbow sprinkles.

Method:

Cake:

Start by doing some prep work. Preheat your oven to 180˚c/350˚f, weighing up all your ingredients and preparing your tray with butter and flour, which is either 8×12 inches or 9×13 inches would work well (if you’re not using a disposable tray which is roughly 8×12″. These can be found in the supermarket 6 trays for £3 or so).
Start by placing all your ingredients into a large mixing bowl and mix together on a low-medium speed to start with, then working your way up to a medium-high speed until everything is combined and a clear dough has formed (there shouldn’t be a trace of a single ingredient).

If you find that your cake batter is a little too thick, add in your milk, a little a time until the cake batter is slightly more spreadable.

Give the bowl a good scraping down, then mix in any ingredients that haven’t been fully worked in – trying your best not to over-mix the mixture (otherwise the cake will be tougher in texture).
Add the cake batter into the tray and level it out as best you possibly can using a small offset/cranked palette knife and then place into the oven and allow to bake for around 25-30 minutes (or until a tester comes out clean).
Once out the oven, allow to cool completely before finishing.

Icing:

Into a medium size bowl, place in the icing sugar and a teaspoon of water, mixing well. Keep adding a teaspoon at a time until you get to a thick but loose enough to spread.

Finishing:

Take your cooled down cake and place the icing into the middle of the cake then spread it out as evenly as possible using a offset/cranked palette knife. Try to give the cake as level coating as possible.

Once you’ve got your icing spread out, sprinkle a generous amount of rainbow sprinkles onto the top.

That’s all you need to do to make this cake, its quick, easy and cheap – what’s not to love? I hope you get to make this soon!

(Video tutorial if you’d like that over reading or want to read and watch, haha).

Traybakes

Ingredients

Instructions

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