Basic

Black Forest Cookies

If you like Black Forest, these cookies will hit the sweet spot just right.

For the past few years over on my blog and YouTube channel, you may have noticed I’ve shared a Black Forest recipe, mostly being cakes but this year I’ve taken it one step further and came up with these cookie.

These cookies start with my basic chocolate cookie studded with white chocolate for the cream element, then it has been filled with a homemade cherry jam. Topped and finished with a cocktail cherry, milk and dark chocolate, what more could you ask for?

If you make these, they make a great addition to the Black Forest gateau. That’s what I have done this year, so you may see a few more black forest themed blog post and videos yeah – but they are worth it, trust me.

Anyway, lets get started, shall we?

Ingredients:

150g Butter.

150g Granulated sugar.

150g Light brown sugar.

2 Eggs.

1 tsp Vanilla extract.

300g Plain flour.

50g Cocoa powder.

1 tsp Baking powder.

100g White chocolate, roughly chopped.

Filling:

Cherry jam (homemade or store bought).

Decoration:

Cocktail cherries/maraschino style cherries.

White chocolate, roughly chopped.

Dark chocolate, roughly chopped.

Methods:

Before you get started on the cookies, you should do a little prep work. I recommend starting by weighing up your ingredients, preheating your oven to 180˚c/350˚f, line a couple of baking trays with some parchment paper and get any equipment you intend on using ready, such as a stand mixer and a silicon spatula.

Grab your stand mixer bowl (or any other large bowl) and place the butter, granulated sugar and light brown sugar and beat them all together until they are lighter and fluffier in colour and consistency.

Once the mixture is lighter and fluffier, give the bowl a good scraping down to incorporate any bits that may not have been fully worked in.

Add in your eggs and vanilla, one at a time, beating well in-between each addition.

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

Directly over the bowl, sift in the plain flour, baking powder and cocoa powder. I recommend sifting the dry mix as cocoa powder can be prolific for having lump. You can also add the white chocolate in at this stage.

Fold the ingredients in using a silicon spatula, just until the ingredients have been incorporated, the dough should be clear. You can then go ahead and give the bowl a good scraping down, just to incorporate any bits that may not have been fully worked in.

For each cookie, take two scoops of dough, flattening them slightly. Pipe or scoop a small amount of the cherry jam onto one of the halves and use the other ball of dough to cover the jam and give it a quick roll so its rounded.

Repeat for the remainder of the dough, then place onto a baking lined baking tray. Flatten them slightly and round them off using a big enough cookie cutter and place into a preheated oven and bake 12-15 minutes or until well spread and sightly darker around the edges of the cookies.

Once baked, remove from the oven and finish the cookies off.

For each cookie, I like to use half a cocktail cherry in the centre and a couple of pieces of both dark and white chocolate around the edges.

Leave to cool (if you can resist) and enjoy them on their own or with a glass of milk.

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.

Gluten Free Lemon and Blueberry Cupcakes

by bakingwithelliott Leave a Comment

These gluten free lemon and blueberry cupcakes are super simple and will go down a treat!

There is a little bit of a story to these cupcakes… The truth is, they didn’t start out as cupcakes but they were actually supposed to be muffins. The tops didn’t dome, so I turned them into tasty cupcakes (you know what they say, when life gives you lemons)!

The flavour combination of lemon and blueberry is always a winning combination – no matter which way you taste it and these cupcakes are no different!

These cupcakes start with a lemon and blueberry sponge cake, which is filled with lemon curd then topped with a lemon buttercream – the perfect cupcake for the Summer season, trust me.

Anyway, let’s get started, shall we?

Ingredients:

Cupcakes:

150g Gluten free plain flour.

150g Dairy and gluten free spread (I used PURE).

100g Granulated sugar.

3 Eggs.

2tsp Gluten free baking powder

125g Blueberries, lightly floured.

1 Lemon, zested.

Lemon curd

Buttercream

125g butter.

250g Icing sugar.

Lemon zest.

Methods:

Before you get into making these cupcakes, you’ll want to do some prep work. Start by weighing up all your ingredients, lining your muffin tray with cupcake liners, preheat your oven to 180˚c/350˚f and get any equipment you may need read, such as a stand mixer and a spatula.

To make a start on the cakes, you’ll want to grab a mixing bowl and place in the spread, granulated sugar and lemon zest then beat unit they are combined – they should be lighter and fluffier.

Once they’re combined, you can then go ahead and add the eggs, one at a time, beating well in-between each addition. The mixture may look scrambled and that is completely normal when using this recipe.

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

Then you’ll want to add in the flour and baking powder, passing through a sieve first to remove any lumps that may be in the mixture. You will also want to add in the lightly dusted blueberries.

Fold the dry mix and blueberries in just until hey are worked in, which doesn’t take too long. Try your best not to over-mix at this stage.

Grab your lined muffin tin and fill the cases around 3/4 or 2/3 of the way full, then place into your preheated oven and bake for 20 minutes.

While your cupcakes are baking, you can started on the buttercream.

Into a mixing bowl, place the butter and beat on a medium-high speed until it has become lighter and fluffier in colour and consistency.

Once lighter and fluffier, you can give the bowl a good scraping down, then add in the first half of your icing sugar and beat until, it has been fully incorporated. Repeat with the remaining icing sugar.

Now you have your buttercream, you’ll want to flavour it. I went with lemon and instead of using lemon extract, I used lemon zest. Add it into the buttercream and just fold it until it’s been worked in.

Eventually, once the cupcakes are cooled down, you’ll want to core the centre out of the cupcakes. I used a cupcake corer but feel free to use an apple corer, either works well. Generously fill the centres of the cupcakes using some lemon curd.

Then take your buttercream and pipe it on or if you don’t like how the piping comes out, smooth it out and rock a more rustic look, like what I did with these cupcakes.

Lemon Cream Buns

by bakingwithelliott Leave a Comment

Today I’m sharing a simple recipe for a batch of lemon cream buns.

These were something new to me until my mom mentioned them to me, so thought why not make a batch and share them with you?

If you don’t know what a lemon cream bun is, it’s basically a sweetened bread roll, filled with freshly whipped cream and lemon curd then topped with a simple icing. They’re super simple but the flavours work really well!

Anyway, let’s get started, shall we?

Ingredients:

Buns:

500g Strong bread flour.

5g Salt.

50g Yeast.

75g Butter.

75g Granulated sugar.

15g Milk powder.

1 Egg.

175ml Water.

Filling:

300ml Double cream.

50-75g Icing sugar.

1/2 tsp Vanilla extract.

Lemon curd.

Icing:

Icing sugar.

Water or lemon juice.

Yellow food colour (optional).

Method:

Buns:

Before you get into making these buns, you’ll want to do some prep. I recommend starting by weighing up all your ingredients, lining your baking tray with some parchment paper, oil a bowl with some flavourless oil and getting any equipment you may need, such as a stand mixer and a silicon spatula.

To start on the dough, grab yourself a large mixing bowl (I used my stand mixer bowl) and place the bread flour and salt into it. Give the two a brief mix until they are incorporated.

Then you can go ahead and add in the yeast, butter, sugar, milk powder, egg and water. Mix the dough on a low speed for 2 minutes, followed by 6 minutes on a medium-high speed. The dough should be smooth and slightly sticky, this is because the dough is enriched.

Flour your work surface with a good amount of bread flour, then place the dough onto the floured surface and knead until the dough is smooth and elastic, bring the dough back into a ball shape.

Take your lightly oiled bowl and place the dough into it, then cover with clingfilm and leave to proof for around hour or until doubled in size.

Once your dough has finished it’s first proof, flour your work surface with a small amount of bread flour. Then place the dough onto the floured surface and knock it back – this is simply the process of removing the gasses that have built up in the dough during the first proof, the bring the dough back into a ball shape.

Take your ball of dough and weigh it, then take that weight and divide it by 12, then you have the weight you need to scale the dough off at. Take your dough and scale the dough off into the required weight, ensuring the dough is covered with clingfilm at all times (otherwise a skin will form on the dough).

Round and smooth the balls of dough until they are all equal looking, then place onto your prepared lined baking tray in the configuration 3 x 4. Cover loosely with clingfilm and leave to proof for a further 45 minutes or until they have doubled in size (they may batch and this is completely fine).

While the dough is proofing, you can preheat your oven to 210˚c/410˚f.

Once the second proof is done, you can then remove the clingfilm from on top of the dough and place the tray straight into the preheated oven and bake for 13-15 minutes (or until the buns are well coloured).

Cream filling:

To make the whipped cream filling, you’ll want to start by grabbing a mixing bowl (I used my stand mixer bowl) and pouring in the double cream, adding in the icing sugar and vanilla and then whisking it up on a medium-high speed util the cream has thickened and it holds it shape well.

Once the cream is done, you can transfer it into a piping bag fitted with your nozzle of choice. Keep refrigerated until needed later on.

Decoration and finishing:

To finished the buns off, you’ll want to start by making the icing that goes on top. For the icing, simply grab a medium sized bowl and place in the icing sugar and a small amount of water or lemon juice. Whisk together until you have a thick yet spreadable consistency – you may need to add more icing sugar or water to achieve the perfect consistency.

Using a small spatula, take a good amount of the icing and dollop it onto the top of the bun and spread it until theres a level and consistent amount of icing on the bun. Spread it out until the top has a good coating – now leave it for a while, just to firm up.

Now that the buns have been iced, feel free to slice them in half.

Take the buns and pipe the cream into them, how you decide to do this is completely up to you. I like to pipe around the edge then pipe a swirl in the centre but you can pipe the cream however you like.

Then you’ll want to pipe in the lemon curd, use as much or as little as you’d like. I went with a fairly generous size but it depends on how much you like the lemon curd flavour.

I recommend making the buns on the day you intend on serving them, the same applies to the filling as fresh cream spoils quickly.

Oreo No-Bake Cheesecake

by bakingwithelliott Leave a Comment

If you are looking for a sweet treat that doesn’t require baking, I’ve got your back. Today I’m sharing my recipe for a Oreo no-bake cheesecake.

As mentioned above, the cheesecake is no-bake, which obviously means you don’t need any sort of heat source. This can be made the night before you need it, that way them you’re not waiting around for the cheesecake to firm up… Which is a win-win in my eyes.

To stabilise the cheesecake you need something to thicken the mixture up, that’s where I used whipped cream. It helps to stabilise the cheesecake filling and also lighten it up, mostly so its not so heavy – you may find that some cheesecakes use gelatine, which just doesn’t taste right to me.

This cheesecake is heavily flavoured with Oreo, so if that’s not your favourite flavour, this cheesecake isn’t for you. If you’re looking for a different flavours, check out my other no-bake cheesecakes, starting with Neapolitan cheesecake, Mini Egg cheesecake, Reese’s peanut butter cheesecake, salted caramel cheesecake and trifle cheesecake.

Anyway, let’s get started, shall we?

Ingredients:

Base:

125g Original Oreo’s.

35g Butter, melted.

Filling:

300g Soft cheese.

50g Icing sugar.

50-75g Original Oreo crumbs.

150ml Double cream.

Decoration:

150ml Double cream.

25g Icing sugar.

1/2 tsp Vanilla extract.

Whole original Oreo’s (as many as you’d like to use).

Original Oreo crumbs (1-2 Oreo biscuits crushed).

Methods:

Before you get started on cheesecake, you’ll want to do some prep. Start by weighing up your ingredients, get your 6 inch cake tin and get any equipment such as a stand mixer and a food processor.

To start, you’ll want to make the base. Grab a food processor and place the Oreo biscuits into it, the pulse them down until they are a fine crumb. This should only take seconds using a food processor.

You can then go ahead and add in the butter, then pulse until the butter has been incorporated and has taken on the consistency of wet soil.

Grab your cake tin and pour the biscuit mixture into it and compress it down using the back of a spoon or a small cup measurement (whatever works well for you). Once the base is done, place in the fridge until you need it later on.

To make the cheesecake filling, grab yourself a mixing bowl and place the soft cheese, icing sugar and Oreo crumbs. Then take your whisk and beat by hand until all the ingredients are well combined – you should notice that the mixture is a grey-ish colour.

Now add in the double cream and whisk in until the cream is fully mixed in and the mixture is thicker and holds it shape very well.

Take your base out of the fridge and place the cheesecake mixture into the tin, on top of the base. Level and smooth of the mixture as best you can, I find a small cranked/offset spatula works best but feel free to use whatever you have.

Place it back into the fridge and allow to firm up, I find 8 hours or overnight works best.

Before you intend on serving the cheesecake, you’ll want to make the whipped cream.

Take your double cream, icing sugar and vanilla extract and place into a mixing bowl. Whisk together until all of the ingredients are combined and the cream is thick and can hold its own shape. Transfer into a piping bag fitted with a nozzle of your choice (I chose a medium open star tip).

Pipe rosettes all around the edge of the cheesecake, that’s how I chose to do mine but feel free to finish it however you like.

Once the rosettes are piped on, I added some whole original Oreo biscuits and in-between the Oreo’s, I sprinkle some of the biscuit crumbs and then you’re done.

Feel free to personalise the decoration to suit you better, I kept it simple to be honest.

Chelsea Buns

by bakingwithelliott Leave a Comment

Today I’m showing you how to make these super easy Chelsea buns.

I’ll be honest, I hadn’t made these since I was in college back in 2016 but came across the recipe again in my write up book and thought it would be the perfect recipe to share this week.

If you haven’t heard or seen these buns, I’ll give you the run down on them. So, a Chelsea bun is enriched roll, which is filled with a cinnamon brown sugar butter filling, along with mixed dried fruit. They’re then finished with a simple syrup, so the water evaporates and leave behind a sticky texture.

If you like cinnamon rolls, these are the perfect recipe for you try. This is one of those recipes which is perfect to try on a day where the weather is lousy and it’s a staying in type of day – trust me its the perfect thing to make during a lazy baking session.

Anyway, let’s get started, shall we?

Ingredients:

Dough:

500g Bread flour.

5g Salt.

50g Fresh yeast.

75g Butter.

75g Granulated sugar.

15g Milk powder.

1 Large egg.

175ml Water.

Filling:

80g Butter.

50g Light brown sugar.

5g Ground cinnamon.

235g Mixed dried fruit.

Methods:

Before you get started on making these buns, you’ll want to do some prep. Start by weighing up all your ingredients and preparing the equipment you need, such as a stand mixer and silicon spatula.

To start on the dough, grab your mixing bowl and place in the bread flour and salt. Give the two of them a good mix, just to incorporate the two.

Then you can go ahead and add the fresh yeast, butter, sugar. milk powder, egg and water. Start to mix the dough on a low speed to start, for around 2 minutes, then work your way up to a medium-high speed and mix for a further 6 minutes. The dough should be soft, this is because the dough is enriched.

Sprinkle a good amount of bread flour onto your work surface, then place the dough on top. Then give the dough a brief knead, for around 3-5 minutes or until the dough is less soft and both smooth and elastic.

Place the dough into a lightly oiled bowl, cover with clingfilm and leave it somewhere warm and allow it to proof for around and hour or until it has doubled in size.

While you wait for your dough to proof, its the perfect time to get clean and tidy and to make the filling.

Once you’ve had a tidy up, you can make the filling – which is super easy!

Grab yourself a medium mixing bowl and into it, place the butter, light brown sugar and ground cinnamon. Whisk it all together until its lighter in colour and consistency – set aside until its needed later on.

Now the dough has proofed, flour your work surface with a small amount of bread flour and knock it back. Knocking the dough back is the simple process of removing the gasses that have built up in the dough during the proof. Bring the dough back into a ball shape and process it.

Grab yourself a rolling pin and roll the dough out into a 30cm x 17.5cm rectangle – this may take a few minutes as the dough will resist being rolled out.

Once you have your rectangle, you’ll want to take your filling you made earlier on and place into the centre of the dough and spread it out until there is a smooth and consistent level of the filling all over the dough. Then you can take the mixed fruit and equally scatter that on top of the dough.

It’s now time to roll the dough up. Starting with the long side which is nearest to you, roll the dough up, keeping the roll tight.

Now that the roll is done, you can cut the individual buns. I recommend you cut the ends away to ensure a little more consistency but its optional. You’ll want to cut 12 equal portions and then transfer the rolls into a lined deep sided 9×13 inch cake tin. Cover with clingfilm and allow to proof for around an hour.

While the rolls are proofing, you can go ahead and preheat the oven to 220˚c/430˚f and make the simple syrup. To make the simple syrup, place the water and granulated sugar into a saucepan and place over a high heat until it reaches a boil, then take it off the heat. You’re best to use it cold, that’s just my personal opinion.

Once the rolls have proofed, you can then remove the clingfilm and place the tray into the preheated oven and bake for 13-18 minutes or until they are golden brown.

Now that the rolls are fully baked straight from the oven brush over the simple syrup, giving them a good coating. Allow to cool fully before you enjoy them.

Reese’s Peanut Butter Blondies

by bakingwithelliott Leave a Comment

If you like brownies but are looking for something a little different, these Reese’s peanut butter blondies may be for you!

A blondie is basically a blonde or golden version of a brownie. It’s made with white chocolate over milk/dark chocolate and it still has the dense and gooey consistency of a good brownie – what’s not to like about that?

I wasn’t sure about the combination of the of the white chocolate blondie and peanut butter and after trialling the recipe a handful of times, I found the combination worked really well. If you have ever tried peanut butter and jam, it’s that sort of combination. It works because the white chocolate is sweet and peanut butter is salty, the balance sweet and salty somehow just work so well.

If you haven’t tried the sweet and salt combination, give it a go with a PB&J sandwich – you won’t regret it,

Anyway, let’s get started, shall we?

Ingredients:

200g White chocolate.

130g Butter.

50g Peanut butter.

160g Granulated sugar.

190g Plain flour.

1/2 tsp Salt.

3 Eggs.

80g Peanut butter (for the swirl).

Reese’s peanut butter cups, halved.

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, white chocolate and peanut butter 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 go ahead and add in all of your eggs, whisking them in until they are fully worked in.

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 dry mix, stop mixing, you don’t want to over-mix the batter.

Pour the blondie batter into your lined 8 inch square cake tin and level it out using your spatula or a small cranked/offset palette knife.

Take the 80g of peanut butter and warm it slightly, just to make it more spreadable. Take teaspoons of the peanut butter and place on top of the blonde batter, then take a butter knife and swirl the mixture around.

Place in the preheated oven and bake for 15 minutes, then remove from the oven and place on the Reese’s peanut butter cups however you like. Place back in the oven and bake for a further 10-12 minutes or until golden around the edges.

Once baked, remove from the oven and allow to cool completely before you continue. For a fudgier end result, I recommend placing the cooled down blondies into the fridge overnight.

Now its time to cut the blondies up. You can either cut them into 8 rectangular slices or 16 smaller slices. It really depends on how many portions you’d like to yield.

Rocky Road

by bakingwithelliott Leave a Comment

Today I’m sharing my recipe for a super simple no-bake traybake… I’m showing you how to make a batch of rocky road!

If you were around last December, you may remember that I made a white chocolate rocky road and thought with how things are currently, it would actually be a great idea. You don’t need to use the exact same fillings I have one this recipe, you can see what you’ve got in the cupboard or whats readily available at the supermarkets.

This recipe is probably one of the easiest things to make, mostly because its a no-bake recipe. If you have kids or want something simple to make, this is for you. Just be cautious when melting the ingredients together, otherwise it’s pretty safe recipe. Even better that its no bake – tell me its not a win-win situation!

Anyway, let’s get started, shall we?

Ingredients:

170g Butter.

70g Golden syrup.

300g Milk chocolate.

150g Mini marshmallows.

100g Original Oreo’s.

120g Chocolate hobnobs.

150g Cookies.

Method:

Before you get into making the rocky road, you’re best to do some prep work first. Start by weighing up all your ingredients, lining a 8 inch square cake tin with parchment paper and getting any equipment such as a large mixing bowl and a saucepan ready.

To start, place a saucepan filled about 1/3 of the way full with water and place on a simmer. Then grab a heatproof mixing bowl and place the butter, golden syrup and milk chocolate into it – transfer this bowl and place it on top of the saucepan of simmering water. This method is a double boiler or bain marie – allow the mixture to melt a little first, then continuously stir the mixture until everything is melted and is well combined.

Into another large mixing bowl, place the marshmallows, Oreo’s, hobnobs and cookies and give them a good stir until everything is well combined and fairly distributed.

You can then go ahead and pour the melted chocolate mixture over the fillings and give it all a good stir. Everything should be well coated in the chocolate mixture, at first it may look like theres not enough of the chocolate mixture but there is more than enough – don’t worry about it.

Once everything has been mixed together, you can then grab your lined cake tin and transfer the rocky road mixture into the cake tin. You will need to spread and level out the mixture, just to get it as level as possible.

Then you simple place this in the fridge and allow it to set – I recommend leaving it over night but 6-8 hours should be more than fine.

The following morning, I removed the tin from the fridge and then removed the rocky road form the tin (it’s much easier to remove the tin if you lined it with parchment paper).

Then you can go ahead and cut up the rocky road – how you do this is completely up to you. I either do 8 very generous bars or 16 smaller bitesize portions. You slice them to suit how you’re planning on serving them.

Baguettes

by bakingwithelliott Leave a Comment

Keeping it super simple with my recipe for the simplest baguettes/batons/french sticks ever… I promise you they’re easy and cheap to make.

These are readily available normally at bakeries but with the current situation in the world and everybody suddenly becoming bakers, people are doing more home baking. Plus who doesn’t like fresh homemade bread?!

You only need 4 simple ingredients, thats really it. Nothing special or fancy, just a very basic recipe with tasty end results, sometimes simplicity is the key to success. Especially when it comes to baking.

I was thinking of compiling a blog post with ‘baking basic’ recipes, perfect for everybody to make and try. Is this something you’d be interested in?

Anyway, let’s get started, shall we?

Ingredients:

500g Strong white bread flour.

8g Salt.

15g Fresh yeast.

290ml Water, warmed.

Method:

Before you get into making the baguettes, you’ll want to do some prep work. Weigh up all your ingredients, prepare your baguettes trays (only if its needed) and get your equipment ready, I recommend a mixing bowl.

To start on the dough, grab a mixing bowl and place the flour and salt into it. Give the two of them a good mix until they are fully incorporated.

Then you can go ahead and add in the yeast and water. If you’re using a stand mixer, mix on a low speed for 2 minutes, followed by 4 minutes on a medium-high speed.

Once mixed, the dough should be clear and leave the bowl almost spotlessly clean.

On a lightly floured surface, give the dough a brief knead just to make it smooth and elastic, bring the dough into a ball.

Give a clean mixing bowl a light brushing with some flavourless/colourless oil and place the dough into it. Cover the bowl with clingfilm and leave somewhere warm and allow the dough to proof for roughly around and hour or until the dough has doubled in size.

After it has proofed, you can flour your work surface and place the dough onto it and you can knock it back. This is simply the process of removing the gases that have built up in the dough while it was proofing (plus it shows the yeast you were using is active and not dead). Bring the dough back into a ball.

Now you can scale your dough up into 275g balls, round them off into a ball shape and cover with clingfilm (so a skin doesn’t form on top).

Roll the balls out to long sausage shapes, keeping them as consistent as possible. Only roll them out to be as long as the baguette tray you’re using. Once they are rolled out, you can then place them onto the trays and cover loosely with clingfilm.

Allow to proof for a further 30-45 minutes (or until they are well risen). While your bread is proofing for the second time, it’s the ideal time to preheat the oven to 230˚c/445˚f.

Once they have finished the second proof, remove the clingfilm and get a sharp serrated edged knife. Using the knife, slash 3 cuts into each baguette, then place into your preheated oven and bake for 20-25 minutes (your oven may or may not need more or less time, use the baking times as a guide).

Now they are baked, you can allow them to cool fully on the tray, then enjoy them as a filled baguette or turn them into garlic bread, which is what I’ll be doing next week, so join me then.

Jam and Coconut Loaf Cake

by bakingwithelliott Leave a Comment

Today I’m showing you how to make a super easy jam and coconut loaf cake.

This recipe was one that was requested not by someone on my blog or social media but by my own nan. The combination of jam and coconut wasn’t something I had heard of before she mentioned it, so I was excited to try a new flavour combination.

Seeing as I hadn’t heard of this cake, I asked my nan what it was. It’s simply a coconut sponge cake which is topped with a layer of jam and finished with desiccated coconut. It’s a really straightforward recipe… It may not be anything special but hey, it would make the perfect snack on a afternoon with a cuppa.

In the more traditional recipes, you’d use a strawberry jam (or you could use some sort of red berry based jam) however, you can use whatever jam you like most.

Anyway, let’s get started, shall we?

Ingredients:

Coconut Loaf:

175g Butter.

175g Granulated sugar.

3 eggs.

225g Plain flour.

1 tsp baking powder.

75g Desiccated coconut.

Decoration:

60-80g Jam (of your choice – I chose strawberry).

Desiccated coconut (don’t be stingy, be generous).

Method:

Start by doing some prep work. Preheat your oven to 180˚c/350˚f, weigh up your ingredients and prepare your loaf tin by coating with a thin layer of butter, greasing and lining a standard loaf tin with some butter and greaseproof paper and finally get any equipment you may need ready in advance, such as a mixing bowl and mixer.

To start the cake recipe, you’ll want to get your mixing bowl of choice and place the butter and sugar into the bowl and beat until the two are light and fluffy.

Add in your eggs, one at a time. Beating well in between each addition.

Go ahead and give the bowl a good scraping down, scrape down the sides and bottom of your bowl to incorporate any bits that not have been fully worked in from earlier on.

Sift in your flour and baking powder then add in the desiccated coconut and mix that over a medium speed until a cake batter has formed. Try not to overmix your batter, this will result in a tough textured cake.

You’ll now want to transfer the cake batter into your lined loaf tin and level it off using an offset pallet knife. Bake that on the middle shelf of your oven for around 60 minutes (check the cake at around 45 minutes into baking and cover with foil if the top of your cake starts to darken while baking).

Bake until a tester comes out clean, for me this was 60 minutes (this time may be longer or shorter for you depending on your oven).

Allow the cake to cool in the tin for 10-15 minutes, then remove from the tin an allow to completely cool on a cooling rack.

Get your cake, once completely cooled. Add your jam on top of the cake and spread it around until you have a roughly consistent layer all over.

Sprinkle over a generous amount of desiccated coconut (to your personal preference) and leave for 10 minutes.

Enjoy this cake cut into slices with a hot beverage, such as tea or coffee or enjoy as a treat with custard.

Tiramisu Cake

by bakingwithelliott Leave a Comment

It’s been a a quite a while since i made a cake, so I thought now would be the perfect time to share this recipe for my take on a tiramisu cake.

Okay, its not a traditional tiramisu but I’ve taken the idea of one and turned it into a celebration cake – this is ideal for those who are looking for an alternative to a buttercream cake.

The cake is straightforward to make, it starts with two coffee flavoured sponge cakes, which are filled and decorated with a sweetened whipped cream, then finished with a dusting of cocoa powder. It’s got most of the elements of a traditional tiramisu, well enough for you to know what the cake and flavours are anyway.

There is one thing I want to say before I get into the recipe, this cake was made back at the start of February, so getting ingredients was easier to achieve.

Anyway, let’s get started, shall we?

Coffee Cake:

380g Butter.

500g Granulated sugar.

8 Eggs.

566g Plain flour.

4 tsp Baking powder.

115ml Cold coffee

Cold Coffee:

30g Instant coffee.

90ml Boiling water.

Coffee Simple Syrup:

250ml Water.

250g Granulated sugar.

25g Instant coffee.

Decoration:

900ml Double cream.

125g Icing sugar.

1 1/2 tsp Vanilla extract.

Cocoa powder (to dust).

Methods:

Before you get into making any part of this cake, you’ll want to do some prep work. Start by weighing up your ingredients up, lining and/or preparing your 2 x 10 inch cake tins with some parchment paper and butter, preheating your oven to 180˚c/350˚f and getting any equipment you may need ready, such as a stand mixer and mixing bowls.

Cold Coffee & Coffee Simple Syrup:

To make the coffee mixture, simply boil the kettle and add the 90ml of boiling water to the 30g of instant coffee and mix until they are fully combined, allowing it to cool fully before you intend on using it. This can be made the day before you intend on making it, just ensure its at room temperature when you intend on using it.

For the coffee simple syrup, grab a saucepan and place the water, sugar and instant coffee. Place on the hob over a high heat and leave it to come to a boil and simmer briefly, then you can take it off the hob and allow to cool. The mixture should have a thicker consistency than plain water.

Coffee Cake:

Into a mixing bowl, place the butter and granulated sugar. Beat the two together until they are lighter and fluffier in colour and consistency – this may take some time but is important to achieving the perfect sponge cake.

Once the butter and sugar are combined, you can go ahead and add your eggs. One at a time, beating well in-between each addition. Try not to add the eggs too quickly, otherwise the mixture may split/curdle and thats not what you’re looking for, if it does happen, add a small amount of your weighed out flour.

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

Now you can add in the plain flour and baking powder, passing them through a sieve first to remove any lumps that may be in the mix. Once all of the dry mix is in the bowl, mix over a slow speed to start with, working your way up to medium-high speed.

Just mix until almost all the flour has been incorporated, then start to add the coffee mixture, a tablespoon at a time, until there is no more of the coffee mixture left.

Give the bowl another good scraping down, again just to incorporate any bits that may not have been fully incorporated.

Take the cake batter and divide it between the two prepared 10 inch cake tins, you can eyeball this or weigh the cake batter and divide more equally using a pair of scales – either method works well.

Smooth and level off the batter in the tins, then place them in he preheated oven and bake for 45-50 minutes or until they are fully baked (a tester when inserted, should come out clean). Allow the cakes to cool in the tins until you can handle the tin, then turn them out onto a cooling rack to cool fully.

Once the cakes are cooled, you’ll want to trim away the sides and level off the tops, so the end result is more consistent.

Whipped Cream:

Into a clean mixing bowl, place the double cream, icing sugar and vanilla extract and whisk them together over a medium-high speed, just until it reaches stiff peaks. It should easily hold its shape but still be smooth and the perfect piping consistency.

You will visually see the cream getting thicker as it whisks, so take extra care to ensure it doesn’t become over whisked – otherwise it will have a grainy mouthfeel and that’s not what you’re looking for.

Decoration & Finishing:

Take your layers of cake and give them a generous brushing of the coffee simple syrup (I like to do this as it adds flavour and helps to keep the cake fresh).

Grab yourself a 12 inch cake board or stand (whichever you’d prefer) and add a small blob of cream in the centre, then place the first layer of cake on-top, pressing down a little just to secure it in place.

Add a good amount of the whipped cream on top and level it off as best you possibly can, then add your second layer of cake. With the remaining whipped cream, give the cake a generous coating of the whipped cream, smoothing it out and getting it as consistent as possible. It may take a few attempts but you’ll get there.

You’ll want to keep some whipped cream back, simply place the cream into a piping bag fitted with a plain piping tip. I recommend placing it in the fridge until its needed.

Once you have the cake as smooth as you’d like, you can take the piping bag of cream and just pipe blobs on top of the cake, so the entire top of the cake is covered, you can pipe whatever size blobs you like, I went with a medium-ish size.

If you’re serving the cake straight away, you’ll want to dust the top of the cake with a liberal amount of cocoa powder. I would personally recommend dusting the cocoa powder on top before you serve the cake, it looks better but you can add it whenever you want to.

Basic

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