Baking with Elliott

Vegan Brownies

It’s almost the end of Veganuary 2020, can you believe that?

Today I’m sharing my recipe for a batch of perfect vegan brownies! They’re dense, fudgy and studded with chocolate – what more could you ask for?

A lot of people think vegan baked goods are bland and boring but they aren’t. That may apply for the treats you can buy in the supermarket but you can expect so much more when you make the treats from scratch – honestly.

Due to the rise in popularity of veganism in the last few years, there are plenty of vegan ingredients readily available at most supermarkets – which is ideal if you’re looking to enjoy a plant based diet.

These brownies aren’t as thick as my traditional version but they are just as chocolatey, rich and decadent. If you were to make them for someone and not tell them they were vegan, they wouldn’t even notice!

Want the best tasting brownies? I have used a selection of products from the lovely people over Cocoarunners – I used the cocoa powder and unsweetened chocolate.

Anyway, let’s get started, shall we?

Ingredients:

140g vegan spread.

225g granulated white sugar.

4 tbsp ground flaxseeds + 12 tbsp water.

1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract.

90g cocoa powder.

200g plain flour.

100g unsweetened chocolate.

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 9×13 inch cake pan with parchment paper.

To start on the brownies, you’ll want to sort the egg replacement. Start by grabbing a small mixing bowl and place in the ground flaxseeds and the water, then mix together until they are well combined – set aside (it will become a little more gelatinous, the same consistency as standard eggs).

Into a large mixing bowl, add in your butter until its melted, then go ahead and add the cocoa powder 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 flaxseed egg replacement all in one go and incorporate until everything has been fully incorporated. As the flaxseed eggs are incorporated, the mixture will become smoother and glossier – this is normal.

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 pan 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 30-35 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 for a couple of hours or overnight, this helps to make the brownies extra fudgy and easier to cut up – perfect, honestly.

When you’re ready to slice the brownies up, you can cut them into squares/rectangles or whatever else you’d like to, whichever suits you best.

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.

Potato and onion rolls

by bakingwithelliott Leave a Comment

January has been a weird month already, hasn’t it? Well, take your mind off everything by making a batch of these potato and onion rolls!

If you’re looking for light and fluffy rolls that can be used as dinner rolls or burger buns, these super versatile rolls are the perfect addition for all of your bread and/or roll needs.

You haven’t had potato in bread, you’re missing out. It sounds like a weird ingredient that may make the bread heavy and stodgy but its actually the opposite… It’s light and fluffy and doesn’t add too much of the starchy potato flavour, thats where you can get creative with the flavours you add. The perfect flavours you can add are onion, garlic or even mint (the choices are endless).

You may have noticed these are completely vegan as well, which is another added bonus!

The bread is super soft and ultimately pillowy, this is due to the addition of the potato into the dough – I know it sounds weird but it also adds moisture, so you don’t need to add so much water to start with.

Anyway, let’s get started, shall we?

Ingredients:

500g Strong bread flour.

5g Salt.

15g Fresh yeast.

30g Vegan spread or White shortening.

210ml Water.

250g Potatoes (peeled, boiled and fully cooled down).

150g Red Onion, roughly chopped.

Method:

Before you get into making this loaf, you’re best to do some prep work. I like to start by weighing up all of my ingredients, preparing the loaf pan with a slip of greaseproof paper and get any equipment you may need, such as a stand mixer and a spatula. Don’t forget to peel and boil your potatoes and allow them to cool down almost fully before you use them.

To start on the dough, take your mixing bowl and place in the bread flour and salt, giving them a good mix, just until they are incorporated.

You can then go ahead and add in the fresh yeast, vegan spread/white shortening and water.

Mix on low speed to start with for around 2 minutes, followed by 6 minutes on a high speed. You will notice the dough isn’t as soft as usual, this is normal and will change.

Once the dough has been mixing for around 6 minutes, stop the mixer and place in all of the potatoes and onions and then continue to mix on a low speed for around a minute, followed by 1-2 minutes on a high speed. By this time, you’ll notice the dough is looking a lot better, much lighter and fluffier.

Lightly flour your work surface with a small amount of flour, then place the dough onto it and give it a brief knead. You just want the dough to be smooth and elastic.

You can then transfer the dough into a bowl which has been lightly oiled with a splash of flavourless and colourless oil.

Place the dough into the bowl, cover with clingfilm and leave somewhere warm until the dough has doubled in size (which usually takes around 45-60 minutes, depending on how warm it is wherever you’re leaving the dough to proof).

While the dough is proving, it’s the perfect time to get cleaned down and ready for when the dough is proofed.

Once the dough is well proofed, you can then go ahead and flour your work surface with a small amount of flour, then you can go ahead and add the dough on to it and knock it back. Knocking the dough back is the process of removing the gases that have built up in the dough.

Once the dough has been knocked back, you can bring it back into a ball shape, then take the weight of the dough and divide it by 12 – this will give you the weight for each roll.

Scale the dough to said weight and round the rolls of using your hand and the work surface. Place the rolls onto a lined baking tray leaving a small space around each roll, ensuring they have room to expand as they prove for the second time.

Cover loosely with clingfilm and leave to proof for a further 30-45 minutes.

Now you can see your rolls have risen well, you can preheat your oven to 230˚c/445˚f.

Remove the clingfilm from on-top of the rolls and place into the preheated oven and baked for 12-15 minutes, they should be well coloured.

Once the baking time is done and the bread is baked, remove from the tin/tray and allow to cool fully before you slice it up. If you’re not sure your bread is full baked, turn the loaf upside down and tap the bottom – if it sounds hollow, its baked.

Slice and enjoy, once the loaf has cooled down fully. This is the perfect bread for sandwiches, toast and if you allow it to go stale, bread pudding.

Vegan Shortbread

by bakingwithelliott Leave a Comment

Whenever we start the year, I like to keep the recipes simple. January is usually the month where most people have indulged a little too much, spent most of their wages and want everything simple – so that’s what I’m, doing today.

Keeping things as simple as can be, I’m sharing the best recipe for a batch of vegan shortbread. If you have ever attempted baking at some point in your life, you have probably attempted shortbread… It’s super easy but it’s really easy to get it wrong. That’s why I’m sharing my foolproof vegan shortbread recipe.

It’s going to sound super strange but these shortbread has a very rich ‘buttery’ flavour, this is easy to achieve when you use a good quality plant based vegan spread. I gave these to family members in my social bubble and they didn’t even realise they were vegan.

Anyway, let’s get started, shall we?

Ingredients:

175g plain flour.

Pinch of salt.

120g vegan baking spread.

60g granulated sugar.

Additional granulated/caster sugar.

Method:

Before you get started on the recipe, you’ll want to do some prep work. Weigh all of your ingredients up, line a baking tray with parchment paper and get any equipment you may need ready, such as a a food processor.

Take the bowl of the food processor (or a bowl) and place in the flour and salt, then mix until combined.

Add in the vegan spread (which should be cold) and incorporate this just until its fully incorporated, it may start clumping together but you don’t want it to form a dough – if that happens, scrap the mess and restart again.

Add in the granulated sugar and incorporate it until the mixture starts clumping together, it should still look crumbly – this normal.

Place onto a lightly floured surface and briefly knead it all together, just until a dough forms. You don’t want to over mix the dough as this will result in a touch textured biscuits, which isn’t what you want.

Bring the dough back into a fat sausage shape and wrap in clingfilm, then place it in the fridge and chill for at least an hour (the dough should be firm).

Once the end of the chilling time is approaching, you can go ahead and the

When the dough has chilled, cut the dough into 10-12 rounds and place onto your lined baking tray and then bake in your preheated oven for 13-15 minutes or until golden brown around the edges.

As soon as they are out of the oven, sprinkle over a dash of granulated/caster sugar and then allow to cool fully before you enjoy them.

Vegan Brown Bread

by bakingwithelliott Leave a Comment

Well… I’m back!

I’ve taken a short break but I’m back and better than ever. I will be partaking in the remaining weeks of Veganuary – this is where you consume a plant based diet for the entire month.

Keeping things super simple to start, with this vegan friendly brown bread. I know that brown bread can be known for being heavy and stodgy but not anymore. When you keep a recipe super simple and straightforward, you will have the best end result. No more heavy and stodgy bread, just light and fluffy bread with a far superior taste and texture over the store bought version.

Like with most baking, once you master the basics – you’re pretty set to go and work your way up to more advance stuff. The best thing about this loaf is the fact its 100% vegan – a majority of breads can be made vegan pretty easily, which is ideal.

Anyway, let’s get stated, shall we?

Ingredients:

500g Brown bread flour.

40g Fresh yeast.

8g Salt.

10g White shortening.

310ml Water, warmed.

Method:

Start by doing some prep work. Weigh up all the ingredients, prepare your loaf tin (if needed) and get any equipment you may need ready. When the time comes, preheat your oven to 230˚c/445˚f

Into your mixing bowl (I used my stand mixer bowl) place the brown bread flour and salt and mix the two together using a whisk.

Now you can add the white shortening, granulated sugar, fresh yeast and water. Mix on a low speed to start with for 2 minutes and then a low-medium speed for 6 minutes, so it will be mixing for 8 minutes in total.

Once it’s fully mixed, the dough should be clear (you see no traces of any other ingredients), it shouldn’t be sticky and should be well formed and hold its shape.

Give the dough a brief knead on a floured surface Place the dough into a lightly oiled bowl and then cover with cling film and leave to complete its first proof (roughly about an hour or) until its doubled in size. Ideally, you’ll leave this somewhere warm, it will help the yeast work.

Now that the dough has doubled in size, you’ll want to remove the dough from the bowl and place onto a floured surface and knock the dough back. This is the process of removing the gasses that have built up during the proof.

Bring the dough back into a ball shape, then bring it back into a ball and roll it out into a fat sausage shape (just big enough to fit into your loaf tin, no bigger). You can then place the sausage shape into a prepared loaf tin and cover loosely with cling film and leave somewhere warm to proof for a second time, roughly 30-45 (or until roughly doubled in size).

Now is the ideal time to preheat your oven to 230˚c/445˚f.

Once the second proof is done, remove the cling film from the top and place the loaf into the preheated oven and baked for 30-35 minutes or until baked and well coloured.

A good tip for testing if a loaf of bread is baked, is to turn up upside down and tap the bottom, if it sounds hollow, its fully baked!

Giant Kinder Cookie

by bakingwithelliott Leave a Comment

It’s the end 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.

Well, hasn’t the time flew by this year – this is the final blog post and instalment of bakemas 2020!

Merry Christmas to you all!!

Today I’m showing you how to make a giant Kinder cookie – this message cookie is the perfect treat to make as it’s quick, easy and takes next to no time at all.

A rich giant cookie, studded with all the chocolate you need and topped with a sweet buttercream message – what more could you ask for?

As you’re probably aware, my piping isn’t the best but you can still see and spell out what’s said.

Anyway, let’s get started, shall we?

Ingredients:

175g Butter.

100g Granulated sugar.

100g Light brown sugar.

2 Eggs.

1 tsp Vanilla extract.

260g Plain flour.

30g Cocoa powder.

1 tsp Baking powder.

250g Fillings (I went with milk and dark chocolate chips along with

Decoration:

Buttercream:

125g Butter.

250g Icing sugar.

10g cocoa powder.

You can use whatever you like but I went with a selection of Kinder chocolates including Kinder bueno, bars and hippos.

Method:

Before you get started on the recipe, you’ll want to do some prep work. Start by weighing up al the ingredients, greasing a shallow sided 10 inch cake tin, preheat your oven to 180˚c/350˚f and get any equipment you may need, such as a stand mixer and spatula.

Start by grabbing a large mixing bowl and placing in the butter, granulated sugar and light brown sugar. Beat them all together until hey are lighter and fluffier in colour and consistency – this usually takes around 5-7 minutes.

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

Add in the eggs and vanilla and beat over a medium speed until they are fully incorporated – if the mixture looks a little scrambled, don’t worry.

You can then go ahead and give the bowl another good scraping down, just to incorporate any bits that may not have been fully worked in from earlier on.

Into a sieve, add the plain flour, baking powder and cocoa powder. – sift them into the bowl, directly over the mixture. Add in the fillings of choice and fold everything together, mixing just until everything is incorporated – folding in by hand should prevent you from over mixing then dough (which would make it tough and unpleasant to eat).

Take your greased shallow sided cake tin and place all of the dough into it – although it looks a lot, it’ll all fit in there just nicely.

Place into your preheated oven and bake for 30-35 minutes (or until a the cookie has poofed up just nicely and a tester when inserted into the centre comes out clean).

While the cookie is in the oven, make the buttercream – this is really easy.

Into a bowl, place then butter and beat it until its light and fluffy, then add in half the icing sugar and mix well, repeating with the other half of icing sugar. Once all of the icing sugar has been added, ad din the vanilla extract and mix to combine.

Split the buttercream into 2 bowls, roughly 2/3 into one bowl and 1/3 into another. In the 2/3 bowl, add some cocoa powder and a little milk and mix it in until you have a chocolate buttercream, then place into a piping bag with a nozzle fitted, I went with a small star piping nozzle and for the vanilla buttercream, place that into a piping bag with a small nozzle – this is for writing on top of the writing, to make it stand out.

Set the buttercream aside until needed later on – now is the ideal time to get the chocolates ready.

When everything is ready, you can finish the cookie off.

You can decorate and customise it to suit you but I went with a sight Christmas theme. I used the chocolate buttercream to write my message which says ‘Merry Christmas’ then on top of the chocolate writing, I use the vanilla buttercream and top the chocolate message with the exact same message as below – this just adds a little pop to the finished results.

With the remaining chocolate buttercream, I use it to pipe a border around the edge of the cookie. To the border, you can add a as much kinder bueno and kinder bars as you’d like, followed by some chocolate sprinkle to add a little colour and texture.

Then with the remaining space, I just add a few kinder hippos (secured down with a small amount of buttercream) – then you’re done. Quick and easy – trust me!

After Eight Brownies

by bakingwithelliott Leave a Comment

It’s bakemas 2020!

Can you believe this the penultimate blog post of 2020! It’s flew by but it’s not quite over yet – so let’s enjoy a batch of After Eight brownies. They are rich, indulgent and perfect to enjoy after feasting on Christmas dinner and desserts – if you’re making these after Christmas, enjoy them anytime, they’re totally worth it!

I know that After Eight’s aren’t overly festive but in my house, we always have a selection of chocolates about as a treat and these are there. That’s why I’m using them up in a batch of these squidgy brownies.

If these brownies sound like the sort of thing you’d like, give these a go – you won’t regret it.

Anyway, let’s get started, shall we?

Ingredients:

140g Butter, melted.

225g Granulated white sugar.

2 Eggs.

1 tsp Vanilla extract.

45g Cocoa powder.

75g Dark chocolate, roughly chopped.

100g Plain flour

80g White chocolate spread, melted.

1/4 tsp Mint extract.

Method:

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 and mix until they are fully incorporated. 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 the melted white chocolate spread (that has been combined with the mint extract) in dollops on top, swirling them around the brownie batter until you have a pretty swirl pattern all over the top.

Place into the preheated oven on the middle shelf and bake for around 10-15 minutes before removing from the oven to place a generous amount of After Eight’s on top, I placed enough on top so each square would have a after eight on top. Place back in the oven and bake for a further 10-15 minutes or until baked (a tester should come out almost fully clean).

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 – this isn’t essential but really helps to make them extra dense and fudgy.

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.

Fresh Cream Cupcakes

by bakingwithelliott Leave a Comment

It’s bakemas 2020!

There’s no need to make Christmas more frantic, especially with the holiday season already being pressured. Take away some of the pressure and demanding tasks by keeping things super simple with a batch of the fresh cream cupcakes.

I know celebrating this year is going to be different for everybody but regardless of how you’re celebrating, why not make some cupcakes? You can make as many or as few as you need. Perfect to prevent food waste and enjoy a treat.

I’ve taken the classic vanilla cupcake and jazzed it up by using some sweetened whipped cream and generously filled with strawberry jam.

Anyway, let’s get started, shall we?

Ingredients (for 12 cupcakes):

Cupcakes:

175g butter, at room temp.

175g granulated sugar.

2 eggs.

1 tsp vanila extract

175g plain flour.

1 tsp baking powder.

pinch of salt.

splash of milk, if needed.

Cream:

300ml double cream.

25-30g icing sugar.

1 tsp vanilla extract.

Filling:

strawberry jam.

Method:

Before you get started on the recipe, you’ll want to do some prep. Weigh up all of your ingredients, line a muffin pan with cupcake cases, preheat your oven to 180˚c/350˚f and grab any equipment you may need, such as a stand mixer and spatulas.

To start on the recipe, make the cupcakes. To keep things simple and stress free, the all-in-one method is going to be used – this is where you place all of your ingredients into a bowl and beat them together.

Into a mixing bowl, place the butter, granulated sugar, eggs, vanilla extract, plain flour, baking powder and salt – beating over a low speed to start, working your way up to a medium-high and mix until a clear cake batter forms.

If you mixture looks a little stiff, add enough milk in to help achieve a more perfect consistency.

Give the bowl a good scraping down and take the lined muffin pan.

Fill the cases around 2/3 or 3/4 of the way full, then place into your preheated oven and bake for 20-22 minutes (or until golden brown and well risen). Allow to cool fully before you finish them off.

If you want to make these a day or 2 in advance, feel free to go ahead and do it. Saves you time and effort on the day you intend to serve them.

To make the cream, take a clean mixing bowl and place in the double cream, icing sugar and vanilla extract. Whisk everything together until it starts to forming peaks, this is known as soft peaks but you want to take it one stage further to achieve stiff peaks.

This is where the cream should be able to hold its shape – if you whisk the cream too much it will have a granular mouthfeel and be unpleasant. If this happens, dispose of the cream and re-whisk the cream.

Transfer into a piping bag fitted with a piping nozzle of your choice – I went with an open star but choose whichever nozzle you’d like.

Take the cooled cupcakes and core out the centre using either a cupcake corer or apple corer and generously fill with strawberry jam.

Top the cupcakes with the freshly whipped cream and pipe on however you’d like and that’s everything done – a super simple recipe, perfect for when you want a homemade treat.

Terry’s Chocolate Orange Muffins

by bakingwithelliott Leave a Comment

It’s bakemas 2020!

It wouldn’t quite be Christmas if there wasn’t a Terry’s chocolate orange recipe, would it? Well, today I’m sharing the best ever muffin recipe! These Terry’s chocolate orange muffins are the must bake for this Christmas.

These muffins aren’t short of any flavour, you get a chocolate rush in each mouthful and a calming amount of orange – the balance works really well. There’s no need for orange extract, you get the orange flavour form the chocolate and the added zest (the best and only way to add flavour).

The added trick that makes these muffins so much better, is adding a chocolate orange ganache into the centre of the muffins, that way you get added chocolate and orange flavour – what’s not to love, honestly!

If these sound like your sort of treat, why not give them a try – just in time for Christmas!

Anyway, let’s get started, shall we?

Ingredients:

ganache:

75g Terry’s milk chocolate orange.

40ml double cream.

muffins:

110ml double cream.

50ml milk (use your preference, I went with whole).

75ml butter, melted.

50g dark brown sugar.

2 eggs.

175g plain flour.

1 tbsp baking powder.

30g cocoa powder

zest of 1 orange.

100g Terry’s chocolate orange, chopped.

100g milk chocolate chips.

method:

Before you get started on the recipe, you’ll want to do some prep work. Weigh up all of your ingredients, grab a muffin tray and line it with tulip cases, preheat your oven to 200˚c/390˚f and grab any equipment you may need such as a mixing bowl, whisk and spatula.

To start on the recipe, make the ganache. Into a small bowl place in the chocolate orange, which has been chopped small – add in the cream and mix. Place into the microwave for 15-30 seconds at a time, stirring well in between each time in the microwave.

Once the mixture is melted, it should be smooth and glossy. Place this aside until needed a little later on – you may find placing it in the fridge better.

To start on the muffin batter, combine the chopped chocolate orange with the chocolate chips. Into another bowl whisk together the cream, milk, dark brown sugar, melted butter and egg until they are fully combined.

Over the liquid mix, sift in the plain flour, baking powder and cocoa powder – add in the chocolate and the zest of 1/3 of an orange.

Fold everything together until its fully combined, there shouldn’t be a trace of a single ingredients once you’re done mixing.

Transfer the muffin batter into the tulip cases, filling them half the way and reserving the remaining until later on. Once you have half filled all of your cases, you can take the ganache out of the fridge and scoop a generous amount out and place it directly into the centre of the muffin batter and then cover with the remaining (this is what makes these muffins that bit more special.

Now they’re done, place the muffin tray into your preheated oven and bake for 20-22 minutes – they should be well rise and smell gorgeous once ready.

Remove form the oven nd allow to cool almost fully and enjoy… The melted chocolate and orange flavour will partner together really well, trust me on that.

Frangipane Mince Pies

by bakingwithelliott Leave a Comment

It’s bakemas 2020!

Keeping things super simple today with a batch of frangipane mince pies – if you mince pies, you’ll love these, they are the perfect Christmas treat.

If you’re a fan of mince pies, I have a few recipes for you to check out. Don’t forget to try homemade mince pies, homemade sweet mincemeat and a batch of chocolate orange mince pies.

If you’ve never heard or tried frangipane – you’re missing out! Frangipane is an almond based confection, often used in sweet tarts such as Bakewell tart. It’s may sound complex to make but its quite the opposite – it’s quick and easy.

A classic pastry case, filled with classic mincemeat and finished with a layer of frangipane… Tell me they don’t sound good?

Anyway, let’s get started, shall we?

Ingredients:

Of course you’ll need a pastry (duh), I already have a blog post on how to make the perfect shortcrust pastry. Don’t forget to check out the recipe if you’re interested in making my version of the pastry.

Frangipane:

75g butter.

75g granulated sugar.

75g ground almonds.

10g plain flour.

1 egg.

Filling:

A small jar of mincemeat (shop bought or homemade).

Method:

Before you get started on any element of the recipe, you’re best to so some prep work. Start by weighing up all of your ingredients, preheating the oven to 180˚c/350˚f and getting any equipment you may need, such as a mixing bowl and spatula.

To start on the recipe, you’ll want to make the pastry. As mentioned above I have a blog post showing you how to make the perfect shortcrust pastry. Follow the recipe all the way through and then proceed with his recipe.

Once your pastry has had around an hour to chill in the fridge, you can gently flour your work surface and place the dough on to it. Then roll the pastry out until it achieved around 5mm in thickness (give or take, this is the perfect thickness for me to work with).

I only used half the pastry as I only wanted to make a half batch, if you’re looking to make a full batch (12) – use the entire amount of pastry and double the frangipane and mincemeat filling.

Take the rolled out dough and use a large 3 inch circle cookie cutter and using either the straight or ruffled edge, cut out 6 circles – this should be easy to do if you have rolled your dough out correctly – you can always re-roll the pastry, if needed (but only once).

Lay hand of the pastry cut outs and one by one, gently press them into a muffin pan (it doesn’t need to be lined or greased). While you’re pressing the pastry into the tin, be gentle. The pastry is only thin and is prone to breaking – if this occurs, patch it up with some of the excess pastry. Repeat the process for the remaining pastry cut outs.

Transport the muffin tin into the fridge to firm up, while you make the frangipane.

Making the frangipane is super straight forward. Take a mixing bowl and place in the butter, granulated sugar, ground almonds, plain flour and egg. Mix everything together until all of the ingredients have been fully combined – you may find mixture to be a little ‘off’ smooth, this is normal (the ground almonds prevent the mixture from being completely smooth).

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

Snatch the chilled pastry cases from the fridge, the mincemeat and frangipane, ready to assemble and finish the pies off.

Into each pastry case, add around a heaped tablespoon of the mincemeat and fill the remaining space with the frangipane (fill them right up to the top). Then transfer the pies into the preheated oven and bake for 20-25 minutes.

You’ll know when they’re ready, the aroma of spices and almond will fill your kitchen. A tester when in inserted should come out clean.

Allow them to cool (almost) fully and finish with a dusting of icing sugar and enjoy. These are perfect enjoyed on their own or with a warm beverage – however you enjoy them – give these a try!

White Chocolate Cake

by bakingwithelliott Leave a Comment

It’s bakemas 2020!

How about this white chocolate cake? a super simple white chocolate and vanilla sponge cake, filled with winterberry jam and finished with a white chocolate buttercream – the perfect cake for those who love white chocolate.

I won’t lie to you, this cake didn’t turn out the way I wanted it but the end result and taste was spot on, so still shared it. Originally, the cake was going to be a white chocolate snowman cake but when the meringue snowmen didn’t work out the way I wanted them to, I quickly scraped the idea and kept the white chocolate element only.

I used my Italian buttercream for this cake as white chocolate can make buttercream very sweet. Using the Italian buttercream takes a majority of the sweetness away, leaving you with the rich and smooth buttercream.

Anyway, let’s get started, shall we?

Ingredients:

cake:

200g butter.

250g granulated sugar.

150g white chocolate, melted and allowed to cool down.

4 eggs.

2 tsp vanilla extract.

250g plain flour.

pinch of salt.

1 1/4 tsp baking powder.

100g white chocolate chips.

uptown 100ml milk.

buttercream:

250g granulated sugar.

65ml water.

70g egg yolk.

1 whole egg.

500g butter.

meringue kisses:

1 egg white.

double the amount of sugar (2 parts sugar to 1 part egg white).

food colouring gel/paste (optional).

simple syrup:

150ml water.

150g granulated sugar.

methods:

Before you get started on the recipe, you’ll want to do some prep work. Start by weighing up all of your ingredients, lining or butter and flour your 6 inch cake tins, line baking trays with parchment and grab any equipment you may need such as a stand mixer, mixing bowls and spatulas. When it comes to preheating your oven, for the cakes it should be 180˚c/350˚f and for the meringue kisses it should be 100˚c/210˚f.

To start on the recipe, I like to start with the cake. Grab a mixing bowl and place in the butter and granulated sugar – beat the two together until they are lighter and fluffier in colour and consistency, this usually takes around 7-10 minutes but depends on the mixer speed and softness of the butter.

Scrape the bowl down, just to incorporate any bits that may not have been fully worked in from earlier on.

Add in your eggs, one at a time, beating well in between each addition. As you add the eggs, you may notice the mixture become looser in consistency and this is completely normal.

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

Take a sieve and pass through the flour, salt and baking powder. Sieving the dry mix prevents any big lumps making their way into the mixture.

Incorporate the dry ingredients over a low speed to start, working your way up to a medium-high speed and mixing until everything has been incorporated.

To help with the consistency of the cake batter, add in the milk and mix until its incorporated.

Give the bowl a scraping down and add in the white chocolate and chocolate chips – mix until they are fully incorporated throughout the cake batter.

Transfer and divide the cake batter between your 3 x 6 inch cake tins (or like I have done, 2×4 inch and 2×6 inch tins), smooth and level it out as best you can – then place into the preheated oven and bake for 30-35 minutes (or until a tester comes out clean when inserted into the centre).

While your cakes are in the oven, you can go ahead and get the other elements made – starting with the simple syrup.

Into a medium saucepan, place the water, sugar and vanilla extract and mix until they are combined. Place on the hob over a medium-high heat, allowing it to come up to a boil, then remove from the heat and transfer into a bowl/jug and allow to cool fully. When suitable, store in the fridge.

Next, I’d recommend you make the buttercream – for this recipe I’m using an Italian buttercream. I already have a blog post on how to make the Italian buttercream, so it seems pointless sharing it in this recipe.

The meringue kisses can be made at any time, which is great.

To start on the meringue kisses, take a large spotlessly clean mixing bowl and place in the egg white. Whisk the egg white over a high speed until it becomes frothy.

Add in the food colouring you intend on using and whisk that in until its fully blended in. Then add in the sugar, one teaspoon at a time and add the sugar slowly.

To know when your meringue is done, it should be stiff and hold its shape well. You shouldn’t be able to feel any granules of sugar in the mixture wen you rub it between your finger and thumb – if you do, continue to whisk until you can no longer feel it.

Transfer the meringue mixture into a piping bag and pipe out the kisses onto a sheet on parchment paper (which has been secured down using a small amount of the meringue mixture in each corner to keep the sheet secure).

Pipe out the meringue kisses, I went with two sizes but pipe whatever pleases you. Then place into oven and bake for 60-90 minutes or until they cleanly peal away from the parchment. Now set them aside until they are needed later on.

Whenever you have all the elements ready, you can start to assemble the cake. Level off the tops of all of your cakes and generously brush them over with the simple syrup and give them a couple of minutes to rest, then start to assemble the cake.

To start the assembly of the cake, take your cake board/plate/stand and smear a small amount of buttercream into the centre of it and place your first layer of cake on top, pressing it down to secure it in place. Then go ahead and top that with a good amount of the buttercream and spread that out until its smooth and level.

As an optional filling, you can add a good tablespoon of your favourite flavoured jam, I chose winterberry jam. Spread it out and then place the second layer of cake on and press it down just to secure it in place.

Now you will want to apply a thin layer of buttercream, this is known as a crumb coat – simply a thin layer of buttercream to lock those pesky crumbs in, preventing them from ruining the final layer of cake. Place the cake into the fridge, allowing the buttercream to firm up before you apply the final layer cake.

Repeat the above process with the other cake, I started with the 6 inch cake and then the 4 inch cake – if you’re using 3 6 inch layers, just layer them all in one go.

Once the cake/s have had the crumb coats applied and have had time to chill in the fridge, you can then apply the final layer of cake/s.

Now for the final layer, the mount of buttercream you use is totally up to you. I like Italian buttercream as its not too sweet and is instead rich – so I went with enough to give the cake a semi naked appearance but it really depends on yourself and what sort of look you’re going for.

However you decide, smooth it out to get the best possible looking cake. Don’t forget to keep the excess buttercream in a bowl, as you should be able to reuse it for the latter decoration. Place back in the fridge and allow enough time to chill fully, so the buttercream has firmed and is easier to work with when we stack the cake.

On the bottom edge of the bottom cake, I like to use some sprinkles to add a little pop of colour.

Don’t forget, you can add a while chocolate drip. It breaks up the plain look, even if it does almost blend in. I take a small amount of white chocolate spread and melt it in the microwave. Use a tea spoon and take varying amounts of the spread and drip it from on top of the cake, down the side – it should guide itself down pretty easily.

Creating drips of varying length add a little quirk but feel free to make them more uniform – the cake is all yours! Repeat this on both of your cakes.

To stack the cake, insert 3-4 dowels or boba tea straws, then place the second tier of cake on top. Try your best to get it perfect the first time around, I tried to get mine as central as possible but if you’re not looking for that, you do you of course.

Take the remaining buttercream and place into a piping bag fitted with an open star tip and pipe a rope border around the top tier, and fill the centre with the matching sprinkles from around the edge of the bottom tier. You can also use some of the meringue kisses on top, just to add a little decoration without it being too much.

Chill in the fridge and then enjoy it!

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