Traybakes

3-in-1 Traybake

It’s the start of bakemas 2020!

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/or friends or if you’re hosting a festive get together.

Christmas is known for being the time of year in indulge and this traybake is the epitome of indulgence – you’re going to be gorging on a combination of blondie, brownie and cookie.

I’m one of those people who buys a tub of chocolates for Christmas but ends up eating them beforehand but not so much this year, I used a combination of Hero’s and Celebrations (feel free to use whichever chocolates you like). I tried to partner up the chocolates that would work together, this is optional.

This is the perfect traybake to make if you’re having people around (within the permitted rules of course) or have a massive sweet tooth – you’ll either have a piece of just the blondie, brownie or cookie OR even better, you will get a combination – which is honestly so pleasing.

The holidays are already a stressful time, so this traybake just makes your life that bit easier as it can be made days in advanced and stored in the fridge, now that’s great news, right

Anyway, let’s get started, shall we?

Ingredients:

Cookie:

75g Butter.

75g Granulated sugar.

75g Light brown sugar.

1 Egg.

1 tsp Vanilla extract.

175g Plain flour.

150g Cadbury dairy milk, Cadbury dairy milk caramel and Cadbury crunchy bits (mixed).

Blondie:

100g White chocolate.

65g Butter.

80g Granulated sugar.

95g Plain flour.

Pinch of salt.

2 Eggs.

1 tsp Vanilla extract.

50g White chocolate chips

150g Galaxy, caramel galaxy and twix.

Brownie:

105g Butter, melted.

30g Cocoa powder.

2 Eggs

1 tsp Vanilla extract.

100g plain flour.

70g Dark chocolate chips.

100g Mars bars and Snickers.

Methods:

Before you get started on the recipe, you’ll want to do some prep work. Start by lining a shallow sided 9×13 inch baking tray with parchment paper, weigh up your ingredients and grab any equipment you may need, such as heatproof bowls and spatulas. You’ll also want to preheat your oven to 180˚/350˚f.

Cookie:

To start on the cookie, grab a bowl and place in the butter, granulated sugar and light brown sugar into the bowl, then beat together tunic everything is well combined and has become lighter and fluffier in colour and consistency.

You can then go ahead and add in the egg and vanilla extract and mix that in until everything is incorporated. You may notice that the consistency has changed and become more loose, this is normal – don’t worry.

Now give the bowl a good scraping down, this helps to incorporate any bits that may not be fully worked in from earlier on.

You can then go ahead and add in the plain flour and chocolates, then fold everything in until the flour is fully incorporated and the chocolates are evenly distributed throughout the dough.

Don’t forget to scrape the bowl down, just to incorporate any bits that may not have been fully incorporated.

Go ahead and grab your prepared baking tray, and into the centre add the cookie dough. Spread it out until its level and consistent (leaving equal space either side for the brownie and blondie.

Chill in the fridge while you work on the next section.

Blondie:

To start on the blondie, grab a heatproof bowl and place in butter and white chocolate. Place the bowl over a saucepan of simmering water, allowing the ingredients to start melting then stir until everything has melted and the mixture is smooth.

Remove from the heat and add in the granulated sugar, then whisk until the sugar has been fully incorporated. If the mixture looks a little granular, don’t worry – this will be sorted in the recipe soon.

Next, add in both in the eggs and the vanilla extract and whisk them in until they are fully incorporated. You may have noticed that the mixture has changed in consistency, this is fine.

Add in the plain flour and salt, then fold them in until they have almost been fully worked in. You can then go ahead and add in the chocolate and chocolate chips and fold them in until they are fairly distributed throughout the mixture.

Then transfer the blondie batter onto the lined tray, on either side of the cookie dough. Spread and level it out as best you possibly can and then place into the fridge to chill until later on.

In the meanwhile, start on the brownie element.

Brownie:

Into a bowl, add melted butter and cocoa powder. Whisk the two together until they well combined – the mixture should have thickened, be smooth and glossy.

You can then go ahead and add in the granulated sugar and whisk it until it’s fully incorporated. You will notice the mixture looks granular, this is normal and will change as the recipe goes on.

Into the mixture, add the eggs and vanilla and whisk them all together until they have been fully incorporated into the mix.

Grab a sift and pass the plain flour through it, this just helps to remove any lumps that may be in the flour (sometimes flour and other dry ingredients can be prolific for having lumps in them). You will also want to add in your chocolate chips and other chocolates and then fold everything in until the dry ingredients are fully worked in and the chocolate is fairly distributed throughout the batter.

You can then transfer the brownie batter into only space left in the baking tray and spread it out until its level. Then place this baking tray into your preheated oven for around 30-35 minutes.

When theres about 10 minutes remaining of the baking time, remove the tray from the oven and top with some more of the chocolates, using the corresponding chocolates. Return to the oven and finish the baking time.

Once baked, allow to cool fully and then place in the fridge for a minimum of 1 hour or for the best results, overnight.

Whenever you’re ready, slice up into portions and enjoy!

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 other social’s – Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, TikTok, Twitter and YouTube. The YouTube tutorial will be linked down below.

Salted Caramel Gingerbread Traybake

by bakingwithelliott Leave a Comment

I’ve finally got into the swing of more seasonal baking! Today I’m sharing my recipe for a salted caramel gingerbread traybake – it’s a match made in heaven, trust me on this one.

I’ve gone from not slightly seasonal straight into sweater weather in a week, it had to happen though. If you have ever made a gingerbread style cake, you may know it’s similar to a Parkin (it gets better tasting with age) but throw in salted caramel and it really elevates the recipe into another dimension – it may sound bizarre but trust me on this one for once.

If you’re really not a fan of salted caramel, you can skip the salt and use just plain caramel, it won’t quite be the same but it’ll work.

Gingerbread isn’t always associated with autumn, I know but I wanted to share something a little more festive on the build up to Christmas but don’t worry, I have plenty of autumnal themed an flavoured recipes coming up… Keep your eyes peeled!

Anyway, let’s get started, shall we?

Ingredients:

Cake:

175g Butter.

150g Light brown sugar.

50-75g Black treacle (the more you use, the richer the flavour).

200g Plain flour.

1 tsp Baking powder.

Pinch of salt.

3 Eggs.

30-50g Crystallised ginger (use more if you like a stronger ginger flavour).

100ml salted caramel.

Caramel:

100g Butter.

150g Light brown sugar.

100ml Double cream.

1/2 tsp Vanilla extract.

Sea salt (flakes or rocks will work well)

Method:

Before you get started on making any element of this cake, you’ll want to do some prep work. Start by weighing up all of your ingredients, line a 9 inch cake tin with parchment and get any equipment you may need such as a medium saucepan, stand mixer and spatulas.

To start on the recipe, you’ll want to make the caramel. To make the caramel grab yourself a medium sized saucepan and place in the butter, light brown sugar, double cream, vanilla extract and salt.

You can then go ahead and place the saucepan on the hob over a medium heat and allow to warm a little before you continuously stir the mixture until everything has melted and fully combined, this doesn’t take too long but you’ll want to make sure everything is fully incorporate and you’re continuously stirring the mixture so it doesn’t catch on the bottom of the saucepan and ruin your caramel.

Allow this mixture to cool fully before you use it.

To make the cake, it’s really easy. Into a large mixing bowl, place the butter, light brown sugar, caramel black treacle, crystallised ginger and eggs, then beat on a high speed until they are fully mixed together and incorporated – the mixture won’t be perfectly smooth because of the crystallised ginger.

Go ahead and give the bowl a good scraping down, just to incorporate any bits that may not have been fully worked in earlier on.

Then you can add in the plain flour, baking powder and salt, passing them through a sieve first to remove any lumps that may be in the mixture.

Once all of the dry ingredients are in the bowl, incorporate them over a a medium speed, working your way up to a high speed until everything has been incorporated.

Give the bowl another good scraping down, just to incorporate any bits that may not have been fully worked in. The mixture should be smooth and glossy.

Pour the mixture into your lined 9 inch square baking tin, and place into your preheated oven and bake for 25 minutes or until a tester comes out clean when inserted.

You will then want to allow the cake to cool until its almost cold, still a little warm is ideal.

Take the remixing caramel and spread it on top of the cake, as its slightly warm the caramel will seep into the cake, enriching it and enhancing the flavours. It will be similar to a Parkin as it will get better with flavour.

Wait until the following day to slice the cake up, it’s worth the wait, trust me!

Cherry Bakewell Flapjacks

by bakingwithelliott Leave a Comment

For this weeks recipe, I took two treats and combined them to make a super easy and tasty treat for you to enjoy. Today I’m sharing my recipe for a batch of cherry Bakewell flapjacks.

If you like the plain traditional flapjack recipe, then you should like these. It’s the original chewy and gooey flapjack with elements of a cherry bakewell incorporated… It’s honestly a winning combination.

I use some ground almonds in the dry mix, this helps to add to the flavour and texture of the bake but I also use almond extract to get the most flavour into this bake.

When it comes to the jam, I used cherry to further add to the cherry flavour, however, traditionally in a Bakewell you’re more likely to find a plum jam but you can use whichever jam you like (homemade is better but shop bought works well).

Anyway, let’s get started, shall we?

Ingredients:

175g Butter.

175g Light brown sugar.

175g Golden syrup.

1/4 tsp Almond extract

350g Oats.

50g Ground almonds

50g Cocktail or glace cherries, halved.

(up to) 200g Cherry jam.

Method:

Before you get started on the recipe, you’ll want to do some prep work. I like to start by weighing up all of my ingredients, lining my 8×8 inch cake tin with parchment paper and grab any other equipment you may need such as a mixing bowl, spatula and saucepan. You may also want to preheat your oven to 180˚c/350˚f.

To start on the recipe, you’ll want to grab a medium saucepan and place in the butter, golden syrup and light brown sugar and place the saucepan on the hob over a medium-high heat and just leave it for around 60 seconds, then you can start to stir it constantly until everything has melted together and become smooth. The mixture should be clear, meaning you can see a single trace of a single ingredient.

Set the mixture aside for a moment while you prepare the next step.

Into a large mixing bowl, you can g ahead and add in all of your oats, the the ground almond and just mix the two together until they are fairly well combined.

Now you can go ahead and pour the melted mix over the oats and almond mixture, giving it all a very good mix. You want all of the oats to be coated in the melted mixture, this will only help to make them taste as yummy as possible.

Just before you’re finished with mixing the dry and wet mix together, you can go ahead and add in some cherries (cocktail cherries or glace cherries work well), fold them into the mixture until they have been fairly distributed throughout the mixture.

Grab your lined cake tin from earlier on and add around half of the flapjack mixture. Spread it out and level it out as best you possibly can – I found using a small cranked palette knife works really well.

Directly on top of the bottom layer of flapjack mixture, you can add the cherry jam and spread it out to get it as level as possible – then you can place the remaining oats on top of the jam layer and spread it out to achieve a consistent level. If you can still see some jam under the flapjacks, don’t worry it’s not the end of the world.

Place the tray into your preheated oven and bake for 25-35 minutes or until a nice golden brown colour all over with darker edges.

Once out of the oven allow to cool down fully before you attempt to finish them off.

This is optional but on a cherry Bakewell you get a thin layer of icing, so to add that element into the flapjacks, I’ll be making a glace icing to drizzle over the cooled traybake.

Simple drizzle over the icing in whichever pattern you’d like and place in the fridge for 20 minuets just to allow the icing to firm up.

Whenever you’re ready, you can slice them up. How you do this is completely up to you – I went with 16 bitesize pieces of flapjack but you could always half that and yield 8 more than generous portions but its up to you.

Oreo Cookie Bars

by bakingwithelliott Leave a Comment

Fancy a change from standard cookies? I feel you and have the solution. Today I’m sharing my recipe for a batch of Oreo cookie bars, all the best parts of a cookie but in a bar shape.

This traybake is honestly one of the simplest things you can me, it gives you the same feeling of a cookie but chunkier and more fudgey in the centre, you know like the perfect cookie? These bars give you all of that and then some.

I added Oreo’s to the cookie dough as well as on top, mostly for decorative purposes but also because you can’t beat the oreo flavour. There is milk chocolate chips in the recipe but you could substitute these for either milk or white chips, they are just added for texture and creaminess away from the Oreo.

If you’re in a rush and need something for a bake sale or have someone coming over, this is the perfect recipe to try – trust me. I have been there and I’ve done that… People look confused when you first offer them a square but they’re soon having another one!

Anyway, let’s get started, shall we?

Ingredients:

175g Butter, at room temperature.

175g Granulated sugar.

175g Light brown sugar.

2 Eggs.

1 tsp Vanilla extract.

350g Plain flour.

1 tsp Baking powder.

A pinch of Salt.

50g Milk chocolate chips.

100g Oreo’s, roughly chopped.

Method:

Before you get into making the cookie bars, you’ll want to do some prep. I like starting but weighing up all of my ingredients, lining a 8 inch square cake tin with parchment paper and grab a mixer and spatula. Don’t forget to preheat your oven to 180˚c/350˚f.

To start on the cookie dough, grab your mixing bowl and place the butter, granulated sugar and light brown sugar into the bowl and beat for a couple of minutes or until lighter and fluffier in colour and consistency.

Once that’s been achieved, you can give the bowl a good scraping down, just to incorporate any bits that may not have been fully worked in from earlier on.

Then you can add in the eggs and vanilla, one at a time, beating well in between each addition. You may notice that the consistency changes once all of the wet ingredients have been added and thats normal – don’t worry about it.

You’ll now want to give the bowl a good scraping down, again to incorporate any bits that haven’t been fully incorporated.

Next, you can add in the plain flour, baking powder and salt, passing them through a sieve first. This is just to make the dough as smooth as possible, removing any clumps that may occur in the dry ingredients.

It’s also the idea time to add in the Oreo’s and chocolate chips. You can always incorporate everything using a spatula but I find using my stand mixer works o break down and fairly distribute everything in the dough – the choice is all yours.

Once you have batter formed, give the bowl a good scraping down to incorporate any bits that haven’t been fully incorporated.

Then you can transfer it into your line 8 inch cake tin, spreading it out to get it as level as you can – this is to help with the bake consistency.

Just before you put it into the oven, place over some roughly chopped Oreo’s and chocolate chips, then place into your preheated oven and bake for 15-20 minutes or until they have turned a consistent golden brown colour.

If you can resist, trynnot to cut these util they are fully cooled down. To make them fudgier and easier slice, once cooled down, place into th fridge for 6-8 hours or overnight. Trust me, that really helps to enhance the flavour and texture.

Chocolate Brownies

by bakingwithelliott Leave a Comment

If you’re looking for the easiest and best brownie recipe, I have your back. Today I’m showing you how to make a batch of basic brownies.

Brownies are a baking essential, there’s no doubt about that but finding a recipe that works perfectly each time is another issue. I have been baking for years now and even I had a hard time finding a recipe that worked out for me.

I use this recipe and my other brownie recipe, both work really well but yield different end results. For example, this recipe provides a lighter but not cake texture, whereas my other brownies are denser and fudgier. I like both recipes as he brownies taste good either way.

This is the perfect looking brownie for its crispy/lighter coloured top and a gooey centre, I used a mixture of chocolates to finish off what I had open in my storage.

Anyway, let’s get started, shall we?

Ingredients:

200g Butter.

200g Milk chocolate.

100g Plain flour.

50g Cocoa powder.

3 Eggs.

300g Granulated sugar.

100g Chocolate chips/chunks (I used a mixture of white, milk and dark chocolate).

Method:

Before you get into the recipe, you’ll want to do some prep work first. Strat by preheating your oven to 180˚c/350˚f, place a saucepan with some water onto the hob over a medium heat, weigh up your ingredients, line a 8 inch square tin with parchment paper and get any other equipment you may need, such as a stand mixer and a silicon spatula.

To start, take a heatproof bowl (one thats big enough to fit on top of the saucepan of simmering water) and place in the butter and milk chocolate. Place on the heat and allow to melt, once you can see it melting, you will then want to stir the mixture until its smooth and no traces of a single ingredient can be seen. Once you’ve achieved this, set aside, allowing it to cool down bit before you use it.

Now you can go ahead and take a medium sized bowl and sift in the plain flour and cocoa powder (dry ingredients may have a tendency to have clumps in). Once sifted into the bowl, you can take a whisk and just combine them a little further – set aside until needed later on.

Into a large mixing bowl, place the eggs and sugar. Whisk them together until they are lighter in colour and consistency- it should be a pale yellow-ish colour and is smooth in texture.

Turn the speed to a medium and gently pour in the melted chocolate butter mixture, then once it’s incorporated, mix for a short while afterwards, just until it’s fully incorporated.

Next you can add in the sieved dry mix, then fold it in using a spatula or metal spoon, just until the dry ingredients have been incorporated. Try your best not to over-mix at this stage.

You can then go ahead and add in the chocolate and fold it in, just until its fairly distributed throughout the batter.

Pour directly into your line cake tin and bake in your preheated oven. Bake for 20-25 minutes or when the edges look more baked – the middle shouldn’t wobble when shook.

Once they are baked, remove from the oven and cool in the tin until they are cool. To make them even better, place in the fridge to make it easier to cut and improve the texture.

Now they are cooled and ready, cut up into 8 generously sized portions or 16 smaller bitesize pieces.

Tottenham Cake

by bakingwithelliott Leave a Comment

Today I’m sharing my take on the infamous Tottenham Cake.

I recently had a comment on my YouTube channel, asking for me to share a Tottenham cake recipe, so here it is.

I hadn’t made this specific cake in quite a while, so was quite happy to try something different and new to my channel. This isn’t exactly a traditional version of the traybake but it will certainly hit the sweet spot the same way.

If you’re not sure what this cake is, I’ll tell you. It starts with a vanilla sponge cake which is topped with a simple icing, coloured pink. This is from the use of berry jam or berry puree in the icing.

If you like sprinkle cake, you’ll love this recipe. I recommend you check out my other ‘old school’ recipes, including jam and coconut cake, chocolate concrete, chocolate hedgehogs and small cornflake tart/large cornflake tart.

Anyway, let’s get started, shall we?

Ingredients:

Cake:

220g Butter.

220g Granulated sugar.

4 Eggs.

220g Plain flour.

1 tsp Baking powder.

Pinch of salt.

1 tsp Vanilla extract.

Icing:

400g Icing sugar.

50g Raspberry jam, seedless and slightly warmed.

Milk, as much as needed to achieve the perfect consistency.

1/2 tsp Vanilla extract.

(optional) Desiccated coconut or 100s and 1000s.

Method:

Before you get into the baking, you’ll want to do some prep work. Start by weighing up your ingredients, lining your 9×13 inch cake tin with parchment paper, preheat your oven to 180˚c/350˚f and grab a large mixing bowl and mixer.

To start on the cake, take the mixing bowl and place the butter and granulated sugar into it. Beat the two together until they are lighter and fluffier in colour and consistency.

Once they are combined, you can give the bowl a good scraping down, just to incorporate any bits that may not have been fully worked in from earlier on.

Then you can go ahead and add in your eggs and vanilla, roughly one at a time, beating well in-between each addition. You will notice the consistency changes as you add the eggs, this is normal.

Give the bowl another good scraping down, just to incorporate any bits that may not have been fully worked in earlier on.

Take a sieve and pass the plain flour, baking powder and salt through it. I do this as the dry ingredients can sometimes have lumps in the mixture – start the mixer on a low speed to start with, working your way up to a medium-high speed, add a tablespoon of milk at a time, just until you have the perfect consistency.

Transfer the cake batter directly into the lined baking tin and spread it out using a small cranked palette knife or the back of a spoon.

Now place into your preheated oven and bake for roughly 25-30 minutes (or it should be golden brown and a tester should come out clean when in interred into the centre).

While the cake is baking, you can make the icing – which is super easy.

For the icing, grab a small-medium bowl and place in the icing sugar, milk, vanilla extract and raspberry jam. Whisk together until you have a thick but spreadable icing, you may need to add more milk or icing sugar to achieve the perfect consistency, so take your time with it to ensure you get it right. Set the icing aside until its needed later on.

Once your cake is fully baked and cooled, you can go ahead and add the icing directly on top of the cake and spread it out using a small cranked palette knife, ensuring you have given the top of the cake a good coating, this is where you can add the desiccated coconut or sprinkles, but I kept it plain and thats what makes a Tottenham Cake personally.

I place the cake into the fridge, just until the icing has firmed up, which is roughly about an hour. You can then take it from the fridge and take a sharp knife and slice the cake up, I went with 12 very generous sized portions but you could cut them in half and still have a good sized portion.

Jam & Coconut Traybake

by bakingwithelliott Leave a Comment

This classic combination is not one to miss, trust me. Today I’m sharing a super quick and easy recipe for a jam and coconut traybake.

Recently I’ve been making this cake quite a lot, mostly for my nan as this is her favourite cake. I made this while the lockdown was still quite struct, so finding coconut was like finding flour – almost impossible.

This is quick, easy and cheap to make. If you have older friends and family, this will make the perfect nostalgic treat for them. So why not give it a try and share with them, when you can?

If you’re not sure you’d like this cake, I’m sure you will. It starts with a light coconut cake, which is topped with jam and more coconut – perfect as a snack anytime of day!

Anyway, let’s get started, shall we?

Cake:

115g Butter.

115g Granulated sugar.

115g Self raising flour.

2 Eggs

75g Desiccated coconut.

Milk (only if needed).

Topping –

30-50g Jam (whichever flavour you like but I like strawberry).

40-50g Desiccated coconut (use more or less, whatever takes your fancy).

Methods:

Before you get started on making this cake, you’re best to do some prep work. Start by lining your 8 inch cake tin with parchment paper, weigh up all of the ingredients, preheat your oven to 180˚c/350˚f and get any equipment you may need such as a mixing bowl and spatula.

To start on the cake, grab a mixing bowl and place in the butter and sugar. Beat the two together until they are lighter and fluffier in colour and consistency – this doesn’t take too long, about 5 minutes is ideal.

Then you can go ahead and give the bowl a good scraping down, just to incorporate any bits that may not have been fully incorporated.

You can then add you egg, one at a time, beating well in-between each addition. The consistency will change and become looser but this is completely normal, it may even start to look curdled.

Now you can add in the flour, passing it through a sieve first (this is just to remove any lumps that may be in the dry ingredients). You will also want to add in the desiccated coconut.

Mixing on a low speed to start with, working your way up to a medium-high speed, ensuring you’re only mixing the cake batter until the dry ingredients have been fully incorporated and you can’t see a trace of a single ingredient. Add milk if needed.

Give the bowl another quick scrape down, just to incorporate any last bits that may not have been fully worked into the mix.

Take your lined 8 inch cake tin and pour the cake batter into it, the level it out as best you can. This is to help with the consistency when its baking – I find the back of a spoon works well or a small cranked palette knife is what I like to use.

Place into your preheated oven and bake for 15-20 minutes (use a cake tester, when inserted, it should come out clean). It should be risen and golden brown – allow to cool until it’s fully cooled down.

Once the cake is cooled down, you can then go ahead and finish the cake off. Take the jam and place it into the centre of the cake and spread it out until you have a consistent layer, then sprinkle over the desiccated coconut until you have enough of a layer and then set aside for a short while just to allow the jam to firm up a little.

Then you can go ahead and cut the cake up, into 8 generous portions of 16 more bitesize portions, its up to you!

Triple Chocolate Brownies

by bakingwithelliott Leave a Comment

Do you know somebody who loves chocolate? This is the recipe for them. Today I’ll be showing you how to make a batch of triple chocolate brownies!

Let’s be honest, are brownies ever a bad idea? No matter whatever your mood may be, why not have a brownie?

These brownies are how I like them, dense and fudgey. Personally, brownies shouldn’t be cake, if I wanted cake, I’d have made cake. If you’re not a fan of the dense sort of brownie, this recipe may not be for you!

You may have noticed from the picture that theres a lot of chocolate, you are able to see all 3 different types of chocolate, which is how a brownie should be. Don’t be stingy with the chocolate. The only question here is, is it possible to have too much chocolate in a brownie?

Anyway, lets’s get started, shall we?

Ingredients:

140g Butter, melted.

225g Granulated white sugar.

2 Eggs.

1 tsp Vanilla extract.

45g Cocoa powder.

75g Milk chocolate chips.

100g Plain flour

80g White chocolate, roughly chopped.

80g Milk chocolate, roughly chopped.

80g Dark chocolate roughly chopped.

Method:

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 such as a mixing bowl and a whisk. Don’t forget to line your 8 inch square tin with parchment paper

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 lower the chances of over mixing the brownie batter. Once your brownie batter is ‘clear’ from any single ingredient, stop mixing.

Go ahead and grab your lined cake tin and transfer the brownie batter directly into it. Spread and level it out as you need – then place into the preheated oven on the middle level and bake for around 20-25 minutes or until a tester comes out clean or with only a few crumbs on.

Once the brownies are baked, leave them in the tin and let them cool fully. Then place in the fridge overnight, this helps to make the brownies extra dense and easier to cut up – perfect, honestly.

When you’re ready to slice the brownies up, you can go with either 8 larger rectangular pieces or 16 smaller squares, whichever suits you best.

Cornflake Tart Recipe | School Cornflake Tart

by bakingwithelliott Leave a Comment

While you’ve got some more time on your hands, why don’t you give this cornflake tart a go?

I have already done a recipe for a cornflake tart but that was only a small one – this one is a large one. Who doesn’t want more of this classic treat?

I’m not sure whether it’s a local or national thing, but at my secondary school it was on the menu, alongside flapjacks and chocolate flapjacks. This recipe is even better than the ones your school could ever serve – I promise you that.

My recipe may not be exactly traditional but it’s my take on it and it’s always turned out well. If you’re not sure what cornflake tart is – are you okay? It starts with a shortcrust pastry case, which is then filled with strawberry jam and topped with cornflake mixture. You’re guaranteed to get sweet and crispy in every mouthful.

I’ll be showing you how to make your own pastry as well as the filling – its all super easy and can be made with a pretty quick turn around.

Anyway, let’s get started, shall we?

Ingredients:

Pastry:

I already have a recipe showing you how to make pastry, I’ll link it here for you.

Cornflake Filing:

230g Golden syrup.

110g Butter.

80g Granulated sugar.

A pinch of salt.

170g Cornflakes.

250-300g Strawberry jam.

Methods:

Before you get started on the recipe, I recommend you do some prep work. Start by weighing up your ingredients, line your 9×13 inch baking tray (only if needed, or even better, use a disposable tray), preheat your oven to 180˚c/350˚f and get any equipment you may need ready, such as a saucepan and a spatula.

To keep the recipe short and simple, I’ve left a link for the pastry recipe above. Make the pastry and wrap it in some clingfilm and chill for about an hour before you use it.

Once the dough has had some time to chill in the fridge, you can take it and start to roll it out. Start by generously flouring your work surface, then placing the dough onto it.

Roll out the pastry until its roughly 1 inch bigger than the 9×13 inch tin/tray, then you can go ahead and place the pastry over the top and press it down into place. Don’t worry if the pastry rips or tears, you can fix it with the left over pastry.

Dock the bottom of the pastry with a fork, this is just to allow the steam to release and prevents the pastry base rising while it bakes – place in the fridge and allow to chill for an hour.

Once the pastry case has had an hour in the fridge, you can then go ahead and grab your strawberry jam, spreading it out until you have roughly consistent layer of jam.

Place back in the fridge, just while you make the cornflake filling.

To make the cornflake filling, grab a small saucepan and place in the golden syrup, butter and granulated sugar and salt, then place it on the heat over a medium heat.

Allow everything to melt a little and then start stirring it constantly, just until everything is fully melted and is well combined.

Grab your bowl of cornflakes and pour over the melted mixture.

Then you can go ahead and give it all a very good stir until all of the cornflakes have been well coated in the liquid mix. Once you’ve achieved this, you can go ahead and grab your pastry case filled with the jam and add all of the cornflake mixture directly on top of the jam.

Move them about until you have a consistent layer and compress them down until the are slightly compact – this is just to make sure that it stays together while it bakes and once it cools down.

Place into your preheated oven and bake for 30-35 minutes or until the cornflakes have turned a golden brown colour. Whatever you do, don’t touch the tart until, its fully cooled down. Leave it in the baking tin/tray until it has fully cooled.

Once everything is done and dusted, you can go ahead and slice up the cornflake tart. You can cut it however you like but I went with 12 generously she portions but you could get 24 smaller bitesize pieces – its up to you.

Biscoff Rice Krispie Treats

by bakingwithelliott Leave a Comment

This weeks recipe, is a bit of a cheat as it’s a no-bake treat. Today I’m showing you how to make a batch of my Biscoff rice krispie treats – these could easily become your new favourites.

I’m trying my best to use up all the ingredients I have in the house, mostly so I don’t have to go out and risk catching anything. There was a night where I really wanted some thing sweet but easy and just plain old rice krispie treats came to mind but then I had the genius idea of making them biscoff… So that’s how I came up with these. The rice krispie treat is perfect and with the Biscoff, it just adds something special.

By making these, I was killing two birds with one stone – using what I had in the house and satisfying my sweet tooth. It’s a win-win to me!

Anyway, let’s get started, shall we?

Ingredients:

45g Butter.

300g Marshmallows (I used the pink and white variety, use whatever you can get).

180g Rice Krispies.

50g Biscoff spread.

50g Biscoff biscuits, roughly chopped.

8 Biscoff biscuits.

Method:

Before you get into making these treats, you’re best to do some prep work. Line a 8×8 inch square tin with greaseproof/parchment, weigh up all your ingredients and get yourself a large saucepan and silicon spatula.

To start, grab yourself a large saucepan and place the butter, marshmallows and biscoff spread. Place on the hob over a medium heat and allow to melt, then stir continuously until everything is well melted and smooth. This doesn’t take too long, don’t be tempted to use a high heat, as the mixture may catch on the bottom of the pan.

Once melted, take the saucepan off the heat and pour directly over the rice krispies.

Give it all a good mix together, try not to make a mess! it may be difficult to start with but as everything starts to get coated, it will get easier.

Once you’re about half way done with the mixing, you can now add in the roughly chopped biscoff biscuits, continue mixing until everything is incorporated and well mixed.

Now you can take your lined 8×8 inch square cake tin and place all of the rice krispie mixture into it. It may look like a lot but once its been compressed down, it will look better. Take a spatula or something similar and start to press the mixture down, levelling it off as best you can. It can be done pretty easily but I found to get it super level, using a cake decorating smoother really helps to get it level and compressing it.

Place in the fridge to firm up a bit, while you warm up the topping.

For the topping, take around 150-200g biscoff spread and melt it. I found placing the jar into some warm/hot water works really well. It should be much more liquid and easier to work with – pour directly on top of the treats and spread best you can, then place biscoff biscuits on top, if you’d like.

I like to then place the finished treats into the fridge, mostly just to firm up. As they are easier to slice when firm – it’s just a heck of a lot less messy.

Now it’s time to slice them up, cut into 8 generous portions, each slice should have a good ambit of biscoff spread and a whole biscoff biscuit. Feel free to cut them into smaller portions, so instead of 8 you get 16, it’s up to you!

Traybakes

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